148 THE WIDENING WAR 1942
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CRIMEA
UKRAINE
U
S
S
R
Army
Group B
German
6th Army
German 1st
Panzer Army
German
17th Army
German 4th
Panzer Army
German
2nd Army
Army
Group A
Stalingrad
Front
Soviet
62nd Army
Soviet
64th Army
North
Caucasus
Front
Trans-Caucasus
Front
German
11th Army
Kerch
Peninsula
Kamensk
Novoshakhtinsk
Novorossiysk
Novaya
Kalitva
Budyonnovsk
Apsheronsk
Eupatoria
Sevastopol
Slavyansk
Volgodonsk Kotelnikovo
Timashevsk
Ordzhonikidze
Gelendzhik
Lysychansk
Tikhoretsk
Cherkessk
Volchansk
Krasnodar
Berdyansk
Pyatigorsk
Stalingrad
Kropotkin
Makiivka
Voronezh
Stavropol
Kupiansk
Izyum
Chertkovo
Millerovo
Buynaksk
Makhachkala
Taganrog
Kalach
Belgorod
Mariupol
Horlivka
Grozny
Sukhumi
Batumi
Nalchik
Armavir
Mozdok
Maikop
Kharkov
Labinsk
Alagir
Gubkin
Poltava
Krasnograd
Tuapse
Valuyki
Rossosh
Rostov
Kerch
Kursk
Yeysk
Sochi
Livny
Elista
Proletarskaya
Kalmuk
Steppe
Orel
Jun 30 The Soviet garrison at
Sevastopol begins evacuating;
the remaining troops surrender
on July 3.
Jun 28–Jul 24 The German 2nd
Army takes over at the Battle of
Voronezh when the 4th Panzer
Army moves south.
Jul 23 The Germans
capture Rostov.
Sep 6
The German
17th Army reaches
Novorossiysk.
Nov 2 The German Panzer
advance is halted to the
west of Ordzhonikidze.
Sep 1–Nov 2 The German
advance is disrupted by fires
set by the Soviets and
by cavalry attacks.
Aug 23 The German
6th Army penetrates
Stalingrad’s outer suburbs.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF KHARKOV
MAY 12–28, 1942
In May 1942, the Soviets attempted to retake Kharkov,
a city captured by the Germans in October 1941. They
advanced into German defenses around Kharkov, but
the German 6th Army counterattacked and, working
with the 1st Panzer Army, swiftly enclosed the Soviet
forces. By the end of May, more than 240,000 Soviet
soldiers had been captured or killed, leaving the Red
Army temporarily short of reserves.
2
Soviet offensive
May 12–17
German counter-
offensive May 17–28
CLEARING THE CRIMEA MAY 8–JULY 3, 1942
On May 8, the German 11th Army began an assault on
the Kerch Peninsula—a landing stage for operations in
the Caucasus. After Kerch fell, the Luftwaffe attacked
the besieged city of Sevastopol with a ferocious bombing
campaign from June 2. The German infantry moved in
on June 7, but met such strong Soviet resistance that
reinforcements had to be called in from the 17th
Army. The Soviets finally surrendered on July 3.
1
OPERATION BLUE BEGINS
JUNE 28–JULY 22, 1942
With Crimea all but secured, Operation Blue was
launched on June 28. The 4th Panzer Army dashed
across 100 miles (160 km) to take Voronezh, where
the 2nd Army later took up defensive positions to
protect the German advance. The 4th Panzer
Army then moved south while the 6th Army began
advancing east toward Stalingrad.
3
4th Panzer Army
advance
Battle of Voronezh
6th Army
advance
German 11th Army
advance, May 8–Jun 30
German aerial
bombardment
◁ German troops at Kharkov
The Soviet offensive against the 6th
Army began well, but was reversed
by German airstrikes after which
three Soviet field armies were
hemmed in and destroyed.
Jan–May 1942 A Soviet offensive to take
Kharkov does not succeed, but creates a
huge salient around Izyum containing
around 340,000 Soviet troops.
May 15
Kerch falls to
the Germans
after eight days.
Jul 23 Hitler changes
his mind and orders the
4th Panzer Army, originally
bound for the Caucasus,
to Stalingrad.
May–Nov Batumi
is designated the
southernmost
objective of the
Caucasus invasion.
US_148-149_German_adv_Stalingrad.indd 148 16/04/19 11:21 AM