''This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.'' The Narva offensive (18–24 March 1944) was a campaign fought between the German XXXXIII Army Corps and the Soviet 59th Army for the Narva Isthmus. At the time of the operation,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

was personally interested in taking Estonia, viewing it as a precondition for forcing Finland out of the war. The Soviet tank assault at Auvere railway station was stopped by the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion. Fierce fighting continued for another week, when Soviet forces had suffered many casualties and switched over to the defensive.

Background

The defeat in the preceding Narva offensive came as an unpleasant surprise to the leadership of the

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front () was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately ...

, blaming it on the arrival of the freshly conscripted 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division who were motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. Since the beginning of January, the Leningrad Front had lost 227,440 troops killed, wounded, or missing, which constituted more than half of the men who participated in the Leningrad–Novgorod strategic offensive. Both sides rushed in reinforcements. The 59th Army was brought to

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

and the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps was placed under the command of the Leningrad Front. After this deployment, the Narva sector acquired the highest concentration of forces on the Eastern Front in March 1944.

Preceding combat

The newly arrived 59th Army attacked westwards from the Krivasoo bridgehead south of the city 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 enough time to move in a platoon from the SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 "Norge" and to stop the units of the 59th Army.

Design

The objective of the Soviet offensive was the headquarters of the XXXXIII Army Corps on the Lastekodumägi height in the Sinimäed Hills next to the highway between Narva–

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, sixteen kilometres west of Narva. The defence was built up as an array of posts between the hills and the railway.

Deployments

German

* 61st Infantry Division – ''

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Günther Krappe'' *Artillery Command No. 113 *Tank squadron of the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion – ''

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Otto Carius Otto Carius (27 May 1922 – 24 January 2015) was a German tank commander in the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht during World War II. He fought on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front in 1943 and 1944 and on the Western Front (World ...

Soviet

*6th Rifle Corps – '' Major General Semyon Mikulski'' **3 divisions *109th Rifle Corps – ''Major General Ivan Alferov'' **3 divisions *46th, 260th and 261st Separate Guards Heavy Tank and 1902nd Self-propelled Artillery regimentsОперация "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) *3rd Breakthrough Artillery Corps – ''Major General N. N. Zhdanov'' *3rd Guards Tank Corps – ''Major General I. A. Vovchenko''

Combat activity

The six Soviet divisions, armoured vehicles and artillery of the 109th Rifle Corps and the newly arrived 6th Rifle Corps attacked the weakened 61st Infantry Division at the defence of Auvere station. The 162nd Grenadier Regiment was shaken by the massive preparatory artillery bombardment and air attack. The Soviet 930th Regiment broke through the thinned-out defence line of the 61st Infantry Division through to the railway, pushing towards the headquarters of the XXXXIII Army Corps. Six Soviet

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

tanks were destroyed by the two

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

tanks of Lieutenant

, forcing the Soviet infantry to withdraw.

Casualties

The German side claimed that on 17–22 March, their 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion destroyed 38 tanks, four self-propelled guns and 17 assault guns.

Aftermath

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz's ''

kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or " battlegroup") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...

'' . The ''kampfgruppe'' destroyed the eastern tip of the Soviet bridgehead on 6 April. Strachwitz, inspired by this success, tried to eliminate the whole bridgehead, but was unable to proceed due to the spring thaw that had rendered the swamp impassable for his tanks. By the end of April, the parties had mutually exhausted their strengths. Relative calm settled on the front until late July, 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narva Offensive (18-24 March 1944) Battle of Narva (1944) Battles involving Estonia Generalbezirk Estland Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic 1944 in Estonia March 1944 in Europe