Narva Offensive (15–28 February 1944)
Encyclopedia
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva
.
The Narva Offensive (15–28 February 1944) was a campaign fought between the German army detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front
for the strategically important Narva Isthmus. At the time of the operation, Stalin was personally interested in taking Estonia, viewing it as a precondition for forcing Finland out of the war. The 2nd Shock Army
expanded the bridgehead in the Krivasoo swamp south of Narva, temporally cutting the railway behind the Sponheimer Group. Army General
Leonid Govorov
was unable to take advantage of the opportunity of encircling the smaller German army group which called in reinforcements. These came mostly from the newly mobilised Estonians who were motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps and the 124th Rifle Corps, which resumed the Soviet operation, were exhausted by the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
in ferocious battles. The offensive was halted on 20 February. Symbolically coinciding with Estonian Independence Day on 24 February, the fresh 45th and 46th SS Waffen Grenadier Regiments (1st and 2nd Estonian), destroyed the Soviet Riigiküla bridgehead north of Narva
.
and Lake Peipus
was of major strategic importance to the Soviet Armed Forces. The success of the Estonian Operation would have provided an unobstructed advance along the coast to Tallinn
, forcing Army Group North to withdraw from Estonia for fear of becoming encircled. For the Baltic Fleet
, trapped in an eastern bay of the Gulf of Finland, Tallinn was the closest exit to the Baltic Sea. The ejection of Army Group North from Estonia would have made southern Finland subject to air and amphibious attacks originating from Estonian bases. The prospect of an advance to East Prussia
through Estonia appealed even more to the Soviet Main Command, as it appeared to bring German resistance close to collapse. Leonid Govorov
, commander of the Leningrad Front
, and Vladimir Tributz
, commander of the Baltic Fleet, prepared a scheme to destroy Army Group North. Stalin ordered the capture of Narva at all costs no later than 17 February:
After the failure of the Leningrad Front to fulfil the order, Stalin gave a new order on 22 February: to break through the German defence, capture the southern Estonian port of Pärnu
, cut off the German troops in Estonia, direct two armies at southeastern Estonia, keep going through Latvia
, and open the road to East Prussia
and Central Europe
. On 22 February, with their offensive having been stalled for three weeks, the Soviet Union presented Finland with peace conditions. While Finland regarded the terms as unacceptable, the war raging around them appeared dangerous enough to keep negotiating. To push Finland into unfavourable peace conditions, Stalin needed to take Estonia. Stalin's wish was an order to the commanders of the Leningrad Front - with their heads at stake.
and 170th Infantry Divisions retreated. General Major Romancov ordered an air and artillery assault on the village of Auvere with the 64th Guards Rifle Division seizing it in a surprise attack on 13 February. Half a kilometre westward from Auvere railway station, the 191st Guard Rifle Regiment cut the railway two kilometres from the Tallinn highway, which was the last way out for the Sponheimer Group, but they were denied by the 170th Infantry Division and the 502nd Tank Battalion.
stretching from the Siivertsi outskirts of the city of Narva
to Riigiküla 7 km outside the town on 12 February. The bridgehead soon became the most critical position on the whole Narva Front. If the Soviets succeeded there, Narva would fall quickly and the Ivangorod Bridgehead on the east bank of the river would be cut off. The Soviet artillery opened fire and simultaneously attacked the Siivertsi cemetery across the ice on 13 February. It was defended by the 16th Company, SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 Norge under the command of Hauptsturmführer
Günther Wanhöfer. The attack was repulsed. This success allowed the 336th Infantry Regiment, with a tank squadron, to reduce the bridgehead; that was all the Germans had the strength for. The trenches, gained by the 336th Infantry Regiment during the day, were retaken that night by the constantly reinforced troops of the 2nd Shock Army.
tanks quickly responded. While the 2nd Shock Army artillery placed near Auvere failed to begin their attack at the agreed time, in seven and a half hours of fierce fighting, the Soviet beachhead
was annihilated.
. Soviet units with experience from the Siege of Leningrad
had a significant number of women within their ranks. Retreat was forbidden under the penalty of death. After the initial failure to fulfill Govorov's orders, Lieutenant General
Ivan Fedyuninsky
, in charge of the 2nd Shock Army, landed the 13th Rifle Division from the reserve across the Narva River
at the Krivasoo Bridghehead to support the 30th Guards Rifle Corps' offensive aimed at Auvere station. As another reserve, Fedyuninsky brought in the 124th Rifle Corps on 20 February, reinforcing it with the artillery of the destroyed divisions.
. They were to defend the line against the 378th Rifle Division, the 340th Machine-Gun Battalion, and the 803th Zenith Artillery Regiment at the Riigiküla Bridgehead seven kilometres to the north of Narva town. As this was the main Soviet direction of attack for the moment, the Estonians frantically fortified the line with mine-fields, barbed wire covered by a large number of artillery pieces across the river north of the bridgehead. The terrain was well known to some of the Estonians, as an army rifle practice field was located on the exact spot before the war.
Separate units:
Other military units:
in mid-February. The Leningrad Front had formed two bridgeheads north and south of the city, the closest of them a few hundred metres from the Narva–Tallinn
Highway. The Sponheimer Group was in danger of being surrounded. The defence of the highway was assigned to small infantry units formed from the 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Division
s, supported by Panther tank
s deployed every few hundred metres along the highway. They obscured direct observation of the highway by placing spruce
tree branches along it. This, however, did not distract Soviet artillery from keeping the highway under constant bombardment. The faith of the Sponheimer Group, that the defence could go on like this, started to diminish.
dive bomber
s pinned them down. The Narva–Tallinn
railway, supplying the III SS Panzer Corps around the city, was cut in two places, threatening to encircle the German detachment. In the course of the action, the Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps lost 7,773 troops and ceased to exist as a combat-ready unit. Units of the Sponheimer Group went on to the counterattack, stopping the Soviet rifle corps' advance. Despite heavy resistance from the German 61st Infantry Division
, the rifle corps mounted a powerful strike behind the railway. Johannes Frießner, in charge of the army group, hurried his forces southward against the 124th Rifle Corps advance. The German 61st Infantry Division and the German Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1, supported by the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
, drove the rifle corps back to the swamp in a pitched battle. A battalion from the Norge Regiment was brought in to help hold the line. After the offensive, the weakened Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps was replaced by the 109th Rifle Corps. The 214th Infantry Division cut a rifle division off from the rest of their forces on 28 February. The 43rd Soviet Rifle Corps restored the situation.
before World War II. This meant placing small shock platoons in the Soviet trenches which the artillery found impossible to spot. It was considered a matter of national honour to annihilate the Soviet bridgehead by 24 February - Estonian Independence Day. The bridgehead was reinforced with the 1078th Rifle Regiment increasing the number of defenders to 776 and 14 assault guns. The Leningrad Front command was convinced by well-placed artillery fire forcing back every possible attack. The II.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment, led by Hauptsturmführer
Rudolf Bruus and the German artillery appeared as if committing a direct assault while a platoon of the 6th Company led by Rein Oskar Männik threw themselves into the Soviet trenches. At first, the Soviets resisted the assault but after running out of hand-grenades, they were forced to retreat over the frozen river.
placed under the command of the Leningrad Front. The newly arrived army attacked westwards from the Krivasoo bridgehead south of Narva and encircled the strongpoints of the 214th Infantry Division and two Estonian Eastern Battalions. The resistance of the encircled units gave the German command time to move in all available forces and to stop the 59th Army advance.
Paul Vent
. The 1st Estonian Regiment made a direct assault on the bridgehead on 29 February. Simultaneously, the 2nd Estonian Regiment, in their attempt to attack from the left flank, ran into Soviet fortifications and a minefield, which was crossed. As the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment had lost almost all of its officers, Unterscharführer
Harald Nugiseks
stepped in as the leader of the attack. He immediately changed tactics, loading a quantity of hand-grenades onto some sledges, so that the attackers would not have to crawl back for the supplies over the minefield. With the hand-grenades passed along the trenches, the bridgehead was squeezed in from the north by the "rolling" tactics. The SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark took Siivertsi cemetery, attacking from the northern suburbs of Narva, but they could not destroy a Soviet machinegun strongpoint inside a massive granite monument erected to the honour of the perished soldiers of the Northwestern White Army in the battle of Narva, 1919. Eventually, the machinegunners were killed by a flamethrower
. Another machinegun strong point was in the wreck of a Tiger tank, which was destroyed by Ago Loorpärg firing at it with a captured Soviet 45 mm gun. The Soviet bridgehead was squeezed into a few hundred metres of river bank around the ruins of the borough of Vepsküla by 5 March. In a surprise attack by the 1st Estonian Regiment, the bridgehead was split into three parts and "rolled"-down hand-grenades. A small Soviet bridgehead still left on the west bank was cleared by the II.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment on 6 March.
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 Narva Offensive (15–28 February 1944) was a campaign fought between the German army detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet 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:...
for the strategically important Narva Isthmus. At the time of the operation, Stalin was personally interested in taking Estonia, viewing it as a precondition for forcing Finland out of the war. 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...
expanded the bridgehead in the Krivasoo swamp south of Narva, temporally cutting the railway behind the Sponheimer Group. Army General
Army General
For the army rank of General, as opposed to the specific rank of Army General, see General officer.Army General is a title used in many countries to denote the rank of General nominally commanding an army in the field...
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...
was unable to take advantage of the opportunity of encircling the smaller German army group which called in reinforcements. These came mostly from the newly mobilised Estonians who were motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps and the 124th Rifle Corps, which resumed the Soviet operation, were exhausted by the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
The 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...
in ferocious battles. The offensive was halted on 20 February. Symbolically coinciding with Estonian Independence Day on 24 February, the fresh 45th and 46th SS Waffen Grenadier Regiments (1st and 2nd Estonian), destroyed the Soviet Riigiküla bridgehead north of Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
.
Background
Breaking through the Narva Isthmus situated between the Gulf of FinlandGulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
and 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...
was of major strategic importance to the Soviet Armed Forces. The success of the Estonian Operation would have provided an unobstructed advance along the coast to Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, forcing Army Group North to withdraw from Estonia for fear of becoming encircled. For the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
, trapped in an eastern bay of the Gulf of Finland, Tallinn was the closest exit to the Baltic Sea. The ejection of Army Group North from Estonia would have made southern Finland subject to air and amphibious attacks originating from Estonian bases. The prospect of an advance to 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...
through Estonia appealed even more to the Soviet Main Command, as it appeared to bring German resistance close to collapse. 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...
, commander of 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:...
, and Vladimir Tributz
Vladimir Tributz
Vladimir Filippovich Tributs was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1943.Tributs joined the Navy in 1918 and during the Russian Civil War participated in combat actions on the Volga and in the Caspian. Graduated and received his commission from M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School in 1926 and...
, commander of the Baltic Fleet, prepared a scheme to destroy Army Group North. Stalin ordered the capture of Narva at all costs no later than 17 February:
- "It is mandatory that our forces seize Narva no later than 17 February 1944. This is required both for military as well as political reasons. It is the most important thing right now. I demand that you undertake all necessary measures to liberate Narva no later than the period indicated. (signed) I. Stalin"
After the failure of the Leningrad Front to fulfil the order, Stalin gave a new order on 22 February: to break through the German defence, capture the southern Estonian port of Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
, cut off the German troops in Estonia, direct two armies at southeastern Estonia, keep going through 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...
, and open the road to 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...
and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. On 22 February, with their offensive having been stalled for three weeks, the Soviet Union presented Finland with peace conditions. While Finland regarded the terms as unacceptable, the war raging around them appeared dangerous enough to keep negotiating. To push Finland into unfavourable peace conditions, Stalin needed to take Estonia. Stalin's wish was an order to the commanders of the Leningrad Front - with their heads at stake.
South of Narva
The artillery of the 2nd Shock army opened fire on German positions on 11 February. The 30th Guards Rifle Corps, an elite unit usually used in breaching defence lines, joined the Soviet units attempting to seize the Auvere station. The guards riflemen widened the bridgehead to ten kilometres along the front. The remains of the German 227th227th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 227th Infantry Division named "Rheinisch-Westfälische" was created on 26 August 1939 in Krefeld. The Division was deployed for the last time in February 1945 in the Tuchola Forest.-Commanding officers:...
and 170th Infantry Divisions retreated. General Major Romancov ordered an air and artillery assault on the village of Auvere with the 64th Guards Rifle Division seizing it in a surprise attack on 13 February. Half a kilometre westward from Auvere railway station, the 191st Guard Rifle Regiment cut the railway two kilometres from the Tallinn highway, which was the last way out for the Sponheimer Group, but they were denied by the 170th Infantry Division and the 502nd Tank Battalion.
North of Narva
The Soviet 98th and 131st Rifle Divisions (43rd Rifle Corps) established a bridgehead on the west bank of the Narva riverNarva River
The Narva is a river flowing into the Baltic Sea, the largest river in Estonia. Draining Lake Peipsi, the river forms the border of Estonia and Russia and flows through the towns of Narva/Ivangorod and Narva-Jõesuu into Narva Bay. Though the river is only 77 km long, in terms of volume...
stretching from the Siivertsi outskirts of the city of Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
to Riigiküla 7 km outside the town on 12 February. The bridgehead soon became the most critical position on the whole Narva Front. If the Soviets succeeded there, Narva would fall quickly and the Ivangorod Bridgehead on the east bank of the river would be cut off. The Soviet artillery opened fire and simultaneously attacked the Siivertsi cemetery across the ice on 13 February. It was defended by the 16th Company, SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 Norge under the command of 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...
Günther Wanhöfer. The attack was repulsed. This success allowed the 336th Infantry Regiment, with a tank squadron, to reduce the bridgehead; that was all the Germans had the strength for. The trenches, gained by the 336th Infantry Regiment during the day, were retaken that night by the constantly reinforced troops of the 2nd Shock Army.
Mereküla Landing
The 517-strong Soviet naval infantry brigade commenced their operation on 14 February, landing directly in front of the German coastal artillery. The Norge Regiment and the coastal guards, supported by three Tiger ITiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
tanks quickly responded. While the 2nd Shock Army artillery placed near Auvere failed to begin their attack at the agreed time, in seven and a half hours of fierce fighting, the Soviet beachhead
Beachhead
Beachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. It is sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
was annihilated.
Soviet
On 9 February, Army General Leonid Govorov of the Leningrad Front ordered the 2nd Shock Army to break through the German defence line north and south of the town of Narva by 17 February, move the front fifty kilometres westwards and continue towards the town of 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...
. Soviet units with experience from the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
had a significant number of women within their ranks. Retreat was forbidden under the penalty of death. After the initial failure to fulfill Govorov's orders, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain 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...
, in charge of the 2nd Shock Army, landed the 13th Rifle Division from the reserve across the Narva River
Narva River
The Narva is a river flowing into the Baltic Sea, the largest river in Estonia. Draining Lake Peipsi, the river forms the border of Estonia and Russia and flows through the towns of Narva/Ivangorod and Narva-Jõesuu into Narva Bay. Though the river is only 77 km long, in terms of volume...
at the Krivasoo Bridghehead to support the 30th Guards Rifle Corps' offensive aimed at Auvere station. As another reserve, Fedyuninsky brought in the 124th Rifle Corps on 20 February, reinforcing it with the artillery of the destroyed divisions.
German
The 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division was moved in over the week following 13 February. The division, reinforced by newly conscripted Estonians, were attached to the III (Germanic) SS Panzer CorpsIII (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
The 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...
. They were to defend the line against the 378th Rifle Division, the 340th Machine-Gun Battalion, and the 803th Zenith Artillery Regiment at the Riigiküla Bridgehead seven kilometres to the north of Narva town. As this was the main Soviet direction of attack for the moment, the Estonians frantically fortified the line with mine-fields, barbed wire covered by a large number of artillery pieces across the river north of the bridgehead. The terrain was well known to some of the Estonians, as an army rifle practice field was located on the exact spot before the war.
Soviet
- 30th Guards Rifle Corps - Lieutenant General Nikolai Simonyak
- 43rd Rifle Corps - Major General Anatoli Andreyev
- 109th Rifle Corps - Major General Ivan Alferov
- 124th Rifle Corps - Major General Voldemar Damberg
- 46th, 260th and 261st Separate Guards Heavy Tank and 1902nd Separate Self-propelled Artillery regiments
- 3rd Breakthrough Artillery Corps - Major General N. N. Zhdanov
- 3rd Guards Tank Corps - Major General I. A. Vovchenko
German
Army Group North ordered the deployment of the "Narwa" army detachment on 22 February in the following positions: III SS Panzer Corps to the north of Narva and the bridgehead on the east bank of the river, the XXXXIII Army Corps against the Krivasoo bridgehead south of the city and the XXVI Army Corps to the sector between the Krivasoo and Lake Peipus. As of 1 March 1944, there were a total of 123,541 personnel subordinated to the army group in the order of battle shown directly below:- XXVI Army Corps - General der InfanterieGeneral of the Infantry (Germany)General of the Infantry is a rank of general in the Imperial Army, Reichswehr or Wehrmacht - the second-highest regular rank. The same rank spread to the Imperial Russian Army and the Defence forces of Finland between the world wars...
Anton GrasserAnton GrasserAnton Grasser was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves... - XXXXIII Army Corps - General der Infanterie Karl von OvenKarl von OvenKarl von Oven was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
- III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps - SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Martin Julius 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...
Separate units:
- Eastern Sector, Coastal Defence (Staff of 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division as HQ) - Lieutenant General 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...
- Estonian Regiment "Reval"Estonian Regiment "Reval"Estonian Regiment "Reval" was formed on the early spring of 1944. The regiment comprised only Estonians, and had three battalions. The regiment was led by Major Rubach, helped by Lt. Noorkukk...
- 3 Estonian police battalions
- 2 Estonian Eastern Battalions
- Estonian Regiment "Reval"
Other military units:
- Artillery Command No. 113
- High Pioneer Command No. 32
- 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany)The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I or Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E. It fought on the Eastern front...
- 752nd Anti-Tank Battalion
- 540th Special Infantry (Training) Battalion
Situation
The situation on the Narva Front was turning into a catastrophe for the Germans of Army Group NorthArmy 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...
in mid-February. The Leningrad Front had formed two bridgeheads north and south of the city, the closest of them a few hundred metres from the Narva–Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
Highway. The Sponheimer Group was in danger of being surrounded. The defence of the highway was assigned to small infantry units formed from the 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Division
Luftwaffe Field Division
The Luftwaffe Field Divisions were German military formations which fought during World War II.-History:...
s, supported by 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...
s deployed every few hundred metres along the highway. They obscured direct observation of the highway by placing spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
tree branches along it. This, however, did not distract Soviet artillery from keeping the highway under constant bombardment. The faith of the Sponheimer Group, that the defence could go on like this, started to diminish.
South of Narva
After a heavy artillery strike on 15 February, the Soviet 45th Rifle Guard Division broke through to the railway 500 metres to the west of Auvere station, but a powerful attack by German Junkers Ju 87Junkers 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 pinned them down. The Narva–Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
railway, supplying the III SS Panzer Corps around the city, was cut in two places, threatening to encircle the German detachment. In the course of the action, the Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps lost 7,773 troops and ceased to exist as a combat-ready unit. Units of the Sponheimer Group went on to the counterattack, stopping the Soviet rifle corps' advance. Despite heavy resistance from the German 61st Infantry Division
German 61st Infantry Division
The German 61st Infantry Division was a combat division of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War.Established in August 1939 with its headquarters at Insterburg, the unit invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 as part of von Küchler's 3rd Army under Army Group North. It engaged in heavy...
, the rifle corps mounted a powerful strike behind the railway. Johannes Frießner, in charge of the army group, hurried his forces southward against the 124th Rifle Corps advance. The German 61st Infantry Division and the German Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1, supported by the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany)
The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I or Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E. It fought on the Eastern front...
, drove the rifle corps back to the swamp in a pitched battle. A battalion from the Norge Regiment was brought in to help hold the line. After the offensive, the weakened Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps was replaced by the 109th Rifle Corps. The 214th Infantry Division cut a rifle division off from the rest of their forces on 28 February. The 43rd Soviet Rifle Corps restored the situation.
North of Narva
Steiner threw the Estonian Division into battle on 20 February. Being the first into Narva, the division had the 1st and 2nd Estonian Regiments separate the two bridgeheads at Riigiküla and Sliversti on 21 February. The failure of their follow-up attacks made it clear that direct assaults were impossible because of the batteries across the river. Instead, "rolling" tactics were applied; they had been learned by officers in the Estonian National Defence CollegeEstonian National Defence College
The Estonian National Defense College is an institution of applied higher education for national defense in Tartu, Estonia....
before World War II. This meant placing small shock platoons in the Soviet trenches which the artillery found impossible to spot. It was considered a matter of national honour to annihilate the Soviet bridgehead by 24 February - Estonian Independence Day. The bridgehead was reinforced with the 1078th Rifle Regiment increasing the number of defenders to 776 and 14 assault guns. The Leningrad Front command was convinced by well-placed artillery fire forcing back every possible attack. The II.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment, led 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...
Rudolf Bruus and the German artillery appeared as if committing a direct assault while a platoon of the 6th Company led by Rein Oskar Männik threw themselves into the Soviet trenches. At first, the Soviets resisted the assault but after running out of hand-grenades, they were forced to retreat over the frozen river.
South of Narva
The setbacks on the Narva front came as an unpleasant surprise for the leadership of the Leningrad Front, blaming it on the arrival of the Estonian Division. Since the beginning of January, the Leningrad Front had lost 227,440 troops killed, wounded or missing in action, which constituted more than half of the troops who participated in the Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive. Both sides rushed-in reinforcements. The 59th Army was brought to Narva and the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps8th Estonian Rifle Corps
The 8th 'Estonian' Rifle Corps was a formation in the Soviet Army, created on 6 November 1942, during World War II. The 8th 'Estonian' Rifle Corps 1st...
placed under the command of the Leningrad Front. The newly arrived army attacked westwards from the Krivasoo bridgehead south of Narva and encircled the strongpoints of the 214th Infantry Division and two Estonian Eastern Battalions. The resistance of the encircled units gave the German command time to move in all available forces and to stop the 59th Army advance.
North of Narva
The next task for the Estonian Division was the destruction of the Siivertsi Bridgehead defended by the 1,100-strong 378th Rifle Division equipped with 20 assault guns. The attack was commanded by StandartenführerStandartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Paul Vent
Paul Vent
Paul 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...
. The 1st Estonian Regiment made a direct assault on the bridgehead on 29 February. Simultaneously, the 2nd Estonian Regiment, in their attempt to attack from the left flank, ran into Soviet fortifications and a minefield, which was crossed. As the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment had lost almost all of its officers, 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...
Harald Nugiseks
Harald Nugiseks
Harald Nugiseks is a former SS-Unterscharführer in World War II, who served voluntarily in the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS of the Waffen SS. Nugiseks is also one of the four Estonian soldiers who received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.Nugiseks was born in Särevere, Järvamaa,...
stepped in as the leader of the attack. He immediately changed tactics, loading a quantity of hand-grenades onto some sledges, so that the attackers would not have to crawl back for the supplies over the minefield. With the hand-grenades passed along the trenches, the bridgehead was squeezed in from the north by the "rolling" tactics. The SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark took Siivertsi cemetery, attacking from the northern suburbs of Narva, but they could not destroy a Soviet machinegun strongpoint inside a massive granite monument erected to the honour of the perished soldiers of the Northwestern White Army in the battle of Narva, 1919. Eventually, the machinegunners were killed by a flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
. Another machinegun strong point was in the wreck of a Tiger tank, which was destroyed by Ago Loorpärg firing at it with a captured Soviet 45 mm gun. The Soviet bridgehead was squeezed into a few hundred metres of river bank around the ruins of the borough of Vepsküla by 5 March. In a surprise attack by the 1st Estonian Regiment, the bridgehead was split into three parts and "rolled"-down hand-grenades. A small Soviet bridgehead still left on the west bank was cleared by the II.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment on 6 March.