June 22, 1941 Over the Top at the Arctic Circle

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PassandReviewofWW2
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June 22, 1941 Over the Top at the Arctic Circle

#1

Post by PassandReviewofWW2 » 22 Sep 2016, 21:49

One of Hitlers Main Concerns was that British Commandos would be landed somewhere along the Norway Coast and other Points in the Far North.

April-May 1940 German Operations in Norway with stationing of German Troops along key points of the North Coast solved this problem , by that logic, but there was still that 56 Mile Stretch between German Occupied Pechanga/Petsamo and Murmansk left.

June 22 1941, German Army HQ of Norway issued orders to General Dietl Mountain Corps Norway to stage forces to attack no sooner than June 19, 1941 along the Arctic Ocean Highway, running from North Coast Petsamo in a diagonal line S-W back toward Finland( 300 miles,)

June 29th General Dietls 2nd and 3rd Gebirg Mountain Divisions Reinforced w/169th Infantry Division were ready to move out, 40,000 men.

The 2nd would take the direct line along the North Coast, moving east thru Titovka, to Litsa, an on to Polyarnyy- Murmansk

The 3rd would take a south line thru Motovka cross the Lista with taking further action as situation developed

Both attacks stalled at the start, the 2nd was Hit by Russian Artillery forming up
the 3rd could not find any roads indicated on the maps provided
Road symbols on the map were later discovered not Road Symbols but
general path of power lines and locations
The 3rd Div was recalled to join the 2nd in action North at Litsa.
The plan 2nd with 1 Regiment was to attack north of Litsa Bridge
3rd able to muster 1 Battalion to attack South of Litsa Bridge
Once the Germans were fully committed , the Russians landed Battalion Rifle elements along the Litsa Coastal area and the Rybachiy Peninsula
(14th Rifle Div Howitzer Reg)behind German advance. To seal the Peninsula the Germans had to divert 2 Battalions, to screen the left flank required more diverting of force, resulting in the general pace of the advance reduced to interminable. General Dietl reported he would need Reinforcements, Hitler ordered the 6th Gebirg Mountain Div From Greece, that would take 6 week to arrive if at all, considering Russian Submarine activity and British Surface Ship Patrols. The advance was completely in the current situation, German Infantry Stationed along Coast were not to be used, per Hitlers fear British Commandos would appear.
German Army HQ Norway advised General Dietl to resume the attack from the south again at Motovka, cross the Litsa, clear the area , including the two prominent hills, then turn North toward the Litsa Bridge to break the deadlock, additional forces to accomplish this would be the 9th SS Infantry Regiment (9000 men)released from their garrison duty at Kirkenenes, to move the short distance from there to pechanga then to the staging area of attack.
The initial gains of some 3 miles, over the Litsa across the two hills seemed to be a success, bypassed Russians then opened fire from behind while Russian Artillery pounded the SS disrupting the attack, taking heavy losses pulled back to the Litsa, some elements reached the "Russian" Road to find that it was backed by a line of Bunkers difficult to find, and that when contact was made, the German Stick Grenades unexpectedly bounced back at the Germans off rocks and trees.
The terrain described as broken, brushy, overgrowth, undergrowth, copse, wooded compounded German movement and staging for attacks, severely impeding resupply ammunition and other supply
Further attacks were suspended , until further notice, until 1942, after taking 10,000 + casualties for the gain of 15 miles along the 56 miles to the objective Murmansk.

On the other side the Russian 14th and 52 Rifle Divisions were ably led and fought with skill according to reports.
The Murmansk Railroad was reported able to carry 10-15 Trains a day over the Unstable Road bed at 20-25 mph
Murmansk N-s Murmansk-Kola-Montschegorsk connector line-Kirovsk- Potschi connector line- Kandalaksha 100 mile mark
Louthi connector line- Kem- Belomorsk/ Soroka switch line to archangel- moscow line

Murmansk Area
14th Army
42 Rifle Corps
104 Rifle Div
112 Rifle Div Kandalaksha with 1st Tank Division Transported June 19, 1941 107 Tank Battalion formed out of ! st Tank Division elements
14 Rifle Div
52 Rifle Div
23 Fortified Region
104 Artillery Reg RGK
1st Tank Div BT 7 - T 28 Models 2nd Regiment 1st Battalion KV x 6 T 34 x 8 T 50 x 1 15 older models
1st Mixed Aviation Div
42 Artillery Correction Spotters Aviation
31 Seperate Sapper Battalion

PassandReviewofWW2
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Re: June 22, 1941 Over the Top at the Arctic Circle

#2

Post by PassandReviewofWW2 » 03 Jul 2017, 18:12

Russian T 26 Tanks Patrolling the Roads were another unpleasant surprise


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Polar bear
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Re: June 22, 1941 Over the Top at the Arctic Circle

#3

Post by Polar bear » 06 Jul 2017, 21:18

hi,
PassandReviewofWW2 wrote:Hitler ordered the 6th Gebirg Mountain Div From Greece, that would take 6 week to arrive if at all, considering Russian Submarine activity and British Surface Ship Patrols.
Soviet sub activity was, at that time, quite negligible.
The 2 British submarines TIGRIS and TRIDENT, arriving in August, 1941 had, although, considerable influence, TRIDENT sinking on 30th August the German troop transports BAHIA LAURA and DONAU II with more than 700 mountain troops lost.
PassandReviewofWW2 wrote:The initial gains of some 3 miles, over the Litsa across the two hills seemed to be a success, bypassed Russians then opened fire from behind while Russian Artillery pounded the SS disrupting the attack, taking heavy losses pulled back to the Litsa,
...
On the other side the Russian 14th and 52 Rifle Divisions were ably led and fought with skill according to reports.
Your list leaves, quite regrettably, unmentioned the naval units :
A Soviet naval action group (Cpt. 2nd Rank Simonov) with DDs KUIBYSHEV, URITSKI and Sub-hunters MO-121, MO-123 operated at the beginning of July at the neck of the Fisher peninsula, landing troops and giving naval gunfire support. Off Motovski bay, the soviet troops were supported by gunboats GROZA and SMERCH.
Later, a naval group (Cpt. 1st Rank Platonov) with gun boats GROZA, MUSSON and TUMAN, minesweepers T-890 and T-891and sub-hunters MO-131, MO-132 and MO-133 landed troops in the German left flank which led to a disruption of the attack across the Litsa.

greetings, the pb
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War
(John Milton, the poet, in a letter to the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652)

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