NAZIS APPROACH SMOLENSK ON ROAD TO MOSCOW, MOVE TOWARD LENINGRAD, CHECKED NEAR KIEV (7/17/41)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 7/17/41 | Daniel T. Brigham, C. Brooks Peters, Otto D. Tolischus, F. Tillman Durdin, Charles Hurd, more

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
German Invasion of Russia – Operations, 22 June-25 August 1941
The Mediterranean Basin
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Defenders Battle – 2
Germans Describe Beating Back Foe – 3-4
Rumanian and German Troops Pointing Toward the East (photos) – 4
The International Situation – 5
Konoye Regime Out – 5-6
Japan Shifts Army from China Areas – 6
Shifts 20 Generals to Vitalize Army – 7-8
Canada’s Recruiting Draws 34,625 Men – 8
U.S. Plants Mines in Philippine Bays – 8
Apathy to the War Observed in Reich – 8-9
Germany’s Greatest Ace Wins Highest Decoration – 9
R.A.F. Bombs Ships and Big Industries (by James MacDonald) – 9-10
Church Unit Denies We Can be Neutral – 10
Cuban Cabinet Quits under Congress Fire – 10
British Solve Problem of ‘Internationale’ by Radio Ban on All National Anthems – 10
R.A.F. Counts its Gains (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 11
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 12-13
Axis Supply Lines to Africa Pounded – 13
Nazis Deprive Prince of Reich Citizenship – 13
DiMaggio Hits 56th Game in Row and Yanks Crush Cleveland, 10-3 (by John Drebinger) – 14

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/jul41/f17jul41.htm

A German bridgehead over the Dniepr

Thursday, July 17, 1941 www.onwar.com

On the Eastern Front... The Germans develop an important bridgehead over the Dniepr River near Mogilev.

From Moscow... In an attempt to stiffen resistance the political commissars are restored to the Soviet army and navy units.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/17.htm

July 17th, 1941

UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Narcissus commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Hitler appoints Alfred Rosenberg to the post of Reich minister of the occupied territories following a conference at Angersburg; he will be responsible for the exploitation of subject Soviet peoples and the elimination of Jews and Communists.

Guderian receives the Oak Leaves to the Iron Cross. (Peter Kilduff)(140)

U-487, U-488, U-489, and U-490 ordered

U-449 laid down

U-579 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

ITALY: The Regia Marina introduced a new cipher, so the Royal Navy had no preventive information about the planned cruise of Colleoni and Bande Nere. (Andrea Galliano)

MALTA: Axis aircraft bomb Allied bases.
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army and Navy restore the position of Political Commissars to stiffen resistance.

Field Marshal Keitel’s son Hans-Georg dies from battle wounds.

Reinhardt Heydrich today issued his orders for the four SS Einsatzgruppen which are attached to the regular German army. They are to exterminate all Jewish and gypsy communities and terrorize the populace. Heydrich has given them the authority to slaughter other “politically intolerable elements,” such as Communist Party and Soviet state officials, and “inferior Asiatic peoples.”

CANADA: HMCS Grizzly assigned to Prince Rupert, British Columbia as a stationary guard ship and examination vessel. Built by Consolidated S.B. Corp., New York NY. 195/09 140x19x10ft, 12kts, crew 5/35, 1-6pdr, converted to p/v, HMC Dkyd Esquimalt, #172337, Post WW.II broken up 1945, Victoria, British Columbia. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: The 56-game hitting streak of the New York Yankees’ star center fielder Joe DiMaggio ended today. In a night game before 67,468 fans at Cleveland’s Memorial Stadium, he was held hitless by two Cleveland Indian pitchers, Al Smith and Jim Bagby. DiMaggio faced Smith 3 times; twice he hit the ball down the third base line but the Indians’ third baseman, Ken Keltner, snagged the ball and threw DiMaggio out at first base. DiMaggio was also walked by Smith. In the eighth inning, with bases loaded and 1 out, DiMaggio faced Bagby and hit into a double play. DiMaggio’s streak began on 15 May when he hit a single against the Chicago White Sox; during the 56-game streak, he batted .408 and hit 16 doubles, 4 triples and 15 home runs. (A little known fact is that DiMaggio had a 61-game hitting streak when he played for the San Francisco Seals in the Triple A Pacific Coast League.) (Jack McKillop)

Destroyer USS Ingraham commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

Washington: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull hold talks with Japanese Ambassador Nomura Kichasaburo in an attempt to resume discussions or hold a Pacific conference. (Jack McKillop)

Marshall approves Gerow’s recommendations and forwards them to Stimson. (Marc Small)

[dfwgator]

Smolensk, where the Nazis will soon discover the mass graves at Katyn.

[fso301]

Many factors can be cited as reason for the failure of Operation Barbarossa but pausing at Smolensk and redirecting forces was a crucial mistake by Hitler.

[Larry381]

The following photos have no date and no description so let me apologize in advance. I post them in case anyone might have some interest in them.

I will try to post only photos that appear to be taken during the summer of 1941. In some cases I will add personal comments so you know who to blame when I screw up.

I don't know if this German actually captured this female soldier or just thought it would make an interesting photo.

Russian prisoners marching west-I'm guessing in the Ukraine.

A sight that is becoming more common as the German army moves east.

Soviet propaganda poster

German soldier talks to wounded Soviet tanker.

[fso301]

The war on the eastern front was such that those photographed alive on either side would soon be dead or wounded and unfit for duty.

[PzLdr]

Not totally, or primarily Hitler’s fault. He set three objectives for 1941: Destruction of the Red Army in the area comprising eastern Poland,and the western reaches of the USSR, Leningrad and the Baltic States, and Ukraine. oscow wasn’t one of them. That’s Halder’s baby. And Halder deployed the bulk of the panzers for that purpose.

Result? By the time the Germans reach Smolensk, Bock’s rigt flank is in the air, and he’s far in front of Rundstedt, who, underarmored, and facing the largest [and best equipped Soviet Front, is agging way behind.

Hitler went to Smolensk to do what his generals wouldn’t or couldn’t; make a decision. Opposed to diverting Guderian’s panzers south were Brauchitsch, Halder, Bock and Guderian. Favoring the diversion were Rundstedt, and Kluge and Strauss, the commanders of Bock’s infantry armies, and the generals faced with [among their other tasks] protecting that right flank.

Non-diversion would allow AG Center to continue an early drive on Moscow, with an ever-extending right flank. Diversion would allow the Germans to shorten their lines, freeing up infantry troops for other tasks, acquire one of Hitler’s economic objectives, Ukraine, and remove a sizable portion of Stalin’s Order of Battle off the board.

So it’s not all Hitler, and it’s not as foolish as it may initially look.

[PzLdr]

The picture of the vehicl with the letter “G” on the back is from 2d Panzergruppe. The “G” is for Guderian.

[PAR35]

I wonder if the medic on the improvised stretcher is Papke. Do you know if the two photos are juxtaposed, or if the two being together here is just random?

[PAR35]

I wonder if the medic on the improvised stretcher is Papke. Do you know if the two photos are juxtaposed, or if the two being together here is just random?

[PAR35]

Since Gen. Chaffee will die on August 22, concerns about his health seem well merited. Couldn’t find anything on the Prince of Hesse on a quick search.

[CougarGA7]

• Kirponos begins plans to withdraw his forces eastward.

[fso301]

So it’s not all Hitler, and it’s not as foolish as it may initially look.

Good points.

I guess the question is with Barbarossa's overriding objective being the capitulation of the USSR in 1941, was the slow advance by Army Group South seen as a risk to the plan, or was it viewed as an opportunity to secure a decisive military victory by cutting off the Red Army in the Ukraine?

So many missteps by the Germans, each of which could be dismissed as unimportant in a strategic sense yet arguably might have been enough to tip the scales in favor of the Germans.

[Larry381]

I wonder if the medic on the improvised stretcher is Papke. Do you know if the two photos are juxtaposed, or if the two being together here is just random?

Interesting question. I believe they're just random although both photos come from the same huge collection of photos. Only about twenty percent of the photos are marked with date and place and the balance, like these two, are unmarked.

I did find find an Internet reference to this name as follows:

Dr. Wilhelm Gottlieb Papke Dienstgrad: Oberarzt Born:1902 Died: 16.Aug.1941 Place of death: Arm.Sanko 1/562 mot. F.Laz. Uman; Dr. Wilhelm Gottlieb Papke has probably been re-interred in a Sammelfriedhof (collective cemetery) in Kiev, Ukraine as an unknown soldier according to this source:Graebersuche(Grave search)Online at Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. - Arbeit für den Frieden

[Larry381]

Hitler went to Smolensk to do what his generals wouldn’t or couldn’t; make a decision. Opposed to diverting Guderian’s panzers south were Brauchitsch, Halder, Bock and Guderian. Favoring the diversion were Rundstedt, and Kluge and Strauss, the commanders of Bock’s infantry armies, and the generals faced with [among their other tasks] protecting that right flank.

This is the first time I've heard that any major generals favored the move south. It appears many historians (at least the ones I've read) have neglected to dwell on this fact.

[PAR35]

Danke.