M
Russia, 1941 -45: the vast area of the campaigns that followed the Axis invasion
Which he offered a constitution, a legislative body (the Duma) and the appointment of a prime minister. This action appeased many of his critics and isolated revolutionaries who had established a workers’ soviet. Fighting between the army and left-wing activists continued in Moscow until the New Year when order was restored.
By 1917 the unrelenting strains imposed by World War I precipitated another and more far reaching revolution. Economic chaos and the demoralizing effect of continuous military failure resulted in civilian unrest in Petrog-rad in March 1917. Army units ordered to quell the disturbances sided with the strikers and rioters, throwing into question the loyalty of the whole army. Lack of faith in Nicholas’ ability to rule the nation led the Duma to form a provisional government while on the 15th, the Tsar’s advisers persuaded him to abdicate. However the new government under Kerensky suffered from the same problems that had beset Nicholas and, in addition, the Bolsheviks continued to agitate for further political change. The provisional government’s failure to unite the disparate political forces in Russia, solve the problems of food shortages and halt the disasters at the front resulted in a second revolution. Under Lenin’s leadership the Bolsheviks mounted a coup in Petrograd on November 6-7, ousting Kerensky
And establishing a Soviet of peoples’ Commissars. Their manifesto offered a promise of “Peace, land, bread” to the long suffering Russian masses and local soviets were quickly established throughout the country. A cease-fire was agreed with the Germans on December 15 and a final peace treaty was concluded at Brest-Litovsk on March 3 1918. The diversity of the Bolsheviks’ enemies inhibited a concerted counter-revolution and although the “White” forces received help from the Allies they failed to defeat the Red Army and destroy the new communist state. MS.
Russian Civil War and foreign intervention (1917-22) see the essay underground warfare pp.324-326.
Russky, Gen Nikolai (1854-1913). Russian. Russky saw active service in the Imperial Russian Army before World War I, participating in the Turkish and Japanese wars. However, in spite of his experience, he showed a singular disinclination to cooperate with his fellow commanders. In September 1914 he failed to seize the clear opportunity of striking at the vulnerable flank of the Austrian armies as they attacked Gen Ivanov’s forces to the north. Taking command of the Northwest Front in September, for a second time Russky neglected to come to the aid of his colleague when Ivanov was heavily engaged in central Poland. However his performance improved during the Battle of Lodz in November when he reacted smartly to a German thrust against his Second Army. In March 1915 Russky left the Northwest Front and served as commander of the Sixth Army before taking command of the Northern Front in 1916. He was intimately involved in the Tsar’s abdication with the crisis coming to a head at his headquarters at Pskov. Reports came in that Nicholas could no longer rely upon the support of his armies and, on March 15 1917, the Tsar signed his abdication, entrusting the document to Russky for safe keeping. Thereafter, Russ-ky’s influence upon events waned. The new regime removed him from command of the Northern Front and he was sent to the Caucasus. It was there that he was arrested by the Bolsheviks in the autumn of 1918 and was executed at Piato-gorsk on October 19. MS.
Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Russian intransigence, expressed in deliberately protracted negotiations, prevented Japan from exploiting the territorial gains she had made in Korea and Manchuria as a result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. In particular, Japan coveted Port Arthur (Lushun) on the Liaotung Peninsula, but Russia was determined to retain her only ice-free Pacific base, which was linked to Moscow by the 5,500-mile (8,850-km)
Trans-Siberian Railway.
On February 8 1904, a Japanese squadron under Adm Togo made a pre-emptive strike on Port Arthur: a night attack by torpedo craft crippled two Russian battleships and a bombardment next morning inflicted further damage. Port Arthur was henceforth effectively neutralized by close blockade, preventing reinforcement of its squadron from Vladivostok, 1,000 miles (1,600km) to the north. On February 9, Adm Kamimura’s cruiser squadron sank the two Russian cruisers that protected the Korean port of Chemulpo (Inchon), thus preparing the way for Japanese troop landings. War was declared on February 10.
Although Russia was considered a great power and Japan a minor one — the Russian army numbered
More than 4,000,000 men, compared to Japan’s full strength (including reservists) of around
680.000 - Russia had only about
130.000 troops in the Far East and could reinforce and supply them only via the single-track TransSiberian line (still incomplete, with a lOO-mile/160-km hiatus at Lake Baikal). So long as she controlled the sea, Japan had no such logistical problems. Japan’s soldiers were efficiently trained by German instructors and led by charismatic commanders; Russia’s army suffered from a complex chain of command, arrogant and incompetent officers who relied on outdated techniques, and inefficient administrators. The Japanese navy, largely British-inspired, had six modern battleships and marked superiority in cruisers and torpedo craft; Russia’s fifteen battleships were older and were manned mainly by unenthusiastic conscripts - and eight of them were deployed in the Baltic and Black Sea and could not be brought into action readily.
On February 17, Gen Kuroki’s First Army landed at Chemulpo and marched northwards to the Manchurian border, where, on the Yalu river, Kuroki forced a crossing at Kiu-Lien-Cheng on May 1. Within a fortnight, the Japanese Second (Gen Oku) and Fourth (Gen Nodzu) Armies had landed on the Liaotung Peninsula, the former advancing southwest towards Port Arthur, the latter moving northwest towards Liaoyang, where the Russian c-in-c, Gen Kuropatkin, had concentrated his main force. Kuropatkin planned to delay the Japanese by a series of holding actions and gradual withdrawals, until reinforcements (at the rate of about 35,000 men per month by the railway) allowed him to mount a counteroffensive for the relief of Port Arthur. This sensible strategy was opposed by the egregious Adm Alexeiev, Viceroy of the Far East, and spoiled by subordinates who insisted on aggression against the “yellow monkeys”.
The investment of Port Arthur was completed on May 25 by Oku’s victory at Nanshan Hill, securing the port of Dalny (Dairen). Leaving Gen Nogi to conduct the land campaign against Port Arthur, Oku turned northward, frustrating a Russian thrust towards Port
Arthur at Telissu on June 14-15. Three days later, Kuroki drove Gen Keller’s force from the Moteinlung river towards Liaoyang, on which three Japanese armies (Oku, Nodzu, Kuroki) now converged under the overall command of Field Marshal Iwao Oyama. In a ten-day battle at Liaoyang, ending on September 3, Oyama forced Kuropatkin’s armies to retreat northwards again towards Mukden. Twice - on the Shaho river on October 5-17 and at Sandepu on January 26-27 1905 - Kuropatkin turned at bay, now having superiority in numbers (albeit many of his reinforcements were ill-trained reservists); on both occasions, Russian indecision in command was overcome by Japanese audacity. By February 1905, the Russians had been driven back to Mukden, where they entrenched.
Meanwhile, Nogi prosecuted the siege of Port Arthur with savage determination. While Togo maintained the blockade, defeating the one major Russian sortie in the Yellow Sea on August 10 1904, Nogi hurled his force of some
80,000 men against the 40,000-strong garrison. Although the Russian commander, Gen Stossel, was incompetent (if not actually a traitor, as was afterwards alleged), he had the advantage of three prepared defensive lines in which concrete forts and strongpoints fortified with barbed-wire entanglements and minefields had been efficiently combined. In frontal assaults in August, advancing in human waves against machine-gun positions, Nogi lost 15,000 men; further costly attacks in September gained ground but failed to take the vital 203 Metre Hill, commanding the harbour. However, the hard-won ground on the northern heights was to prove vital, for here, in October, Nogi sited some twenty 280mm howitzers, whose 7001b shells began to reduce the Russian fortifications. In his fifth and final major assault, November 27-December 5, Nogi carried 203 Metre Hill at the cost of some 11,000 Japanese dead. The surviving Russian warships now lay at the mercy of Nogi’s guns, and on January 2 1905 Port Arthur surrendered. Nogi’s victory obscured an important lesson: direct assault on positions protected by automatic weapons was now prohibitively expensive.
Nogi marched Third Army north to Mukden, and with this reinforcement giving him near-parity with Kuropatkin, Oyama attacked on February 21. Waged along a 47-mile (75km) front until March 10, Mukden was the largest land engagement to date. Although suffering heavy losses, Kuropatkin was able to avoid Oyama’s attempted envelopment and retreat towards Harbin. The land campaign was now effectively over: the final act took place at sea, on May 27 1905, when the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron ended its voyage from the Baltic in crushing defeat at Tsushima. Racked by revolutionary unrest at home and mutiny in her forces — the Potemkin mutiny erupted on June 27 - Russia needed peace if the Romanov dynasty was to be preserved.
Representatives of Russia and Japan met at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, under the auspices of President Theodore Roosevelt. Signed on September 5 1905, the peace treaty gave Japan the Liaotung Peninsula, protectorate powers in Korea and the southern half of Sakhalin Island. In the longer run, it confirmed Japan in the policy of Imperial expansion that would have its tragic climax in World War II. RO’N.
Ruweisat, First Battle of (July 14-16 1942). XIII Corps (Gott) launched a night attack on the Italian Brescia and Pavia Divisions with the New Zealand and 5th Indian Divisions. The Italians collapsed, but Afrika Korps (Nehring) counterattacked with tanks at first light and overran 4th New Zealand Brigade, retaking the Italian positions. Poor infan-try/tank cooperation lay at the root of the British defeat.
Ruweisat, Second Battle of (July 21-23 1942). Almost a repeat of the First Battle, in that 5th Indian Division and 6th New Zealand Brigade carried their objectives with a night attack, but were overrun at dawn by Afrika Korps armour before the British tanks arrived in their support. A charge, reminiscent of Balaclava, by the latter, resulted in the loss of 89 tanks without reversing the British defeat.
SA. The Sturmabteilung, literally “Storm Detachment”: first of the Nazi paramilitary organizations. Formed in 1921, the “Brownshirts” provided Hitler with violent support in his rise to power. By 1934 the SA threatened his long-term plans and he therefore neutralized its leadership in the “Night of the Long Knives”.
Sabah see malaysia-indonesia
CONFRONTATION.
Sabotage. Briefiy envisaged by British Chiefs of Staff in summer 1940 as best potential weapon for defeating Axis; soe was created to foster it. Results were slight: a few coups mattered for a few weeks, e. g. destruction of bridges on main north-south railway across Greece on November 25—26 1942 and June 20-21 1943; in France, over 950 rail cuts on night of Normandy landings, June 5-6 1944. Industrial sabotage, though frequent, seldom caused important delays; only in Norway was it vital. Go-slow hindered German war effort more; e. g. making French railways all but unworkable except with German train crews. Retreating Russians made supply harder for Germans by destroying everything they could reach (“scorched earth”); and Polish resisters immobilized over 5,000 German locomotives. MF.
Sabre see F-se sabre.
SACEUR. NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, responsible for the defence of Europe from the North Cape to the Eastern boundary of Turkey. Always an American general, he has his international HQ, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (shape), at Casteau, in Belgium. His command is split into three main areas. Northern, Central and Southern Europe, each under an Allied c-in-c. saceur has his own allocation of slbms, including the British Polaris force which is placed under his control “unless supreme national” issues are at stake.
Sagger, nato code name for the Soviet 9M14 Malatyuka anti-tank missile used with great effect by the Egyptians in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and still in widespread use with Warsaw Pact armies. A simple wire-guided weapon that must be “flown” by its operator all the way to the target. Sagger has a maximum range of 9,840ft (3,000m) and can penetrate 1.312ft (400mm) of armour with its 5.91b (2.7kg) shaped-charge warhead. Later Sagger-C missiles mounted on vehicles have modified com-mand-to-line-of-sight automatic guidance.
St Eloi. On a dominating spur at the southern neck of the Ypres Salient, St Eloi was the scene of extensive mining operations by both sides, 1915-17. A mine containing 95,6001b (43,350kg) of ammonal was blown here on June 7 1917; the largest single charge detonated before the British attack on Messines Ridge.
St Julien see ypres, second battle
OF (l915).
St L6 see normandy, invasion of.
F t
HMS Campbeltown at St Nazaire, 1942
St Nazaire raid (March 28 1942). St Nazaire, in the estuary of the Loire, in 1942 held the only dry dock big enough to take the German battleship Tirpitz. The Allies sought to destroy it to reduce the danger of the ship’s raiding into the Atlantic. An old “lend-lease” US destroyer hms Campbeltown had her bows loaded with three tons of explosive and was disguised as a German torpedo boat. She would ram the dock gates; commandos in 16 motor launches would land and demolish as much as they could, while an mtb fired delay-fused torpedoes into the gates. The naval commander, Commander Ryder (awarded the VC for this operation), successfully took his force up the estuary, retaining surprise for a vital couple of minutes by confusing signals. Despite intense fire, the gate was rammed and Commandos landed. Withdrawal was difficult - only 6 motor launches escaped and the Germans took most of the Commandos prisoner. Next day both the destroyer and the torpedoes exploded, killing many Germans and causing a panic outbreak of firing in which more Germans and some French were killed. The dock was wrecked in what was one of the most successful of all raids, despite the heavy losses. DJL.
St Vith see northwest European
CAMPAIGN.
Saipan campaign (1944). The island of Saipan in the Marianas chain was selected by the US as a suitable base for air operations against the Philippines and Japan. Consequently, V Amphibious Corps was given the task of capturing the island. After a sustained bombardment, on June 15 1944 the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions secured beachheads against fierce Japanese resistance. The 27th Infantry Division joined the Marines in beating off strong Japanese counterattacks before clearing the southern half of the island. The drive north proved more difficult especially as, with no hope of relief following the American victory at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese garrison fought with fanatical ferocity. This was mirrored by Japanese civilians; many committed suicide rather than face capture. On July 9 the northern tip of Saipan was in American hands and the island was declared secure. MS.
Sakai, Lt (Navy) Saburo (b. l916). Jap. Highest-scoring Japanese fighter pilot to survive World War II (64 “kills”), Sakai scored his first victories in the Sino-Japanese War, and on December 10 1941, in a Mitsubishi A6M, was the first. Japanese pilot to destroy a B-17 Flying Fortress. Over Guadalcanal, 1942, he lost an eye in a dogfight in which he destroyed three US fighters. Back in combat over Iwo Jima, 1944, he also flew kamikaze missions (although openly opposing suicide tactics), returning with honour after finding no suitable targets.
Salamaua. By early September 1943, this Japanese air and supply base on the Huon Gulf in northeast New Guinea had been encircled by the Allies. Under pressure from units of the Australian 3rd and 5th Divisions and the US 41st Division, the Japanese garrison evacuated the town on September 11.
Salan, Gen Raoul A L (18991984). Fr. Succeeded Marshal de Lattre as commander of French forces in Indochina in January
1952. His decision to withdraw from Hoa Binh left the highlands in communist hands. To recover the highlands, he proposed to fortify strongpoints at Na San, Lai Chau and “eventually Dien Bien Phu”. That recommendation foretold the final battle, although Salan, departing in May 1953, did not participate in its planning. In April 1961 he led a mutiny in Algeria, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Armour at Salerno beachhead, 1943
Salerno, landings at and Battle
Of (September 9-17 1943). The Gulf of Salerno was chosen for the landing of Fifth Army (Clark) at the beginning of the Italian campaign, because it was the farthest north that Allied fighter cover could be provided from Sicily. The British X Corps (McCreery) with 7th Armoured, 46th and 56th Divisions landed on the northern half of the Gulf, and US VI Corps (Dawley) with 3rd, 34th, 36th and 45th US Divisions on the southern half. They were opposed initially by XIV Panzer Corps (Hube) with 15th Panzer Grenadier, the Hermann Goring Division, and 16th Panzer Division, which was responsible for the defence of both the Gulfs of Gaeta and Salerno.
The battles fell into three phases. The landings took place on September 9, and were an Allied success in that beachheads were established, although less easily than expected because the Germans disarmed their Italian colleagues quickly enough after the announcement of the Italian capitulation to be able to oppose the landings themselves, and to secure the high ground overlooking the beaches.
Forces were then built up between September 10-11, and in this the Germans had the upper hand because they could reinforce more quickly over land than the Allies could by sea. Von Vieting-hoff, commanding Tenth Army in Southern Italy, concentrated XIV Panzer Corps (Hube) around the beachhead, while LXXVI Panzer Corps (Herr) was rushed back from Calabria with 29th Panzer Grenadier and 26th Panzer Divisions to mount a counteroffensive. 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division was also brought down from Rome when the capital was secured.
The German counteroffensive (September 12-17) was then carried out by LXXVI Panzer Corps down the Sele river into VI US Corps’ sector. It almost reached the beaches, making the American position so precarious that hq Fifth Army began making contingency plans for evacuation. These were stopped by Alexander, who arranged for the intervention of the Allied strategic bombers, the provision of naval gunfire support by the battleships Warspite and Valiant, and for the drop of part of 82nd US Airborne Division into the beachhead.
The weight of bombs dropped and naval broadsides fired during the 14th and 15th neutralized renewed German efforts to break through. Next day leading troops of Montgomery’s Eighth Army reached the beachhead. Kesselring authorized a general withdrawal from September 18. WGFJ.
Salmson SAL. 2. A2 (French, WWI). Two-seat reconnaissance. Prototype flew spring 1917; by August 1 1917, 26 SAL. 2. A2s with front-line units. Sturdy and effective; used by at least 24 French escadrilles Western Front and Italy; 448 operational at October 1 1918. USAS acquired 705; from April 1918 equipped 11 American squadrons. Production, about 3,200. One 260hp Salmson (Canton-Unne) engine; max. speed 115.5mph (186kph); two/three
7.7mm machine guns.
Salmuth, Col Gen Hans von
(1888-1962). Ger. Commander of Fifteenth Army, in Rommel’s Army Group B, deployed east of the Normandy invasion area, June
1944. Although he advocated forward defence, Salmuth believed the major landings would be made in the Pas de Calais. Hitler, sharing this belief, refused to release any of Salmuth’s 17 divisions to oppose the Allied build-up until late July.
Salonika campaign (1915-18). In return for guarantees of territorial gains in Serbian Macedonia, Bulgaria signed a military convention with the Central Powers on September 6 1915 and ordered general mobilization on September 23. This new threat led the Serbian government to make desperate appeals to Paris and London for military aid. At the same time, the Greek Prime Minister Venizelos, against the wishes of the pro-German King Constantine, also requested Allied assistance to enable Greece to fulfil treaty obligations to Serbia. To help the Serbs, Britain and France sent a combined expeditionary force to Salonika in Greek Macedonia, although Venizelos resigned on October 5, the very day on which the first Franco-British units disembarked at Salonika. Following the British and French declarations of war on Bulgaria on October 14-15, the small Allied force made a limited advance into Serbia but was unable to offer much real support. The Serbian Army, struck by the Germans and Austrians from the north and the Bulgarians from the east, had to retreat, under appalling conditions, through Albania to the Adriatic. From there Allied warships took around 100,000 survivors to Corfu early in 1916.
By then the Franco-British force, under the overall command of Gen Maurice Sarrail, had fallen back into a huge entrenched position around Salonika, which the Germans sarcastically called “the greatest internment camp in the world”. After months on the defensive, the Allies moved up to the Serbian frontier in April 1916 and, during the latter half of the year, were joined by Serbian, Russian and Italian contingents. Venizelos established a provisional govern-
Merit at Salonika in October and also provided some 23,000 Greek troops, bringing Sarrail’s forces up to a strength of 350,000 men. An offensive planned for August was forestalled by a Bulgarian attack against the Serbs on the Allied left and had to be postponed until September 12. The only significant Allied success was the liberation of Monastir by the Serbs, with French and Russian support, on November 19. The Allied line now stretched from Monastir to the Gulf of Orfano, with the British Salonika Army, under Gen Milne, holding the right, overlooked by commanding heights, to the south of Lake Doiran and along the Struma Valley. Disease, especially malaria, ravaged the Allied units. In the British Salonika Army, nonbattle casualties exceeded battle casualties by twenty to one.
Another Allied offensive in the spring of 1917 failed with heavy losses. King Constantine abdicated and Greece declared war on the Central Powers in June. Sar-rail was replaced by Gen Guil-laumat in December. Guillaumat boosted morale and restored unity among the Allied contingents. Under his successor, Gen Franchet d’Esperey, this theatre, so long considered a “sideshow” by the British and French, was suddenly transformed into the scene of spectacular triumphs. A major offensive, beginning on September 15, forced Bulgaria to surrender on September 29, the first of Germany’s allies to drop out of the war. PJS.
Samar, Battle of see leyte gulf,
BATTLE OF (l944).
Samoa (1914). The western islands of this South Pacific group, in German possession from 1899 (the remainder being US territory), included an important coaling-station at Apia. To deny this to von Spee’s squadron and to commerce raiders, it was occupied by a New Zealand Expeditionary Force, escorted by Australian warships, on August 30 1914.
Samsonov, Gen Alexander Vasi-lievich (1859-1914). Russian. Commander of Russian Second Army in August 1914 at beginning of the Tannenberg campaign. His feud with Rennenkampf had begun during the Russo-Japanese War {see rennenkampf), and the decision to put both men into a campaign where success depended on their mutual trust and close cooperation was the first of many Russian errors. Like Rennenkampf, Samsonov tolerated the passing of vital intelligence and operational orders by unciphered radio telegraph, giving Col Hoffmann at German Eighth Army hq a clear picture of Russian intentions. Samsonov compounded his problems through loose tactical handling and ambiguous instructions to subordinate hqs, resulting in the uncoordinated swing to the left carried out by his Army on crossing the East Prussian border, when, had it struck north and east against the German right flank, a decisive victory could have been won. When it became apparent that Second Army was on the verge of envelopment Samsonov, a brave and universally popular commander, rode forward in person to avert disaster, but committed suicide when it was clear that all was lost. MH.
San Bernadino Strait. Stretch of water between southeastern Luzon and northern Samar in the Philippine Islands. The Japanese Navy’s Centre Force under Vice Adm Kurita passed through this channel on the night of October 24-25 1944 before its abortive attempt to destroy American amphibious units in Leyte Gulf.
San Carlos Bay. On northwest coast of East Falkland; chosen, in the Falklands War of 1982, as the best compromise landing place for 3rd Commando Brigade and 5th Infantry Brigade. Although the initial landings on May 21 were unopposed, naval vessels protecting anchorage in San Carlos Water suffered heavily from Argentine air attack. May 22-27, when hm ships Ardent, Antelope and Coventry were sunk and Antrim, Argonaut and Broadsword were severely damaged. •
Sandepu (Heikoutai), Battle of
(January 26-27 1905), Russo-
Japanese War. In blinding snowstorms, Kuropatkin’s attack with
300,000 men (losses 20,000) was repulsed by 220,000 Japanese (losses 9,000) under Oyama.
Sanders, Otto Liman von see liman VON SANDERS.
Sangro river. Battle of (November 19-December 1 1943). Eighth
Army (Montgomery) reached the Sangro on November 8, having fought its way over the Trigno by November 4. The Sangro was held by LXXVI Panzer Corps (Herr) with 65th, 1st Parachute and 16th Panzer Divisions. Montgomery planned to attack in the coastal sector with V Corps (Allfrey), using 78th and 8th Indian Divisions, while the New Zealand Division crossed farther inland. Preliminary operations started on November 19 with the river fordable, but heavy rain 'from the 20th to the 23rd flooded the valley. The delay gave Kesselring time to reinforce Herr with 126th Panzer and 90th Panzer Grenadier Divisions. When the attack was launched on November 28, V managed to establish a bridgehead, almost destroying 65th Division in the process, but Herr fell back to the embryo Gustav Line behind the More river with his front intact. Montgomery could not achieve the breakthrough that he needed for his advance on Rome. WGFJ.
Sanna’s Post (Kornspruit), Battle
Of (March 31 1900), Second Boer War. De Wet, with c2,000 men and five guns, planned to capture the waterworks at Sanna’s Post on the Modder river, 17 miles (27km) west of Bloemfontein. Learning of the approach of a large supply convoy escorted by c2,000 cavalry and two batteries (12 x 12-pounder guns) of Royal Horse Artillery, under Brig Broadwood, De Wet posted his guns, with 1,600 men, on high ground, while he himself, with 400 men, occupied ground commanding a gully. Fired on by the larger Boer force, the British column sought shelter in the gully, where De Wet sprang his ambush, capturing all the waggons and seven guns. Largely because of heroic resistance by the remaining rha battery, during which four vcs were won. Broad-wood was able to extricate his force, losing 155 killed or wounded and 426 captured; De Wet had only 8 casualties.
De Wet immediately rode south to deal with a garrison retreating from Dewetsdorp. The British,
World History
