Conquest of Tilsit in 1945
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The conquest of Tilsit managed the Red Army on January 20, 1945. Since then, the then 580 years old Tilsit a Russian town in the Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg).
Course of events
location
The Soviet 43rd Army under General Beloborodow stood with eight rifle divisions between Ruß and Schmalleningken on the northern bank of the Memel . Frozen since December 20, 1944, the river has not been an obstacle. In addition, the 39th Army under Lieutenant General Ivan I. Lyudnikow with six rifle divisions was deployed in the Schmalleningken– Schillfelde section . Opposite the Soviets was the IX. Army corps of the German 3rd Panzer Army leading on the Memel section . Three newly established Volksgrenadier divisions (551, 548, 561) as well as the 56th and 69th Infantry Divisions had taken up position under the leadership of the commanding General Wuthmann . The leadership of the superior 3rd Panzer Army considered Tilsit to be adequately protected; Army General Ivan Danilowitsch Tschernjachowski , the commander in chief of the 3rd Belarusian Front , assigned the city only a minor role. His intention was to break through the German defensive position further south between Schloßberg and Ebenrode and to advance through Gumbinnen and Insterburg in the direction of Wehlau .
January 13-16
Chernyakhovsky's offensive began on the foggy winter morning of January 13th, and its main thrust was against the positions of the German XXVI. Army corps directed under General der Infantry Matzky . For hours the Russian artillery took the positions of the 1st Infantry Division and the 349th Infantry Division under fire in the Schloßberg area . Despite massive tank support , the Soviet troops encountered stubborn and initially successful defenses. When the 5th Panzer Division came to the aid of the German grenadiers , Kattenau became the center of a bitter battle. It changed hands several times in four days. It was not until the evening of January 16 that the Red Army soldiers were able to break through the deeply staggered defensive position and advance to the Kussen-Radschen-Mallwen line. Schloßberg also had to be given up. This put the 69th Infantry Division north of Schloßberg in a threatening position; for it was now in a far overhanging projection of the war front . In order not to be cut off, she obtained the order to retreat towards Tilsit on the night of January 17th . This withdrawal movement did not go unnoticed. The 39th Army immediately followed over the shed , occupied Haselberg and took up the pursuit of the 69th Infantry Division. The northern wing of the front wavered. Chernyakhovsky saw his chance. Immediately he ordered the 1st Panzer Corps under Lieutenant General Butkow , which was in reserve near Eydtkau, to the northern flank in order to surprisingly push into the German withdrawal movement and to open a gap southeast of Tilsit.
January 17th and 18th
Butkov competed at dawn on January 17th. His three tank brigades rolled forward at a brisk pace on the road Schloßberg - Spullen - Rautenberg . While the 69th Infantry Division was still in the process of taking up the prepared Inster position and setting it up for defense, the Russian Panzer Corps succeeded in finding a gap behind Gerslinden , overcoming the Inster out of the movement and forming a bridgehead at Nesten . Even the remnants of the 56th Infantry Division could not prevent that. They had also fought their way back to the Inster position and were still in the process of building a stable defensive barrier to prevent a threat to Tilsit from the south.
The Russian efforts were aimed at the rapid expansion of the Nesten bridgehead (now in the Klaipeda district ). Units of the 39th Army caught up with the Panzer Corps after a forced march from Haselberg and took up position in the bridgehead on the late evening of January 17th. The next morning, a Friday, fierce fighting broke out over Nesten. One more attempt was made with all their might to stop another advance of the Soviets. Lieutenant General Rein, the commander of the 69th Infantry Division, fell in the heavy fighting near Hohensalzburg . Despite heavy resistance, the 89th Panzer Brigade was able to break through the defensive front to the north on the right flank around noon and advance on the road to Tussainen. Here it not only hit the flank of the retreating 561st Volksgrenadier Division , but also the rear of the 548th Volksgrenadier Division under Major General Sudau , which was standing at Ragnit . She had been involved in heavy fighting since the early hours of the morning; because the 54th Soviet rifle corps, located on the northern bank of the Memel, had attacked a few hours earlier and had overcome the icy Memel after a powerful fire. Pressed from two sides, Ragnit could no longer be stopped.
January 19th
The battle for Tilsit entered the decisive phase. On Friday, January 19, 1945, the retreating units of the 69th Infantry Division, the 561st and 548th VGD built a new locking bolt in due haste in Tilsit-Prussia (Tilsit's eastern district). The following 126th Rifle Division hit the defensive position of Grenadier Regiment 36 of the 69th Infantry Division. Combined fire from all weapons stopped their advance. The Russian regiments 366, 690 and 550, which were already severely weakened by the Memel crossing at Ragnit, suffered heavy losses and stopped the attack. The 263rd Rifle Division, freshly brought up to Ragnit, was ordered to march on to Tilsit immediately and to penetrate the city at night. Without a break, the 997 rifle regiment moved in an express march along Reichsstrasse 132 . It was followed by the 995th Rifle Regiment, which turned via Schalau-Girschunen to attack Tilsit from the southeast. Here an attack should be least expected because since the day before the focus of the Russian attack had been on the banks of the Memel. In fact, the German defense was expecting the main blow from the north, especially since heavy artillery fire had started from the right bank of the Memel from 9 p.m. All reserves were placed on alert with the front facing the Memel bank.
In the meantime the rifle regiment had reached 995 Birgen (Birjohlen). Extensive wire and mine barriers prevented the advance along the railway line to Tilse ; However, the 2nd and 3rd Battalion managed to get to the Pfennig Bridge via Moritzhöher Strasse. The German bridge watch blew it up at 10 p.m., at the last moment. The Russian soldiers were heavily shot at from the Neustadt school. Several assault attacks over the icy Tilse were repulsed. When heavy weapons brought in forced the crossing shortly before midnight, the Russian troops were able to advance towards Karlsberg. The 997 rifle regiment took Fletcherplatz and proceeded along Deutsche Strasse towards the pulp factory. From the other (right) side of the Memel, Russian artillery shelled the German defensive positions. The new order to attack the regiments of the 115th Rifle Division on the northern bank of the Memel was issued for 11 p.m. In several waves the Red Army men ran across the broad river against the defensive line, which had been expanded with mine barriers, wire obstacles and machine gun bunkers. Again the 115th Rifle Division suffered heavy losses with 600 dead. Shortly before midnight, the 292nd Rifle Regiment broke into the German positions in close combat near Teichort . Despite heavy resistance, the 1114 Grenadier Regiment of the 551st Volksgrenadier Division was unable to prevent the formation of a small bridgehead.
January 20th
In the first hour of Saturday, the 995th Rifle Regiment advanced under continuous fire to the beginning of Grünwalder Strasse. From there the 2nd Battalion stormed the Karlsberg with the road fork in Königsberger / Kallkapper Strasse. The 1st Battalion fought its way through narrow streets and dark courtyards between Clausius- and Kleffel- Straße to the train station and reported the ordered capture at 2 a.m. In this critical situation, the German army command wanted to relieve the city. She set several tanks from the 5th Panzer Division from Kreuzingen on the march. Having made rapid progress on Königsberger Strasse, they ran into the lock on Karlsberg at 2.30 a.m. A concentrated charge put the foremost tank out of action. Irritated by the nocturnal fire magic in the city, the German tanks turned back to stabilize the northern flank of the East Prussian defense along Reichsstrasse 138 . Tilsit was left to its own devices. The German units defended themselves against the enemy on all sides. Even from the Memel bridgehead the struggle continued without a break and with undiminished violence. At 2.20 a.m., the 292 rifle regiment reported the capture of the southern bank of the Memel with Preußenhof and Weinoten ( Elchniederung district ). From here the Soviets fought their way along Stolbecker Strasse, where they met comrades of the 997th Rifle Regiment approaching them from the east at about 0.07 a.m. on the pulp mill premises. Two attack wedges had united.
Another regiment of the 115th Rifle Division, the 638th regiment, had crossed the Memel on Engelsberg in the early hours of the morning and began cleaning up the city center. The 801 regiment of the 235th Rifle Division took over the security of the southern outskirts and the Pamletten station. The fight was over. According to a document in the Central Archives of the Council of Ministers of the USSR , Tilsit was considered conquered from January 20, 1945 at 5:10 a.m.
“Between Insterburg and Tilsit, strong enemy attacks alternated with our counterattacks. After bitter fighting, the enemy was able to penetrate Tilsit. "
German retreats
After several hours of rest at the southwestern exit of the village, the Russian rifle regiments 292 and 638 continued the march towards Heinrichswalde . The order to leave was also given for the regiments of the 263rd Rifle Division at 4 p.m. What remained was a deserted city. The battle raged south of Tilsit all Saturday. With tank support from the 5th Panzer Division , Reichsstrasse 138 to Taplacken was kept open. This was especially true for the Sandfelde intersection , where the streets from Heinrichswalde and Schillen met and against which the Red Army soldiers of the 801 Rifle Regiment ran in vain all afternoon. This also applied to the Kreuzingen intersection, where the Chaussee from Neukirch / Gr. Friedrichsdorf (Elch lowlands district) flowed. An artillery regiment of the 548th Volksgrenadier Division fired here to the last grenade. Only after the last units from Tilsit had pulled through, Kreuzingen was given up around 10 p.m. The 69th Infantry Division (Colonel Grimme) had to fight back via Tapiau and arrived in Königsberg on January 27th. The remnants of the 56th Infantry Division under Major General Blaurock also ended up here . In uninterrupted skirmishes of retreat, the three Volksgrenadier divisions succeeded in reaching the Deime and building a new defensive barrier in Samland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i H. Dzieran (1994)
- ↑ Tussainen
- ^ Tilsit-Prussia
- ↑ Neustadtische Schule Tilsit ( Memento from May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Hans Dzieran: The last battle for Tilsit . 23. Tilsiter Rundbrief (1994), pp. 16-23.
- Kurt Dieckert , Horst Großmann : The struggle for East Prussia . Stuttgart 1989.
- The Wehrmacht reports 1939–1945 , Vol. 3, Cologne 1989. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2 .