Posted on 11/14/2013 4:19:16 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/nov1943/f14nov43.htm
Germans counterattack toward Zhitomir
Sunday, November 14, 1943 www.onwar.com
A German Tiger tank of sPzAbt 509 near Zhitomir [photo at link]
On the Eastern Front... Army Group South (Field Marshal von Manstein) orders 7th Panzer Division (Manteuffel) to counterattack south of Zhitomir from around Berdichev.
In Italy... The British 8th Army continues its advances. It consists of 5 divisions and 2 armored brigades. Troops of the 8th Indian Division, supported by the New Zealand 2nd Division, capture Perano. The German 76th Panzer Corps is defending in this area. It consists of 2 divisions and elements of a third division.
In the Solomon Islands... On Bougainville the American divisions push back the Japanese along the jungle tracks. A few American tanks are available for support.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/14.htm
November 14th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Wigan, Lancashire: Ernest Bevin, the minister of labour, explained his plans for employment after the war here today. He foresaw that controls would be required for several years and a “human budget” would be needed every year to allocate labour. Rehousing alone would provide jobs for five million. “There is hardly a home in this country that is not short of domestic utensils. I want to compel the manufacture of goods of proper quality - no rubbish - to replenish our homes,” said Mr. Bevin.
Submarine HMS Anchorite laid down.
FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Petain, having tried and failed to reintroduce a measure of legitimacy and thus free France and himself from the head of government, Pierre Laval, and his collaborationist clique, is now virtually a German prisoner.
Petain planned to say in a speech that he represented legitimate authority in France, and that on his death power would revert to the National Assembly. However, the contents of the speech were communicated to Hitler, who ordered Petain not to give it. Instead, the Germans plan to launch a campaign of repression and terror against the Resistance, exploiting what is left of Marshal Petain’s reputation.
GERMANY: U-794, the Germany navy’s first true submarine, goes into service at Kiel: it has a Schnorkel to provide the engines with oxygen while it is submerged.
U.S.S.R.: Manteuffel’s 7th Panzer Division is ordered to counterattack south of Zhitomir from near Berdichev.
ARCTIC SEA: U-636 lays 24 mines in the Yugor Strait, but without result.
ITALY: The British 8th Indian Division with the 2nd New Zealand Division captures Perano.
The Italian Socialist Republic (RSI), or Salò Republic, led by Benito Mussolini, is established as an independent fascist state of Northern Italy to continue the war against the Allies. RSI holds a conference in Verona today to discuss many factors: to established the structure and socialization of the new republic, that the acts of the Grand Council on 25 July 1943 are those of traitors and the need to stifle partisan actions. A bill of 18 articles is written by the party secretary Alessadro Pavolini and endorsed by Mussolini. After the conference, Pavolini organizes the first of many RSI attacks on insurgents when 17 anti-fascists in Ferrara are killed. The focus of the RSI is to avoid a civil war.
Operations by the USAAF Twelfth Air Force’s XII Air Support Command are curtailed by weather, and only battle area patrols are flown; RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit trains on the east coast near Avezzano; and fighters strafe the airfields at Furbara and Tarquinia.
YUGOSLAVIA: RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit targets along the Dalmatian coast southeast of Metkovic and at Sarajevo.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack a supply and bivouac area west of Sio.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, after a delay to await an air strike, replenishment of water supply, and repair of communications, the 21st Marine Regiment, supported by five tanks, renews the battle for the Numa Numa and East-West Trails junction, advance along jungle tracks using tanks for an armoured spearhead, and takes it and establish perimeter defense.
During the night of 14/15 November, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-70 night fighters hit the Shortland Island-Faisi Island area, claiming a seaplane and two barges destroyed.
GILBERT ISLAND: B-17 bombers raid Tarawa.
Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nukufetau Island in the Ellice Islands bomb Tarawa Atoll.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nanumea Island in the Ellice Islands hit Mili (Mille) Atoll.
U.S.A.: Off BERMUDA: A U.S. torpedo is accidentally fired at U.S.S. Iowa with President Franklin Roosevelt on board. It exploded by chance in wake of Roosevelt’s ship. (Glenn Steinberg)
Jack McKillop adds: On 12 November 1943, the destroyer USS William D. Porter (DD-579) departed Norfolk, Virginia, and the following day rendezvoused with the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). The battleship was on her way to North Africa carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Cairo and Teheran Conferences. During battle drills on the afternoon of the 14 November, the crew of the destroyer inadvertently fired a live torpedo at Iowa however, the destroyer signalled Iowa in plenty of time to allow the battleship to turn hard to starboard, parallel to the torpedo’s wake. The torpedo exploded some 3,000 yards (2,743.2 meters) astern of the battleship. USS William D. Porter completed her part in the mission and steamed west to Bermuda, where she arrived on 16 November.
Submarines USS Barbel and Cavalla launched.
Minesweeper USS Gayety laid down.
Frigates USS Brownsville and bath launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Bronstein, O’Neill and Roberts launched.
Destroyers USS McGowan and McNair launched.
Minesweeper USS Shelter launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The USN battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) and her escorts are east of Bermuda. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is aboard en route from the U.S. to Casablanca, French Morocco, for a conference in Tehran, Iran. During battle drills destroyer USS William D. Porter (DD-579) inadvertently fires a live torpedo at USS Iowa . (Glenn Stenberg)
No harm, no foul?
Rail Junction Won – 2
Ships Shell Coast (Bracker) – 3-4
The U.S. Army Air Forces Visits the Riviera (photo) – 4
Reich Port Rocked (Graham) – 5
‘Suicide’ Air Units in Reich Reported (Axelsson) – 6
Our Airmen Win Some New Wings in England (photo) – 6
Americans Extend Bougainville Hold – 7
Carrier Hellcats Chewed Up Enemy (by Francis McCarthy, first-time contributor) – 7
President Signs Quezon Retainer – 8
War News Summarized – 8
Texts of Day’s War Communiques – 9-10
The News of the Week in Review
Twenty News Questions – 11
Japanese Seen Afraid to Risk Big Sea Fight (Shalett) – 12-13
Luftwaffe Now Showing Less Fight (Middleton) – 14
Axis Lines Crumble Under the Red Army’s Pounding (map) – 15
‘Retreat from Moscow’ Must Go On for Hitler (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 16
The Battletide Flows along the Roads to Rome (map) – 17
Allies Make Rome Their Next Goal (Bracker) – 18
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 19
Ellice islands = Ellis Islands?
and
Coward Shoes?
I think Ellis Islands is the archipelago in N.Y. harbor where the immigrants used to land.
lol
My brain is weird some times
The Russians are on over-extended supply lines, chasing routed German units, creating a 70-kilometer salient west of Kiev, with little attention being paid to gaps and flanks.
Army Group South put together the last of it’s reserves, 3 recently reconstituted Panzer Divisions, including 1st S.S.
The Russians weren’t ready when the Germans slammed in to the Southern flank of the Salient, and the toll was horrendous, in many local bitter fights. The Germans would push the Russians back toward Kiev until the rains hit on Nov 24, turning everything in to a muddy quagmire.
Consider this:
Despite being outnumbered by many times, across all types of equipment, German material losses as compared to the Russians is stark.
Tank losses for 1st SS Panzer LAH at Zhitomir in November 1943-January 1944. During two months of combat the LAH lost 141 panzers (incl. 18 Tigers, 60 Panthers and 63 Pz-IV) and 12 StuG. On top of it 17 panzers (6 Tigers, 7 Panthers and 4 Pz-IV) and 2 StuG were in long-term repair.
Just through 24 November, 1st Ukrainian Fronts losses were some 600 armored fighting vehicles, 300 artillery pieces and 1,200 anti-tank guns.
But the Russians can afford this exchange rate, the Germans cannot.
How was the Soviet steamroller supplied? All the ammunition, food, replacements and other supplies had to be organized and transported to the front in a constant stream. That in itself is a major story.
Nice map! Me likey. Where did you get it?
How was the Soviet steamroller supplied? This is an execellent question.
Every Russian soldier knows three American words:
Studebaker
Willys
Spam
We sent the USSR about 600,000 Studebaker 6x6 trucks during the war. The Canadians sent about another 500,000. These are the best heavy-duty trucks made in the world, and are the only vehicles that can keep up with the T-34s in the snow and mud. The Soviets don’t have as many now as they are going to have in June 1944, when they will run a string of spectacular and crushing victories on the Wehrmacht. The trucks will give their offensives legs.
In addition, we are sending the Soviets a large number of locomotives and a good amount of rolling stock.
We sent the USSR enough food to feed the Red Army. Yes, there was Spam. There was also powdered eggs, which the Soviet soldiers called “Roosevelt’s Yaitsa,” yaitsa meaning both “eggs” and “testicles.” We also sent cloth fabric from which they made their uniforms. Other items were radios and waterproof telephone cable, which the Soviets were not capable of making.
Lend-lease provided some weapons, but by and large the USSR did well with the weapons systems they had. The T-34 was perhaps the best tank of World War 2. The Soviet artillery was of high quality, and very high quantity. The PPsH submachine guns were a good basic infantry weapon. The Yak, MiG and Lagg fighters were sufficient, and the Germans hated the Il-2 Stormovik ground attack plane. The Katyusha rocket system made them shit their pants.
So in short, the Soviets could either make weapons or provide the logistics. They did not have the industrial base to do both. So by agreement with the United States, they built weapons. We provided the support.
There is one other part of your question, which was “replacements.” As I posted last weekend, the Red Army has taken about 3.5 million combat casualties since they opened their offensives on July 12. Where do they get the replacements necessary to keep the force levels up? There is a reason all the Soviet press releases like to talk about the number of “inhabited places” liberated by the Red Army. Those inhabited places are being stripped of every male between the age of 15 and 45. They are being given a weapon, a few hours “training,” a scrap of uniform and some vodka before being given the opportunity take revenge on the fascist invaders. They have plenty of motivation, but little skill, and are being shot down. At this time in the war, the Germans believe the Soviets are running out of manpower. Von Mellenthin, who was chief of staff of 48th Panzer Corps in the counterstroke at Zhitomir, is commenting on how the Soviets are sending 15 year old boys against them. Yes, the reserves of manpower are not inexhaustible. But as those 15 year old boys are being shot down, the Red Army liberates more “inhabited places,” and continuously regenerates itself.
This was, in reality, a limited offensive against an overextended enemy, using the last in-theater reserves. When the smoke cleared, and the ground dried, there was nothing left to stop the Russians from driving all the way to the Hungarian and Romanian Mountains.
Most of the German units involved were way below strength, especially in Infantry. Yes, the Tigers, when they weren’t broken down, ran amuck amongst the Soviet T-34’s and US Shermans and Lincolns.
But, in the end, they were left with little to fight with when the Russians brought there material advantage to bear in the Hungarian and Romanian Campaigns.
One of Guderian’s staff officers wrote that if Guderian’s 1943 Mobile-Defense-In-Depth Campaign Plan on the Dnieper line been followed, and the losses incurred in the Kursk and Dneiper offensives not been incurred, they could have held the Mountain Line (and Romania’s fuel supplies) until at least Fall of 44, and even transferred more to Italy.
But, Hitler didn’t see it, and we all know the result. By the time the German remnants got to the Mountains, they were shells, without heavy weapons and supplies. Whole Divisions with 200 or less shooters, because Hitler refused to remove flags from the map, and consolidate units.
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