First Battle of Kharkov

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=First Battle of Kharkov


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partof=World War II
place=Kharkov, USSR
date=October 20, 1941 — October 24, 1941
result=Axis Victory
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The "1st Battle of Kharkov" so named by Wilhelm Keitel [see The memoirs of Field-Marshal Keitel. Edited with an introd. and epilogue by Walter Gorlitz. Translated by David Irving, William Kimber, London (1965)] was the 1941 tactical Wehrmacht battle for the city of Kharkov during the final phase of Operation Barbarossa by the German 6th Army of the Army Group South (now Kharkiv, Ukraine) on October 20, 1941. The Soviet 38th Army was ordered to defend the city while its factories were dismantled for relocation farther east.

By October 21, all of the factory equipment had been loaded on to rail trains. On this day the Germans closed to within 11 km of the railway yards.

The German 6th Army executed a northern envelopment of the city while the 17th Army did the same from the south of the Soviet defensive positions on October 24.

Although the city was taken by German troops on the same day, most of the rail transport was evacuated by the Soviet authorities.

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*cite web | last = Chen | first = Peter | title = First Battle of Kharkov | work = World War II Database | date = 2004-2007 | url = http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=58 | accessdate = 2007-02-08