Sunday 19 October 1941

Soviet armored cars preparing for a move to the front, 19 October 1941 (AP Photo).

Eastern Front: The events of 19 October 1941 starkly underscore both the power and hopelessness of the German Operation Typhoon drive on Moscow. The power is illustrated by gains on the high road to Moscow which are undeniable and menacing. The hopelessness is a bit more subtle and certainly not at all apparent in October 1941, but obvious given the omniscience of hindsight. The hard work of the summer mixes inextricably with the failures of the spring to produce prospects of winning that superficially appear promising but already are lost.

A Finnish troop train passes through a scene where an earlier train, visible on both sides, was destroyed. 19 October 1941 (AP Photo).

The Soviet defensive line centered on the small town of Mozhaysk shows signs of crumbling on 19 October 1941. Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) "Das Reich" and the attached "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10th Panzer Division of 4th Panzerarmee’s 40th Panzerkorps (General der Panzertruppen Georg Stumme) batter their way forward into Mozhasysk, showing that a determined Wehrmacht effort can send even the best Soviet troops reeling. At Volokolamsk, about 50 miles due north of Mozhaysk on the road from Riga, Soviet 316th Rifle Division arrives just in time from Moscow to stop another German attack. The Germans may not be moving fast any longer, but they are still moving forward toward the ultimate prize of Operation Barbarossa.

U-204 (Kptlt. Walter Kell), on its third patrol out of Brest, sinks 9158-ton British tanker Inverlee about 440 km southwest of Cape Spartel, Morocco. There are 21 deaths and 22 survivors. U-204, in turn, is sunk on 19 October 1941 by a depth charge attack by Royal Navy escorts HMS Mallow and Rochester. All 46 sailors on U-204 perish.

In Moscow, things look dire. The Germans are pushing back the best remaining troops in the Red Army on all of the highways from the west and the final Soviet holdouts in the Vyazma pocket give up. Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's chief of the secret police, can see the danger and urges the Soviet GKO to evacuate to the East. As he poetically puts it, the apparatchiks must leave "or they will strangle us like chickens." Stalin orders everyone in the Politburo except his closest cronies (Beria and Georgy Malenkov) to leave, but he vows to stay come what may. There is a theory that Stalin could not retain his own position if he leaves Moscow, and he certainly would be vulnerable to whoever meant to harm him during a desperate journey into the hinterland. In any event, he decides to stay to personally supervise the construction of three defensive lines around the capital. That decision is final.

Survivors of SS Lehigh, sunk by U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer, 3rd patrol) about 82 miles off Freetown, Sierra Leone on 19 October 1941.

Things are no better at the extreme southern end of the front. General von Manstein's 11th Army slices through the Soviet defenses on the Perekop Isthmus in the Crimea and now are in a good position to break out to Sevastopol. General von Kleist's 1st Panzer Army batters its way into Stalino (Donetsk), a key industrial center on the Kalmius River and a good jumping-off point for an invasion of the oil-rich Caucasus. The Germans are on the verge of occupying the center of Soviet life, with little to stand between them and the Volga.

4983-ton United States freighter SS Lehigh sinks on 19 October 1941 (photo taken by radio operator Sam Hakam, published in Life Magazine 8 December 1941).

The "tank panic" that infest Moscow, however, is overdone. In fact, the Germans may be succeeding against the Red Army, but they are losing against a more implacable enemy. While the weather is turning against them and is the most obvious issue, that is not the real challenge the Wehrmacht faces. The challenge to be overcome is much more subtle, much less appreciated by virtually everyone, and infinitely more difficult to overcome than tanks or planes or a few snowflakes.

Army Group North commander Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb with 18th Army commander General von Kuechler at an advanced artillery observation post near Leningrad, October 1941 (Schröter, Federal Archive Picture 183-2007-0316-504).

The problem facing the panzers can best be explained by first looking at a few easily measurable statistics. After months of battering forward, Hausser's leading tanks are still 113 km. Further north, the panzers at Volokolamsk are 124 km from Moscow. Further north still, the Germans at Kalinin (Tver) are 180 km from the city. And to the southwest, near Tula, General Guderian's panzers are 180 km from the city. In the Army Group South sector, General Hoth's troops at Stalino are 200 km from their next objective at Rostov-on-Don. General von Manstein's men are 140 km from their target, Sevastopol.

A Hungarian patrol questions a 16-year-old Soviet spy who was caught observing troop movements from a small grove. He confessed to sending radio messages to Soviet troops about the location of Hungarian troops. October 1941 (Feitl, Federal Archive Bild 183-B17640).

Overall, the Germans remain about 150 km from seizing objectives that represent minimal objectives for a successful 1941 campaign. Getting this far is s a phenomenal achievement that should not be downplayed. However, in comparison with distances for entire campaigns in western Europe - for instance, Brussels is only 320 km from Paris - for the Germans to have to battle forward across another lengthy distance against fierce resistance after all the losses already suffered is daunting. Moreover, success in Russia has come at a great cost. The leading panzers have been on the road for four straight months, several times longer than in any previous campaign. They are worn down, they need maintenance and replacement guns, and the men are as worn as the equipment. The elite Wehrmacht divisions have been shredded, with strengths a fraction of what they had in June. The Wehrmacht's strength is broad but it is not deep, composed of a sharp blade composed of veterans of previous campaigns but with few reserves. As these formations bleed out, their effectiveness dulls and morale plummets.

An SdKfz 10 towing vehicle with a 3.7 cm Pak gun in the Soviet Union, October 1941 (Böhmer, Federal Archive Bild 101I-268-0176-14).

So, the main problem is not just the weather, which is a handy catch-all explanation that simplifies a much larger problem. The Wehrmacht is being destroyed by sheer distance. There is just too much territory to cover, too many cities to occupy, too many supply roads to guard. In addition, the gains already achieved are less than they appear on a map. During the summer, the panzers bypassed large Soviet formations that retreated into the forests and marshes. Those Soviet troops are still there, some almost completely intact with tanks and planes and artillery, and need to be subdued. The German equipment is efficient on western European roads and meadows, but the panzer tracks prove too narrow to handle endless muddy terrain The supply trucks break down on the hundreds of kilometers they must travel from the railheads, and overworked horses have trouble meeting supply requirements. The autumn chill is compounding the problem of distance, as the trucks burn more fuel on the long muddy roads and have to carry so much fuel with them that they can carry very few supplies.

A German light armored observation vehicle (Sd.F 253) pauses before a camouflaged Soviet bunker, October 1941 (Utrecht, Fred Erich, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-268-0158-05).

To summarize, the indifferent vastness of the Soviet Union is swallowing the Wehrmacht. No matter how many victories the Germans win, there are always more battles to be won down the road, and the supplies for those battles and the men to fight them are dwindling further with every mile. Adding to the problem of distance is that the Soviets always have just enough troops in place to cause problems. Pushing constantly forward in rapidly deteriorating conditions is placing an impossible strain on the entire structure of the Heer. The Germans are in a battle with themselves, challenging their own capabilities, and they are losing.

In the Soviet Union, German troops on horseback tow their supplies, October 1941 (Mittelstaedt, Heinz, Federal Archive Bild 183-B15417).

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020

Tuesday 14 October 1941

German soldiers manning a machine gun beside railway tracks on the outskirts of Kalinin, 14 October 1941.

Eastern Front: Operation Typhoon, the German attack on Moscow, has transformed into an attempt to envelop the city by 14 October 14, 1941. The Soviets are hastily assembling their remaining Western Front troops and those finally arriving from the East in a defensive ring anchored on Mozhaysk (Mozhaisk) on the high road to the Soviet capital. Rather than try to batter their way into the city, the Germans instead are sending their panzers to the northeast and southeast. This is part of an increasing German pattern of focusing their advances only where the Soviets have the fewest defensive forces and not actually confronting them where they are strong, a tendency that will get them in trouble in 1942.

Two German soldiers grab some rest in the field, 14 October 1941.

The Germans make good progress, but there's a problem: the distances are immense. An advance of hundreds of kilometers against fierce opposition is necessary to encircle Moscow, and there are many natural features that favor the defense. Nevertheless, the Wehrmacht is off to a good beginning today. The 1st Panzer Division under the command of Generalleutnant Walter Krüger skirts the Soviet defenses and advances an astonishing 75 miles (120 km) to take Kalinin (Tver), an important city on the main Moscow - Leningrad road. This is an extraordinary achievement after going cross-country from the south, it still leaves the panzers 93 miles (150 km) away from Moscow. This advance also cuts the Moscow - Leningrad railway, but Army Group North already did that in September. These sorts of achievements look great in the abstract, but they do not actually achieve anything significant - they simply set the stage for achieving something eventually. When that will be, or rather if that will be, remains very much in doubt.

Gander, Newfoundland is a key airfield on the air transport link from the United States and Gret Britain. Here, Sir Humphrey Walwyn, Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, chats with an unidentified RCAF ferry pilot. This photo was taken on 14 October 1941.

Krüger's troops also capture a bridge across the Volga and establish a small bridgehead on the north bank. This not strategically important - it does not really aid the advance on Moscow - but it conceivably could aid an advance further east using the Volga as a shield to the south against flank attacks. It is symbolically important as the only intact bridge over the Volga that the Germans ever seize, either here or much further south in the Stalingrad area. However, on the all-important Smolensk highway to Moscow, The Soviet 32nd Siberian Rifle Division from Vladivostok is dug in now and armed to the teeth. It incorporates three infantry regiments and two armored brigades newly equipped with T-34s and KV-2s. This unit is only there because of the work of master spy Richard Sorge in Tokyo, who gave Stalin the information that led to its redeployment to the west.

Paul Hausser, wearing his eyepatch, and General Erwin J. Rommel.

While the general German plan now is to encircle Moscow, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser probes the Soviet defenses at Borodino with his SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) Das Reich and the attached "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10.Panzer Division. He gets an unpleasant surprise, as the Siberian troops are warmly attired, including fur caps, and amply equipped with the multi-purpose 7.62-cm gun that has proven extremely effective along with the Katyusha mortars (called "Stalin's organs" by the Germans due to their distinctive sound). While the Germans already are familiar with the T-34s and KV-2s, for the first time the Soviets deploy them in mass formations. The Germans take heavy casualties, and commander Obergruppenfuhrer Hausser himself suffers a serious wound to his right eye that forces him to wear a patch over it for the remainder of the war. However, the panzers' momentum proves unstoppable at this time, and they force their way through a key part of the Siberian line. Fighting continues at Borodino Field, but the Germans appear poised to overcome the Soviet defenses and continue moving east toward Moscow.

A bomb disposal unit in northeast England, 14 October 1941.

Overall, it is another good day for the Wehrmacht. The panzers blast through to new gains. However, the strength of Soviet resistance after almost four months of constant fighting is troubling. The presence of fresh and well-armed Soviet troops at the gates of Moscow is unexpected, and the vast distances that must be covered just to be in a position to attack are causing greater wear and tear on the panzers than in the past. The temperatures around Moscow are right around freezing, and the first heavy snowfall at Leningrad turns the entire area white. The lack of anti-freeze for vehicles forces the Germans to make a hard choice: they can either drain their radiators at night and hope that their vehicles don't freeze solid, or run them periodically throughout the night to keep them warm and thereby waste fuel and give the enemy an extremely easy way to know where they are. For now, the problem is not acute, but it is getting worse every day as the temperature drops.

"Five children eat American cheese sandwiches at an open-air emergency feeding center in Liverpool. Behind them, a man can be seen cooking at one of several Soyer boilers or field cookers, available for use by civilians in the area." 14 October 1941 © IWM (V 93).

Partisans: The partisan threat in the Soviet Union remains fairly muted as the panzers appear poised for victory. However, the rapid German advance has left many bypassed Red Army formations intact in between the roads. Today, the Germans begin Operation Karlsbad to pacify the region between Smolensk and Minsk in the vicinity of Orsha and Vitebsk and along the Berezina River. These Soviet units, some of which include tanks and airplanes, are no match for a determined German offensive, but the Germans front is far to the east and focused on Moscow, not Orsha. Partisan operations prove extremely difficult because the Wehrmacht simply doesn't have the spare infantry to enclose large areas under partisan control. Still, the attempt must be made, and Operation Karlsbad is just the first of many anti-partisan operations that usually achieve little but must be attempted due to the vulnerability of German supply lines.

HMS Syrtis (P241). Laid down: 14 October 1941 Launched: February 4, 1943. Commissioned: 23 April 1943. Sunk March 28, 1944.

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020

Monday 13 October 1941

Women digging tank ditches on the Mozaysk Defense Line outside of Moscow ca. 13 October 1941.

Eastern Front: Different sources give different dates for the actual beginning of the Battle of Moscow during Operation Typhoon. A good starting date is 13 October 1941, because it is on this date that the German panzers first encounter the Mozhaysk (Mozhaisk) defense line that forms a half-circle around the Soviet capital.

Bomb damage on Punch Street in Bolton, Lancashire, England following a Luftwaffe raid on the night of 12-13 October 1941.

On Sunday, Army Group North commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock sends his worn and weary troops east in a final dash along the main road to Moscow. The leading elements on the main road, SS Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ from XLVI. Armeekorps (mot.) reinforced with a Kampfgruppe from 10. Panzer-Division set out from the vicinity of Gagarin, which is still about 180 km east of Moscow. On Monday the 13th, the panzers encounter the Mozhaysk line, which Western Front commander General Georgy Zhukov has hastily assembled with about 90,000 troops. At noon, the Luftwaffe supports this movement by sending Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers escorted by Bf 109 fighters to attack Soviet positions at Borodino Field, site of the famous Napoleonic battle.

"Infantry of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) on the march with messenger dogs near Barham, Kent, 13 October 1941" (© IWM (H 14688)).

Assuming that there is a massive Soviet force to defend the capital, the Germans branch off the main road to the north and south. The nebulous plan is to encircle Moscow, with the first objectives being Kalinin (Tver) to the northeast and Kaluga and Tula to the southeast. The distances to be covered are immense by western European military standards, 180-200 km cross-country in each direction, but Russia is a large place and the Wehrmacht is forced to think in larger orders of magnitude than it is used to.

Punch Street following a Luftwaffe raid on the night of 12-13 October 1941. There were 11 people killed and 64 injured. Bolton, Lancashire, England (Bolton Remembers the War).

While the Germans are tested by the distances to be covered, they still hold the initiative. The Soviet situation, by contrast, is almost catastrophic. Resistance at Vyazma dies out as encircled Soviet troops either break out through swampy areas or surrender. General Rokossovsky and his HQ group abandon the area and slip out. General Yeremenko (Eremenko), in command of Bryansk Front, is wounded, evacuated, and relieved of command. Another disaster strikes at Rzhev, where Soviet 30th Army is eliminated. In an unusual turn of events for the Soviets, they are low on troops, so not only does the Red Army scrounge for any available men in the Moscow region and send them to the Mozhaysk Line, but they also draft 600 women to serve as soldiers. The Soviet 5th Army under General Leliushenko anchors the center of the Mozhaisk Defensive Line on the highway. However, the line itself is still under construction by about 250,000 Moscow women.

Pearl Harbor Naval Base on Oahu, Hawaii on 13 October 1941. Note battleship row at the upper right and the submarine base at lower left. Visible at the top are (left) USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and (right) USS Arizona (BB-39) (US Navy 80-G-451131).

There is one bright spot for the Soviets. Based upon intelligence received from Richard Sorge in mid-September, Stalin has recalled seven Siberian divisions to the defense of Moscow. In addition to being fit, fresh, and well-trained troops, the Siberian troops also are experienced in and equipped for winter warfare. Considering that it already is snowing in the area, this is a major skill to have. These troops are beginning to arrive at the Moscow railway stations just at the right time. The 32nd Siberian Rifle Division under Colonel Polosukhin, supported by three tank brigades and the cadets from a Moscow military college, move up the highway to Borodino.

1768-ton Norwegian freighter SS Roy (formerly the Danae), sunk by a torpedo from S-53 (Block) on 13 October 1941 along with 1537-ton British freighter Chevington (sunk by a torpedo from S-105 (Howaldt). This was an E-boat (Schnellboot) action off Cromer.

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020