A selection of facts was made by Pavel Shasherin
At a party conference held in early 1941, on the eve of the war, Malenkov, making a report, naturally read and corrected by Stalin, said: “We do not need party members even with pre-revolutionary experience, we need engineers, doctors, scientists, teachers, let and non-partisan . This is what Stalin was guided by in the 1930s.
At an expanded meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Chief of the General Staff G. K. Zhukov reports: "During the period from 1937 to 1941, the fire capabilities of the ground forces increased more than three times, the number of combat aircraft increased 7 times, and tanks 43 times."
In the pre-war years, the following were created: a 76-mm field cannon with the best characteristics in Europe, an M-30 122-mm howitzer that remained in service for many decades, no other country was able to create a field122-mm howitzer, 152-mm howitzer-cannon, unique in its characteristics heavy rocket projectiles of 132 mm caliber with V. V. in 5 kg, 82-mm shells for the Air Force. Tanks with unique armor and armament of 76-mm cannons with shells from the Klim Voroshilov and T-34 field guns were adopted. Until June 30, 1,865 super-heavy tanks will be produced, of which 1126 are T-34 and 693 KV tanks. Ball built the first fully armored Il-2 attack aircraft. At the beginning of 1940, the Yak-1, LaGG-1 and LaGG-3 fighters and the MiG-3 high-altitude interceptor were put into service. Pe-2 twin-engine dive bomber and TB-7 (Pe-8) long-range four-engine bomber.
From 1939 to 1941, the number of divisions doubled, and the number of aviation regiments by June 1941 will increase by 4/5. In 1939-1940, the Central Committee of the party sent 5,500 communists to party-political work in the army and navy, and in June 1941 another 3,700.
Of particular concern to the command of the Red Army was the absence or low traffic capacity of roads in the territory annexed to the USSR in 1939. Some members of the People's Commissariat leadership spoke out against the equipment of the Red Army supply depots far from the border: Marshal G. I. Kulik, L. Z. Mekhlis and E. A. Shchadenko.
In January 1941. The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and two battleships Scharnhorst and Greisenau sailed into the Atlantic following the pocket battleships Deutschland and Admiral Graf Spee. Admiral Scheer made great strides in the Atlantic, sinking 19 ships (137,000 tons) and sent two tankers to Germany as prizes. In total, he stayed in the ocean for 160 days. In total, battleships sank 116,000 tons, and the cruiser Heeper - 8 ships (40,000 tons).
4 January. An excerpt from the report of the Yugoslav General Staff came from the military attaché in Belgrade, Major General Alexander Samokhin.
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"Russia is at a disadvantage due to the presence of German divisions in Romania … It has a complete new operational plan, according to which the center of gravity of the future war will lie in the Balkan region, hoping that this will lead to the cutting off of bases and the destruction of German troops …"
January 13, 1941. TASS statement on the transfer of German troops to Bulgaria.
In the foreign press, reports are circulating with reference to some circles in Bulgaria, as a source of information that a certain part of the German troops have already been transferred to Bulgaria, that the transfer of the latter to Bulgaria continues with the knowledge and consent of the USSR, that at the request of the Bulgarian government about the passage of German troops to Bulgaria, the USSR answered with consent.
TASS is authorized to declare that:
1. If there are German troops in Bulgaria, and if their further transfer to Bulgaria does take place, then all this happened and is happening without the knowledge and consent of the USSR, since the German side never raised the question of the presence or transfer of German troops to the USSR to Bulgaria.
2. In particular, the Bulgarian government never addressed the USSR with a request for the passage of German troops into Bulgaria, therefore, could not receive any answer from the USSR.
Pravda newspaper 1941, April 13.
The Wehrmacht command continues to believe that “the most favorable solution would be to preserve the neutrality of Norway. But it is worrying that England intends to occupy Norway with the tacit consent of the Norwegian government."
January 15. The commander-in-chief of the French army, General Gamelin, is sending a note to Prime Minister Daladieu about the possible opening of a new theater of military operations in Scandinavia. Gamelin prepares a plan to seize the Norwegian coast and extend the operation to Sweden and the occupation of the Gällivar mines.
Using the agreements with Germany, the USSR tried to snatch people of progressive views from the clutches of the Nazis. At the beginning of 1941, it was possible to achieve the release of the communist writer Jean - Richard Blok. But they did not agree to give us the French physicist Paul Langevin. Later he was saved by the Resistance. The Red Chapel and Rabi's group have already begun to transmit their information. In mid-February, a printing house worker brings to the embassy a phrasebook printed in mass circulation with phrases in Russian: “Where is the collective farm chairman?”, “Are you a communist?”, And the like.
January 21. Washington lifts the embargo on trade relations with the Soviet Union, imposed after the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish war in December 1939. But this did not change anything, since the goods fell into the licensing system on the basis of the law of July 2, 1940, and their export was strictly controlled. So it's more of a psychological effect.
In the first months of 1941, more and more questions appeared in the German press about the concentration of Soviet troops on the western borders.
At the beginning of 1941, the OUN began to prepare a new uprising. Terrorist activity intensified, the number of acts of sabotage and sabotage increased. However, Soviet law enforcement agencies thwarted an attempted uprising in Western Ukraine on the eve of the war. Hundreds of bandits and militants were arrested and convicted, hundreds were evicted, some were killed during detention. During 1940-1941, 400 emissaries who arrived from abroad were arrested, 200 reconnaissance and sabotage groups that were trying to break through the border were liquidated. The results of June 22 showed that too little was done, as the number of terrorist attacks on June 21-22 went off scale.
On February 1, the American Atlantic Fleet was formed under the command of Admiral King.
England. February 5th. Halifax told Hull that England feared that a significant amount of supplies coming from the United States might end up falling into German hands. To which he received the reply that the US government is closely monitoring American supplies to the Soviet Union and added: “Regardless of the fact that the Soviet Union is not yet actively participating in the war, it still remains an extremely important factor, and also influences the world in in general, both in Europe and in Asia … Purely political negotiations became the property of the British press, after which Hull invited Halifax to his place and told him that it should not have published a message about the British demand to reduce American supplies to the USSR.
February 16. The German ship "Altmark", carrying the British captured by the Wehrmacht, pursued by British destroyers, takes refuge in the Norwegian fjord. Captain 1st Rank Vayanu, the destroyer commander, is ordered to enter the territorial waters of Norway and rescue the British from captivity.
In February 1941 Zhukov G. K. replaces K. A. Meretskov as Chief of the General Staff. In the same month, Germany began the transfer of troops to the Soviet borders. Moscow received a new message: "The Germans have concentrated 127 divisions on the eastern borders." A week later, a new message: “Hitler refused to seize England. His immediate task is to capture Ukraine and Baku. The offensive is planned for April or May 1941."
On February 26, the head of the NKVD, Lavrenty Beria, is carrying out a major structural reform in the camps of his department. In the GULAG system, 3 large specialized headquarters were formed. A) Main Directorate of Industrial Construction Camps (Glavpromstroy or GULPS), B) Main Directorate of Camps for Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises (GULGMP) and C) Directorate of the Fuel Industry of the NKVD (USP) Glavpromstroy included 17 places of deprivation of liberty with a population of over 93,000 people. Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant, Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant and Nikolaevsky-on-Amur mining complex - raw material base Amurstal. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Glavpromstroy included 12 separate ITLs with a total number of 75,000 people. This is mainly the Urals, where metallurgical plants were commissioned. Another 55,000 prisoners worked in six GULGMP camps:Monchegorsk, Norilsk, Dzhezkazgan, Dzhidinsk, Umalta and Tyrny -Auz ITL. USP in June 1941 included 5 ITLs: Ukhta-Izhemsky, Vorkutinsky, Bukachansky, Gusino-Ozersky and Raichikhinsky with 64,000 people. (287,000 people) Two weeks after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the UPT was abolished, and the camps were transferred to the Glavpromstroy and GULGMP. During the war years, 200,000 German, German, Japanese, Hungarian, Romanian, Italian and Bulgarian prisoners of war passed through the camps of Glavpromstroy, as well as the labor of mobilized German specialists.(287,000 people) Two weeks after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the UPT was abolished, and the camps were transferred to the Glavpromstroy and GULGMP. During the war years, 200,000 German, German, Japanese, Hungarian, Romanian, Italian and Bulgarian prisoners of war passed through the camps of Glavpromstroy, as well as the labor of mobilized German specialists.(287,000 people) Two weeks after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the UPT was abolished, and the camps were transferred to the Glavpromstroy and GULGMP. During the war years, 200,000 German, German, Japanese, Hungarian, Romanian, Italian and Bulgarian prisoners of war passed through the camps of Glavpromstroy, as well as the labor of mobilized German specialists.
In February, the People's Committee of Internal Affairs was reorganized into two independent organs of the NKVD and the People's Commissariat for State Security, headed by Vsevolod Merkulov (one of LP Beria's associates. Shot in 1953 in the Beria case. rehabilitation). Abakumov becomes Beria's deputy, who after the outbreak of the war headed the Directorate of Special Departments in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (Military Counterintelligence). See July 41
On March 1, Hitler issues a directive to complete preparations for the invasion of Norway, but at the same time occupy Denmark.
The results of the USSR NPO inspection in the Air Force of the Moscow Military District in March 1941 - three months before the war. Under the command of the "victim of Beria", the commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District, General Pumpur, and two more "victims", generals Smushkevich and Rychagov, 23% of the pilots did not sit at the controls of combat aircraft at all, although according to reports they made flights. In the 24th Air Defense Division, not a single alarm was announced with the departure of fighters. Almost all units of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District were incapable of combat, machine guns were not targeted, bomb racks were not adjusted, alert readiness was not worked out.
On March 1, the Bulgarian government was seduced by promises, and joined the "tripartite pact", according to which German troops were allowed to pass through the territory of Bulgaria and take positions on the border with Greece. But a few days after the Germans entered the territory of Bulgaria, British troops began to land in Greece.
In March, the USSR successfully tested the BM-13 with a 132 mm caliber. The day before the start of the war, it was adopted by the Red Army. In the projectile, a detonator was used a little less than the length of the warhead, due to this, the fragments of the projectiles heated up to 600-800 o C, playing the role of an igniting element. The fragments increased 1.5-2 times in comparison with shells of the same caliber, due to the hot combustion chamber. See July 14, 1941.
March 11, 1941. The US Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, the full name of which is "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States." The total lend-lease deliveries during World War II amounted to $ 50.1 billion At current prices, about $ 610 billion, of which 31.4 billion fell on Great Britain, 11, 3 billion, the USSR, 3.2 billion, France, 1.6 billion, China. GDP of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition USSR and Great Britain ratio to Germany and the allies as 1: 1. But Great Britain is ruined by the USSR losing territory and the industrial potential of the USSR is reduced by a third compared to the pre-war level. But from October 41 to June 30, 1942, the United States sent 545 aircraft to the USSR, 783 tank, 16 502 trucks, which was one fifth of the planned. The sea route from the east coast of the United States to Murmansk took about three weeks and up to 40% of all shipments were transported along it. But along this route, up to 15% of cargo was lost. The sea route from the western coast of the United States to the Far East took 18-20 days. The first deliveries along the Trans'iran route began in November 1941. For this purpose, the USSR and Great Britain occupied Iran in August 1941. Since May 1942 liters, deliveries averaged 80-90 thousand tons per month. In the second half of 1943, up to 200,000 tons per month. 184 112 vehicles were sent from Iranian enterprises to the USSR. In total, 22,150 aircraft, 12,700 tanks, 51,503 jeeps and all-terrain vehicles, 427,284 trucks, 8,218 rifles, 131,633 automatic weapons, 12,997 pistols were delivered to the USSR. Non-ferrous metals 802,000 tons, aluminum pipes - 5,807 tons,insulated copper wire 181 616 tons, oil products - 2 670 000 tons, cotton - 106 893 000 tons. That was 4% of the Soviet production during the war. Great Britain paid the US in full only in 2006 on December 29. After the 1949 revolution, China refused to acknowledge debts at all. Citing industry difficulties, France refused to pay its debts, but offered a number of lucrative foreign policy treaties, including opening the French film market to Hollywood.refused to pay debts France, but offered a number of lucrative foreign policy agreements, including the opening of the French film market for Hollywood.refused to pay debts France, but offered a number of lucrative foreign policy agreements, including the opening of the French film market for Hollywood.
March 12. (For England on March 13). The Finnish government signs the capitulation. England is left with no reason to land a landing "to support Finland in the war against the USSR." Two divisions instead of Norway are sent to France. Daladieu loses his post and Reigo becomes Prime Minister, who will travel to London on March 28 for a meeting of the Allied Supreme Council, determined to insist on an invasion of Norway. This is what Churchill wanted. Chamberlain abandons his plan of appeasement and proceeds to decisive action and proposes to introduce an item on the mining of the Rhine and others from the air. The start of mining on the Norwegian coast is scheduled for April 5th. But France contradicts this, since it understands that Germany will begin to mine its rivers in response. See April 4.
March 13. British submarines are scattered off the southern coast of Norway, and then land troops in Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger.
March 14th. The German command intercepts radiograms, which instruct all civilian ships to be ready to sail.
Sudoplatov. "In March 1941, military intelligence and the NKVD, through their residencies, actively supported the conspiracy against the pro-German government in Belgrade." March 27. A coup was accomplished, which led to the overthrow of the government of D. Cvetkovic, who joined the tripartite pact. King Peter II was erected on the throne, and the new government of D. Simovich appealed on March 30, and the Soviet Union with a proposal to conclude a military-political alliance "on any conditions that the Soviet government proposes, up to some social changes implemented in the USSR, which can and must be produced in all countries. " See April 3.
Yugoslavia. Under pressure from Germany, the Yugoslav government agreed to join the Axis countries on the basis of a compromise: without accepting any military obligations, it allowed the Belgrade-Nis railway line to the Greek border to be used for the transfer of German troops. Yugoslav representatives signed this agreement on March 25
March 27. The pro-English commander of the Yugoslav airborne forces, General D. Simovic, and his supporters overthrew the pro-German government of D. Cvetkovic. Churchill said in one of his speeches that the new Yugoslav government will receive all kinds of help and support. It seems that every guarantee from the British government is a sign of the coming occupation by the enemies of England. Hitler, enraged by this circumstance, postpones the attack on the USSR and decides to attack Yugoslavia.
30th of March. “It's about the fight to destroy. This war will be very different from the war in the West. In the East, cruelty itself is good for the future. Commanders must sacrifice a lot to overcome their hesitation, - Hitler at a meeting of the leadership of the Wehrmacht.
In March, the Barbarossa plan became known to Soviet intelligence, initially indicating the date of the attack on May 15 and June 15, 1941.
In March, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Greisenau, under the command of Admiral Gunther Lutyens, sank 13 British transports. The British felt they were losing the Atlantic. See May 18.
April 1 Hitler postpones the Barbarossa plan to the second half of June and decides to invade Norway and Denmark at 05:15 on April 9. On the eve, Hitler was informed of the order for Norwegian air defense systems to open fire, without the approval of the command.
April 3rd. The Bulgarian government, represented by Simovich, expressed its readiness "to immediately take into its territory any armed forces of the USSR, first of all aviation."
The government of the USSR feared that this could accelerate the clash with Germany and advised the new government of Yugoslavia not to break the protocol on joining the tripartite treaty, but with the observance of neutrality. See April 5.
Soviet pilots at the Yugoslavian bomber (Italian construction) Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 (in service with Yugoslavia) that flew to the USSR.
This case is described by Pokryshkin "Know thyself in battle". page 4. “And immediately several people descended from the cabins to the ground…. Senior officers and generals of the Yugoslav Air Force. … An hour and a half later, the Savoy flew away "(to the airfield in Odessa). Pokryshkin mentions two aircraft. Apparently, the squadron commander "Senior Lieutenant Sokolov had combat experience and was an expert in aviation" is with the orders. The planes were escorted to Odessa by the "navigator of the Seagull regiment and the inspector Kurilov" with the political instructor's patch on the sleeve.
On March 22, 1941, the German battleships returned to French Brest from a raid on the Atlantic and on the Scharnhorst discovered engine malfunctions. On April 6, the Greisenau received serious damage and was incapacitated for several months.
On March 23, Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka arrived in Moscow and announced that upon his return from Berlin and Rome, he would like to start negotiations on improving Soviet-Japanese relations.
On March 26, Matsuoka arrived in Berlin, where he had several conversations with Hitler and Ribbentrop, whom he informed about the conversations in Moscow.
When on April 4, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR informed the German Ambassador Schulenburg about the upcoming signing of this treaty, and the ambassador expressed the opinion that he "doubted that the moment chosen for the signing of such an treaty would be particularly favorable," he was told, that "the Soviet government considered its step and made a final decision." History of diplomacy. M., 1975, vol. 4, pp. 156-157.
Chamberlain sends Churchill to Paris to persuade the French government to accept the Rhine Plan. The start of the operation in Norway has been postponed until April 8th.
April 5. 3 a.m. signing of the Soviet-Yugoslav Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression. 5:00 Germany attacked Yugoslavia and in 11 days defeated the army of Yugoslavia and the states capitulated.
April 6. Now Hitler decides to save the Italian army, which is defeated in Greece. After landing in Thessaloniki, a small contingent of the British, German troops invade Greece. The Greeks mainly covered the passes from Bulgaria, where the Wehrmacht troops were concentrated. The Wehrmacht command attacked from Yugoslavia - at the junction of the Greek and Yugoslav border. The attack on Thessaloniki made it possible to cut the Yugoslav army in two. At the same time, most of the army remained cut off in Thrace. It quickly came to the "second Dunkirk". Most of the British and other allied forces were evacuated to Crete. The enemy again captured all the heavy weapons and 12 thousand prisoners. The invasion of the territory of the USSR is postponed from May 15 to June 22.
On April 7, Matsuoka arrived in Moscow and on April 13, negotiations ended with the signing of a Neutrality Pact between Japan and the USSR, as well as a declaration of mutual respect for the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of the Mongolian People's Republic and Manchukuo. (sometimes spelled Manchukuo). The negotiations were attended by comrade. I. V. Stalin, and on the part of Japan - the Japanese ambassador to Moscow, Mr. Tatekawa. After the signing of the treaty, Stalin took a step that was noted by all the politicians of the world: he came to see Matsuoka at the station.
On April 18, Admiral King, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, declares the American security zone stretches eastward to 260 W., that is, more than 2,300 miles from the coast of America, leaving less than 740 miles outside of his zone of interest. It included the Azores, which were the European part of the continent.
April 22. Note to the German government: “… Recently violations (of the borders by German aircraft) have become much more frequent. From March 27 to April 18, there were 80 such cases. The note, to which the detailed description of 80 violations is close, draws special attention to the case of an aircraft landing near Rovno on April 15, in which a camera, several cassettes of captured film and a torn topographic map of regions of the USSR were found, which indicates the goals of the crew of this aircraft.
April 30. Pravda newspaper. Tallinn. (from sob., corr.). According to reliable information received here, on April 26, 4 German transport ships arrived at the Finnish port of Abbo (Turku), from which German troops in the amount of about 12 thousand people were unloaded with weapons, tanks, artillery, etc. On April 28, these troops began to be sent to Tampere.
On May 1, the 95th high-speed bomber regiment, created in April 1940 at one of the airfields of the Kalinin region, participates in the air parade in the "arrow" formation, leading a convoy of high-speed aircraft. In June, continuing intensive combat training, he practiced bombing with dive angles from sixty to ninety degrees. The pilots competed in the direct hit of bombs on small targets from a dive. The best result was achieved by the crew of Lieutenant N. F. Kirikov. From the middle of the month, training night flights began. The first such flight was made on the Pe-2 on June 15, the commander of the 4th air squadron, Captain U. V. Litvinov. The regiment began its activities on June 29, reconnaissance flights deep into the rear of the enemy, and on July 3, along with reconnaissance, began bombing airfields and crossings in the areas of Disna, Dvinsk, Lepel, Sebezh,Borisov. See July 3.
The parade was attended by multi-turret T-35, such machines were only in France B-1, which significantly lagged behind the T-35 in speed and armament. T-28 three-tower, from which the German designers will copy the side clutches for the Pz-V "Panther". It was this T-28 that in 1941, breaking free from the encirclement, went through almost all of Minsk, crushing the infantry and motorcyclists, destroying enemy tanks. The parade on Red Square was documented as an "operation", which equated the parade with a military operation. Tanks participants in the parade received a side sign - plate "For the execution of the order of the People's Commissar of Defense." One of these tanks was pulled out of the swamp and rebuilt in the 21st century.
On May 1, the surviving British troops were landed on ships and evacuated from the southern regions of Greece. On this day, Hitler finally decided on the date for the execution of the "Barbarossa" plan. The last possible deadline for canceling the offensive was set at 13 o'clock on 21 June … via the code signal "Altona", and to start the offensive - the code signal "Dortmund". The troops were supposed to cross the border at 3 hours 30 minutes on June 22, 1941.
On May 1, 1941, the Red Army had aviation gasoline B-78 for 10 days, B-70 for 3 months 19 days, B-74 for 1 month 8 days. Gasoline for 1 month 14 days, diesel fuel for 24 days of hostilities.
Germany experienced a 10% deficit, which it could cover due to Romanian supplies.
In May, the formation of an administration for the future occupied territories of Soviet Karelia and the Leningrad region began in Finland.
5 May. Stalin's speech to graduates of military academies. “We have not developed friendly relations with Germany. War with Germany is inevitable, and if Comrade Molotov and the apparatus of the People's Commissar'in'dela manage to delay the start of the war, this is happiness. And you go and take measures on the ground to raise the combat readiness of the troops. " “Germany wants to destroy our state, conquered by the working people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Lenin. Germany wants to destroy our great homeland. The homeland of Lenin, the conquest of October, to exterminate millions of Soviet people, and turn the survivors into slaves. Only a war with fascist Germany and victory in this war can save our Motherland."
Another statement from Stalin's revelations.
“A peaceful foreign policy has brought peace to our country. A peaceful policy is a good thing. For the time being, we pursued a line of defense - until now, until we rearmed our army, provided the army with modern means of struggle. And now, when we have reconstructed our army, saturated it with equipment for modern combat, when we have become strong - now we can proceed to the military policy of offensive actions. We need to rebuild our education, our propaganda, agitation, our press in an aggressive spirit. The Red Army is a modern army, and a modern army is an offensive army."
And here are the memoirs of Marshal Zhukov “We foresaw that the war with Germany could be protracted and protracted, but at the same time we believed that our country already had everything necessary for a long war and struggle until complete victory. Then we did not think that our armed forces would have to enter the war so unsuccessfully, suffer heavy defeats in the very first battles and be forced to retreat into the interior of the country."
And here is what G. K. Zhukov wrote on August 22, 1944. in a special memo to Golikov, head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense “We did not have pre-selected commanders of fronts, armies, corps and divisions. At the head of the fronts were people who failed one case after another (Pavlov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Budyonny, Cherevichenko, Tyulenev, Ryabyshev, Timoshenko, etc.) Pavlov is 41 years old, Kuznetsov is who is the General of the Ground Forces or the Commander of the Navy? Neither one nor the other was guilty before the country more than Zhukov himself. On August 22, 1944, Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich leads the very successfully Yassy-Kishinev operation. Tymoshenko suffered for his sister, who was seen more than once in occupied Odessa in the Romanian intelligence building, and his nephew, a policeman in Odessa.
People were not well known. The People's Commissariat of Defense in peacetime not only did not prepare candidates, but did not even prepare commanders for commanding fronts and armies …. Each of us knows the consequences of the command of these people, and what our Motherland has gone through, entrusted its fate to them in the hands of commanders and commanders."
I have the impression that Georgy Konstantinovich himself at that time was no closer than in the Far East, and was not the Chief of the General Staff
General Freiberg, who, at Churchill's suggestion, is appointed commander of the British troops in Crete, writes: "I cannot understand the reasons for the nervousness, I am not at all worried about the airborne assault."
May 7. Ambassador Schulenburg - at the German Foreign Ministry: “Stalin, having replaced Molotov as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, thus headed the government of the Soviet Union. Molotov took the post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs … I am convinced that Stalin will use his new position to take a personal part in the preservation and development of good relations between the USSR and Germany.
May 9. Gunther Blumentritt speaking to the headquarters officers of the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht. “Our troops surpass the Russians in experience, training and weapons, not to mention command, our organization and training. The first 8-14 days will have to conduct fierce battles, and then inevitable success will come and we, as always, will run. Let's not forget the Wehrmacht's reputation for invincibility. It will especially work on Russians who are not used to attacking."
Hitler's closest associate, Rudolf Hess, at 5:40 p.m. lifted a twin-engine Me-110 and flew to England and parachuted into Western Scotland. Not calculating the range of the flight, Hess did not reach the castle of the Duke of Windsor and jumped out with a parachute. Police Constable Robert Williamson found a letter in his pocket addressed to the Duke of Hamilton. One of the pilots identified Rudolf Hess. What documents Hess brought to England, with what proposals remained a mystery until 2016, since the documents were classified to this day. The British government remained silent for several days, and in Germany they did not know the results of the flight. Only after publication in the press did Berlin decide to show Hess as a traitor to the German people. Those close to Hess were shot. Bormann was appointed to replace Hess. Hess himself died suddenly in prison … before he was released. Hess's mission was to persuade Britain to conclude peace with Germany and to take joint actions against the USSR.
Almost immediately after that, all the efforts of the USSR were directed towards the construction of a fortified area in the border areas. 58 thousand people worked in the fortified area of the Baltic Military District, 35 thousand in the Western, and 45 thousand in Kiev.
May 18. By order of Raeder, the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen leave the port of Gotenhafen (now Polish Gdynia)
May 20. The Swedish cruiser "Gotland" notices the departure of German ships at sea and on the 21st is reported by the Norwegian Resistance movement. British Admiral John Tovey sends battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Hood off the southwest coast of Iceland (???). The cruiser Suffolk was supposed to meet the cruiser Norfolk. The light cruisers Birmingham, Manchester and Arethusa were supposed to patrol in the strait between the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
At 8:00, about 3 thousand parachutists of the first wave were dropped on Crete, opposed by 28 600 British, Australians and New Zealanders and two Greek divisions, about the same number, with six or seven tanks. And with the complete absence of aviation, and with a small amount of anti-aircraft artillery. By the end of the day, the landing party had doubled the number of parachutists and glider pilots. At the captured airfields, they disembark from transport aircraft. The number of the landing reaches 22 thousand.
May, 23rd. In the Danish Strait, the heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk collide in dense fog with the newest German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen. "Bismarck" opens fire first and drives the British at a long distance, from which they observe the "Bismarck" with radar.
On May 24 at 5:52 am, the Hood and Prince of Wales approach the German battleships, which, having missed their targets, open fire on the Prince Eugen, which allowed the Bismarck to hit the Hood with several shells. The British admiral's mistake was that the Hood was armored on the sides, not on the deck. Shells from the Bismarck fell from long distances at a large angle to the horizon and pierced the deck, bypassing the armor of the side. "Hood" broke in half from the detonation of ammunition storage and sank faster than submarines sink. Of the 147 crew members, only three managed to escape. "Prince of Wales" was damaged and left the battle, but at the last minute of the battle manages to damage the "Bismarck" by breaking through its fuel system. This disadvantage: the insecurity of the fuel tanks, our shipbuilders noted when examining it. Bismarck is sent to the shores of Franceto renovate there. In this case, he would have gained access to the Atlantic without passing through the straits. But first, "Bismarck" rushed at the pursuing British, which took advantage of the damaged "Prince Eugen" and went to Germany.
Goebbels sends his representative to Rosenberg, who was assigned the post of Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, to coordinate actions in the upcoming operation. "Russia must be decomposed into its component parts," "in the East, the existence of such a colossal state cannot be tolerated."
May 25. Goebbels: “The rumors we have sown about the invasion are valid. Great nervousness reigns in England."
26 of May. Goebbels: “New troops landed on Crete yesterday. We are inflicting terrible losses on the English fleet there. Churchill will pay dearly for his resistance."
On May 26, the Bismarck was discovered by an English squadron pilot flying the Mig-3 and the Suodfish rushed to attack the battleship from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier, which managed to damage the rudder of the battleship, which began to circle around.
May 27. An artillery battle began with the Bismarck, which blazed from bow to stern. The fight lasted 74 minutes, while the Hood lasted only 6 minutes of the fight. 380 rounds of 406 mm caliber, 339 rounds of 356 mm, 781 rounds of 203 mm, 716 rounds of 152 mm, 660 rounds of 133 mm were fired at Bismarck. But the battleship was finished off by a torpedo attack. 50,000 tons of steel, which is equal to 2,500 Pz-IVD tanks. Labor costs are equal to the construction of 5,000 tanks. When the sides of the battleship touched the water, the water boiled. 1,600 people from the team were killed. Managed to escape 115 sailors "Bismarck".
Mediterranean Sea. After numerous assurances that the island of Crete is being cleared of paratroopers, a message comes from Freiberg: "It seems to me that the troops under my command have reached their limit of endurance … Our position here is hopeless."
On May 27, the General Staff issues an order to the western military districts to build field fortifications.
On the night of May 28, the evacuation of troops from the island begins and takes 16,500 people, including about 2 thousand Greek soldiers. The fleet lost over 2 thousand people, three cruisers and six destroyers, 13 ships were seriously damaged: 2 battleships and an aircraft carrier. Germany lost about 4 thousand people killed and about 2 thousand wounded. Most of the losses were attributed to the elite airborne troops. First, in April, the British troops were thrown out by Rommel from Cyrenaica, then, three weeks later, the Wehrmacht invasion and defeat in Greece began. After the third victory in the Mediterranean, Hitler did not follow the path calculated by the British General Staff and does not strike at Syria, Cyprus, Suez or Malta. By invading the territory of the USSR, Hitler missed the opportunity to completely clear the area of the British and their allies. The army of Field Marshal List captured 90 thousand Yugoslavs, 270 thousand Greeks, 13 thousand English, while losing 5 thousand people both killed and wounded. The British press claimed that Germany had lost "probably up to 75,000 men in these battles." The idea of capturing Crete with the help of an airborne assault did not belong to Hitler, but to the commander of the airborne troops, General Student. Here is what he wrote: "He (Hitler) wanted to end the" Balkan Company "after the withdrawal of our troops to the southern part of Greece." On April 21, Student met with Goering and carried him away with this idea.and to the commander of the airborne forces, General Student. Here is what he wrote: "He (Hitler) wanted to end the" Balkan Company "after the withdrawal of our troops to the southern part of Greece." On April 21, Student met with Goering and carried him away with this idea.and to the commander of the airborne forces, General Student. Here is what he wrote: "He (Hitler) wanted to end the" Balkan Company "after the withdrawal of our troops to the southern part of Greece." On April 21, Student met with Goering and carried him away with this idea.
In May, it becomes apparent that delays in the delivery of oil to Japan are preventing the latter from achieving the 1,800,000 tons of oil needed to keep the Japanese fleet afloat. The obstacles posed by the Dutch and the British are forcing Japan to retaliate.
May 30. The Big Minesweeper of the Northern Fleet "Brilliant" served as border guard in the Orlovka Bay area. At 20 hours and 25 minutes the observer of the ship at the course of 760 at a distance of 2-3 km discovered an unknown plane. On the ship they played a combat alert, opened fire. Twice that day, the border guards had to repel aircraft attacks on their ship. On June 22, at 3 hours 50 minutes, the Diamond will shoot down its first enemy bomber.
By June 1941, from September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht lost 93,736 people killed.
On June 9, 1941, Finland carried out partial, and on June 18 general mobilization at the age of 42, bringing the number to almost 650 thousand, mobilization of vehicles, horses, under the command of Marshal Mannerheim, who carried out his functions through the Ministry of Defense and the main headquarters, created on June 17 1941 summer. See June 19.
Not far from the Soviet embassy on Unter den Linden was the photo studio of Hoffmann, Hitler's court photographer. In this studio, Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, previously worked as a model. In the window of this atelier, next to the portrait of Hitler, a map of the countries where military operations were planned and carried out was hung out. At the beginning of 1941 there were maps of Yugoslavia and Greece, now there was a map of the European part of the USSR.
June 6. Hitler signs an order for the unconditional destruction of the commissars of the Red Army with weapons. The Asian part of Russia is non-negotiable. And the European part will be taken over”.
On June 13, at 18:00, a TASS message was broadcast on Moscow radio and on the same day through diplomatic channels. “Even before the arrival of the British ambassador, Mr. Cripps, to London, especially after his arrival, rumors began to circulate in the British and foreign press in general about the“proximity of the war between the USSR and Germany”. … the responsible circles in Moscow nevertheless considered it necessary … to authorize TASS to declare that these rumors were awkwardly concocted by forces hostile to the USSR and Germany interested in further expansion of the war.
Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Lozovskoy reports to Stalin: “The American government has recently carried out a number of hostile measures against the Soviet Union. In addition to the almost complete termination of licenses for the export of equipment, the US government banned Soviet engineers from visiting factories, carried out discriminatory measures, restricting the freedom of movement of Soviet diplomats … organized a trial of Bookknig employees in order to prove the involvement of the Soviet Union in propaganda in the United States, etc. D. Now the entire American press is waging a frenzied campaign against the USSR, proving in every way that the strike war that swept across the United States was caused by "agents of Moscow." The preparation of American public opinion that Sasha would not enter the war on the side of the USSR was in full swing. But America still had an official position in relation to international conflicts: helping states that are failing so that the war does not end too quickly. The Americans did not forget the fact that, due to the First World War, they came out of the recession and from the largest debtor turned into the main creditor, while receiving huge reserves of gold in exchange for the production and supply of weapons.
For SA. In America, the government of Stalin and the government of Hitler differed little from each other, with only one difference, Hitler fought with England, close to Sasha. But first, SASHA sucked out all the gold reserves of England and received the Newfoundland Islands in exchange for 50 obsolete coal destroyers from the First World War. Many sailors of the allied fleets looked with interest at these destroyers in a storm, as there was a legend that these "irons" turn over in a storm and sink in two minutes. It was very important for Hitler to portray the victim of the attack so that SASHA would not supply industrial products from the USSR. The Stalinist move with the TASS statement deprived them of this opportunity, now it was necessary to refute this statement or respond with a similar statement, then in the event of an attack he would become not only an aggressor, but a treacherous one.
From 12 to 15 June, all border districts were ordered to withdraw divisions located in the depths of the district, closer to the state border.
June 14-15, 122nd section, a division from the 14th Army, by order of the commander of the LWO M. M. Popova, was pushed to the border of the USSR. The division moved to the Kandalaksha direction as a strategic direction of the enemy's strike, capable of reaching the Kandalaksha Bay and cutting off the railway to Murmansk.
June 14. A TASS report was published in the Soviet press: "According to the USSR, Germany is just as unswervingly complying with the terms of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, like the Soviet Union …"
June 17, 1941, Mannerheim sets up the rate.
Operational readiness number 2 is announced to the Northern Fleet after German reconnaissance aircraft have flown over the Kola Peninsula and the bay with naval bases. When the commander of the Leningrad Fleet did not respond to the report on the violation of the borders, Golovko independently at 18: 50 introduces readiness number 2 with complete secrecy.
A report from the Shanghai NKGB headquarters on June 17: "At a meeting of the Japanese government, no final decision was made on the war with the Soviet Union, since in the near future Japan's intervention in the war was considered inexpedient." The report was based on the information of the chief of counterintelligence Chiang Kai-shek and the former head of the Berlin and East Prussian assault units in Germany - Walter Stenans, who held this post until the murder of Rem on the "night of long knives" in 1933. By order of Hitler, he was exiled as an oppositionist to work in China. There V. Stenans was recruited by Soviet intelligence and, thanks to his connections in the highest echelons of power in Tokyo, supplied the USSR with valuable information. Unlike R. Sorge, he was not suspected by the NKGB of being a double agent. And there are reasons for that: in Japan not a single foreigner of the country was executed,located in peaceful conditions. Sorge could be executed only after proving that he was an agent of American intelligence, a state at war with Japan. So Sorge was a double agent.
The report also suggested that "Japan may take advantage of Germany's attack on the USSR only if the latter shows signs of weakness."
Colonel-General M. S. Shumilov (former commander of the 11th Rifle Corps of the 8th Army): “The corps troops began to take up defensive positions by order of the army commander from 18 June. I gave orders only to the commander of the 125th Rifle Division and the corps units. Other formations also received verbal orders through the army liaison officers. The headquarters of the corps was notified of this. Ammunition was ordered not to issue. It was only allowed to improve defense engineering equipment. However, on June 20, realizing the impending danger, I ordered to issue cartridges and shells to the subunits and begin mining in certain areas. On June 21, a member of the military council of the district (corps commissar P. A. Dibrov) was at the headquarters of the corps, who, through the chief of staff, ordered the ammunition to be taken away. I asked Army Headquarters for a written order on this matter,but received no answer."
Major General I. I. Fadeev (former commander of the 10th rifle division of the 8th army): “On June 19, 1941, an order was received from the commander of the 10th rifle corps, Major General I. F. Nikolayev, to bring the division into combat readiness. All units were immediately withdrawn to the defense area, occupied bunkers and artillery firing positions. At dawn, the commanders of regiments, battalions and companies on the ground clarified the combat missions in accordance with the previously developed plan and brought them to the commanders of platoons and squads. In order to conceal the measures carried out on the border, ordinary defense work was carried out, and part of the personnel was disguised inside the defensive structures, being in full combat readiness."
Major General PI Abramidze (former commander of the 72nd Mountain Rifle Division of the 26th Army): “On June 20, 1941, I received the following message from the General Staff:“All subunits and units of your formation located on the very border should be withdrawn back a few kilometers, that is, to the line of prepared positions. Not to respond to any provocations on the part of German units until they violate the state border. All parts of the division must be put on alert. The execution should be reported by 24 o'clock on June 21, 1941 ". At the exact time indicated, I telegraphed the execution of the order. The report was attended by the commander of the 26th Army, Lieutenant General F. Ya. Kostenko, who was entrusted with checking the execution."
It is worth adding about the famous directive of the Chief of the General Staff of June 18 to put the troops of the western districts on alert. The recollections given are logically connected with this date. But historians have no directive. Maybe destroyed or deep in the archive. But traces of it can be found. In particular, in the criminal case of General Pavlov and other leaders of the ZapOVO, namely in the minutes of the court session of the military tribunal, where the interrogation of the defendant AT Grigoriev, the former chief of communications of the district, was going on: “Member of the court comrade. Orlov. On l. No. 79 of the 4th volume you gave the following testimony: “Leaving Minsk, the commander of the communications regiment reported to me that the chemical troops department did not allow him to take combat gas masks from the NZ. The artillery department of the district did not allow him to take cartridges from the NZ, and the regiment has only a guard rate of 15 cartridges per soldier,and the baggage department did not allow to take field kitchens from the NZ. Thus, even in the afternoon of June 18, the content departments of the headquarters were not oriented that the war was close … And after the telegram of the chief of the General Staff of June 18, the troops of the district were not put on alert."
In June 1941, there were 220 publishing organizations and about 5,000 printing companies in the Soviet Union. And only in the western regions of the USSR, which were subjected to occupation, more than 43 thousand public libraries, in which more than a hundred million volumes of books were stored, perished!
In the capital and Leningrad, the weather is approximately the same and on June 22 t 18 0С. Summer in Leningrad is cold and snow fell in early June. The first warm thunderstorms began on June 19-20. Flowering was delayed by 20 days from the norm. In Leningrad, the mass death of swifts from hunger. Steady warmth came to Leningrad on June 21. But autumn is dry and warm, which was "into the hands" of the German aviation.
B. Hart's opinion: p. 146. According to Keitel, the enemy forces in the western part of Russia at that time consisted of about 100 (88) rifle and 25 cavalry (only 7), as well as mechanized troops, equivalent in composition to 30 (54 tank and motorized) mechanized divisions. The invasion force consisted of 116 infantry divisions (of which 14 were motorized), one cavalry, and 19 armored divisions (in addition to 9 police and security divisions to provide lines of communication).
In 1938, the Red Army had 32 cavalry divisions and 7 cavalry corps, on the eve of the war 13 divisions and 4 corps. The experience of the war led to the fact that the number of cavalry corps increased to 7.
Keitel further stated: “The operational plans of the Russians are unknown. No significant forces are concentrated in the border zone. (In defiance of Rezun and his theory of a preemptive strike against the USSR). The withdrawal can be carried out to a shallow depth, since the Baltic states and Ukraine are vital for the Russians as sources of supply.
The military action plan also provided for major economic measures (the Oldenburg plan) - for the exploitation (plunder) of the occupied Soviet territories. An economic headquarters was created, completely separate from the general staff. Report dated May 2, 1941. “The war can continue only if in the third year (apparently from September 1, 1939) of the war, all our armed forces will be supplied from Russia. If we take from this country what we need, there is no doubt that many millions of people in Russia will die of hunger. " This is what is hidden under the words: "exploitation of the occupied lands."
With the beginning of mobilization in the troops of the Baltic Military District, new radio data, from peacetime to wartime, were to come into effect, which were stored as mobilization documents. This could take several days. But the war could start without mobilization, and then it was decided to continue working after the start of hostilities on peacetime radio data. It was the product of the reckoning of data on June 20, 1941 and their introduction into effect from 00 o'clock on June 21, 1941, the time when all radio networks were set on duty only for radio reception.
Now we have the opportunity to remember that the commander of the OKVO Pavlov met the war in the box of the opera theater.
On June 17, 18, 19, German motor ships arrived in Helsinki, hastily unload military equipment, including cannons, warehouses and bases, and disperse aircraft at airfields.
June 19. The districts were ordered to mask airfields, military units, parks. To withdraw the front-line administrations of the Baltic, Western, Kiev special military districts into fortifications. But shortcomings and small maneuvering possibilities affected.
In May and early June, about 800 thousand people were called up for training camps from the reserve, aimed at replenishing the troops of the border districts. The size of the army and navy reached more than 5 million people, which was 2.5 times more than in 1939. 19, 21 and 22 armies were transferred from the North Caucasian, Volga and Ural military districts. 25th Rifle Corps from the Kharkov Military District. 16th army from the Trans-Baikal Military District.
On June 20, 21, German troops located at a distance from the border are brought in and deployed along the border. Before the attack on the USSR in the summer of 1941, small rapid-fire 37 mm anti-tank guns looked quite confident on the battlefields in Europe, becoming one of the shadow symbols of the German blitzkrieg, at the mention of which tank wedges and the enemy aircraft dominating the sky are usually drawn in the imagination, but at all not small 37-mm guns, of which, however, each Wehrmacht infantry division in the state had at least 72 pieces. In total, during the Second World War, German industry produced more than 16.5 thousand of these guns. Soviet specialists from the GAU of the Red Army quickly showed interest in the new German anti-tank gun. They made the decision to buy several guns,drawings and working documentation for them in order to establish the production of guns in the Soviet Union. The corresponding agreement was signed in 1930. With minor design changes, the German gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "37-mm anti-tank gun of the 1930 model" (1-K, GAU index 52-P-162). The ammunition for the German and Soviet guns was completely interchangeable. On September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had 11,200 Pak 35/36 anti-tank guns. The Pak 35/36 anti-tank guns were in service with the Wehrmacht infantry divisions, which were saturated with these guns. According to the state, on May 1, 1939, the infantry division should have had 75 such guns. One motorized anti-tank company (12 guns) in each of the three infantry regiments, in an anti-tank battalion (3 companies with 12 guns),three more guns were at the disposal of the reconnaissance battalion's heavy guns squadron. The ammunition load for each anti-tank gun included 220 rounds. In 1942, the Pak 35/36 gun was still the main anti-tank weapon of the Wehrmacht. In 1943, the Germans used up about two million 37-mm shells of all types (for comparison, 75-mm shells over the same period - 1.25 million), that is, in 1943, the Germans still used the Pak 35/36 gun quite widely. The performance characteristics of Pak 35/36:In 1943, the Germans used up about two million 37-mm shells of all types (for comparison, 75-mm shells over the same period - 1.25 million), that is, in 1943, the Germans still used the Pak 35/36 gun quite widely. The performance characteristics of Pak 35/36:In 1943, the Germans used up about two million 37-mm shells of all types (for comparison, 75-mm shells over the same period - 1.25 million), that is, in 1943, the Germans still used the Pak 35/36 gun quite widely. The performance characteristics of Pak 35/36:
Caliber - 37 mm.
Barrel length - 1665 mm (45 calibers).
Overall dimensions (in the stowed position): length - 3450 mm, width - 1650 mm, height - 1170 mm, ground clearance - 270 mm.
Weight - 440 kg (in the stowed position), 480 kg (in the firing position).
The horizontal guidance angle is 60 degrees.
Vertical guidance angle - from -8 to +25 degrees.
Rate of fire - 10-15 rounds per minute.
Transport speed on the highway - up to 50 km / h.
Calculation - 5 people.
It is worth noting that the Pak 35/36 gun fit perfectly into the blitzkrieg concept. Possessing a low weight, in the stowed position no more than 440 kg, this gun could be transported by a wide variety of vehicles, even fairly light vehicles, for example, Horch Kfz. 15 reconnaissance vehicles. The speed of transportation on the highway was up to 50 km / h.
On June 20, the German submarine U-203 met the American battleship "Texas" in the operational zone and, not recognizing its affiliation, attacked with torpedoes. The attack failed and the battleship did not notice the attack, but the message was received by the German command upon the return of the boat to the base. Here Dönitz misleads us: the boat commander did not recognize the ship's identity, but said that it was an American battleship.
“The order of the Fuehrer on the inadmissibility of collisions with US ships should be strictly observed under any circumstances. Limit attacks on cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers until they are confidently identified as belonging to the enemy. The fact that a ship is sailing without lights cannot be sufficient reason to consider it an enemy."
On June 21, 1941, at 16:15, the Finnish army and its fleet began Operation Regatta, an invasion of the Aland Islands, which, according to the 1921 Geneva Convention, by an agreement between the USSR and Finland, were declared a demilitarized zone. 23 ships were deployed 5,000 soldiers with military equipment and 69 guns. The staff of the Soviet consulate (31 people) in the Alan Islands was arrested and taken to Turku on June 24. At 22:59, German minelayers began to lay mines, blocking the Gulf of Finland.
By 1941, the Wehrmacht had 21 tank divisions (in 1940 = 10), but this was done by reducing the number of tanks in the division. A tank brigade of two regiments of 160 tanks each. Of the 17 thousand in strength, only 2,500 were tankers. After the reorganization, the division had less than 300 vehicles, but there were about 3 thousand wheeled vehicles. The Panzer Group (later renamed Panzer armies) consisted of 4-5 panzer and three mechanized divisions.
By the middle of 41, the Red Army had increased the size of the army to 5 million people, which is more than 2.7 times more than in 1939. The Black Sea Fleet had 1 battleship, 5 cruisers, 17 leaders and destroyers, 2 patrol ships, 44 submarines in service. boats, 4 gunboats, 2 minelayers, 12 minesweepers, 78 torpedo boats, 24 boats of the MO-4 type. Three vehicles and 33 tugs. The Azov-Black Sea Fleet 102 vessels with a capacity of 191,030 and 17 tankers with a displacement of 125,336. After the start of the war, 94 boats were accepted from the border guard, and 147 vessels from the civil department. There are 625 aircraft in aviation, including 167 seaplanes. 138 bombers, 346 fighters, 140 scouts. The Danube flotilla had 5 monitors "Shock", Zheleznyakov "," Rostovtsev ", Martynov", Zhemchuzhin ". 2 gunboats: "Bug" and "Dniester". 22 armored boats of project 1125,7 minesweeping boats, speedboats and auxiliary vessels.
The troops of the NKVD of the USSR were under the operational subordination of ten main directorates of the People's Commissariat and included 1) border troops, 2) operational or Internal Troops, 3) escort, security, 4) railway and some others. The most numerous were the border troops, numbering on June 22, 1941, 167,582 people. Since at the end of 1940, the foreign intelligence of the 5th department, the Main Directorate of State Security of the USSR People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs announced the signing of Directive No. 21 "Barbarossa Option" by Hitler on December 18, 1940, People's Commissar Lavrenty Beria took the necessary measures to transform the NKVD troops into special elite units. in case of war. So, on February 28, 1941, operational troops were allocated from the border troops,which included one division (Separate Motorized Rifle Division of Special Purpose named after Dzerzhinsky), 17 separate regiments (including 13 motorized rifle regiments), four battalions and one company. Their number on June 22 was 41,589 people. One frontier post of the USSR guarded about 7 km., The borders and had 65 military personnel. The border detachment consisted of 12-16 outposts, taking into account reserve services and units of no more than 2000 people, who guarded 140-180 km. Of the state border. 8-10 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were thrown against them.taking into account reserve services and units, no more than 2000 people who guarded 140-180 km., the state border. 8-10 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were thrown against them.taking into account reserve services and units, no more than 2000 people who guarded 140-180 km., the state border. 8-10 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were thrown against them.
In July 1941, the NKVD created a Special Reconnaissance and Sabotage Group behind enemy lines.
Manning of mechanized corps with tanks in the border military districts by the beginning of the war.
Other information says that by the beginning of the war only 1475, including KV-508, T-34 - 967. Serviceable tanks no more than 27%. It is strange if BT-5 and T-26 began to come to the troops in 1935.
D, T, Yazov: The army received 1225 T-34 tanks, 639 pcs. -KV.
In the first half of 1941, 2.6 thousand aircraft of a new design were produced (not in the army) - Yak-1, MiG-1 and 3, LaGG-3, Pe-2, Il-2, etc.
Of the laid down 533 warships, 312, 200 submarines entered the stand.
Romania had 4 Italian-built destroyers, 1 submarine, 3 torpedo boats, 2 minelayers, 3 small gunboats. There are 7 monitors and 25 boats on the Danube. Romania fielded 342,000 soldiers and officers. On June 22, Romanian artillery opened fire on border posts, but on June 26, border guards and sailors of the Danube Flotilla went on the offensive, captured Kiliya-Veke, advancing 40 km. Deep into enemy territory.
Of the total number of the German armed forces in June 1941, 8.5 million people. 214 divisions * 153 divisions were allocated against the Soviet Union **, together with satellites of 190 divisions - * the average number of Germans. Divisions = (8.5 / 214 = 39 719.) Number of 153 Germans, div. = ** (153 * 39 719 = 6 077 007) while 190 div. have 5.5 million. Average population 28,947.5.5 million.
The Italians fielded 62,000 men, under the command of General Giovani Messe. 250 thousand "Blue Division" from Spain, which did not declare war on the USSR.
Pre-revolutionary Russia had 4 times less modern instruments of production than England, 5 times less than Germany, and 10 times less than the United States. But already on the eve of the Patriotic War, the USSR ranked second in the world and first in Europe in terms of mechanical engineering. Defense spending. If in the second five-year plan the share of these expenditures amounted to 12.7% of the total state budget, then in three years of the third five-year plan it was 26.4%. By the end of 1940, the number of aviation enterprises had increased by 72% compared with 1937. From January 1, 1934 to January 1, 1939, the number of artillery pieces in the Red Army increased by 225%. The quality of the artillery has also changed. By the beginning of the war, the Red Army of the USSR had 8 million rifles
Production of the main types of weapons.
The production of combat aircraft increased from 1939 to 1941 by 19%, but most are old machines.
New Soviet aircraft - 1940 fighters Yak-1 = 64 pieces, MiG -3 = 20 pieces, and Pe-2 bombers = 1-2 pieces.
In the first half of 1941, MiG-3, LaGG-3, Yak-1 = 1946 pcs. Pe-2 = 458 pcs. IL-2 = 249.
During the first five-year plan, 5 thousand tanks were produced; by the end of the second five-year plan, the army had 15 thousand tanks and tankettes.
The annual production of tanks increased from 740 in 1930-31 to 2271 in 1938.
By the summer of 1941, more than 1,000 submachine guns (assault rifles) had been produced.
Germany produced 171,000 in 1940, and 325,000 in 1941.
In 1937-1939 the Soviet Navy received 144 warships, including 1 cruiser, 22 leaders and destroyers, 26 minesweepers, 38 submarines. The fleets consisted of 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 212 submarines, 54 leaders and destroyers, 287 torpedo boats.
After the end of the civil war, the demobilization and reorganization of the Soviet Armed Forces were carried out. As a result, their ranks by 1927 decreased from 5.5 million to 586 thousand people. Complications in the international situation forced the Soviet government to increase the number of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which by 1936 had increased to 1.1 million people, by 1937 to 1,433 thousand people, by August 31, 1939 over 2 million people, by 1941 4,207 thousand, and by June 22, 1941, 5, 4 million people.
According to the states of that time, the division was supposed to have about 14.5 thousand people, 78 field guns, 54 anti-tank 45-mm guns, 12 anti-aircraft guns, 66 mortars of 82-mm and 120-mm caliber, 16 light tanks, 13 armored vehicles, more than 3 thousand horses. But so far there was a desire to replenish the divisions up to 8 thousand people, calling in 500 thousand people. But a little later it was possible to summon 300 thousand people. In total, the army received 800 thousand people. The training camp was planned for May-October. As a result, on the eve of the war in the border districts from 170 divisions and two brigades, nineteen divisions were manned up to 5-6 thousand people. 7 cavalry divisions up to 6 thousand people, 144 divisions had a strength of 8-9 thousand people. The German divisions have from 14 to 16 thousand people.
In percentage terms, the Red Army had the Ground Forces - 79.3%, the Air Force - 11.5%, the Navy - 5.8%, the Air Defense Forces - 3.4%.
The mechanized corps consists of two armored and one motorized divisions, a motorcycle regiment, special units and subunits. According to the wartime staff, the corps was supposed to have over 36,080 people, 1,031 tanks, 358 guns and mortars, 268 armored vehicles.
The artillery had 67,335 guns and mortars over 50 mm, of which there were 24,158 pieces. The artillery regiment consisted of 3-4 fire divisions. In the rifle division, the state provided for two artillery regiments (cannon and howitzer). The corps artillery consisted of mixed regiments of 122-mm cannons and 152-mm howitzers-guns. The artillery of the Reserve of the High Command consisted of 74 artillery regiments (60 howitzer and 14 cannon regiments), including units of large and special artillery. Anti-aircraft artillery 37-mm automatic guns numbered 1382, but 4.9 thousand were required.
In the USSR, 79 aviation divisions and 5 aviation brigades were formed. Long-Range Aviation consisted of 13 bomber and 5 fighter divisions and the army - from 61 divisions: 9 bomber, 34 mixed, 11 fighter. 25 air divisions had not completed their formation by the beginning of the war.
The Soviet Union on the "Western Front" concentrated 790,000 men, 3,800 tanks, 16,100 guns and mortars, and 2,100 aircraft. To encircle the Soviet troops in Belarus, the Germans concentrated 40 divisions, about 1700 aircraft from the 2nd Air Fleet of General - Field Marshal Albert Kösselring. 1.45 million people, 2,100 tanks. 15 100 guns.
Germany: First of all, the German occupation authorities exported machinery and equipment, strategic raw materials and materials, oil products and vehicles from the occupied countries. From Poland, the Nazis removed all the new American machines, which were equipped with some military enterprises. They exported many machines and equipment from Belgium, Holland and other countries. In Belgium, 74 thousand railway cars (65% of all cars) and 351 thousand cars (90%) were requisitioned. From France until the summer of 1941 more than 5,000 steam locomotives and 250 thousand cars were stolen. 92 divisions of the Wehrmacht were equipped with captured vehicles. In total, 9 billion pounds of materials and property were seized, which was twice the pre-war income of Germany. From Denmark, Germany received 83 668 tons of butter, 159 686 tons of pork, 97 384 tons of beef, 59 381 tons of eggs,73 thousand tons of herring, as well as fruits and grain. France was ordered to supply annually 750 thousand tons of wheat, milk, cheese and wine. Until mid-April, France produced 13,000 trucks, 3,000 aircraft, 1 million shells, etc. for Germany. Danish shipyards have repaired 174 German merchant ships. In May 1940, there were almost 1.2 million foreign workers in Germany, forcibly taken out for forced labor, and during the year their number increased 2.6 times and reached 3.1 million people. In 1940 -1941, about 300 thousand machines were produced in Germany, and there were 2 times more of them than England and 3 times more than the Soviet Union. In 1940 Germany produced 10,247 aircraft of all types, and in 1941 12,401 (22,648 in total). If in 1940 850 aircraft were produced per month, then in 1941 there were 1,030 aircraft.
"The upcoming war is a struggle of one race against another, and here we must act with the necessary cruelty" Walter von Brauchitsch commander of the ground forces of the Wehrmacht.
“On the territory of Russia, violence should be used in the most brutal form” Franz Halder, chief of staff of the Wehrmacht ground forces.
Germany's allies have concentrated 29 infantry divisions, 16 brigades, about 1,000 aircraft, more than 5,200 guns and mortars, over 260 tanks and 109 ships near the borders of the USSR.
The area of Germany and Austria 554 thousand km2 increased to 3 277 thousand km2, 5.9 times. Population 76 million, people increase to 283 million, people, an increase of 3.7 times. The extraction of coal increased 1.9 times, iron ore 7.7 times, copper ore 3.2 times, etc.
From October 1939 to June 22, 1941, German aircraft violated the border of the Soviet Union more than 500 times, including 32 aircraft on March 17, 1940, and 6 aircraft in the Lvov region on April 4. 66 aircraft were attacked. 70% of the aviation of the Western border districts was located 20 and 70 km from the border.
On June 21, a German fighter fired at a group of children on the bridge of the city of Polyarny - Kola Peninsula, there are casualties.
At half past nine in the evening, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, on the instructions of the Soviet government, invited the German ambassador Schulenburg to his place and informed him of the contents of the note on the numerous violations of the Soviet border by German aircraft. After the conversation, Molotov asked: "How can one explain the absence of any reaction from the German government to the reassuring and peaceful TASS report of June 14?" This already happened at about one in the morning. Suddenly, at 3 a.m., or 5 a.m. Moscow time on June 22, a phone call rang to the Soviet embassy in Berlin and it was reported that Reich Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was waiting for Soviet representatives in his office at the Foreign Ministry on Wilgemstrasse. A crowd of journalists stood at the door of the Foreign Ministry. The German Foreign Minister, who had drunk a lot, announced that an hour ago German troops crossed the border of the Soviet Union, making a preemptive strike.
On the evening of June 21, a defector appeared to the border guards - a German sergeant-major, claiming that German troops were leaving for the starting areas for an offensive that would begin on June 22. Stalin was immediately informed of this.
On the night of June 21-22, an attempt was made from Finnish territory by a large group of aircraft to make the first raid on Kronstadt. At the same time, the German military and Finnish police raided the USSR consulate in Petsamo. The personnel of the consulate was taken to the city of Kirkenes.
Weapons of the Wehrmacht.
For 43 days of fighting in France, Germany used up 88,000 tons of ammunition. According to the Barbarossa plan, 91,000 tons were to be dropped on the USSR. But by July 31, 1941, 125,000 tons had been consumed. By 1941 Germany had reduced the production of ammunition by 37%, from 865,000 tons in 1940 to 540,000 tons. By the end of 1941, the consumption of the Wehrmacht in ammunition reached 583,000 tons.
88 million people lived on the territory under occupation before the war, after the occupation 55 million people, out of 33 million -10 million were evacuated to the Soviet rear, some went to serve in the Red Army. At the beginning of the war, Hitler abandoned 3,712 tanks, replenished the troops with 663 more tanks, having lost 3,770 tanks by December 31, 41. The bottom line is 606 tanks. The Wehrmacht considered the destroyed tank, which had no prospects of repair. Tanks that were among the trophies of the Red Army were considered to be "undergoing long-term repair."
Germany and … European Occupyrs.
European resources for Germany.
Belgium 74 thousand railway wagons. = 65%. 351 thousand cars = 90%.
France 5 thousand steam locomotives and 250 thousand wagons, 750 thousand tons of wheat. Captured in France 3,000 aircraft and about 5,000 tanks. 92 divisions are equipped with captured vehicles. Until IV 1941, 13 thousand cars, 3 thousand aircraft, 1 million shells were manufactured.
Denmark 83 668 tons of butter, 159 686 tons of pork, 97 384 tons of beef, 59 381 tons of eggs, 73 thousand tons of herring. Denmark shipyards from April 9, 1940 to April 31. 1941, 174 German merchant ships were repaired.
Germany exported 1.2 million foreign workers, up to May 1941 almost 3.1 million. 5 million workers were exported from the USSR, 750 thousand from Czechoslovakia, 500 thousand from Holland, 190 thousand from Belgium.
The total amount of property in Europe is 9 billion pounds, which is 2 times the income of Germany.
1941 p. January. Bypassing the peace agreement with Germany, ten MiGs are supplied to the UK: two MiG-1 and eight MiG-3. The aircraft were intended for reconnaissance from maximum heights. Russian specialists also arrived in Great Britain and here it is impossible to ignore such a phrase. And the Russians also had a magic sledgehammer and a crowbar with which they could carry out any repairs, but they did not trust us. They said that, they say, our qualifications are low, we will break it all of a sudden, we need to study. But we did without these miracle tools! True, then they made themselves the same. Let them be. A versatile tool!
One day at the end of September, Squadron Leader William Sholto Douglas returned in his Twink-3 with a victory. Somewhere over the Atlantic, he caught a Condor (Focke-Wulf Fw.200 Condor, a German 4-engine long-range multipurpose aircraft. Approx. Translator) and sent it to the bottom! We were delighted to celebrate this event in a pub evening! Raising mugs for our commander.
Then there were victories.
Flying Officer Murray crashes the He.111. Almost two dozen shot down Huns - not a bad score for scouts!
Shoot down the four-engine "Condor" on the MiG-3!.. so then believe in tales about the weak armament of MiGs. In the figure, the plane still looks like a MiG, but the proportions are not quite a MiG. By the way, this drawing was included in the book "Stalin's Falcons".
Author: Pavel Shasherin