Lt. Fritz Lucke - Panzer Wedge: Vol. 2: The German 3rd Panzer Division and Barbarossas Failure at the Gates of Moscow

PANZER WEDGE

VOLUME TWO

The Stackpole Military History Series

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Cavalry Raids of the Civil War

Ghost, Thunderbolt, and Wizard

In the Lion's Mouth

Pickett's Charge

Witness to Gettysburg

WORLD WAR I

Doughboy War

WORLD WAR II

After D-Day

Airborne Combat

Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943-45

Armoured Guardsmen

Army of the West

Arnhem 1944

Australian Commandos

The B-24 in China

Backwater War

The Battle of France

The Battle of Sicily

Battle of the Bulge, Vol. 1

Battle of the Bulge, Vol. 2

Beyond the Beachhead

Beyond Stalingrad

The Black Bull

Blitzkrieg Unleashed

Blossoming Silk against the Rising Sun

Bodenplatte

The Brandenburger Commandos

The Brigade

Bringing the Thunder

The Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign

Coast Watching in World War II

Colossal Cracks

Condor

A Dangerous Assignment

D-Day Bombers

D-Day Deception

D-Day to Berlin

Decision in the Ukraine

Destination Normandy

Dive Bomber!

A Drop Too Many

Eagles of the Third Reich

The Early Battles of Eighth Army

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Europe in Flames

Exit Rommel

The Face of Courage

Fist from the Sky

Flying American Combat Aircraft of

World War II

For Europe

Forging the Thunderbolt

For the Homeland

Fortress France

The German Defeat in the East, 1944-45

German Order of Battle, Vol. 1

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German Order of Battle, Vol. 3

The Germans in Normandy

Germany's Panzer Arm in World War II

GI Ingenuity

Goodwood

The Great Ships

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Guns against the Reich

Hitler's Nemesis

Hold the Westwall

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Iron Arm

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Japanese Naval Fighter Aces

JG 26 Luftwaffe Fighter Wing War Diary, Vol. 1

JG 26 Luftwaffe Fighter Wing War Diary, Vol. 2

Kampfgruppe Peiper at the Battle of the Bulge

The Key to the Bulge

Knight's Cross Panzers Kursk

Luftwaffe Aces

Luftwaffe Fighter Ace

Luftwaffe Fighter-Bombers over Britain

Luftwaffe Fighters and Bombers

Massacre at Tobruk

Mechanized Juggernaut or Military

Anachronism?

Messerschmitts over Sicily

Michael Wittmann, Vol. 1

Michael Wittmann, Vol. 2

Mission 85

Mission 376

Mountain Warriors

The Nazi Rocketeers

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No Holding Back

On the Canal

Operation Mercury

Packs On!

Panzer Aces

Panzer Aces II

Panzer Aces III

Panzer Commanders of the

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Panzergrenadier Aces

Panzer Gunner

The Panzer Legions

Panzers in Normandy

Panzers in Winter

Panzer Wedge, Vol. 1

Panzer Wedge, Vol. 2

The Path to Blitzkrieg

Penalty Strike

Poland Betrayed

Red Road from Stalingrad

Red Star under the Baltic

Retreat to the Reich

Rommel's Desert Commanders

Rommel's Desert War

Rommel's Lieutenants

The Savage Sky

Ship-Busters

The Siege of Kstrin

The Siegfried Line

A Soldier in the Cockpit

Soviet Blitzkrieg

Stalin's Keys to Victory

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T-34 in Action

Tank Tactics

Tigers in the Mud

Triumphant Fox

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Twilight of the Gods

Typhoon Attack

The War against Rommel's Supply Lines

War in the Aegean

War of the White Death

Winter Storm

Wolfpack Warriors

Zhukov at the Oder

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Cyclops in the Jungle

Expendable Warriors

Fighting in Vietnam

Flying American Combat Aircraft:

The Cold War

Here There Are Tigers

Land with No Sun

MiGs over North Vietnam

Phantom Reflections

Street without Joy

Through the Valley

Two One Pony

WARS OF AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Never-Ending Conflict

The Rhodesian War

GENERAL MILITARY HISTORY

Carriers in Combat

Cavalry from Hoof to Track

Desert Battles

Doughboy War

Guerrilla Warfare

Ranger Dawn

Sieges

The Spartan Army

PANZER WEDGE

VOLUME TWO

The German 3rd Panzer Division and Barbarossa's Failure at the Gates of Moscow

Lt. Fritz Lucke,
with Robert Edwards and Michael Olive

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

English translation 2013 by Battle Born Books and Consulting

Published in 2013 by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
www.stackpolebooks.com

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-0-8117-1205-7

The Library of Congress has cataloged the first volume as follows:

Lucke, Fritz.
[Panzerkeil im Osten. English]
Panzer wedge / Fritz Lucke ; with Robert Edwards and Michael Olive.
p. cm.
Translation of: Panzerkeil im Osten : Gedenkbuch der Berlin-mdrkischen Panzerdivision. Berlin : Verlag Die Wehrmacht, 1942.
ISBN 978-0-8117-1082-4
1. Lucke, Fritz. 2. Germany. Heer. Panzer-Division, 3. 3. World War, 19391945Personal narratives, German. 4. World War, 19391945Regimental historiesGermany. 5. World War, 19391945CampaignsEastern Front. 6. World War, 19391945Tank warfare. I. Edwards, Robert. II. Olive, Michael. III. Title.
D757.563rd L8313 2012
940.54'1343dc23
2012032603

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8117-4992-3

Contents

CHAPTER 1

Armored Blocking Position to the South

THE FIGHTING IN AUGUST BETWEEN THE DNEJPR AND THE DESSNA

After the second major interval in the campaign in the East, the breakthrough through the Stalin Line, the following situation had arisen in the middle portion of the gigantic front (rough overview). The center field-army group of the Soviets was positioned in a broad salient around Smolensk, which was open to the west. The salient started in the north, about in the area around Welikije Luki, arced to the south, pivoted sharply to the west to the Dnjepr, crossed the Dnjepr and the Beresina, and then ran into the Pripet Marshes. The Bolshevik leadership, which took the loss of the MinskSmolenskMoscow Highway hard, wanted to exploit its flanking positionas evidenced by prisoner statements and other enemy materialand retake the western key point along the Beresina, the old fortress of Brobruisk, and, above all, Smolensk. Bringing in strong new field armies, the Soviets conducted extremely violent attacks throughout the second half of July and into the beginning days of August. All of them collapsed and sustained heavy losses.