Interlude: the winter Olympics
The opening week of 1942, saw the conclusion of fighting on the Eastern Front. In sub-zero conditions, Pinsk was stormed and retaken. The remaining pocket of encircled Soviet troops, was soon after crushed. In only a week, around 100,000 prisoners were taken. Fighting soon died down across the front and the last Soviet counterattacks were driven off.
Dramatic painting from the Reich's national newspaper,
depicting the fending off of the final Soviet offensives of the winter.
As the temperature continued to drop, stalemate formed across the entire frontline. With no fighting taking place, the armies of Army Groups North and South Ukraine were able to proceed to reform in peace. By the end of January, the front had been rebuilt and armies and various divisions moved into reserve. Restructuring and reinforcing was then able to proceed. Large drafts of infantry replacements started to arrive on the front bringing the much depleted rifle companies back up to full strength. However, while infantry replacements had been forthcoming, the same could not be said of the Officer Corps. Serious losses in platoon and company commanders, along with the rapid expansion of the army, had brought about a serious shortfall in the number of junior and general staff officers. By April, the Wehrmacht was still 50,000 officers short of what was recommended. An overall of the chain of command also took place. Various Army and Corps commanders were demoted, and a number of divisional commanders promoted to take their place. After several weeks of rearranging, the best men had been placed in command. This was especially true of Army Group North, where excellent commanders who had shown themselves to be proficient in river crossing operations took over most posts.
By spring 1942, 105 infantry divisions were manning the length of the Eastern Front, with 11 divisions in reserve, and 28 panzer divisions poised ready to strike. Elsewhere, 40 Divisions were based in France and the Low Countries, and a further 21 were positioned within the Greater Reich and Denmark. The training and expansion of the army had been cut back. Over 100,000 men had been drafted to form nine new divisions, which would be deployed during the course of the year. A similar number were also in training to man the nine new panzer divisions that were being formed, although only six would be deployed sometime during 1942. After the deployment of these panzer divisions, OKW believed no more would not be sustainable. Efforts were also being made to form several new cavalry divisions to act in the rear of the army groups, and large drafts of men were being trained to replace the expected casualties.
The fighting on the Eastern Front, had stolen the spotlight of the war. As a result, the economic side of the conflict had been ignored. During the course of Operation Barbarossa, the Western Allies and Soviet fleets had decimated the German merchant marine. With only a few ships left, conducting the dangerous Atlantic crossing to Mexico and the United States, the Reich had largely been cut off from her primarily source of oil and rare materials such as rubber. With so much of their goods sinking aboard German vessels, the United States and Mexico refused to expand their deals with the Reich or increase the tonnage they would exchange. To counter this issue a total occupation of Denmark was initiated and a new round of trade deals was made with various European countries. With the supply of rare metals and rubber rapidly running out, the deficit was overcome just in time to keep the war going.
With the winter stalemate, came the opportunity to tackle other strategic issues. Italy had for months been bogged down fighting the Greeks. Following the conclusion of the Yugoslavian campaign, the Italian-Bulgarian armies pushed the Greeks out of Albania and southern Yugoslavia, and back into Greece. The Bulgarians then dropped out of the campaign. The Italians fought a series of bloody battles slowly pushing the Greeks south. In turn, the Greek Army was able to retreat to Athens and to their "national redoubt" at Astakos. From these two positions, regardless of the damage inflicted upon the Greek capital from Italian artillery and air craft, the Greek Army was able to keep the Italians at bay.
The frontline in Greece, static for at least five months.
In an attempt to secure the southern flank and finish off what the Italians failed to do, OKW seconded Panzer Group 4 and the mountain corps for an excursion to Greece. Italian intelligence had done an excellent job in finding out the size and composition of the forces at each location. A sizeable force held Athens, while a smaller force held Astakos. 75,000 Greek soldiers, consisting of three mountain and three infantry divisions, were dug-in around Astakos and well supplied from local sources. On 17 February, 600 German and 300 Italian bombers, covered by 300 German fighters, attacked Astakos. Daily raids were launched, and five days later – the Italian support having been withdrawn – 1,200 German bombers were launching daily attacks. Under this onslaught, the Greeks launched several minor attacks to place their troops closer to our own and limit the effectiveness of our aerial attacks.
On 1 March, the Greeks launched a spoiling attack just as our own offensive was due to start. After much back and forth fighting, our attack was put in on the tenacious Greek formations. For most of the month fighting raged around the mountains but little ground was gained. A minor attack was also launched against Athens, to test the Greek defences, but met similar levels of determined resistance. After losing over 8,000 men and two dozen planes during the course of the month, it was decided to leave the Greeks to the Italians. The Italians appeared, after all, to be doing a decent enough job.
Appendix: German order of battle, Spring 1942
Army Group North
Army Group Centre
Army Group North Ukraine
Army Group South Ukraine
Panzer Group 1, 2, 3, and 4
OKH Reserve