Operation Doppelkopf (german: Unternehmen Doppelkopf) and the following Operation Cäsar were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

counter-offensives on the Eastern Front in the late summer of 1944 in the aftermath of the major Soviet advance in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

with the aim of restoring a coherent front between Army Group North and Army Group Centre. The operation's codename was a reference to the German card game '' Doppelkopf''.

Strategic situation

By the end of July 1944, Soviet mechanised forces had reached the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...

following their headlong advance in the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

and

Šiauliai Offensive The Šiauliai offensive (russian: Шяуляйская наступательная) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29, 1944, during the Se ...

s, part of the third and final 'pursuit' phase of the strategic offensive

. The Soviet

2nd Guards Army The 2nd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army that fought in World War II, most notably at Stalingrad. History The 2nd Guards Army was formed according to the order of the Staff of the Supreme High Command (Stavka) from Oc ...

had exploited a breach between the German Sixteenth Army of Army Group North and the neighbouring Third Panzer Army of

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...

, and severed the connection between them. German counter-attacks failed to restore it, and significant elements of the German armed forces were left isolated. The '' Oberkommando des Heeres'' made immediate plans for an offensive to restore the connection between the two Army Groups.

Planning

A number of armoured formations were assembled under Army Group Centre in

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

with orders to attack towards Jelgava (german: Mitau), cutting off the Soviet spearheads. The XXXX Panzer Corps, with the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

Panzer Divisions, the

Grossdeutschland Division Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...

and the 1st Infantry Division, was assembled at Liepāja / Libau, while the XXXIX Panzer Corps was assembled at Tauroggen.

Deployments

''Wehrmacht''

(Colonel-General Georg-Hans Reinhardt) (from 16 August) ** Third Panzer Army (General

Erhard Raus Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and army group comm ...

) (from 16 August) ***

XL Panzer Corps XXXX Panzer Corps was a tank corps in the German Army during World War II. History The XXXX. Armeekorps was formed on 26 January 1940 in Lubeck in the Wehrkreis X. It took part in the invasions of France and Greece before being sent to the Easte ...

(General Otto von Knobelsdorff) ***

XXXIX Panzer Corps The XXXIX Panzer Corps (german: XXXIX.Panzerkorps, also previously designated the ''XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot)'') was a German panzer corps which saw action on the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Operational history The Corps whose ...

(General Dietrich von Saucken)

Red Army

* Elements of

3rd Belorussian Front The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fron ...

(General

Ivan Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky (russian: Ива́н Дани́лович Черняхо́вский; – 18 February 1945) was the youngest-ever Soviet General of the army. For his leadership during World War II he was awarded t ...

) * Elements of

1st Baltic Front The First Baltic Front (Russian language, Russian: Пéрвый Прибалтийский фронт) was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. It was commanded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenk ...

(General Hovhannes Bagramyan)

The offensive

The operation commenced with an attack by the 7th Panzer Division on 15 August towards Kelmė. The main offensive began the following day, but there was strong resistance against the XXXX Panzer Corps from ten Soviet infantry divisions supported by three artillery divisions and anti-tank units. Von Saucken's XXXIX Panzer Corps opened operations on 18 August. Its left flank, an ''ad hoc'' formation under

Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz (also known as Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz) (30 July 1893 – 25 April 1968) was a German officer of aristocratic descent in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Kn ...

, was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment from the cruiser '' Prinz Eugen''; forces inside the pocket attacked to link up with Strachwitz's force. Strachwitz reached Sixteenth Army at Tukums by midday. By 27 August, the corridor between Third Panzer Army and Sixteenth Army had been enlarged to 18 miles in width, though the latter had come under renewed pressure from a fresh Soviet offensive against

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. The operation had also failed in its more ambitious objectives of retaking Šiauliai or of cutting off the 6th Guards Army threatening Riga.

Operation Cäsar

A second German 'spoiling' attack, was planned to destroy Bagramyan's forces in the salient below Riga and push the front out to a straight line between the Segewold position and Šiauliai. The main strike force was the reorganised XXXIX Panzer Corps, Third Panzer Army having been placed under the temporary overall control of Army Group North. The attack began on 16 September, in response to the Soviet Riga Offensive Operation, but by 19 September it had ground to a halt in the face of intense Soviet resistance after having penetrated only a few miles. The German forces then assumed a defensive configuration.

Aftermath

The Red Army attacked again on 5 October, in the

Memel Offensive Operation The Battle of Memel or the siege of Memel (german: Erste Kurlandschlacht) was a battle which took place on the Eastern Front during World War II. The battle began when the Red Army launched its ''Memel offensive operation'' (russian: Мемел ...

. Five days later, they reached the Baltic Sea and finally cut off Army Group North in what eventually became the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...

. The German XXVIII Corps was isolated from the remainder of Third Panzer Army in a bridgehead at Memel.

Footnotes

References

* * Raus, E. ''Panzer Operations'', Da Capo, 2005, *