Ritter's Relief ETO (id:#62725)

(Grumble Jones ID: GJ031)   [next]   [previous]

Zercyce, Poland 1944-07-22 (5 others)

Overview:

Grenadier Battalion z.b.v. 560, commanded by Hauptmann Friedrich-Karl Ritter, had been encircled by Soviet forces for three days after being ordered to hold the town of Zercyce on 19 July 1944. On the evening of 21st July, 1944, III Battalion, SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 9 “Germania”, under SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Paul Kuemmel, was ordered to relieve Grenadier Battalion z.b.v. 560 the following morning and destroy any Soviet forces it encountered along the way. The route of Kuemmel’s attack led through gently rolling countryside with numerous wheatfields. Heavy smoke drifted from several burning farm buildings. Kuemmel’s attack caught the men of the Soviet 354th Infantry as they were forming up in the wheatfields to begin their assault on Ritter’s encircled men.

Defender: Russian (354th Infantry Division)  

Errata (source)