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Calling All CM Players in Eastern Europe

SuperTed
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SuperTed Senior Member

SuperTed

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Hi All,

I have a small request to make. I am trying to get my hands on topographic maps of eastern Europe. If they are from WWII, that would be perfect. If they are not topographic, but are still small-scale (i.e. 1:20,000,000 or better), that would be good too.

All help would be appreciated.

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Scipio Senior Member

Scipio

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SuperTed:

Oops! It looks like I got the scale all wrong. I am trying find maps of 1:10K or lower.

Thanks again.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Ted,

try this Maps

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edgars Senior Member

edgars

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I think I might be able to dig up some maps for you, particulary from Latvia (but don't expect it to be tomorrow).

If you need them for upcoming CM2 scenarios I can suggest one idea to you (hopefully I will be able to provide the map of that area too!). It's about Kurland kettle (Kurzemes katls or Festung Kurland as Germans called it).

Note: Kurland (Kurzeme in latvian) is one of four historical parts of Republic of Latvia, my fatherland.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Kurland: The Last Stand

In the middle of October 1944, about 500,000 soldiers -- 32 German divisions and the 20,000 men of the Latvian Nineteenth Division of the Waffen–SS -- were cut off from the rest of the German army and encircled. To the east and the south was the Soviet army, to the north and the west -- the Baltic Sea. The Latvians called it Kurzemes katls, the Kurland kettle; the Germans called it Festung Kurland, Fortress Kurland. 

The Latvians trapped in Kurland were in a tragic situation. Besides the soldiers, there were also about 500,000 local inhabitants and civilian refugees from Riga and Vidzeme, altogether about a million people encircled by the Bolsheviks. Food and other supplies were scarce, and winter was approaching. Civilians and soldiers, both Latvian and German, understood that Hitler was defeated, that the Nazi Reich would soon collapse, and nothing good could be expected from the Bolsheviks.

 For the Nineteenth Division Kurland was truly the last stand. They took part in six major battles between October 12, 1944, and April 3, 1945. Together with the German army units they on the whole held the front line, keeping the Bolsheviks out of Kurland, until May 8, 1945, when Germany capitulated. These soldiers remained undefeated until the final moments of the war, im Felde unbesiegt, as the Germans say. In one of the last battles, Captain Miervaldis Adamsons' company in a single 24-hour period repelled seven attacks by the Russians, and after the battle the bodies of 400 fallen Soviet soldiers could be counted in front of the Latvians' unconquered positions. 

Soviet war historians have also written about the stubborn resistance put up by the defenders of Fortress Kurland, especially by the Latvians. Using these Soviet sources, Gershon Shapiro, a veteran of the Soviet-German war who emigrated to Israel, writes in his document collection Jews -- Heroes of the Soviet Union (in Russian, Tel Aviv 1982, pp. 359-360) that the Soviet High Command asked the commanders of the First and Second Baltic Fronts to take forceful action in Kurland, in order to drive the enemy from the northern sector of the Baltic Sea and free their units for more important positions on the Soviet-German front. The first attempt occurred on October 16, 1944, but was stopped in the area around Tukums. The next Soviet offensive took place on October 27, but met with strong resistance from the outset and did not result in any gains. November 20 saw another offensive, but the Germans and Latvians stabilized their defensive line, utilizing favorable geographic features. Equally unsuccessful were the final attempts of the First and Second Baltic Front Armies to liquidate the German Army Group "Kurland" in December of 1944 and February and April of 1945.

      Soviet documents show that Stalin threw division after division into the Kurland inferno, disregarding the appallingly high losses. According to German estimates, the Soviet army lost 320,000 soldiers -- including those fallen, wounded, and taken prisoner --  and 2388 tanks, 659 planes, 900 cannons, and 1440 machine-guns.

When the 33 divisions (32 German and one Latvian) were forced to capitulate on May 8, 1945, some of the Latvian legionnaires refused to submit as prisoners of war and fled into the forest of Kurland, to continue fighting the Bolsheviks as partisans, or guerrillas. Knowing what dismal fate awaited them, they decided to fight until their bullets ran out, or until the international situation changed. There were those who hoped that the United States and England would finally see the situation clearly and would turn against Stalin. The Latvian national partisans, like those in Estonia, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, continued armed resistance in complete isolation until 1952, when Bolshevik "punitive expeditions" liquidated the last of the "forest brothers," as they were called.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hope this helps.

[ 07-30-2001: Message edited by: ciks ]

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SuperTed Senior Member

SuperTed

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ciks,

Yes, that would be a big help. Anything 1:20K or larger scale would be be great.

Where did you get the description of The Last Stand? Would you mind if I added your information to the list of potential scenarios ideas?

Thank you.

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edgars Senior Member

edgars

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The information I quoted is from this site. The article itself is here

As you see the site is not exactly about military history, but that was the only source in english i was able to dig out on subject in two minutes of search.

If you want some more info you can try and search the internet using keywords "Festung Kurland", Google, for example, returns a lot of links, but most of them are in German.

About the maps, actually the area what was called Kurland kettle was quite big, about 150km wide and some 200km tall. I wonder if it is helpful if i find you one bigger map of the whole area for a "strategical" feel and then some smaller "tactical" ones i can dig up?

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SuperTed Senior Member

SuperTed

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ciks,

Thanks for the information. It is very helpful indeed. I prefer working from a more personal perspective when designing scenarios. So, sites and articles like these are very useful.

I'll give the Google search a try. One can never have too much information. ;)

Yes, if you could dig up some maps for the area, that would be a HUGE help. It's best to be as accurate as possible.

Let's continue via email (tedquincey@yahoo.com), okay? Then, we can let this thread sink into oblivion.

Thanks again.

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