| Riga offensive (1944) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theBaltic offensive during theEastern Front (World War II) | |||||||
 Soviet troops in Riga looking at theSt. Peter's Church, October 1944 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |  Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ferdinand Schörner | Ivan Bagramyan Andrei Yeremenko Ivan Maslennikov | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheRiga offensive (Russian:Рижская наступательная операция,lit. 'Riga offensive operation') was part of the largerBaltic offensive on theEastern Front duringWorld War II. It took place late in 1944, and drove German forces from the city ofRiga.
Soviet forces had advanced towards theBaltic coast in the beginning of theirTartu offensive and at the end of the highly successfulBelorussian offensive (Operation Bagration), during July and August 1944, and at one point had broken through to theGulf of Riga. The victories in July were highly unexpected, and at one point on July 31, the commander of the 8th mechanized brigade communicated with corps headquarters to notify them that its tanks had reached the beach. In an unusual act, they were ordered to fill several bottles of sea water, have them signed, and flown toThe Kremlin as proof thatArmy Group North had been cut off fromthe Reich. During August, the German18th Army had mounted a counter-attack,Operation Doppelkopf. Simultaneously the GermanValga–Võrtsjärv line, supported by the local EstonianOmakaitse militia battalions, repelled the heavy pressure of the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front's Tartu offensive.[1] The GermanArmy Group North's commander,Ferdinand Schörner designedOperation Aster to pull his troops out of mainland Estonia. The parallel Riga offensive would see Soviet forces apply further pressure on Army Group North, which still held much of Latvia and Estonia.
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The Soviet forces launched a ferocious attack on the Riga axis on September 14, 1944. Within 4 days, the German 16th Army had suffered serious damage, while in the 18th Army's sector, ten of the eighteen German divisions had been reduced to theKampfgruppe level.[2] In the northern segment placed along LakeVõrtsjärv, and theVäike Emajõgi andGauja rivers, the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front attacked the GermanXXVIII Army Corps backed byOmakaitse battalions.[3] In fierce battles, the German and Estonian units held their positions.[1]
From the south, the43rd Army was threatening the approaches to Riga itself, where the GermanX Corps had been shattered.[2] Schoerner began to move his divisions into theCourland Peninsula, intending to shorten the front and pull back from Riga. A counter-attack was carried out by theXXXIX Panzer Corps of3rd Panzer Army, temporarily placed under Schörner's overall command, but the Soviet opposition was too strong.[4]
In the meantime,Stavka had been preparing a new axis of attack under the cover of a further push towards Riga, the new plan being put forward in a directive of September 24.[5] On September 27, the16th Army began to report Soviet trafficaway from its front, to the south-west.[2] In fact, several major Soviet force concentrations (notably the4th Shock and51st Armies) were being shifted southwards in preparation for a major thrust westwards towardsMemel by the1st Baltic Front. German intelligence detected the movement of several of the armies involved, but were unable to detect their destination.[6]
The resulting offensive, theBattle of Memel, was launched on October 5;Bagramyan's1st Baltic Front shattered theThird Panzer Army, finally severing the land connection between the GermanArmy Group Centre andArmy Group North. Schoerner's forces around Riga and in Courland were now cut off.
On October 9, Schoerner signalled that he would attack towards Memel and try and re-establish the land connection if Riga could be evacuated.[7] Soviet forces were again moving forwards outside Riga, and brought the city within the range of artillery fire on October 10. Leaving a screening force of the227th Infantry Division and the guns of the6th Motorized Anti-Aircraft Division, the18th Army retreated through Riga into Courland, destroying bridges on its route.[7] Riga was taken by forces of the3rd Baltic Front on October 13. Over the next few days Soviet units were reported in action to the west of Riga, stating that German forces had been cleared from the eastern bank of theLielupe River by October 17.[8]
Army Group North had been driven into theCourland Pocket, where it remained isolated until the end of the war in Europe.
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