Kaunas and Minsk, June 1941

[CNE503]

Hello all,

Does anyone know what divisions took these two cities, respectively on June, 24th and June, 26th 1941?
For the first one, it was a division from the II. Armeekorps of the 16. Armee, I guess, but which one?
For the second one, it was the leading elements of the Panzergruppe 2, but what was their parent division?

Thanks for your help,
Cheers,

CNE503

[GregSingh]

Kaunas - 123.ID, but city was already "liberated" by Lithuanian uprising on the evening of 23.06.
Minsk - most sources mention 20.PzD, but it seems that both PzD (20 and 12) entered city at the same time.
It would be midday 28.06 not 26.06, I think?

[CNE503]

Thanks for your help.
It was indeed June, 28th 1941, according to this well-documented post: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=193688

20. Panzer Division spearheaded the advance and reached Minsk on June, 26th, but after two days of battle, the city fell to the German hands on June, 28th 1941. A poket was formed in which were trapped two Soviet divisions and parts of two others.

Can someone confirm that the 20. Panzer Division was part of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (motorisiert) of the Panzergruppe 3?

Another question concerning a location: which unit took Vilna/Vilnius on June, 24th 1941? I guess it was one of the divisions of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (motorisiert), Panzergruppe 3, but I couldn't find one.

Thanks again!
Cheers,

CNE503

[Art]

Vilnius was taken by the 7 Panzer Division.

[CNE503]

7. Panzer Division of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (motorisiert) of the Panzergruppe 3. Great, thank you for this info.

I read that Kaunas and Vilnius were already "self-liberated" from June, 23rd 1941 in the evening and on, is that right?

Cheers,

CNE503

[Art]

I read that Kaunas and Vilnius were already "self-liberated" from June, 23rd 1941 in the evening and on, is that right?

There was an uprising led by Lithuanian underground organizations and clashes with Soviet troops, yet a complete capture of both cities is some exaggeration as far as I understand.

[CNE503]

Copy that.
Thank you for this information.

Cheers,

CNE503

[tigre]

Hello to all ; anyone has more details about this?...................

The Minenräum-Abteilung 1 (Demining Detachment 1) in Barbarossa.

Report of the 20. Pz: in the evening of June 30, 1941, the Gefechtsgruppe Kempchen conducted a successful raking action. However the 12. Pz failed to connect with the 20. Schützen Brigade and a gap of 800 meters remained in the own lines that was detected by the enemy, so immediately Battalion v. Petersdorff was engaged there. The I. / SR 112 and the antitank company attached, suffered casualties whose number has not been reported yet. Finally in the morning the 12. Pz could establish liaison with smaller units.

All night and until mid-morning on July 1, 1941, the enemy tried to break to the south and southwest. The relief of the I. / SR 112 by the II. / SR 59 ended at 11:30 hours and Hauptmann Menke was tasked to implement raking actions in the city (Vilnius). [Here comes the interesting] The Minenräum-Abteilung 1 engaged in the area of the SR 59 was employed in action twice and due to enemy combat patrols several of their vehicles were blown in the air.

Sources: http://vif2ne.ru/rkka/forum/arhprint/106053
http://forum.balsi.de/index.php?topic=836.0

TIA. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; something more.................

The Minenräum-Abteilung 1 (Demining Detachment 1) in Barbarossa.

On July, 5 1941 the 2nd Company reached the area of Lepel where it 3rd Platoon went to the 7. Pz. Division, and the 1st and 2nd Platoons were transferred to the 20. Pz. Division. It was during this time, especially on July, 05 where the Germans amphibious Min.R.Wg Sd.Kfz.300 B.II "duck" from the 3rd Platoon of the 2nd Company of the Minenräum-Abteilung 1 together with other parts and units, successfully forced the crossing from the Western side of the Dvina river and Beshenkovichi (between Vitebsk and Lepel), taken the city of Vitebsk before July 08, 1941.

Sources: http://vif2ne.ru/rkka/forum/arhprint/106053
http://forum.balsi.de/index.php?topic=836.0

Any other action in which the "Ente" was involve? TIA. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; something more.................

The Minenräum-Abteilung 1 (Demining Detachment 1) in Barbarossa. The end.

On July 08, 1941, the Abt.1 was fully transferred out of the command of the Army Corps, it left the 3rd Panzer Group's area of operations and was sent to Vilnius, where it went afterwards to the station of Treuburg in order to reach Wunsdorf.

At the same time, it is known that five armored vehicles from the Minenräum-Abteilung 1 were put under the guidance of one officer in the headquarters of the Panzer Group, where they remained, and no further experiments were carried out, but the vehicles remained in reserve by the Transportation Group, as an explosives Transport (See below).

Sources: http://vif2ne.ru/rkka/forum/arhprint/106053
http://forum.balsi.de/index.php?topic=836.0

Any idea for that action? TIA. Cheers. Raúl M .