Battle of Memel
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Memel or the Siege of Memel took place when the Soviet
s launched their Memel Offensive Operation in late 1944. The offensive led to a three-month siege against German forces in a small bridgehead in the town and its port.
The bridgehead was finally crushed as part of a subsequent offensive, the East Prussian Offensive
of early 1945.
of June–August 1944 (commonly known as Operation Bagration) had seen the German Army Group Centre
nearly destroyed and driven from what is now Belarus
, most of what is now Lithuania
and much of Poland
. During August and September of that year, a series of German counter-offensives - Operations Doppelkopf and Casar
- succeeded in stalling the Soviet advance and maintaining the connection between the German Army Groups Centre and North; however Stavka
made preparations for an attack by the 1st Baltic Front
against the positions of Third Panzer Army and thence towards Memel
, splitting the two Army Groups.
. He concentrated up to half of his entire force in this area, using concealment techniques to ensure there was not a corresponding build-up of German forces, and attempting to convince the German command that the main axis of attack would be towards Riga
.
was advancing on Tilsit. Third Panzer Army's headquarters were overrun by the 5th Guards Tank Army, and Raus and his staff had to fight their way into Memel.
The neighbouring Army Group commander, Ferdinand Schoerner, signalled on October 9 that he would mount an attack to relieve Memel if troops could be freed up by evacuating Riga
. A decision on this matter was delayed, but the Kriegsmarine
managed to withdraw much of the garrison and some civilians from the port in the meantime. The German XXVIII Corps under Gollnick held a defensive line around the town itself.
The success of the offensive in the northern sector encouraged the Soviet command to authorise the 3rd Belorussian Front to attempt to break through into the main area of East Prussia. This offensive, the Gumbinnen Operation
, ran into extremely strong German resistance and was halted within a few days.
and 58th Infantry
Divisions and the 7th Panzer Division, was aided by heavily-fortified tactical defences, artillery fire from ships (including the Prinz Eugen
) in the Baltic
, and a tenuous connection with the remainder of East Prussia over the Curonian Spit
.
The blockade, and defence, was maintained through November, December, and much of January, during which period the remaining civilians who had fled into the town, and military wounded, were evacuated by sea. During this time, the Großdeutschland and 7th Panzer Divisions were withdrawn, having suffered heavy losses, and replaced by the 95th Infantry Division
which arrived by sea.
to the south made the position of the bridgehead untenable, and it was decided to withdraw the XXVIII Corps from the town into Samland to assist in the defence there; the remaining troops of the 95th and 58th Infantry Divisions were evacuated to the Curonian Spit, where the 58th Division acted as a rearguard for the withdrawal.
The last Germans units left at 4am on January 28, Soviet units taking possession of the harbour a few hours later. Germans not evacuated were subsequently murdered by the Soviets.
between 1923 and 1939 prior to being incorporated into Germany
, was transferred to the Lithuanian SSR
under the Soviet administration. In 1947 it was formally renamed using the Lithuanian name, Klaipėda
.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
s launched their Memel Offensive Operation in late 1944. The offensive led to a three-month siege against German forces in a small bridgehead in the town and its port.
The bridgehead was finally crushed as part of a subsequent offensive, the East Prussian Offensive
East Prussian Offensive
The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front . It lasted from 13 January to 25 April 1945, though some German units did not surrender until 9 May...
of early 1945.
Prelude
The Soviet Belorussian OffensiveBelorussian Offensive
Operation Bagration was the codename for the Soviet 1944 Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation during World War II, which cleared German forces from the Belorussian SSR and eastern Poland between 22 June and 19 August 1944....
of June–August 1944 (commonly known as Operation Bagration) had seen the German Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
nearly destroyed and driven from what is now Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, most of what is now Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and much of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. During August and September of that year, a series of German counter-offensives - Operations Doppelkopf and Casar
Operation Doppelkopf
Operation Doppelkopf and the following Operation Cäsar were German counter-offensives on the Eastern Front late in 1944 in the aftermath of the major Soviet advance in Operation Bagration....
- succeeded in stalling the Soviet advance and maintaining the connection between the German Army Groups Centre and North; however Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
made preparations for an attack by the 1st Baltic Front
1st Baltic Front
The First Baltic Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The commanders of it were Army General Andrey Yeryomenko and succeeded by Army General Bagramyan. It was formed by re-naming the Kalinin Front in October 12, 1943 and took part in several important military...
against the positions of Third Panzer Army and thence towards Memel
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
, splitting the two Army Groups.
Planning
Bagramyan planned to make his main attack in a 19 km sector to the west of ŠiauliaiŠiauliai
Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
. He concentrated up to half of his entire force in this area, using concealment techniques to ensure there was not a corresponding build-up of German forces, and attempting to convince the German command that the main axis of attack would be towards Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
.
Wehrmacht
- Northern wing of Third Panzer Army (General Erhard RausErhard RausErhard Raus was a Austrian Colonel General during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking Army and Army Group commands....
)- XXVIII Corps (General Hans GollnickHans GollnickHans Gollnick was a German general.Gollnick was born at Gut Gursen in the Province of Pomerania as the son of Paul Gollnick, lord of the manor of Gursen, and Elisabeth Peglow descendant from the ducal house of Pomerania.Gollnick entered military service on 22 March 1912, and served in World War I...
) - XXXX Panzer Corps (General Sigfrid HenriciSigfrid HenriciGeneral Sigfrid Henrici was a Panzer General in the German army during World War II.He joined the Imperial German Army as an officer cadet in the 11th Artillery Regiment in 1907 and was commissioned as a Leutnant in an artillery regiment in 1909...
)
- XXVIII Corps (General Hans Gollnick
Red Army
- 1st Baltic Front1st Baltic FrontThe First Baltic Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The commanders of it were Army General Andrey Yeryomenko and succeeded by Army General Bagramyan. It was formed by re-naming the Kalinin Front in October 12, 1943 and took part in several important military...
(General Hovhannes BagramyanHovhannes BagramyanIvan Khristoforovich Bagramyan , also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi BaghramyanPronunciation: Bagramyan's name is most commonly written in English as Bagramyan "bahg-rahm-yahn" or Bagramian...
)- 5th Guards Tank Army (General Vasily VolskyVasily VolskyVasily Timofeyevich Volsky was a General of Soviet tank forces....
) - 33rd Army33rd Army (Soviet Union)The Red Army's 33rd Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was disbanded by being redesignated HQ Smolensk Military District in 1945.-Initial Operations:...
(Lieutenant-General Viacheslav Tsvetaev) - 43rd Army (Lieutenant-General Afanasii Beloborodov)
- 51st Army51st Army (Soviet Union)The 51st Army was a field army of the Red Army that saw action against the Germans in World War II on both the southern and northern sectors of the front. In particular, it was involved in the Crimean debacle of May 1942, and the final cutting-off of German forces in the Courland area next to the...
(Lieutenant-General Yakov KreizerYakov Kreizer-Before the war:Kreizer's Jewish parents were granted permission to live outside the Jewish pale of settlement because his grandfather was a cantonist soldier in the Russian imperial army. Kreizer enlisted in the Red Army in 1921, volunteered to the school for infantry officers in Voronezh and...
) - 4th Shock Army (Lieutenant-General Petr Malyshev)
- 6th Guards Army6th Guards Army (Soviet Union)The 6th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Germany during World War II under the command of General Ivan Mikhailovich Chistiakov...
(Lieutenant-General Ivan Chistyakov)
- 5th Guards Tank Army (General Vasily Volsky
The offensive
On October 5, Bagramyan opened the offensive against Raus' Third Panzer Army on a sixty-mile front, concentrating his breakthrough force against the relatively weak 551st Volksgrenadier Division. The latter collapsed on the first day, and a ten-mile penetration was achieved; Bagramyan then committed Volsky's 5th Guards Tank Army into the breach, aiming for the coast to the north of Memel. There was a general collapse of the Third Panzer Army's positions by October 7, and a penetration further south by Beloborodov's 43rd Army. Within two days, it had reached the coast south of Memel, while Volsky had encircled the town from the north. In the south, the northern flank of Chernyakhovsky's 3rd Belorussian Front3rd Belorussian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...
was advancing on Tilsit. Third Panzer Army's headquarters were overrun by the 5th Guards Tank Army, and Raus and his staff had to fight their way into Memel.
The neighbouring Army Group commander, Ferdinand Schoerner, signalled on October 9 that he would mount an attack to relieve Memel if troops could be freed up by evacuating Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
. A decision on this matter was delayed, but the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
managed to withdraw much of the garrison and some civilians from the port in the meantime. The German XXVIII Corps under Gollnick held a defensive line around the town itself.
The success of the offensive in the northern sector encouraged the Soviet command to authorise the 3rd Belorussian Front to attempt to break through into the main area of East Prussia. This offensive, the Gumbinnen Operation
Gumbinnen Operation
The Gumbinnen Operation, also known as the Goldap Operation , was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front late in 1944, in which forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front attempted to penetrate the borders of East Prussia.The offensive failed, due to strong resistance by the Wehrmacht...
, ran into extremely strong German resistance and was halted within a few days.
The siege
The stalling of the Gumbinnen Operation meant that Soviet forces (mainly from the 43rd Army) settled down to a blockade of the German troops that had withdrawn into Memel. The German force, largely made up of elements from the GroßdeutschlandGroßdeutschland Division
The Großdeutschland Division was an elite Heer combat unit of the Wehrmacht. The Großdeutschland was considered to be the premier unit of the German Army and as such it was one of best-equipped unit of the German Armed Forces, receiving equipment before all other units.- Early history -...
and 58th Infantry
58th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 58th Infantry Division was a unit of the German Army during World War II. It was formed in 1939, took part in the Battle of France in 1940, and then Operation Barbarossa in 1941...
Divisions and the 7th Panzer Division, was aided by heavily-fortified tactical defences, artillery fire from ships (including the Prinz Eugen
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
) in the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, and a tenuous connection with the remainder of East Prussia over the Curonian Spit
Curonian Spit
The Curonian Spit is a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and its northern within southwestern Lithuania...
.
The blockade, and defence, was maintained through November, December, and much of January, during which period the remaining civilians who had fled into the town, and military wounded, were evacuated by sea. During this time, the Großdeutschland and 7th Panzer Divisions were withdrawn, having suffered heavy losses, and replaced by the 95th Infantry Division
95th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 95th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 19 September 1939 in Wildflecken and Hammelburg.-Commanding officers:...
which arrived by sea.
Fall of Memel
The town was finally abandoned on January 27, 1945. The success of the Soviet East Prussian OffensiveEast Prussian Offensive
The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front . It lasted from 13 January to 25 April 1945, though some German units did not surrender until 9 May...
to the south made the position of the bridgehead untenable, and it was decided to withdraw the XXVIII Corps from the town into Samland to assist in the defence there; the remaining troops of the 95th and 58th Infantry Divisions were evacuated to the Curonian Spit, where the 58th Division acted as a rearguard for the withdrawal.
The last Germans units left at 4am on January 28, Soviet units taking possession of the harbour a few hours later. Germans not evacuated were subsequently murdered by the Soviets.
Aftermath
Memel, which had been part of LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
between 1923 and 1939 prior to being incorporated into Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, was transferred to the Lithuanian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
under the Soviet administration. In 1947 it was formally renamed using the Lithuanian name, Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
.
See also
- Operation Bagration, the preceding Soviet strategic offensive
- Operation DoppelkopfOperation DoppelkopfOperation Doppelkopf and the following Operation Cäsar were German counter-offensives on the Eastern Front late in 1944 in the aftermath of the major Soviet advance in Operation Bagration....
, the preceding German counter-offensive - Operation HannibalOperation HannibalOperation Hannibal was a German military operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May, 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary...
, the evacuation effort by the Kriegsmarine beginning January 1945 - East Prussian Operation, Soviet offensive that finally eliminated the Memel pocket
Further reading
- Map of the Soviet Advance into East Prussia & Siege of Königsberg January 13 - May 9, 1945 This shows clearly how Memel was already surrounded and besieged.
- A chapter of The Forgotten SoldierThe Forgotten SoldierThe Forgotten Soldier , originally published in French as Le Soldat Oublie, is presented as an autobiographical account of Guy Sajer, the pseudonym of Guy Mouminoux who was a well known french comics writer also known under the pseudonym of Dimitri...
, a memoir written by a former member of the Großdeutschland Division, covers the siege.
- The memoirs of Erhard RausErhard RausErhard Raus was a Austrian Colonel General during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking Army and Army Group commands....
cover the last battles of Third Panzer Army in some detail.