"Festung Kurland" + pictures from museum

[edgars]

Hello!

I recon that this kind of post belongs more to General Forum, but since the event described was part of Eastern Front, i'm putting it here (not to mention bigger traffic).

The text below is my "research" (forgive me for my poor "military english") based on 2 history books, 1 museum and 1 webpage data. I had special interest in this battle because it was the biggest fought in the teritory of Latvia - my homeland.

If anyone feels he/she could correct me where i'm wrong and/or add some more data, please do so.

Here we go:

On the July 30, 1944, Soviet tanks in unexpected attack managed to break through German lines from Lithuania to the north and reach the Riga Bay (Baltic Sea). That was the prelude to the Festung Kurland / Kurland kettle.

NOTE: Kurzeme (in Latvian)/Kurland (in German) is a peninsula in the Baltic sea, historical part of Latvia. Terrain is relatively flat but highly defensible, around 70% of land is covered by forests (my guesstimate).

In the beginning of October Red Army cut the surface communications with Kurzeme completely and encircled German forces - 33 divisions (other source states - 29) including one Latvian division - together around 200,000 soldiers.

Stalin ordered that "Kurland kettle" must be taken until November 7 - the anniversary of october revolution. On October 11, 1944 Red Army started the front-wide (180-200km) attack with several hundreds of thousands of men, and huge material odds. In heavy battles that lasted 12 days, German forces managed to hold the line and in some sectors even throw back soviet forces. Red Army lost about 600 tanks, 240 planes. Soviet attacks continued for 7-8 months until May 8, 1945, in this time Red Army went on 6 major attacks, but with almost no success (see the map):

Red line is front line in October 11, blue – May 8, 1945).

Maximum distance that Red Army pushed german lines back was appr. 40km (in eight months! compare that to progress Soviets and Allies made in other parts of the front in the same timeframe!).

In one sector germans had access to naval guns (near Liepaja/Libau), and front line in this vicinity did not move at all. Everytime soviets tried to push forward, heavy shells rained down on them.

As keeper of museum , devoted to Festung Kurland (that museum is actually owned by one man who has devoted 30 years of his life researching the subject and digging out and buying from locals various stuff) told me, the soviet and german archive documents are STILL SECRET up until this day, we can only question why...

And we can only ask questions why Hitler wanted to defend this encircled peninsula, instead of redrawing forces by ships to the Germany to defend the Reich itself. And why Stalin wanted this part of the land so badly, he threw division after division in this inferno.

There is no HARD data on the casualties, there is only estimates. However the count of soviet casualties never drops below 200,000 men, but the guy who owns that museum (and he has studied the subject for 30 years) told that by counting the mass graves of soviet soldiers, he estimates that about 500,000 lost their lives in 8 months.

A webpage (http://vip.latnet.lv/LPRA/fg_Kurland.htm) states that "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."

As for German casualties, the only figure i've found is 30,000-50,000 men, which seems a "little" to low to me. No data on tank losses, although germans had Panthers and even Tigers there. Tanks (as well as planes) suffered from fuel shortage, so were often used as "steel pillboxes".

The german soldiers were "im Feld unbesiegt" and laid weapons down on May 8, 1945.

Now the fun stuff!

(i have 16 pictures to show you, but the forum currently allows only 8 to be posted in one post, that's because i'm only providing the links)

This bunker is built in the same place where it was "standing" in 1945.

Soviet cluster bomb (?)

Lend-lease Dodge and German 81mm mortar.

Various German MGs

All three PanzerFaust and Schreck in the middle.

IS-2. Nice view, isn't it?

IS-2 again.

Back of IS-2. Can you tell i liked this thing?

Back of the turret

Famous Maxim MG.

Re-built German MG nest, with barbed wire and other fun stuff around it.

Big stuff as keeper of museum explained to me, that these wepons where called "mooing cow" (my transl.), there was 300m (on the left) and 240mm versions, it was rocket projectile and the "warhead" contained fuel and little bit of HE, so the fuel was spread and ignited creating vacuum in certain area. Can someone provide more details on this?

Hey Mr! Don't touch that girl! (look at his boots!!! must have been pretty cold to wear these).

Barrel of Soviet AT rifle and 82mm mortar.

Soviet ATR munition (in the center) 12.7mm and 14mm.

Hope you liked it.

[Tread Head]

Nice....... NOW send me a turn!

[Panzer_Meyer]

ciks,

That was awesome and very infomitive. This also shows me more of what I've read about the courland pocket.

I finnished reading a book, "In Deadly Combat: a German soldiers memoir's of the eastern front by Gottlob Herbart Biderman" He was a soldier who fought witht he 132nd inf. division throught he war (41-45) and ended up in the Courland pocket till the end. His memoirs are soemthing alse, really interesting and I'd say really accurate.

The books has a whole chapter on the Courland pocket and he describes the bitter defensive battle there. It was really moving to read, the way he described the massive arty barages by the soviets, of all cilber weapons. Up to 152mm or more.

Thanx for the info and the site. I bookmarked it. I will make an enitire scenario pack for CM2 about the 132nd German inf. division and Gottlob Biderman. I am reserching on the 132nd and his regiments the 346th regiments I belive.

Thanx, ciks!

[Andreas]

Great stuff ciks!

The Bidermann book is well worth the money, and even better if you can borrow it from Peter_NZer. The regiments in his division were IR 436 and 437 in the Festung Kurland.

[PJungnitsch]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>And we can only ask questions why Hitler wanted to defend this encircled peninsula, instead of redrawing forces by ships to the Germany to defend the Reich itself.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

From what I understand the idea behind this was to hold the Baltic coast as long as possible, as much hope was placed on the new type submarines which were training there to cut the Atlantic lifeline (which by all accounts they may have been able to do). The best steel also went to these subs, leading to such diverse things as the short life of Me-262 jet engines and the front plate of Hetzers being limited to 60?mm.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Big stuff as keeper of museum explained to me, that these wepons where called "mooing cow" (my transl.), there was 300m (on the left) and 240mm versions, it was rocket projectile and the "warhead" contained fuel and little bit of HE, so the fuel was spread and ignited creating vacuum in certain area. Can someone provide more details on this?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds like a fuel air bomb. This shows one going off. (slow to load)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Hope you liked it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nice post.

[Xavier]

Great!

The 'big stuff' weapon seems like a Nebelwerfer rocket( there is a '21 cm' on one of them). But I'm not a specialist

[ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: Xavier ]

[Panzer_Meyer]

Thanx for the correction Andreas! I got the regiment numbers mixed up.

[rune]

it is a 320mm incidenary rocket. Nasty Nasty things.....

Rune

[edgars]

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

it is a 320mm incidenary rocket. Nasty Nasty things.....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How exactly did they work? The link machinerman provided doesn't work for me... Where they lauched from ground? How?

EDIT: apparently, Rune, your spelling was not correct - i believe it is called "incendiary" not "incidenary" rocket.

[ 09-26-2001: Message edited by: ciks ]

[M Hofbauer]

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

How exactly did they work? The link machinerman provided doesn't work for me... Where they lauched from ground? How?

[ 09-26-2001: Message edited by: ciks ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

(didn't get to look at the picture yet)

the 15 and 21cm WKs were firing a laucher having several barrels, mounted on a trailer. 28cm/32cm WK were fired from their crates (Wurfrahmen), sometimes from simple launching devices, though sometimes they would be mounted six apiece on the sides of a SdKfz 251/1.

the 28cm Wurfkörper, consisting of HE, are more comparable to an FAE than the 32cm WK because the way they were used created a similar shockblast effect (Gasschlagwirkung).

The 32cm Wurfkörper Fl. was an incendiary device, more like a long-range fire projector: a single round of it would saturate an area of 200m^2 with its 50 liters os firing liquid. The round without filling cost 33.12 RM, an iron packing/firing crate cost 45.50 RM and the "Schwere Wurfgerät 41" launching construction holding 4 of the packing/firing crates cost 298.70 RM (which puzzles me considerably, because it is such a simple steel frame construction that looks like even I could weld it together; keep in mind that for the same price you would get an MG42!). Minimum range was 750m for the 32cm WK.

The 28 and 32 WK were fired in combination, with the 28cm WKs creating a mess of rubble, and the 32cm WKs setting the area afire. Some sources even refer to the respective SdKfz 251 - carriers carrying an individual mix of 5:1. However, I assume there is a misunderstanding there, and think that the 5:1 ratio s referring to the mix among the total ordnance fired by a battery in a fire mission.

[edgars]

Thanks Hofbauer.

Now the question is, will this stuff be modeled/how much of these were made/used?

[TargetDrone]

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

Thanks Hofbauer.

Now the question is, will this stuff be modeled/how much of these were made/used?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well... lets hope they make it in.... that way it wouldn't be so time consuming to burn down a whole city.... (not that you think i am a pyromaniac )

[ 09-26-2001: Message edited by: TargetDrone ]

[mensch]

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

How exactly did they work? The link machinerman provided doesn't work for me... Where they lauched from ground? How?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

here is a model site which has a SdKfz loaded with the launchers of these beasties.

Howling Cow