TheSecondWar.pl
Timeline
Battles
People
Places
Series
Glossary
pl
Timeline
Battles
People
Places
Series
Glossary
← Timeline
Erich von Manstein
Person page: Erich von Manstein →
Tag
(25)
1939
October
31
The Manstein Plan
On 31 October 1939 Army Group A sent Erich von Manstein’s memorandum to the OKH. The main blow in the west was to shift south, towards the Ardennes.
1940
February
17
Key event
Manstein presents his plan to Hitler
On 17 February 1940 Manstein, removed from planning, put his Ardennes idea to Hitler. On 24 February the OKH shifted the main thrust to Army Group A.
1941
July
15
The Soltsy counter-attack
On 14 July 1941 the Soviet 11th Army struck Manstein's corps at Soltsy and cut off the 8th Panzer Division. The drive on Leningrad stalled for weeks.
October
08
The Battle of the Sea of Azov
On 8 October 1941 the Germans took Mariupol. Kleist trapped the Soviet 18th and 9th Armies by the Sea of Azov; General Smirnov died in the Chernihivka pocket.
27
Manstein in the Crimea
At the end of October 1941 Manstein’s Eleventh Army broke the Soviet defences at Ishun and burst into the Crimea. On 30 October it stood before Sevastopol.
December
17
The second assault on Sevastopol
On 17 December 1941 Manstein's 11th Army launched a second assault on Sevastopol. After two weeks, with Soviet landings at Kerch and Feodosia, it stalled.
25
The Kerch landing
On the night of 25–26 December 1941 the Red Army began landing near Kerch and on 29 December at Feodosia. Manstein had to halt his Sevastopol assault.
1942
March
01
The Crimean Front offensive
From 27 February 1942 the Crimean Front attacked the Germans and Romanians at Ak-Monai to relieve Sevastopol. By April it had stalled in mud and fire.
May
08
Operation Trappenjagd
On 8 May 1942 Manstein's 11th Army attacked the Crimean Front. In under two weeks it routed three Soviet armies and retook the Kerch Peninsula.
June
12
The third assault on Sevastopol
On 12 June 1942, after five days of attacks, Manstein's 11th Army was biting into the northern sector of Sevastopol's defences. Both sides lost heavily.
July
01
Key event
The fall of Sevastopol
On 1 July 1942 Manstein’s troops entered ruined Sevastopol. The defence commanders were evacuated; tens of thousands of soldiers were left on Cape Khersones.
December
12
Operation Winter Storm begins
On 12 December 1942 a German relief force for the Sixth Army set out from Kotelnikovo. Hoth's tanks reached the Myshkova but never got through to the pocket.
1943
February
14
The liberation of Rostov
On 14 February 1943 troops of the Southern Front liberated Rostov-on-Don. The Germans had got the First Panzer Army through the city and fell back to the Mius.
16
The liberation of Kharkiv
On 16 February 1943 Voronezh Front troops entered Kharkiv, abandoned by an SS corps against Hitler's orders. A month later the Germans retook the city.
March
05
Manstein's counter-offensive
In early March 1943 Manstein’s counter-stroke shattered the armies of the South-Western Front and the 3rd Tank Army. The SS Panzer Corps advanced on Kharkiv.
14
The Germans retake Kharkiv
On 14 March 1943, after four days of street fighting, the divisions of the II SS Panzer Corps took Kharkiv. Four days later the Germans retook Belgorod too.
July
05
Key event
The Battle of Kursk begins
On 5 July 1943 the Germans launched Operation Citadel, attacking the Kursk salient from north and south, and ran into the Red Army’s strongest defences yet.
12
The Battle of Prokhorovka
On 12 July 1943 the 5th Guards Tank Army struck the SS Panzer Corps at Prokhorovka. It lost hundreds of tanks but halted the German advance.
13
Hitler calls off Operation Citadel
On 13 July 1943 at the Wolf’s Lair Hitler told Kluge and Manstein he was ending the Kursk offensive. The Red Army was already counter-attacking near Oryol.
August
23
The liberation of Kharkiv in August 1943
On 23 August 1943 Steppe Front troops entered Kharkiv, abandoned by the Germans. The city changed hands for the fourth and last time in the war.
October
25
The liberation of Dnipropetrovsk
On 25 October 1943 troops of Malinovsky's 3rd Ukrainian Front took ruined Dnipropetrovsk and Dniprodzerzhynsk on the lower Dnieper.
November
26
The liberation of Gomel
On 26 November 1943 Rokossovsky's Belorussian Front took the ruined city of Gomel, the first Belarusian regional centre recaptured from the Germans.
1944
January
28
The Korsun pocket
On 28 January 1944 tanks of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts met at Zvenyhorodka, trapping two German corps – some 56,000–60,000 men – near Korsun.
February
16
The breakout from the Korsun pocket
On the night of 16/17 February 1944 the German corps trapped at Korsun broke out of the pocket. About two-thirds of the men escaped; their equipment was lost.
March
08
The offensive in Right-Bank Ukraine
In early March 1944 three Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army struck west of the Dnieper. In the spring mud the Germans fell back towards the Bug and the Dniester.