Battle of Krasny Bor

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Battle of Krasny Bor
partof=the Second World War


caption=
date= 9 February - 13 February 1943
place= Krasny Bor, near present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia
result=Tactical German/Spanish victory
combatant1= flagicon|Spain|1939 Blue Division (Spanish volunteers) flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany
combatant2= flag|Soviet Union|1923
commander1= flagicon|Spain|1939 Emilio Esteban Infantes
commander2= flagicon|Soviet Union|1923 Vladimir P. Sviridov
strength1=5,900 spanish infantry
strength2=44,000 infantry
30 tanks, 187 Russian batteries with pieces of 203 and 124 mm, 2 battalions of mortars and katyushas of 156 mm ref|Glantz
casualties1=3,945 dead, wounded, missing, 300 captured
casualties2=11,000 deadref|losses

The Battle of Krasny Bor was fought between the German Wehrmacht's 250th Infantry Division, composed of Spanish volunteers, and the Soviet 55th Army by the village of Krasny Bor, Leningrad Oblast, northern Russia. The major clash took place on Wednesday, 10 February 1943. In Spain, it has become known as "Black Wednesday", due to the huge losses of the Spanish division in the battle. It was the most costly battle in which the Spanish volunteers participated on the eastern front.

The battle was an important event in the period after Stalingrad because it represented a revitalized Soviet Army's attempt at a strategic offensive in the northern sector of the front. Although the operation ended with a few miles of the Leningrad–Moscow Highway in Soviet hands for the first time since September 1941, the Spanish division was able to hold off the much larger Soviet attack without yielding substantial ground.

Background

"Main articles: Spain in World War II, Blue Division, Operation Barbarossa, Siege of Leningrad."

1941-1942

After the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany on 22 June 1941, an all-out drive for the central Russian city of Moscow was advised by some members of the German General Staff, such as Guderian, but overruled by Hitler who in turn decided to send his forces to take Leningrad first. On August 6 1941 Adolf Hitler repeated his order : "Leningrad first, the Donetsk Basin second, Moscow third."cite book | title = Hitler and Russia | first = Trumbull | last = Higgins | publisher = The Macmillan Company | year = 1966 | pages = p. 151] In November 1941, it was obvious that the drive had failed due, in part, to intense cold, poorly planned supply routes, strong resistance by the Red Army and guerilla warfare by partisans behind Axis lines. Georgy Zhukov launched a series of counter-attacks against the German lines and stopped the German advance in Leningrad's southern outskirts in the autumn of 1941. ["Russia's War": A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945 ISBN 0-14-027169-4 by Richard Overy Page 91] ["The Court of the Red Tsar" by Simon Sebag Montefiore] Adolf Hitler gave a "standfast" order to all forces, to prevent the complete collapse of the Eastern front.

Army Group North failed to take Leningrad in 1941, then led offensive towards Tikhvin and the Svir River, trying to connect with the Finnish forces to complete the second, broader encirclement of the entire Leningrad province. Additional reserves were inserted to stop the Soviet counter-offensive on the Volkhov. These included the recently arrived 250. Infanterie-Division, the Blue Division in the Leningrad sector which took up the positions of the withdrawn 121st division between the railway line Kolpino-Tosno (east) and Babolovo (west). [S.P. Pozharskaya, Spanish "Blue dision" on the Soviet-German front (1941-1943), С. П. Пожарская. Испанская «Голубая дивизия» на советско-германском фронте (1941–1943 гг.) [http://militera.lib.ru/h/sb_crusade_in_rossia/05.html] ] After fighting in the Volkhov-Lake Ilmen-Novgorod area from October 1941-August 1942, the Blue Division was transferred to the southern boundary of the Leningrad pocket, where a siege was under way since that city had been surrounded by the Finnish forces and Wehrmacht Army Group North in September of 1941. Enduring immense cold and almost constant shelling after November 1942, the Blue Division dug in around Krasny Bor, Pushkin and Kolpino, towns which are located just 20 km south-east of Leningrad.

The Soviet 55th Army was formed based on reserves from north-eastern provinces of Russia. This new unit consisted of four infantry divisions, two armoured regiments and several other support groups. In January 1943, it was moved to Leningrad where it became part of the Leningrad Front which was attempting to break the southern perimeter in the siege of Leningrad.

Operation Polar Star

In January 1943 the Red Army conducted Operation Spark and managed to break through the bottle-neck between Sinyavino and the shore of Lake Ladoga, to create a land-connection to Leningrad along the lake shore for the first time since September 1941. This narrow stretch could still be brought under fire from German positions, and it was therefore important to extend it further south and west. The Soviet command quickly conceived a much larger operation which it named Operation Polar Star. This foresaw a three-front attack by Northwestern Front under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, Volkhov Front under Colonel General Kirill Meretskov, and Leningrad Front under Marshal Leonid Govorov, of which 55th army was now a part. Northwestern Front was ordered to advance northwest towards Luga and the Gulf of Finland coast, thereby cutting off the entire 18th Army in a large encirclement. The 55th army's aim was to break open the vital Leningrad-Moscow Highway starting from its jump-off position in Kolpino towards Tosno, to join with a northbound attack pincer of 54th Army of Volkhov Front, thereby encircling German formations in the Mga sector. The highway is an important road/railway connection linking Moscow and Leningrad. The pivot-point for this highway was Krasny Bor, situated between the highway and the railway line. 55th Army's attack would also hit sectors defended by other German formations to establish secure flanks and draw them into battle. Once this attack had succeeded, the plan was for the second echelon forces to advance through the gap towards Tosno. The attack was planned for 10 February 1943 and was to jump off from Kolpino. The 55th Army planned to attack with a force of approximately 40,000 men and 30 tanks in first echelon, to be followed by a mobile group consisting of the 122nd Tank Brigade and 35th Ski Brigade.

At the end of January 1943, Emilio Esteban Infantes, the general in command of the 250th Infantry Division (Blue Division) was aware of a build-up of Soviet forces (55th Army), which indicated that an attack was imminent. To deflect it he ordered his reserves, two cycle companies and 9th and 11th Battery of the 250th Artillery Regiment, into Krasny Bor on 2 February. On 9 February he ordered that at least one-third of all men with all available automatic weapons were to withdraw 2,000 meters behind the main line of resistance; that the Infantry Regiment 269 should be ready to give up its 2nd Battalion as soon as that was requested; and that the Infantry Regiment 263 had to provide one infantry company, two Füsilier companies, and a machine-gun company as reserves. Some additional mine fields were laid, and minor improvements to firing positions undertaken. The German command promised to send two anti-tank companies with 75 mm Pak 40 AT guns and 88 mm AT guns (although only one of these arrived in time for the battle) as well as an infantry regiment.ref|infantes

The battle

10 February - Day 1

On Wednesday, 10 February 1943, a massive artillery bombardment of 1,000 Soviet guns and mortars opened on the Spanish lines at precisely 6:45. Shells, mortars and Katyusha rockets pounded the trenches, bunkers and dugouts which had been constructed to strengthen the eastern flank of Army Group North. At 8.45 hours, the bombardment shifted from the front lines onto Krasny Bor itself, also striking the villages of Podolvo and Raikelevo (both located east and south-east of Krasny Bor, respectively), the latter being the location of Infantes' forward command post.

At approximately 8:40, the 45th and 63rd Guards and the 72nd Rifle Divisions, followed by some tanks, advanced towards Staraia Mgsa (east of Krasny Bor), Krasny Bor, Raikelevo and Podolvo, with the 63rd Guards Rifle Division facing the 5,900 troops of the 250th Infantry Division, holding the eastern flank of the line. Pinned by 2 hours of initial bombardment, Spanish formations were unable to retreat towards the town and in many cases fought to the death. The frontline was quickly overrun, and many Spanish formations were destroyed there. [p.140, Glantz, Leningrad: City under siege 1941-1944, Grange books, 2001]

Inside Krasny Bor, a company of 250th Infantry Division held the October Railway station, repulsing infantry charges and three tank charges by advancing Soviet forces. By 11:00 the company was reduced to 40 combatants yet these managed to hold the factory until 12:00, when they fell back into the town. From 9:00 to 10:40, isolated Spanish units fought off Soviet attacks but were cut off when the Soviets seized the October Railway. Now encircled, the units still holding the Leningrad-Moscow Highway decided to hold as long as possible and were destroyed in combat.

The 55th Army, in the meantime, had advanced despite heavy casualties inflicted by the dug-in Spanish troops. The Soviets took Raikelevo, which cut off Podolvo from Krasny Bor. In Krasny Bor itself the Spanish artillery, engineer and other assorted stragglers came under attack from Soviet infantry and armour, and by 12:00, 63rd Guards Rifle Division reported the capture of Krasny Bor, despite the fact that the southern half of the town was still controlled by the Spanish. Soviet tanks opened fire on a hospital and retreating ambulances but were eventually beaten off by Spanish troops armed with Molotov Cocktails and hand grenades. The afternoon brought belated support for the defenders in the form of a Luftwaffe fighter-bomber attack on the Soviet positions around the town of Kolpino, to the east of Krasny Bor, while the 45th Guards Rifle Division seized Mishkino. Sviridov decided to insert the mobile group into the battle late on the day, but they were stopped by a combination of fierce resistance and a sudden thaw that stopped the Ski Brigade from operating off road. The German command reinforced the Spanish defenses with battle groups

The 63rd Guards Rifle Division advanced as far as the central-western part of the town, and after 15:15 managed to push a small formation into the rear of the Spanish division's forward command post. Meanwhile the remaining Spanish troops were ordered to new positions on the Izhora River, on the west of the town. Here they held out against 63rd Guards Rifle Division's last attacks of the day.

After 16:30 hours a battle group of the German 212th Infantry Divisions and two companies each of the Flemish Legion and the Lithuanian Legion were able to support the Spanish by a counter-attack on the forest at Staraya Rechka, and by taking over the frontline from the highway to the Izhora River.

At the end of the day, the 63rd Guards Rifle Division had advanced 4-5 kilometers and captured Krasny Bor, Mishkino, Staraya Mirza, Stepanovka, and Popovka Station. On its left wing, the attack by 43rd Rifle Division and 34th Ski Brigade had had initial success, driving the 4th SS Police Division into the Tosno River.

In the Ishora River sector, 72nd Rifle Division pushed back the lines of the Spanish towards the river, destroying the Field Replacement Battalion, but suffering up to 70% casualties in the process.

11-13 February

The next day, 11 February 1943, left forward 63rd Guards Rifle Division units were surrounded in several places, but the 63rd Guards Rifle Division as in control of Krasny Bor by evening.ref|map A planned counter-attack by the Spanish division and the German 112th Infantry Division was thought likely to be successful, but ultimately not carried out due to concern over the overall position of 18th Army.

By 13 February, 55th Army had lost almost a third of its initial strength and most of its tanks, and could no longer advance. The total penetration achieved reached to a depth of 4-5 kilometres on a frontage of 14 kilometres. After the Spanish 262nd infantry Regiment and 1st Artillery Battalion evacuated, they bombarded the Soviet positions and attempted a counter-attack to recapture Krasny Bor on 12 February. The attack by 55th Army made a flanking attack by 67th Army in the Sinyavino sector easier, because of the withdrawal of German forces from the sector.

The main road to Moscow was still controlled by the 18th Army, despite the capture of 3 km of railway line, and the Soviets launched their last major attack in this sector on 19 March 1943. It was also repelled with heavy losses on both sides.

Soviet general staff critiques after the battle highlighted the reasons for the failure of the attacks during Operation Polar Star as strongly fortified defenses, faulty reconnaissance, poor command and control on all levels, clumsy employment of tanks and ineffective artillery support.ref|reason

Aftermath and consequences

The failure by the 55th Army to follow through on its initial success meant that the encirclement of the German forces in the Mga sector had lost its northern pincer. Failures by the other attacking armies, for similar reasons, led to the overall failure of the grandly conceived Operation Polar Star. It would take almost another year before 18th Army withdrew from the direct approaches to Leningrad. The German 50th Corps, and there in particular the 250th (Spanish) Infantry Division had managed to hold the Red Army inside the perimeter of the siege of Leningrad, at a heavy cost in casualties.

On 15 February the 250th Infantry Division reported casualties of 3,645 wounded or killed and 300 missing or taken prisoner (a 75% casualty rate). It claimed 11,000 Soviet troops of the 55th Army had been killed in the five days beginning 9 February. Because of these heavy losses and Allied pressure on the Spanish government, the Blue Division was withdrawn to Germany and later disbanded. A new volunteer formation called the Blue Legion ("Legión Azul") remained in combat on the Eastern Front, attached to 121st Infantry Division until March 1944, when it also was disbanded and the majority of the volunteers sent back to Spain. The 55th Army eventually took part in breaking the siege of Leningrad, securing the Leningrad-Moscow line in 1944. Afterwards, it advanced into Estonia and fought against the Courland pocket until 1945.

Those captured in the battle, on the Spanish side, were sent to gulag camps, primarily in Siberia, and were not repatriated to Spain until 1954. Krasny Bor remains, for the most part, an obscure battle in modern historical knowledge relating to this devastating war. The Blue Division was awarded a Combat Service Medal, personally designed by Adolf Hitler, for its defense of Army Group North's precarious eastern flank.

Order of Battle

oviet Union Leningrad Front

Soviet 55th Army, 44,000 soldiers - General V.P. Sviridovref|OOB
*43rd Rifle Division
*46th Rifle Division
*56th Rifle Division
*72nd Rifle Division
**14th Rifle Regiment
**133rd Rifle Regiment
**141st Rifle Regiment
**9th Artillery Regiment
*131st Rifle Division
*268th Rifle Division
*45th Guards Rifle Division
*63rd Guards Rifle Division
*56th Rifle Brigade
*250th Rifle Brigade
*122nd Tank Brigade
*31st TankRegiment
*34th Ski Brigade
*35th Ski Brigade
*187 Artillery batteries of all calibres in independent artillery formations
*2 independent mortar or rocket battalions
*2 independent anti-tank battalions of 76.2 mm anti-tank guns

Germany - Army Group North, 18th Army

German 50th Corps - General Kleffel

*Elements of " 250. Infanterie-Division, " 4,500 soldiers - Emilio Esteban Infantes
**250 Field Replacement Battalion
**262 Regiment (3 battalions)
***Ski Company
**250 Reconnaissance Battalion
**1st Artillery Battalion (3 Batteries) with 10.5 cm guns
**One battery of 3rd Artillery Battalion with 10.5 cm guns
**One battery of 4th Artillery Battalion with 15.0 cm guns
**250th Anti Tank Battalion with 37 mm Pak36 AT-guns
**Assault sappers group
**Independent anti-tank gun company with 75 mm Pak40 anti-tank guns.

* 4th SS Police Division

* Battle Group 212th Infanterie Division
* Battle Group 215th Infanterie Division
* Battle Groups from 11th, 21st, 227th Infantry Divisions

* SS-Volunteer Legion "Flanders" (2 companies)
* SS-Volunteer Legion "Lithuania" (2 companies)

References

*Halisbury, Harrison E. "900 Days, The: The Siege of Leningrad" Da Capo Press, 2003.
*Kleinfeld, Gerald L., Tambs, Lewis A. "Hitler's Spanish Legion: The Blue Division in Russia". Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.
*Wylie, Nevile. "European Neutrals and Non-Belligerents during the Second World War". Cambridge University Press, 2001.
*Glantz, D. "The Battle for Leningrad 1941 -1944". Kansas University Press, 2002
*Infantes, E.E. "Blaue Division - Spaniens Freiwillige an der Ostfront". Druffel 1977

Notes

# Soviet strength from Glantz, D. p. 294. Other sources posit as many as 44,000 Soviet infantry and 100 tanks. Not included under German strength are the Flemish and German companies that appear partway through the battle to stabilize the Spanish line.
# Claimed by Germans based on POW interrogation.
# Glantz, D. p. 297
# Map on p. 87 in Infantes, E.E.
# Infantes, E.E. p.81-2
# Glantz, D. p. 585

External links

* [http://www.feldgrau.com/InfDiv.php?ID=163 250.Infanterie-Division by Jason Pipes]
* [http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/english/blue/blau_div.html 250th Infantry Division]
* [http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/axis_allies/blue_division.htm Commemorative Medal for Spanish Volunteers]
* [http://www.geocities.com/divazul/divisionazul2.html Division Azul]