Battle of Memel
The
Battle of Memel[also known as the Siege of Memel] was fought on the
Eastern Front of
World War II in late
1944 and early
1945.
On Tuesday
10 October 1944 at the end of
Operation Bagration, the
Red Army reached the
Baltic north of the city of
Memel, cutting off
Army Group North (26 divisions) for the rest of the war in the
Courland Pocket. On the
12 October the Germans managed to hold a line at the
Neman River, defending the main part of
East Prussia. On
13 January 1945, General
Ivan Chernyakhovsky's 3rd Belorussian Front launched the
East Prussian Offensive against stiff resistance from the
German Third Panzer Army, ending any hope of overland relief for Memel.
[World War II Eastern Front, Time Line (1944)][World War II Eastern Front, Time Line (1945)]The German defenders attempted to hold the besieged city against the Soviet attack. This gave time for many of the inhabitants to
evacuate the city and head west, via the sea or the
Curonian Spit. The city was captured by the
Red Army on
January 28, 1945.
With the defeat of Germany, and the occupation of one third of its eastern territory, by the
Red Army, the area was made part of the
Lithuanian SSR, in 1945. With the re-establishment of the independent
Republic of Lithuania, in 1990, the city and its surroundings, are presently within its borders.
*
Map of the Soviet Advance into East Prussia & Siege of Königsberg January 13 - May 9, 1945 This shows clearly how Memel was already surrounded and besieged.
