Demyansk Pocket 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 May 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Russia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Siege of Leningrad | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 57.6500, 32.4667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Demyansk Pocket (German: Kessel von Demjansk; Russian: Демя́нский котёл) was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk, south of Leningrad, on World War II's Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February to 21 April 1942.
A much smaller force was surrounded in the Kholm Pocket at the town of Kholm, about 100 km (62 mi) to the southwest. Both resulted from the German retreat after its defeat during the Battle of Moscow.
The successful defence of Demyansk was achieved by using an airbridge and was a significant development in modern warfare. Its success was a major contributor to the decision by the Army High Command to try the same tactic during the Battle of Stalingrad, but it then failed to save the 6th Army, commanded by Friedrich Paulus.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Demyansk Pocket (revision 1370615479), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Siege of Leningrad
- Battle of Someri 1942
- Operation Iskra 1943
All 3 battles of the Siege of Leningrad →
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