Battle for Narva Bridgehead

Battle for the Narva Bridgehead
Part of World War II
Soviet plan of the attempted break-out, February – April 1944
Date 2 February – 26 July 1944 Location Narva, Estonia 59°23′N 28°12′E / 59.383°N 28.200°E / 59.383; 28.200 Result German withdrawal
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Johannes Frießner	Leonid A. Govorov
Strength
123,541 personnel[1] 32 tanks[2] 137 aircraft[1]	205,000 personnel[3] 2,500 assault guns 100 tanks[4] 800 aircraft[1]
Casualties and losses
Contemporary estimates: 12,000 dead, missing or captured 46,000 wounded or sick	Contemporary indirect estimates: 65,000 dead or missing 235,000 wounded or sick 130 armoured vehicles 230 aircraft[2]

The Battle of Narva Bridgehead (Estonian: Narva lahingud, German: Schlacht um den Brückenkopf von Narva, Russian: Битва за плацдарм Нарва; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operation in the surroundings of the town of Narva for six months. It was the first phase of the Battle of Narva campaign fought at the Eastern Front during World War II, the second phase being the Battle of Tannenberg Line.

A number of volunteer Waffen SS units from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium fought on the German side. Several Western authors dealing with the foreign national units nickname the campaign as the "Battle of the European SS".^{[nb 1]} The involved Estonian conscripts fought to defend their country against the looming Soviet reoccupation.^[6]

The Soviet Estonian offensive was a follow-on of the Leningrad–Novgorod offensive. Its aim was to reconquer Estonia, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.^[7][8] Although Narva was not the main direction of the Soviet offensives on the Eastern Front in 1944, the Baltic Sea seemed the quickest way to Joseph Stalin for taking the battles to the German ground and seizing control of Finland.^[9][10]

The Soviet Estonian offensive stalled after securing several bridgeheads over the Narva River and facing the Nazi German Wotan Line. The fierce fighting starting in February stopped at the end of April. With the Narva offensive, 24–30 July 1944, the Red Army captured the town of Narva, as the German troops retreated 16 kilometres to the southwest to continue fighting at their prepared positions. The German forces managed to block the Soviet advance to the Baltic ports for nearly six months due to the nature of the terrain and the resistance of the international troops.^{[citation needed]}

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