Battle of Narva - Battle of the Tannenbergstellung (1944)
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| Battle of Narva - Battle for the Tannenbergstellung | |||||||
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| Part of World War II | |||||||
 Grenadiers of the Norge Regiment watch a Panther of the Hermann von Salza Abt move into position, Estonia 1944. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Germany (Large numbers of Foreign Volunteers) | Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Walter Model (Army Group North) Johannes Frießner (Armee-Abteilung Narwa) , Felix Steiner (III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps), |
Leonid Govorov (Leningrad Front), Kirill Meretskov (Volkhov Front), |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 45,000 60 tanks / assault guns |
200,000 450 tanks |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||
| Eastern Front |
|---|
| Barbarossa – Finland – Leningrad and Baltics – Crimea and Caucasus – Moscow – 1st Rzhev-Vyazma – 2nd Kharkov – Stalingrad – Velikiye Luki – 2nd Rzhev-Sychevka – Kursk – 2nd Smolensk – Dnieper – 2nd Kiev – Korsun – Hube's Pocket – Belorussia – Lvov-Sandomierz – Balkans – Hungary – Vistula-Oder – Königsberg – Berlin – Prague |
The Battle of Narva was a battle, or more correctly a campaign, which took place between January and September 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II between the forces of the German Heeresgruppe Nord and the Soviet Volhkov and Leningrad Fronts.
The second phase of the battle is documented here, entitled The Battle of the Tannenbergstellung. This battle took place in the second half of 1944.
The battle is also known as The Battle of the European SS for the large number of Waffen SS Foreign Volunteers engaged on the German side.
Although it was an overall Soviet victory, the small German force managed to hold off a Soviet advance for over several months.
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[edit] Consolidating the Line
After defending the Narva bridgehead for six months, the defenders of Narva had been ordered to fall back to the Tannenbergstellung (Tannenberg Line). The Tannenbergstellung consisted of three hills, running east to west. The eastern hill was known as the Kinderheimhöhe (Orphanage Hill), the centre was Grenadierhöhe (Grenadier Hill) and the westernmost 69.9 Höhe (Hill 69.9, also known as Liebhöhe or Love's Hill). The position was located near the coastal town of Sillamäe. These three hills, known as the Blue Mountains, were less than imposing, and resembled gently sloping mounds rather than defensible heights.
Nonetheless, the formations of SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and fell into defensive positions on these hills. The corps was bolstered by the newly arrived Kampfgruppes of the Belgian volunteer units, the 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien and 6.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Langemarck. The Langemarck was thrown into the line defending Kinderheimhöhe, with the Norge regiment of the Nordland Division alongside it.
[edit] Battles for the Kinderheimhöhe
The forces of Soviet Marshall Leonid A. Govorov's Leningrad Front began their assaults even before the vastly outnumbered Langemarck and Norge had dug in. Elements of SS-Sturmbannführer Willy Jähde's 502.schwere Panzer Abteilung were sent to help out the beleaguered infantry, and after fierce fighting, the Hill was still in the hands of Steiner's SS men. Wallonien's Kampgruppe, personally led by Leon Degrelle, and elements of Estland regiment of the 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Estnische Nr.1) were sent up to the Kinderheimhöhe to bolster the defence.
During the next week, the Langemarck, Estland, Norge and Wallonien saw extremely heavy fighting on the gentle slopes of Kinderheimhöhe. On the 27 July, the defenders, again with the help of Jähde's Tigers, and elements of Nordland's Hermann von Salza Panzer Abt, fought off several Soviet combined arms attacks and destroyed 113 Soviet armoured vehicles, including many T-34s and assault guns.
During these attacks, Flemish SS-Unterscharführer Remi Schrijnen of the Langemarck's anti-tank company singlehandedly destroyed over a dozen Russian tanks while wounded and cut off from the rest of the Kampfgruppe. Over a 48 hour period, Schrijnen, acting as loader and gunner for his 7.5cm PaK 40 Anti-Tank gun, personally halted several Soviet tank attacks which otherwise would have encircled the Langemarck and Estland. For his actions, Schrijnen was awarded the Knight's Cross.
Despite the tenacity of the volunteer formations, the SS-men were forced back from the Kinderheimhöhe late on 27 July. During this battle, the Nordland's commander, SS-Gruppenführer Fritz von Scholz, was fatally wounded by an artillery round.
Norge launched a ferocious counterattack on 28 July, but despite inflicting heavy casualties, the attack stalled. SS-Hauptsturmführer Sigfried Scheibe, commander of Norge's II.Battalion, led the attack and was severely wounded. The defence now fell back to Grenadierhöhe.
[edit] The August Battles
There was to be no respite for the exhauseted men of Steiner's corps. Throughout the month of August, the Soviets continued relentless attacks. Despite inflicting immense casualties on the Soviets, the SS units were slowly being worn down. The Nederland was now reduced to the size of a regiment, the Kampfgruppes of the Wallonien and Langemarck each to the strength of a reinforced company. The 20th Waffen-Grenadier division had virtually lost one of its regiments during the withdrawal and the subsequent fighting, and the Nordland was a shadow of its former self, with the Hermann von Salza Panzer Abt reduced to only 2 Panthers and a handful of Panzer IVs. All remaining armour available to the defenders was grouped into a Kampfgruppe, Panzerverband von Strachwitz under the command of the Großdeutschland commander and Panzer ace Generalleutnant Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz. This formation, reinforced by panzers from the Großdeutschland's Panzer regiment, acted like a fire brigade, seeing heavy fighting along the Narva front and also acting on the southern flank of Army Group North.
Logic stated that Steiner's corps must be close to collapse, however the men of Armee Abteilung Narwa continued to hold, throwing back every Soviet attack and grimly holding the Grenadierhöhe and 69.9 Höhe.
Around mid August, the frustrated Russians reduced operations to patrol activities with occasional attacks. The defenders used this respite to rotate several exhausted units out of the line for a few days for rest and reft, and to strengthen their positions. For the time being, the Narva front was quiet.
[edit] Fighting Around Riga
While the battle for the Narva bridgehead had been in progress, the Soviet Operation Bagration had been achieving unbelievable success. Army Group Centre was in tatters, and the northern edge of the Soviet assault threatened to trap Army Group North in a pocket in the Kurland region. Strachwitz's panzers had been sent back to the Latvian capital, Riga and in ferocious defensive battles had halted the Soviet advance in late April, 1944. Strachwitz had been needed elsewhere, and was soon back to acting as the Army Group's fire brigade. Strachwitz's Panzerverband was broken up in late July.
By early August, the Soviets were again ready to attempt to cut off Army Group North from Army Group Centre. A massive Soviet assault sliced through the German lines and Army Group North was completely isolated from its neighbour.
Strachwitz was trapped outside the pocket, and Panzerverband von Strachwitz was reformed, this time from elements of the 101.Panzerbrigade of panzer-ace Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert and the newly formed SS-Panzerbrigade Gross under SS-Sturmbannführer Gross. Inside the trapped pocket, the remaining panzers and StuGs of the Hermann von Salza and the last of Jähde's Tigers were formed into another Kampfgruppe to attack from the inside of the trap.
On 19 August, the assault, which had been dubbed Unternehmen Doppelkopf (Operation Doppelkopf) got underway. It was preceded by a bombardment by the Cruiser Prinz Eugen's 203 mm guns, which destroyed forty-eight T-34s assembling in the square at Tukkum. Strachwitz and the Nordland remnants meet on the 21st, and contact was restored between the army groups.
The 101.Panzerbrigade was now assigned to Armee-Abt Narwa, bolstering the defenders armour strength.
Disaster had been averted, but the warning was clear. Army Group North was extremely vulnerable to being cut off.
[edit] Attacks from the South
Realising this weakness, OKH ordered General der Infanterie Wilhelm Hasse's weak II.Armeekorps into Estonia to strengthen the defences to the south of the Tannenbergstellung. II Corps was deployed in the Karula - Sangaste area to the southwest of Lake Peipus, covering the city of Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia.
On 21 August, 15 Soviet divisions attacked from the south towards Tartu. Graf von Strachwitz, commanding the 101st Panzer Brigade, attacked the advancing force, but despite destroying scores of tanks, the brigade was soon forced to pull back in the face of huge numbers of enemy tanks. The II Corps was pushed back toward Tartuand by 25 August was clinging to the front along the Emajõgi River. General der Infanterie Hasse, and ordered a formation of a Kampfgruppe from Army Abteilung Narwa to assist his beleaguered men.
Kampfgruppe Wagner was formed, consisting of elements of the 11.Infanterie-division, the Kampfgruppe from the SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien, Nordland's artillery component, Kampfgruppe Vent (The remnants of the Estonian 20th Waffen Grenadier Division) and various German and Estonian security and police formations. KG Wagner reached the front just in time to be forced back beyond Tartu, which was now in Soviet hands. During the withdrawal, Leon Degrelle, commander of the Wallonien's Kampfgruppe executed a masterly defensive battle, and was flown back to Berlin to be awarded the Oakleaves to his Knight's Cross. KG Wagner settled in defending the Emajõgi River line, receiving elements of the 563.Volksgrenadier-Division from Germany as reinforcements.
[edit] Retreat into Kurland
On 14 September, a huge offensive was launched by the Soviet 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts. The offensive was aimed at capturing Riga and cutting off Army Group North in the Kurland area.
After much argument, Hitler finally agreed to allow the evacuation of all troops in Estonia. After months holding the line, the exhausted men of Steiner's SS-Corps joined the withdrawal, fighting their way back from the Tannenbergstellung. Govorov, not wishing to allow his enemy to escape, launched an attack on the 17th with his 2nd Shock Army. This attack, launched from the Emajõgi river line, was aimed at cutting off the line of retreat for the German and Estonian forces, trapping them in a small pocket. Unable to hold this huge Soviet force, KG Wagner, II Corps and the 563.Volksgrenadier withdrew to the northwest, stalling the Soviet attack but not halting its advance.
The remnants of the Narva front defenders withdrew quickly towards the Latvian border. On 22 September, Tallinn, the Estonian capital was abandoned. Many of the low quality Estonian formations now began to attack the retreating Germans, attempting to secure supplies and weapons to continue a guerrilla war against the Russians.
On the same day, the majority of the defenders of Narva had reached Riga in Latvia and set up defensive lines to halt the Soviet advance. The Kurland Pocket would be formed within the month, and the Narva defenders would see action in the battles to hold this pocket before being withdrawn to defend Berlin and the Oder.
Several battalions of the Estonian 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS were trapped in Estonia. These units continued fighting, some survivors joining guerrilla groups known as the Forest Brothers which fought the Soviet occupying forces until the early 1950's.
[edit] References
- Tieke, Wilhelm - Tragedy of the Faithful: A History of III. (Germanisches) SS-Panzer-Korps
- Michaelis, Rolf - Die 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Nordland"
- Netherlanders in the Waffen SS
- Steiner, Felix - Waffen-SS im Einsatz
- Carius, Otto - Tigers in the Mud
