Fight at Raseinya 24 June 1941 of the year
In the evening of June 23 1941, on the road near the village of Dainiai, near the Lithuanian town of Raseiniai, a lone KV-1 type tank appeared. Slowly, moving in the direction of the road connecting Raseiniai and Šiluva, the car stopped. Most likely, ran out of fuel. This is where the fun begins. The tank stopped in a rather tactically comfortable locality, the road laid through the marshes, going onto the track, as they say today, was of federal significance. In other words, the tank got up like a cork in a bottle. To get around it, would have to make a significant detour.
Commander tankapparently appreciated the situation and made a decision. The crew remained in a stopped car. What debate was boiling at that moment in a lonely tank, now no one will tell. The fact remains: not a single person from the crew quit their posts and went east.
Rustic picture gradually became familiar: the tank froze on the side of the road and did not show any signs of life. I think many local residents then decided that the tank was abandoned, as were dozens of its fellow soldiers on the roads of war.
Tank KV-1
On the morning of June 24, a German motorcade appeared from Raseinää. And then the tank came to life, the tower turned smoothly, the shot rang out.
Later, locals saw burned bodies of Wehrmacht soldiers at the cores of the cars of this column. This is likely to indicate that the vehicles transported ammunition or fuel.
The explosion attracted the attention of the German command. The road needed to be cleared to bring reinforcements, ammunition, and fuel to the approaching Raus campground group. Intelligence was sent to assess the threat. Yes, only light armored cars - on one tooth tank gun caliber 76,2 mm.
After the destruction of the reconnaissance group, they took the tank seriously.
Captured from the Raseinia German-Czech trophy, summer 1941 of the year
An anti-tank battery armed with the latest RAK-38 guns was sent to destroy the interference that blocked the road. But the guns, hidden in position at 500 meters from the tank, were methodically fired upon by a revived tank. The return fire was ineffectual, 50-mm armor-piercing shells only left blue marks on the armor. Having lost several guns (destroyed - two, damaged - two) and most of the personnel, the gunners were forced to withdraw to a safe distance. The shelling of a 105-mm field howitzer did not bring the expected result either.
The time has come for the Luftwaffe. The German command did not call aircraft: for a dive bomber, a single tank is too small a target. Under aviation German command was the most effective armor-piercing 8,8-cm anti-aircraft gun.
8,8-cm anti-aircraft gun FLAK-36
Under the cover of car bodies, the column pulled the gun to the effective range of 700 meters. But the movement on the ground was again stopped by the fire of a tank gun! 76,2-mm shells tank guns covered the position, mixing gun and calculation with the ground.
Noise required to remove, and urgently. KV created problems in transporting goods to the front line. And on the night of June 25, miners went ahead. The charges laid by them exploded the earth around the vehicle and finally deprived the tank of mobility by tearing down the tracked belts. But the crew of the KV continued its war, the tank was snapped up by rare gun shots and machine-gun fire.
The point in his fate put only 8,8-cm anti-aircraft guns, covertly installed in the rear of the HF - to the accompaniment of a false attack conducted by German armored vehicles. The German tanks, maneuvering, distracted the crew of the tank, while the calculation of anti-aircraft gunners dragged and guided "AHT-AHT". After firing from anti-aircraft guns, the tank died.
There is a legend that when German infantrymen tried to break open the hatches of a tank, its tower was set in motion again, but the terrified fascist thrust a hand grenade into the hole and everything calmed down after the explosion.
Parse this storieswhere is truth and where is fiction is very difficult. There are practically no eyewitnesses to this fight, and the documents speak in a dry, compressed language and often contradict each other.
The crew of the destroyed but not defeated tank was removed and buried on the side of the road by local residents, driven by the invaders. Their documents were taken by the German officers who were in charge of the destruction operation. The tank itself subsequently got melted down.
Wounded tanks KV 2-th Panzer Division
Only in 1965, in one of the Lithuanian newspapers there was information about the heroes. When transferring the dead to the cemetery, two officer belts were found, three soldier flasks, other personal belongings, including spoons, and a cigarette case. Inscriptions were carved on spoons, and in the cigarette case a Komsomol card and a certificate were found. So the names of Ershov Pavel Egorovich, Smirnov VA were established. and the unknown soldier with the initials Sh.N.A.
Now let's try to answer the main question: where did the heavy Soviet tank come from on this road, and why was it alone?
The 3 th mechanized corps of the Red Army located in Lithuania consisted of two tank divisions (2 and 5 etc.) and a 84 motorized division. The 2 Panzer Division under the command of Major General Solyankin E.N., which will be discussed, on June 22 1941 was located at the station Gayzhyuny. On the day of the beginning of the war, on order, the division with its full complement reached the center of concentration and received an order to advance to the city of Raseiniai. Division units entered the battle on the morning of June 23, while crossing the Dubica River, the bridges over which were already seized by Wehrmacht 6 units, etc. Wehrmacht, divided into two campframes: 1-group, under the command of Routh, captured the bridgehead on the east bank of the Dubitsa River, and 2 Zekendorf's group, which won the Raseiniai.
2-I tank division, turned into battle formations, attacked the enemy and literally stunned him. The Wehrmacht’s 6 Tank Division was armed with the Czech tanks PzKprf.35 (t), PzKprf.38 (t) and a small number of medium tanks PzKprf.IV, the anti-tank artillery consisted of the main 37-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank guns at that time, anti-tank artillery that consisted of the main 37-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank guns at that time, which consisted of the 32-mm anti-tank cannon anti-tank guns of the main anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank gun, which consisted of the main 1-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN. While the Soviet division was armed with 19 KV-2 and 28 KV-26, not counting the medium T-8,8 and light BT and T-269. But, nevertheless, the offensive division was stopped by the use of anti-aircraft 36-cm cannons, in addition, the Soviet tanks fully developed fuel, as there was no supply of projectiles and cartridges. After that, the 1-I, 6-I infantry and 2-I and XNUMX-I armored divisions of the Wehrmacht, taking Soviet forces in the ring, completely defeated the remnants of XNUMX etc. Red Army.
Roads under Raseiniai
The 2-th tank division of the 3-th mechanized corps was disbanded, as was the corps itself. It so happened that the 5 Division and the 84 Division of the Motorized Division were completely defeated by the morning of June 23. Division commander, Major General Solyankin E.N. killed in battle 26 June 1941 of the year.
Commander tankapparently appreciated the situation and made a decision. The crew remained in a stopped car. What debate was boiling at that moment in a lonely tank, now no one will tell. The fact remains: not a single person from the crew quit their posts and went east.
Rustic picture gradually became familiar: the tank froze on the side of the road and did not show any signs of life. I think many local residents then decided that the tank was abandoned, as were dozens of its fellow soldiers on the roads of war.
Tank KV-1
On the morning of June 24, a German motorcade appeared from Raseinää. And then the tank came to life, the tower turned smoothly, the shot rang out.
Later, locals saw burned bodies of Wehrmacht soldiers at the cores of the cars of this column. This is likely to indicate that the vehicles transported ammunition or fuel.
The explosion attracted the attention of the German command. The road needed to be cleared to bring reinforcements, ammunition, and fuel to the approaching Raus campground group. Intelligence was sent to assess the threat. Yes, only light armored cars - on one tooth tank gun caliber 76,2 mm.
After the destruction of the reconnaissance group, they took the tank seriously.
Captured from the Raseinia German-Czech trophy, summer 1941 of the year
An anti-tank battery armed with the latest RAK-38 guns was sent to destroy the interference that blocked the road. But the guns, hidden in position at 500 meters from the tank, were methodically fired upon by a revived tank. The return fire was ineffectual, 50-mm armor-piercing shells only left blue marks on the armor. Having lost several guns (destroyed - two, damaged - two) and most of the personnel, the gunners were forced to withdraw to a safe distance. The shelling of a 105-mm field howitzer did not bring the expected result either.
The time has come for the Luftwaffe. The German command did not call aircraft: for a dive bomber, a single tank is too small a target. Under aviation German command was the most effective armor-piercing 8,8-cm anti-aircraft gun.
8,8-cm anti-aircraft gun FLAK-36
Under the cover of car bodies, the column pulled the gun to the effective range of 700 meters. But the movement on the ground was again stopped by the fire of a tank gun! 76,2-mm shells tank guns covered the position, mixing gun and calculation with the ground.
Noise required to remove, and urgently. KV created problems in transporting goods to the front line. And on the night of June 25, miners went ahead. The charges laid by them exploded the earth around the vehicle and finally deprived the tank of mobility by tearing down the tracked belts. But the crew of the KV continued its war, the tank was snapped up by rare gun shots and machine-gun fire.
The point in his fate put only 8,8-cm anti-aircraft guns, covertly installed in the rear of the HF - to the accompaniment of a false attack conducted by German armored vehicles. The German tanks, maneuvering, distracted the crew of the tank, while the calculation of anti-aircraft gunners dragged and guided "AHT-AHT". After firing from anti-aircraft guns, the tank died.
There is a legend that when German infantrymen tried to break open the hatches of a tank, its tower was set in motion again, but the terrified fascist thrust a hand grenade into the hole and everything calmed down after the explosion.
Parse this storieswhere is truth and where is fiction is very difficult. There are practically no eyewitnesses to this fight, and the documents speak in a dry, compressed language and often contradict each other.
The crew of the destroyed but not defeated tank was removed and buried on the side of the road by local residents, driven by the invaders. Their documents were taken by the German officers who were in charge of the destruction operation. The tank itself subsequently got melted down.
Wounded tanks KV 2-th Panzer Division
Only in 1965, in one of the Lithuanian newspapers there was information about the heroes. When transferring the dead to the cemetery, two officer belts were found, three soldier flasks, other personal belongings, including spoons, and a cigarette case. Inscriptions were carved on spoons, and in the cigarette case a Komsomol card and a certificate were found. So the names of Ershov Pavel Egorovich, Smirnov VA were established. and the unknown soldier with the initials Sh.N.A.
Now let's try to answer the main question: where did the heavy Soviet tank come from on this road, and why was it alone?
The 3 th mechanized corps of the Red Army located in Lithuania consisted of two tank divisions (2 and 5 etc.) and a 84 motorized division. The 2 Panzer Division under the command of Major General Solyankin E.N., which will be discussed, on June 22 1941 was located at the station Gayzhyuny. On the day of the beginning of the war, on order, the division with its full complement reached the center of concentration and received an order to advance to the city of Raseiniai. Division units entered the battle on the morning of June 23, while crossing the Dubica River, the bridges over which were already seized by Wehrmacht 6 units, etc. Wehrmacht, divided into two campframes: 1-group, under the command of Routh, captured the bridgehead on the east bank of the Dubitsa River, and 2 Zekendorf's group, which won the Raseiniai.
2-I tank division, turned into battle formations, attacked the enemy and literally stunned him. The Wehrmacht’s 6 Tank Division was armed with the Czech tanks PzKprf.35 (t), PzKprf.38 (t) and a small number of medium tanks PzKprf.IV, the anti-tank artillery consisted of the main 37-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank guns at that time, anti-tank artillery that consisted of the main 37-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank guns at that time, which consisted of the 32-mm anti-tank cannon anti-tank guns of the main anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN.IV anti-tank gun, which consisted of the main 1-mm anti-tank guns of the RAK-XNUMN. While the Soviet division was armed with 19 KV-2 and 28 KV-26, not counting the medium T-8,8 and light BT and T-269. But, nevertheless, the offensive division was stopped by the use of anti-aircraft 36-cm cannons, in addition, the Soviet tanks fully developed fuel, as there was no supply of projectiles and cartridges. After that, the 1-I, 6-I infantry and 2-I and XNUMX-I armored divisions of the Wehrmacht, taking Soviet forces in the ring, completely defeated the remnants of XNUMX etc. Red Army.
Roads under Raseiniai
The 2-th tank division of the 3-th mechanized corps was disbanded, as was the corps itself. It so happened that the 5 Division and the 84 Division of the Motorized Division were completely defeated by the morning of June 23. Division commander, Major General Solyankin E.N. killed in battle 26 June 1941 of the year.
- Yakov Volgushev
- http://waralbum.ru
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