Tartu Offensive - Combat Activities

Combat Activities

The main thrust of the Soviet operation was first aimed at the southern Petseri County. On 10 August, the Soviet 67th Army broke through the defence of the XXVIII Army Corps and captured the town of Võru on 13 August. The XXVIII Army Corps were forced to the banks of the Väike Emajõgi and Gauja Rivers in the west where they were supported by the Viljandi County Omakaitse militia battalion. While the defence prevented the 3rd Baltic Front from cutting off the retreat of the Army Detachment "Narwa" from Estonia, there was open ground towards the city of Tartu, the capital of Southeast Estonia. Army Group North created a Kampfgruppe (an ad-hoc combat formation), led by SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Wagner and manned by the army detachment, for the defence of the new line. The Soviet tank units forced a wedge between the Kampfgruppe and the XXVIIIth Army Corps; Wagner had insufficient troops ahead of the city. On 16 August, Lieutenant General Alexey Grechkin's group launched an amphibious assault over Lake Peipus behind the German left (east) flank, beating the Omakaitse defence and forming a bridgehead in the village of Mehikoorma. In fierce battles, a local border guard regiment stopped their advance.

The 3rd Baltic Front launched an artillery barrage at the positions of the 2nd Battalion, 45 Waffen SS Grenadier Regiment (1st Estonian) covering the German right flank in the village of Nõo southeast of Tartu on 23 August. The Soviet 282nd Rifle Division backed by the 16th Single Tank Brigade and two self-propelled artillery regiments bypassed the defence on the west side and captured the Kärevere Bridge across the Emajõgi River west of Tartu. Being one of only four bridges across the 100 kilometres long marshy floodplains of the river, it was of high strategic importance. After sappers failed to destroy the bridge, Sturmbannführer Leon Degrelle improvised a defence line of the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien, avoiding a Soviet breakthrough to Tartu. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves after that.

A heavy German tank assault had been planned to attack behind the western flank of the Soviet lines in Elva on 24 August. On the night before the attack, the designated commander of the operation Brigadeführer Hyazinth von Strachwitz had a serious car accident. The Soviet tank squadrons repulsed the German attack on the following day. Four Soviet rifle divisions launched an attack at Tartu with the support of armour and artillery. After fierce street battles, the Soviet forces conquered the city and established a bridgehead on the north bank of the Emajõgi on 25 August. Due to "Wagner"'s inability to hold back the Soviet offensive, the headquarters of the Army Group North turned over command of the Emajõgi Front to the II Army Corps, commanded by Infantry General Wilhelm Hasse. At the end of August, the III. Battalion, 1st Estonian Regiment was formed from the 1st Battalion of the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 recently returned to Estonia. As their largest operation, supported by Estonian Police Battalions No. 37, 38 and Mauritz Freiherr von Strachwitz's tank squadron, they destroyed the bridgehead of two Soviet divisions and recaptured Kärevere Bridge by 30 August. The operation shifted the entire front back to the southern bank of the Emajõgi and encouraged the II Army Corps to launch an operation attempting to recapture Tartu. The attack of 4–6 September reached the northern outskirts of the city but was repulsed by units of four Soviet rifle divisions. Relative calm settled on the front for the subsequent thirteen days.