Army Group Courland
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Army Group Courland (German: Heeresgruppe Kurland) was a German army group on the Eastern Front which was cut off and isolated in the Courland peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army forces during the 1944 Belorussian Offensive of the Second World War. The army group remained isolated until the end of the war. By the time Army Group Courland surrendered on 7 May 1945, it was the only substantial German formation left intact.
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[edit] History
[edit] Naming
The aggregation of troops that became named Army Group Courland was created when the Red Army reached the Baltic Sea near the Memel river on Tuesday, 10 October 1944.
As a result, what was then known as Army Group North was cut off in Latvia from the rest of the German Army, and was to stay cut off for the remainder of the war. Approximately 200,000 German troops in 26 divisions were in what was to become known as the Courland Pocket, and ended up being the last mostly intact German units at the end of World War II.
Army Group Courland was created on the 25 January 1945, when German dictator Adolf Hitler renamed Army Group North, Army Group Center, and Army Group A. Hitler's name changes meant that Army Group North became Army Group Courland (Heeresgruppe Kurland), Army Group Center became Army Group North (Heeresgruppe Nord) and Army Group A became Army Group Center (Heeresgruppe Mitte).
[edit] Isolation
Army Group Courland consisted of the German Sixteenth Army and the German Eighteenth Army. The two armies had been sent to Courland partly to protect training grounds for the remaining Nazi u-boat forces.[1]
Bypassed by the main Soviet thrusts, Army Group Courland remained relatively intact. Even towards the end of the war, the army was able to field between twenty-four to thirty-one divisions, with the exact number of divisions depending on how many of the associated or understrength divisions are counted.[1] Army Group Courland has been called Germany's last intact army group at the end of the war in Europe. Even so, with its back to the Baltic Sea, it also remained cut off from re-supply, and was unable to break out or evacuate.
Army Group Courland fought six major battles in the Courland Pocket between 15 October, 1944, and 4 April, 1945. The dates for the six battles were as follows:
- The first - From 15 October, 1944, to 22 October, 1944
- The second - From 27 October, 1944, to 25 November, 1944
- The third - From 23 December, 1944, to 31 December, 1944
- The fourth - From 23 January, 1945, to 3 February, 1945
- The fifth - From 12 February, 1945, to 19 February, 1945
- The sixth - From 17 March, 1945, to 4 April, 1945
On 7 May 1945, German Head of State (Staatsoberhaupt) and President (Reichspräsident) Karl Dönitz ordered Colonel-General Carl Hilpert to surrender Army Group Courland. Hilpert was the army group's last commander-in-chief. Hilpert surrendered himself, his personal staff, and three divisions to Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Govorov. Hilpert sent the following message to his troops: "To all ranks! Marshall Govorod (sic) has agreed to a cease-fire beginning at 14:00 hours on 8 May. Troops to be informed immediately. White flags to be displayed. Commander expects loyal implemenation of order, on which the fate of all Courland troops depends." [2]
On 8 May, a General Rauser succeeded in obtaining better surrender terms from the Soviets. On 9 May, the Soviet commission in Peilei started to interrogate the captive staff of Army Group Courland. The Soviets began a general round-up of all remaining German troops in the Courland Pocket. [3]
On 12 May, approximately 135,000 German troops in the Courland Pocket surrendered. On 23 May, the Soviet round-up of the German troops in the Courland Pocket was completed. A total of about 180,000 German troops were taken into captivity. Captive German officers were turned over to the NKVD. The bulk of the captives were taken to camps in Valdai Hills. [4]
[edit] Aftermath
After the surrender, some elements of Army Group Courland briefly attempted to reform itself as a Freikorps. This was an act reminiscent of similar actions taken at the end of World War I, but atypical for the end of World War II. The formation of a Freikorps was prevented by the Soviets, who were obviously unwilling to allow such an action by a beaten foe.[1] In addition, the Soviets did not intend for Germans to remain settled in the Courland area after the war.
After the surrender, a number of German, Estonian and, Latvian soldiers evaded Soviet capture. Many of these ex-soldiers joined the Forest Brothers resistance organization,[citation needed] Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian nationalist partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against the Soviets to gain independence for the Soviet-occupied Baltic states.
[edit] Commanders
- 15 January to 27 January 1945 - Commander-in-Chief Lothar Rendulic
- 27 January to 10 March 1945 - Commander-in-Chief Heinrich von Vietinghoff - Von Vietinghoff surrendered to the Allies in Italy. He was briefly imprisoned and was released in 1946. He died in 1952.
- 10 March to 25 March 1945 - Commander-in-Chief Lothar Rendulic (again) - Rendulic surrendered to the Allies near Prague. He was tried, sentenced, and convicted of war crimes in 1948, serving ten years of a twenty year sentence. He was released from prison in 1958, and died in 1971.
- 25 March to 7 May 1945 - Commander-in-Chief Carl Hilpert - Hilpert surrendered to the Soviets in Latvia. He was jailed by the Soviets, and in 1948 died in Moscow while still in captivity.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c World War II - Willmott, H.P. et al, Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 2004
- ^ The Decline an Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - Hans Dollinger, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047, Page 290
- ^ The Decline an Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - Hans Dollinger, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047, Page 278
- ^ The Decline an Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - Hans Dollinger, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047, Page 278
