Battle of Debrecen

Last updated

Debrecen Offensive Operation
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-244-2324-09, Ungarn, Debrecen, Panzer V "Panther".jpg
German Panther tank in the city of Debrecen in October 1944
Date6–29 October 1944
Location
Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg Hungary
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Johannes Friessner
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg M. Fretter-Pico
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg Rodion Malinovsky
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg Issa Pliyev
Flag of Romania.svg Nicolae Macici
Flag of Romania.svg Gheorghe Avramescu
Units involved

Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Army Group South

Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg 2nd Ukrainian Front

Strength
1 October: [1]
31 divisions and brigades
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 240,952 men
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg 190,000 men
293 tanks and assault guns
3,500 guns and mortars
741 aircraft
1 October: [1]
84 divisions and brigades
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg 698,200 men
Flag of Romania.svg 167,306 men
825 tanks and assault guns
10,238 guns and mortars
1,216 aircraft
Casualties and losses
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg ~15,000 killed or wounded
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg 20,000 killed or wounded
Total: 53,000 men
(including ~18,000 POW) ~200 tanks lost
490 guns lost [2] [nb 1] [3]
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg 19,713 killed or missing and 64,297 wounded or sick [4]
Flag of Romania.svg 33,500 killed or wounded [nb 2]
Total: 117,360 men (including 5,073 POW)
~500 tanks lost
1,656 guns lost

The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the Debrecen Offensive Operation, was a battle taking place from 6 to 29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II.

Contents

The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainian Front under Marshal Rodion Malinovsky. It was opposed by General Maximilian Fretter-Pico's German Sixth Army (II formation) and the allied Hungarian VII Army Corps of Army Group South Ukraine

The German and Hungarian units were forced to retreat some 160 km and opposed the 2nd Ukrainian Front, which had Debrecen as its strategic objective.

Background

In the wake of the coup d'état of 23 August 1944, Germany's former ally, Romania declared war on Germany and its ally Hungary. The subsequent drive of Soviet General Fedor Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front into Romania destroyed any semblance of an organised defensive line. On 8 September, Bulgaria, another former German ally, declared war on Germany. By this time, Tolbukhin, aided by the 2nd Ukrainian Front under Malinovsky had destroyed thirteen Axis divisions, taking over 100,000 prisoners. Both Malinovsky and Tolbukhin were promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union for this on 10 and 12 September, respectively.

These developments had opened up a 650 kilometres (400 miles) gap in Friessner's Army Group. On 24 September 1944, Friessner's Army Group South Ukraine was redesignated Army Group South. General Fretter-Pico's Sixth Army formed the nucleus of Friessner's force, along with the Hungarian Second Army. The German-Hungarian force was designated Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico. Meanwhile, the Soviet forces were worn down by the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive and the Belgrade Offensive, and also had to contend with logistical difficulties caused by the different railway gauge used in Romania. [5]

Prelude

Fearing encirclement, commander of Army Group South Ukraine Generaloberst Johannes Friessner requested Hitler's permission to withdraw. Hitler refused to authorize it but promised additional forces for Friessner's army group. Hitler ordered Friessner to start a new offensive with the goal of a destruction of two of Malinovsky's Armies, the 27th Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army. In addition, he was ordered to retake two vital passes in the Southern Carpathians.

On 14 September 1944, Malinovsky, in conjunction with the 3rd Ukrainian Front, launched the Belgrade Offensive. Friessner had been concentrating troops for his own planned offensive, and Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front ran into heavy resistance. After a week of fruitless attacks, Malinovsky called off his offensive and ordered the exhausted 6th Guards Tank Army, along with Cavalry Mechanized Group commanded by Issa Pliyev (7th Mechanized Corps), 4th Guards Cavalry Corps, and 6th Guards Cavalry Corps, with 389 tanks and assault guns, and Cavalry mechanized Group General Major Sergey Gorshkov's 5th Guards Cavalry Corps with the 23rd Tank Corps attached (146 tanks and assault guns), [6] to the area near Oradea.

By the end of September 1944, both Malinovsky and Friessner had received new orders. Malinovsky was now ordered to attack towards Budapest from the salient to the south around Arad. He was to use the 46th Soviet Army and the 1st Romanian Army, with the Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev as the exploitation force in case of a successful breakthrough. The remainder of Malinovsky's forces, including the 6th Guards Tank Army, 53rd Army, and Cavalry Mechanized Group Gorshkov, were to attack from the north, near Oradea, towards Debrecen. The plan was for the two spearheads to link up and encircle the German forces. Meanwhile, Friessner's orders included an attack from Oradea with Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico.

Operation begins

The 2nd Ukrainian Front operation began on 6 October 1944, with Malinovsky's southern pincer attacking near Arad, and slicing through the Hungarian Third Army. The spearhead of the southern 2nd Ukrainian Front pincer, followed by the Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev, had advanced almost sixty kilometres within the first 24 hours.

The attack by the northern 2nd Ukrainian Front pincer ran into difficulty quickly, colliding with the 1st Panzer Division and 23rd Panzer Divisions of the German III Panzer Corps. By the end of the day, the northern pincer had advanced only ten kilometres.

Reacting quickly, Fretter-Pico ordered the 76th Infantry Division into the forward line near Oradea. This freed up the 23rd Panzer Division to move south to counter the breakthrough near Arad. The German Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1, refitting at Mezőkövesd, was moved into action to guard potential crossing points on the Tisza River against the advancing 2nd Ukrainian Front units.

By the evening of 7 October 1944, the 2nd Ukrainian Front southern pincer had advanced further towards the Tisza River. Meanwhile, the northern pincer was still stalled near Oradea. In this area the German-Hungarian forces had managed to halt several flanking attempts by the 6th Guards Tank Army.

Across the Tisza

By 10 October, Malinovsky's troops occupied several bridgeheads on the western bank of the Tisza River, and elements of the 46th Army and the 18th Tank Corps were driving on Kecskemét, only 70 kilometres from Budapest. Malinovsky, however, had to redistribute some of these forces to support the advance of Pliyev's group on the other side of the Tisza. The remaining 2nd Ukrainian Front troops of this spearhead were attacked by the Hungarian cavalry and German anti-aircraft troops and forced to retreat to the Tisza on 11 October. [7] The same day, Hungarian (1st Armored and 23rd Infantry Divisions) counter-attacks against the 2nd Ukrainian Front's 243rd Rifle Division at the Mindszent bridgehead became so dire that the Romanian VII Corps was rushed to Mindszent to reinforce the bridgehead's defense. [8]

Subsequently, the Romanian 2nd and 4th Infantry Divisions took over 2nd Ukrainian Front bridgeheads on the Tisza below Szolnok. The bridgehead of the 4th Division was attacked on 19 October by the Hungarian 1st Cavalry and 1st Infantry Divisions, which the 4th Division held back until hit on the right flank by the German 24th Panzer Division, 4th SS Panzergrenadier Division, and the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion. The right flank of the Romanian 4th Division caved in and the German armor drove behind the division, cutting it off from the Tisza River and eventually forcing its surrender by 20 October. On 25 October, three Hungarian divisions (1st Cavalry, 1st Infantry and 20th Infantry) attacked the Romanian 2nd Division in its bridgehead. The Romanian 2nd Division panicked and pulled back across the Tisza River. [9] This Hungarian success, however, was not repeated when a third assault was made during 26–29 October against the Romanian 19th Infantry Division's bridgehead at Alpar.

On 8 October 1944, Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev shifted its attack northeastward. Pliyev's group advanced quickly along the major highway between Szolnok to Debrecen. At Hajdúszoboszló, the group's lead units, the 9th Guards Mechanized and the 6th Guards Cavalry Corps, ran into elements of 23rd Panzer Division moving south to halt the southern pincer. On 9 October 1944, with support from the 5th Air Army, Pliyev's group took the town. The Germans fell back to Debrecen, and began entrenching to the southeast of the city.

Continued battle

On 11 October 1944, elements of Pliyev's 4th Guards Cavalry Corps reached the outskirts of Debrecen. Although this corps was cut off from the main Soviet force, Pliyev had managed to avoid encirclement. Under the 6th Guards Tank Army's attacks, the front line near Oradea was steadily pushed back, in what historian Earl F. Ziemke described as "one of the wildest tank battles of the war". [5] By 12 October, Pliyev's group had already lost some 200 armored fighting vehicles. [10] By 14 October 1944, the line had fallen back 14 kilometres (8.7 miles), with Oradea occupied by Malinovsky's forces. Further to the north, a new crisis threatened Fretter-Pico. The 4th Ukrainian Front had finally attacked, falling on Otto Wöhler's German Eighth Army.

Malinovsky now linked up with Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev. Forcing their way through the Axis resistance, during 19–20 October three Romanian divisions (2nd and 3rd Mountain, plus the Tudor Vladimirescu Division) assaulted and seized Debrecen as part of the Soviet 27th Army's assault on the right flank of the 6th Guards Tank Army. [11] On 22 October 1944, Pliyev's group captured Nyíregyháza. The line of communications of Wöhler's Eighth Army was severed. German Colonel-General Friessner had ordered Wöhler to disengage and fall back northwest of Nyíregyháza and attempt to form a defensive line. This move was already in progress when Cavalry Mechanized Group Pliyev cut Wöhler's lines of communications.

To address the developing threat, the German 23rd and 1st Panzer Divisions, led by the Tiger IIs of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion attacked to the east. Paul Klatt's 3rd Mountain Division, the 15th Infantry Division, and the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer formed the forces attacking to the west. On 24 October 1944, forces of the 23rd Panzer Division reached Nagykálló, which was already occupied by the German 3rd Mountain Division.

On 26 October, the 23rd Panzer Division recaptured Nyíregyháza. Wöhler began moving his Eighth Army out through the escape route created through Nyíregyháza. By the 28th, Wöhler's army had escaped encirclement. By this time, Pliyev's forces destroyed most of their vehicles and heavy weapons and marched south to reach the Soviet lines. [12] Despite the attempted destruction by German forces, Pliyev's Cavalry-Mechanized Group was back in action by 10 November during the Soviet drive to Szeged. [12]

Aftermath

Battle of Debrecen memorial Battle of Debrecen memorial.JPG
Battle of Debrecen memorial

Three corps of Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front had sustained significant losses in the fighting and the intended rapid 2nd Ukrainian Front assault on Budapest had been delayed. The Nyíregyháza counter-attack was the last time that German forces were to defeat a full-strength Red Army force on even terms. By pinching off the breakthrough exploitation group of the 2nd Ukrainian Front offensive, the Germans were able to re-establish a stable front line position, and thus, prevent the 2nd Ukrainian Front's advance from becoming a catastrophe for Wöhler. The German success was, however, short-lived as Nyíregyháza was captured by the Red Army on 30 October, and another powerful Red Army offensive opened to the south with Budapest again being its objective, with the Soviets reaching the area of the Hungarian capital on 7 November 1944. The city of Debrecen fell on 20 October after two Romanian divisions, the First Romanian infantry division and the Tudor Vladimirescu Division captured the city despite numerous German and Hungarian counter-attacks to stop their advance. As a result of their victory, the Romanian Tudor Vladimirescu division was renamed on Stalin's request the Tudor Vladimirescu–Debrecen division. [13]

The Debrecen operation saw the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advance anywhere from 60 to 120 miles further west into Hungary, leaving the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in position to renew the offensive towards Budapest. The tank battle at Debrecen itself had drawn the German Panzer units away from defending the approaches to Budapest. [14] Finally, the Red Army thrust occupied the eastern third of Hungary, clearing the obstacle of the Transylvanian Alps and denying their use as a winter defense position for the Axis forces. [15]

See also

Notes

  1. The German official history ( Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg , printed 2007), Volume 8 (p. 876), states casualties (including wounded) as 15,000 Germans, 20,000 Hungarians and notes that 18,000 Axis troops were taken as prisoner-of-war. Armored losses are estimated as 200, and artillery losses are given as 490 Axis pieces.
  2. This figure for Romanian losses is apparently a subtraction of the 84,010 Soviet losses mentioned in When Titans Clashed from the figure for overall Soviet and Romanian losses of 117,360 mentioned in Volume 8 of Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg. The figures from this volume appear to be taken from Ungváry's A magyar honvédség a második világháborúban (2005). Apart from the fact that Ungváry's work represents a Hungarian view of the battle, it is also of interest that total Romanian losses for operations in Hungary during the period 8 October 1944 – 15 January 1945 (a considerably longer period than the Debrecen Operation itself) are given as 42,700 in Axworthy's The Romanian Army of World War 2 (p. 23).

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Frieser et al. 2007, p. 872.
  2. Frieser et al. 2007, p. 876.
  3. The figures for Axis losses are likely understated. An article by Pat Mc Taggart in World War II Magazine in March 1997, noted: Fretter-Pico's Sixth Army did not end the fighting unscathed. At the end of October, his four panzer divisions (the 1st, 3rd, 13th and 24th), two panzer grenadier divisions (the 4th SS and Feldherrnhalle) and the 76th Infantry Division had a combined strength of 8,450 men fit for combat. Materiel strength was listed as 67 tanks, 58 assault guns, 62 heavy anti-tank guns and 176 artillery pieces.
  4. When Titans Clashed, p. 299: 19,713 killed or missing and 64,297 wounded or sick
  5. 1 2 Stalingrad to Berlin, p. 362
  6. Frieser et al. 2007, p. 822.
  7. Frieser et al. 2007, p. 874.
  8. Third Axis Fourth Ally, p. 201
  9. Third Axis Fourth Ally, p. 202
  10. Frieser et al. 2007, p. 873.
  11. Third Axis Fourth Ally, pp. 200-201
  12. 1 2 Glantz, When Titans Clashed, p. 223
  13. The Road to Berlin, p. 397
  14. Frieser et al. 2007, p. 875.
  15. David M. Glantz, When Titans Clashed, pág. 223

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Bagration</span> Large Soviet military offensive in WW2


Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation, a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing Nazi Germany to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy</span> Battle of World War II

The Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy, or the battle of the Korsun–Cherkasy pocket, was a World War II battle fought from 24 January to 16 February 1944 in the course of the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian offensive in Ukraine following the Korsun–Shevchenkovsky offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Spring Awakening</span> Last major German offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II

Operation Spring Awakening was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary on the Eastern Front and lasted from 6 March until 15 March, 1945. The objective was to secure the last significant oil reserves still available to the European Axis powers and prevent the Red Army from advancing towards Vienna. The Germans failed in their objectives.

Army Group A was the name of three distinct army groups of the Heer, the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issa Pliyev</span> Soviet military commander (1903–1979)

Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev was a Soviet military commander. Pliyev would rise to become the premier cavalry general of the Soviet Army. He became Army General (1962), twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (1971).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive</span> Major Red Army operation

The Lvov–Sandomierz offensive or Lvov–Sandomierz strategic offensive operation was a major Red Army operation to force the German troops from Ukraine and Eastern Poland. Launched in mid-July 1944, the operation was successfully completed by the end of August.

The Hungarian Third Army was a field army in the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive</span> Military offensive

The second Jassy–Kishinev offensive, named after the two major cities, Iași ("Jassy") and Chișinău ("Kishinev"), in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations, in an operation to reoccupy Bessarabia and destroy the Axis forces in the region, opening the way into Romania and the Balkans.

A cavalry-mechanized group was a type of military formation used in the Red Army during World War II against Germany and Japan. It involved a combination of armor and horses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Ukrainian Front</span> WW2 Soviet Red Army formation

The 3rd Ukrainian Front was a Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Army (Hungary)</span> Military unit

The Hungarian Second Army was one of three field armies raised by the Kingdom of Hungary which saw action during World War II. All three armies were formed on March 1, 1940. The Second Army was the best-equipped Hungarian formation at the beginning of the war, but was virtually eliminated as an effective fighting unit by overwhelming Soviet force during the Battle of Stalingrad, suffering 84% casualties. Towards the end of the war, a reformed Second Army fought more successfully at the Battle of Debrecen, but, during the ensuing Siege of Budapest, it was destroyed completely and absorbed into the Hungarian Third Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna offensive</span> 1945 Soviet invasion of Nazi-occupied Vienna, Austria during WWII

The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street fighting, the Soviet troops captured the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dnieper–Carpathian offensive</span> 1944 Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front of WW2

The Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, also known in Soviet historical sources as the Liberation of Right-bank Ukraine, was a strategic offensive executed by the Soviet 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Ukrainian Fronts, along with the 2nd Belorussian Front, against the German Army Group South, Army Group A and elements of Army Group Center, and fought from late December 1943 to early May 1944. The battles in right-bank Ukraine and in the Crimea were the most important event of the 1944 winter-spring campaign on the Eastern Front.

This order of battle lists the German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Soviet forces involved in the Battle of Debrecen in October 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikopol–Krivoi Rog offensive</span> Russian military offensive (1944)

The Nikopol–Krivoi Rog offensive was an offensive by the Red Army's 3rd Ukrainian Front and elements of the 4th Ukrainian Front against the German 6th Army in the area of Nikopol and Krivoi Rog in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine between 30 January and 29 February 1944. It took place on the Eastern Front of World War II and was part of the wider Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, a Soviet attack against Army Group South to retake the rest of Ukraine that fell to Germany in 1941.

The 53rd Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army which was formed in August 1941, disbanded in December 1941, and reformed in May 1942. It fought throughout World War II before again being disbanded after the war in October 1945. The army was first formed for the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and was disbanded there in December 1941. The army reformed in May 1942. It fought in the Demyansk Pocket, the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of Belgorod, the Battle of the Dnieper, the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the Battle of Debrecen, the Budapest Offensive, and the Prague Offensive. At the end of the war in Europe it was moved to the Far East and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The army was disbanded in October 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bratislava–Brno offensive</span> World War II Red Army offensive

The Bratislava–Brno offensive was an offensive conducted by the Red Army in western Slovakia and south Moravia towards the end of World War II. The offensive was held between 25 March and 5 May 1945 using the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to capture the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, and the capital of Moravia, Brno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Konrad III</span>

Operation Konrad III was a German military offensive on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. It was the third and most ambitious of the three Konrad Operations and had the objective of relieving the siege of Budapest and recapturing the entire Transdanubia region. Achieving complete surprise, the German offensive began on 18 January 1945. Supported by the Luftwaffe, the IV SS Panzer Corps, the principal German attack formation, overran the Soviet 4th Guards Army in two days, destroying hundreds of Soviet tanks along the way, reached the Danube river on 19 January and recaptured 400 square kilometers of territory in four days. After nine days of combat, and the destruction by the SS of two-thirds of Soviet tanks in the entire 3rd Ukrainian Front, the German offensive was stopped by Soviet reinforcements 25 kilometers short of Budapest on 26 January.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive</span> March 1944 battle on the Eastern Front of WW2

The Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive was an offensive operation conducted in southern Ukraine by the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front against the German 6th Army and Romanian 3rd Army of Army Group A, in March 1944. It was part of the second stage of the strategic Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanised Group</span> Unit of the Soviet Red Army

1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanised Group was a tactical-operational formation of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, first serving under the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky over the course of Operation Bagration, later being transferred to General Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front to aid in its offensive into Hungary, Austria and ultimately Czechoslovakia. Commanded by the experienced and talented Guards Lieutenant General Issa Pliev, the Cavalry-Mechanised Group(KMG) proved itself to be an indispensable element of the Red Army in its attempts to destroy the German Wehrmacht on the Belorussian and Ukrainian axes.

References