The Vyazma Airborne Operation was a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

airborne landing in the rear of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

lines during the

Battles of Rzhev The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place ...

. It took place from 18 January to 28 February 1942. The objective of the airborne landing was to help troops of the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army a ...

and Western Front to encircle and destroy Army Group Centre. The airborne operation was unsuccessful and resulted in the loss of most of the troops landed.

Battle

The Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive began on 8 January 1942 with the aim of encircling Army Group Centre. In the first stages of the operation, the

achieved some successes. As a result of the attacks of the Kalinin and Western Fronts, the German lines were breached in several places. In order to facilitate the advance of the troops, Stavka decided to land troops south of

Vyazma Vyazma (russian: Вя́зьма) is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast, and Mozhaysk. Thr ...

with the objective of cutting the

Yukhnov Yukhnov (russian: Ю́хнов) is a town and the administrative center of Yukhnovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Kunava River (Oka's basin) northwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: Histor ...

highway and the

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban la ...

railroad. The planned drop zone was guarded by scattered German units. The first group of airborne troops, composed of the

201st Airborne Brigade First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and the 250th Airborne Regiment, was landed in the rear of German troops south of

from 18 to 22 January. The landing was made at night, and the paratroopers presence in the German rear helped the attacks of the 33rd Army and

1st Guards Cavalry Corps 1st Guards Cavalry Zhytomyr Red Banner Corps (Russian: 1-й гвардейский кавалерийский Житомирский Краснознаменный корпус) was a military unit of the Soviet Red Army which was renamed from ...

. At the end of January, the

, under the command of

Pavel Alexeyevich Belov Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans and personally led t ...

, broke through the German lines. To prevent a German retreat from the planned encirclement, Stavka decided to land troops in the

area to cut the

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

railroads and highways. On 27 January, the dropping of

4th Airborne Corps The 4th Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Red Army in World War II. It fought in the Vyazma airborne operation, an unsuccessful landing during the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive. History The corps was formed in the spring of 1941 in the West ...

in the village of Ozerechnya. Due to a shortage of transport planes, the paratroop drops were made in an alternating order, starting with 8th Airborne Brigade. German aircraft attacked the transport planes in the air and on the ground. As a result of German bombing raids on airfields, 7

Tupolev TB-3 The Tupolev TB-3 (russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovshchik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early ...

transport aircraft were destroyed. There was also very little fighter cover for the transports and many were shot down. As a result of this, as well as worsening weather conditions, Stavka was forced to suspend drops. However, three battalions of the 8th Airborne Brigade, comprising 2,100 airborne troops had been landed by 1 February, along with 34.4 tons of supplies. The landing itself was unsuccessful, as a large part of the supplies were lost, and the airborne troops were scattered over a wide area in winter weather conditions. As a result, only 1,320 paratroopers were able to reform into coherent units. The airborne troops attempted to cut German communications west of

. In a few days, they knocked out some parts of the railroad and highway and captured the headquarters of some German units. On 31 January, German Chief of the Army General Staff Franz Halder wrote that "The position of the troops of the 4th Army is very serious. There have been difficulties with supply." By 6 February, the survivors of the 8th Airborne Brigade had linked up with

. Its units were included in the corps structure after the linkup. By mid-February in the area of

an extremely difficult situation had developed. The Soviet forces failed to encircle the German troops and the fighting dragged on. Stavka decided to drop the main forces of the

west of

with the task of cutting the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

highway and linking up with parts of the 50th Army. The landing of the 9th and

214th Airborne Brigade 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number ...

s took place at night from 16 to 24 February. During this period, 1525 paratroopers and 7373 supply bales were dropped in the area of Zelanje. The landing took place with the active opposition of the Germans. On 23 February, the

commander Major General Alexei Levashev was killed, when his transport was shot down. Corps chief of staff Colonel Alexander Kazankin assumed command. On the ground, the airborne troops faced strong German resistance. However, the airborne troops were able to link up with the 50th Army on 28 February, but the ground troops were unable to break through the German lines, and the offensive stalled.

Aftermath

Left in the German rear,

, in conjunction with the

and elements of 33rd Army conducted active military operations. Elements of the airborne troops were destroyed during Operation Hannover. In early April, the combined forces were placed under command of Major General

. The united forces seized the area south of Vyazma and held it until the end of May, pinning down a few German divisions. On the night of 26 May, the group broke through the encirclement and joined the 10th Army to the north of Kirov on 24 June.

References

{{coord missing, Germany 1942 in the Soviet Union Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Airborne operations of World War II

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References