German Army Group North, held back fierce tank onslaughts by the Red Army between the Baltic Sea and Lake Peipus centred on Narva, Estonia, for six months from March until October 1944 helped by an extensive 1.5m flood, April 1944, which halted all military operations.
German Army Group North 1941-44
Army Group North fought to surround Leningrad from 1941-1944 and occupied the same boggy, waterlogged terrain during which time the Panther Line of defences were established south of Narva incorporating Lake Peipus and due south to the River Dvina and Riga, Latvia.
SS Panzer Abteilung 11 'Hermann von Salza'
At the beginning of February 1944 after two weeks of a terrible retreat, units of German 111 Corps were placed under the comand of Obergruppenfuhrer Felix Steiner who had arrived at Narva, Estonia. This sector was subjected to an intense bombardment followed by a massed Red Army tank attack. Among the defenders were the tankers of SS-Panzer Abteilung 11 'Hermann von Salza' of 11 SS Panzer Grenadier Division 'Nordland' who distiguished themselves in repulsing this attack on 11th February north of Narva, Estonia. Their armour was destroyed yet they continued fighting as infantry. At the beginning of March, south of Narva at Lillienbach, Panther tanks from this same company destroyed a large number of T34 tanks. They retreated intact from Narva to Kurland, Latvia.
This battalion was mentioned in German Army battle reports when, Sturmbannfuhrer Albert Kausch, of 'Hermann von Salza', was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for his part in the stalwart six month defence of Narva, Estonia, March to October 1944.
11 SS Freiwillige Panzer Grenadier Division 'Nordland' comprising Scandinavian, Dutch (Flemish and Walloon) and German volunteers were evacuated from Kurland, to defend the Reich in Pomerania, former East Prussia (presently Polish Baltic Coast) and were involved in Operation Solstice, February 1945, - a massive tank battle which decimated a Soviet Tank Army.
Heeresgruppe Kurland
The Kurland Army Group consisted of 205,000 German soldiers and armour comprising 26 divisions, were encircled by Red Army troops between the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga (see attached map). Eight Red Army divisions were decimated in the December 1944 assault all along the fortified Panther Line.
The 126th Infantry Division fighting south of Riga ensured breaches in the Panther Line were interdicted and counterattacked to secure Point 107 on the Baltic coast on 18th January 1945. Generaloberst von Weitinghoff, Commander-in-Chief, Army Group Kurland (16th and 18th Armies) instituted the cuff band 'Kurland' (pictured) in mid March 1945, for veterans who took part in three battle operations or who were wounded in this sector of German Army operations.
The Armistice 8th May 1945
The armistice intervened on 8 May 1945 and this grenadier (pictured) from 1st battalion, 422nd Regiment of grenadiers were evacuated on the Olga Traber, 12th -15th May, 1945, which sailed from Riga to a port in Schleswig Holstein where they were interned by British troops. The majority of the 126th Division entered into Red Army captivity.
Kurland SS troops systematically destroyed their equipment and calmly marched into Soviet captivity. Many German soldiers were dispatched to Soviet internment camps near Stalingrad where they commenced rebuilding Soviet cities, for over a decade, which were devastated during intense fighting 1941-45.
German battle reports were confiscated by Red Army Commissars and suppressed by Stalin. Since 1991 and perestroika (openness) German Army, Ost Front and Red Army records were made available to military historian.
Sources
- Panzer Leader by General Heinz Guderian, Futura Publications 1979
- Lost Victories The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant General by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein Zenith Press 1982
- Soldats Allemands de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale par Jean De Lagarde, Histoire et Collections 2000
Michael Manning - ' The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity' W.B.Yeats
