92nd Border Guard Detachment NKVD in 1941

[GregSingh]

Organisation of the 92nd Border Guard Detachment:

HQ at Перемышль, Przemyśl
1 Border Command at Sieniawa (1,2,3,4 outposts, 1 reserve outpost)
2 Border Command at Wysocko (5,6,7,8 outposts, 2 reserve outpost)
3 Border Command at Stubno (9,10,11,12 outpost, 3 reserve outpost)
4 Border Command at Przemyśl (13,14,15,16 outpost, 4 reserve outpost)
5 Border Command at Piątkowa (17,18,19,20,21 outpost, 5 reserve outpost)
Mobile group at Przemyśl
Transport company at Przemyśl
Communication company at Przemyśl
NKVD NCO school at Wysocko
NKVD base at Bircza

Detachment defended Soviet-German border along San river between Sieniawa and Bachów.
In the district of Przemyśl were permanent garrisons of the 99th Infantry Division of Colonel Dementiev. North-East from Przemyśl were units of 97th Infantry Division. Bridges over the river were guarded by elements of the "10th Division of the NKVD for the protection of railway facilities".

[GregSingh]

Translation of the article called "Characteristics of hostilities - Przemysl Border Guard Detachment in the early days of the war", written in 1943 by Head of troops to protect the rear of Voronezh Front, Major General Pankin and
Chief of Staff of the army, Colonel Kuznetsov.

In June 1941 Przemysl Border Guard Detachment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Yakov Iosifovich Tarutin, deputy head of unit for political affairs battalion commissar Grigory Vasilevich Utkin and Chief of Staff Captain Yakov Iosifovich Ageychik provided defense of the state border in the area along the river San. Detachment's Headquarters was in Przemysl.
At the armed outposts were: rifles, two heavy and four light machine guns, mobile group had besides rifles two heavy machine guns. Each outpost had trenches, blockhouses and watchtowers.
Detachment had no means of combating tanks, except grenades, because it was assumed that since the outbreak of hostilities, line of border fortifications will immediately be taken over by the Red Army, and the detachment will proceed to perform specific tasks.
The situation on the border in the beginning of June is characterized by the movement of German troops.
Since the June 15 in the foreign part of Przemysl (west bank of the river San) the blackout was introduced and at night hum of the engines could be heard.
On June 22, 1941 at the 4-00 German troops suddenly opened heavy artillery fire simultaneously in the area of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Border Command, Detachment's headquarters and the roads leading to our rear.
One of the first shots of the enemy destroyed Detachment's radio and telephone exchange. Communication with Army HQ and Border Commands was interrupted.
On June 22, 1941 at 4-20 the entire staff of HQ were put on full alert and reorganized into platoons and companies. Commander of the 4th Border Command was ordered not to allow the enemy to cross river San near Przemysl.
After a four-hour artillery barrage enemy went on the offensive, trying in small groups (20-30 people each) to cross the river San near Przemysl.
By 10-00 June 22, 1941 groups of the enemy which crossed the river San, were driven back and partially destroyed by units of 4th Border Command. The enemy loses in the first few hours of fighting near Przemysl were 300 killed and 600 wounded. Detachment losses: 16 killed and wounded.
A few facts of the fighting in the first hours of the war:
1) By order of the commander of Detachment, head of the Detachment's club(?)- Zhomov with a platoon of soldiers, one heavy and two light machine guns defended the crossing of the river San in Przemysl in the ara of meat-packing plant. Five times the enemy tried to cross the river, but was always driven back, suffering heavy losses.
2) The Assistant Chief of the 14th outpost Lieutenant Nechayev with a group of soldiers defended the frontier bridge across the river San in Przemysl. To capture the bridge the Germans threw over the company, but accurate fire machine guns repeatedly thrown back opponent with heavy losses. Having failed in frontal attacks, the German command threw several units around the defenders and in the same time took a new attack on the bridge. Finally, the only one left alive was Lieutenant Nechayev. True to his oath he let the enemy group come closer and blew himself with the remaining grenades. Nechayev was killed by destroying the entire group of enemies.
By 10-00 June 22, 1941 in spite of the measures taken by the adversary, communication to Border Commands and the headquarter of the army has been restored.
By 11-00 22 June 1941 the situation in the area of the Detachment was as follows:
1st Border Command was attacked by an enemy tank group consisting of up to 200 tanks. No more information is available. There is no information about the fate of Border Command.
5th Border Command continued to serve for the protection of the state border. Enemy in the area showed no activity.
2nd Border Command was attacked by superior enemy forces at 4-30 June 22, 1941, but continued the defense of the border, fighting off enemy counterattacks and inflicting considerable losses.
3rd Border Command was fighting with the enemy from 4-15 June 22, 1941 and continued to hold in their hands the state border.
Continuous seven-hour battle with the enemy waged the 9th and 10th outposts, reflecting all the enemy's attempts to move forward. Even the "psychic attack", undertaken by a battalion of the SS, did not break the outposts resistance. SS met heavy rifles and machine guns fire, and our counterattack forced the enemy to flight. On the battlefield, the enemy left cannon and two machine guns.
Thus, up to 12-00 June 22, 1941 Detachment held in stubborn fighting the boundary line. On the 12-00 June 22, 1941 Detachment was ordered to withdraw troops beyond the line of the Red Army units.
Following an order, a Detachment consisting of units of service, HQ and the 4th Border Command at 13-00 June 22, 1941 left Przemysl and concentrated in Nizhenkovichi, which is 12 km east of Przemysl. Here in the period from 26 to 28 June were also moved 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Border Commands.
At 19-00 June 22, 1941 in the village Nizhenkovichi Detachment HQ received an order from the commander of the 99th Infantry Division to retake Przemysl.
Consolidated battalion under the command of Senior Lieutenant Palivoda (comprising 215 people, four heavy and six light machine guns) and the 4th Border Command with the support of the 61st artillery regiment of the 99th Infantry Division, machine guns and anti-tank companies of one of the regiments of the 99th Infantry Division, under the command of Lt. Col. Tarutin, received an order to remove Germans from Przemysl.
The attack on Przemysl began June 23, 1941 at 03-00. After a fierce battle on the outskirts first broke into the battalion under the command of Senior Lieutenant Palivoda. Under the onslaught enemy units walked away, leaving on the streets up to 300 bodies of soldiers and officers. Przemysl was taken at 17-00 June 23, 1941
On June 24, 1941 a group of soldiers from 4th Border Command (120 pers.) under the command of Captain Dyachkov entered Przemysl. This group joined the battalion of Senior Lieutenant Palivoda.
Until 27 June 1941 the battalion of Senior Lieutenant Palivoda, supported by small units of the 99th Infantry Division and mobilized Party activists, defended Przemysl, having sustained several dozen attacks. The stubborn defense allowed to evacuate the Przemysl branch of the State Bank with all the valuables.
On June 27, 1941 at 6-15 the battalion of Senior Lieutenant Palivoda left Przemysl and joined the Detachment.
From 26 to 28 June 1941 Detachment provided the security to staff of the 8th Corps.
At the same time as fighting for Przemysl part of the Detachment forces were fighting in the area of village Medyka.
On June 24, 1941 the enemy made an attempt to cut the rail line Przemysl - Lvov. Parts of the enemy penetrated units of the 99th Infantry Division in the area of village Medyka. The commander of the 99th Infantry Division, ordered the Detachment to assist the division. Shock company formed from the staff of Detachment's HQ, under the command of Senior Lieutenant Perepelkin, with heavy fire and counterattacks firmly held village Medyka until June 26, 1941, killing 300 Nazis.
On 29 June 1941 Detachment was given the task to drive the enemy from the city Lubien Wielki and village Komarno. To complete the task Detachment was allocated two battalions (the first under the command of Captain Chernykh, the second under the command of Senior Lieutenant Polivoda). Lt. Col. Tarutin personally supervised the operation.
On June 29th and 30th, the 1st and 2nd battalions together with units of the 5th Army fought a fierce battle in the Lubien Wielki, Komarno, Legezino. In these battles detachment destroyed a battalion of enemy infantry and firmly held the ground. Detachment's commander Lt. Col. Tarutin was wounded in combat and Senior Lieutenant Polevoda died as a hero.
On June 30, 1941, the Red Army units on the flanks of the Detachment withdrew, the command of the Detachment was not informed about it. While holding the line, the Detachment was in the semicircle of the advancing enemy units. Given the possibility of a complete encirclement and the futility of the struggle, the Detachment commander gave the order to retreat in the direction of city Gusyatin, covering the retreat of the 99th Infantry Division.
Thus, for the period from 22 to 30 June 1941 Detachment led the heavy fighting on the border in Przemysl, Medyka, in Lubien Wielki, Komarno, Legezino. In these battles, the enemy lost in killed and wounded nearly 5 thousand soldiers and officers. Detachment's losses 706 killed, wounded and missing (including the 1st Border Command).
----------------
My note - Nizhenkovichi is actually south of Przemysl, not east.
My questions so far:
- Were there really any German tanks in the area of the 1st Border Command?
- What SS battalion they are talking about in the area of 9th and 10th outpost?

[Jeff Leach]

Thx Greg that is great stuff. The area they are talking about lie withing the LII.A.K. boundaries, which didn't have any SS trops. Unfortunately I won't have any LII.A.K. records for a couple of months. I do know that the 800 z.b.V. Battalion (Brandenburg troops) was operating in the area, taking part in Operation 'Nightingale' (assisting Ukrainian guerillas.).

I have seen some of the place names you list in the German documents; Sieniawa, Wysocko and Stubno. The Russians offered stubborn resistance at Stubno at least. I will try and post the relavant passages later.

If you have digital copies of the, I would enjoy looking at the original material.

[GregSingh]

And here is a map of the area. I couldn't find a good template, so I created one. Could be used to mark units location, etc.
German-Russian border as of 22.06.1941
Spelling of the names as per German Übersichtskarte von Mitteleuropa from September 1940.

I have another article dealing with defense of the bridge near Radymno.
Will start with daily reports soon.

[GregSingh]

Here are scans of this article.

[GregSingh]

And the last bit.

[GregSingh]

Fragments from the book "Security officers fought to the death" by G.A.Kumanev and A.S.Chaykovski . Very poetic accounts of the battle for Radymno bridge.

[...]
North of the town of Przemysl, in Radymno near the bridge over the San was located 9th outpost under the command of Lieutenant Slusarev. Nazis tried to grab this bridge just hours before the start of the war. Once gunfire was heard at the border, Slusarev lifted personnel to the fight. Only sergeant Artamonov and cook remained at the outpost.
Once at the bridge, Lieutenant Slusarev arranged guards in the trenches. Enemy artillery started fire at 4:00 am. Shrapnel was torn above the trenches. Other guns fired directly at the outpost.
After the artillery attack, SS battalion made a violent attack. When the first line crossed the middle of the bridge, Slusarev gave the command: - Fire!
Machine guns worked flawlessly, riflemen provided light fire. The Nazis were crawling over the bridge. When they still managed to reach our shores, Slusarev raised fighters in the counterattack. The enemy was driven back to the other side.
The calm lasted for several minutes. Then the bridge shook from the rumble of tanks. Enemy vehicles broke through the trenches, where a handful of brave security officers were defending.
Thinned the ranks of border guards. Lieutenant Slusarev received a mortal wound. Falling at ground ripped by shells and tank treads, he put remaining strength into last words: - Listen to my last order: do not retreat ... defend bridge to the last man.
At this time, the battle began at the outpost. Two border guards remaining there clashed with the enemy paratroopers. Sergeant Artamonov and cook occupied blockhouse and fought back with machine gun fire. The bullet pierced the casing of machine gun. Water flowed out. The barrel was overheating, but the guards continued to pour lead into attacking enemy. Passing trenches, tanks rushed to the outpost. They destroyed the blockhouse, set fire to the barracks. And the bridge battle was still raging. Carrying out order from their commander, guards fought to the last.
[..]
Upon learning of the attack on the 9th outpost, neighboring units were sent in support. Soldiers from the 3rd Border Command, led by Captain Stoletnyj drove in three cars. In the village Nienowice Soviet soldiers came upon a large group of Nazis. In the decisive battle they destroyed the enemy. But they could not get through to the 9th outpost.
Commander of the 10th outpost Lieutenant Vasilyev sent ten people to the aid of Lieutenant Slusarev, although he had a hard time himself. The Germans shelled his outpost with incendiary projectiles. Building was on fire. Then Nazi battalion attacked, crossing river San. After letting the enemy close, the guards opened fire. Junior political officer Fedorov picked up fighters to a counter-attack and rushed to the enemy. Inspired by the example of a political leader, the guards pushed Germans back to the river.

At 8:00 am arrived platoon of scouts from 99 Infantry Division. Also returned the group, which was directed to Slusarev. It was right on time, because the Nazis again hit the outpost.
Severe wound received Lt. Vasilyev. Junior political officer Fedorov took command, but was struck down by an enemy bullet. The surviving soldiers led by Sergeant Zuev fought off several enemy attacks and they ran out of ammunition. With ten fighters Zuev managed to break out and connect with one of the units of the Red Army.
[..]

[Jeff Leach]

here is the XXXXIX.(Geb.)A.K. entry about the Radymno bridge

4:30 (22.06.41)

The commander of I.R.477 (257.I.D.) informed the commanding general about the situation at the bridge at Radymno: two battalions of the regiment were already on the opposite bank of the San River and advancing. The bridge hadn’t been defended (properly) by the Russians. The guards at the border-crossing guard post had been simply shot to death. The roadblocks on the bridge were being removed at the moment.

the accounts differ somewhat. There were no SS or tanks at Radymno. I read through the account you give and it is just BS. The NKVD Border Detachments in area did resist, the war diary above mention the Soviet ran away or fought to the last man, but not at Radymno. The two account you posted are just fantasy although the first one might have some facts correct. I'll look though what I have and try and post the location I believe the NKVD fought at in the sector of the XXXXIX.(Geb.)A.K.

BTW looks at these Polish Topographical Maps they are from the 1930s and are extremely eye pleasing. If you go up to the map menu there are also maps in 1/300000 scale.

[GregSingh]

I've never expected reports of opposing forces to match.
To the contrary, they usually differ. That's why there is so much heated discussions around, going really nowhere...
Researcher has to stick to sources, but we may never get to the truth. I am neither German nor Russian, so I don't have an emotional approach. Many Russian reports are close to fantasy, for whatever reason it may be, but in the past I also found many German reports being at least over optimistic.
Reports from the beginning of the campaign are usually confusing, as they were created later. When you are suddenly under the fire, there is no time to report, and soon there is nobody left to report anything. Also situation changes very quickly.

I found another two reports from Red Army, not NKVD. Both mention long columns of tanks and motorized infantry (up to 3km long) moving towards Jaworow i Mosciska. One is from 23rd, second from 24th of June. And looks like there was no tanks at all there? They did not mention any SS units...

I don't have German reports from around Radymno. How long did it take for Germans to reach towns east of Radymno?
Perhaps this way we can estimate strength of Russian resistance? It shouldn't take more than a day for infantry to cover 40-50km if no resistance is offered from the opponent? What are the time stamps on German units reports in the area?

[GregSingh]

Large fragments of the history of Soviet 97th Infantry Division are on this forum:
http://nemirov41.forum24.ru/?1-5-0-0000 ... 1249308231
That unit was in the area of 91st and 92nd NKVD Border Guard Detachments.
According to the text, on early morning of 22nd of June 1941: 136.IR/97.ID covered area from Wysocko to Dunkowice; 233.IR/97.ID was along Dobra-Molodycz-Zalesie; and 69.IR/97.ID along Stare Siolo-Dachnow-Chotylub.
All these villages can be easily found on this German map: ‘Grossblatt Nr 392 Przemysl’ from September 1940.
Please note that Dunkowice are right east from Radymno, less than 2km from the bridge.

Further in the text you can read:
“On the left flank of Division at 7.20 the fight entered the 2nd Battalion of 136 regiment. By order of the division's commander, it was sent to support the defense of the NCO school of the 92nd Border Guard Detachment, which was in the village of Wysocko. The battalion of captain Kochegura attacked the enemy from the march together with border guards and threw the Nazis to the state border.
An hour later, the enemy attacked Wysocko again and by nine o'clock up to a battalion of infantry supported by 15 tanks stormed the (?). Captain Kochegura again organized a counterattack. After a fierce battle the enemy retreated with heavy losses to the left bank of the San River.”
[..]
"Several German tanks with a surprise attack, seized a road bridge over the river near San in Radymno and began to restrict border guards defending the bridge. Crossed of the San up to two infantry battalions reinforced by tanks, the enemy advanced on 4-5 km and captured the villages of Dunkowice, Nienowice, Michalowka."
[..]
"By the afternoon 97th Division was on the defensive on a broad front, took the following position: 69th Regiment and supporting it 41 light artillery regiment - Mlodow, Ostrowiec, Chertkuv; 233rd Regiment - Nowo Grobla, Korzenica; 136th two battalions of the regiment held Korzenica, Laszki, Wola Zaleska."
------------
Mlodow and Ostrowiec are south of Lubartow. Couldn't find Chertkuv. Maybe it's Szczutkow?
Looks like 97th was squeezed from north and south...

And mysterious German tanks appeared again in the area...Perhaps in 1941 to the defenders looked like German tanks were everywhere, and in 1945 to the defenders looked like Russian tanks were everywhere...

[Jeff Leach]

I have no ax to grind here, I am interested in what really happened. What I said was, "These two articles are fabrications. The border troops did fight but not at Radymno." From what I can see in the war diaries of A.O.K.17, XXXXIX.(Geb.)A.K. and I.V.A.K. (don't have the LII.A.K yet) seem very believable and were probably written within hours or maybe the next day of the events that occured. What they say about the actual quality of Russian troops is,"they fight well", "when they fight they usually fight to the last", "few prisioners". I haven't seen any of the German arrogance in the records so far."

In A.O.K.17 sector of the front the Russians made a very good show of things during the first week of the war: the initial attack of the 262.I.D. of IV.A.K. was routed and the next day the Germans were using railroad artillery and the 'Karl' mortars (s.Bttr.833) to break up the Russian counter-attack, the defense around Rawa Ruska was tenacious for days, the Russian mechanized forces made life miserable for the German infantry all week.

In the XXXXIX.(Geb.)A.K. sector of the front (this includes Radymno) I remember at least two places being mentioned as offering tough resistance: Fw. Str. Sioło (about 100 - 200 m north of Str. Sioło at the edge of Lasmaj Str. Sioło) and at Zak. Ceram (Ceramik Factory) Murowanka (just across the river from Jarosław). Str. Sioło might be the 97th Rifle Division but Murowanka is almost certainly the NKVD.

If you need a hero story, the Ceramik Factory at Murowanka will do fine. At 4:30 the 68.I.D. reported they still couldn't break the resistance at the Ceramik Factory. About two hours later the 68.I.D. reported that they had called in the Pionere troops to deal with the pesky Russian.

I see you posted while I was writing this reply. This last post seems closer to the truth, it will take some time to check the details

One last thing: whatever the Russians say, the XXXXIX.(Geb.)A.K. only had 1./243.StuG.Abt (should be 7 x Sturmgechütz III) subordinate which was attached to the 1.Geb.D. on 22.06.41. So you should disregrad report of tanks outside the area Oleszyce and Szczutów.

[GregSingh]

I searched through all available to me reports from 92 Border Guard Detachment and Russian 6 Army, but couldn't find anything about fight near Jaroslaw at Murowanka. In that first article, they mention losing communication with 1 Border Command at Sieniawa. Quite possible at Murowanka was one of the 1st Border Command outposts. Looks like there is no reports from 1st Border Command at all. Communication was lost and nobody made to Russian lines to tell the story.

[GregSingh]

Ceramic Factory on the old map.

[GregSingh]

And thanks to Google, Ceramic Factory today...

[GregSingh]

More from Google. A view from Radymno bridge towards East.