Osprey's Kharkov 1942

1942 was pretty much a time of doubt in the outcome of the European war. The Germans had been doing rather well consolidating their conquered area with there still being forward movement in the Soviet Union. There had been small setbacks such as not being able to reach Moscow and in the south, the Heer had been pushed back just east of Kharkov, but this was as much a lack of supplies and fresh troops as anything else.

The Soviets assumed that the tide had turned so, before the Germans had a chance to get much of a breather and continue, they went on the offensive in this sector. Initially, they did well, but soon ran up against determined opposition and it took them longer to gain ground than they had thought. The Germans were spread pretty thin, even with Romanian and Hungarian and Italian allies in the fight, so had concentrated their defense in pockets. It were these pockets of defensive resistance that stymied the Soviets.

They found it relatively easy to surround these areas, but breaking them down was the issue. Typical of the poor leadership of the Soviets, they continued to press forward, despite large losses in troops and equipment. The Germans gave ground in a manner that cost the Soviets dearly while still holding on to their strengths and equipment. During this time, reinforcements came in and one area where the Germans pretty well decimated the Soviets was in airpower. Though seriously outnumbered in the air, German pilots and crews were able to sweep the sky of Soviet fighters, leaving their attack planes vulnerable. This allowed air superiority over the battle field and rear areas so that German bombers of all types could wreak havoc on troops and supply concentrations.

Again, poor leadership resulted in attacking without sufficient supplies and eventually, what was an attack turned into a route. So completely did the reinforced Germans over-run and surround Soviet units that pretty much all the Soviet field commanders were captured or killed.

Author Robert Forczyk does a masterful job of telling the tale of hopes, incompetence and eventual defeat. This is all enhanced by some great period photos from both sides and the art work of Howard Gerrard. As is typical of the series, we are provided with some great campaign maps and information on visiting this area today. Overall, it is a fascinating read of this important operation and one that I can easily recommend to you.

June 2013

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