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In the planning for Western Front's summer offensive against the eastern face of the Rzhev salient at least one map-solution was prepared in June for a prospective offensive by 49th, 33rd and 5th Armies to seize Vyasma, although this came to nothing.
The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast, in and around the salient surrounding Rzhev. Due to the high losses suffered by the Red Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" (Russian: Ржевская мясорубка, romanized: Rzhevskaya myasorubka).
The formation of the Rzhev Salient, January 1942. The closing stages of the Battle of Moscow saw the formation of the Rzhev salient.The Soviet counter-offensive had driven the Wehrmacht from the outskirts of Moscow back more than 100 miles (160 kilometres), and had penetrated Army Group Centre's front in numerous places. [11]
On March 2, as Army Group Center put its evacuation of the Rzhev salient, Operation Büffel, into effect, 31st Army began its role in the difficult and costly pursuit until the end of the month. [14] On May 13 General Oleshev was moved up to command of the 36th Rifle Corps , being replaced by Col. Usman Minibaevich Sakaev.
Rzhev salient 1941-1942. Note positions of 30th and 29th Armies. The first Rzhev-Vyazma offensive began on January 8, 1942, based on a directive from the STAVKA of the previous day, which stated the objective "to encircle, and then capture or destroy the enemy's entire Mozhaysk – Gzhatsk –Viaz'ma grouping".
The 3rd Shock Army, now allocated to Kalinin Front, started the operation on 24 November by attacking Third Panzer Army at Velikiye Luki, and the next day the Kalinin and Western Fronts assaulted the entire perimeter of the Rzhev salient. [4] The offensive involved the 41st, 22nd, 39th, 31st, 20th, and 29th Armies from both Fronts.
It spent much of the next year in the same general area, west of the capital, taking part in the mostly futile battles against the German-held salient at Rzhev during late 1942. Following the evacuation of the salient in March, 1943 the 415th was assigned to the 61st Army, where it remained for most of the rest of the war. It took part in the ...
The division later participated in the Second Rzhev–Sychevka Offensive Operation in November 1942. 20th Army, now under command of Maj. Gen. N. I. Kiryukhin, was assigned the main task along the east face of the Rzhev salient; it was to drive across the Vazuza and create a breach for its mobile forces to exploit and pinch off the northern ...