one stop resume help

XL LG MD SM XS

Official Site of The State of New Jersey

• FAQs Frequently Asked Questions

The State of NJ site may contain optional links, information, services and/or content from other websites operated by third parties that are provided as a convenience, such as Google™ Translate. Google™ Translate is an online service for which the user pays nothing to obtain a purported language translation. The user is on notice that neither the State of NJ site nor its operators review any of the services, information and/or content from anything that may be linked to the State of NJ site for any reason. - Read Full Disclaimer

• Search close

Career Services

• One-Stop Career Centers

Jobseekers : The doors at our One-Stop Career Centers are open for walk-in visits for career support services only. If you prefer, you can still make an appointment for in-person career counseling.

Unemployment claimants: You can get in-person help by appointment only. Click here to schedule an appointment at your nearest One-Stop Career Center.

New Jersey's One-Stop Career Centers offer the most services and provide the most direction for jobseekers. They are staffed with qualified employment counselors to provide guidance for jobseekers. Other services offered at these locations include:

• job search assistance
• training and education assistance
• specialized services
• on-site resource rooms (PCs, telephones, etc.)

Find your local One-Stop Career Center by browsing the list below:

• One-Stop Career Centers, by County
• 2023 New Jersey State Holiday Closures

2 South Main Street 1st Floor, Suite 1 Pleasantville, NJ 08232-2728

Hours : Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

ON-SITE RESOURCES:

• Career resource room
• Meeting rooms (not public)
• Copy machine
• Fax machine
• Public computers
• Internet access
• Room where employers can interview jobseekers

CAREER NAVIGATION AND TRAINING SERVICES:

• Career Navigation Assistance / Counseling
• Jersey Job Club workshops
• ESL classes
• Job training services
• HSE preparation
• Re-employment orientation
• Interviewing assistance
• Resume assistance
• Tuition waiver

JUST FOR YOU:

• Individuals with disabilities
• Mature worker services (55+)
• Displaced homemakers
• Veteran services
• Ex-offender services
• Youth services (16-24)

60 State Street Floor 2 Hackensack, New Jersey 07601-5427

795 Woodlane Road 2nd Floor Westampton, New Jersey 08060

101 Woodcrest Road Suite 127 Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08003

• Digital literacy classes

3801 Rt. 9 South Unit #3 Rio Grande, NJ 08242

Cumberland County College Campus 3322 College Drive P.O. Box 1500 Vineland, New Jersey 08360-1500

EAST ORANGE 50 South Clinton Street 2nd Floor East Orange, New Jersey 07018-3120

NEWARK 990 Broad Street Newark, New Jersey 07102

• Meeting rooms (not public) - East Orange location only

American Job Center at Gloucester County 1480 Tanyard Road Suite A Sewell, NJ 08080

JERSEY CITY 438 Summit Avenue 1st Floor Jersey City, New Jersey 07306-3175

• Career resource room - Jersey City location only
• Meeting rooms (not public) - Jersey City location only

26 Yard Avenue Building 4, 1st Floor P.O. Box 954 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0954

NEW BRUNSWICK 550 Jersey Avenue New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1392

PERTH AMBOY 161 New Brunswick Avenue Suite 300, Floor 3 Perth Amboy, New Jersey 08861-4193

• Digital literacy classes - New Brunswick location only

60 Taylor Avenue North Neptune, New Jersey 07753-4844

• Meeting rooms (not public) - Eatontown location only

13 Emery Avenue Randolph, New Jersey 07860

• Jersey Job Club workshops - Randolph location only
• ESL classes - Randolph location only
• Job training services - Randolph location only
• HSE preparation - Randolph location only
• Re-employment orientation - Randolph location only

1433  Hooper Avenue, Suite 214  Toms River, New Jersey 08753-8392

PASSAIC 25 Howe Avenue Passaic, New Jersey 07055-4007

PATERSON 200 Memorial Drive 1st Floor Paterson, New Jersey 07505

• Jersey Job Club Workshops - Paterson location only
• Re-employment orientation - Paterson location only

147 South Virginia Avenue Penns Grove, New Jersey 08069

• Jersey Job Club Workshop

75 Veterans Memorial Drive East Suite 102 Somerville, New Jersey 08876-2950

Plainfield 200 West 2nd Street 2nd Floor Plainfield, NJ 07060

Elizabeth 921 Elizabeth Avenue Elizabeth, NJ 07201

445 Marshall Street Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865

All One-Stop Career Centers will be closed on the following dates:

• Statewide contact list
• Visit a One-Stop Career Center
• Search for Employment
• Job Fairs and Targeted Recruitments

Tools and Support

• Resume Writing Guidance
• Interviewing Assistance
• Networking Advice
• Make the Most of Social Media
• Re-Employment Orientation
• Demand Occupations List
• Industry-Valued Credentials List

Education and Training

• Training Opportunities
• Apprenticeship Opportunities
• Adult Education and Literacy Training
• SkillUp NJ: Free online learning
• Workforce Learning Link
• Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)

Specialized Support

• Individuals with Disabilities (DVRS)
• Mature Workers
• Opioid-Impacted
• Displaced Homemakers
• Justice Involved Clients

Business Services

• Business Support
• Get Help with Hiring
• Labor Market Information
• Post a Job Vacancy
• Post to Our Job Source Calendar
• Equal Opportunity Officers

Primary Link

• Secondary Link
• Governor Phil Murphy
• Lt. Governor Tahesha Way
• Services A to Z
• Departments/Agencies
• Privacy Notice
• Legal Statement & Disclaimers
• Accessibility Statement

866.500.6587 |  [email protected]

1. COMPLETE THE INTEREST AND ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENT

2. register with  cal jobs, 3. call 714-480-6500, you’re here to succeed. we’re here to help..

Welcome to OC Workforce Solutions, Orange County’s responsive resource for a full range of no-cost, life-transforming services and programs personalized for our communities’ job seekers, youth and businesses. Our team is dedicated to helping people and businesses overcome obstacles, reach their goals, fulfill their potential and contribute to a thriving region.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Thu, Apr 04 Multi-Industry Hiring Event - April 4, 2024  /  OC Workforce Solutions - North Register Apr 04, 2024, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT OC Workforce Solutions - North, 675 Placentia Ave, Suite 300, Brea, CA 92821 Participating employers include CA Department of Tax & Fee, Curb-N-Signs, OC Transportation Authority, Portview Preparatory For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Development Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Wed, Apr 10 SBDC Navigating Franchise Ownership, A Beginner's Guide  /  Webinar Register Apr 10, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Webinar Embark on your journey to business ownership by joining our exclusive sixty-minute webinar designed for beginners eager to explore the essentials of purchasing a franchise.
• Wed, Apr 10 SBDC Navigating New Horizons - Strategic Planning for Global Markets  /  Webinar Register Apr 10, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Webinar In today's interconnected world, expanding your business internationally offers immense opportunities and unique challenges. This webinar is designed for entrepreneurs and business leaders eager to expand their horizons beyond local markets.
• Thu, Apr 11 Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Testing Event - April 11, 2024  /  OC Workforce Solutions - North Register Apr 11, 2024, 10:00 AM PDT OC Workforce Solutions - North, 675 Placentia Avenue, Suite 330, Brea, CA 92821 Interested in joining LAPD? Register to take the test in Brea. Testing starts at 10:00 AM. Note: You must apply first at joinlapd.com/apply or our center. For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Development Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Thu, Apr 11 Hospitality and Tourism Hiring Event - April 11, 2024  /  OC Workforce Solutions Center - North Register Apr 11, 2024, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT OC Workforce Solutions Center - North, 675 Placentia Avenue, Suite 300, Brea, CA 92821 Seeking a career in Hospitality & Tourism? Meet employers actively hiring in the Hospitality, Retail, Food Service, and Entertainment industries! For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Development Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Tue, Apr 16 Huntington Beach Adult School- Job & Resource Fair  /  Huntington Beach Adult School Register Apr 16, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Huntington Beach Adult School, 17231 Gothard St, Huntington Beach, CA 92647, USA For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Recovery Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Tue, Apr 16 Fullerton College Spring 2024 Job Fair  /  Fullerton Learn more Apr 16, 2024, 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM Fullerton, 321 E Chapman Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, USA We can’t wait to have you! For questions, please contact the Fullerton College Career Center at 714-992-7121. careercenter.fullcoll.edu/employers
• Tue, Apr 16 Fullerton College Spring 2024 Job Fair  /  Fullerton Register Apr 16, 2024, 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM Fullerton, 321 E Chapman Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, USA We can’t wait to have you! For questions, please contact the Fullerton College Career Center at 714-992-7121. careercenter.fullcoll.edu/employers
• Wed, Apr 17 Multi-Industry Hiring Event - April 17, 2024  /  OC Workforce Solutions - South Register Apr 17, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT OC Workforce Solutions - South, 28202 Cabot Rd Suite 100, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677, USA Participating employers include Child Care Careers, COPE Health, Rainbow Home Care, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, US Border Patrol, US Forest Service For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Development Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Wed, Apr 17 SBDC Transforming Talent - Strategies for Team Excellence  /  Webinar Register Apr 17, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Webinar Discover the keys to unlocking your team's full potential in our upcoming webinar.
• Wed, Apr 17 Succession Planning  /  Webinar Register Apr 17, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT Webinar Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing potential future leaders, as well as individuals to fill other business-critical positions. This presentation stresses the importance of succession planning and provides you with information on how to conduct this business activity.
• Tue, Apr 23 AMERICA'S SBDC CALIFORNIA EATS SIX-WEEK SERIES  /  Anaheim Register Apr 23, 2024, 10:00 AM – May 28, 2024, 12:00 PM Anaheim, 320 E Orangewood Ave, Anaheim, CA 92802, USA For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Recovery Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Thu, Apr 25 ANAHEIM WORKFORCE CONNECTION CAREER FAIR  /  Anaheim Register Apr 25, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Anaheim, 5340 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807, USA For questions, contact the Orange County Business & Economic Recovery Call Center at (714) 480-6500 or email [email protected].
• Wed, May 01 Career Fair - Garden Grove  /  Garden Grove Elks Lodge Register May 01, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT Garden Grove Elks Lodge, 11551 Trask Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92843, USA Connect with your future employer! *Please note: This page is for job seeker registration only.*
• Thu, May 02 MADE - An OCIE SBDC Program  /  In-Person and Online Sessions Register May 02, 2024, 11:00 AM – Jun 13, 2024, 1:00 PM In-Person and Online Sessions MADE is a hybrid program designed to assist start-up product-based businesses with entering the marketplace to validate their concepts.
• Thu, May 23 How to Avoid Layoffs  /  Webinar Register May 23, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT Webinar Join us to learn how to avoid lay offs and keep your best employees. With families, customers, and the businesses’ future hanging in the balance, leaders and HR professionals must have solutions ready to prevent lawsuits, reduce job cuts, and remain competitive in today’s tough economy.

NEW JOB OPENINGS

Xpede, Inc. - Support Team Specialist : Work Experience

Xpede, Inc.- Support Team Specialist: Transitional Jobs

Sweeping Corporation of America: Multiple Positions

WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS

OC Workforce Solutions is an American Job Center of California that provides comprehensive no-cost employment and training services for job seekers, youth, dislocated workers, people with disabilities, veterans, and other community members facing barriers. Our Business Solutions team supports local businesses with hiring and staffing solutions, customized training programs, business resources, layoff aversion, and outplacement assistance.

Join our mailing list

Thanks for subscribing!

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS?

Contact us today

[email protected] (714) 480-6500

Find your nearest location

  (845) 249-4634 Monday - Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm      

Resume Help

Resume Help: What are the many purposes of a resume? Learn the do’s and don’ts of creating or updating your winning resume in an effort to showcase your skills, experiences, and achievements.

Dutchess One Stop Career Center 191 Main Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Driving Directions We are co-located with the NYS Department of Labor

Hours of Operation Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm Resource Room Monday - Friday 9:00am-4:00pm 

Phone (845) 249-4634    |     Email Us

© 2023 Dutchess One Stop

Social Connections

25 Résumé Mistakes That Could Stop You Getting Your Dream Job

Posted: August 30, 2023 | Last updated: October 2, 2023

Don't make these mistakes

When it comes to job interviews, we've all heard that first impressions are key. Well, the same goes for your résumé. An eye-tracking study by career site Ladders Inc. found that recruiters spend just seven seconds scanning a résumé. With such a small amount of time to impress, it's vital to avoid the mistakes that could cost you the chance of getting your dream job.  Read on for 25 of the most common.

1. Making it too long

2. Making it too short

3. Picking the wrong design

It's a good idea to make sure that your résumé is designed in a way that reflects the type of job you're applying for. For example, if you're applying for a position in graphic design or the creative arts, it could work against you if your résumé is dull and uninspiring. In contrast, if you're applying for roles in industries such as finance or law, it's best to stick to a traditional layout. 

4. Strange font choices

5. Bad formatting

6. Bad use of color

Adding a splash of color to your résumé won't hurt if you're applying to jobs in the creative sector or less conventional companies. However, you should be controlled in your use of color. Only use colors in headings, and avoid garish or hard-to-read colors such as yellow. If you're looking for jobs in more traditional firms such as banks it's a good idea to stick to black and white. 

7. Errors and typos

8. Not including a personal profile

9. Including a generic personal profile

We've already established that including a personal summary is essential, but it's also important to think carefully about what to put in it. Of course, you want to sell yourself and make sure you show that you're a good fit for the role, but don't make it unoriginal. Try to avoid clichéd phrases that every other candidate will use such as 'self-motivated' and 'results-driven', and instead focus on being genuine and talking about what you can offer and what you're looking for. 

10. Writing in the third person

Writing in the third person may seem like a creative way to make your résumé stand out, but it's not a good idea. Your résumé is your opportunity to communicate with potential employers, so writing it in the third person makes it hard to really connect with them. It can also give them the wrong impression of who you are as a person, as it can often come across as rather egotistical.

11. Poor choice of language

12. Outdated information

13. Not tailoring for each position

If you're applying for several jobs it might be tempting to just fire off the same résumé to all of them. However, it'll give you a much better chance of securing an interview if you customize it each time. Indeed, 63% of recruiters said this is something they definitely want from job candidates in a survey by Careerbuilder. Today, many companies perform an initial electronic résumé review, so it's important to go through the job description and ensure you've included any keywords mentioned.

14. Telling lies

Three out of four recruiters have found a lie on a résumé, according to a study by CareerBuilder. The most popular included lying about qualifications, job titles, and employment dates. However, while it may be common, it's definitely a mistake to avoid. Not only is it unethical, but if you get caught out it will undoubtedly hinder your chances of making it to interview. And if you were to get the position and the company finds out you weren't being truthful it could ultimately cost you your new job.

15. Exaggerating your skills

16. Not mentioning specific results

17. Including the wrong interests/hobbies

18. Not filling in gaps

19. Leaving off helpful information

20. Making it too technical

21. Including a headshot

While including a headshot on your résumé is standard in some parts of the world, in the US it's not needed. In fact, in the US 80% of recruiters will reject your application if it includes a photo, according to Graduate Land. Unless you're an actor it's best to leave the headshot, it'll just make potential employers think you're egotistical or don't have a good grasp of workplace professionalism.

22. Using an unprofessional email address

23. Poor choice of file name

24. Not being cautious with social media

25. Not sending a cover letter

While you should aim to make your résumé as complete as possible, you still need to add a cover letter for each application. It may seem like wasted effort, but avoiding it is definitely a mistake; 45% of recruiters will automatically discard a résumé if it doesn't come with a cover letter, according to Careerbuilder. Not only that, but it's your chance to go into more depth about your skills and experiences, and to show a little more of the 'real' you. 

Now take a look at some  online interview tips from an expert

Or discover  jobs that no longer exist

More for You

New York judge says FDNY booing of Letitia James, pro-Trump chants not about politics, 'has to do with race'

The 14 Smells That Ants Absolutely Hate

12 Concealed Kitchen Storage Hacks You’ll Want to Use Immediately

More Junkyard Discoveries of Windy Hill Auto Parts, New London, Minnesota

Jelly Roll & Lainey Wilson Get a Standing Ovation After Singing ‘Save Me' at the iHeartRadio Music Awards

'Have Gun - Will Travel': The Cast Through The Years

Escape From New York Cut An Opening Scene That Completely Changed Kurt Russell's Character

These Are the 16 Smells Rats Hate the Most

'I can't charge $20 for a Happy Meal': McDonald's franchisee responds to California's new fast-food worker wages

Blake Griffin explains his decision to sit out this NBA season: "I wanted to take this year off"

Nate Berkus And Jeremiah Brent's Simple Tip For Making Any Home Smell Amazing

Sydney Sweeney bought her great-grandmother's house back after the family had to give it up. Here's how you can protect your family's most important assets

Highlights from the iHeart Radio Music Awards

28 of the Funniest Lies People Told to Children

Russia's helicopters are screwing up its attempt to fool Ukraine with decoys by landing on its fake painted fighter jets: intel

Swan song for General Electric as it completes demerger

How to get rid of stink bugs, according to an entomologist

Nate Berkus' Unique Kitchen Cabinet Choice Is The New 2024 Trendsetter

Volkswagen’s New EV Van Is, Like, Wow. Roomy and Groovy.

Original Pink Ranger Shows Off Her Rita Repulsa Voice

• Side Hustles
• Power Players
• Young Success
• Save and Invest
• Become Debt-Free
• Land the Job
• Closing the Gap
• Science of Success
• Pop Culture and Media
• Psychology and Relationships
• Health and Wellness
• Real Estate
• Most Popular

Related Stories

• Get Ahead The highest-paying in-demand tech   skill, according to Indeed
• Work 4 things to prioritize when applying for   jobs, says hiring pro: ‘Be selective’
• Work Want to land a better job in 2024? 4   simple steps to kickstart your search
• Work How to find your dream job amid layoffs:   Interview prep, resume tips, and more
• Land the Job The No. 1 reason people 'fail' job interviews, says   ex-Amazon recruiter: 'It causes a lack of trust'

The No. 1 AI mistake job seekers make, from a career expert: So many people use ChatGPT 'in exactly the wrong way'

As a leader at the education nonprofit Khan Academy, I was thrilled when ChatGPT came out in November 2022. It meant we could use generative AI to provide personalized tutoring to more kids than ever.

But as a hiring manager and cofounder of a career development business who's trained first-gen students at CUNY and MBAs at Harvard Business School alike, I was heartbroken to see that so many job seekers were using these tools in exactly the wrong way. 

They forgot that no matter how exciting this new technology is, humans are still in charge of the hiring process. Which is why having a robot write your resume is a recipe for disaster.

But given that I wrote the literal book on using ChatGPT in your job search , I know you can still turn to AI to make your resume shine. Used properly, it can help you land the interview — and ultimately the job. 

The wrong way to use AI for your resume

In my experience, most job seekers using ChatGPT or other AI platforms begin with a prompt like "Generate a marketing resume." This might seem like a great place to start, but it's the biggest mistake you could make. Here's why: 

The results are massively generic 

Take this summary, for instance:

As a hiring manager, the first thing I'm always looking for is evidence of specific accomplishments. When I scan this, though, my first thought is "Wow — this candidate is great at buzzwords, but not so great at actual marketing." 

That's hardly the first impression you want to make when employers spend seven seconds , on average, reviewing your resume!

ChatGPT and other AI tools are going to make stuff up 

As if that wasn't bad enough, check out what comes next under a single job listing under the experience section:

Not only do these bullet points lack specificity (with no clear projects or outcomes), but the sheer range of skills covered is literally unbelievable. As in, I've never met a marketer in my two-decade career who did all of these things in one job.

So my human BS detector immediately assumes the worst: This isn't a resume, this is a hallucination!

The right way to use AI for your resume

OK, you get the picture: Having AI generate your resume from scratch can be a fast track to rejection. But if we know that human reviewers want specificity and credibility, we can actually leverage AI to help us with those exact things.

1. Start with a draft resume written by a human (i.e., you)

Instead of asking AI to generate your resume, start with your own first draft, even if it's in rough shape. That way, you can at least be specific and accurate about what you actually did, even if those accomplishments need a little polishing.

2. Identify and incorporate missing keywords

Go right to the source of truth. The job description was created by the hiring team to spell out the skills they're looking for — and it contains the exact keywords you want to match.

Here's where you turn to AI. Enter the following prompt: 

• Which keywords from the below job description are missing from my resume? 
• Here's the job description: [Paste the job description here] 
• And here's my resume: [Paste the text of your resume here]

Once you've got a list of missing keywords, identify the ones you have experience with and prompt the AI to help you incorporate them: 

Suggest three ways to incorporate [keyword] into my resume.

3. Quantify achievements and demonstrate results

The best predictor of future performance is usually past performance, which means recruiters and hiring managers want to see real results, not just hallucinations.

So get a little nudge in the right direction with a prompt like: 

Suggest three ways to add more quantitative impact to the following bullet point: [Paste your bullet point here]

Now, it's tempting to copy and paste the bullets your AI platform suggests straight into your resume. But make sure you're editing the text to match your actual accomplishments. For instance, maybe you generated $300,000 in donations, not $500,000 like the AI spit out, or your organization actually measures growth quarterly rather than monthly.

4. Review, review, review!

Always proofread your resume before submitting it. If you've used AI, it's all the more important to review every last word and number to make sure everything's 100% accurate. 

The last thing you want is to be sitting in a final-round interview and have your prospective boss's boss's boss ask you about a resume bullet the AI fabricated and you forgot to update!

Jeremy Schifeling is the founder of  The Job Insiders , which provides career technology training for hundreds of top universities and business schools. He is also the author of " Career Coach GPT: The Complete Guide to ChatGPT Resume, Cover Letter, Interview, and Job Search Success " and shares his latest career and AI hacks on LinkedIn .

Want to land your dream job in 2024?  Take  CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview  to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay. CNBC Make It readers can save 25% with discount code 25OFF.

Plus,  sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter  to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Advertisement

‘A Lot of Chaos’: Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade

A bridge collapse closed Baltimore’s port, an important trade hub that ranks first in the nation by the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles.

• Share full article

Shipping in the Port of Baltimore

Monthly cargo handled by the Port of Baltimore

By Peter Eavis and Jenny Gross

• March 26, 2024

The Baltimore bridge disaster on Tuesday upended operations at one of the nation’s busiest ports, with disruptions likely to be felt for weeks by companies shipping goods in and out of the country — and possibly by consumers as well.

The upheaval will be especially notable for auto makers and coal producers for whom Baltimore has become one of the most vital shipping destinations in the United States.

As officials began to investigate why a nearly 1,000-foot cargo ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the middle of the night, companies that transport goods to suppliers and stores scrambled to get trucks to the other East Coast ports receiving goods diverted from Baltimore. Ships sat idle elsewhere, unsure where and when to dock.

“It’s going to cause a lot of chaos,” said Paul Brashier, vice president for drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics.

The closure of the Port of Baltimore is the latest hit to global supply chains, which have been strained by monthslong crises at the Panama Canal, which has had to slash traffic because of low water levels; and the Suez Canal, which shipping companies are avoiding because of attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea.

The auto industry now faces new supply headaches.

Last year, 570,000 vehicles were imported through Baltimore, according to Sina Golara, an assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State University. “That’s a huge amount,” he said, equivalent to nearly a quarter of the current inventory of new cars in the United States.

The Baltimore port handled a record amount of foreign cargo last year, and it was the 17th biggest port in the nation overall in 2021, ranked by total tons, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Baltimore Ranks in the Top 20 U.S. Ports

Total trade in 2021 in millions of tons

Baltimore ranks first in the United States for the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles, and for vessels that carry wheeled cargo, including farm and construction machinery, according to a statement by Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland last month.

The incident is another stark reminder of the vulnerability of the supply chains that transport consumer products and commodities around the world.

The extent of the disruption depends on how long it takes to reopen shipping channels into the port of Baltimore. Experts estimate it could take several weeks.

Baltimore is not a leading port for container ships, and other ports can likely absorb traffic that was headed to Baltimore, industry officials said.

Stephen Edwards, the chief executive of the Port of Virginia, said it was expecting a vessel on Tuesday that was previously bound for Baltimore, and that others would soon follow. “Between New York and Virginia, we have sufficient capacity to handle all this cargo,” Mr. Edwards said, referring to container ships.

“Shipping companies are very agile,” said Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor in the department of maritime business administration at Texas A&M University-Galveston. “In two to three days, it will be rerouted.”

But other types of cargo could remain snarled.

Alexis Ellender, a global analyst at Kpler, a commodities analytics firm, said he expected the port closure to cause significant disruption of U.S. exports of coal. Last year, about 23 million metric tons of coal exports were shipped from the port of Baltimore, about a quarter of all seaborne U.S. coal shipments. About 12 vessel had been expected to leave the port of Baltimore in the next week or so carrying coal, according to Kpler.

He noted that it would not make a huge dent on the global market, but he added that “the impact is significant for the U.S. in terms of loss of export capacity.”

“You may see coal cargoes coming from the mines being rerouted to other ports instead,” he said, with a port in Norfolk, Va., the most likely.

If auto imports are reduced by Baltimore’s closure, inventories could run low, particularly for models that are in high demand.

“We are initiating discussions with our various transportation providers on contingency plans to ensure an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to our customers and will continue to carefully monitor this situation,” Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, said in a statement.

Other ports have the capacity to import cars, but there may not be enough car transporters at those ports to handle the new traffic.

“You have to make sure the capacity exists all the way in the supply chain — all the way to the dealership,” said Mr. Golara, the Georgia State professor.

A looming battle is insurance payouts, once legal liability is determined. The size of the payout from the insurer is likely to be significant and will depend on factors including the value of the bridge, the scale of loss of life compensation owed to families of people who died, the damage to the vessel and disruption to the port.

The ship’s insurer, Britannia P&I Club, part of a global group of insurers, said in a statement that it was “working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and to help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally.”

The port has also increasingly catered to large container ships like the Dali, the 948-foot-long cargo vessel carrying goods for the shipping giant Maersk that hit a pillar of the bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The Dali had spent two days in Baltimore’s port before setting off toward the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge.

State-owned terminals, managed by the Maryland Port Administration, and privately owned terminals in Baltimore transported a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo in 2023, worth $80 billion.

Materials transported in large volumes through the city’s port include coal, coffee and sugar. It was the ninth-busiest port in the nation last year for receiving foreign cargo, in terms of volume and value.

The bridge’s collapse will also disrupt cruises traveling in and out of Baltimore. Norwegian Cruise Line last year began a new fall and winter schedule calling at the Port of Baltimore.

An earlier version of this article misstated the Port of Baltimore’s rank among U.S. ports. It was the nation’s 17th biggest port by total tons in 2021, not the 20th largest.

How we handle corrections

Peter Eavis reports on business, financial markets, the economy and companies across different sectors. More about Peter Eavis

Jenny Gross is a reporter for The Times in London covering breaking news and other topics. More about Jenny Gross

Gay conversion ban advocates call for SA government to create laws to outlaw 'harmful' practice

Jace Reh spent six years at a religious school, where he was forced into activities that tried to change his sexuality and shamed him for being transgender and queer.

Nearly a decade later, the 23-year-old is leading a campaign to end LGBT conversion practices in South Australia.

"Still to this day those voices run around in my head, and they tell me that what I'm choosing to do is wrong and a crime to God," he said.

"If I could've prayed it away, it would have happened – it's a long time of telling myself, 'Stop thinking your gay thoughts and God will forgive you', and yet I'm still here today, trans and queer.

"I've had periods of suicidality, I've had periods of self-harm — and those aren't things that I can't feel anymore."

Jace Reh is one of several survivors involved in a South Australian group that is pushing for robust laws to ban practices which try to change or eradicate an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to the South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance (SARAA) campaign, these practices can range from informal counselling and teachings to religious rituals like exorcisms and psychiatric or psychological interventions.

"I've got people that have spoken about experiences that they've had within the last 10 years," Reh said.

"These things are still happening, but people are afraid to talk about it because there is such a deep, deep shame tied to it."

Government to 'consider its options'

South Australia is the only state yet to commit to outlawing conversion practices.

Before becoming premier at the 2022 election, Peter Malinauskas, told SARAA campaigners he would work to ensure this practice does not happen in the state.

Two years on, the SA government says it stands by its promise, but is cautious about tackling what it has called a "complex issue".

"I don't want to say it doesn't happen, but it is certainly not a widespread practice," Mr Malinauskas said.

"The government will consider its options and if we choose to pass legislation then we want to make sure it's done very carefully."

A 2018 Human Rights Law Centre report found that up to 10 per cent of LGBT Australians were vulnerable to "harmful conversion therapy practices".

According to the report, conversion activities – which emerged in Australian conservative Christian communities in the 1970s – are more commonly practised today as counselling or prayer or group sessions.

"Rather than receding, our research suggests that conversion practices and ideologies are being mainstreamed within particular Christian churches," the report stated.

Pastor Rosalie Dow, who is now part of Adelaide's independent Activate Church, has seen this play out in her own communities.

"I hear probably once a month or so about a new person who has experienced conversion or suppression practices," Pastor Dow said.

"Even once a person has left that church community it's still impacting their day-to-day life, because it's still so much a part of their family and their experience."

With New South Wales recently legislating a ban , and conversion practices already outlawed in Victoria , Queensland and the ACT , advocates are pushing for the SA government to begin consultation and pass laws by the end of the year.

Reh said while Victoria's laws are considered an international "gold standard", improvements could be made.

"A decision like this can't be made just by politicians," he said.

"We're encouraging faith leaders of all denominations to come forward and speak — people in the education sector, survivors with lived experience, religious community members — we want to make sure everyone has a moment to speak."

Experts call for more awareness, robust ban

Gender and sexual diversity expert Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli says survivors are often left with debilitating long-term mental health impacts.

Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli, an honorary fellow at Deakin University, said her team's research backs SARAA's educational campaign to raise public awareness around the issue.

"It's extremely important to understand what conversion practices are, what the ideologies are, but also what they aren't," Dr Pallotta-Chiarolli said.

"We're not saying you can't pray, or you have to remove yourself from your religious place, but it's about coming into your faith with all of who you are and being accepted and loved.

"Many of our mental health practitioners are very reluctant or worried to approach or talk about the topic because they feel like they don't understand it."

She said that Victoria's ban on conversion practices was already having an impact, and that laws can offer much-needed safeguards for survivors and third parties.

"We have identified and removed from practice some [Victorian] mental health practitioners that are working within their cultural communities," she said.

"We do find it [gay conversion practices] does decrease.

"Often our school counsellors are not aware of what it is, and what their rights are, and this is why legislation is important."

For Jace Reh, the fight for these laws is about "changing lives".

"This is about ensuring that what I went through and what changed the way that I looked at the world doesn't happen to someone else," he said.

"For the South Australian government to put forth [a] bill and make these changes is saying, 'What happened to you wasn't OK, and we are sorry that it happened, and it shouldn't happen again.'"

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Eamon attempted suicide after going to gay conversion therapy. he says a proposed ban in nsw will save lives.

'They tell you you're worthless, then tell you they can help you': The 'harmful' practice still legal despite promised ban

'We will protect you': NSW bans gay conversion therapy after marathon parliamentary debate

'I didn't want to be gay': These three Australians underwent conversion 'therapy'

• Community Organisations
• Discrimination
• Religion State Relations
• State and Territory Government

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse

A container ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers are searching for survivors.

The Maryland Department of Transportation has requested an initial emergency relief funding of $60 million from the Biden Administration to pay for initial mobilization, operations and debris recovery from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. (AP video by Nathan Ellgren)

As investigators began collecting evidence from a cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Gov. Wes Moore says the bridge will be rebuilt.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released footage of the cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore. NTSB investigators are collecting evidence from the vessel that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning.

Baltimore’s longshoreman’s union represents the workers who load and unload the giant container ships that call on the city’s massive port. The union is working to help members who may be impacted by the port’s closure.

A container ship rests against the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Baltimore, Md. After days of searching through murky water for the workers missing after the bridge collapsed, officials are turning their attention Thursday to what promises to be a massive salvage operation. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

• Copy Link copied

In this image released by the National Transportation and Safety Board, a NTSB investigator is seen on the cargo vessel Dali, which struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Wednesday, March 27, 2024 in Baltimore. (Peter Knudson/NTSB via AP)

A cargo ship rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge , causing the span to collapse and presumably killing six construction workers. On Wednesday, a day after the early-morning crash, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship and planned to recover information from its electronics and paperwork while divers searched for the bodies of workers who were still missing.

Here’s what we know so far about the collapse:

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

The operators of the Dali cargo ship issued a mayday call moments before the crash early Tuesday saying the vessel had lost power. But the 985-foot-long (300-meter-long) ship still struck one of the 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) bridge’s supports at 8 knots, which is roughly 9 mph (15 kph). That caused the span to break and fall into the water within seconds.

Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge when the crash happened. Two were rescued soon after the collapse. Divers recovered the bodies of two others and the other four are presumed dead. Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said they were working in the middle of the span when it collapsed.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that the ship underwent “routine engine maintenance” in the port before it lost power.

An inspection of the Dali last June at a port in Chile identified a problem with the ship’s “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to Equasis, a shipping information system. The deficiency involved gauges and thermometers, but the website’s online records didn’t elaborate.

A “standard examination” conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York in September didn’t identify any deficiencies, according to the Equasis data.

Given the vessel’s massive weight, it struck the bridge support with significant force, said Roberto Leon, a Virginia Tech engineering professor. The post can resist the impact by bending, Leon said, but cannot absorb the energy brought by such a “humongous ship.”

Last June, federal inspectors rated the 47-year-old bridge in fair condition. But the structure did not appear to have pier protection to withstand the crash, experts said.

“If a bridge pier without adequate protection is hit by a ship of this size, there is very little that the bridge could do,” Leon said.

Federal and state investigators have said the crash appears to have been an accident.

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE MISSING?

Two of the construction workers who were on the bridge were rescued. The bodies of four of the six others were still missing Thursday. Searchers recovered the bodies of 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera on Wednesday. They were in a pickup truck submerged in about 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water.

The workers came to the Maryland area from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.

One worker, 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, came to the U.S. from Honduras nearly two decades ago. His brother described him as an entrepreneurial and hard-working husband and father of two. And El Salvador’s foreign minister, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, posted Wednesday on X that one Salvadoran citizen, Miguel Luna, was among the missing workers.

The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd., which said all crew members, including the two pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.

The ship’s warning enabled authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span. Plus, the accident occurred at 1:30 a.m., long before the busy morning rush. The bridge carried an estimated 30,800 vehicles per day on average in 2019.

WHAT IMPACT COULD THIS HAVE?

The collapse will almost surely create a logistical nightmare, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

The port is a major East Coast hub for shipping. The bridge spans the Patapsco River, which massive cargo ships use to reach the Chesapeake Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic.

President Joe Biden said he expects the federal government to pick up the entire rebuilding cost. His administration approved $60 million in emergency federal aid to pay for debris removal and other initial costs.

“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a commercial salvage company have been surveying the site as they plan the salvage operation, according to U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Cynthia Oldham.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said Friday that the first goals are to reopen the shipping channel and remove the ship. The Maryland Department of Transportation and U.S. Coast Guard surveyed the damage Friday morning. Teams worked through high winds while determining how to safely cut the trusses — which weigh between 3,000 to 4,000 tons — into lighter sections that can be removed by four heavy lift cranes supplied by the U.S. Navy, according to Moore.

In the coming weeks, the governor hopes to have 10 tugboats, seven floating cranes, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats in the water.

The collapse is not likely to have a big effect on worldwide trade because Baltimore is not a major port for container vessels, and proves more important when it comes to goods such as farm equipment and autos, said Judah Levine, head of research for global freight booking platform Freightos.

But jobs for roughly 2,400 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333 could dry up until shipping traffic resumes, according to Scott Cowan, the union’s president. Cowan said union leaders are working with elected officials to fund compensation for longshoremen in the meantime.

Authorities must also now handle a sheen in the water after some of the 56 containers onboard that were carrying hazardous materials were breached. Among the hazardous materials were corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. But the Key Bridge Joint Information Center said Thursday that there’s no immediate environmental threat and that air monitoring has shown no volatile organic compounds. Adam Ortiz, the EPA’s regional administrator in the Mid-Atlantic states, said Friday that ongoing monitoring has not given any indication that the water contains materials hazardous to humans.

HOW OFTEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?

From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, with a total of 342 people killed, according to a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

Eighteen of those collapses happened in the United States.

Among them were a 2002 incident in which a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge over the Arkansas River at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, sending vehicles plunging into the water. Fourteen people died and 11 were injured.

And in 2001, a tugboat and barge struck the Queen Isabella Causeway in Port Isabel, Texas, causing a section of the bridge to tumble 80 feet (24 meters) into the bay below. Eight people were killed.

This story has been updated to correct that there were more than 56 containers on the ship, but that 56 contained hazardous materials, and to correct that crews were working to cut up trusses of the collapsed bridge, not the vessel that ran into it.

Lea Skene, Brian Witte and Sarah Brumfield contributed reporting.

Please enter at least 3 characters

The Battle of Moscow: WWII’s First Critical Turning Point

When German armies invaded the USSR in 1941, Hitler thought victory would be quick and easy. It was neither.

This article appears in: Spring 2019

By Jeff Chrisman

Many consider the Battle of Moscow in late 1941 to be the first turning point of World War II on the Eastern Front . Some even consider the battle for Moscow as the only opportunity for the Germans to prevail in the East. By the middle of 1942, the Soviets had organized enough troops under arms that the Germans could not hope for anything better than a negotiated peace.

Even if the Soviet recapture of Stalingrad in 1942 had never happened and the Battle of Kursk in 1943 had been a German victory, Hitler still could not have won a total victory against the Soviets’ overwhelming numbers.

But, had the Germans been able to take Moscow, or isolated it very early, they might have dropped the Soviets to their knees and forced them to negotiate a cease-fire or perhaps even concede defeat.

After the war, German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , commander of the Luftwaffe units assigned to Army Group Center, wrote: “The capture of Moscow would have been decisive in that the whole of European Russia would have been cut off from its Asiatic potential and the seizure of the vital economic centers of Leningrad, the Donets Basin, and the Maykop oil fields in 1942 would have been no insoluble task.” (Get a full view of the most ambitious military operation in the history of warfare inside our Operation Barbarossa special issue.) 

Why Moscow Was So Important—To Everyone Except for Hitler

Moscow was the center of the Soviet empire. All government offices were there, and it was the main logistics hub and heart of communication and command for all the armed forces. Moscow was at the center of everything, and the Soviets would have been hard pressed without it. Fortunately for them, it never came to that, but it was close—very close.

On June 22, 1941, the German Army attacked the Soviet Union with three army groups on a Continent-wide front from the Baltic coast in northern Lithuania south some 900 miles to the Black Sea coast in southern Romania. German Army Group Center was situated between Army Group North and Army Group South and, at that time, was the strongest of the three. In the first four weeks of the war, Army Group Center surged eastward some 400 miles through Belorussia and then captured Smolensk, a regional administrative city in western Russia only 234 miles from Moscow.

At that point Hitler wasn’t really sure what to do next, but General Franz Halder, chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH), and Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, commander of the German Army, knew just what to do: take Moscow! However, Hitler, calling Moscow “merely a mark on a map,” demurred. Instead, he ordered Army Group Center (AGC) to send half of its armored forces, Panzer Group 2, south to help Army Group South (AGS) capture the Ukraine, and the other half of its armored forces, Panzer Group 3, north to help Army Group North (AGN) take Leningrad.

The leaders of AGC were aghast. Army Group commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock and his armored commanders, General Heinz Guderian of Panzer Group 2 and General Hermann Hoth of Panzer Group 3, protested loudly.

All had envisioned Moscow as their ultimate goal from the beginning and were stunned to find that Hitler didn’t agree. They all lobbied Hitler at every chance, individually and in groups, but to no avail. Once Hitler had made up his mind about something, he seldom, if ever, changed it, and so it was this time as the panzer groups were sent on their divergent ways on August 23.

On September 6, Hitler released Directive #35 for the continuation of the war in the East: “In the sector of Army Group Center. Prepare an operation against Army Group Timoshenko (Soviet West Theater) as quickly as possible so that we can go on the offensive in the general direction of Vyazma and destroy the enemy located in the region east of Smolensk by a double envelopment by powerful panzer forces concentrated on the flanks.”

Still no mention of an attack on Moscow but at least it wasn’t precluded. AGC commander Bock and Army Chief of Staff Halder agreed that even though Moscow had not been mentioned, it was, in fact, the objective. 

Ten days later, having received news of 2nd Panzer Army’s successful operations in Ukraine, Bock enlarged his army group’s mission. In addition to the encirclement east of Smolensk, Bock added another encirclement, this one in the area of Bryansk, to the south.

By the fourth week of September, all the operations on the flanks had run their course, and the armored units were returned to AGC command to begin realigning for the continuation of the attack eastward. Panzer Group 3’s attack to the north had been only marginally successful, and AGN never did capture Leningrad. But Panzer Group 2 became an integral part of the AGS’s swift capture of the Ukraine, destroying six Soviet armies and eliminating 665,000 enemy troops.

The 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies Mobilize

Up to this point, the Germans had been dominant; they had overrun or encircled nearly all the enemy they engaged. But the troops were becoming exhausted, and the equipment was badly in need of repair or replacement. Some of the panzer divisions did receive a few replacement tanks, but most other equipment was nearly worn out.

For the continuation of the attack, Army Group Center deployed a total of six armies—9th, 4th, and 2nd, as well as Panzer Groups 2, 3, and 4. All three panzer groups were the size of an army and would be renamed as panzer armies over the next three months, so for clarity here they will all be referred to as panzer armies. AGC had a total of 1,929,406 men in 49 infantry divisions, 14 panzer divisions, eight motorized divisions, and one cavalry division, with more than 1,000 tanks, 14,000 artillery pieces, and 1,390 combat aircraft.

AGC held a 450-mile-long north-south front about 200 miles west of Moscow. The 9th Army was deployed on the northern flank of the army group from Andreapol on the Daugava River northeast of Toropets, south to Berezhok on the Dnieper River 23 miles east of Smolensk.

The 3rd Panzer Army was deployed near the center of 9th Army, east of Velizh.  South of 9th Army and in the center of the AGC front was 4th Army; its front ran south from Berezhok to Yekimovichi on the Desna River northeast of Roslavl. 

The 4th Panzer Army was on the 4th Army’s southern flank; its front ran from Yekimovichi south along the Desna to near Zhukovka, while 2nd Army held the front south from Zhukovka to Pochep on the Sudost River southwest of Bryansk. The 2nd Panzer Army front ran south to the Army Group South front near Romny.

Facing the AGC attack and defending the western approaches to Moscow was the West Theater, commanded by Marshal Semen Timoshenko, composed of three Soviet fronts, a Soviet front being equivalent to a German army group. Combined, the three fronts had 1,250,000 men in 85 rifle divisions, eight cavalry divisions, four mechanized divisions, one tank division, and 14 tank brigades. Combined they had 7,600 artillery pieces, almost 1,000 tanks, and more than 360 aircraft. 

On the northern flank, facing 9th Army and 3rd Panzer Army was the Soviets’ Western Front with six armies: 22nd, 29th, 30th, 19th, 16th, and 20th. The Reserve Front had two Armies in the front line: 24th and 43rd south of the Western Front, facing the German 4th Army and 4th Panzer Army, and four Armies: 31st, 49th, 32nd, and 33rd lined up behind the Western Front in reserve. The southern end of the Soviet line was held by the Bryansk Front with three Armies (50th, 3rd, and 13th) facing the German 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army.

At the southern end of the attack front, 2nd Panzer Army was the farthest from Moscow at just over 300 miles, and it began the attack on the Soviet capital, Operation Typhoon, on September 30, two days earlier than the rest of the army group. In the center of the 2nd Panzer Army attack, XXIV Panzer Corps, at Glukhov, stepped off at first light on the 30th. All of the German panzer corps started the war as motorized corps, but all were eventually renamed as panzer corps, so for clarity here all will be referred to as panzer corps.

Exploding Dogs? 

The corps’ lead element, 3rd Panzer Division, quickly became the first unit to encounter two of the Soviets’ new weapons of war. The division’s tanks were maneuvering across an open field when several dogs were spotted running loose. Closer inspection through field glasses revealed something strange; all the dogs had small sticks sticking up from their backs. One of the nearby dogs was shot and exploded! Exploding dogs?

The Russians had strapped TNT to the dogs’ backs with triggers attached to the sticks and had trained the dogs to run underneath a tank to find their food. When they did, the sticks were pushed back and tripped the explosives. The tankers had no choice but to shoot all the dogs.

As the dogs were being dealt with, their Russian handlers fled and called in another new Russian innovation. Suddenly, an eerie howling sound filled the air and the entire field erupted in a series of explosions—Katyusha rockets. This was Russia’s first use of the multiple-launch rockets, which were launched from racks on the back of an ordinary truck. Each truck could launch as many as 16 rockets at a time, and each rocket delivered 11 pounds of high explosive.  

The “mine dogs” had little future as word of their dangerous mission quickly spread. The Katyusha rockets, on the other hand, became quite useful, and their numbers multiplied rapidly. The Germans even deployed their own multiple rocket system, the Panzerwerfer, a year and a half later. The first day of Operation Typhoon had demonstrated two innovative new ways for the Russians to kill an enemy. The Germans could only guess what surprises succeeding days might bring.

Prelude to the Battle of Moscow: the Germans Caught Sevsk Completely Unawares

The 3rd Panzer Division quickly recovered and captured Sevsk on October 1, while its running mate, 4th Panzer Division, surged 130 miles and got its own surprise as it reached Orel on October 3. The public transportation trams were still running—and full of commuters, as if it were peacetime! 

They also found great stocks of machinery on pallets along the roadside, waiting for relocation to the east and out of harm’s way. The division’s advance had been so rapid that it had outrun its own supply and had to wait in Orel for fuel to be airlifted in. 

Soviet Bryansk Front commander General Andrei Eremenko thought that this attack on his southern flank was nothing but a diversion by a single corps, that the German main attack would come farther north near Bryansk. Consequently, he sent no forces south to reinforce the failing defenses there. Unfortunately for Eremenko, Guderian’s XXXXVII Panzer Corps, following behind XXIV Panzer Corps, abruptly wheeled north at Sevsk and surged toward Bryansk from the south.

As 2nd Panzer Army units surged through the Bryansk Front lines, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin became alarmed. He summoned one of the few armored leaders available, Maj. Gen. Dmitri Leliushenko, and sent him to Mtsensk on the Orel-Tula-Moscow road with orders to stop Guderian and push 2nd Panzer Army back. He sent a motorcycle regiment, the only troops at hand, with Leliushenko and told him that more troops would meet him at Mtsensk. 

As he moved through the industrial city of Tula, Leliushenko commandeered all the guns at the artillery school there, but there were no tractors to tow the guns, so he also commandeered sufficient buses from the Tula Municipal Bus Line to tow them. 

Stalin dispatched the 1st Tank Brigade to Leliushenko in Mtsensk the next day, and on the evening of October 6 it smashed into XXIV Panzer Corps units still awaiting fuel in Orel and dealt them significant losses.

The rest of Army Group Center joined the attack on October 2 with the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies leading the way. Late on October 3, 3rd Panzer Army’s LVI Panzer Corps captured Kholm-Zirkovski and two undamaged bridges over the Dnieper River. The next day, 4th Panzer Army’s XXXXVI Panzer Corps captured Spas-Demensk, and then on October 5 its XXXX Panzer Corps captured Yukhnov, just 110 miles from Moscow. The Soviets moved mostly by foot and simply couldn’t keep pace with the panzers. Then it started to rain.

On October 6, XXXXVII Panzer Corps’ 17th Panzer Division captured Bryansk and two undamaged bridges over the Desna River, as well as the headquarters of the Soviet Bryansk Front. Fortunately for the Soviets, most of the front’s command staff and its commander escaped.

Even greater satisfaction was gained that day by 3rd Panzer Army and 4th Panzer Army when their units converged on Vyazma and completed the encirclement of four Soviet Armies: 16th, 19th, 20th, and 32nd. 

Hitler’s War Machine Makes it Halfway to Moscow

The 3rd Panzer Army was now operating with a new commander. Col. Gen. Hermann Hoth was transferred to Poltava on October 5 to take over the 17th Army of Army Group South. General of Panzer Troops Georg-Hans Reinhardt replaced Hoth at 3rd Panzer Army and the commander of the 3rd Panzer Division, while General of Panzer Troops Walter Model replaced Reinhardt at XXXXI Panzer Corps.

Much of the southern half of the attack front had been suffering through intermittent rain for the past few days, but that changed to snow, the first snow the Germans experienced in Russia. But that didn’t mean an improvement in the ground conditions, where the mud grew deeper with each passing vehicle.

The 2nd Army infantry units began catching up with the armored advance by October 6, as its XXXXIII Corps captured Zhizdra on the Moscow highway northeast of Bryansk. Two days later units from 2nd Panzer Army’s XXXXVII Panzer Corps to the south contacted the 112th Infantry Division in Zhizdra, encircling the Soviet 50th Army. The remainder of the Soviet Bryansk Front, 3rd Army and 13th Army, were simultaneously being encircled at Trubchevsk, southwest of Bryansk.

Barely a week into their offensive the Germans were halfway to Moscow, having eliminated seven enemy armies in three great encirclements. Many Soviet troops were able to find their way out of the encirclements, but it is estimated that the Soviets lost close to a million men. 

Now the snow had turned back into rain and sometimes came down in sheets, producing torrents of mud. German wheeled vehicles had to be abandoned, horses sank up to their bellies in the muck. All units began building corduroy roads, laying cut-down tree trunks side by side in a laborious process. The movement of supplies, including gasoline and ammunition, became difficult.

The weather was not as bad on the northern flank, but the ground conditions there were more difficult. Dense forest surrounds primordial swamps for miles on end, constricting traffic to major chokepoints. On October 8, the 9th Army’s VI Corps and 3rd Panzer Army’s XXXXI Panzer Corps were directed to turn north to assist the infantry units trying to advance there. 

On the 10th they captured Sychevka, a railroad center on a main north-south line. One of the biggest problems they dealt with was abandoned Soviet cars and trucks blocking the few roads for miles; the rail line gave them a chance to work around that problem.

The BBC, on their October 10 evening newscast, announced the German victory at Vyazma, calling it Hitler’s most successful victory of the war and stating, “It had always been believed that the door to Moscow had been firmly barred. That obviously, is not the case!”

Leaders in Moscow had no clue what was happening on their Western Front; unlike the Bryansk Front, there had been no reports of the attack from either the Western Front or the Reserve Front. When stragglers from the Reserve Front reached Maloyaroslavets and reported on the situation, their information was discredited and they were jailed as panic mongers.

Unknown to Moscow, all long-distance telephone facilities in the West had been disrupted. The Soviet command relied heavily on telephone communication, and most higher headquarters had no long-range radios because of a widespread fear of German signal intercept capabilities. 

When the Soviet monitoring service reported on Hitler’s radio address to the German people about the attack, the Soviet leaders were incredulous. Aerial reconnaissance planes returned with word of massive German tank columns surging past Spa-Demensk and Yukhnov. Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov, chief of the general staff, still didn’t believe it, so more flights were sent to verify the reports. Finally, although he was still confused and doubtful, Shaposhnikov went to Stalin with the news.

Later that day, phone communications with the Reserve Front were temporarily restored, and Stalin got through to the front headquarters. General Semyon Budenny, the front commander, was missing in action, but his chief of staff confirmed Stalin’s worst fears. The next day Stalin ordered General Georgi Zhukov, who had been commander in chief of the Leningrad Front for less than a month, to Mozhaisk to get a clear picture of the situation. 

After reporting his findings to Stalin by phone, Zhukov learned that he had been made the new commander of the Western Front and that the surviving Reserve Front forces would be incorporated into the Western Front. Stalin ordered Zhukov to establish a defensive line at Volokolamsk-Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavets and hold it. 

Stalin Prepares for the Battle of Moscow

Stalin started gathering forces from all over the USSR for the defense of Moscow and quickly ordered 14 new rifle divisions, 14 new tank brigades, and 40 new artillery regiments dispatched to hold the Mozhaisk defensive zone. He also mobilized the civilian population of Moscow; some quarter of a million civilians, most of them women, commenced digging trenches and antitank ditches for the Moscow Defensive Zone.

Fuel was still a problem for the Germans and became so bad that 3rd Panzer Army’s XXXXI Panzer Corps consolidated all of its fuel and formed a special motorized Kampfgruppe with infantry, tanks, and artillery. The Kampfgruppe’s mission was to capture Kalinin, 90 miles to the northeast, and its bridge over the Upper Volga River. Making excellent progress it approached the great bridge in the early morning darkness of the 13th. The dispirited Soviet guards unit didn’t even put up a fight, leaving guns, equipment, and supplies, as it fled. 

But now the poor weather spread over the northern flank, too. The rain changed to sleet, then snow, then back to rain, incessantly for days. The fall muddy season, or the “Rasputitsa,” as it is known in Russia, began in mid-October and quickly became more severe than any other in memory. Armored and motorized units couldn’t move; the infantry units slowly began to overtake the stranded mobile formations, but even walking was difficult. 

On the south flank, XXIV Panzer Corps’ 4th Panzer Division was still struggling against the same problems: mud and lack of fuel. A small amount of fuel had been flown to them in Orel, allowing them to push up the road toward Mtsensk, but the armored units that Stalin had sent to block their advance did just that. The Soviet 1st Tank Brigade’s T-34 tanks, with their wider tracks, were able to maneuver in the mud while the German tanks couldn’t, and they would hit the 4th hard from one direction, then move to another angle and hit them again. 

On October 12, XXIV Panzer Corps commander General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg requested permission to pull his few remaining 4th Panzer Division tanks out of the Mtsensk battle, turn it over to his panzergrenadiers, and await reinforcements and supplies. With his units spread all over sealing pockets and held up by the mud and the lack of supplies, General Guderian agreed. 

In the center of the army group attack front, 4th Army continued struggling through the mud eastward. The XIII Army Corps captured a bridge over the Ugra River just west of Kaluga on the 10th, then captured Kaluga and its bridges over the Oka River two days later. On October 14, the LVII Panzer Corps’ 3rd Motorized Division captured Borovsk, barely 52 miles from Moscow. 

The German Advance Gets Stuck in the Mud

But the mud ground all operations to a halt. The only things still mobile were the small local “panje” carts, with their two big wooden wheels pulled by a small native pony. Robbed of their mobility, German units were strung out over hundreds of miles of sodden, soupy landscape with troops from different units mixed together. 

Mother Nature had accomplished what the Soviets couldn’t: bring the German advance to a halt. Only when the ground had frozen completely could the assault be resumed in earnest. Unfortunately for the Germans, the soggy ground was not their only problem as the weather grew colder. Not only were their uniforms in tatters, they were summer uniforms. There was no winter clothing. They resorted to stripping the enemy of their heavy coats and hats. Hitler had expected that Operation Barbarossa would be successfully wrapped up in just a few months, so no preparations for dealing with cold weather were made. 

Another growing problem was the flood of Soviet troops without organization or guidance across the landscape. Having individually escaped encirclement or just gotten separated from their units, they were still armed, and most knew the lay of the land better than the Germans. They struggled to reach their own lines that they only knew were somewhere to the east and were a constant threat, moving behind the Germans who faced their known enemy in the east.

After a bitter two-day battle, troops of the SS Division “Das Reich” of the 4th Panzer Army captured Borodino on October 15, just 66 miles west of Moscow. Borodino was famous as the site of Napoleon’s pyrrhic victory on the way to defeat at Moscow in 1812. The division commander, SS Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser, known as “Papa Hausser” as the founder of the Waffen SS, was badly wounded in the head and lost his left eye.

On October 17, panic spread through Moscow as the Soviet government offices begin to evacuate to Kuybyshev, widespread looting took place, party members were attacked in the street, and civilians begin to flee the city. The government quickly declared marshal law. 

Stalin Tries to Hold the Line Outside Moscow

Also on the 17th, Stalin created a new front, the Kalinin Front, intended to force the Germans out of its namesake city and hold the vital northwestern corner of the Moscow defense line. The front was to be made up of four of the Soviet armies that had escaped encirclement and were commanded by the former commander of the West Front, General Ivan Konev.

By the third week in October, many of the pockets of encircled Soviet troops behind German lines had surrendered, freeing German troops to move up to the front.  Of course, they still had to deal with their most vexing problems: the shortage of fuel, food, and ammunition, not to mention the Soviet defensive front, which was growing stronger by the day.  

The center of the German attack still advanced, but only slowly as the mud became deeper and enemy defenses stronger. On the 18th, the German 4th Army came up against the still-forming “Mozhaisk Defensive Zone” when they took Maloyaroslavets and the next day when 4th Panzer Army captured Mozhaisk. On the 22nd, the 4th Army captured a bridgehead over the Nara River at Tashirovo, only 38 miles from Moscow. These fierce battles decimated both sides. Regiments were reduced to the size of companies with fewer than 200 men each. But the Germans moved inexorably forward, closing in on Moscow from three sides.

It was a violent days-long struggle for each of these places, where the Germans managed to bring more forces to bear more quickly and ensure victory at that spot. But the Soviets were moving all the forces they could to the Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets, and Kaluga axes, as these were the main access points west of Moscow.

On the southern flank of the attack, units of 2nd Panzer Army were still able to advance slowly in fits and starts, but they still had the farthest to go.  General Guderian had taken all the tank forces of his XXIV Panzer Corps—panzer regiments from its 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions, as well as a battalion of tanks from the 18th Panzer Division—and combined them with the elite Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Regiment and an artillery regiment into a single attack force, all under the command of Colonel Heinrich Eberbach, panzer brigade commander of the 4th Panzer Division. With Kampfgruppe Eberbach, they could pool the paltry supplies of the corps and remain in action.

Once the combat bridging equipment had finally slogged forward through the mud, the engineers were able to construct a bridge over the Susha River just north of Mtsensk; Kampfgruppe Eberbach was able to cross on the 23rd. This flanking movement prompted the Soviet 1st Tank Brigade to pull its heavy tanks out of Mtsensk. 

The next day Kampfgruppe Eberbach, bypassing Mtsensk, seized Chern, 159 miles from Moscow. This left the large blocking force that the Soviets had installed in Mtsensk with nothing to block.

Pushing up the Tula highway and pursuing the troops retreating from Mtsensk, Eberbach seized Yasnaya Polyana on the 28th—only 111 miles south of Moscow. The only reason that they were able to advance at all is that they could use the hard-surface Kharkov-Orel-Tula-Moscow highway as well as the railroad tracks, which paralleled the highway for much of its run. 

In the middle of the 20th century, parts of Russia were still fairly primitive. Most roads were nothing more than dirt pathways, the main roads between towns being hard, compacted earth. Hard-surface macadam roads were limited to those routes connecting Moscow to a handful of large cities. 

On October 28, the 9th Army was ordered to go on the defense along the northern flank of the advance. It was to tie in with 3rd Panzer Army at Kalinin and AGN to the west near Ostashkov and protect the army group’s advance from the north.

In the last week of October, the 2nd Army was transferred to the southern flank of the army group, taking command of the XXXIV and XXXV Army Corps and the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps that were already there. This allowed the 2nd Panzer Army to concentrate on the Moscow offensive while 2nd Army concentrated on clearing the southern flank of the army group and maintaining contact with Army Group South. 

Although the XXXIV and XXXV Army Corps, as well as the XXXXVIII Panzer, were mostly immobilized by the mud in the wide-open spaces between Orel and Kursk, they devised a plan to utilize a captured Soviet armored train to attack Kursk and secure the Orel-Kursk rail line. Colonel Carl Andre, with two reinforced battalions from his 521st Infantry Regiment, was placed in command of the captured train while other troops from the 296th Infantry Division manned the train’s guns.

The Germans Approach a Lightly Defended Kursk

On November 2, while the armored train successfully secured the rail line, XXXXVIII Panzer Corps troops approached Kursk slowly from the northwest. To everyone’s surprise, most of the Soviet troops in Kursk had already withdrawn, and the remaining troops did so as the Germans arrived. This was fully a year and a half before that name would be written near the top of the list of great battles in the war. 

The 4th Army attack, in the middle of the army group, slowed to positional warfare by the end of October. The combination of the mud, dwindling supplies, and stiffening enemy resistance left the commander, Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge, with no choice.

The 4th Panzer Army was similarly affected as its advance slowly ground to a halt. The slow but steady German advance against determined resistance was a war of attrition. The troops were just about spent. Just moving around in the knee-deep mud was exhausting.

Hitler’s “Continuation Plan” for the Encirclement of Moscow

During the second week of November, with most of their forces stuck in the mud, the German generals were making plans for the continuation of the attack once the ground froze. Halder, after a conference with principle staff officers of the army group, realized that it was weaker than he had thought and that it would not be able to take Moscow in 1941.

But now Hitler was adamant. Moscow must be taken! He saw that the morale of the German public was waning because earlier pronouncements had raised expectations that weren’t being met. Moscow must be taken or at least isolated to reassure the German public of Hitler’s strength and resolve. Hitler finally came around to the need of taking Moscow just as his leading generals were having second thoughts.

The Continuation Plan called for two mobile groups to strike at the Soviet flanks and encircle Moscow, 3rd Panzer Army on the north and 2nd Panzer Army on the south, meeting in the Orekhova-Zueva area east of Moscow. The 4th Army and 4th Panzer Army were to assault Moscow frontally from the west, drawing any enemy reinforcements away from the flanks while 9th Army and 2nd Army would cover the north and south flanks, respectively.

After a few days’ rest, the troops were refreshed. They had their first hot meal in days and had been resupplied with ammunition and other essentials. They were as ready as they could be.

The ground was beginning to firm up, thanks to continuing cold weather, making movement more possible by the day. But the Germans were also beginning to confront a new obstacle. Fresh Soviet troops from as far away as Siberia had begun manning the defenses around Moscow—well-trained, experienced troops that didn’t panic at the first sight of a German tank.

By the middle of November, the Soviets had an impressive array of 12 armies facing Bock’s troops. The Western Front had the 5th, 16th, 33rd, 43rd, 49th, and 50th Armies lined up from Volokolamsk south to Tula. The Kalinin Front had the 22nd, 29th, 30th, and 31st Armies on the north flank from Volokolamsk north to Kalinin then west to Ostashkov. The newly constituted Southwest Front held the southern approaches from Efremov and Yelets with the 3rd and 13th Armies. These don’t include the 59 rifle divisions, 13 cavalry divisions, 75 rifle brigades, and 20 tank brigades held in reserve, nor the 65,000-man Peoples Militia manning the complex series of barricades and strongpoints ringing Moscow.

The ground became frozen, but the temperature kept right on dropping; -15°C on November 12, -8°C on the 13th, and -13°C on the 14th, making the winter of 1941-1942 one of the most severe on record. The first week of December the low temperature in the western approaches to Moscow dropped 28°C, down to -33°C on December 7.

Engines of all types had to be left running lest they freeze, making gasoline all the more vital, and the mechanisms of guns of all calibers did freeze. Then there was the problem that replaced the mud more directly—snow, and lots of it.

In addition to their growing manpower pool, the Soviets had two major advantages: they fought from well-prepared defensive positions from Kalinin in the north all the way south to Tula while the Germans only dug holes in the snow. And they were supplied through short “inside” lines. They were backed right up to Moscow, from where their supplies came. The Germans were hundreds of miles from their main supply depots and were now depending on air dropped supplies to survive.

To disrupt German efforts to resume the attack, Stalin ordered Zhukov to launch a series of spoiling attacks at the major access points west of Moscow. Zhukov thought that it was too late for that, but he complied. He ordered the 16th Army to attack the north flank of the 4th Panzer Army above Volokolamsk, the 49th Army to attack 4th Army’s southern flank west of Serpukhov, and the 49th and 50th Armies to attack 2nd Panzer Army’s spearheads north and south of Tula.

The 16th Army’s spoiling attack on the 4th Panzer Army included the 3rd Cavalry Corps, which was made up of newly arrived forces from the Far East. On November 17, following up on the slightly successful initial attack, the Corps’ 44th Mongolian Cavalry Division was ordered to exploit that success with an attack on the German 106th Infantry Division near Musino. 

A Scene from Another Era: Mounted Soviets Charge the Germans with Extended Sabers

Bent low in the saddle, their sabers thrust high, the division’s 1st Mounted Regiment charged across the fields toward the German position—a scene from the 1800s. Suddenly, the field erupted with explosion after explosion. The 106th’s artillery regiment had the field completely zeroed in; it was only a matter of pulling the lanyards. Men, horses, and pieces of flesh flew through the air in sickening repetition, until there was no longer any movement. 

Then, incredibly, the Division’s 2nd Mounted Regiment formed up and charged across the very same field—with the very same result: 2,000 horsemen and their mounts obliterated in a little over a quarter of an hour. The Soviet attack collapsed. The defending 106th suffered no casualties.

The Soviet spoiling attack against 4th Army’s southern flank at Serpukhov fared somewhat better. The XIII Army Corps held the longest front in the 4th Army—nearly 50 miles from Dubrovka on the Nara River east of Maloyaroslavets south to Petrovka on the Oka River southwest of Aleksin—with only three divisions.

The initial attack on November 15 came as a complete surprise. The 5th Guards Division led the attack with its tank battalion and made several penetrations along the northern half of the corps front near Voronina.  

Field Marshal von Kluge dispatched parts of several units that had been set aside for the renewal of the offensive to shore up the XIII Corps defense. After three days of desperate combat, they began to push the enemy back. At that point Zhukov sent in a follow-up attack by newly arrived units that once again had the Germans struggling. Fortunately for them, the Soviet attack subsided on the 19th as Zhukov was forced to move units to face the renewed 4th Panzer Army attack against his right flank. 

Farther south, Zhukov’s spoiling attack on 2nd Panzer Army bore some fruit on the 17th when elements of the German 112th Infantry Division of the LIII Corps, which had no effective antitank weapons, broke and ran when attacked by T-34 tanks south of Uslovia. Guderian later pointed out that the division had already lost more than 1,000 men to frostbite and that its automatic weapons were inoperable due to the sub-zero temperatures. 

In spite of the spoiling attacks, Army Group Center resumed its attack toward Moscow on the morning of November 15. The XXVII Army Corps, on the right wing of 9th Army, surged southeast from Kalinin along the southern bank of the Volga River to its confluence with the Lama River near Redkino. 

The 3rd Panzer Army also attacked that day when the LVI Panzer Corps troops struck out from their positions north of Volokolamsk near Lotoshino, eastward toward the Kalinin-Moscow highway. The 6th Panzer Division pushed ahead of the others and crossed the Lama River the next day. On the 17th, the 6th Panzer contacted XXVII Army Corps units on the Kalinin-Moscow highway near Savidovo.  

The 4th Panzer Army was not able to resume the attack on the 15th as it was still busy trying to handle the Soviet spoiling attack on its northern flank. It was the same in the 4th Army sector, where they were trying to keep enemy attacks from overwhelming their southern flank.

In the panzer army zone, most of its units were unable to resume the assault on the 15th because they, too, were still under attack; XXXXIII Army Corps had been under intense attack just south of Aleksin by the Soviet 49th and 50th Armies since November 11, and LIII Army Corps was still dealing with the enemy spoiling attack. On the 18th, the XXIV Panzer Corps was finally able to resume its attack south of Tula toward Venev. In a surprise move, panzer corps units quickly captured Dedilovo and the only intact bridge over the Upa River. 

On the far southern flank of the army group, 2nd Army’s XXXIV Army Corps also resumed the advance on the 15th against light opposition, quickly occupying Ponyri in the afternoon. The XXXV Army Corps joined the attack on the 18th, pushing eastward from Novosil against only moderate resistance.

A Serious Supply Issue Hits the German Advance

Although the ground was frozen and motorized traffic was once again able to move, the supply situation was still critical, and units were stranded for lack of gasoline. Then there was the continuing problem of the weather. Fresh snow fell virtually every day, quite often in blizzard conditions, and snow depths of one to two feet were not uncommon.

The 4th Panzer Army was finally able to resume its attack on the 18th, at least with its three left flank corps—XXXX and XXXXVI Panzer Corps and V Army Corps—but ran into a very stubborn enemy entrenched in deep, fortified emplacements. After three days of slugging in brutal weather conditions, they had gained only four miles on average.  

Frustrated, General Hoepner threw in his last reserves, and in two days they surged 14 miles through the seam between 16th Army and 30th Army. When they could not be contained, Zhukov had no reserves on hand to throw at them because he had used them all in the Stalin-ordered spoiling attacks. 

General Halder called Bock on the 18th wanting to know why 4th Army had not resumed the attack. Bock told him that 4th Army was still fending off the strong Russian attacks on its southern flank and that von Kluge had sent his only reserves there. Bock counseled patience and told Halder that von Kluge would resume the offensive just as soon as he could. Bock and Halder agreed that both combatants were near the end of their strength and that victory would go to the side with the strongest will.

The 9th Army, on the AGC northern flank, went over to the defense on the 19th. The 9th was holding a northeast-facing front along the Volga River from Savidovo northwest to Kalinin then west about 100 miles and connecting with Army Group North near Ostashkov. There was little offensive action on that front; they were just guarding the back of the army group units attacking toward Moscow.

By November 20, the remainder of 3rd Panzer Army’s LVI Panzer Corps had closed up with the 6th Panzer Division on the Kalinin-Moscow highway and turned south. Two days later they captured Klin, 47 miles north of Moscow.

If LVI Panzer Corps could continue south, it could possibly slice in behind the Soviet 16th Army troops fighting 4th Panzer Army troops to the southwest. This wasn’t lost on the Soviets, who quietly began looking over their shoulder.

Not surprisingly, the 4th Panzer Army began pushing steadily forward. On the 18th, XXXX Panzer Corps units captured Mozhaisk, and on the 21st, XXXXVI Panzer Corps units captured Novopetrovskoye, only 42 miles from Moscow.

It was on the army’s northern flank, farthest from Moscow, where the V Army Corps was able to move forward the most quickly. It reached the Kalinin-Moscow highway about 10 miles south of Klin on the 21st, turned south, and on the 23rd captured Solnechnogorsk, just 32 miles from Moscow. That same unit, 2nd Panzer Division, captured Krasnaya Polyana two days later and stood only 15 miles north of Moscow.

With the 4th Panzer Army units moving south on the Kalinin-Moscow highway, Bock changed the orders for 3rd Panzer Army. Rather than continue south on the highway behind 4th Panzer Army, they were now to turn east and push as far as possible while still covering the 4th Panzer Army’s left flank. 

The southern half of the encirclement attack was also picking up speed. The 2nd Panzer Army’s XXIV Panzer Corps, after a vicious fight, captured Uslovia on the 20th, then Novomoskvosk on the 22nd and Venev on the 24th. Likewise with the XXXXVII Panzer Corps on their right, which captured Efremov on November 20 and Michailov on the 24th. But Guderian told Bock that fresh, well-armed Siberian troops “keen for battle” were flooding in on his eastern flank.

On November 27, Bock ordered Guderian to forget about striking northeast for the moment and concentrate on taking Tula, the long festering sore that was the anchor for the Soviets on the southern flank of Moscow. The Soviet 50th Army had been holding Tula since the beginning of the German attack and had launched almost daily attacks against the 2nd Panzer Army as it closed in.

Tula was not encircled, but the 2nd Panzer Army held three sides around it with a 30-mile-wide opening on the north. The current plan was for 2nd Panzer Army’s XXXXIII Corps to attack toward the east from Aleksin and meet XXIV Panzer Corps units attacking from the east, closing the encirclement.

The Luftwaffe’s Role in the Battle of Moscow

The Luftwaffe also played a significant part in German operations in Russia. Air Fleet 2, commanded by Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, was attached to Army Group Center from the beginning, and his Junkers Ju-87 Stuka ground attack aircraft led almost every large assault that the Germans undertook. In addition to leading the ground assault, by the end of November Air Fleet 2 had destroyed 6,670 Russian aircraft, 1,900 tanks, 26,000 motor vehicles, and 2,800 trains.

Surprisingly, at the end of November, Air Fleet 2 was transferred to Italy to help the flagging Axis effort in the Mediterranean. This, of course, left AGC drastically short of combat aircraft. Consequently, the Red Air Force immediately claimed air superiority and would hold it for the foreseeable future.

While 4th Panzer Army’s V Army Corps moved south on the Kalinin-Moscow highway, 3rd Panzer Army pushed east behind it. That was when something unusual happened, something that no one could recall ever happening during this campaign. As German units neared, the Soviets withdrew without putting up a fight, and they didn’t burn down the villages as they left. Some thought that they must be expecting to return soon; others thought they were becoming disillusioned and were just in a hurry to get out.  Units of the LVI Panzer Corps soon reached the Volga-Moscow canal near Dmitrov, 37 miles due north of Moscow.

With 4th Panzer Army having opened a gap between the Soviet 16th and 30th Armies and 3rd Panzer Army quickly moving eastward through the gap, a crisis erupted in Moscow. The 3rd Panzer Army’s move pushed the Soviet 30th Army into the corner between the Volga River on the north and the Volga-Moscow canal on the east—thus opening a 27-mile gap in Russian lines between 3rd Panzer Army at Dmitrov on the canal and 4th Panzer Army at Krasnaya Polyana.

It is not clear whether the Germans realized their opportunity, but LVI Panzer Corps’ 7th Panzer Division quickly grabbed a bridgehead over the canal at Jakhroma, four miles south of Dmitrov. Army Commander Reinhardt wanted to attack eastward, but Bock ordered him to continue south, west of the canal, covering 4th Panzer Army’s left flank. 

“Doubts of Success Are Beginning to Take Definite Form”

On the 28th, the 4th Panzer Army’s XXXX Panzer Corps, closing in from the northwest, captured Lenino, 18 miles from Moscow. Two days later, XXXXVI Panzer Corps’ 11th Panzer Division captured Kryukovo, just 16 miles from Moscow. 

That same day a combat group from V Army Corps’ 2nd Panzer Division, fighting its way south on the Kalinin-Moscow highway, reached Ozeretskoye, the terminus of the Moscow tram system, and Lobnja, where they blew up railroad tracks just 13 miles from Moscow. Late in the day a motorcycle patrol from the division reached Khimki, barely six miles from Moscow. If the troops could continue the pressure, Moscow could be theirs. 

Not only that, but 4th Army finally joined the attack on December 1, and on the 2nd XX Army Corps units captured Yushkovo, 23 miles southwest of Moscow. That prompted Bock to tell his army commanders that the enemy was close to breaking. With all his armies on the attack and closing in on Moscow, Bock had every reason to be optimistic.

Stalin then released two new armies: the 20th Army and the 1st Shock Army, to Zhukov to fill the gap between the 16th and 30th Armies north of Moscow. They would fill in along the entire front from north of Dmitrov south along the canal to the Lobnja area, then in an arc to the west and southwest to the Smolensk highway near Kubinka.

The 2nd Army, on the far south flank of the army group, went over to defense on December 1. The army was in only sporadic contact with the enemy and holding a front from Volovo south to Efremov then Yelets, then southwest to Tim, where it contacted Army Group South.

On the 2nd, the 1st Shock Army’s first action came against 3rd Panzer Army units on the Volga-Moscow canal. The area west of the canal was swampy, and the only parallel road was heavily mined. So, when the Soviets brought together enough strength, they were able to stop the advance cold.

That evening Bock told Halder, “Doubts of success are beginning to take definite form.” But, “an enemy attack is unlikely as the enemy does not have enough forces!”

That same day, 4th Panzer Army’s 78th Infantry Division reached Zvenigorod, just 24 miles from Moscow, but it could go no farther due to the cold, snow, the enemy, and exhaustion. It was the same story with the 252nd Infantry Division on its left, which reached Pokrovskoye, 26 miles from Moscow, but could go no farther. The next day, General Hoepner, on his own authority, called a halt and ordered his units over to the defensive. He later reported that his units’ offensive strength was completely exhausted. 

Ironically, on December 3, the 258th Infantry Division that had captured Yushkovo on the 2nd and brought momentary optimism to Bock was itself encircled and forced to break out westward.

That evening, in a call from Berlin, Bock told German Army Commander Brauchitsch that his troops were exhausted and that fighting over the last 14 days had shown that the notion that the enemy in front of AGC was about to collapse was fantasy.

The next day, with his XX Army Corps in danger of being cut off, von Kluge ordered the 4th Army attacking units, LVII Panzer Corps and XX Army Corps, to withdraw behind the Nara River and take up defensive positions.

Units of 2nd Panzer Army’s XXIV Panzer Corps, fighting through a blizzard, managed to claw their way across much of the 30-mile neck of the pocket around Tula and blocked the Tula-Moscow highway, but they could go no farther. 

XXXXIII Army Corps units had taken Aleksin in equally appalling conditions but were unable to meet the XXIV Panzer Corps. Consequently, on December 4 Guderian called off the attack and ordered his units over to the defense, too.

The 3rd Panzer Army units attacking at the Volga-Moscow canal north of Moscow were the only units still attacking. They had been in near constant action for a week against 1st Shock Army units that were being constantly reinforced. Obviously, they couldn’t last much longer either.

The German Attack on Moscow Stumbles to a Halt

Every German involved in the Battle of Moscow, from the highest field marshal to the lowest private, knew that their attack was stumbling to a halt. But few of them realized that they had just lost the Battle of Moscow. 

This was what the Soviets had been waiting for. They knew that the moment the Germans stopped advancing was the moment that they must take the offensive. They could not let the Germans prepare positions or bring forward units to hold the line—they must strike whether their assault units were in position or not.

That is exactly what they did; the order for the counteroffensive went out on the night of the 4th—attack!   

During Operation Typhoon, Army Group Center pushed the Soviets back some 200 miles, to the very gates of Moscow. During the offensive, AGC lost 305,338 men killed, wounded, and missing in action. On the other side, the Soviet West Theater lost 422,161 men killed and missing in action.

Since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet West Theater had received 75 divisions from the Stavka reserve. During that same time period, AGC received no units from the German high command reserve.

In little over two months, the Soviets would push Army Group Center back anywhere from 50 to 200 miles. They would not achieve their stated goal of encircling and destroying AGC, but the Germans would never again threaten Moscow.

Back to the issue this appears in

Share This Article

• via= " class="share-btn twitter">

Related Articles

The Fieseler Storch Fi 156

The B-25 Mitchell Bomber and the Man Behind the Plane

Slogging into the Reichswald

Caught in the War

From around the network.

Military History

The Cliveden Reenactment of the Battle of Germantown

Gothas: The German Bombers of World War I

European Theater

Combat Command: Glory in the Wrenches

More From Forbes

Nyt ‘connections’ hints and answers for monday, april 1.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections.

Looking for Sunday’s Connections hints and answers? You can find them here:

Hey, everyone! Happy April Fool’s Day. This is the worst day of the year to be a journalist. Myself and my colleagues always have to navigate a minefield of pranks in the hope of finding actual news. If I get any particularly terrible pitches, I’ll share them with you tomorrow.

Anyway, today’s NYT Connections hints and answers are coming right up.

How To Play Connections

In Connections , you’re presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like horror movie franchises, a type of verb or rappers.

There’s only one solution for each puzzle, and you’ll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.

One Of The Best Shows Ever Made Lands On Netflix Today For The Very First Time

This popular google app will stop working in 3 days how to migrate your data, google suddenly reveals surprise android update that beats iphone.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is typically the hardest one to deduce. The purple group often involves wordplay, so bear that in mind.

Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you’re incorrect, you’ll lose a life. If you’re close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you’re one word away from getting it right, but you’ll still need to figure out which one to swap.

If you make four mistakes, it’s game over. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen with the help of some hints, and, if you’re really struggling, today’s Connections answers.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Warning! Today’s words aren’t actually words at all: They’re emoji. the meanings of these little images might be up for debate, so I’ve written out them out as they appear to be considered in the answers.

So, today’s word list might actually include spoilers — the emoji might look like a sheep when it’s actually something a little different. Tread carefully is all I’m saying here.

Today’s 16 words/emoji are:

And the hints for today’s groups are:

• Yellows — bringing home the ____
• Greens — soundalikes
• Blues — you might watch them on Shudder or at Halloween
• Purples — they sound like the smallest units of the English language

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Today’s groups are...

• Yellow group — food slang for money
• Green group — words that rhyme
• Blue group — horror movies
• Purple group — letter homophones

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• Yellow group — food slang for money (BREAD, BACON, GREENS, CHEESE)
• Green group — words that rhyme (PLANE, RAIN, TRAIN, BRAIN)
• Blue group — horror movies (ALIEN, SCREAM, VAMPIRE, SAW)
• Purple group — letter homophones (EWE, BEE, EYE, TEA)

What a delightful April Fool's game this was. I managed to get a perfect game to extend my overall winning streak to three.

I got the yellows first, thinking that they were simply food items and that there wasn't anything more to it. As I looked at the BEE and the EYE, the purples started coming together. I realized that the sheep was actually a EWE and the teapot was referring to TEA.

The blues were up next. I assume the VAMPIRE is supposed to be Dracula but the others are self-explanatory. That left the greens, for which I didn't get the connection as I originally assumed the PLANE was "airplane" and RAIN was "rain cloud." Nevertheless, I got a perfect game on a particularly fun twist on Connections . I hope you enjoyed it too.

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog for hints and the solution for Tuesday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I've recommended them here before but I saw The Last Dinner Party live the other night and had a fantastic time. Here's another of their tracks that I really enjoy:

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

• All Moscow Hotels
• Most Popular
• Hotels by Class
• Quick Search
• Request Best Rates
• Recommended Hotels
• Event Planning Tips
• Moscow Meeting Space
• Request a Proposal
• Group Travel Info
• Russian Visa Info
• Request Visa Support
• Airport Transfers
• Airline & Rail Tickets
• St. Petersburg Hotels

Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre Hotel

Where in the city is the hotel located, which is the nearest metro station, how do i get to the hotel from sheremetyevo airport, how do i get to the hotel from domodedovo airport, how do i get to the hotel from vnukovo airport, how do i get to the hotel from leningrad station, yaroslavl station or kazan station, how do i get to the hotel from kursk station, how do i get to the hotel from belarus station, how do i get to the hotel from kiev station, where can i park near the hotel, where can i get internet access, does the hotel have satellite television, how do i get from the hotel to the kremlin, how do i get from the hotel to the bolshoi theater, how do i get from the hotel to the tretyakov gallery, which visitor attractions are located near the hotel, where can i eat near the hotel.

Families of Israeli hostages join protests calling for Netanyahu to go

TEL AVIV — Tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded Israel’s streets for a second straight night Sunday, calling for immediate elections and for the government to urgently negotiate the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

The twin demands represented a merging of two distinct protest movements — one including the families of hostages, the other led by civil society and the political opposition — which could become the greatest threat yet to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government.

On Sunday, the protesters moved from “Hostage Square” plaza in Tel Aviv to the parliament in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags and chanting for the removal of the country’s longest-serving leader. From inside the building, Netanyahu addressed his critics in a prime-time address.

“The pain of the families of the hostages breaks my heart; I think it breaks all of our hearts,” he said. “Anyone who says that I’m not doing everything to bring back our hostages is wrong and is misleading others.”

“The calls for elections right now, at the height of the war, a moment before victory, will paralyze Israel for at least half a year,” he added. “And the first person to celebrate this will be Hamas.”

Outside the Knesset, Carmi Paltzi Katzir, whose brother Elad Katzir was dragged into Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 , decried what she said was the “failure of the government.”

“I would have never believed that after six months I would need to fight with the government for my brother’s right to return alive, or to return at all,” she said.

She cited testimonies from released hostages indicating that her brother, at least at first, had been to able to listen to the radio and watch television in captivity: “What does he think about us, as a society, about our prime minister?” she wondered.

The event on Sunday was the start of a four-day rally that organizers hope will either force the government to jump-start hostage negotiations — or lead to the collapse of Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing in the country’s history.

Netanyahu is already under growing pressure from Washington, Israel’s most important weapons supplier and diplomatic backer. American officials have expressed growing alarm about the war in Gaza , including Israel’s planned offensive in the southern city of Rafah , home to 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, and the humanitarian crisis in the north, where Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries have put hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned this month that Israel risked becoming an international “pariah” under Netanyahu’s leadership and urged the country to hold new elections. Netanyahu had been largely insulated from external pressure by an Israeli public that overwhelmingly supported the war and — until now, at least — had no appetite for wartime elections.

But the tide could be shifting.

On Saturday in Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose 24-year-old son Matan is held in Gaza, blamed the prime minister for “torpedoing” a deal for a temporary cease-fire that would have allowed Israeli hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

“You stand between us and bringing our loved ones home,” she said, addressing Netanyahu.

Saturday’s mass street demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and several other cities were led by the Hostage Families Forum, an umbrella organization for the relatives of hostages.

Since the beginning of the war, the families have been told by the government that only military pressure would bring their loved ones home. They refrained from issuing political statements, instead sharing testimonies from former captives and offering condolences as hostage death notifications trickled in.

Nearly six months after Oct. 7, many families have received no official information about their relatives held in Gaza. Some have had requests to meet with Netanyahu and the war cabinet denied. Many say their trust in the government has evaporated.

“The families of the hostages have reached a breaking point with Netanyahu,” said Josh Drill, a leader of a group called Change Generation, which since Oct. 7 has called for the release of the hostages and a new Israeli government.

The decision by some families to join the anti-government movement is “not inherently political,” he said. “They are simply doing all they can to get their loved ones home and they now recognize that Netanyahu is an obstacle to that.”

Several hostage families joined a more general anti-government protest as it blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway Saturday night. They lit bonfires in the street and were among 16 people arrested as police unleashed water cannons on the crowds. On Sunday night, demonstrators again clashed with police as they blocked main roads in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The scenes were reminiscent of the tumultuous months that preceded Oct. 7, in which hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested a government campaign to weaken the judicial system.

Now, protesters say, the stakes are even higher.

“Our country is being led by a gang of nut cases that jeopardize not only our existence but our well being,” said Shaul Dwek, 70, who joined the crowds in Jerusalem on Sunday with his wife, Netta. “This is not the way we grew up and these are not the values that we hold.”

Gili Amar, a 29-year-old musician, wanted more “clarity about what [the decision-makers] are doing, what the objectives are.”

On Sunday, Israel sent a low-level delegation to Cairo to resume indirect truce talks with Hamas. If the negotiations progress, the heads of Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, will join them, according to an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.

But families have seen round after round of talks fail . They fear that time has already run out.

“[The hostages] will not hold out there; no one can survive what they are going through there,” said Raz Ben Ami, who was released during a temporary cease-fire in late November, at the Saturday night rally in Tel Aviv.

“Prime Minister, on behalf of the hostage men and women, on behalf of the people of Israel, give the negotiators in Qatar the order: ‘Do not return without a deal.’”

Nearly every week now, there are new testimonies from former hostages about the abuse they endured at the hands of their captors — and the fears they have for those still inside.

Liri Albag, 19, who has been kept in subterranean tunnels and in private homes, according to testimonies passed on to the Albag family from released hostages, was forced to cook and clean for those keeping her.

“The hostages had to prepare food, but they themselves could not eat,” Shira Albag, Liri’s mother, told Israel’s public broadcaster last week.

Aviva Siegel was among the first of the released hostages to testify about sexual assault in captivity, telling a Knesset hearing in January that the captors dressed the hostages as “dolls,” watched them shower, and subjected both women and men to sexual and physical abuse.

On Saturday, she said the government needed to stop treating hostage negotiations “as a children’s game.”

“Do you hear me Bibi?” she said, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Stop talking about victory, stop talking about military pressure. Nothing will work. Nothing has worked until now. They’re dying there, every day.”

Loveluck reported from Jerusalem.

Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: An airstrike near Iran’s embassy in Damascus, the Syrian capital, killed a senior Iranian commander and several Iranian diplomats Monday, according to Iranian state media, which said it was an Israeli attack. Israeli commandos pulled out of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital , leaving the enclave’s largest hospital gutted.

Middle East conflict: Tensions in the region continue to rise. As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon .

U.S. involvement: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed dozens of Iranian-linked militants , according to Iraqi officials. The strikes were the first round of retaliatory action by the Biden administration for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members .

• Inside the ruins of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital April 1, 2024 Inside the ruins of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital April 1, 2024
• Israeli strike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus kills key commander, Iran says April 1, 2024 Israeli strike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus kills key commander, Iran says April 1, 2024
• How the FBI’s visit to a Muslim woman became a right-wing rallying cry April 1, 2024 How the FBI’s visit to a Muslim woman became a right-wing rallying cry April 1, 2024

One on One Computer Help

Upcoming dates

• Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM
• Thursday, April 11, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM
• Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM
• Thursday, April 18, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM
• Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 9 AM - 1 PM
• Thursday, April 25, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM
• Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 10 AM - 1 PM

This event will take place in person at Hamilton Grange Library .   Do you want to improve your computer skills?  Is your Resume up to date? Here is a list of possible one on one computer sessions you can inquire our staff about.

• Microsoft Word
• Other Basic Needs               

Please register at the front desk for available time slots. Each session is one hour.

• Audience: Adults, 50+, Job Seekers, Young Adults/Pre GED (16-24 years)