The 250 ID - Krasny Bor 1943.

[sebastian]

ok tigre,some more pics follow

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Infantry’s Assault.

At 08: 40 hours, after two hours of hammering, the Soviet artillery ceased to crush the defense's forward edge and it lengthened his fire: the assault began. The unit which was going to take the weight of the assault, the 63ª Guards Division, was harangued by its Commander, General Simoniak. From the departure point to Krasny Bor, the men of Simoniak had to advance 3 km. The day was going to be a long one, since it would be necessary to advance up to Sablino-Ulianovka and that supposed almost 15 kilometers, but the Russian soldiers trusted that it would begin of the best way.

At 07: 45 hours, the first echelon of assault of General Simoniak’s Division, left its positions in the second line, in order to occupy its assault positions. With surprise, the Soviet soldiers accused an intense fire of the Spanish machine guns on their flank, coming from locations on the foot of the slope of the railroad, which caused an unexpected number of losses to them. But their moral was not altered and they charged with confidence. The assault of the tanks and the infantry were simultaneous on all the Companies of the Battalions Iº/262, IIº/262 and Reserve 250º (called Aunt Bernarda).

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Reb]

Thanks Raul, Sebastion

It's a happy coincidence for me - I was just thinking a couple days ago - "where can one find some good info on the Spanish Div?"

best
Michael (Reb)

[sebastian]

thanks reb,but most of the credit must go to tigre

more pics follow:

[tigre]

You're welcome Reb and Seb, you did the first kick on this. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Annihilating the MLR.

For the Soviet, the elimination the I./262 was vital for two reasons: in order to leave open the flank of 4ª SS Division and to reject it of the positions throughout the embankment of the railroad (here attacked the 708 Rifle Regiment reinforced with one battalion of the 65 Rifle Regiment of the 43º Rifle Division and 25 tanks).

The 2ª/262 of captain Muñoz was almost immediately split of the rest of the Battalion. The Company of Skiers 250ª was sent to close the breach and to restore the liaison with Muñoz, but in its movement this unit was attacked by the enemy aviation, which inflicted serious casualties to them. Its captain, Gómez de Salazar, was severely wounded (one his leg had to be amputated) and his soldiers had to fall back in the direction of the neighbor 4ª SS Division.

The 1ª/262 (captain Losada) and the 3ª/262 (captain Huidobro), both deployed on the embankment of the railroad, suffered still more. Captain Losada, with a really exceptional value and a skill controlled the battle until he fell dead. The enemy pressure was so strong that its front yielded: it was the first breach opened in the lines of 1ª/262.

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[sebastian]

some pics for tigre

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Annihilating the MLR.

The history of the 3ª/262 was something different; the compact enemy masses which attacked its position knocked against the disciplined fire of the arms of Huidobro. In the second enemy assault, the Soviets entered into its lines, and a ferocious hand-to-hand combat ensued. When the captain fell, around 10:00 hours in the morning, the lieutenant Altura, took over the command and still maintained the resistance sometime more. At this moment, the 3ª/262 had received a new “barrage" of artillery and was attacked from the E. (rear) by the 43ª Rifle Division, which already had broken the neighboring lines, and from the W. by the 63ª Guards Division; most of them (the spaniards) were taken prisoners.

The crew members of the pieces of 75 mm belonging to the 13ª/262 attached to this Battalion destroyed their pieces when the company ran out of ammunition. The tank destroyer under Captain Diaz Cuñado, of the 2ª/Antitank 250, little could do with their little guns of 37 mm against the Soviet steel colossuses which had broken the lines. After fighting hard to avoid that the cannons fell into the hands of the enemy (Diaz Cuñado himself was seriously wounded) it was decided to destroy them and some survivors fell back towards the PC of the Iº/262.

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Annihilating the MLR.

As far as the CP of the Battalion hardly it could make another thing that to regroup the men of its Companies who had arrived there and to withdraw with them while fighting towards the south, following the railway line, towards the station of Popovka.

The same happened to 1./Pi. 250 of captain Nadal. Also it was surprised by the Soviet avalanche and the attempt to restrain it, organizing two pockets of resistance, was very expensive in blood and in the end it was impossible to hold.

Colonel Sagrado ordered to the 3./AA.250 of captain Domínguez Manjón that advanced towards the north along the route to reinforce the I. Battalion. He was useless. The whirlwind of Soviet forces that had entered through the positions of 1./262 of Losada overwhelmed it. To all the effects, the Iº/262 had ceased to exist.


Railway line Leningrad - Moscow. The arrow shows from where were launched the assaults against the companies of Huidobro and Palacios.

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Raskolnikov]

Hi, I'm Antonio, from Spain .... I found feldgrau and I like this forum ... I like too history over Blue Division ... I hope to add good info too :)

[sebastian]

thanks for joining and your website is very nice with maps and all

welcome
Seb

[tigre]

Hello to all ; welcome aboard Antonio. More follows.......................

Annihilating the MLR.

The IIº//262.

Against the men of Comandante Payeras' battalion, went to the attack the 63ª Guards Division of general Simoniak, with a very clear mission: to seize Krasny Bor itself quickly since the effective control of this locality would allow the Russians to advance towards the south, to Ulianovka, and the East, towards Nikolskoye.

All the attempts of the Iº/AR 250 to restrain the Soviet infantry before the lines of the IIº/262 were useless, wave after wave, the three Rifle Regiments of the 63ª Guards Division, continued their assault. The 6ª/262, in center of the deployment of Payeras, underwent serious losses in the artillery attack and its captain, Iglesia, died soon after beginning the enemy assault. This was the point by where the Soviets secured his first rupture in the sector of the IIº/262. The very little survivors ended up going towards the positions of the neighboring unit by the W., the 7ª/262 of Captain Campos.

This Company had had the fortune of not suffering so serious losses in the artillery barrage and was carrying out an energetic defense. Nevertheless, the breach open in its flank by the destruction of the 6ª/262 sealed the luck of the 7ª/262: Campos was attacked from the N., but also from the E. and the S. Finally also he and his men had to fall back towards the W. where it was the mass of the 8ª/262 of Captain Arozarena. In the Eastern end of the dispositive of Payeras stayed lives a very energetic resistance, carried out by the rest of the 5ª/262 of Captain Palacios.

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Raskolnikov]

More maps about the battle :) (all I could find)

http://memoriablau.foros.ws/t768/lening ... rasny-bor/

[tigre]

Thanks Antonio, great complement . Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Annihilating the MLR.

The IIº//262.

One hour after of launching the assault of its infantry, the 63ª Guards Division informed to the High Command that already it had reached Krasny Bor and it was heading towards the southern limit of the town, although it was a too optimistic official notice. One of the victims of the irruption was Lieutenant Colonel Ascarza, head of the Spanish artillery in the whole sector of Krasny Bor, who was killed together with almost all the officers of his Staff.

But, even so, Simoniak had been mistaken when announcing so soon his victory; also in this sector Colonel Sagrado arranged a counterattack. He ordered to 2º/Explo. 250, of Captain Andújar, that advanced as quickly as possible towards the Payeras’ CP to help him to seal the breach in his rows. Leaving two of his Platoons with the Commander, Andújar turned westwards with the rest. He could release a group of Spanish prisoners just caught, but the enemy pressure blocked further advance; when returning towards the CP of Payeras he found the commander was seriously wounded. The heroic battalion commander was evacuated immediately and would be sent to the Spanish Military Hospital of Riga, where he would die a month later as a result of those wounds.

Captain Andújar, mutilated of the Civil War, was wounded by enemy fire and was laying in the ground. In order to finish him off, the Soviet attackers attacked him with machete blows. But a group of his men improvised a counterattack, rescued his captain and evacuated him as best as they could. Together with Captain Andújar, was necessary to register the loss of Lieutenant Marchesi, due serious wounds, whereas Lieutenant Durán fell killed in action.

Also the IIº/262 seemed to have ceased to exist. But on its Eastern end, Captain Palacios with a handful of his men stayed alive, being contiguous to other miraculous survivors, the men of Huidobro. The Soviets attacked that bend of the Spanish lines with all means: artillery, aviation, etc. But Palacios resisted, around 15:30 hours, Captain Palacios, one of his officers, 14 NCOs and soldiers still unharmed and 21 wounded fell into the the enemy hands.

Sources: Morir en Rusia. La División Azul en Krasny Bor.
http://members.libreopinion.com/ch1492/ ... u_div.html

Cheers. Raúl M .