Ian Baxter - The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 1944–45: German Defense of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

THE SOVIET BALTIC OFFENSIVE, 194445

GERMAN DEFENSE OF ESTONIA, LATVIA, AND LITHUANIA

IAN BAXTER

Acknowledgements: I wish to thank my artist Johnny Shumate for some of the illustrations in this book. I also want to thank my armored artist Oliver Missing for his time and expertise in producing some fine and well-detailed German and Soviet tanks, as well as the maps. Please find Olivers vast selection of illustrations at his Engines of WW2 site: www.o5m6.de.

CIS0024

Print Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-106-7

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-107-4

Mobi Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-107-4

Casemate Publishers 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.

Design by Battlefield Design

Maps by Oliver Missing

Artwork by Johnny Shumate and Oliver Missing

Printed and bound in Turkey by Megaprint

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The photos in this book are derived from the authors personal collection or from archival sources, including the US National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress, Bundesarchiv, and the US Military History Institute.

Title page image: Red Army troops supported by advancing T-34 tanks during operations in the Baltics.

Contents page map: Map of the Baltic operation, January 1, 1944. (Ministry of Defence of USSR)

Contents page image: Exhausted Waffen-SS soldiers in a defensive position near the city of Narva, Estonia, February 1944. While the the battle for the city raged, Latvian SS tried to defend its lines against overwhelming superiority.

December 30, 1943: Soviet planning for the Estonian Operation, the winter campaign against German Army Group North, to secure Leningrad and break through the Narva Isthmus.

February 2, 1944: The battle of Narva opens. German Army Detachment Narva defense against Soviet Leningrad Front is solid.

February 11, 1944: Soviet 30th Guards Rifle Corps forces Narva bridgehead for several miles. German 227th and 170th Divisions retreat.

March 23, 1944: Army Detachment Narva clings on to the bridgehead as Soviet offensive bogs down with spring thaw.

June 23, 1944: Red Army unleashes Operation Bagration, the great summer offensive, against German Army Group Center. Army Group North forced to assist Third Panzer Army, thus diluting its strength.

July 1, 1944: Soviet 1st Baltic Front penetrates the weakened Army Group North to reach Latvian and Lithuanian frontiers.

July 13, 1944: In spite of fanatical resistance by the German garrison, Fortress Vilnius capitulates. The Germans suffer 13,000 casualties.

July 24, 1944: Soviet Leningrad Front launches a fresh offensive against Narva which is captured on the 26th. German forces fall back on Tannenberg Line in area of Sinimed hills. Red Army efforts to destroy Tannenberg Line hampered by German counterattacks.

September 14, 1944: Soviet Baltic Offensive opens with the Riga Offensive, launched by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts, to capture the Latvian capital Riga and cut off Army Group North in Courland in western Latvia and the Gulf of Riga.

September 17, 1944: Soviet 3rd Baltic Front launches Tallinn Offensive to encircle Army Detachment Narva but stiff resistance enables the Germans to consolidate on Latvian border.