Sea lion position

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In the final phase of World War II, the sea ​​lion position was a German defensive position in the Dutch-northwestern German area to protect naval ports and bases on the North Sea.

Military importance

After British troops had reached the Rhine in mid-February 1945 , another Allied advance into northwest Germany was to be feared. Therefore, the management of the Navy was forced to prepare the land-based protection of the important North Sea ports and to maintain the territorial connection to the Dutch area. On March 10, the OKW was proposed to declare the areas Emden / Delfzijl , Wilhelmshaven , Wesermünde (Bremerhaven), Cuxhaven and Brunsbüttel to be fortresses .

Geographical course

Since a staggered defense was no longer possible in March 1945, advancing Allied formations should be slowed down at natural obstacles. For the fortress areas of Emden / Delfzijl and Wilhelmshaven, the so-called “sea lion position” was prepared as an outer line of defense from the beginning of April. This extensive defensive position running in a west-east direction used artificially flooded areas in the north of the Netherlands and the 65 km long and 30 m wide coastal canal in Germany as natural obstacles. It began in Northeast Holland following the flooded Groningen area and ran from there eastwards via Winschoten - Vlagtwedde to the Ems . From Dörpen the position followed the course of the difficult-to-cross coastal canal to Oldenburg and then along the Hunte to the Weser .

The main purpose of the sea lion position was to keep German routes of retreat free and to serve as a catchment position. In German territory these were the routes Friesoythe - Strücklingen, Friesoythe - Zwischenahn, Cloppenburg - Oldenburg, Vechta - Oldenburg ( Reichsstrasse 75 ) and Ganderkesee - Elsfleth ( Reichsstrasse 212 ). From a military point of view, the crossing areas of roads and the strategically important bridges over the coastal canal and the Hunte were to be defended, sections in between were to be monitored by subordinate scouting teams of the so-called “ Volkssturm ”.

April 1945: approaching fronts

The war of movement in north-west Germany began on March 23, 1945 when British troops crossed the Rhine between Rees and Wesel ( Operation Plunder ). For the occupation of the Dutch-East Frisian-Oldenburg area the 1st Canadian Army in conjunction with the 2nd British Army was planned. The marching goal of the 1st Canadian Army was North Holland to encircle the 6th German Paratrooper Division and to threaten the adjacent German North Sea coast. The 2nd British Army had the port cities of Bremen and Hamburg as its target.

Opposite them were the 25th Army ( Colonel General Blaskowitz ) in Holland and the 1st Parachute Army ( Colonel General Student ) in the British main thrust on north-west German territory up to the Weser . In addition to experienced troops, the German units consisted primarily of hastily thrown up reserves such as naval units fighting ashore, replacement troop units, training units and the “ Volkssturm ”.

On April 5, the 4th Canadian Armored Division of the II Corps under the command of Major General Christopher Vokes passed the German-Dutch border near Coevorden . The 3rd Canadian Division gathered for the crossing of the Ems at Winschoten .

Defense of the sea lion position

On April 6, the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval High Command North gave the order for the military occupation of the "sea lion position". In the canal zone between the Ems and the city of Friesoythe , which was particularly endangered by the Allied advance , preparations were made for blasting and blocking measures and the withdrawal of the ship's hold was ordered. On April 12, the units between the Weser and Ems were placed under the Parachute Army High Command (Colonel General Student ). For the defense of the section from the Ems to Friesoythe the 21st Parachute Division was planned, east to the Vehnemoor the 7th Parachute Division and further east the 8th Parachute Division from Cloppenburg .

As the front approached, the coastal canal bridges were blown up in Dörpen on April 10, later the Germans blew up the Edewechterdammer canal bridge (April 15), then the crossings in Husbäke and Jeddeloh II and finally the bridge at Klein Scharrel (20 April) . April).

Overcoming the sea lion position and the end of the war

The sea lion position was overcome between April 10 and 19, 1945. On April 13th, Polish units penetrated the right flank of the position near Groningen. The western end of the coastal canal position near Dörpen was reached by the 10th Polish Tank Brigade on April 10th, but at this point the blown bridge delayed the canal crossing, so that the Polish units could only advance towards Aschendorf and Papenburg on April 19th . The first Allied crossing of the channel was made on April 16 by the 4th Canadian Panzer Division further east in Edewechterdamm. After breaking out of the Edewechterdamm bridgehead and two weeks of bitter fighting , the Canadians were able to advance on Wilhelmshaven and Oldenburg from May 1, 1945.

After a unilateral ceasefire and the partial surrender in north-west Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands that came into force on May 5, 1945, the Canadians took part in all of the unoccupied north-west German areas, including the naval bases in Wilhelmshaven and Emden / Delfzijl, between May 5 and 7, 1945 of the 1st Polish Panzer Division occupied without a fight.

literature

  • Fritz Warnke (2000): The Edewechterdamm bridgehead. The fighting in the Edewecht area, April 1945. Edewecht. Self-published.
  • Günter Wegmann (2000): The end of the war between Weser and Ems 1945. Oldenburg. Bültmann & Gerriets. ISBN 3-928076-13-2