Between Giants

by Prit Buttar

  The Latvian divisions regrouped near Kārsava, within the borders of Latvia. The combat strength of both divisions was greatly reduced by their casualties, and as it was the weaker of the two formations, 15th SS Waffen-Grenadier Division handed over its artillery and much of its manpower to 19th SS Waffen-Grenadier Division. It was perhaps typical of the manner in which the people of the Baltic States were exploited by both the Soviet Union and Germany that, now the war was once more returning to Baltic territories, a proportion of those who had taken up arms specifically to defend those territories should be moved elsewhere, to suit the needs of their powerful occupiers; 15th SS Waffen-Grenadier Division was pulled out of the front line and sent to the rear for reorganisation and replenishment, eventually being transferred to West Prussia in August.

  The Soviet 10th Guards Army crossed the border into Latvia, seizing Zilupe on 17 July, pushing on to Ludza on 23 July. Further south, 22nd Army and 3rd Shock Army advanced towards the vital river crossings at Daugavpils, and when the German 290th Infantry Division, protecting the road that ran north-east from Daugavpils towards Rezekne, came under pressure, the Germans were forced to react. Otto Carius and his fellow Tiger tank crewmen of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502 had been employed in a number of minor actions since their battles near Narva, and on 20 July were ordered to move up to the front to prevent a Soviet breakthrough that might threaten both Daugavpils and Rezekne. As he led his company forward along the road from Daugavpils towards Rezekne, Carius came across German units fleeing the Soviet advance:

  What transpired in front of our eyes is barely capable of description. It wasn’t a withdrawal any more, but a panic-stricken, headlong flight.

  Everything and everybody was heading toward Dünaburg [Daugavpils] – trucks, wheeled vehicles, motorcycles. Everything was completely loaded down. No one could be persuaded to stop. It was like a river that swells whenever its tributaries flow into it after a rainstorm.13

  Just short of the village of Malinovka, Carius encountered a junior officer who told him that the village had been occupied by Soviet tanks. A brief reconnaissance suggested that Soviet infantry was not present in any significant numbers, and swiftly Carius made a plan to retake Malinovka: he and another tank commander would drive into the village at full speed and engage any enemy tanks there, while the other six tanks in the company took up positions on high ground to the south and engaged any Soviet tanks that attempted to retreat.

  The attack lasted less than 15 minutes, resulting in the swift recapture of the village. Some of the tanks appeared to have been left with only one or two crewmembers aboard – the rest were apparently busy collecting loot. Without losing any tanks, Carius and his company claimed to have destroyed 17 JS-2 tanks and five T34s. From Malinovka, they moved on to ambush the rest of the Soviet tank brigade, inflicting further heavy casualties.14 However, the Soviet forces in the area at the time, 5th Tank Corps, gave different losses for 41st Tank Brigade (ten T34s) and 48th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment (five JS-2s), as the heavy tank regiment reported:

  At 1200 the enemy opened coordinated fire of tanks and SP-guns from the region of Malinovo [Malinovka]. Taking cover in folds in the terrain, the regiment started a firefight with the enemy. Enemy aircraft actively operated overhead. As a result of bombing and enemy artillery fire the regiment suffered losses – five tanks were set ablaze. The regiment was withdrawn from combat and laid an ambush in the forest south-east of Malinovo.15

  To confuse matters even further, the official after-action report of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502 records that Carius and his company destroyed 17 tanks in Malinovka on 22 July, and makes no mention of the ambush that Carius describes after the initial combat.16 Given that Carius was writing several years after the events he described, it is likely that the other more contemporary accounts are more accurate.

  During the operation, Carius claimed, he recovered a Soviet officer’s map, which suggested that the Red Army intended to bypass Daugavpils to the north and then attack the city from the north and north-west. The commander of 290th Infantry Division, Generalmajor Rudolf Goltzsch, rejected the map as misinformation and insisted on positioning his heavy weapons to the east of Daugavpils. Whatever the truth of this account, Soviet forces from 6th Guards Army and 4th Shock Army closed in from both the east and north, and on 24 July, Carius was dispatched with four Tigers to protect the north-west approaches of Daugavpils. As he reconnoitred a village on a motorcycle-sidecar combination, Carius found himself under heavy fire:

  We jumped from the motorcycle. Lokey [the driver of the motorcycle] reached the ditch intact, but a shot shattered my left thigh. Crawling, we attempted to get back to the village, but my strength soon left me. I ordered Lokey to scram and alert Leutnant Eichhorn, but the loyal man didn’t want to leave me in the lurch …

  In the meantime, the Russians had crossed over the road and into our ditch. Every time we moved, they fired. The bullets whizzing past me didn’t hit Lokey either, because he was covered by me. In the end, he got away with a flesh wound. I intercepted the other rounds. I received a shot that penetrated through my upper left arm and another four hits in the back. Because the many wounds, especially those in the back, were bleeding heavily, I was soon completely exhausted and didn’t get any farther … Suddenly, my rapidly dwindling will to live was revived. The engine noise of my tanks could be heard clearly – the sound of salvation to my ears! Eichhorn and Göring had heard the shooting and moved out to see what was going on. In addition to my elation, my hopes were revived that I would get out of that fix alive.

  But then death suddenly stood in front of me! Three Russians had approached our rear and suddenly surfaced three metres behind me. I will never forget that sight for the rest of my life. I was bleeding from my many wounds, had no more strength, and heard the engines of my Tigers, which were probably coming too late after all.

  … A Soviet officer stood in the middle. He called out, ‘Ruki werch!’ – ‘Hands up!’ The soldiers to his right and left held machine pistols aimed at us.

  … My tanks came racing up then. With machine guns firing wildly into the area while on the move, they didn’t hit anything. The sudden appearance of the Tigers naturally gave the Russians a shock. Both soldiers ran off immediately, but the Soviet officer raised his pistol to finish me off. In my condition I didn’t desire to look death in the eye. I turned towards my approaching tanks. That was my good fortune and my salvation!

  The Russian pulled the trigger three times, but he was so excited that two shots went wide and only one hit. The round went extremely close to the spinal cord in my neck, but miraculously not one tendon or artery was hit … if I hadn’t turned toward my Tigers, the shot would have gone through the larynx and these lines here would never have been written!17

  Badly wounded, Carius was hauled onto the back of a tank and evacuated. He made a full recovery, and was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross, the medal being presented personally by Himmler while Carius was convalescing.

  Meanwhile, in an attempt to restore the situation north of Daugavpils, 290th Infantry Division was ordered to attack to the north, while elements of I Corps further north tried to attack south. Unfortunately, retreating German combat engineers had destroyed many of the culverts along the road the attack followed, greatly hindering the movements of the remaining Tigers of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502. Malinovka, where Carius destroyed a disputed number of tanks, was recaptured. To the north-west of Daugavpils, Leutnant Eichhorn, who had helped in Carius’ rescue, achieved considerable success against advancing Soviet tanks, claiming to have shot up 16 heavy tanks on 25 July. The following day, as he attempted to continue his advance to the north and north-west, accompanied by an infantry regiment from 290th Infantry Division, he ran into the Soviet 239th and 311th Rifle Divisions, supported by tanks and anti-tank guns. Two Tigers were lost in quick succession, and the German force pulled back towards the Daugava. The infantry regiment was ferried across to the left bank, and Eichhorn drove back
into Daugavpils. The road he had used the previous day was now in enemy hands, and the two remaining Tigers came under heavy fire; although both managed to reach the town, they suffered heavy damage that rendered them incapable of combat.18

  A further three Soviet rifle divisions pressed into Daugavpils from the north-east, with two more advancing west on the left bank of the Daugava. Ivan Ivanovich Chinnov, commander of 360th Rifle Division, was with the leading elements of his division as it advanced, and was killed instantly when a sniper opened fire on his group. His aide de camp was wounded in the same attack, and died later; the division pressed on with renewed urgency. Nevertheless, the German forces in Daugavpils were able to withdraw across the river on 27 July with relatively little interference from the Red Army. Further north, the Soviet 10th Guards Army reached and secured Kārsava and Rezekne on the same day. Heavy fighting erupted around Varakļāni, where the German 263rd Infantry Division held off 7th Guards Rifle Corps for several days, but exploiting successes a little further south, the Soviet 4th Shock Army reached the River Daugava at Līvāni on 1 August. The Latvians of 19th SS Waffen-Grenadier Division continued to put up tough resistance a little further north, but were steadily levered back; nevertheless, their delaying action at Cesvaine in conjunction with 83rd Infantry Division helped buy sufficient time for other German units to withdraw. Thereafter, Yeremenko’s northern armies were forced to pause while supplies were brought forward; the grateful Latvians took advantage of this to reinforce 19th SS Waffen-Grenadier Division with new drafts.19 A little to the south, Jēkabpils came under attack on 7 August, and was given up three days later as the Soviet 22nd Army applied relentless pressure. 10th Guards Army attempted to outflank the stubborn resistance of VI SS Corps by pushing forward to Madona on 12 August, but here, too, the lengthening Soviet supply lines forced a brief pause in operations.

  On the Narva front, Friessner’s response to Hitler’s orders to hold the existing line at all costs was to build a series of positions some nine miles west of Narva, making use of some modest high ground. On 21 July, he asked for permission to withdraw to these positions, now known as the Tannenberg Line; only a few miles from the coast, and with boggy terrain to the south, it constituted a strong defensive position. It was clear that the Leningrad Front was about to resume offensive operations, and with no significant reserves available, Friessner regarded a prolonged battle along the Narva as potentially disastrous.

  The German success in halting the first Soviet attempts to take Narva had helped to bring to an end the tentative ceasefire talks between Finland and the Soviet Union in April 1944. In an attempt to force the Finns to the negotiating table during the winter, Stalin ordered air attacks on Helsinki, but despite three major raids during February, few bombs hit their targets in the face of well-organised air defences. Although a Soviet offensive in June expelled the Finns from most of the territory they had seized in 1941, German supplies and troops persuaded the Finnish government to hold firm. Nevertheless, the war had almost exhausted Finland, and the nation continued to look for ways out of the conflict. General Mannerheim, the Finnish president, had warned the Germans that if Estonia were to fall back into Soviet hands, it would be impossible for Finland to remain in the war, as possession of the Estonian coast would give Soviet forces the ability to operate almost with impunity along the Finnish coastline. In these circumstances, his nation would have to accept whatever terms were imposed by Stalin.20 Consequently, Hitler was extremely nervous of agreeing to any measure that might weaken Finnish resolve. However, Mannerheim assured him that a small withdrawal to the Tannenberg Line would not pose any problems for Finland, and Hitler gave a relieved Friessner permission to withdraw from the Narva.

  Govorov’s Leningrad Front had been preparing for a resumption of its earlier offensives, and had steadily built up the strength of the units in the bridgehead to the south of Narva. Two rifle corps from 8th Army would attack north from the bridgehead tip to seize the railway station at Auvere, and from there would push on towards the Baltic coast, with the support of two further rifle corps as a second echelon. At the same time, 2nd Shock Army would attack north of Narva, attempting to break through the lines of III SS Panzer Corps. Once it had done so, it would link up with 8th Army, encircling whatever remained of the German forces in and around Narva.

  In addition to its previous formations, 2nd Shock Army now also included 8th Estonian Rifle Corps. Originally created from Estonians conscripted into the Red Army in 1941, this corps rarely had more than a 50 per cent complement of Estonians. Large numbers of Soviet soldiers who were descended from Estonians were included in its ranks, and some formations within the corps, such as 19th Guards Rifle Division, were wholly Russian in character. It would now go into combat along the River Narva, attacking Estonian troops fighting for Germany.

  Artillery preparation for the Soviet attack began a day before Friessner requested permission to withdraw to the Tannenberg Line, the existence of which was still unknown to the Red Army. After four days of sporadic bombardment, a major barrage on 24 July fell on the German lines for two hours. Then, with ongoing artillery support, the Soviet 122nd Rifle Corps, supported by a tank brigade, attacked and penetrated the main German defences held by 11th Infantry Division. The neighbouring 117th Rifle Corps also attacked, encircling the Estonian 45th Infantry Regiment.

  Almost immediately, German forces counter-attacked. A tank battalion from SS-Nordland, with infantry and artillery support, moved forward to face 117th Rifle Corps, and a confused battle followed. At one point, the commander of the German battlegroup, Obersturmbannführer Paul-Albert Kausch, found himself isolated with a small body of men. They fought off repeated Soviet attacks, and finally resorted to calling down artillery fire on their own position. Elsewhere, too, the Soviet attack was repulsed, with little gain. Soviet losses were estimated at about 3,000, compared with German casualties of 800. For his determined defence, Kausch was awarded the Knight’s Cross a month later.

  Meanwhile, in accordance with the plan to withdraw to the Tannenberg Line, German troops began to pull back from Ivangorod, at the tip of the small bridgehead held by the Wehrmacht to the east of Narva. As the men slipped quietly back across the Narva, the Soviets spotted their withdrawal, and attempted to rush the bridge. Although demolition charges had been placed on the bridge, they failed to detonate, and the bridge fell into Soviet hands. However, the Red Army’s success was only temporary. A determined counter-attack by combat engineers from SS-Nordland, led by Hauptsturmführer Wanhöfer, recaptured the bridge, allowing it to be destroyed.

  On 25 July, 2nd Shock Army launched its attack along the Narva, after another ferocious artillery bombardment. The Soviet 131st and 191st Rifle Divisions carried out an assault across the river, in the face of fierce resistance from the Estonian troops on the west bank. As the day wore on and ammunition stocks fell low, the defensive fire weakened, allowing the Soviet forces to secure bridgeheads. 191st Rifle Division immediately turned south towards Narva, while 131st Rifle Division began to push west. On the outskirts of Narva, 191st Rifle Division ran into a battalion from the Estonian 3rd Regiment, led by Obersturmbannführer Alfons Rebane. Rebane had a reputation for tactical skill, and demonstrated this by pulling his men out of their front line positions immediately before the Soviet bombardment, into a second line of trenches. From here, they defended themselves with determination, and as other German and Estonian forces began to retreat towards the Tannenberg Line, he skilfully moved his men to the west to try to retain contact. Regrouping in the country estate in Olgino, his battalion continued to inflict heavy losses on the pursuing Soviet troops.

  With Soviet forces now across the lower Narva in strength, the evacuation of the German troops within the city itself gained pace. The rearguard was made up of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment General Seyffard, a regiment of Dutch SS soldiers from the SS-Nederland brigade, reinforced by a battalion from the brigade’s SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment De Ruyter and a pair of assault guns, with
Rebane’s Estonians covering their northern flank and a battalion of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Norge to the south. Obersturmbannführer Benner, the commander of Seyffard, was new to his command, relatively unfamiliar with the area, and matters were made worse when contact with higher commands was disrupted by Soviet artillery fire during the afternoon of 25 July. At 2130hrs, an Estonian messenger arrived in Benner’s headquarters in Narva, with the unwelcome news that Soviet forces had succeeded in cutting the road at Olgino. Benner immediately dispatched the battalion from De Ruyter and the two assault guns to help Rebane’s Estonian battalion reopen the road, and a night attack succeeded in driving back the Soviet forces. A further Soviet penetration a mile further west at Peeterristi was also cleared.