Battle of Memel

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For other uses, see Battle of Memel (disambiguation).
Battle of Memel
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Date5–22 October 1944 (main offensive); 28 January 1945 (end of siege)
Location
Klaipėda (Lithuania / East Prussia)
55°40′N 21°30′E / 55.667°N 21.500°E / 55.667; 21.500Coordinates: 55°40′N 21°30′E / 55.667°N 21.500°E / 55.667; 21.500
Result Soviet victory
Territorial
changes		 The Soviet Union annexes Memel and awards it to the Lithuanian SSR
Belligerents
Nazi Germany Germany  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erhard Raus
(Third Panzer Army)
Hans Gollnick
(XXVIII Corps)		 Hovhannes Bagramyan
(1st Baltic Front)

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: Мемельская наступательная операция) in late 1944. The offensive drove remaining German forces in the area that is now Lithuania and Latvia into a small bridgehead in Klaipėda (Memel) and its port, leading to a three-month siege of that position.

The bridgehead was finally crushed as part of a subsequent Soviet offensive, the East Prussian offensive, in early 1945.

Prelude[edit]

The Soviet Belorussian offensive of June–August 1944 (commonly known as Operation Bagration) had seen the German Army Group Centre nearly destroyed and driven from what is now Belarus, most of what is now Lithuania and much of Poland. During August and September of that year, a series of German counter-offensives – Operations Doppelkopf and Casar – succeeded in stalling the Soviet advance and maintaining the connection between the German Army Groups Centre and North; however, Stavka made preparations for an attack by the 1st Baltic Front against the positions of the Third Panzer Army and thence towards Memel, splitting the two Army Groups.

Soviet General Bagramyan planned to make his main attack in a 19 km sector to the west of Šiauliai. He concentrated up to half of his entire force in this area, using concealment techniques to ensure there was not a corresponding build-up of German forces, and attempting to convince the German command that the main axis of attack would be towards Riga.[1]

Deployments[edit]

Wehrmacht[edit]

  • Various miscellaneous units of the Kriegsmarine.
    • Stabs company of Marine Festung Kdt. Memel
    • Volkssturm Battalion Hartung (1., 2., 3. companies c. 350 men Kustenhilfswehr). It seems to be renamed as Volkssturm Battalion 25/5.
    • Marine Festung Bau Pioneer Battalion 311 (4. company)
    • Steam boat Henriette Schulte
    • Steam boat Schiffbeck Tonnage: 2.856 t.
    • Steam boat Füsilier
      • Marine Artillery Abteilung 533 (1. battery - 1 15cm canon)
      • battery Hirschwiese (3x15 cm howitzer - on foot).
      • Marine Flakabteilung 217
        • 1. Flak Battery formed an alarmenheiten with 40 men.
        • 2. Flak Battery "Strandhalle" - (4 canons 10,5cm)
        • 3. Flak Battery "Götzhöfen" - (4 canons 10,5cm)
        • 4. Flak Battery "Tauerlauken" - (4 canons 10,5cm)
        • 5. Flak Battery "Mellneraggen" - (4 canons 10,5cm)
        • 8. Flak Battery formed an alarmenheiten with 40 men.
        • 9. Flak Battery "Försterei" - 4 canons 12,8cm
        • 10. Flak Battery "Schweinsrücken" - 4 canons 12,8 cm
        • 11. Flak battery Lollen - 4 canons 10,5cm
        • 12. Flak Battery "Süderspitze" - 4 canons 7,5cm (brit)
    • Battery Charlottenhof
    • Flak battery Sandkrug
  • Northern wing of Third Panzer Army (General Erhard Raus)
    • Remnants of the 551. Volks-Grenadier-Division
      • Grenadier regiment 1113 (I. battalion)
      • Grenadier regiment 1114
      • Grenadier regiment 1115 (1. company)
      • Pionier Batallion 1551
      • SturmGechutze Abteilung 1551 (Reste: 4 StuG).
      • Artillery regiment 1551 (Stab, I. (1. 3x10,5cm & 2. 4x10,5cm), II.)
    • XXVIII Corps (General Hans Gollnick) The corps was encircled in Memel bridgehead.
      • Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland (2 regiments)
        • Division Begleit company
        • Panzer Füsilier Regiment GD (I., II., III.)
        • Panzer Grenadier Regiment GD (I., II. & III.)
        • Panzer artillery Regiment GD (I.(1. 5x15cm, 2. 3x10,5cm, 3. 5x15cm all 3 selfpropelled), II. (4. 5x10,5cm, 5. 5x10,5 cm, 6. 3x15cm), III. (7. (4 x15cm), 8. (3x15cm), 9. 2x10,5cm), IV. - Total 3 light - 13 canons & 9 heavy batteries - 22 canons)
        • Panzer engineer battalion GD (1., 2., 3. companies)
        • Sturmgeschutz Brigade GD (1. - The vehicles were given to Sturmgeschutz Brigade 278 on 3rd December 1944)
        • Panzer Feld Ersatz Batallion GD
          • Heeres Flakabteilung GD (1. 2x8,8cm, 2. 4x8,8cm, 3. 4x8,8cm, 5.).
      • 7th Panzer Division (part)
        • Division begleit company
        • Panzer Regiment 25 (2. company 19 Pz V & 8 Pz IV)
        • Panzer Grenadier Regiment 6 (I. & II. (spw))
        • Panzer Grenadier Regiment 7 (I. & II.)
        • Panzer Aufklarung Abteilung 7 (Stab company & 1., 2. & 3. companies)
        • Panzer Jäger Abteilung 42 (Stab & 1., 2. & 3. companies)
        • Panzer Artillery Regiment (Stab, I., II. & III. battalions)
        • Flak Begleit company
      • 58. Infanterie-Division
        • Grenadier regiment 154 (I. & II. battalions)
        • Grenadier regiment 209 (I. & II. battalions)
        • Grenadier regiment 220 (I. & II. battalions)
        • Füsilier battalion 58
        • Pioneer battalion 158 (1., 2., 3. companies + Russian 4. bau company + Freiwilligen bau company)
        • Panzerjäger abteilung 158 (17 Pak 40 -7,5cm, 2 Pak 43/41 - 8,8cm, 6 Pak 36 (r) - 7,62cm)
        • Felderzatz battalion 158
        • Sturmgeschutz Abteilung 1158 (6 StuG + 8 in reparation - arrived between 9th-10th November 1944)
        • Artillery regiment 158 (I.(1.,2.,3.), II.(4. 3x10,5cm,5. 3x10,5cm,6. 3x10,5cm), III. (7. 3x10,5cm,8. 3x10,5cm,9. 3x10,5cm), IV. (10. 2 x 15cm,11. 3 x 15 cm,12. 2 x 15cm) - Total 9 light batteries - 27 canons & 3 heavy batteries - 7 canons)
      • Artillery battery "Paris" with 4 22cm mortars (captured French mortars) - Arrived on 9 November 1944 at 20:30.
      • 2. s. Pak d. Heeres Panzer Jagt Abteilung 664 (2x8,8 Pak) arrived o 19th November 1944.
      • Pioneer company 134 (From 390 Sicherungs Division)
      • 3. Bau Pi. Battalion 46
      • 3. Bau Pi. Battalion 692
    • Pioneer Regiment Stab 514
      • Heeres Pionier Battalion 743 (Sturm, 1., 2. & 3. companies)
      • Schweres Panzer Brücken Kolonne 848
      • Ld. Bau-Pionier company 12 (84 men)
      • Ldg. Pionier Battalion 128 (2. company - 154 men)
      • Sturmboot Kdo. Knerr (44 men)
      • Landschutzen battalion 468 (1. & 2. companies - 250 men)
      • Sicherheit regiment 45 (I. battalion) - Also Known as per commandant name "Gruppe Vogt".
      • Flakabteilung I./111 (mot) regiment (3. 4x8,8cm -3 light & 2 heavy batteries)
      • Flakabteilung II./36 (mot) regiment (7. 4x8,8cm & 8. batteries - 3 light & 2 heavy batteries - )
      • Flakabteilung 641 (1., 3., 4., 5. & schweres 6. batteries) (2cm Flak)
      • 6. company of Artillery abteilung II./41 (3 x 15cm)
      • Bau battalion v. Borke (4 companies formed with civilians - 350 men)
      • Feldbahn company 615 (53 men-non combatant)
    • Arko 24
      • Heeres Festung Artillerie Abteilung 856 (1. (3 7,5cm K (itl); 3 10,5cm K (itl)), 2. (3 sK 18 10cm; 3 7,5cm K (itl); 3 10,5cm K), 3. (3 7,5cm (itl.), 4 10,5 (itl.), 4. (3 sK18 10 cm); Total 12 sK18 10cm barrel)
      • Artillery Abteilung 1064
      • Heeres Artillery Abteilung 814 (I. - 1. 3x10,5cm, 2. 2x15cm, 3. 3x15cm)
      • Gerätebatterie "Aachen": 3 sK18 10cm
      • Artillery Abteilung 818 (I. with 1. (4x15cm) & 3. (3x10,5cm) batteries) (in control of battery Aachen)
      • Werfer Regiment 3 (II. medium battalion (5.(s), 6(s), 8.(m) batteries), III. Schweres battalion (4.(s), 7.(m) & 9.(m) batteries), 23. schweres mortar battery (selfpropelled) - 6 x 12 + 5 x 10 15cm launchers & 6 x 12 30 cm launchers)= 122 15cm barrels & 72 300 cm barrels
      • 502 Schweres Panzer Battalion (1., 2. Companies - 17 Tiger I + 1 in reparation + 2 Tiger I in December + 2 Tiger at the beginning of January). Converted to 511 Schweres Panzer Battalion on 10th January 1945

At the end of November Panzer-Grenadier-Division "GrossDeutschland" and 7. Panzer-Division were withdrawn and replaced by:

  • 95. Infanterie-Division
      • Grenadier regiment 278 (I. & II. battalions + Stabs company + 13. & 14. companies)
      • Grenadier regiment 279 (I. & II. battalions + Stabs company + 13. & 14. companies)
      • Grenadier regiment 280 (I. & II. battalions + Stabs company + 13. & 14. companies)
      • Füsilier battalion 95
      • Pioneer battalion 195 (Sturm, 1., 2. & 3. companies + Freiwilligen company)
      • Feldersatz battalion 195
      • Panzerjäger abteilung 195 (19 Pak 40 - 7,5 cm)
      • Artillery regiment 195 (I., II., III. & IV. battalions - total 10 light batteries -29 canons & 2 heavy batteries - 5 canons)
      • A Provisional battalion Kellermann formed with 2. (from I. battalion) & 5. (from II. battalion) companies of GR 279
      • Sturmgeschutz Abteilung 1195 (8 StuG - arrived on 12 December 1944 + 8 StuG at the end of December)
    • 607. z.B.V. Division
      • 21st Marine Ersatz Battalion (M.E.B. - c. 570 men)
      • Polizei Landschutzen battalion 1 (4. company - 85 men) on Kurische Nehrung
      • Volkssturm Battalion Roller (arrived 11th December 1944 on Kurische Nehrung - c. 370 men). Known as Volkssturm Battalion Memel-II. It seems to be renamed as Volkssturm Battlion 25/2.
      • Volkssturm Battalion Schulze (1., 2., 3., 4. arrived 16th December 1944 on Kurische Nehrung - c. 500 men. A 5. company formed on January). Because of coincidence of comander's name and place, it seems that this unit is Volkssturm Battalion 25/39.
      • Volkssturm Battalion Grau (Projected on 5th November and 5 companies (1. to 4. & 5. reserve company, respectively Barning, Jahn, Boisen, Lange & Riesel - 5 companies arrived 17th December 1944). Kwown as Volkssturm Battalion Memel-I. It seems to be renamed as Volkssturm Battallion 25/1 Sudau (on 7th January 1945)
      • Zollgrenzschutz company (c. 200 men)
      • Festungs battalion 644 (arrived 19th December 1944 - 177 men) At the end of December 1944 became II./931 GR.
      • Battalion Krokow (5 companies, Külh, Fischer, Schuster, Gabriel, Braun; c. 270 men - arrived on December on Kurische Nehrung) It became I. GR 931 at 31st December 1944.


      • Stellungsbau-Pi-Batallion 784 (2. company + 3. & 4. Bau companies + Turk Bau company - arrived 5th December 1944 on Kurische Nehrung with 557 men)
    • Fortress Regiment 2 or "Memel" (Battalions assigned to infantry divisions 58. & 95. at December.) Fortress designation eliminated on 20th November 1944
      • Fortress Battalion 1404
      • Fortress-MG-Battalion 32 (Theoretically a Fort-MG battalion had 630 men - really about 480)
      • Fortress MG-Battalion 55 (assigned to GR 278)
      • Fortress Pak Verband I (3 companies- 4. 9. & 11.) every company with 12 Russian 7,62cm canons.
      • Fortress artillery battalion 856 (Described above)
      • Artillery battery "Sedan" 22cm mortar ( 4 captured French mortars)
    • Sturmgeschutz Brigade 278 (1., 2., 3. & 4. batteries (28 vehicles (18 StuG III & 10 StuG IV + 8 vehicles in reparation) + 9 StuG in December))

In the middle of December 5 alarm companies were formed from soldiers of the corps: 1/195, 2/195, 51/195, 52/195 & 53/195

Red Army[edit]

  • 1st Baltic Front (General Hovhannes Bagramyan)
    • 5th Guards Tank Army (General Vasily Volsky)
      • 119th Armenian Tank regiment (attacked Krottingen during the night 12-13 December 1944) Nominal forces: 21 T-34/85.
    • 43rd Army (Lieutenant-General Afanasy Beloborodov)
      • 179th Rifle division
        • 215th Rifle regiment
        • 234th Rifle regiment
        • 259th Rifle regiment
        • 619th Artillery regiment
        • 30th AT battalion
        • 30th motorised engineer battalion
      • 235th Rifle division
        • 732nd Rifle regiment
        • 801st Rifle regiment
        • 806th Rifle regiment
        • 682nd Artillery regiment
      • 344th Rifle division
        • 1152nd Rifle regiment
        • 1154th Rifle regiment
        • 1156th Rifle regiment
        • 913th Artillery regiment
      • 70th Rifle Division
        • 68th Rifle Regiment
        • 252nd Rifle Regiment
        • 329th Rifle Regiment
        • 221st Artillery Regiment
        • 94th AT Battalion
        • 65th Recce Battalion
        • 64th Engineer Battalion
      • 32nd Rifle division
        • 17th Rifle regiment
        • 113th Rifle regiment
        • 322nd Rifle regiment
        • 133rd Artillery regiment
        • 65th AT battalion
      • 145th Rifle division (Army reserve)
        • 403rd Rifle regiment
        • 599th Rifle regiment
        • 729th Rifle regiment
        • 277th Artillery regiment
        • 123th Reconnaissance company
      • 21st Artillery division
        • 55th Howitzer Artillery Brigade
          • 1.210th (mot) Howitzer Artillery Regiment (2 battalions each with 4 batteries of 2 x 122 mm & 2 battalions each with 4 batteries 2 x 152 mm)
          • 1.226th (mot) Howitzer Artillery Regiment (2 battalions each with 4 batteries of 2 x 122 mm & 2 battalions each with 4 batteries 2 x 152 mm)
        • 64th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade
          • 1.304th Cannon regiment (2 battalions with each 4 batteries of 2 x 150 mm)
          • 1.308th Cannon regiment (2 battalions with each 4 batteries of 2 x 150 mm)
        • 66th Light Artillery Brigade
          • 3 (mot) Light Artillery regiments each with 2 (mot) Light Artillery battalions each with 3 batteries of 4 x 76,2 mm (72 x 76.2 mm canons).
        • 94th Heavy Howitzer Brigade
          • 1 regiment with 4 Howitzer battalions each with 4 Howitzer batteries each with 2 x 150 mm howitzers (32 x 150 mm howitzers)
        • 103rd Super Heavy Artillery Brigade (with 12 batteries, each with 2 x 203 mm howitzers in 3 battalions)
        • 25th Mortar Brigade
        • 890 Battalion of Motorised transport
      • 10th Guards tank brigade
        • 144th Tank Battalion
        • 169th Tank Battalion
        • 10th Guards motorised rifle battalion
    • 51st Army (Lieutenant-General Yakov Kreizer)
    • 4th Shock Army (Lieutenant-General Pyotr Malyshev)
    • 6th Guards Army (Lieutenant-General Ivan Chistyakov)

The offensive[edit]

On 5 October, Bagramyan opened the offensive against Raus's Third Panzer Army on a sixty-mile front, concentrating his breakthrough force against the relatively weak 551st Grenadier Division.[2] The latter collapsed on the first day, and a 16 km (10 mile) penetration was achieved; Bagramyan then committed Volsky's 5th Guards Tank Army to the breach, aiming for the coast to the north of Memel. There was a general collapse of the Third Panzer Army's positions by 7 October, and a penetration further south by Beloborodov's 43rd Army. Within two days, it had reached the coast south of Memel, while Volsky had encircled the town from the north. In the south, the northern flank of Chernyakhovsky's 3rd Belorussian Front was advancing on Tilsit. Third Panzer Army's headquarters were overrun by the 5th Guards Tank Army, and Raus and his staff had to fight their way into Memel.[3]

The neighbouring Army Group commander, Ferdinand Schoerner, signalled on 9 October that he would mount an attack to relieve Memel if troops could be freed up by evacuating Riga. A decision on this matter was delayed, but the Kriegsmarine managed to withdraw much of the garrison and some civilians from the port in the meantime.[4] The German XXVIII Corps under Gollnick held a defensive line around the town itself.

The success of the offensive in the northern sector encouraged the Soviet command to authorise the 3rd Belorussian Front to attempt to break through into the main area of East Prussia. This offensive, the Gumbinnen Operation, ran into extremely strong German resistance and was halted within a few days.

The siege[edit]

The stalling of the Gumbinnen Operation meant that Soviet forces (mainly from the 43rd Army) settled down to a blockade of the German troops that had withdrawn into Memel. The German force, largely made up of elements from the Großdeutschland and 58th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Panzer Division, was aided by heavily fortified tactical defences, artillery fire from ships (including the Prinz Eugen) in the Baltic, and a tenuous connection with the remainder of East Prussia over the Curonian Spit.

The blockade, and defence, was maintained through November, December and much of January, during which period the remaining civilians who had fled into the town, and military wounded, were evacuated by sea. During this time, the Großdeutschland and 7th Panzer Divisions were withdrawn, having suffered heavy losses, and were replaced by the 95th Infantry Division, which arrived by sea.

The town was finally abandoned on 27 January 1945. The success of the Soviet East Prussian offensive to the south made the position of the bridgehead untenable, and it was decided to withdraw the XXVIII Corps from the town into Samland to assist in the defence there; the remaining troops of the 95th and 58th Infantry Divisions were evacuated to the Curonian Spit, where the 58th Division acted as a rearguard for the withdrawal.[5] The last organized German units left at 4am on 28 January, Soviet units taking possession of the harbour a few hours later.

Aftermath[edit]

Memel, which had been part of Lithuania only between 1923 and 1939 prior to being reincorporated into Germany, was transferred to the Lithuanian SSR under the Soviet administration. In 1947 it was formally renamed using the Lithuanian name, Klaipėda.[6]

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Glantz, pp..434-5
  2. ^ Mitcham, p.151
  3. ^ Glantz, p.440
  4. ^ Mitcham, p.152
  5. ^ Most of the evacuated formations were later destroyed around Pillau, with the 95th being cut off and destroyed at Palmnicken in mid-April.
  6. ^ Wellmann, Christian. "Recognising Borders: Coping with Historically Contested Territory" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2007-03-01.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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