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Battle of Narva - Battle of the Tannenbergstellung (1944)
Encyclopedia
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva
.
The Battle of Tannenberg Line was a military engagement between the German
Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet
Leningrad Front
fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July to 10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front
during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favourable base for invasions of Finland and East-Prussia. Several Western scholars refer to it as the Battle of the European SS for the 24 volunteer infantry battalions from Denmark
, East Prussia, Flanders
, Holland
, Norway
, and Wallonia
within the Waffen-SS
. Roughly a half of the infantry consisted of the local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The German force of 22,250 men held off the Soviet advance of 136,830 troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000–200,000 wounded and dead Soviet troops and 157–164 Soviet tanks.
at the hills of Sinimäed on 26 July 1944. The three hills are running east to west. The eastern hill was known to Estonians
as the Lastekodumägi, Kinderheimhöhe in German (Orphanage Hill), the central hill was the Grenaderimägi or Grenadierhöhe (Grenadier Hill) and the westernmost as the Tornimägi or 69.9 Höhe (Tower Hill, also known in German as Liebhöhe or Love Hill). The hills are less than imposing and resemble gently sloping mounds rather than defensible heights. On the hills, the formations of Gruppenführer
Felix Steiner
's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and fell into defensive positions. The 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland started digging in on the left (north) flank of the Tannenberg Line, units of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in the centre, and the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
on the right (south) flank. Another front section manned by the East Prussia
ns of the 11th Infantry Division was situated a few kilometres further south, against the 8th Army in the Krivasoo bridgehead.
The Soviet Marshall Leonid Govorov considered Tannenberg Line as the key position of the Army Group North
and concentrated the best forces of the Leningrad Front. Additional 122nd, 124th Rifle Corps and divisions from 117th Rifle Corps were subordinated to General Ivan Fedyuninsky
commanding the 2nd Shock Army
. The goal set by the War Council of the 2nd Shock Army was to break through the defence line of the III SS Panzer Corps at the Lastekodumägi, force their way to the town of Jõhvi
in the west and reach the Kunda River by 1 August. To accomplish this, Govorov ordered to destroy the connections behind the German forces, committing air assaults on the railway stations of Jõhvi and Tapa
on 26 July.
. The positions of the 11th Infantry Division were mainly attacked by the 35,000-strong 8th Army with their 112th Rifle Corps, two fresh Tank Regiments, the 1680 assault guns deployed in nine artillery regiments and 150 armoured vehicles. The armoured forces included the brand new IS-2 tanks with extra armour and pipe length. The weakness of the tank was its shortage of fire capacity (28 rounds). The forces were supported by the 576-strong 13th Air Army. The Soviet order of battle (available data as of 28 July 1944):
Leningrad Front
- Marshall Leonid Govorov
Total: 26,850 infantry, 458 artillery, 112 tanks
117th Rifle Corps - Major General Vasili Trubachev
201st Rifle Division - Major General Vyacheslav Yakutovich
256th Rifle Division - Major General Anatoli Koziyev
Total: 28,000 infantry, 174 tanks, 44 self-propelled guns, 518 artillery
Separate Corps and Divisions (possibly subordinated to one the above mentioned Armies):
Against the Soviet forces, a few tired German regiments without any reserve troops stood at their positions, ploughed up by the Soviet artillery. The commander of the Army Detachment "Narwa", Obergruppenführer
Anton Grasser assessed the German capacity as insufficient against the Soviet attack. While sufficient in ammunition and machine-guns, the combat morale of the Germanic volunteers was under heavy pressure while the spirit of some Estonian troops had already been severely damaged in Grasser's opinion. However, the following combat proved the opposite. The small number of German Junkers Ju 87
dive bomber
s and shortage of aeroplane fuel gave the Soviets a massive air superiority. Grasser's conclusion was short: Leaving diplomatic formulation aside, Grasser announced that without immediate reinforcements the Soviets would inevitably break through Tannenberg Line on 29 June. Such reinforcements were beyond the capacities of the Army Group North
. The commander of the Army Group, Ferdinand Schörner
had repeatedly called Hitler to the attention of the fact that virtually no division consisting of Germans was left at Tannenberg Line, which was threatening to collapse. These calls had no effect, as Hitler's response remained to stand or die. The German order of battle (as of 28 July 1944):
Army Detachment "Narwa" - Obergruppenführer
Anton Grasser
Separate detachments:
Total: 22,250 troops deployed in 25 Estonian and 24 German, Dutch, Danish, Flemish, Norwegian, and Walloon battalions
were destroyed and almost all of their officers wounded. Sturmbannführer
Wilhelm Rehmann left the battlefield, as Lieutenant George D'Haese stepped in to bring the brigade back to combat-readiness. The German batteries were badly hit and the commander of a battery killed. It took a few days for Steiner to repair the assault guns and until this had been completed the impact of the German artillery remained modest. Benefiting from the disorder, the Soviet 201st and 256th Rifle Divisions supported by the 98th Tank Regiment assaulted the positions of the "Nordland" Division seizing the eastern side of the Lastekodumägi. In the darkness of the following night, the Anti-Tank Company, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Danmark" destroyed the Soviet tanks and regained their positions.
Paul Albert Kausch
. Steiner placed them behind the westernmost Tornimägi hill in readiness positions. A company of Nebelwerfer
s were placed behind them, being able to fire forty-eight rockets within a few seconds. Units of the "Nordland" Division were placed between the two hills and the defence was completed by the Anti-Tank Company, 1st Estonian behind the "Nordland".
The Soviet attack concentrated at the Lastekodumägi and the Danmark Regiment south of it. The Danish anti-tank company used their Panzerfaust
s to set fourteen tanks on fire. Meanwhile, the Soviet infantry forced the weakened "Langemarck" Sturmbrigade to leave the south side of the Lastekodumägi and dig into new trenches in front of the Grenaderimägi. As the last resort, Unterscharführer
Remi Schrijnen
used the only heavy weapon left in the sturmbrigade, a 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun. Schrijnen was wounded and cut off from the rest of his troops when he started acting as both the loader and the gunner. He and the Flemish heavy machine-gunners halted several Soviet tank attacks threatening to encircle the "Langemarck" and the Estonian battalions.
The Soviet attack also failed to penetrate the defence line of the II.Battalion, SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Regiment 49 "De Ruyter". Several Soviet tanks broke through to the headquarters of the battalion, which were repulsed by Obergruppenführer
Fritz von Scholz Edler von Rerancze
sending twelve assault guns forward from the reserve. South from Lastekodumägi, the Soviet forces broke through the defence of the "Danmark" Regiment and seized control of most of the hill by night time.
Under Soviet pressure, the German defence threatened to collapse. On 27 July, Schörner arrived at the Sinimäed. He ordered an immediate re-conquest of the Lastekodumägi, demanding fanatic resistance from the soldiers. A meeting convened by von Scholz laid the tactics for the implementation of the orders. Directly after the meeting, von Scholz was killed by a shrapnel splinter in front of the headquarters.
On the night before 28 July, the SS Reconnaissance Battalion 11, "Nordland" and the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment 47 (3rd Estonian), launched a ferocious counter attack. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, with the Estonian battalion destroyed. The fighting for the Lastekodumägi was carried on to 28 July as one continuous battle. The II.Battalion, "Nordland" launched their fierce attempt to conquer the Lastekodumägi which the Soviets repulsed. The surviving German defence fell back to the Grenaderimägi.
brigades, and nine heavy artillery regiments. In the morning of 28 July, the Soviet forces made a ferocious attempt to out flank the German forces resisting at the Lastekodumägi from the north side. With the last anti-tank gun of the "Langemarck" destroying the Soviet armoured force, the Soviets were denied a breakthrough. The Soviets suffering heavy casualties ordered an air and artillery assault aiming to destroy the withdrawing German units. Anticipating the attack, the German troops advanced to the no-man's-land close to the Soviet units instead. In close combat, a Flemish regiment of the "Langemarck" repulsed the Soviets which brought it to near destruction.
In the evening of 28 July, the German forces attempted to regain the Lastekodumägi again. Using the tactics of "rolling" small units into the Soviet positions, the troops seized the trenches on the slope of the Lastekodumägi. When a Soviet tank squadron arrived, the German attack collapsed. At the section of the 11th Infantry Division near the borough of Sirgala in the south, the Soviet tanks aimed to break through. Steiner ordered to withdraw to a new defence line at the Grenaderimägi. The order did not reach a significant part of the German forces who remained at their positions at the Lastekodumägi. Anticipating a major attack, Steiner ordered the heavy weapons of the SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 "Norge" and the "Danmark" Regiment to be pulled together into two shock units. By the night before the 29 July, the battles subsided.
, they remained unnoticed by the Soviet pilots.
organiser of the V.I. Lavreshin of the 937th Rifle Regiment who had been marching ahead of his troops with a red flag
in his hands attached it at the summit. The small German units who remained resisting were paid no special attention to by the Soviets as the main attack was carried westwards.
the head of the II.Battalion, "Norge". The I. and II.Battalions, 3rd Estonian subordinated to Bachmeier had 20 to 30 men each. For the defence of the Grenaderimägi, every available Estonian was sent into battle, including communications personnel. The central command post was destroyed by the Soviet fire while the Germans, Flemish, Norwegians, Estonians escaped destruction by lying down in their bunkers. Behind them at the summit of the Grenadermägi, stood the "Nederland". The gaps created in the attacking infantry and tank line by the German artillery did not stop the Soviet advance.
standing near the northeastern corner of the hill. Meeting the Soviet attack, he fired his gun destroying seven tanks in the course of which he was severely wounded when his gun was destroyed by a IS-2 tank returning fire from 30 metres. Despite Schrijnen's heroics, the Soviet tanks besieged the Grenaderimägi and kept circling the hill all the while firing away at the defenders. They could not however capture the summit due to heavy casualties caused by the German anti-tank guns and the anti-aircraft
guns pointing their barrels down. The other Soviet tanks reached the westernmost hill Tornimägi. The defenders in their bunkers, which were poorly fortified from the north and the flanks, were destroyed. Among the Soviet tank commanders, starshina
S. F. Smirnov destroyed five German strong points. One of the tanks reached the community centre
of the municipality of Vaivara shooting a hole in the wall. This remained the westernmost point the Soviet Armed Forces reached in Northeast Estonia until late September 1944.
Hans Collani
seeing a Soviet tank from his headquarters doorstep, shot himself dead. His observations turned out as erroneous as Steiner ordered the last German tanks from the reserve commanded by Paul-Albert Kausch into the battle. He distributed his tanks in three units. One of them went on counterattack at the Soviets besieging Tornimägi, the second of them securing Narva–Tallinn Highway in the west and the third unit counterattacking between the Grenaderimägi and the railway a few kilometres to the south. The arrival of the German tanks came unexpectedly for the Soviet tanks. Probably being out of their ammunition, the Soviet tank squadron retreated and the counterattack of the "De Ruyter" repulsed the Soviets from the Tornimägi. After the counterattack, one German Panther tank remained unscathed.
Bachmeier and the III.Battalion, 3rd Estonian kept resisting. The Soviets started searching the bunkers for documents and prisoners. Steiner ordered an air assault using dive bombers from Tallinn Airport. The Soviets had anticipated the attack and had moved their self-propelled anti-aircraft units to the Lastekodumägi. These shot down several German bombers and afterwards turned their fire at the German infantry.
Steiner had one more battalion to spare — the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment der SS 45 "Estland" (1st Estonian) which had been spared from the previous counter attacks because of the scarcity of able bodied men. Sturmbannführer Paul Maitla
requested reinforcements from the men in the field hospital. Twenty less injured men responded, joining the remains of the other destroyed units including a unit of the Kriegsmarine
and supported by the single remaining Panther tank
. The counter attack started from the parish cemetery south of the Tornimägi with the left flank of the assault clearing the hill of the Soviets. The attack continued towards the summit under heavy Soviet artillery and bomber attack, getting into close combat in the Soviet positions. The small German grenadier units were moved into the trenches. Running out of ammunition, the German troops used Soviet grenades and automatic weapons taken from the fallen. According to some veterans, it appeared that low flying Soviet bombers were attempting to hit every individual German soldier jumping between craters, from time to time getting buried under the soil by the explosions of Soviet shells. The Soviets were forced to retreat from the Grenaderimägi Hill.
of the Soviet 2nd Army falsely assured that the Grenaderimägi was still in the possession of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps. As the justification of the failure to break through the German defence, the report cited the weak cooperation between the artillery and the infantry. The report also mentioned the poorly coordinated action of the armoured units, driving to the minefields, which were uncleared by the sapper
units. The commissar made serious reproaches against the commanders of the units and claimed in his report than they were heavily drunk while attempting to command the attacks.
Helmut Scholz
took the units of the De Ruyter Regiment to counterattack destroying two tanks at the doorsteps of Scholz's bunker and forcing the Soviets to retreat. For the battles of Tannenberg Line, Scholz earned the Knight's Cross
with Oakleaves, the only SS infantry company commander to be a recipient of the Oakleaves.
Simultaneously, the Soviet platoons were climbing up the Grenaderimägi under intensive German bombardment. Eventually, the attack was repelled by German hand grenades. By the coast, the Soviets attacked the II.Battalion, 3rd Estonian which in close combat destroyed 12 tanks and repelled the Soviet assault. Units of the Soviet 8th Army advanced to some degree in the forests of the southern section of the front.
On 31 July, the Soviet command changed the direction of their preparatory artillery fire aiming it this time behind the hill, cutting it off from the main army group. The gradual decrease in the number of shells fired by the Soviet artillery (9,000 shells on 30 July) witnessed the weakening of the Soviet attacks. The Soviet infantry started climbing up the Grenaderimägi. The Estonian units against them ran out of ammunition. Just in time, an improvised platoon of the "Danmark" arrived to their rescue, and another Soviet attack was repulsed. In the evening, the Soviets tried yet another conquest of the Grenaderimägi, repelled by the unit commanded by Bachmeier who was later decorated with the Knight's Cross. The remnants of the I.Battalion, 3rd Estonian resisted the Soviet attacks at the southern flank.
no later than 7 August. During the first days of August, the 2nd Shock Army received the 110th and 124th Rifle Corps as reinforcements raising the number of troops over 20,000 again. The 8th Army received similar additions to their forces with the 112th and 117th Corps ordered to join the attacks. The Soviet tank forces were also restored, with 104 armoured machines at their command. At the nine kilometre long segment of the front, 1913 assault guns were collected, making it 300 cannons per kilometre. 365 pieces of heavy artillery were aimed at Grenaderimägi and 200 at Sirgala settlement in the south segment. As the daily amount, 200,000 shells and grenades were supplied to the artillery. On 1 August, no combat took place, as both parties relocated their forces. The Leningrad Front tried to shift the centre of weight southwards.
. When the artillery barrage ended, the freshly drafted II.Battalion, Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 46 (2nd Estonian) returned fire after inflicting severe casualties on the assaulting Soviets and counter attacked reclaiming the Grenaderimägi. The Soviet tanks broke through in the southeastern section of the front as the Estonian assault team commanded by Hauptsturmführer
Oskar Ruut
, the 11th Infantry Division (consisting in personnel from East Prussia) and the 300th Special purpose Division repelled them while suffering heavy casualties.
On 3 August, the Soviets made a stronger attempt with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000–30,000 shells and grenades reaching the level of the attack of 29 July. The Soviet artillery fire caused heavy casualties to the German defenders, while a part of them left their positions. Eleven Soviet rifle divisions and four tank regiments tried to spread their attack along the front. However, the main weight of the impending attack tended at Grenaderimägi again. The German artillery noticed the concentration of Soviet forces and launched their Nebelwerfer fire inflicting great casualties to the Soviet infantry and the tanks before the beginning of the attack. As the German artillery fire did not dent the Soviet superiority in manpower, the Soviet attack began as scheduled. The Soviet 110th Rifle Corps attacking the Grenaderimägi found themselves in the middle of the cross-fire of the remnants of the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment. As the commanders of the rifle corps erroneously reported the army headquarters on the capture of Grenaderimägi, the artillery fire was removed from the hill. The Estonians went on counter attack and cleared the hill. Simultaneously, the 124th Rifle Corps attacking the south segment of the front by the Vaivara Parish church was repulsed.
In a similar fashion on 3 August, the Soviets made two more attacks each of them beginning with the a massive artillery barrage and ending with a German counter attack restoring the previous positions. Overall on 3 August, twenty tanks were destroyed. The Soviets attacks from 4 August to 6 were weaker as on 4 August, eleven tanks were destroyed and seven tanks on 5 August. During the night before 6 August, six tanks were destroyed. On 10 August, the war council of the Leningrad Front ordered to terminate the offensive and switch strictly to defence. The Soviets reduced their operations to patrol activities with occasional attacks. The German defenders used this respite to rotate several exhausted units out of the line for a few days for rest and refit, and to strengthen their positions. Until Mid-September, the Narva Front stayed quiet.
In the evening of 29 July, the army detachment "Narwa" counted 113–120 destroyed Soviet tanks, almost half of them in the battles of 29 July. The 2nd Shock Army reported on fifty of their tanks destroyed on 29 July. The German side counted additional 44 destroyed Soviet tanks on August 3–6.
Russian author G.F.Krivosheev in his account "Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century" lists 665,827 casualties suffered by the Leningrad Front in 1944, 145,102 of them as dead, missing in action, or captured. Estonian historian Mart Laar
, deducting the losses in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, Battle for Narva Bridgehead and the combat in Finland
estimates the number of Soviet casualties in the Battle of Tannenberg Line as 35,000 dead or missing and 135,000 wounded or sick.
The German Army Group North buried 1709 men in Estonia in 24 July – 10 August 1944. Added the men missing in action, the number of irrecoverable casualties in the period is approximately 2,500. Accounting the standard ratio 1:4 of the irrecoverable casualties to the wounded, the total number of German casualties in the Battle for Tannenberg Line is approximately 10,000 men.
was launched by the Soviet 1st
, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts. The offensive was aimed at capturing Riga and cutting off the Army Group North in Courland
, western Latvia
. After much argument, Adolf Hitler
finally agreed to allow the evacuation of all the troops in Estonia. After months of holding the line, the exhausted men of the III SS Panzer Corps joined the withdrawal fighting their way back from the Tannenberg Line. On 17 September, the 3rd Baltic Front launched the Tallinn Offensive from the Emajõgi River Front joining Lake Peipus
with Lake Võrtsjärv
. The operation was aimed at encircling the army detachment "Narwa". Unable to hold the force, the German units withdrew towards the northwest while the incomplete II Army Corps was left to stall the Soviet attack. The "Narwa" withdrew quickly towards the Latvian border. On 22 September, Tallinn was abandoned. Some of the Estonian formations now began to attack the retreating Germans attempting to secure supplies and weapons to continue a guerrilla war
as the Forest Brothers
against the Russians and Soviet occupation. Several troops of the Estonian Division stayed in Estonia. These units continued fighting, some survivors joining the guerrilla groups which fought the Soviet occupying forces until the end of the 1970s.
Battle of Narva (1944)
The Battle of Narva was a military campaign between the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus on 2 February – 10 August 1944 during World War II....
.
The Battle of Tannenberg Line was a military engagement between the German
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...
Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...
Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July to 10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favourable base for invasions of Finland and East-Prussia. Several Western scholars refer to it as the Battle of the European SS for the 24 volunteer infantry battalions from Denmark
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, also known as Kampfverband Waräger, Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 or 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, was a Waffen SS, Panzergrenadier division recruited from foreign volunteers...
, East Prussia, Flanders
6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck
The 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck was a German Waffen-SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Flemish background. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II....
, Holland
4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands
The 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland. was a German Waffen SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Dutch background...
, Norway
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, also known as Kampfverband Waräger, Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 or 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, was a Waffen SS, Panzergrenadier division recruited from foreign volunteers...
, and Wallonia
5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
The 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien was formed from the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien which was a Belgian Waffen SS volunteer brigade comprising volunteers of Walloon background...
within the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. Roughly a half of the infantry consisted of the local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The German force of 22,250 men held off the Soviet advance of 136,830 troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000–200,000 wounded and dead Soviet troops and 157–164 Soviet tanks.
Background
After defending the Narva bridgehead for six months, the German forces fell back to the Tannenberg LineNarva Offensive (July 1944)
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.The Narva Offensive was a campaign fought between the German army detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front for the city of Narva in 24–30 July 1944....
at the hills of Sinimäed on 26 July 1944. The three hills are running east to west. The eastern hill was known to Estonians
Estonians
Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...
as the Lastekodumägi, Kinderheimhöhe in German (Orphanage Hill), the central hill was the Grenaderimägi or Grenadierhöhe (Grenadier Hill) and the westernmost as the Tornimägi or 69.9 Höhe (Tower Hill, also known in German as Liebhöhe or Love Hill). The hills are less than imposing and resemble gently sloping mounds rather than defensible heights. On the hills, the formations of Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
Felix Steiner
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner was a German Reichswehr and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and fell into defensive positions. The 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland started digging in on the left (north) flank of the Tannenberg Line, units of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in the centre, and the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, also known as Kampfverband Waräger, Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 or 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, was a Waffen SS, Panzergrenadier division recruited from foreign volunteers...
on the right (south) flank. Another front section manned by the East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
ns of the 11th Infantry Division was situated a few kilometres further south, against the 8th Army in the Krivasoo bridgehead.
The Soviet Marshall Leonid Govorov considered Tannenberg Line as the key position of the Army Group North
Army Group North
Army Group North was a German strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Armies subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics.- Formation :The Army Group North...
and concentrated the best forces of the Leningrad Front. Additional 122nd, 124th Rifle Corps and divisions from 117th Rifle Corps were subordinated to General Ivan Fedyuninsky
Ivan Fedyuninsky
Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky was a Soviet military leader and Hero of the Soviet Union .Fedyuninsky was born into a peasant family near Tugulym in the Urals. He finished the village school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a painter and decorator. He joined the Red Army in 1919...
commanding the 2nd Shock Army
2nd Shock Army
The 2nd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and...
. The goal set by the War Council of the 2nd Shock Army was to break through the defence line of the III SS Panzer Corps at the Lastekodumägi, force their way to the town of Jõhvi
Jõhvi
Jõhvi is a town in north-eastern Estonia, and the capital of Ida-Viru County. The town is also an administrative centre of Jõhvi Parish. It is situated 50 km from the Russian border....
in the west and reach the Kunda River by 1 August. To accomplish this, Govorov ordered to destroy the connections behind the German forces, committing air assaults on the railway stations of Jõhvi and Tapa
Tapa, Estonia
Tapa is a town in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. Located at the junction of the country's Tallinn-Narva and Tallinn-Tartu-Valga railway lines, it is an important centre of transit for freight as well as rail passengers...
on 26 July.
Comparison of forces
There is no complete overview of the order of the Soviet forces or the detachment sizes in the Battle of Tannenberg Line. For the attack on 29 July, Leonid Govorov concentrated all of the capable Soviet units, consisting in eleven divisions and six tank regiments. The Soviet units that had suffered losses were completed with fresh manpower. The fresh delivery of the Soviet heavy artillery complimented the 9 divisions of the 109th, the 117th and the 122nd Rifle Corps. The 109th and 117th Corps were concentrated close to the Sinimäed, while the 122nd Rifle Corps to the southern section by the church of Vaivara ParishVaivara Parish
Vaivara Parish is a municipality of Ida-Viru County in northern Estonia. It has a population of 1,800 and an area of 397.97 km².-Settlements:Small boroughs:Olgina , Sinimäe Villages:...
. The positions of the 11th Infantry Division were mainly attacked by the 35,000-strong 8th Army with their 112th Rifle Corps, two fresh Tank Regiments, the 1680 assault guns deployed in nine artillery regiments and 150 armoured vehicles. The armoured forces included the brand new IS-2 tanks with extra armour and pipe length. The weakness of the tank was its shortage of fire capacity (28 rounds). The forces were supported by the 576-strong 13th Air Army. The Soviet order of battle (available data as of 28 July 1944):
Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
- Marshall Leonid Govorov
Leonid Govorov
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was a Soviet military commander. An artillery officer, he joined the Red Army in 1920. He graduated from several Soviet military academies, including the Military Academy of Red Army General Staff. He participated in the Winter War as a senior artillery officer.In...
- 2nd Shock Army2nd Shock ArmyThe 2nd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and...
- Lieutenant General Ivan FedyuninskyIvan FedyuninskyIvan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky was a Soviet military leader and Hero of the Soviet Union .Fedyuninsky was born into a peasant family near Tugulym in the Urals. He finished the village school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a painter and decorator. He joined the Red Army in 1919...
- 109th Rifle Corps - Major General Ivan Alferov
- 72nd Rifle Division - Ilya Yastrebov
- 109th Rifle Division - Major General Nikolai Truzhkin
- 125th Rifle Division - Colonel Vassili Zinovev
- 122nd Rifle Corps
- 124th Rifle Corps Colonel Papchenko Danilovich
- 131st Rifle Division - Major General Pyotr Romanenko
- 191st Rifle Division - Major General Ivan Burakovski
- 21st Engineers Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel Vasilkov
- 109th Rifle Corps - Major General Ivan Alferov
Total: 26,850 infantry, 458 artillery, 112 tanks
- 8th Army8th Army (Soviet Union)The 8th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.The 8th Army was formed in October 1939 from the Novgorod Army Operational Group of the Leningrad Military District with the task of providing security of the Northwestern borders of the USSR. The 8th Army was a field...
- Lieutenant General Filipp Starikov- 2nd "Masurian" Rifle Division
- 377th Rifle Division
- 112th Rifle Corps -
- 48th Rifle Division -
- 120th Rifle Division -
Total: 28,000 infantry, 174 tanks, 44 self-propelled guns, 518 artillery
Separate Corps and Divisions (possibly subordinated to one the above mentioned Armies):
- 8th (Estonian) Rifle Corps - Lieutenant General Lembit Pärn
- 11th Rifle Division
- 43rd Rifle Division
- 98th Rifle Division
- 123rd Rifle Division
- 189th Rifle Division
- 206th Rifle Division
Against the Soviet forces, a few tired German regiments without any reserve troops stood at their positions, ploughed up by the Soviet artillery. The commander of the Army Detachment "Narwa", Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Anton Grasser assessed the German capacity as insufficient against the Soviet attack. While sufficient in ammunition and machine-guns, the combat morale of the Germanic volunteers was under heavy pressure while the spirit of some Estonian troops had already been severely damaged in Grasser's opinion. However, the following combat proved the opposite. The small number of German Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s and shortage of aeroplane fuel gave the Soviets a massive air superiority. Grasser's conclusion was short: Leaving diplomatic formulation aside, Grasser announced that without immediate reinforcements the Soviets would inevitably break through Tannenberg Line on 29 June. Such reinforcements were beyond the capacities of the Army Group North
Army Group North
Army Group North was a German strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Armies subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics.- Formation :The Army Group North...
. The commander of the Army Group, Ferdinand Schörner
Ferdinand Schörner
Ferdinand Schörner was a General and later Field Marshal in the German Army during World War II.-Early life:Schörner was born in Munich, Bavaria...
had repeatedly called Hitler to the attention of the fact that virtually no division consisting of Germans was left at Tannenberg Line, which was threatening to collapse. These calls had no effect, as Hitler's response remained to stand or die. The German order of battle (as of 28 July 1944):
Army Detachment "Narwa" - Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Anton Grasser
- III (Germanic) SS Panzer CorpsIII (Germanic) SS Panzer CorpsThe III SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (III. (germanische) SS-Panzerkorps) was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The...
- GruppenführerGruppenführerGruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
Felix SteinerFelix SteinerFelix Martin Julius Steiner was a German Reichswehr and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
- 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland" - BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Joachim ZieglerJoachim ZieglerJoachim Ziegler was a Brigadeführer and Major General in the Waffen SS during World War II and the commander of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves...
- SS Panzergenadier Regiment 23 "Norge"
- SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Danmark"
- 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) - BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Franz AugsbergerFranz AugsbergerFranz Xaver Josef Maria Augsberger was a Brigadeführer of the Waffen-SS.-Early life:Franz Augsberger was the son of a hotel owner in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
- Waffen Grenadier Regiment 45 - ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
Harald RiipaluHarald RiipaluHarald Riipalu was an Estonian military commander and one of four commanders who earned the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross when fighting in the German army in World War II.-Early life:Harald Riipalu was born in Saint Petersburg where his family was lessee in a manor... - Waffen Grenadier Regiment 46 - StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Juhan Tuuling - Waffen Grenadier Regiment 47 - Obersturmbannführer Paul VentPaul VentPaul Vent was an Estonian military officer who served in the Imperial Russian Army, the Estonian Army, the Wehrmacht and in the Waffen SS. Paul Vent fought in World War I, Estonian War of Independence and World War II...
- Artillery Regiment - ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
Aleksandr Sobolev
- Waffen Grenadier Regiment 45 - Obersturmbannführer
- 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade "Nederland"4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade NetherlandsThe 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland. was a German Waffen SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Dutch background...
- Brigadeführer Jürgen WagnerJürgen WagnerJürgen Wagner was a Brigadeführer in the Waffen SS during World War II, he was the commander of the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland and was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves.-Early life:Jürgen Wagner was born on 9 September 1901 in Strasbourg, and was the son of Ernst...
- 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "De Ruyter" - HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Helmut ScholzHelmut ScholzHelmut Scholz was a Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves.Scholz was born on the 12 July 1920, at Grottkau, Upper Silesia.... - 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade "Wallonien"5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade WallonienThe 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien was formed from the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien which was a Belgian Waffen SS volunteer brigade comprising volunteers of Walloon background...
- SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
Léon DegrelleLéon DegrelleLéon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union... - 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade "Langemarck"6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade LangemarckThe 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck was a German Waffen-SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Flemish background. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II....
- Sturmbannführer George D`Haese
- 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "De Ruyter" - Hauptsturmführer
- 227th Infantry Division
- 113th Security Regiment
- 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland" - Brigadeführer
- XXVI Army Corps - ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerObergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Anton Grasser- 11th Infantry Division
- 300th Special Purpose Division - Brigadeführer Rudolf Höfer
Separate detachments:
- 4 Estonian police battalions
- Eastern Sector, Coastal Defence - GruppenführerGruppenführerGruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
Alfons LucznyAlfons LucznyAlfons Luczny was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership... - 2 Estonian border defence regiments
- 513th Naval Artillery Battalion
- 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
- 752nd Anti-Tank Battalion
Total: 22,250 troops deployed in 25 Estonian and 24 German, Dutch, Danish, Flemish, Norwegian, and Walloon battalions
26 July
On 26 July, pursuing the withdrawing Germans, the Soviet attack fell onto the Tannenberg Line before the vastly outnumbered Army Detachment "Narwa" had dug in. The Soviet Air Force and artillery covered the German positions by shells and grenades destroying most of the forest on the hills. The headquarters of the newly arrived Flemish 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck
The 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck was a German Waffen-SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Flemish background. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II....
were destroyed and almost all of their officers wounded. Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
Wilhelm Rehmann left the battlefield, as Lieutenant George D'Haese stepped in to bring the brigade back to combat-readiness. The German batteries were badly hit and the commander of a battery killed. It took a few days for Steiner to repair the assault guns and until this had been completed the impact of the German artillery remained modest. Benefiting from the disorder, the Soviet 201st and 256th Rifle Divisions supported by the 98th Tank Regiment assaulted the positions of the "Nordland" Division seizing the eastern side of the Lastekodumägi. In the darkness of the following night, the Anti-Tank Company, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Danmark" destroyed the Soviet tanks and regained their positions.
27 July
In the morning of 27 July, the Soviet forces launched another powerful artillery barrage on the Sinimäed. Anticipating an infantry attack would follow, Steiner concentrated the few working armour consisting in seven tanks under the command of ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
Paul Albert Kausch
Paul Albert Kausch
Paul Albert Kausch was a Obersturmbannführer in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross....
. Steiner placed them behind the westernmost Tornimägi hill in readiness positions. A company of Nebelwerfer
Nebelwerfer
The Nebelwerfer was a World War II German series of weapons originally designed to deliver chemical weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the Wehrmacht's so-called Chemical Troops ...
s were placed behind them, being able to fire forty-eight rockets within a few seconds. Units of the "Nordland" Division were placed between the two hills and the defence was completed by the Anti-Tank Company, 1st Estonian behind the "Nordland".
The Soviet attack concentrated at the Lastekodumägi and the Danmark Regiment south of it. The Danish anti-tank company used their Panzerfaust
Panzerfaust
The Panzerfaust was an inexpensive, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier...
s to set fourteen tanks on fire. Meanwhile, the Soviet infantry forced the weakened "Langemarck" Sturmbrigade to leave the south side of the Lastekodumägi and dig into new trenches in front of the Grenaderimägi. As the last resort, Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
Remi Schrijnen
Remi Schrijnen
Remi Schrijnen was a Belgian volunteer in the German army. He was a Flemish Nationalist and the only Flemish volunteer in the SS Flandern to have been awarded the German Knight's cross...
used the only heavy weapon left in the sturmbrigade, a 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun. Schrijnen was wounded and cut off from the rest of his troops when he started acting as both the loader and the gunner. He and the Flemish heavy machine-gunners halted several Soviet tank attacks threatening to encircle the "Langemarck" and the Estonian battalions.
The Soviet attack also failed to penetrate the defence line of the II.Battalion, SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Regiment 49 "De Ruyter". Several Soviet tanks broke through to the headquarters of the battalion, which were repulsed by Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Fritz von Scholz Edler von Rerancze
Fritz von Scholz
Fritz von Scholz, Edler von Rerancze, known as Fritz von Scholz was an Austrian Austro-Hungarian Army and later German Waffen SS officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars....
sending twelve assault guns forward from the reserve. South from Lastekodumägi, the Soviet forces broke through the defence of the "Danmark" Regiment and seized control of most of the hill by night time.
Under Soviet pressure, the German defence threatened to collapse. On 27 July, Schörner arrived at the Sinimäed. He ordered an immediate re-conquest of the Lastekodumägi, demanding fanatic resistance from the soldiers. A meeting convened by von Scholz laid the tactics for the implementation of the orders. Directly after the meeting, von Scholz was killed by a shrapnel splinter in front of the headquarters.
On the night before 28 July, the SS Reconnaissance Battalion 11, "Nordland" and the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment 47 (3rd Estonian), launched a ferocious counter attack. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, with the Estonian battalion destroyed. The fighting for the Lastekodumägi was carried on to 28 July as one continuous battle. The II.Battalion, "Nordland" launched their fierce attempt to conquer the Lastekodumägi which the Soviets repulsed. The surviving German defence fell back to the Grenaderimägi.
28 July
For the next day, the 2nd Shock Army was reinforced with the 31st and the 82nd Tank Regiments, three howitzerHowitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
brigades, and nine heavy artillery regiments. In the morning of 28 July, the Soviet forces made a ferocious attempt to out flank the German forces resisting at the Lastekodumägi from the north side. With the last anti-tank gun of the "Langemarck" destroying the Soviet armoured force, the Soviets were denied a breakthrough. The Soviets suffering heavy casualties ordered an air and artillery assault aiming to destroy the withdrawing German units. Anticipating the attack, the German troops advanced to the no-man's-land close to the Soviet units instead. In close combat, a Flemish regiment of the "Langemarck" repulsed the Soviets which brought it to near destruction.
In the evening of 28 July, the German forces attempted to regain the Lastekodumägi again. Using the tactics of "rolling" small units into the Soviet positions, the troops seized the trenches on the slope of the Lastekodumägi. When a Soviet tank squadron arrived, the German attack collapsed. At the section of the 11th Infantry Division near the borough of Sirgala in the south, the Soviet tanks aimed to break through. Steiner ordered to withdraw to a new defence line at the Grenaderimägi. The order did not reach a significant part of the German forces who remained at their positions at the Lastekodumägi. Anticipating a major attack, Steiner ordered the heavy weapons of the SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 "Norge" and the "Danmark" Regiment to be pulled together into two shock units. By the night before the 29 July, the battles subsided.
Preparatory fire
The morning of 29 July began with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000 shells shot by the Soviets. The battering covered the Tannenberg Line in a dust cloud. The forest on Sinimäed Hills was entirely destroyed, with the trees cut at the height of 2–3 metres. While having great psychological effect, the so-called "Katyushas" or so-called "Stalin's organs" were inaccurate causing little damage to the well-dug German troops. The 70–80 German Nebelwerfers answered. This was followed by Soviet bombers, trying to hit the last of the German troops, ducking down in their trenches. Disguised in camouflageCamouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
, they remained unnoticed by the Soviet pilots.
Soviet advance guards
The attack of the 6,000 Soviet infantry began at 0900, supported by a regiment of nearly 100 tanks (most of them IS-2). These used their 122 mm pipes to fire directly at the strong points showing any signs of life and destroyed the remaining bunkers. The shatters of the German advance guard were destroyed. The platoon commanded by lieutenant Lapshin broke through to the top of the Grenaderimägi. Special courage was shown by sergeant Efendiyev who destroyed a German strong point at the defence of the hill. The KomsomolKomsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
organiser of the V.I. Lavreshin of the 937th Rifle Regiment who had been marching ahead of his troops with a red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
in his hands attached it at the summit. The small German units who remained resisting were paid no special attention to by the Soviets as the main attack was carried westwards.
Attack of Soviet main forces
The principle of the Soviet attack in the operations in the Sinimäed was an overwhelming frontal shock, with only few of the attackers presumed to reach the target. With the artillery fire preventing any reinforcements sent in from the German rear, the Soviet 8th Army went on attack and wedged in the north flank of the 11th Infantry Division. The Soviet main tactical goal Grenaderimägi was to be assaulted by the 6,000 troopers of the 109th Rifle Corps. The 109th Rifle Division attacked the "Nederland" who were covering the hill from the north. The 120th Rifle Division hit the Grenaderimägi from the east. The 72nd Rifle Division assaulted the II.Battalion, 3rd Estonian Regiment which were defending the northern flank. The 117th Rifle Corps stood ready to break through the last of the German defences. The Lastekodumägi fell entirely to the Soviets with the 191st Rifle Regiment at the head of the Soviet attack. These suffered great casualties in the fire of the last defenders who in turn were either killed or forced to the next hill the Grenaderimägi. With the seizure of the Lastekodumägi, the Soviet 201st and the 256th Rifle Divisions were exhausted as the 109th Rifle Division continued to press towards the Grenaderimägi alone. The defenders were commanded Josef BachmeierJosef Bachmeier
Josef Bachmeier was a Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Josef Bachmeier born...
the head of the II.Battalion, "Norge". The I. and II.Battalions, 3rd Estonian subordinated to Bachmeier had 20 to 30 men each. For the defence of the Grenaderimägi, every available Estonian was sent into battle, including communications personnel. The central command post was destroyed by the Soviet fire while the Germans, Flemish, Norwegians, Estonians escaped destruction by lying down in their bunkers. Behind them at the summit of the Grenadermägi, stood the "Nederland". The gaps created in the attacking infantry and tank line by the German artillery did not stop the Soviet advance.
Soviet encirclement of Grenaderimägi
The 109th Rifle Division passed the remnants of the II.Battalion, "De Ruyter" which used their light machine guns to cause heavy casualties to the Soviets. The Soviet attack ran into the camouflaged anti-tank gun of Remi SchrijnenRemi Schrijnen
Remi Schrijnen was a Belgian volunteer in the German army. He was a Flemish Nationalist and the only Flemish volunteer in the SS Flandern to have been awarded the German Knight's cross...
standing near the northeastern corner of the hill. Meeting the Soviet attack, he fired his gun destroying seven tanks in the course of which he was severely wounded when his gun was destroyed by a IS-2 tank returning fire from 30 metres. Despite Schrijnen's heroics, the Soviet tanks besieged the Grenaderimägi and kept circling the hill all the while firing away at the defenders. They could not however capture the summit due to heavy casualties caused by the German anti-tank guns and the anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
guns pointing their barrels down. The other Soviet tanks reached the westernmost hill Tornimägi. The defenders in their bunkers, which were poorly fortified from the north and the flanks, were destroyed. Among the Soviet tank commanders, starshina
Starshina
Starshina, or Starshyna , initially was a Cossacks officership, but in Soviet times was used as the top non-commissioned officer.Among Cossacks and in Ukraine, starshina was a collective noun for categories of officership or a military elite: junior starshina , general starshina , military...
S. F. Smirnov destroyed five German strong points. One of the tanks reached the community centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
of the municipality of Vaivara shooting a hole in the wall. This remained the westernmost point the Soviet Armed Forces reached in Northeast Estonia until late September 1944.
German re-capture of Tornimägi
By noon 29 July, the Soviet forces had almost seized control of the Tannenberg Line. During the attack, the Soviets had suffered great casualties and were unable to secure their positions at the Sinimäed. A fatally wounded German radio operator cleared the eastern slope of the Grenaderimägi by waiting for the Soviet troops to reach his position and then ordering an artillery barrage on himself as the Soviets surrounded him. The Soviet tanks threatened the headquarters of the "De Ruyter" Regiment. The counterattack by the headquarters guards company was repelled and ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
Hans Collani
Hans Collani
Hans Collani was a Standartenführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. Who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Hans Collani was born on...
seeing a Soviet tank from his headquarters doorstep, shot himself dead. His observations turned out as erroneous as Steiner ordered the last German tanks from the reserve commanded by Paul-Albert Kausch into the battle. He distributed his tanks in three units. One of them went on counterattack at the Soviets besieging Tornimägi, the second of them securing Narva–Tallinn Highway in the west and the third unit counterattacking between the Grenaderimägi and the railway a few kilometres to the south. The arrival of the German tanks came unexpectedly for the Soviet tanks. Probably being out of their ammunition, the Soviet tank squadron retreated and the counterattack of the "De Ruyter" repulsed the Soviets from the Tornimägi. After the counterattack, one German Panther tank remained unscathed.
German re-capture of Grenaderimägi
After the German counterattack, the tactical situation at the Tannenberg Line remained unclear. The remains of the II.Battalion, "Norge" at the Grenaderimägi assaulted the Soviets. The latter suffered heavy losses but re-grouped and cut the Norwegians off at the east side of the hill. On the western terrace of the Grenaderimägi, the KampfgruppeKampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
Bachmeier and the III.Battalion, 3rd Estonian kept resisting. The Soviets started searching the bunkers for documents and prisoners. Steiner ordered an air assault using dive bombers from Tallinn Airport. The Soviets had anticipated the attack and had moved their self-propelled anti-aircraft units to the Lastekodumägi. These shot down several German bombers and afterwards turned their fire at the German infantry.
Steiner had one more battalion to spare — the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment der SS 45 "Estland" (1st Estonian) which had been spared from the previous counter attacks because of the scarcity of able bodied men. Sturmbannführer Paul Maitla
Paul Maitla
Paul Maitla was an Estonian military commander. He is one of the four Estonian soldiers who received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
requested reinforcements from the men in the field hospital. Twenty less injured men responded, joining the remains of the other destroyed units including a unit of 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...
and supported by the single remaining Panther tank
Panther tank
Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as...
. The counter attack started from the parish cemetery south of the Tornimägi with the left flank of the assault clearing the hill of the Soviets. The attack continued towards the summit under heavy Soviet artillery and bomber attack, getting into close combat in the Soviet positions. The small German grenadier units were moved into the trenches. Running out of ammunition, the German troops used Soviet grenades and automatic weapons taken from the fallen. According to some veterans, it appeared that low flying Soviet bombers were attempting to hit every individual German soldier jumping between craters, from time to time getting buried under the soil by the explosions of Soviet shells. The Soviets were forced to retreat from the Grenaderimägi Hill.
Soviet attempts to regain Grenaderimägi
In the afternoon of 29 July, the Soviet forces made eight attempts to regain control of Grenaderimägi. The last of the German reserves were sent into the battle, including the supply troops. The two assaults by Maitla's improvised platoon at the Lastekodumägi forced the Soviets to refrain from further attacks and gave the Germans time to re-group.Report of headquarters of 2nd Shock Army on 30 July
Reluctant to admit the catastrophe in his report to the Soviet High Command on 30 July, the Political CommissarPolitical commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
of the Soviet 2nd Army falsely assured that the Grenaderimägi was still in the possession of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps. As the justification of the failure to break through the German defence, the report cited the weak cooperation between the artillery and the infantry. The report also mentioned the poorly coordinated action of the armoured units, driving to the minefields, which were uncleared by the sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
units. The commissar made serious reproaches against the commanders of the units and claimed in his report than they were heavily drunk while attempting to command the attacks.
July 30–31
On 30 July, the battles went on in the similar fashion. The Soviet artillery increased the intensity of the fire to 30,000 shells, with the German artillery answering with 10,000 shells. The subsequent attack by the Soviet heavy tanks broke through the defence of the II.Battalion, "De Ruyter" consisting in 35–45 capable men running between their heavy machine guns. HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Helmut Scholz
Helmut Scholz
Helmut Scholz was a Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves.Scholz was born on the 12 July 1920, at Grottkau, Upper Silesia....
took the units of the De Ruyter Regiment to counterattack destroying two tanks at the doorsteps of Scholz's bunker and forcing the Soviets to retreat. For the battles of Tannenberg Line, Scholz earned the Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield....
with Oakleaves, the only SS infantry company commander to be a recipient of the Oakleaves.
Simultaneously, the Soviet platoons were climbing up the Grenaderimägi under intensive German bombardment. Eventually, the attack was repelled by German hand grenades. By the coast, the Soviets attacked the II.Battalion, 3rd Estonian which in close combat destroyed 12 tanks and repelled the Soviet assault. Units of the Soviet 8th Army advanced to some degree in the forests of the southern section of the front.
On 31 July, the Soviet command changed the direction of their preparatory artillery fire aiming it this time behind the hill, cutting it off from the main army group. The gradual decrease in the number of shells fired by the Soviet artillery (9,000 shells on 30 July) witnessed the weakening of the Soviet attacks. The Soviet infantry started climbing up the Grenaderimägi. The Estonian units against them ran out of ammunition. Just in time, an improvised platoon of the "Danmark" arrived to their rescue, and another Soviet attack was repulsed. In the evening, the Soviets tried yet another conquest of the Grenaderimägi, repelled by the unit commanded by Bachmeier who was later decorated with the Knight's Cross. The remnants of the I.Battalion, 3rd Estonian resisted the Soviet attacks at the southern flank.
Report of headquarters of 2nd Shock Army on 31 July
That time, the Political Commissar of the 2nd Shock Army admitted the failure to break through the German defence. The Soviet Commissar explained it with the artillery fire running late. The report presented the false assertion that the Germans had captured the Grenaderimägi only on 30 July.Soviet reinforcements
Receiving the order from Stalin to break through to Tallinn at all costs, Govorov appointed Fedyuninsky as responsible for reaching RakvereRakvere
Rakvere is a town in northern Estonia and the county seat of Lääne-Viru County, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland.-History:The earliest signs of human settlement dating back to the 3rd-5th centuries AD have been found on the present theatre hill. Probably to protect that settlement, a wooden...
no later than 7 August. During the first days of August, the 2nd Shock Army received the 110th and 124th Rifle Corps as reinforcements raising the number of troops over 20,000 again. The 8th Army received similar additions to their forces with the 112th and 117th Corps ordered to join the attacks. The Soviet tank forces were also restored, with 104 armoured machines at their command. At the nine kilometre long segment of the front, 1913 assault guns were collected, making it 300 cannons per kilometre. 365 pieces of heavy artillery were aimed at Grenaderimägi and 200 at Sirgala settlement in the south segment. As the daily amount, 200,000 shells and grenades were supplied to the artillery. On 1 August, no combat took place, as both parties relocated their forces. The Leningrad Front tried to shift the centre of weight southwards.
German condition
The army detachment "Narwa" replaced its nearly destroyed units with the less damaged detachments in the first days of August. Despite inflicting immense casualties on the Soviets, the Waffen-SS units were slowly getting worn down. The "Nederland" Brigade was reduced to the size of a regiment, while the two regiments of the "Langemarck" Sturmbrigade had the strength of an inforced company each. The 2nd Estonian Regiment was virtually lost and the "Nordland" Division a shadow of its former self. To the German fortune, the Soviet intelligence overestimated the strength of the defenders to more than 60 tanks and 800 artillery while in fact there were just one tank and 70–80 artillery left at the Tannenberg Line.Combat in August
By 2 August, the 2nd Shock Army had re-deployed, and assaulted using the same tactics, as previously. The men of the "Nederland" who survived the artillery bombardment, retreated down the slopes of the Grenaderimägi pursued by the Soviet units. In Steiner's memoirs, the intensity of the fire and the nature of the battles reminded of the Battle of VerdunBattle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
. When the artillery barrage ended, the freshly drafted II.Battalion, Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 46 (2nd Estonian) returned fire after inflicting severe casualties on the assaulting Soviets and counter attacked reclaiming the Grenaderimägi. The Soviet tanks broke through in the southeastern section of the front as the Estonian assault team commanded by Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Oskar Ruut
Oskar Ruut
Oskar Ruut was an Estonian Hauptsturmführer in World War II, who served in the famous Battalion Narva and in 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS ....
, the 11th Infantry Division (consisting in personnel from East Prussia) and the 300th Special purpose Division repelled them while suffering heavy casualties.
On 3 August, the Soviets made a stronger attempt with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000–30,000 shells and grenades reaching the level of the attack of 29 July. The Soviet artillery fire caused heavy casualties to the German defenders, while a part of them left their positions. Eleven Soviet rifle divisions and four tank regiments tried to spread their attack along the front. However, the main weight of the impending attack tended at Grenaderimägi again. The German artillery noticed the concentration of Soviet forces and launched their Nebelwerfer fire inflicting great casualties to the Soviet infantry and the tanks before the beginning of the attack. As the German artillery fire did not dent the Soviet superiority in manpower, the Soviet attack began as scheduled. The Soviet 110th Rifle Corps attacking the Grenaderimägi found themselves in the middle of the cross-fire of the remnants of the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment. As the commanders of the rifle corps erroneously reported the army headquarters on the capture of Grenaderimägi, the artillery fire was removed from the hill. The Estonians went on counter attack and cleared the hill. Simultaneously, the 124th Rifle Corps attacking the south segment of the front by the Vaivara Parish church was repulsed.
In a similar fashion on 3 August, the Soviets made two more attacks each of them beginning with the a massive artillery barrage and ending with a German counter attack restoring the previous positions. Overall on 3 August, twenty tanks were destroyed. The Soviets attacks from 4 August to 6 were weaker as on 4 August, eleven tanks were destroyed and seven tanks on 5 August. During the night before 6 August, six tanks were destroyed. On 10 August, the war council of the Leningrad Front ordered to terminate the offensive and switch strictly to defence. The Soviets reduced their operations to patrol activities with occasional attacks. The German defenders used this respite to rotate several exhausted units out of the line for a few days for rest and refit, and to strengthen their positions. Until Mid-September, the Narva Front stayed quiet.
Casualties
In the Soviet era, the losses in the Battle of Tannenberg Line were not mentioned in the Soviet sources. In recent years, the Russian authors have published some figures but not for the whole course of the battles. The number of Soviet casualties can only be estimated upon other figures. In the attack of 29 July 225 men survived of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps carrying the main weight of the assault. Of the 120th Rifle Division, 1808 men were lost as dead and wounded. The rest of the Soviet rifle corps lost their capacity for further attacks. In the same attack, the German forces lost 600 men. The headquarters of the 2nd Shock Army reported 259 troops fit for combat within the 109th Rifle Division and a total exhaustion of the army at the night before 1 August, which probably meant a few thousand troops fit for combat out of the 46,385 men who had initiated the Estonian Operation on 25 July. The losses of the 8th Army were similar to that.In the evening of 29 July, the army detachment "Narwa" counted 113–120 destroyed Soviet tanks, almost half of them in the battles of 29 July. The 2nd Shock Army reported on fifty of their tanks destroyed on 29 July. The German side counted additional 44 destroyed Soviet tanks on August 3–6.
Russian author G.F.Krivosheev in his account "Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century" lists 665,827 casualties suffered by the Leningrad Front in 1944, 145,102 of them as dead, missing in action, or captured. Estonian historian Mart Laar
Mart Laar
Mart Laar is an Estonian statesman, historian and a founding member of the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes. He was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002, and is the leader of the conservative party Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica...
, deducting the losses in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, Battle for Narva Bridgehead and the combat in Finland
Fourth strategic offensive
The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet forces captured East Karelia and...
estimates the number of Soviet casualties in the Battle of Tannenberg Line as 35,000 dead or missing and 135,000 wounded or sick.
The German Army Group North buried 1709 men in Estonia in 24 July – 10 August 1944. Added the men missing in action, the number of irrecoverable casualties in the period is approximately 2,500. Accounting the standard ratio 1:4 of the irrecoverable casualties to the wounded, the total number of German casualties in the Battle for Tannenberg Line is approximately 10,000 men.
Aftermath
On 14 September, the Riga Offensive OperationRiga Offensive (1944)
The Riga Offensive The Riga Offensive The Riga Offensive (known in was part of the larger Baltic Offensive on the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place late in 1944, and drove German forces from the city of Riga.-Prelude:...
was launched by the Soviet 1st
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...
, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts. The offensive was aimed at capturing Riga and cutting off the Army Group North in Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, western Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. After much argument, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
finally agreed to allow the evacuation of all the troops in Estonia. After months of holding the line, the exhausted men of the III SS Panzer Corps joined the withdrawal fighting their way back from the Tannenberg Line. On 17 September, the 3rd Baltic Front launched the Tallinn Offensive from the Emajõgi River Front joining Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus, ) is the biggest transboundary lake in Europe on the border between Estonia and Russia.The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St...
with Lake Võrtsjärv
Võrtsjärv
Lake Võrtsjärv is a lake in southern Estonia with an area of 270 km² . It is the second largest lake of Estonia. The shallow lake is 33.7 m above sea level. The river Emajõgi flows from Lake Võrtsjärv to Lake Peipus.-External links:**...
. The operation was aimed at encircling the army detachment "Narwa". Unable to hold the force, the German units withdrew towards the northwest while the incomplete II Army Corps was left to stall the Soviet attack. The "Narwa" withdrew quickly towards the Latvian border. On 22 September, Tallinn was abandoned. Some of the Estonian formations now began to attack the retreating Germans attempting to secure supplies and weapons to continue a guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
as the Forest Brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
against the Russians and Soviet occupation. Several troops of the Estonian Division stayed in Estonia. These units continued fighting, some survivors joining the guerrilla groups which fought the Soviet occupying forces until the end of the 1970s.
See also
- Battle for Narva Bridgehead for the first phase of the campaign
- Documentary film SinimäedSinimäed (film)The Blue Hills is a 2006 Estonian film directed by Raimo Jõerand. It is a documentary film about the 1944 Battle of Tannenberg Line. Based upon the war diaries of Paul Maitla, the film tells the story of this epic battle and the young Estonian men who had to choose between two totalitarian powers....