Ost Bataillon 658 | |
---|---|
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Army |
Role | Front-line combat |
Size | Battalion |
Part of | 18th Army, 26th Army |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Alfons Rebane |
The 658th Eastern Battalion (German : Ost Bataillon 658) was an Eastern Front World War II military unit of the Wehrmacht composed of Estonians. It was formed on 23 October 1942 from the merger of the 181st Security Group [1] and two companies each from both the 183rd and 185th Security Groups, subordinated under the 18th Army (Wehrmacht). The 181st, 183rd and 185th security groups were originally formed on August 21, 1941, for the purposes of securing supply lines and clearing the 18th Army rear area of remaining Red Army troops and partisans, [2] but were committed to front-line combat duties from October 1941. [3] Captain Alfons Rebane, a former Estonian Army officer, was appointed commander. [4] [2]
In February 1943 the Battalion was sent to the front near Krasny Bor southeast of Leningrad where participated in repelling a major Soviet offensive on 19 March 1943. This action resulted in eight Estonians being recommended for the Iron Cross. [2] The Battalion was moved to the frontline near Lake Ilmen in the spring of 1943, then to the Volkov River 18 km north of Novgorod on May 18. When the Red Army launched the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive the following year on 14 January 1944, the 658th Battalion was redeployed during the night to Syrkovo village located north west of Novgorod where it repelled an attacking Soviet division, blocking their advance to Novgorod. [2] Fighting continued around the area until February 5. For these battles the Commander of the 658th Battalion, Major Alfons Rebane, was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. [2]
On 15 February 1944, the 658th Battalion, along with the 659th and 660th, were deployed to the Narva front under the command of the XXVI Corps. The Battalion was then subsequently dissolved and its personnel drafted into the 47th Waffen-Grenadier Regiment 2nd Battalion of the newly formed 20th SS Division in April 1944. [5] [2]
Alfons Vilhelm Robert Rebane, known simply as Alfons Rebane was an Estonian military commander. He was the most highly decorated Estonian military officer during World War II, serving in various Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units of Nazi Germany.
The Battle of Narva Bridgehead was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operation in the surroundings of the town of Narva for six months. It was the first phase of the Battle of Narva campaign fought at the Eastern Front during World War II, the second phase being the Battle of Tannenberg Line.
The Battle of Narva was a World War II military campaign, lasting from 2 February to 10 August 1944, in which the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus.
The Battle of Tannenberg Line or the Battle of the Blue Hills was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment Narwa and the Soviet Leningrad Front. They fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July–10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favorable base for the invasions of Finland and East Prussia. Waffen-SS forces included 24 volunteer infantry battalions from the SS Division Nordland, the SS Division Langemarck, the SS Division Nederland, and the Walloon Legion. Roughly half of the infantry consisted of the personnel of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. The German force of 22,250 men held off 136,830 Soviet troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, their overall casualties are estimated by Estonian historian Mart Laar to be 170,000 dead and wounded.
The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was a foreign infantry division of the Waffen-SS that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. According to some sources, the division was under Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's overall command but was not an integral part of the Schutzstaffel (SS). It was officially activated on 24 January 1944, and many of its soldiers had been members of the Estonian Legion and/or the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, which had been fighting as part of German forces since August 1942 and October 1943 respectively. Both of the preceding formations drew their personnel from German-occupied Estonia. Shortly after its official activation, widespread conscription within Estonia was announced by the German occupying authorities. The division was formed in Estonia around a cadre comprising the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, and was initially known as the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division.
During World War II, in the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then warring German and Russian Empires. However, in the wake of the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Stalinist Soviet Union had invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, and the country was formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940.
Paul Maitla was an Estonian commander in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. He is one of the four Estonians who received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He received his award for leading the recapture of the central hill of the Sinimäed during the Battle of Tannenberg Line, effectively breaking the Soviet offensive in that sector.
Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II (1939–1945), but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Stalinist Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reinvaded and reoccupied in 1944 by the Soviet Union.
Harald Riipalu was an Estonian commander in the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Harald Nugiseks was an Waffen-Oberscharführer (Sergeant) in World War II, who served in the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS of the Waffen-SS. Nugiseks is also one of the four Estonian soldiers who received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Jürgen Wagner was a Brigadeführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II, the commander of the SS Division Nederland and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Latvian Auxiliary Police was a paramilitary force created from Latvian volunteers and conscripts by the Nazi German authorities who occupied the country in June/July 1941. It was part of the Schutzmannschaft (Shuma), native police forces organized by the Germans in occupied territories and subordinated to the Order Police. Some units of the Latvian auxiliary police were involved in the Holocaust.
Estonian Auxiliary Police were Estonian collaborationist police units during World War II.
This is a sub-article to Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive and Battle of Narva.
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva (1944).
The Narva offensive was an operation conducted by the Soviet Leningrad Front. It was aimed at the conquest of the Narva Isthmus from the German army detachment "Narwa". At the time of the operation, Joseph Stalin, the supreme commander of the Soviet Armed Forces, was personally interested in taking Estonia, viewing it as a precondition to forcing Finland out of the war.
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva (1944).
36th Estonian Police Battalion was an Estonian rear-security unit during World War II that operated under command of the German SS.
The three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, first invaded by the Soviet Union, were later occupied by Germany and incorporated, together with the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic of the U.S.S.R., into Reichskommissariat Ostland.