2. kompanie in coloR (2020)
(Click on the images for a larger version.)
2020
On October 24-25 2020, Reenactors from all over the United States, and from countless groups came together to join 2. Kompanie in portraying German soldiers of "Kampfgruppe Simon" part of SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment 1, SS-Division "Totenkopf" during the Battle of Demjansk in 1942.
During the fall and winter of 1941, the Soviets launched a number of operations against German lines in the Northern Sector of the front, keeping the men of the 16th Army on the defensive for the rest of the year. Units of the SS-Totenkopfdivision along with various Heer Divisions dug in for the winter near Lake Ilmen and the town of Demjansk in Staraya Russia.
While the men of the 16th Army defended their positions in the winter of 1941, in January of 1942 several units including the SS-Totenkopfdivision were cut off and surrounded.
The encirclement began as the Demyansk Offensive Operation, the first phase being carried out from 7 January-20 May 1942 on the initiative of General Lieutenant Pavel Kurochkin, commander of Northwestern Front. The intention was to sever the link between the German Demyansk positions, and the Staraya Russa railway that formed the lines of communication of the German 16th Army.
However, owing to the very difficult wooded and swampy terrain, and heavy snow cover, the initial advance by the Front was very modest against stubborn opposition.
On 8 January, a new offensive called the Rzhev–Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation started. This incorporated the previous Front's planning into the Toropets–Kholm Offensive Operation between 9 January and 6 February 1942 which formed the southern pincer of the attack that, beginning the second phase of the northern pincer Demyansk Offensive Operation between 7 January and 20 May, which encircled the German 16th Army's II Army Corps, and parts of the X Army Corps during winter 1941/1942.
German forces inside the pocket consisted of 12th, 30th, 32nd, 123rd and 290th Infanterie-Divisions, and the SS-Division "Totenkopf", and other auxiliary units, for a total of about 90,000 German troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries. Their commander was General Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt, commander of the II Army Corps
For months, thousands of Soviet units threw themselves at the defenders of this small isolated pocket, as the entireThe fighting took a heavy toll on all the units involved, an example would be the SS-Totenkopfdivision, left the pocket the size of a battalion, and the division had to be completely reformed..
At the end of the fighting in the Demjansk Pocket, the Germans had suffered over 55,000 casualties, more than half of their troops involved, and the Soviets suffered 200,000 casualties, approximately half of their numbers involved as well.
Adolf Hitler was so proud of the actions at Demjansk; he issued a special award for all men who served with distinction in the pocket. The stubborn defense of Demjansk, and the success of the Luftwaffe airlift to the pocket is the primary reason Adolf Hitler thought the 6th Army in Stalingrad could hold out. He was wrong.
During the fall and winter of 1941, the Soviets launched a number of operations against German lines in the Northern Sector of the front, keeping the men of the 16th Army on the defensive for the rest of the year. Units of the SS-Totenkopfdivision along with various Heer Divisions dug in for the winter near Lake Ilmen and the town of Demjansk in Staraya Russia.
While the men of the 16th Army defended their positions in the winter of 1941, in January of 1942 several units including the SS-Totenkopfdivision were cut off and surrounded.
The encirclement began as the Demyansk Offensive Operation, the first phase being carried out from 7 January-20 May 1942 on the initiative of General Lieutenant Pavel Kurochkin, commander of Northwestern Front. The intention was to sever the link between the German Demyansk positions, and the Staraya Russa railway that formed the lines of communication of the German 16th Army.
However, owing to the very difficult wooded and swampy terrain, and heavy snow cover, the initial advance by the Front was very modest against stubborn opposition.
On 8 January, a new offensive called the Rzhev–Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation started. This incorporated the previous Front's planning into the Toropets–Kholm Offensive Operation between 9 January and 6 February 1942 which formed the southern pincer of the attack that, beginning the second phase of the northern pincer Demyansk Offensive Operation between 7 January and 20 May, which encircled the German 16th Army's II Army Corps, and parts of the X Army Corps during winter 1941/1942.
German forces inside the pocket consisted of 12th, 30th, 32nd, 123rd and 290th Infanterie-Divisions, and the SS-Division "Totenkopf", and other auxiliary units, for a total of about 90,000 German troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries. Their commander was General Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt, commander of the II Army Corps
For months, thousands of Soviet units threw themselves at the defenders of this small isolated pocket, as the entireThe fighting took a heavy toll on all the units involved, an example would be the SS-Totenkopfdivision, left the pocket the size of a battalion, and the division had to be completely reformed..
At the end of the fighting in the Demjansk Pocket, the Germans had suffered over 55,000 casualties, more than half of their troops involved, and the Soviets suffered 200,000 casualties, approximately half of their numbers involved as well.
Adolf Hitler was so proud of the actions at Demjansk; he issued a special award for all men who served with distinction in the pocket. The stubborn defense of Demjansk, and the success of the Luftwaffe airlift to the pocket is the primary reason Adolf Hitler thought the 6th Army in Stalingrad could hold out. He was wrong.