11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland - Leningrad To Narva

Leningrad To Narva

Nordland, along with the rest of III. (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps arrived at the front near Leningrad and was almost immediately put into action against the Red Army attacks to break the German encirclement of the city. After they escaped from being surrounded, the Nordland effected a fighting withdrawal over 60 kilometres to Oranienbaum. On 14 January, the Soviet Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive succeeded in collapsing the German front, and the Nordland again fought its way back to the city of Narva in Estonia, where a new line of defence was being organized. In early February, Soviet forces began their attacks towards the city and the Battle of Narva began. The battle has come to be known as the Battle of the European SS because a large proportion of the defenders were European volunteers. Joining the Nordland were the formations from all over Europe. The Dutchman of the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland, the Walloons of the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien, the Flemings of the 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck, the Estonians of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian), as well as regular German formations. Altogether, the defenders of the Narva River line amounted to 50,000 men. Against them, the Soviets threw 200,000 men of the Leningrad Front.

The Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive was launched on 13 February, with Soviet forces attacking right across the line, as well as launching an amphibious assault from the Baltic near Mereküla. The Nordland units were among the forces that annihilated the Soviet landing force. Over the next five months, the Waffen SS held out against the Soviet attacks, the Nordland seeing very heavy fighting. On 6 March, Soviet aircraft managed to destroy the Narva bridge in the Battle for Narva Bridgehead, cutting off the troops on the far side of the river in Ivangorod. The men of Nordland's Pioneer Battalion quickly rebuilt the bridge while under heavy fire. The launching of Operation Bagration in June 1944 inspired the Narva Offensive. The highway bridge over the Narva was blown up and the defenders were moved 16 kilometres west to the Tannenberg Line.