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WWII On This Day: January 12

What happened on January 12 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1943 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1943
Modern operational map of Operation Iskra showing the converging attacks of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts in January 1943.
Modern operational map of Operation Iskra showing the converging attacks of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts in January 1943. VT1978 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Source
The Siege of Leningrad

Operation Iskra begins

The two fronts opened simultaneous attacks across the Neva and westward from the Volkhov side after a massive artillery preparation. Baltic Fleet guns and aircraft supported the attempt to cut through the German bottleneck.

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1945
Red Army combat engineers building a pontoon bridge across the Oder beside a destroyed bridge, photographed 22 January 1945.
Semyon Alperin / RIA Novosti RIAID 42325 · Public domain (per Commons file record)
The Vistula–Oder Offensive

Konev opens the offensive

1st Ukrainian Front began the attack from the Baranów-Sandomierz bridgehead on 12 January, after a powerful artillery preparation and initial infantry probes opened German positions. 1st Ukrainian Front began with an artillery concentration estimated by the German account at approximately 420 pieces per mile on the main sector. After the barrage shifted, infantry opened gaps and the tank armies entered the battle before noon. German reserve formations west of the bridgehead were overrun in their assembly areas.

Continue in The Vistula–Oder Offensive →