Battle of Narva (1944)
Battle of Narva | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Narva River, with the fortress of Ivangorod on the eastern side | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
| Soviet Union | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Johannes Frießner Felix Steiner |
Leonid Govorov Ivan Fedyuninsky | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
|
| ||||||
Strength | |||||||
123,541 personnel[1] 32 tanks[2] 137 aircraft[1] |
200,000 personnel[2][3] 2500 guns 125 tanks[4] 800 aircraft[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
14,000 dead or missing 54,000 wounded or sick 68,000 casualties[5] |
100,000 dead or missing 380,000 wounded or sick[nb 1] 300 tanks 230 aircraft[2] 480,000 casualties[5] | ||||||
|
The Battle of Narva
The battle took place in the northern section of the
As a continuation of the
Background
Terrain
Terrain played a significant role in operations around Narva. The elevation above sea level in the area is rarely above 100 meters, and the land is cut by numerous waterways, including the Narva and
On a strategic scale, there was a natural choke point between the northern shore of Lake Peipus and the Gulf of Finland. The 45-kilometre-wide strip of land was entirely bisected by the Narva River and included large areas of wilderness. The primary transport routes, the Narva–Tallinn highway and railway, ran on an east–west axis near and parallel to the coastline. There were no other east–west transport routes in the region capable of sustaining troop movement on a large scale.[1]
Preceding actions
On 14 January 1944, the Leningrad Front launched the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive, aimed at forcing the German 18th Army back from its positions near Oranienbaum. On the third day of the offensive, the Soviets broke through German lines and pushed westward.[11] The Army Group North evacuated the civilian population of Narva.[12]
Soviet aims
By 1944, it was fairly routine practice for
Breaking through the Narva Isthmus, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus, was of major strategic importance to the Soviet Armed Forces. Success in the Estonian operation would have provided an unobstructed route to advance along the coast to Tallinn, forcing the German Army Group North to escape from Estonia for fear of getting cornered. For the
- "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, Stalin issued a new order on 22 February: to break through the "Narwa" defence, give a shock at Pärnu, eliminate the German forces in Estonia, direct two armies at Southeast Estonia, keep going through Latvia, and open the road to East Prussia and Central Europe. On the same day, the Soviet Union presented Finland with peace conditions.[16] While Finland regarded the terms as unacceptable, the war waging around them appeared dangerous enough to keep the Finns negotiating. To influence Finland, Stalin needed to take Estonia.[13] His wish became an order to the commanders of the Leningrad Front, with their heads at stake.[10] After reinforcements in March 1944, the Narva front acquired the highest concentration of forces at any point on the Eastern Front.[17]
Soviet deployments
Three Soviet armies were deployed at the maximum concentration of forces in March 1944. The 2nd Shock Army was placed north of Narva, the 59th Army was positioned south of Narva, and the
- 2nd Shock Army – Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky
- 43rd Rifle Corps– Major General Anatoli Andreyev
- 109th Rifle Corps – Major General Ivan Alferov
- 124th Rifle Corps – Major General Voldemar Damberg
- 8th Army – Lieutenant General Filip Starikov
- 6th Rifle Corps – Major General Semyon Mikulski
- 112th Rifle Corps – Major General Filip Solovev
- 59th Army – Lieutenant General Ivan Korovnikov
- 117th Rifle Corps – Major General Vasili Trubachev
- 122nd Rifle Corps – Major General Panteleimon Zaitsev
Separate detachments:
- 8th Estonian Rifle Corps – Lieutenant General Lembit Pärn[19]
- 14th Rifle Corps – Major General Pavel Artyushenko
- 124th Rifle Division – Colonel Mikhail Papchenko
- 30th Guards Rifle Corps– Lieutenant General Nikolai Simonyak
- 46th, 260th and 261st Separate Guards Heavy Tank and 1902nd Separate Self-propelled Artillery regiments[20]
- 3rd Breakthrough Artillery Corps – Major General N. N. Zhdanov
- 3rd Guards Tank Corps– Major General I. A. Vovchenko
At the start of the
German and Finnish aims
The German High Command (OKH) believed it was crucial to stabilize the front on the Narva River. A Soviet breakthrough here would have meant the loss of the northern coast of Estonia and with it loss of control of the Gulf of Finland, giving the Soviet Baltic Fleet access to the Baltic Sea.[1] A breakthrough by the fleet would have threatened German control of the entire Baltic Sea and the shipment of iron ore imports from Sweden. The loss of Narva would have meant fuel derived from the adjacent Kohtla-Järve oil shale deposits (32 kilometers west of Narva on the coast) would be denied to the German war machine.[1] As Colonel General Georg Lindemann said in his daily order to the 11th Infantry Division:[22]
We are standing on the border of our native land. Every step backwards will carry the war through the air and water to Germany.
As Finland was negotiating with the Soviet Union for peace, the OKH concentrated on the Narva front, using every means to convince the Finnish Defence Command that the German defences were going to hold. The German command informed their Finnish colleagues in detail about the events on the Narva front while a delegation of the Finnish Defence Command visited Narva in spring 1944.[2] Besides being a narrow corridor well suited for defence, the terrain in the area of Narva was dominated by forests and swamps. Directly behind the Narva River lay the city itself, ideally positioned as a bastion from which defending forces could influence combat to both the north and south of the city along the river valley.[1]
This position was the northern segment of the German Panther Line and it was where Generalfeldmarschall Georg von Küchler, in charge of the Army Group, wanted to set up his defence. Hitler initially refused, and replaced von Küchler with Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model as the commander of the Army Group North.[11] Model agreed with von Küchler and, as one of Hitler's favourites, he also was allowed more freedom. Using that freedom to his advantage, Model managed to fall back and begin establishing a line along the Narva River, with a strong bridgehead on the eastern bank in Ivangorod. That appeased Hitler, and followed the German standard operating procedure for defending a river line.[11] On 1 February 1944, the High Command of Army Group North tasked the Sponheimer Group (renamed Army Detachment "Narwa" on 23 February) to defend at all costs the segment of the Panther Line at the isthmus between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus.[1] After the initial Soviet success, Stalin presented Finland with his peace terms on 8 February 1944. However, following the tactical victories of "Narwa" from mid-February to April, Finland terminated the negotiations on 18 April 1944.[23][2]
Aims of the Estonian resistance movement
During the course of the
In February 1944, when the Leningrad Front reached the vicinity of Narva and the Soviet return became a real threat, Uluots switched his stand on the German draft. In a radio speech on 7 February, Uluots reasoned that armed Estonians could become useful against both Germans and Soviets. He also hinted that Estonian troops on Estonian soil would have: "... a significance much wider than what I could and would be able to disclose here."[26] Along with other Estonian politicians, Uluots saw resistance against the Soviet Armed Forces as a means of preventing the restoration of Soviet power and restoring Estonia's independence once the war was over.[27] The conscription call received popular support and the mobilisation raised a force of 38,000 men,[28] who were formed into seven border guard regiments and the fictitiously named[12] 20th Estonian SS-Volunteer Division,[29][30] commonly referred to among the German Armed Forces as the Estonian Division.[10] Combined with the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 (voluntary Estonians in the Finnish army), and the conscripts within the Waffen SS, a total of 70,000 Estonian troops were under Nazi German arms in 1944.[24]
Formation of Army Detachment "Narwa"
In February 1944, the L and LIV Army Corps along with the
Over the next two weeks, various units were added to the group, including the
- III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps – SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner
- 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland"
- 4th SS Panzergrenadier Brigade "Nederland"
- 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
- XXVI Army Corps – General Anton Grasser
- 11th Infantry Division
- 58th Infantry Division
- 214th Infantry Division
- 225th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
- 3rd Estonian Border Guard Regiment (as of 15 April)
- XXXXIII Army Corps – General der Infanterie Karl von Oven
- 61st Infantry Division
- 170th Infantry Division
- 227th Infantry Division
- Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadier Division
- Gnesen Grenadier Regiment
Separate units:
- Eastern sector, coastal defence (the staff of the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division as the HQ) – Lieutenant General Alfons Luczny
- Estonian Regiment "Reval"
- 3 Estonian police battalions
- 2 Estonian eastern battalions
Other military units:
- Artillery Command No. 113
- High Pioneer Command No. 32
- 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
- 752nd Anti-Tank Battalion
- 540th Special Infantry (Training) Battalion
In the summer of 1944, the Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle, and seven infantry divisions, were removed from the Narva Front,[2] leaving 22,250 troops at the location.[31]
Combat activity
Formation of bridgeheads
Launching the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive on 1 February, the Soviet 2nd Shock Army's 109th Rifle Corps captured the town of Kingisepp on the first day.[16] The German 18th Army was forced into new positions on the eastern bank of the Narva River.[1] Forward units of the 2nd Shock Army crossed the river and established several bridgeheads on the west bank to the north and south of the city of Narva on 2 February. The 2nd Shock Army expanded the Krivasoo Bridgehead in the raised bog south of Narva five days later, temporarily cutting the Narva–Tallinn Railway behind the III SS Panzer Corps. Govorov was unable to encircle the smaller German Army Group, which called in reinforcements. These came mostly from the newly mobilised Estonians, motivated to resist the looming Soviet return. At the same time, the Soviet 108th Rifle Corps landed units across Lake Peipus 120 kilometres south of Narva and established a bridgehead around the village of Meerapalu. By a coincidence, the I.Battalion, SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 45 (1st Estonian), which was headed for Narva, reached the same area. A battalion of the 44th Infantry Regiment (consisting of personnel from East Prussia), the I.Battalion, 1st Estonian and an air squadron destroyed the Soviet bridgehead on 15–16 February. The Mereküla Landing Operation was conducted as the 517-strong 260th Independent Naval Infantry Brigade landed at the coastal borough of Mereküla behind the Sponheimer Group lines. However, the unit was almost completely destroyed.[1][10]
Narva Offensives, 15–28 February and 1–4 March
The Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps and the 124th Rifle Corps launched a new Narva Offensive on 15 February.[8] The resistance by units of the Sponheimer Group exhausted the Soviet army, which halted its offensive. Both sides used the pause for bringing in additional forces. The fresh SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiments 45 and 46 (1st and 2nd Estonian) accompanied by units of the "Nordland" Division destroyed the Soviet bridgeheads north of Narva by 6 March. The newly arrived 59th Army attacked westwards from the Krivasoo Bridgehead and encircled the strong points of the 214th Infantry Division and Estonian 658th and 659th 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 units' advance.[1][10]
6–24 March
The Soviet air force conducted an air raid, leveling the historic town of Narva on 6 March. An air and artillery shock of 100,000 shells and grenades at the "Nordland" and "Nederland" detachments in Ivangorod prepared the way for the 30th Guards Rifle Division's attack on 8 March. Simultaneous pitched battles took place north of the town, where the 14th Rifle Corps supported by the artillery of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps attempted to re-establish a bridgehead. Regiments of the Estonian SS Division repulsed the attacks, causing great Soviet losses.[1][10]
Soviet
The Soviet tank
Strachwitz offensive
The
The Soviets capture Narva
The Soviet
Tannenberg Line
The Soviet vanguard 201st and 256th Rifle Divisions attacked the Tannenberg Line and captured part of the Orphanage Hill, the easternmost of the area. The Anti-Tank Company, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Danmark" returned the hill to the hands of the "Narwa" the following night. The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps repulsed subsequent Soviet attempts to capture the hills by tanks on the following day. The SS Reconnaissance Battalion 11 and the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment 47 (3rd Estonian) launched a counterattack during the night before 28 July. The assault collapsed under the Soviet tank fire which destroyed the Estonian battalion. In a pitched battle carried over to the next day without a break in the fighting, the two Soviet armies forced "Narwa" into new positions at the Grenadier Hill, the central one.[1][10]
The climax of the Battle of Tannenberg Line was the Soviet attack of 29 July. The shock units suppressed the German resistance on the Orphanage Hill, while the Soviet main forces suffered heavy casualties in the subsequent assault at the Grenadier Hill. The Soviet tanks encircled it and the Tower Hill, the westernmost one. Steiner, the commander of the III SS Panzer Corps, sent out the remaining seven tanks, which hit the surprised Soviet armour and forced them back. This enabled an improvised battle group led by Hauptsturmführer Paul Maitla to launch a counterattack which recaptured the Grenadier Hill. Of the 136,830 Soviets initiating the offensive on 25 July, a few thousand had remained fit for combat by 1 August. The Soviet tank regiments had been demolished.[1][10]
With swift reinforcements, the two Soviet armies continued their attacks. The Stavka demanded the destruction of the "Narwa" and the capture of Rakvere by 7 August. The 2nd Shock Army was back to 20,000 troops by 2 August while numerous attempts using unchanged tactics failed to break the multinational defence of the "Narwa". Leonid Govorov, the commander of the Leningrad Front terminated the offensive on 10 August.[1][10]
Casualties
During the Soviet era, the losses in the battle of Narva were not released by the Soviets.[2] In recent years, Russian authors have published some figures[14][33] but not for the whole course of the battles.[2] The number of Soviet casualties can only be estimated indirectly.[1][2]
The Army Detachment "Narwa" lost 23,963 personnel as dead, wounded and missing in action in February 1944.[31] During the following months through to 30 July 1944, an additional 34,159 German personnel were lost, 5,748 of them dead and 1,179 missing in action.[1] The total German casualties during the initial phase of the campaign was approximately 58,000 men, 12,000 of them dead or missing in action. From 24 July to 10 August 1944, the German forces buried 1,709 men in Estonia.[2][34] Adding the troops missing in action, the number of dead in the period is estimated at 2,500. Accounting the standard ratio of 1/4 of the wounded as irrecoverable losses, the number of German casualties in the later period of the battle was approximately 10,000. The total German casualties during the Battle of Narva is estimated at 14,000 dead or missing and 54,000 wounded or sick.[2]
Aftermath
Baltic Offensive
On 1 September, Finland announced the cessation of military cooperation with Germany to sign an
The Soviet
During the withdrawal from Estonia, the German command released thousands of native Estonian conscripts from military service. The Soviet command began conscripting Baltic natives as areas were brought under Soviet control.
Army Group North land lines of communication were permanently severed from Army Group Centre and it was relegated to the Courland Pocket, an occupied Baltic seashore area in Latvia. On 25 January, Adolf Hitler renamed Army Group North the "Courland", implicitly realising that there was no possibility of restoring a new land corridor between Courland and East Prussia.[39] The Red Army commenced the encirclement and reduction of the pocket, enabling the Soviets to focus on operations towards East Prussia. The Army Group Courland retained a possibility of being a major threat. Operations by the Red Army against the Courland Pocket continued until the surrender of Army Group Courland on 9 May 1945, when close to 200,000 Germans were taken prisoner there.
Outcome for Finland
The lengthy German defence during the Battle of Narva denied the Soviets the use of Estonia as a favorable base for amphibious invasions and air attacks against
Attempt to restore Estonian Government
The lengthy German defence prevented a swift Soviet breakthrough into Estonia and gave the underground National Committee of the Republic of Estonia enough time to attempt to re-establish Estonian independence. On 1 August 1944, the national committee pronounced itself Estonia's highest authority and on 18 September 1944, acting head of state Uluots appointed a new government led by
Civilian refugees
The delay of the Soviet advance allowed over 25,000 Estonians and 3,700 Swedes to flee to neutral Sweden and 6,000 Estonians to Finland. Thousands of refugees died on boats and ships sunk in the Baltic Sea.[24] In September, 90,000 soldiers and 85,000 Estonian, Finnish and German refugees and Soviet prisoners of war were evacuated to Germany.[37] The sole German cost of this evacuation was the loss of a steamboat. More German naval evacuations followed from Estonian ports,[37] where up to 1,200 people were drowned in Soviet attacks.[24]
Soviet reoccupation
Soviet rule of Estonia was re-established by force, and
References and notes
Footnotes
- ^ Estonian: Narva lahing; German: Schlacht bei Narva; Russian: Битва за Нарву
References
- ^ )
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mart Laar (2006). Sinimäed 1944: II maailmasõja lahingud Kirde-Eestis (Sinimäed Hills 1944: Battles of World War II in Northeast Estonia) (in Estonian). Tallinn: Varrak.
- ^ a b Hannes Walter. "Estonia in World War II". Mississippi: Historical Text Archive. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ a b F.I.Paulman (1980). "Nachalo osvobozhdeniya Sovetskoy Estoniy". Ot Narvy do Syrve (From Narva to Sõrve) (in Russian). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat. pp. 7–119.
- ^ ISBN 9781408188194.
- ^ McTaggart, Pat (2003). "The Battle of Narva, 1944". In Command Magazine (ed.). Hitler's army: the evolution and structure of German forces. Cambridge, MA: Combined Books. pp. 294, 296, 297, 299, 302, 305, 307.
- ^ McTaggart, Pat (2003). "The Battle of Narva, 1944". In Command Magazine (ed.). Hitler's army: the evolution and structure of German forces. Cambridge, MA: Combined Books. p. 306.
- ^ a b c d e David M. Glantz (2001). The Soviet-German War 1941–1945: Myths and Realities. Glemson, South Carolina: Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs, Clemson University. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ Romuald J. Misiunas, Rein Taagepera The Baltic States, Years of Dependence, 1940–1980. p. 66. University of California Press, 1983
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Laar, Mart (2005). "Battles in Estonia in 1944". Estonia in World War II. Tallinn: Grenader. pp. 32–59.
- ^ a b c Kenneth W. Estes. A European Anabasis – Western European Volunteers in the German Army and SS, 1940–1945. Chapter 5. "Despair and Fanaticism, 1944–45" Columbia University Press
- ^ a b Robert Sturdevant (10 February 1944). "Strange Guerilla Army Hampers Nazi Defence of Baltic". Times Daily. Florence, Alabama.
- ^ a b Евгений Кривошеев; Николай Костин (1984). "I. Sraženie dlinoj v polgoda (Half a year of combat)". Битва за Нарву, февраль-сентябрь 1944 год (The Battle for Narva, February–September 1944) (in Russian). Tallinn: Eesti raamat. pp. 9–87.
- ^ a b c d В.Бешанов (2004). Десять сталинских ударов (Ten Shocks of Stalin). Харвест, Minsk.
- ^ Иван Иванович Федюнинский (1961). Поднятые по тревоге (Risen by Agitation) (in Russian). Воениздат, Moscow.
- ^ ISBN 0-7006-1208-4.
- ^ L. Lentsman (1977). Eesti rahvas Suures Isamaasõjas (Estonian People in Great Patriotic War) (in Estonian). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat.
- ^ Боевой состав Советской Армии на 1 марта 1944 г. Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Order of battle of the Soviet Army on 1 March 1944)
- ^ 8th & 14th Rifle Corps may have been under the 42nd Army, but the source above does not list it as such.
- ^ Операция "Нева-2" http://www.rkka.ru/memory/baranov/6.htm chapter 6, Baranov, V.I., Armour and people, from a collection "Tankers in the combat for Leningrad"Lenizdat, 1987 (Баранов Виктор Ильич, Броня и люди, из сборника "Танкисты в сражении за Ленинград". Лениздат, 1987)
- ^ G.F.Krivosheev (1997). Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century. London: Greenhill Books.
- ^ Gruppen-Befehl für den Küstenschutz. (Detachment Orders to the Coastal Defence. In German). 9 February 1944. Berlin Archives MA RH24-54/122
- ^ a b Toomas Hiio; Meelis Maripuu; Indrek Paavle, eds. (2006). "Chronology of events in 1939–1945". Estonia 1940–1945: Reports of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity. Tallinn. pp. 1191–1237.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d Estonian State Commission on Examination of Policies of Repression (2005). "Human Losses". The White Book: Losses inflicted on the Estonian nation by occupation regimes. 1940–1991 (PDF). Estonian Encyclopedia Publishers. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2013.
- ^ Lauri Mälksoo (2006). "The Government of Otto Tief and Attempt to Restore the Independence of Estonia in 1944: A Legal Appraisal.". Toomas Hiio, Meelis Maripuu, Indrek Paavle (Eds.). Estonia 1940–1945: Reports of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity. Tallinn. pp. 1095–1106.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Taagepera p. 70
- ^ "Year 1944 in Estonian History". Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-7603-0745-8.
- ^ "20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1)". Axis History Factbook.
- )
- ^ ISBN 0-88740-806-0.
- ISBN 0-8117-2911-7.
- ^ V. Rodin (5 October 2005). "Na vysotah Sinimyae: kak eto bylo na samom dele. (On the Heights of Sinimäed: How It Actually Was)" (in Russian). Vesti.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Unpublished data by the German War Graves Commission
- ^ Felix Steiner (1980). Die Freiwilligen der Waffen-SS: Idee und Opfergang (Volunteers of Armed SS. In German). Schütz, Oldendorf, Preuss
- ^ a b Mitcham, S. German Defeat in the East 1944–45, Stackpole, 2007, p. 149[ISBN missing]
- ^ D. Muriyev, Preparations, Conduct of 1944 Baltic Operation Described, Military History Journal (USSR Report, Military affairs), 1984–9, p. 27
- ^ On 25 January, Hitler renamed three army groups: the North became the Courland; the Centre became the North and the A became Army Group Centre
- ^ "The Otto Tief government and the fall of Tallinn". Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009.
- ^ Estonia. Sept.21 Bulletin of International News by Royal Institute of International Affairs Information Dept.
- Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, pp. vii–xxvi. Tallinn, 2009
Further reading
- McTaggart, Pat (2003). "The Battle of Narva, 1944". In Command Magazine (ed.). Hitler's Army: the evolution and structure of German forces. Cambridge, MA: Combined Books. pp. 287–308. ISBN 978-0306812606.
- Miljan, Toivo (2004). Historical Dictionary of Estonia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4904-4.