Belostock Offensive Operation
Encyclopedia
The Belostock Offensive was part of the third and final phase of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive of the Red Army
in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration.
the Oberkommando des Heeres
could call on few reserves to stop the Soviet advance. On the Białystok axis, the remaining forces were organised into a 'blocking group' under the command of General Helmuth Weidling
. This included several new formations in addition to the very few troops that had escaped from east of Minsk. To the south, the defence was conducted by the northern wing of Second Army, which had been reinforced, notably with the 28th Jäger Division, in the hope of mounting an attack to break through to the units of Army Group Centre still trapped east of Minsk.
The Germans' defence efforts were aided by the presence of old fortifications and defence works from World War I
and earlier.
The above units were under the overall command of Army Group Centre
(Field-Marshal Walter Model
).
south of Dokudovo and moved forward against Weidling's forces. It crossed the Kotra River
by July 13, and reached Grodno by July 15. Its 69th and 81st Rifle Corps stormed Grodno on the morning of the next day. The Soviet 3rd Army, on the northern flank of the neighbouring 1st Belorussian Front
, took Volkovysk in fighting against Herrlein's LV Corps.
, but then was forced to withdraw to assist the first regiment's disengagement. Due to a lack of resources, the German counter-offensive failed, but revealed the exhaustion of both the Soviet and German troops in comparison to fresh units.
The 2nd Belorussian Front had successfully forced the entire length of the Neman
and Svisloch by July 24; the 50th Army, with support from the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, took or retook the eastern part of the Augustow Forest and part of the outlying fortifications of Grodno which the Germans had retained after their counter-offensive. There was intense fighting as the German 50th Infantry Division
attempted to defend the highway between Grodno and Białystok.
In the meantime, the 3rd Army had reached the outskirts of Białystok itself, despite strong resistance from the LV Corps. It stormed the city and took it by July 27, after several days of street fighting.
The 2nd Belorussian Front's final objective in Operation Bagration was to advance to the Narew
River in the Osovets Offensive.
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration.
Role in the conflict
The Belostock Offensive was part of the third, or 'pursuit' phase of Operation Bagration, and was commenced after the completion of the encirclement and destruction of much of Army Group Centre in the Minsk Offensive. Belostock is the Russian name of the Polish city of Białystok.Operational goals
After completing its mission of liquidating the pocket east of Minsk, in which the Fourth Army had been trapped, the bulk of the 2nd Belorussian Front was issued new objectives: initially, to capture Volkovysk and advance towards Białystok. The 49th Army, however, was further employed in reducing the encirclement until mid-July. The 4th Air Army continued its mission of providing support for the Front's ground forces.German intelligence
After the fall of MinskMinsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
the Oberkommando des Heeres
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
could call on few reserves to stop the Soviet advance. On the Białystok axis, the remaining forces were organised into a 'blocking group' under the command of General Helmuth Weidling
Helmuth Weidling
Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling was an officer in the German Army before and during World War II...
. This included several new formations in addition to the very few troops that had escaped from east of Minsk. To the south, the defence was conducted by the northern wing of Second Army, which had been reinforced, notably with the 28th Jäger Division, in the hope of mounting an attack to break through to the units of Army Group Centre still trapped east of Minsk.
The Germans' defence efforts were aided by the presence of old fortifications and defence works from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and earlier.
Wehrmacht
- Remnants of Fourth Army (General Kurt von TippelskirchKurt von TippelskirchKurt Oskar Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm von Tippelskirch was a general in the German Army during World War II.-Personal life:Kurt von Tippelskirch was born on 9 October 1891 in Berlin...
to 18 July, then General Friedrich HoßbachFriedrich HoßbachFriedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Hoßbach was a German staff officer who in 1937 was the military adjutant to the Fuehrer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
)- Sperrgruppe WeidlingHelmuth WeidlingHelmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling was an officer in the German Army before and during World War II...
(later renamed VI CorpsVI Corps (Germany)The VI Corps was an infantry corps in the German Army. It fought in several notable actions during World War II.The corps was originally formed around the 6th Division of the Reichswehr in October 1934 in Münster.-1940:...
)- 50th Infantry Division50th Infantry Division (Germany)The 50th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 26 August 1939 from the Grenzkommandantur Küstrin.-50. Infanterie-Division 1939:*Infanterie-Regiment 121*Infanterie-Regiment 122...
- KampfgruppeKampfgruppeIn military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
Florke - Kampfgruppe von Gottberg
- 5th Panzer Division
- Part of 3rd SS Division Totenkopf3rd SS Division TotenkopfThe SS Division Totenkopf , also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke...
- 50th Infantry Division
- Sperrgruppe Weidling
- Northern wing of Second Army (Colonel-General Walter WeißWalter WeißGeneral Walter-Otto Weiß was a Wehrmacht High Command officer in World War II. He became Commander in Chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front in 1945. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
)- LV Corps (General Friedrich HerrleinFriedrich HerrleinFriedrich Herrlein was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the LV. Corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or...
)
- LV Corps (General Friedrich Herrlein
The above units were under the overall command of Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
(Field-Marshal Walter Model
Walter Model
Otto Moritz Walter Model was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles in the latter half of the war, mostly on the Eastern Front but also in the west, and for his close association with Adolf Hitler and Nazism...
).
Red Army
- 2nd Belorussian Front2nd Belorussian FrontThe 2nd Belorussian Front was a military formation of Army group size of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...
(Colonel-General Gyorgy Zakharov)- 49th Army (Lieutenant-General Ivan Grishin)
- 50th Army (Lieutenant-General Ivan Boldin)
- 4th Air Army
Grodno falls
By July 11 the 50th Army had forced crossings of the NemanNeman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
south of Dokudovo and moved forward against Weidling's forces. It crossed the Kotra River
Kotra River
Kotra River is a long river in Belarus and Lithuania. The river is known due to a rare phenomenon of river bifurcation.At first Kotra and Ūla Rivers form one river, known as Pelesa River. Pelesa originates in Belarus and flows in northwestern direction...
by July 13, and reached Grodno by July 15. Its 69th and 81st Rifle Corps stormed Grodno on the morning of the next day. The Soviet 3rd Army, on the northern flank of the neighbouring 1st Belorussian Front
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...
, took Volkovysk in fighting against Herrlein's LV Corps.
The German counter-attack
On the 23rd July, the Fourth Army commander, Hoßbach, in agreement with Model, committed the newly-arrived 19th Panzer Division into a counter-attack with the intention of cutting off the Soviet spearheads in the Augustow Forest. One regiment surprised the Soviet forces in Grodno (and claimed to have destroyed some 180 tanks, though this seems excessive) before turning southwards towards Białystok.. A second regiment recaptured LipskLipsk
Lipsk , , is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 inhabitants ....
, but then was forced to withdraw to assist the first regiment's disengagement. Due to a lack of resources, the German counter-offensive failed, but revealed the exhaustion of both the Soviet and German troops in comparison to fresh units.
The 2nd Belorussian Front had successfully forced the entire length of the Neman
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
and Svisloch by July 24; the 50th Army, with support from the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, took or retook the eastern part of the Augustow Forest and part of the outlying fortifications of Grodno which the Germans had retained after their counter-offensive. There was intense fighting as the German 50th Infantry Division
50th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 50th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 26 August 1939 from the Grenzkommandantur Küstrin.-50. Infanterie-Division 1939:*Infanterie-Regiment 121*Infanterie-Regiment 122...
attempted to defend the highway between Grodno and Białystok.
In the meantime, the 3rd Army had reached the outskirts of Białystok itself, despite strong resistance from the LV Corps. It stormed the city and took it by July 27, after several days of street fighting.
Outcome
The Belostock Offensive had proved largely successful in terms of its immediate tactical objectives: by the end of July the Soviets were in possession of the communications centres of Grodno and Białystok. However, their supply lines were becoming dangerously extended and their troops exhausted; progress slowed as the Army Group Centre commander, Model, was able to organise an effective defence through judicious management of the few units available.The 2nd Belorussian Front's final objective in Operation Bagration was to advance to the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
River in the Osovets Offensive.