Demyansk Pocket

1942 battle of WW2's Eastern Front

the Red Army's 1943 Demyansk offensive

The Demyansk Pocket (Kessel von Demjansk; Демя́нский котёл) was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk, south of Leningrad, during World War II's Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February to 21 April 1942. A much smaller force was surrounded in the Kholm Pocket at the town of Kholm, about to the southwest. Both resulted from the German retreat after its defeat during the Battle of Moscow. The successful defence of Demyansk was achieved by using an airbridge and was a significant development in modern warfare. Its success was a major contributor to the decision by the Army High Command to try the same tactic during the Battle of Stalingrad, but it then failed to save the Sixth Army, commanded by Friedrich Paulus.

The intent of the Northwestern Front offensive was to encircle the entire northern flank of the 16th Army's forces, of which the 2nd Army Corps was only a small part, and the Soviet command was desperate to keep the Front moving even after this success. The first thrust was made by the 11th Army, 1st Shock Army and the 1st and 2nd Guards Rifle Corps released for the operation from Stavka reserve. A second thrust was executed on 12 February by the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies of the Kalinin Front, with the additional plan of directly attacking the encircled German forces by inserting two airborne brigades to support the advance of the 34th Army. The front soon settled as the Soviet offensive petered out due to difficult terrain and bad weather. After being assured that the pocket could be supplied with its daily requirement of of supplies by Luftflotte 1, Hitler ordered that the surrounded divisions hold their positions until relieved. The pocket contained two viable airfields at Demyansk and Peski capable of receiving transport aircraft. From the middle of February, the weather improved significantly, and while there was still considerable snow on the ground at this time, resupply operations were generally very successful due to inactivity of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in the area. However, the operation did use up all of Luftflotte 1's transport capability, as well as elements of its bomber force. Over the winter and spring, the Northwestern Front launched a number of attacks on the "Ramushevo corridor" that formed the tenuous link between Demyansk and Staraya Russa but was unable to reduce the pocket.

On 21 March 1942, German forces under the command of General Walther von Seydlitz Kurzbach attempted to manoeuvre through the "Ramushevo corridor". Soviet resistance on the Lovat River delayed II Corps' attack until April 14. Over the next several weeks, this corridor was widened. A battle group was able to break the siege on 22 April, but the fighting had taken a heavy toll. Out of the approximately 100,000 men originally in the pocket, there were 3,335 lost and over 10,000 wounded. By the time that ground communications with Kholm and Demyansk were regained in May 1942, Luftflotte 1 had flown 14,455 air transport sorties into the pockets. A total of 24,303 tons of supplies and equipment, as well as 15,446 replacements, were flown into the pockets and 22,093 wounded were flown out. The cost to the Luftwaffe was significant, with the loss of 265 aircraft, including 106 Junkers Ju 52, 17 Heinkel He 111 and two Junkers Ju 86 aircraft. In addition, 387 airmen were lost. Richard Overy argues that the Demyansk airlift was a Pyrrhic victory, citing the loss of over 200 aircraft and their crew "when annual production of transports was running at only 500; and all to save 90,000 German soldiers, 64,000 of whom were either killed, wounded or too sick for service" by the airlift's end. Fighting in the area continued until 28 February 1943. The Soviet forces did not retake Demyansk until 1 March 1943, with the organized withdrawal of the German troops.

The success of the Luftwaffe convinced Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and Hitler that they could conduct effective airlift operations on the Eastern front. Furthermore, it "determined Hitler in his belief that encircled troops should automatically hold on to their territory. After the German 6th Army was encircled in the Battle of Stalingrad, Göring convinced Hitler to resupply the besieged forces by airlift until a relief effort could reach them. However the sheer scale of the effort required in Stalingradcalculated at 750 tons per daygreatly exceeded the Luftwaffe's now depleted capacities, when up against the now strengthened Soviet Air Forces. The Stalingrad airlift effort ultimately failed to deliver sufficient supplies before the airfields were overrun by the Soviets, and the Germans estimated that they lost 488 transports, as well as 1,000 personnel. In spite of the airlift's obvious shortcomings, Hitler refused permission for the 6th Army to attempt a breakout. The remaining 300,000 German soldiers trapped in the city ran out of supplies and had to surrender in February 1943, after having lost 100,000 soldiers in combat between November 1942 and February 1943.