Korsun Pocket, also known as the Cherkassy Pocket, was the name of the large pocket of German troops between the towns of Korsun and Cherkassy on the lower Dnepr River in the Southern Ukraine, during World War II.
In January of 1944, the encroaching SovietRed Army executed a pincer operation against a salient in the German lines near the town of Cherkassy. German troops, prevented from retreat by orders of Adolf Hitler, soon found themselves completely encircled, with their only source of supply being an airfield next to the town of Korsun. The Soviets thus succeeded in encircling 56,000 Germans, creating the largest pocket of German troops since the Battle of Stalingrad.
After the encirclement the Red Army persistently tightened their stranglehold against the German troops in the pocket, while at the same time, the Germans, led by Field Marshal von Manstein, mounted increasingly strong relief efforts against the outer Soviet perimeter. The relief was a partial success as the enciricled German forces were able to break out, but they suffered heavy losses and had to abandon most of their heavy equipment.
External links
US ARMY Historical Study - Operations of Encircled Forces, German Experiences in Russia (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/BOOKS/WWII/20234/20234.html)
The battle was fought on the Eastern Front between the forces of the German Heeresgruppe Süd and the Soviet 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts.
Trapped in the pocket were 56,000 men, a total of six German divisions, including the elite 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking and the SS Sturmbrigade Wallonien.
The IIId was attached to Generaloberst Hermann Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee in Operation Citadel, and was heavily involved in the fighting withdrawal from Belgorod to the Dniepr.
At the beginning of 1944, the corps was involved in the relief of the forces trapped in the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket.
In March, the corps, along with the rest of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's 1.Panzerarmee was trapped in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, and was heavily involved in the breakout and escape.
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