| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Curland: Fighting of the Latvian 130th Rifle Corps, versus the Waffen SS December 23, 1944, in the Jukste area, Tukums region |
| 2023-12-25 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. From the V Kontakte page of KALININGRAD. KONIGSBERG. ECHO OF WAR On December 23, 1944, in the Jukste area, Tukums region of Latvia, fierce battles began, in which the 130th Latvian Rifle Corps of the Red Army was opposed by the 19th Latvian Waffen SS Division (second Latvian ). There is practically no information about these battles.... .....The battles with the troops of the powerful German Army Group North, which was called “Curland” from January 26, 1945, blocked in Kurzeme, were difficult. From December 23, 1944, the corps conducted offensive battles in the direction of the main attack in the so-called Juksten operation of the 2nd Baltic Front. This operation of the 1st Shock and 22nd armies was carried out in the Tukum direction; strike forces directed their efforts to the village of Lestene, located southwest of Juxte; That's why the operation was called Jukstensky. On December 23, 1944, the 22nd and 1st Shock Armies of the 2nd Baltic Front went on the offensive. The 130th Latvian Corps was assigned the 312th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment, the 1040th Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, the 36th Mortar Brigade, the 72nd Guards Mortar Regiment, the 36th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade and the 192nd Engineer Battalion. Interestingly, the 72nd Guards Mortar Regiment was likely a 132mm BM-13 (Katusha) MRL unit of 20 launchers. In total about 40 guns counting only the tube artillery assigned the 130th Latvian Corps. In these battles, the corps needed to break through the enemy’s defenses in the Jukste area on the Priednieki - Baltamuiza sector, capture the railway track to ensure the entry of the 19th Tank Corps into the breakthrough from the Ferdinandmuiza - Lestene line and then, advancing together with the 19th Tank Corps, to the end On December 28, reach the Vidini-Vamzhi line. The corps' soldiers broke through the enemy's defensive positions, reached the Yaunbridi-Dirbas line, captured the railway and repelled the counterattacks that had begun. The offensive continued on December 27 and 28, but its pace slowed due to strong enemy resistance, the lag in the advance of neighboring formations and heavy losses. On December 28, the commander of the 22nd Army gave the order to go on the defensive. In a number of sectors, the corps was opposed by the 19th Latvian SS Division. By this time, the Nazi command had staffed the division by 60% with Germans. Of great importance was the fact that after the liberation of Riga, “a moral crisis arose in the 19th SS Division, which manifested itself in frequent desertion... Outwardly, the discipline was impeccable... But still the soldiers secretly disappeared in twos or in small groups: about 500 people from combat units , and from the reserve unit, which was located in the Dundaga area and consisted of young people called up for training - about 2,000 people." In defense, the enemy used the battle tactics of the "armored belt": infantry-tank groups of up to two infantry companies with 3-7 tanks and 5–7 anti-tank guns counterattacked the units of Soviet troops wedged into the German defense from ambushes on hills, in forests and populated areas. Rifle units in normal formation could not fight them. The headquarters of the 2nd Baltic Front developed instructions that provided for the creation in such cases of special artillery-infantry assault groups, reporting directly to division commanders and provided with 3-5 tanks, 2-3 self-propelled artillery mounts, mortars and artillery. For the battles in the Jukste area, the corps command noted a group of soldiers of the 308th Latvian Division...... |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 To the best of my knowledge, the "Latvian" units of Soviet army were formed from Jewish Refugees. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-12-25 00:41 |