Prit Buttar - Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943

DEDICATION

For David (Klaus) Shore

CONTENTS

The naming of places in a region like the Ukraine is fraught with difficulty, as so many names have changed since the end of the Soviet Union. Wherever possible, I have attempted to use the names that were current in 1943. I have avoided referring to the enemies of Germany as Russians, and have instead tried to describe these units as Soviet, as large numbers of the soldiers in their ranks came from non-Russian parts of the Soviet Union.

I am hugely grateful for the generous help I received from a great many people, in particular the members of the Facebook Eastern Front Research Forum, who showed huge generosity and enthusiasm. Without your help, guys, this would have been a far lesser book.

GERMANY

Balck, Hermann commander XLVIII Panzer Corps

Brandenberger, Erich commander XXIX Corps

Breith, Hermann commander III Panzer Corps

Busse, Theodor chief of staff, Army Group South

Chevallerie, Kurt von der commander LIX Corps

Choltitz, Dietrich von acting commander XLVIII Panzer Corps

Crisolli, Wilhelm commander 6th Panzer Division

Dostler, Anton commander XLII Corps, later commander VII Corps

Edelsheim, Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von commander 24th Panzer Division

Frlich, Gottfried commander 8th Panzer Division

Gille, Herbert commander SS-Wiking

Hauffe, Arthur commander XIII Corps

Hausser, Paul commander II SS Panzer Corps

Hax, Georg NCO in SS-Totenkopf

Henrici, Sigfrid commander XL Panzer Corps

Heyden, Hans-Wilhelm von battlegroup commander, 24th Panzer Division

Hollidt, Karl-Adolf commander Sixth Army

Hrnlein, Walter commander Grossdeutschland

Hoth, Hermann commander Fourth Panzer Army

Kllner, Hans commander 19th Panzer Division

Kempf, Werner commander eponymous Armee Abteilung, later renamed Eighth Army

Kirchner, Friedrich commander LVII Panzer Corps

Kleist, Ewald von commander Army Group A

Kluge, Gnther von commander Army Group Centre

Knobelsforff, Otto von commander XLVIII Panzer Corps

Koch, Erich Gauleiter of East Prussia and Ukraine

Krger, Walter commander SS-Das Reich

Krger, Walter commander 1st Panzer Division

Kchler, Georg von commander Army Group North

Mackensen, Eberhardt von commander First Panzer Army

Manstein, Erich von commander Army Group South

Manteuffel, Hasso von commander 7th Panzer Division

Mattenklott, Franz commander LVII Corps

Mellenthin, Friedrich von chief of staff, XLVIII Panzer Corps

Mieth, Friedrich commander IV Corps

Mitzlaff, Berndt von battlegroup commander, 8th Panzer Division

Moser, Eduard German soldier in 16th Panzergrenadier Division

Mller-Hillebrand, Burkhart battlegroup commander, 24th Panzer Division

Nehring, Walther commander XXIV Panzer Corps

Nostitz-Wallwitz, Gustav-Adolf von battlegroup commander, 24th Panzer Division

Ott, Eugen commander LII Corps

Palm, Walter battlegroup commander, 24th Panzer Division

Radowitz, Joseph von battlegroup commander, 8th Panzer Division

Raus, Erhard commander XI Corps, later commander Fourth Panzer Army

Rosenberg, Alfred head of Ostministerium

Scheele, Hans-Karl von commander LII Corps

Schell, Adolf von commander 25th Panzer Division

Schrner, Ferdinand commander XL Panzer Corps (replaced Henrici)

Schulz, Johannes acting commander 9th Panzer Division

Schwerin, Gerhard Graf von commander 16th Panzergrenadier Division

Sieberg, Friedrich commander 14th Panzer Division

Simon, Max commander SS-Totenkopf

Sommer, Peter acting commander SS-Das Reich

Stadler, Sylvester panzergrenadier regiment commander, SS-Das Reich

Unrein, Martin commander 14th Panzer Division after the death of Sieberg

Vogelsang, Fritz artillery officer, 16th Panzergrenadier Division

Vormann, Nikolaus von commander 23rd Panzer Division

Wietersheim, Wend von commander 11th Panzer Division

Whler, Otto commander Eighth Army

Zeitzler, Kurt chief of general staff at OKH

SOVIET UNION

Abdullin, Mansoor Red Army infantryman

Antonov, Alexei Innokentyevich first deputy chief of the general staff

Biryuzov, Sergei Semenovich chief of staff, Southern Front, later renamed 4th Ukrainian Front

Budyonny, Semyon Mikhailovich inspector of cavalry

Cherniakhovsky, Ivan Danilovich commander Sixtieth Army

Chibisov, Nikandr Evlampievich commander Thirty-Eighth Army

Chistiakov, Ivan Mikhailovich commander Sixth Guards Army

Chuikov, Vasily Ivanovich commander Eighth Guards (formerly Sixty-Second) Army

Danilov, Alexei Ilyich commander Twelfth Army

Degen, Ion Lazarevich tank commander, Third Tank Army

Ehrenburg, Ilya Grigoryevich Soviet journalist and writer

Fadin, Alexander Mikhailovich tank commander, V Guards Tank Corps

Gagen, Nikolai Alexandrovich commander Fifty-Seventh Army

Getman, Andrei Levrentovich commander VI Tank Corps

Glagolev, Vasily Vasilyevich commander Forty-Sixth Army

Katukov, Mikhail Efimovich commander First Tank Army

Khomenko, Vasily Afanasevich commander Forty-Fourth Army

Khoroshunova, Irina resident of Kiev

Kirichenko, Ivan Fedorovich commander XXIX Tank Corps

Kobylyanskiy, Isaak junior Red Army artillery officer

Konev, Ivan Stepanovich commander Steppe Front, later renamed 2nd Ukrainian Front

Kovalenko, Vasily Ivanovich tank commander, Fifty-Seventh Army

Kravchenko, Andrei Gregorovich commander V Guards Tank Corps

Krivoshein, Semen Moiseevich commander III Mechanised Corps

Krivov, Georgi Nikolayevich tank commander, Fifth Guards Tank Army

Lelyushenko, Dmitry Danilovich commander Third Guards Army

Likhterman, Matvey Tsodikovich paratrooper, 3rd Guards Airborne Brigade

Malinovsky, Rodion Yakovlevich commander Southern Front

Managarov, Ivan Mefodevich commander Fifty-Third Army

Molotov, Vyacheslov Mikhailovich foreign minister

Moskalenko, Kirill Semenovich commander Fortieth Army, later commander Thirty-Eighth Army

Otroschenkov, Sergey Andreyevich tank commander, Fifth Guards Tank Army

Poluboyarev, Pavel Pavlovich commander IV Guards Tank Corps

Rodimtsev, Alexander Ilyich commander XXXII Guards Rifle Corps

Rotmistrov, Pavel Alexeyevich commander Fifth Guards Tank Army

Rybalko, Pavel Semenovich commander Third Tank Army

Sharokhin, Mikhail Nikolayevich commander Thirty-Seventh Army

Shtemenko, Sergei Matveyevich head of Operations Directorate, Stavka

Shumilov, Mikhail Stepanovich commander Seventh Guards Army

Sidorchuk, Pyotor Michailovich commander 5th Guards Airborne Brigade

Solomatin, Mikhail Dmitrievich commander I Mechanised Corps

Tolbukhin, Fedor Ivanovich commander Southern Front, later renamed 4th Ukrainian Front

Trofimenko, Sergei Georgievich commander Twenty-Seventh Army

Trufanov, Kuzma Grigorevich commander XVIII Tank Corps

Usyk, Mikhail resident of Kharkov

Vasilevsky, Alexander Mikhailovich chief of general staff

Vasiliev, Ivan Dmitrievich commander XIX Tank Corps

Vatutin, Nikolai Fyodorovich commander Voronezh Front, later renamed 1st Ukrainian Front

Zatevakhin, Ivan Ivanovich deputy commander Soviet airborne forces, commander II Airborne Corps

Zhadov, Alexei Semenovich commander Fifth Guards Army

Zhukov, Georgi Konstantinovic h deputy commander-in-chief, Soviet Armed Forces