Once again the attack was rehearsed, this time twice. The
road for the attack was narrow but could support a Tiger so they were to lead
the assault. However they had to move in single file and would not be allowed
to stop unless the whole column had to halt. As it was also the only passable
road, the Russian had packed the culverts with explosives so the Graf had
arranged for artillery to take out the explosives control bunker where the
detonators were left. Failing this, his engineers were to cut the wires. For
this operation, as with Strachwitz I, the infantry went into action without
their bulky winter clothing to allow them freedom of movement. The winter
clothing was bundled up and sent on to the troops in the evening. However
fighting without their white camouflage clothing made them easier targets for
the Soviets.
For this attack the Tigers were placed at the forefront with
Otto Carius’ platoon of four Tigers at the tip of the spearhead. It was
launched on April, after a heavy barrage
from Nebelwerfers, heavy artillery and 88mm anti-aircraft guns. Von Strachwitz
observed proceedings at the very front, calmly leaning on his carved Volkhov
stick as he waited for the breakthrough. The low-hanging trees made the barrage
twice as effective as they prevented the blast effects escaping upwards causing
severe casualties to the Russians cowering in their bunkers, particularly from
the sheer effects of concussion, which was a feature of the Nebelwerfer
rockets.
Some of the artillery fire landed near Carius’ Tigers,
forcing them to move back and forth in the mine-infested terrain in order to
avoid being hit. When the shots kept on coming despite his radio calls to
cease, he was forced to fire a few rounds close to the artillery observers’
positions, obliging them to move and so give him some respite. A Russian
anti-tank gun not observed in the confusion damaged one of his Tigers before
being put out of action.
Heavy Russian return fire caused casualties among the
infantry who were clumped together around the Tigers. The Tigers’ protection
was illusory, as they attracted fire more than they provided shelter, but the
infantry felt safer so they kept close, despite being actively discouraged from
doing so. These were veteran hand-picked troops selected by the tankers
themselves, as Otto Carius pointed out in his memoirs:
“The responsibility for the success of the operation lies
squarely on the tank commander regardless of rank. Is everything clear?”
“Jawohl, Herr Graf”
The Oberst [Von Strachwitz] twisted his mouth into a
sarcastic smile. It wasn’t unbeknownst to him, that we had allowed ourselves a
few remarks about his desired form of address [Graf not Herr Oberst as regulation
demanded]. None of them to be found in a handbook of good manners.
“Very well. So far it’s also been quite simple. But now a
different question for the ‘Tiger’ people. What battalion do you want to fight
with?”
We looked at each other, astonished by the generosity of
this offer. We immediately agreed upon a light infantry battalion we had
already worked with.
“Very well, that’s what you’ll have.”
With nightfall, Lieutenant Famula and his APCs brought up
much-needed fuel, ammunition, and food, despite Russian attempts to stop him
with interdictory fire and snipers who had infiltrated behind the lines.
The Russians vigorously counterattacked throughout the
night, causing serious casualties. The seriously wounded were taken back for
treatment in Famula’s APCs with the lightly wounded staying to help hold back
the Soviets. Stukas, long since relegated to a primary night-attack role unless
scarce fighter escort could be provided, tried to bring the battered infantry
and tanks some relief, but their bombs had to be dropped well back to avoid
friendly casualties. They also made little impression due to the softness of
the ground, which absorbed the blasts. The heavy Tigers gradually sank ever
deeper into the marshy soil, only extricating themselves with difficulty at
daylight. One Tiger was damaged by the artillery fire and required towing. Von
Schiller, the Tiger Company commander, was nowhere to be found so Otto Carius
had to step in and continue with the mission. Another artillery barrage swept
over them with one tank commander wounded after foolishly exposing himself from
the turret. The column then moved towards Auware. Near the railroad station two
assault guns from the Führer Begleit Brigade were attacked by a force of 20
Russian tanks. Corporal Rudolf Salvermoser, a gunner in one of the assault
guns, described the action. They were in an ambush position and opened fire as
the Russians approached:
Our first shot hit it,
but didn’t do any damage. As soon as you shoot the loader puts in a shell right
away and its ready. I knew the distance, just had to turn a few degrees or two
and shoot again. Then we knocked it out. One after another they came out (from
behind the trees). They had ten tanks. They shot but they missed. Its like they
didn’t know what to do. It was a common saying in the German Army, “Don’t worry
about the Russians, they always miss the first shot.” The guy next to us, he
was about 100 yards away, he knocked out two. The third one started to back
away when I shot it. The fourth one was further back already and I still hit
it. One took off and my buddy chased him and knocked him out. The others all
disappeared. We shot six tanks. They didn’t hit one of us. They were too slow.
We were just faster and better. I told my commander Unteroffizier Hoffmann that
I was just lucky that I hit them all. He said, “You were not lucky, you were
trained to hit them all at the first time with the first shot.”
Salvermoser destroyed three T-34s and one KV-2, while the
other assault gun under Unter-offizier Rahn destroyed three T-34s. It
highlights how small numbers of German tanks and assault guns, could still
defeat far larger Soviet forces. Elsewhere, Lieutenant Bölter and Sergeant
Goring from the 502nd Tank Battalion engaged 35 Russian tanks and assault guns while
giving support to the 8th Jäger Division. Bölter destroyed 15 enemy tanks and
Goring seven. This brought Bölter’s total kills to 89, earning him the Knight’s
Cross.
Overall the German surprise was so complete that in another
battle group tanks from the Grossdeutschland Division overran a Soviet
divisional headquarters. The divisional commander just barely escaped but his
operations officer was caught, still partially undressed. Some of their
anti-tank guns still had their barrel caps on, and many Red Army men were
caught carrying out peaceful rear-area activities, having no idea that the
Germans had gotten so close.
Skilfully combining armour, infantry, artillery and the
Luftwaffe, von Strachwitz had eliminated the Eastsack with the well-crafted
operation Strachwitz II. Both operations were well-planned and coordinated,
gave Army Detachment Narva extra time for its defence, and prevented the
Soviets from breaking out of their bridgeheads to cut off the German force and
thence to sweep through Estonia. This now left Strachwitz III to address the
Krivasso bridgehead on the German side of the River Narva, along with the
capture of Krivasso. The Graf carried out his meticulous planning as usual, but
was under no illusion as to the difficulty of the task. As he explained to his
officers at a briefing:
Looked at
superficially, this operation is very similar to both our previous ones. Only
this time there are going to be considerably more difficulties… . We have
already surprised the Russians twice in their bridgehead. They know this
bridgehead is a pain for us. A third surprise will therefore probably not be
possible. Especially as they know a new attack can only be carried out on this
road. This naturally diminishes our chances of success compared to the previous
operations where we were successful using the element of surprise.
He went on to tell them the advance road was narrow but
could support a Tiger, so his intructions for the Tigers were similar to those
in previous operations. As the Graf was addressing the officers his adjutant
rushed in. Visibly annoyed, the Graf turned around. “What’s going on?” he
snapped. The officer straightened up “Herr Graf. I would like to report that
the announcement has been made in the news that the Führer has awarded you the Diamonds
to the Knights Cross! If I may take the liberty I would like to be the first to
congratulate you!” The other officers wanted to congratulate the Graf and
celebrate but, as Otto Carius remembered,
Before we could say a word however the Graf made an abrupt
sign of disapproval.
“First, the news is not an official source of information.
Second, I don’t have any time for that now and don’t wish to be disturbed
again.” That was meant for the adjutant, who turned beet red. He raised his
hand to his cap and disappeared rapidly.
The Graf’s reaction did not imply that he was unimpressed by
the award of Germany’s highest honour, but rather reflected his attitude to
planning and combat. However he could still allow some levity when he rounded
on Carius after the young officer told him that a ditch was impassable due to
the surrounding marshy terrain.
“Take note of this Carius,” he said in a friendly manner.
“If I say that the ditch doesn’t exist as an anti-tank ditch to me, then it
doesn’t exist, do we understand each other?”
In my entire military career, I had never experienced such
an elegant, and at the same time, unmistakable rebuff. Graf Strachwitz did not
want to see an anti-tank ditch. So there was none there. Period—end of
discussion. I was so nonplussed that I could only choke out a short “Yes sir!”
Still smiling in his slightly caustic manner the Oberst nodded and continued
his briefing.
Near the end of the briefing von Strachwitz turning towards
Carius again:
“I’ve thought about the matter one more time Carius. Do you
still foresee difficulties with the ditch?”
“Yes Herr Graf!”
“Well I don’t want to spoil your fun. Especially not when
there really could be something to the matter. Do you have a suggestion?”
Otto Carius then suggested that wooden beams be taken on the
APCs and used to ford the ditch, a solution that von Strachwitz quickly
approved. He went on to note that he thought that deep down the Panzer Graf
didn’t believe the operation would be a success and would much rather have
called the whole thing off.
The attack commenced on 19 April, with eight Tigers leading,
followed by Panzer IVs and APCs with an engineer APC behind the second lead
Tiger. A squad of infantry rode on each of the tanks. Just prior to moving off,
Carius’ loader had an accidental discharge from the hull machine gun wounding
two infantrymen from the Fusilier Battalion. It was an inauspicious start to
the operation. With the only hope of surprise now lost, the attack went in.
Russian artillery quickly joined the fray while Illuyshin ground-attack planes
made a quick appearance, only to be chased away by Focke Wulf 190s of JG54—the
only fighter unit in the north—which shot down two. Stukas, under Lieutenant
Colonel Klumey based at Tallinn, then swarmed in, but heavy Russian
anti-aircraft fire kept them to a height which made their attacks ineffective,
bringing down two of them.
The lead Tiger ran onto a mine, which immobilised it,
bringing the entire attack column to a halt. Despite von Strachwitz enquiring
several times why the attack was still stalled, the Tiger Company’s commander,
von Schiller, did nothing, remaining bottled up in his tank. Finally von
Strachwitz called von Schiller and Carius to his command post. Von Strachwitz
was angrily swinging his Volkhov stick back and forth, then he let fly at von
Schiller before placing Carius in command, ordering him to get the attack
moving. This Carius did by simply moving the column around the obstructing
Tiger, something von Schiller could and should have done himself.
The Germans quickly broke through the Russian lines, only to
be halted by an anti-tank ditch. Von Strachwitz called a halt to allow the
engineers to demolish the ditch so that the attack could resume the following
morning. Russian artillery and mortars crewed by women fired a few salvoes to
keep the Germans unsettled but no further action was taken.
During the night Russian bombers flew overhead on their way
to bomb Narva, which was now nothing more than a pile of rubble, but still
stubbornly resisting the Soviets’ best efforts to take it. Lieutenant Famula
continued indefatigably with his nightly resupply efforts, earning high praise
from an extremely appreciative Otto Carius.
The ditch was blown apart on the morning of 20 April. The
Graf, sleeping in his pyjamas as was his usual practice, was not even disturbed
by it. Like many senior commanders involved in a very long war the Graf allowed
himself a few luxuries whenever circumstances permitted, not least of which
were a good cigar and French cognac. For his part Carius was hoping the whole
thing would be called off, but the attack went ahead, supported by Nebelwerfers
whose rockets dropped short, landing on the Tigers and fusiliers waiting to
move forward. For a full five minutes they endured the massive blasts, which
tore the Fusilier Battalion apart, killing or wounding many. Only the heavily
armoured Tigers escaped unscathed. Three Tigers were sent forward to cover the
evacuation of the dead and wounded by Lieutenant Famula and his APCs. Now Otto
Carius felt sure that the attack would be abandoned, but Graf von Strachwitz
arranged for another battalion to be sent forward. The attack was to go ahead
as planned.
A Russian assault gun opened up on Carius’ Tiger, and he
survived a hit to his turret cupola solely because he had ducked down to light
a cigarette. A little later, however, his tank was knocked out by another hit.
The attack had by now completely stalled. The Russians were
simply too strong while the marshy ground, made worse by the spring thaw,
curtailed movement so much that it was becoming impossible to move the attack
forward. Elsewhere another battle group was equally stalled. The Tigers slowly
pulled back, harried by Russian artillery fire as they towed their disabled
tanks. A Russian bi-plane used for nuisance bombing flew over, dropping its
bomb. Lieutenant Famula, standing alongside the road lighting a cigarette, was
mortally wounded by shrapnel and died a short while later. The infantry was
forced to give way and couldn’t hold the line. Reluctantly von Strachwitz gave
the order to withdraw. Strachwitz III was over.
