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Dane49
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« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2012, 11:46:36 AM » |
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Kampfgruppe Peiper and the Rescue of 320.
Infanterie-Division- KRASNAYA POLYANA
While fighting raged southeast and east of Kharkov, particularly in
the Rogan area, Kampfgruppe Peiper began its operation to reach
320. Infanterie-Division at 0330 hours. After assembling in the pitch
black, bitter cold night, the SS Grenadiers stood around the half
tracks, stamping their feet and clapping their frozen hands in futile
attempts to stay warm. The SPW exhaust pipes sent out clouds of
vapor while the men and drivers gathered in small groups, quietly
talking while they waited for the order to begin the attack. To shut
a motor off risked not being able to get it started again because of
the intense cold. As a result there was a constant dull rumbling of
idling motors throughout the assembly area. Finally the NCOs re- .
turned from a last mission review and the men clambered aboard
the vehicles clutching their weapons. The Kampfgruppe moved off
toward the south while to the rear the long line of ambulances also
got under way, following at a distance behind the combat troops.
Led by two assault guns, the lead elements of the relief column
drove southward toward the Udy River. At 0515 hours, Peiper's
lead detachment surprised a Russian security force on the bridge
over the river at Krassnaya Polyana. The bridge was in German
hands before it could be destroyed by the surprised Russian troops.
Those who were not killed or captured fled into the night and disappeared.
After mopping up the area, Peiper left a platoon behind
to protect the bridge and quickly pushed on. The following column
of vehicles snaked through Krassnaya Polyana and crossed the
bridge after a brief halt due to a Soviet counterattack that destroyed
several vehicles and caused havoc for a time before it was driven
off. Burning vehicles were pushed off the road into the deep snow
and the lead vehicles left the river and its platoon of guardians behind.
A few minutes later intense firing suddenly was heard once
again from Krassnaja Polyana. The detachment guarding the bridge
had been attacked once again and were fighting for their lives, but
no help could be sent back to aid them because the column had to
keep moving.
An hour later Peiper's Kampfgruppe reached Zmiev and crossed
the Northern Donets River on a still intact rail road bridge, at first
meeting no Russian resistance on the eastern bank. However, the
Russians were alerted to the presence of the SS column and after
Peiper's spearhead moved on, Soviet infantry mounted several attacks
against the SS troops guarding the bridge. Machine gun fire
snapped overhead and mortar shells began to impact around the
bridge. Several small groups of Russian infantry attacked the bridge
guard detachment, firing machine pistols and hurling grenades.
Peiper received word that 320. Infanterie-Division battle groups
were on the move, making their way toward their rendezvous with
the SS troops. A reconnaissance plane spotted the first regimental
group of the division traveling along the rail line only a few kilometers
southeast of Zmiev. A trail of dead horses, discarded equipment
and abandoned vehicles marked the passage of Postel's troops.
Peiper sent patrols to establish contact with the division, while the
main body of his battalion remained near Zmiev.
Shortly before noon, the first element of the infantry division
could be seen in the distance. At 1230 hours, the lead group of the
division, with its commanding officer, Generalmajor Postel at its
head, made the first contact with Peiper's men. The regiment serv-
ing as the divisional rear guard was still several kilometers away in
the Liman area. Peiper reported that the appearance of the men of
the first group was shocking and brought to his mind visions of the
retreat of Napoleon's Grand Army from Russia.
Shortly after the link up was established, elements of a Russian
rifle regiment occupied Krassnaja Polyana and took possession
of the bridge. The Russians killed the last surviving men of the
guard detachment, thus cutting Peiper's line of retreat. While Peiper
had waited for Postel's division to reach Zmiev, one of the bridges
in his rear had fallen into Soviet hands. There was nothing to be
done however, except carry out the mission and then find a way to
fight their way back to their own lines.
Throughout the night the assembly of bone weary German infantry
continued, as the exhausted men of the three regimental
groups called on their last mental and physical reserves in a final
effort to reach safety. Columns of exhausted men reached the SS
lines, unshaven, wrapped in rags and half frozen. Along the way
they had collected all manner of animals to help drag their guns
and equipment. Scores of little Russian panje horses had been taken
from Russian civilians and hooked up to sleds or supply wagons.
Officers rode horses on makeshift saddles of blankets, while cattle
or oxen had been commandeered to drag the division's remaining
artillery pieces. The men staggered past the SS soldiers wrapped in
layers of tattered blankets, ice hanging from beards and eyebrows.
Sleds and wagons rolled up to the river, loaded with wounded and
dead. But regardless of their appearance, the men had kept their
order and discipline and had not collapsed in the face of a terrible
mental strain. They had brought out their wounded, retained the
ability to fight and had occupied elements of three Soviet rifle divisions
during its march west.
This was an amazing achievement in itself and before all of
the division had even reached safety, Armeeabteilung Lanz considered
several assignments for it. This included a probably unrealistic
role as reinforcements for the SS-Panzer-Korps attack south of
Kharkov. Only the lead group of the division had actually reached
Peiper's position on the afternoon of 12 February in any event. The
entire division did not assemble in time to contribute to the attack
before other events completely changed the situation in Kharkov.
The last regimental group, made up of the survivors of the division's
585. Grenadier Regiment, did not reach the rescue assembly area
until 14 February. With the arrival of the rear guard detachment,
the nightmarish withdrawal of the division was at an end.
Peiper's battalion spread out on each flank to protect the march
route and the column got under way, with the long trail of ambulances
carrying their cargo of wounded. When the leading detach-
ments of the column neared the bridge at Krassnaja Polyana, they
were fired on by a Russian ski battalion. The bridge was partially
destroyed and the small German guard detachment, as well as a
number of German medical personnel and wounded had all been
killed. Their bodies lay in the snow, strewn in piles along the town
streets. Peiper launched an immediate assault and took the town
from the Russians. Little imagination is required to guess what happened
to any Russian survivors after the dead SS Grenadiers and
medical personnel were discovered. The remains of the bridge were
used to construct a fragile temporary bridge and the wounded of
the division were taken across. For those men, their ordeal ended
when they crossed over to the north bank of the river in the ambulances
and trucks. While the wounded and sick were taken across
the makeshift crossing, the rest of the division gathered on the southern
bank.
However the improvised bridge was not strong enough to hold
the assault guns and SPWs of Peiper's battalion. One of Postel's
surviving assault guns attempted to cross the frozen ice but fell
through and had to be abandoned. After the entire 320. InfanterieDivision
crossed the river to safety, Peiper was to assemble his battalion
at Merefa. In order to reach Merefa as soon as possible, Peiper
decided on a bold course of action and raced back to Zmiev. After
reaching the town the battalion turned west and drove down a road
on the northern bank of the Msha River. Passing through the towns
of Sidki and Mirgorod, Peiper was able to slip between Russian
forces in the area and reach Merefa, which lay about 15 kilometers
southwest of Kharkov. The first of Peiper's remarkable operations
during the winter of 1942-43 had reached a successful conclusion.
Meanwhile, to the south, while the men of 320. Infanterie-Division
marched into safety, the drama of the battle for Kharkov was reaching
a climax.
This was taken from the book "Last Victory in Russia" by George Nipes.
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