Kamenets-Podolsky pocket

The Battle of the Kamianets-Podilskyi pocket was a

Soviet eort to surround and destroy the Wehrmacht's
1st Panzer Army of Army Group South. The envelopment occurred in March 1944 on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The Red Army successfully created the pocket, trapping some 200,000 German
soldiers inside. Under the command of Generaloberst
Hans-Valentin Hube and with the direction of Fieldmarshal Erich von Manstein, the German forces in the pocket
were able to ght their way out and escape by mid-April.
This event is sometimes referred to as Hubes Pocket.
Soviet advances leading to the creation of the pocket.

2 Start of the operation

The Soviet oensives began in early March, with Zhukov

taking personal command of Vatutins 1st Ukrainian
front. The Red Armys massive concentration in troops
and material forced Hube to withdraw his northern ank
to south-west until it reached the Dniester river. Despite
constant Red Army attacks, this position held until late
March. Five Soviet Tank Corps of the 1st and 4th Tank
Armies and the 3rd Guards Tank Army penetrated the extreme northern ank of Hubes position east of Ternopil
and then turned south, advancing behind the 1st Army
along the corridor between the Zbruch and Seret rivers.
The force reached the Dniester and continued toward
Chernivtsi. Behind them followed infantry and antitank
units which began establishing defensive positions along
the path of the advance behind the German positions.

Preparation

In February 1944, the 1st Panzer Armycommanded

by Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hubeconsisted of four
Corps, three of which were Panzer Corps (comprising 8
Panzer and 1 Panzergrenadier divisions). Together with
attached Army units the 1st Panzer Army included over
200,000 troops and was the most powerful formation of
Generalfeldmarshall Erich von Manstein's Army Group
South. The formations III Panzer Corps had recently
fought extensively in operations to thwart an earlier Soviet attempt to trap and destroy two Corps in the Korsun
Shevchenkivskyi Oensive,[2]

3 Encirclement

Realizing the signicance of the 1st Panzer Army, Soviet

Marshal Georgi Zhukov began planning to bring about
its destruction with hopes of creating a collapse of the
entire South-Eastern Front. Zhukov planned a multiFront oensive, involving his own 1st and Marshal Ivan
Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front. This force of over eleven
Armies, including two Air Armies, was to attempt to
outank and encircle Hubes Army, and, in a repeat of
the Battle of Stalingrad, reduce the resulting pocket (in
German, kessel, roughly meaning a steam boiler or pressure cooker) until all troops in it have surrendered. The
operations were to take place on the extreme north and
south of the Army Group South's front.

With the Soviet advance along the southern ank near

the Dniester, and the recent Soviet attacks to the north
and west and now southwest, the 1st Panzer Army was
conned to a salient with a supply line that was tenuous. Manstein requested that the position be withdrawn
to avoid encirclement, but Hitler refused, persisting with
his no retreat orders. Hube ordered all non-combat personnel out of the salient along the last remaining open
roadway. Seeing this movement to the south Zhukov concluded that Hube was in full retreat. In a matter of days,
Zhukov and Konevs forces had crossed the Dniester and
Manstein was informed of large troop movements all were in position to complete the encirclement. On 25
across Hubes front and was aware of an impending oper- March, the last line of communications corridor out of
ation, however, with Adolf Hitler's refusal to allow strate- Hubes bridgehead located on the northern bank of the
gic withdrawals, there was little he could do.[3]
Dniester was severed at Khotyn.[4]
1

4 HUBE ORGANIZES MOVE WEST

Though supplies were still being brought in, they were
insucient to maintain the Armys ghting strength.
Zhukov sent a terse ultimatum: Surrender, or every German soldier in the pocket would be shot.
Moving west would mean ghting through the Soviet armoured forces that created the breach and crossing a
number of rivers. Hube preferred to head south, over the
Dniester. Manstein believed that this is what the Soviet
command expected, and would be the most heavily resisted line of escape. Also, such a move would push the
1st Panzer Army into Romania, making defending the
southern Ukraine sector quite dicult. The Hungarian
VII Corps was holding a sector of the front to the west of
the Kamianets-Podilskyi pocket. Manstein ordered Hube
to break out to this area.

The threat of panic among his troops within the pocket

was a grave concern. As a means of maintaining control and simplifying the chain of command, Hube consolidated his forces into provisional corps groups. Each corps
group, within its zone, was to be responsible for both the
conduct of the attack to the west and the rear guard action
in the east. The armored divisions of each corps group
were to spearhead the armys attack, while the infantry
divisions covered the rear. Two columns would ght their
way west. The northern column was Korpsgruppe von
der Chevallerie under command of Kurt von der ChevalA German soldier takes cover near a knocked out T-34, March lerie and the south column was Korpsgruppe Breith under
command of General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.
1944
A third Corps under command of General der Infanterie
Hans Gollnick of the XLVI Panzer Corps formed KorpsThe entire 1st Panzer Army was now encircled in a pocket gruppe Gollick.
centered around the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. While
the encircled forces had food and ammunition enough
to support them for over two weeks, the vehicles were
extremely low on fuel. Hube had ordered all service
units south of the Dniester to withdraw away from the
main Red Army penetration which were taking place
to the south on the 2nd Ukrainian Fronts 40th Army
front.[4] Zhukov believed Hube would attempt to breakout through the south. To prevent this, he stripped units
from the encircling forces and sent them to reinforce the
south side of the pocket.

Hube organizes move west

Hube now ordered the pocket to be reduced in size, shortening the positions lines to increase defence density. As
the 1st Ukrainian Front prepared to complete the encirclement Hube requested the authorization to use mobile defence tactics, a request which was quickly denied.
However, once the encirclement was complete, the situation changed. Manstein had been arguing with Hitler for
the trapped Army to be allowed to attempt a breakout,
and for a relief force to be sent to assist them. With the
loss of the entire Panzer army in the balance, Hitler nally
gave in and ordered Hube to attempt a breakout.

A Panther passes a damaged StuG III as it moves o the rail head,

March 1944

The rst objective of the breakout was to be the capture of crossing sites over the Zbruch River. Corps
Group Chevallerie was to establish contact with the 1st
Panzer Division at Gorodok and Task Force Mauss in
the area between the Ushitsa and Zbruch Rivers. It was
then to cover the northern ank of the army between
the Ushitsa and Zbruch Rivers and establish a bridgehead across the latter at Skala. Corps Group Breith
was to recapture Kamianets-Podilskyi, regain control of
the Kamianets-Khotyn road, and establish a bridgehead

3
across the Zbruch River northwest of Khotin. Task Force
Gollnick, in close contact with the south ank of Corps
Group Breith, was to delay the Soviets below the Dnestr
River and was to retire to and hold a bridgehead at Khotin.

tack which penetrated deep into the pocket, capturing

Kamianets-Podilskyi. The loss of this major road and
rail hub meant that the escaping Germans had to detour
around the city, slowing the movement to a crawl. A
Hubes Army was to break out northwest toward counterattack soon cut o the Russians in the city, and
Tarnopol, where relief forces from Paul Haussers II SS the breakout recommenced. Moving by day and night,
Panzer Corps were to meet them. Air Supply Arrange- the kessel kept moving. Soon bridgeheads were formed
ments were made with the German Fourth Air Fleet to as- over the Seret river.
semble ve air transport groups and a number of bomber While Hubes army escaped west, Zhukov and Konev
wings at L'vev in Poland to y essential supplies into the continued to believe that the major breakout attempt
pocket. From Kamianets-Podilskyi to Ternopil was a dis- would be to the south. He ordered the attacks on the north
tance of over 250 km (160 mi), over several rivers, and and eastern anks of the pocket stepped up. These attacks
across muddy terrain. In addition, he believed the Sovi- achieved little, and many fell on positions which had been
ets would act as they had at Stalingrad, and make their abandoned as the German troops withdrew to Proskurov.
strongest resistance along this line.
Despite the attacks to the West, the Red Army kept increasing troop density to the southern ank of the pocket
in anticipation of an attack that would never come.

Breakout

On 30 March, Manstein was informed by the OKH that

he had been relieved of command. His many heated arguments with the Fhrer had not been forgotten. Hube
was on his own.

German breakout to the west.

On 27 March, the advance guard of the 1st Panzer Army

moved west toward the Zbruch river, while the rearguard
began a ghting withdrawal, with the rest of the 200,000
troops between them. The advanced guard attack went
well. The northern column quickly captured three bridges
over the Zbruch River, while the southern column was
battered by a Red Armys 4th Tank Army counterat-

Soviet response to the breakout.

The next day, the Red Army began to react. A strong

armored force from the 4th Tank Army launched an assault in the north between the Seret and Zbruch. Hubes
southern advanced guard turned and halted the Red Army

7 ORDER OF BATTLE FOR 1ST PANZER ARMY, MARCH 1944

assault, severing its supply lines and rendering the T-34s

of the 4th Tank Army immobile. Despite the fact that he
was now taking the breakout attempt seriously, Zhukov
did not move to block the escaping Germans. The way to
Tarnopol was still open.

Completing the breakout

Despite heavy snowfalls, low supplies, and encirclement,

the constant movement of Hubes Army meant that
"pocket fever" did not set in. The troops were still moving in good order and obeying discipline, while desertions
were almost non-existent. This was a stark comparison to
the panicked situation within the Stalingrad and Korsun
encirclements.
By 5 April, the advanced guards of both the northern and
southern columns had reached the Strypa River, and on
the 6th, near the town of Buczacz, they linked up with
the probing reconnaissance elements of Haussers SS Divisions. In over two weeks of heavy combat, during horrid weather and with few supplies, the 1st Panzer Army
had managed to escape encirclement while suering only
moderate casualties. The Army was put back into the
line and established itself between the Dniester and the
town of Brody. During the two week escape, Hubes men
had destroyed 357 tanks, 42 assault guns and 280 artillery
pieces, as well as causing severe casualties to the enemys
attacking forces. The quick thinking of Manstein, and
the operational planning and skill of Hube had resulted
in the 200,000 troops of the Army escaping the fate of
Stalingrad. While Hubes troops were still disciplined,
and equipped with light and personal weapons, only 45
armoured vehicles had escaped. Despite the escape and
low casualty rate, the 1st Panzer Army was no longer able
to perform large scale oensive operations and required
thorough retting.
The Kamianets-Podilskyi pocket is still studied in military academies today as an example of how to avoid annihilation when forces are trapped in a pocket.

Order of Battle for 1st Panzer

Army, March 1944

1st Panzer Army (Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube)

16th Panzer Division (Generalmajor HansUlrich Back)

11th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Wend
von Wietersheim)
Kampfgruppe from 1st SS Panzer Division
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
249th StuG Brigade
Schwere Panzer-Regiment Bke (Oberst Franz
Bke)
509th Heavy Panzer Battalion (Oberleutnant
Dr. Knig)
LIX Army Corps (General der Infanterie Kurt von
der Chevallerie)
96th Infantry
Richard Wirtz)

Division

(Generalleutnant

291st Infantry Division (Generalmajor Oskar

Eckholt)
6th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Walter
Denkert)
19th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Hans
Kllner)
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich - Kampfgruppe (SS-Sturmbannfhrer Otto Weidinger)
276th StuG Brigade
280th StuG Brigade
616th Heavy Panzerjger Battalion
88th Heavy Panzerjger Battalion
509th Heavy Panzerjger Battalion
XXIV Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppen
Walther Nehring)
25th Panzer Division (remnants) (Generalleutnant Hans Trger)
20th Panzergrenadier Division (General der
Panzertruppen Georg Jauer)
168th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant
Werner Schmidt-Hammer)
208th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant
Heinz Piekenbrock)
371st Infantry Division (General der Infanterie
Hermann Nieho)
300th StuG Brigade

1st Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Werner

Marcks)
17th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant KarlFriedrich von der Meden)

III Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe

Hermann Breith)

731st Heavy Panzerjger Battalion

473rd Motorcycle Battalion
XXXXVI Panzer Corps (General der Infanterie
Friedrich Schulz)
1st Infantry Division (Generalleutnant ErnstAnton von Krosigk)

5
82nd Infantry Division
Hans-Walter Heyne)

(Generalleutnant

75th Infantry Division

Helmuth Beukemann)

(Generalleutnant

254th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Alfred Thielmann)

101st Jger Division (General
Gebirgstruppen Emil Vogel)

der

18th Artillery Division (General der Artillerie

Karl Thoholte)
300th StuG Battalion

References

Citations
[1] BA-MA Rh-1/371
[2] Glantz (1989), p. 332 - situation map, 1 March 1944
[3] Glantz (1989), p. 334
[4] Glantz (1989), p. 335

Bibliography
Glantz, David, Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War, Frank Cass, London, (1989) ISBN
0-7146-3347-X
Alan Clark, Barbarossa, Harper Perennial, New
York, 1985 ISBN 978-0-688-04268-4
John Erickson, The Road To Berlin: Stalins War
With Germany Vol.2, WESTVIEW PRESS, London, 1983
Perry Moore (Design), Warren Kingsley, C.
Rawling (Development), Against the Odds:
KesselSchlacht (Ukraine Spring 1944), LPS, 2002
Bryan Perrett, Knights of the Black Cross: Hitlers
Panzerwae and Its Leaders.
Carl Wagener, Der Ausbruch der 1. Panzerarmee
aus dem Kessel von Kamenez-Podolsk Mrz/April
1944.
Encirclement of a Panzer Army Near KamenetsPodolskiy (chapter 6 of Operations of Encircled
Forces, United States Department of the Army).
Coordinates:
26.5000E

490000N 263000E / 49.0000N

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Derksen, Bobby D. Bryant, Dimadick, Oberiko, Wwoods, Gdr, Mzajac, Loopy, Pavel Vozenilek, Giraedata, Wendell, Miranche, Wsloand,
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