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Battle of Velikiye Luki
Part of World War II
Velikiye Luki (red, upper left) and the nearby rail trunks, in the context of the Soviet 1942-1943 offensives. (click to enlarge)
Date 19 November 1942 – 16 January 1943 Location Velikiye Luki, Pskov Oblast, Russia Result Qualified Soviet victory
Combatants
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders
Kurt von der Chevallerie	M. A. Purkayev
Strength
~20,000 (on 19 Nov)	100,000 (on 19 Nov)
Casualties
17,000 killed or wounded, 3,000 captured	30,000 killed or wounded

Situation after the initial Soviet advance.

The Battle of Velikiye Luki between Germany and the Soviet Union occurred in and around the Russian city Velikiye Luki during the winter of 1942-1943.

When Operation Barbarossa had played out and the front line in the northern sector of the Eastern Front had stabilized in the spring of 1942, the Germans were left in control of the town Velikiye Luki, which provided them a bridgehead over the Lovat River. A major north-south rail trunk ran parallel to the river somewhat to the west, behind the German lines, and marshy terrain leading to Lake Peipus began just north of the city, making attack difficult for either side there. The city itself was therefore a natural point for a Soviet counterattack, to reduce the German bridgehead and establish a bridgehead of their own on the opposite side, denying the Germans use of the rail trunk. Thus the Germans garrisoned the city and fortified it heavily over the course of 1942.

A major Soviet offensive to retake the city did indeed develop in mid-November 1942, beginning just days before the larger Operation Uranus that surrounded Stalingrad, and Velikiye Luki was likewise quickly surrounded. However, the garrison and fortifications prevented its immediate seizure. While the Soviets fought to reduce the fortified heart of the city the Germans brought up reserves and began a series of attempts to relieve the garrison. All the attempts failed, and during the final attempt commandos from the Brandenburger Regiment were used to infiltrate the lines and help the remnant of the garrison break out, but the city was permanently lost to the Red Army and only a small fraction of the original German garrison escaped with the Brandenburgers. The defenders in the Eastern half of the city finally surrendered on 16 January 1943.

The battle is sometimes called "The Little Stalingrad of the North" due to its similarities with the larger and better-known Battle of Stalingrad that raged simultaneously in the southern sector of the front. (However, a number of other battles in World War II and afterward have also been dubbed a "Little Stalingrad".)

• Army Group Center
  • Group Chevallerie
    • Velikiye Luki garrison
    • Group Wöhler
      • 8th Panzer Division
      • 20th Motorized Infantry Division
      • 3rd Mountain Division
      • 83rd Infantry Division
        • 3rd Ski Battalion (attached)
      • 205th Infantry Division
      • 291st Infantry Division
      • 331st Infantry Division
      • Elements of the 3rd Mountain Division
      • 1st SS Motorized Brigade
        • 459th Assault Gun Company (attached)
        • RFSS Battalion (attached)
        • Freikorps Danmark (attached)
      • 185th Assault Gun Battalion
      • One company from the 803rd Brandenburger Commando Regiment
    • II Luftwaffe Corps
      • 6th Luftwaffe Field Division
      • One battalion from the 7th Flieger Division

Most of Army Group Center was engaged in resisting the second Soviet Rzhev-Sychevka offensive throughout this period.

Prior to the battle the forces in and around Velikiye Luki were under the control of the LIX Corps, commanded by General Chevallerie. As the battle developed LIX Corps was temporarily redesignated Group Chevallerie, an army in all but name, and a new Group Wöhler was organized to control the troops in the relief attempts. Group Chevallerie was redesignated back to LIX Corps after the battle.

Almost half of 83rd Infantry was assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.

3rd Mountain was at little more than half strength, since its 139th Regiment had been left in Lapland when the division withdrew from northern Finland. The 138th Mountain Regiment was the unknown unit of 3rd Mountain shown in Maps 2 and 3.

8th Panzer was dispatched from Army Group North's reserve. It was greatly understrength in tanks at the time of the battle. Those it had were mostly the useful but obsolescent PzKW 38t models of Czechoslovakian pre-war design reinforced with only a few PzKW III and PzKW IV, no match for the Soviet tanks encountered in the battle.

20th Motorized was from Army Group Center's reserve.

German relief attempts. (Notice that the order of battle given on this 1952 map is not accurate.)

• Kalinin Front (Purkayev)
  • Third Shock Army (K. N. Galitsky)
    • 21st Guards Rifle Division
    • 28th Rifle Division
    • 32nd Rifle Division
    • 150th Rifle Division Stalin
    • 360th Rifle Division
    • 129th Tank Brigade
    • 184th Tank Brigade
    • 236th Tank Brigade
    • 45th Ski Brigade
    • 23rd Rifle Brigade
    • 100th Rifle Brigade
    • 389th Tank Destroyer Regiment
    • Supporting troops
  • 2nd Mechanized Corps
    • 381st Rifle Division
    • 33rd Tank Brigade
    • 36th Tank Brigade
    • 18th Mechanized Brigade
    • 34th Mechanized Brigade
    • 43rd Mechanized Brigade
    • 44th Ski Brigade
    • 26th Rifle Brigade
    • 31st Rifle Brigade
    • Supporting troops
  • 5th Guards Shock Corps
    • 9th Guards Rifle Division
    • 46th Guards Rifle Division
      • 34th Breakthrough Tank Regiment (attached)
    • 257th Rifle Division
    • 357th Rifle Division
    • 92nd Tank Brigade
    • Supporting troops
  • 8th Estonian Rifle Corps
    • 19th Guards Rifle Division
    • 7th Estonian Rifle Division
    • 249th Estonian Rifle Division
    • 45th Tank Brigade
    • Supporting troops

Most of Maksim Alekseyevich Purkayev's Kalinin Front was engaged in the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive to the south of Velikiye Luki; only the units on his right flank participated in this battle. K. N. Galitsky commanded the 3rd Shock Army which was part of the Kalinin Front.

The 92nd Tank Brigade was equipped with heavy KV-1 tanks.

Conversely, the 34th Breakthrough Tank Regiment was equipped with T-34 tanks rather than the expected KV-1 tanks. Also, notice that the 34th was not a Guards unit, though it operated as part of the 46th Guards Rifle Division.

The 184th Tank Brigade was destroyed and rebuilt again over the course of the battle. However, for some reason it was rebuilt as the 78th Tank Brigade.

• Eastern Front (WWII)

• Chadwick, Frank A. et al. (1979). White Death: Velikiye Luki, The Stalingrad of the North. Normal, Il: Game Designers Workshop.
  • White Death is a board wargame that covers the battle with exacting detail. It includes notes on the battle, detailed orders of battle for each side, and a 1:100,000 map derived from Soviet wartime situation maps.
• Department of the Army Pamphlet 20-234 "Operations of Encircled Forces: German Experiences in Russia" Washington, DC 1952
• Webb, William A. (2002). "Battle of Velikiye Luki: Surrounded in the Snow". Accessed on April 21, 2005.