Battle of Krasny Bor

Battle of Krasny Bor
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Date February 10–13, 1943 Location Krasny Bor, near present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia Result Axis victory
Belligerents
Germany  Spain	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Georg Lindemann Emilio Esteban Infantes	Vladimir Sviridov
Units involved
18th Army: Initial: 250th Infantry Division 4th SS Police Division Reinforcements: 24th Infantry Division Combat groups from 7 divisions	55th Army: Initial: 43rd Rifle Division 45th Guards Rifle Division 63rd Guards Rifle Division 34th Ski Brigade Mobile Group: 35th Ski Brigade 122nd Tank Brigade
Strength
Initial: 250th: 5,900 infantry 4th SS: uncertain Reinforcements: uncertain	Initial: 33,000 infantry 30 tanks 1,000 Artillery pieces and Mortars Total: 38,000 infantry 90 tanks
Casualties and losses
250th: 3,645 killed and wounded 300 missing Other units: uncertain	More than 20,000 killed, wounded and missing

18th Army:

55th Army:

Initial:

Reinforcements:

Initial:
33,000 infantry
30 tanks
1,000 Artillery pieces and Mortars

The Battle of Krasny Bor was part of the Soviet offensive Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda. It called for a pincer attack near Leningrad, to build on the success of Operation Iskra and completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, encircling a substantial part of the German 18th Army. The offensive near Krasny Bor, formed the western arm of the pincer. The Soviet offensive began on Wednesday, 10 February 1943. It produced noticeable gains on the first day, but rapidly turned into a stalemate. The strong defense of the 250th (Spanish) Infantry Division led by General Emilio Esteban Infantes and the 4th SS Police Division gave the German forces time to reinforce their positions. By February 13, the Soviet forces had stopped their offensive in this sector.

In Spain, February 10 became known as "Black Wednesday", due to the heavy losses of the Spanish Division, which lost over 70% of the men engaged in the action. It was the most costly battle for the Spanish volunteers during their time on the Eastern Front.

The Siege of Leningrad began in early autumn 1941. By September 8, German and Finnish forces had surrounded the city, cutting off all supply routes to Leningrad and its suburbs. However the original drive on the city failed and the city was subjected to a siege. During 1942 several attempts were made to breach the blockade, but they were all unsuccessful. The last such endeavour in 1942 was the Sinyavin Offensive. After the defeat of that effort, the front line returned to what it was previously and again 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) separated Leonid Govorov's Leningrad Front in the city and Kirill Meretskov's Volkhov Front.

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