Back معركة نارفا (1944) Arabic Нарвска операция Bulgarian Batalla de Narva (1944) Spanish Narva lahing (1944) Estonian نبرد ناروا (۱۹۴۴) Persian Narvan taistelu (1944) Finnish Bataille de Narva (1944) French קרב נארווה (1944) HE Battaglia di Narva (1944) Italian ナルヴァの戦い (1944年) Japanese

Battle of Narva (1944)

For other Battles of Narva, see Battle of Narva.

Battle of Narva
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

German soldiers defending the western bank of the Narva River, with the fortress of Ivangorod on the eastern side
Date2 February – 10 August 1944
Location
Narva, Estonia
59°23′N 28°12′E / 59.383°N 28.200°E / 59.383; 28.200
Result German defensive victory
Belligerents

Nazi Germany Germany

Soviet Union Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Johannes Frießner
Nazi Germany Felix Steiner		 Soviet Union Leonid Govorov
Soviet Union Ivan Fedyuninsky
Units involved
  • 2nd Shock Army
  • 8th Army
  • 59th Army
  • 8th Estonian Rifle Corps
  • 14th Rifle Corps
    • Strength
    123,541 personnel[1]
    32 tanks[2]
    137 aircraft[1]    		 200,000 personnel[2][3]
    2,500 guns
    125 tanks[4]
    800 aircraft[1]
    Casualties and losses
    14,000 dead or missing
    54,000 wounded or sick
    68,000 casualties[5]    		 100,000 dead or missing
    380,000 wounded or sick[nb 1]
    300 tanks
    230 aircraft[2]
    480,000 casualties[5]
    1. ^ Mart Laar in his book Sinimäed 1944: II maailmasõja lahingud Kirde-Eestis has presented an indirect account of Soviet casualties for the battles. According to the data of the Stavka, the total casualties of the Leningrad Front in 1944 were 665,827 men, 145,102 of them dead or missing. The share of the battles around Narva is unknown but considering the length of the operation, Laar accounts roughly half of the documented 56,564 dead or missing and the 170,876 wounded or sick in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive for the Battle of Narva. This is in accordance with the estimation of F. Paulman, stating in his Ot Narvy do Syrve that the 2nd Shock Army lost over 30,000 troops at the Narva bridgeheads during February. Deducting the losses in the operations of the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive conducted elsewhere, the casualties in the battles in Finland and in the Baltic Offensive, Laar totals the numbers of Soviet losses in the Battle of Narva at approximately 100,000 dead or missing and 380,000 wounded or sick. The "cost of nearly 500,000 men" is confirmed in the book Battle in the Baltics 1944–1945 by I. Baxter.

    The Battle of Narva[nb 1] was a World War II military campaign, lasting from 2 February to 10 August 1944, in which the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus.

    The battle took place in the northern section of the Eastern Front and consisted of two major phases: the Battle for Narva Bridgehead (February to July 1944),[6] and the Battle of Tannenberg Line (July–August 1944).[7] The Soviet Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive and Narva Offensives (15–28 February, 1–4 March and 18–24 March) were part of the Red Army Winter Spring Campaign of 1944.[8] Following Joseph Stalin's "broad front" strategy, these battles coincided with the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive (December 1943 – April 1944) and the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive (July–August 1944).[8] A number of foreign volunteers and local Estonian conscripts participated in the battle as part of the German forces with Army Group North. By giving its support to the illegal German conscription call, the underground National Committee of the Republic of Estonia had hoped to recreate a national army and restore the independence of the country.[9]

    As a continuation of the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive of January 1944, the Soviet Estonian operation pushed the front westward to the Narva River, aiming to destroy "Narwa" and thrust deep into Estonia. Soviet units established a number of bridgeheads on the western bank of the river in February, while the Germans maintained a bridgehead on the eastern bank. Subsequent attempts to expand the Soviet toehold failed. German counterattacks annihilated the bridgeheads to the north of Narva and reduced the bridgehead south of the town, stabilizing the front until July 1944. The Soviet Narva Offensive (July 1944) led to the capture of the city after the German troops retreated to their prepared Tannenberg Defence Line in the Sinimäed Hills, 16 kilometres from Narva. In the ensuing Battle of Tannenberg Line, the German army group held its ground. Stalin's main strategic goal—a quick recovery of Estonia as a base for air and seaborne attacks against Finland and an invasion of East Prussia—was not achieved. As a result of the tough defence of the German forces, the Soviet war effort in the Baltic Sea region was hampered for seven and a half months.[10]

    1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference hiio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    2. ^ a b c Mart Laar (2006). Sinimäed 1944: II maailmasõja lahingud Kirde-Eestis (Sinimäed Hills 1944: Battles of World War II in Northeast Estonia) (in Estonian). Tallinn: Varrak.
    3. ^ Hannes Walter. "Estonia in World War II". Mississippi: Historical Text Archive. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
    4. ^ Cite error: The named reference paulman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    5. ^ a b Doyle, Peter (2013). World War II in Numbers. A & C Black. p. 105. ISBN 9781408188194.
    6. ^ McTaggart, Pat (2003). "The Battle of Narva, 1944". In Command Magazine (ed.). Hitler's army: the evolution and structure of German forces. Cambridge, MA: Combined Books. pp. 294, 296, 297, 299, 302, 305, 307.
    7. ^ McTaggart, Pat (2003). "The Battle of Narva, 1944". In Command Magazine (ed.). Hitler's army: the evolution and structure of German forces. Cambridge, MA: Combined Books. p. 306.
    8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference glantz2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    9. ^ Romuald J. Misiunas, Rein Taagepera The Baltic States, Years of Dependence, 1940–1980. p. 66. University of California Press, 1983
    10. ^ Cite error: The named reference laar2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


    Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

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