Days of Battle

Armoured Operations North of the River Danube, Hungary 1944–45

Norbert Számvéber

• Publisher: Helion & Company
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781912174263
• eBook ISBN: 9781910294208
• Subtopic: European History

This volume of WWII military studies examines significant yet neglected clashes of German-Hungarian and Soviet armor north of the river Danube.
 
In Days of Battle, Dr. Norbert Számvéber, chief of Hungary's military archives, examines armor combat operations in the southern territory of the historical Upper Hungary (part of Hungary between 1938 and 1945, at the present time now part of Slovakia) in three separate studies.
 
The first is an account of the battle between the Ipoly and Garam rivers during the second half of December 1944, in which the élite Hungarian Division "Szent László" saw action for the first time.
 
The second study examines the fierce tank battle of Komárom, fought between January 6th–22nd of 1945. This was an integral part of the Battle for Budapest, parallel in time with Operation Konrad.
 
The third study describes the combat during the German Operation Südwind in February 1945, as well as the Soviet attack launched in the direction of Bratislava in March 1945.
 
Based on files and documentation from German, Hungarian and Soviet sources, Dr. Számvéber's authoritative text is supported by photographs and color battle maps.

1

Armour along the Ipoly and the Garam (11-31 December 1944)

Loss of the Ipolyság corridor

Until the first week of December 1944, continuous combat brought battle casualties in swiftly increasing numbers, which, at last, convinced the Soviet military leadership that the weakened forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, commanded by Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovski, would not be able to eliminate the German—Hungarian Armeegruppe “Fretter-Pico”1 standing in defence around Budapest and carry out the swift capture of the Hungarian capital on their own. The 4th Ukrainian Front, its left flank originally turned towards Budapest, was nowhere close to the capital at that time. Therefore, in its Directive issued on 12 December 1944, the Soviet Supreme High Command ordered that the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts were to work in close cooperation and launch simultaneous attacks from the North and South to encircle and smash the German and Hungarian forces around Budapest and capture the capital. The Fronts were given until 19-20 December to prepare for the offensive.

The corridor at Ipolyság was the key to the western half of Felvidék (Upper Hungary). If the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front had managed to capture this territory, it would have gained the opportunity of possibly cutting the German Heeresgruppe Süd in half. Ipolyság and its immediate vicinity were situated exactly on the boundary between Armeegruppen “Fretter-Pico” and “Wöhler”. As was so often the case at such boundaries, neither group prepared for the defence of that area.

In the afternoon of 7 December the main forces of the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Army were engaged north of Vác and southwest of Balassagyarmat. Its advance troops were already in the area of Nógrád, west of Diósjenő and southeast of Nagyoroszi. Therefore, on 8 December, Heeresgruppe Süd ordered the Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division (Colonel Endre Zádor) to close the corridor at Ipolyság with its full strength, basing its defence on the village and the Margarethen-Stellung (Line) to its south. The task of the division was to prevent Soviet forces from breaking through to the west. The defence was to be centered along the mountain road leading from Diósjenő towards Kemence. The division was attached to the IV. Panzerkorps of Armeegruppe “Fretter-Pico”. The Armeegruppe commanded the forces on the Dunakanyar − Ipolyság (excluded) section. Any and all combat-ready units and Alarmtruppen in the area behind were to be immediately deployed on this section of the Margarethen-Stellung (Line), including the armoured fighting vehicles and heavy weapons under repair. The field police officers of the Feldjäger-Kommando I were ordered to establish a blocking line along the Ipoly and to draft every single combat-ready soldier and all available weapons into the defence.2 Thus the German Feldstrafabteilung 18 (Field Penal Detachment 18) was also committed to defend the Ipoly.

On 9 December the Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division had four battalions, two combat-ready Panzer IV tanks, five Toldi light tanks, seven Nimród armoured self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, five towed 7.5cm anti-tank guns and six light anti-aircraft guns, as well as 18 10.5cm field artillery pieces with which it was to carry out the given order.

The first units assigned to defend the entrance of the corridor were detached from the German 24. Panzer-Division/IV. Panzerkorps (Generalmajor Gustav-Adolf von Nostiz-Wallwitz). Beginning on 8 December 1944, the Ipolyság corridor was defended by the German III. (Abteilung)/Panzer-Regiment 243, the II. Abteilung/Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26 and elements of Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 24/24. Panzer-Division.4

As of 13 December, these forces were attached to Divisionsgruppe “Rintelen” fighting on the left flank of the Armeegruppe “Fretter-Pico”.

On 11 December, 19445, attacking westward, the Romanian forces broke through the line of defence in the sector of Korpsgruppe “Breith” in the south-eastern part of Gödöllő, and crossed the Gödőllő−Isaszeg railway line. Units of the Hungarian 10th Infantry Division and the 12th Replacement Division retreated in the wake of an attack by a Soviet rifle regiment. As a result of this, a 3km gap opened in the German—Hungarian defence.

The 2nd and 3rd Tank Battalions of the Soviet 27th Independent Guards Tank Brigade, in cooperation with the forces of the 155th Rifle Division, proceeded with the attack toward Csomád−Fót. According to Soviet reconnaissance data, the line Hill 220 (one kilometre southeast of Csomád) – Hill 213 – in front of the Veresegyház railway station, was defended by elements of the 46. Infanterie-Division and elements of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 93/13. Panzer-Division. That day Soviet forces observed 10 German armoured fighting vehicles active along this front line, which was further reinforced by anti-tank ditches and minefields.

Soviet armour and infantry occupied the eastern sector of Csomád at about 1200 hours. At 1300 hours the 1st Battalion/27th Independent Guards Tank Brigade succeeded in bypassing the anti-tank ditch in the area of Veresegyház, and, at about 1600 hours, two of its tanks advanced along the road 2km east of Hill 213. Meanwhile the 2nd Battalion/27th Independent Guards Tank Brigade remained on the eastern edge of Csomád, and repulsed counterattacks of the German infantry, supported by armour, from the direction of Hill 220.

The German Luftwaffe carried out raids on the same day against the 27th Independent Guards Tank Brigade with formations of 10-20 aircraft. The ground-attack aircraft destroyed two T–34 tanks and one SU–85 self-propelled gun with bombs, and a further two T–34s were knocked out by cannon fire. Apart from this, the Soviet Guards Tank Brigade lost one T–34 tank and two SU−85 self-propelled guns to the German forces (these were burnt out), and a further SU−85 ran over a mine. Thus the 27th Independent Guards Tank Brigade suffered considerable losses that day, losing a total of lost nine armoured fighting vehicles.6

Between Csomád and Alsógöd the forces of the Soviet 25th Guards Division and the 409th Rifle Division launched a new attack toward the south-west with the support of approximately 61 T–34 tanks of the 20th Guards and 21st Guards Tank Brigades. With the help of the assault units created from the force of the 73rd and the 78th Rifle Regiments, the tanks finally succeeded in crossing the anti-tank ditch and proceeded approximately 3km south, after breaking into the defence of Panzer-Division “Feldherrnhalle” by opening a 4-5km gap.

The 2. (armoured personnel carrier) Kompanie of the division’s Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung carried out a counterattack with the support of the StuG. III assault guns of Panzerjäger-Abteilung “Feldherrnhalle”, but was only able to halt the Soviet troops temporarily. The German units claimed to have knocked out 20 Soviet armoured fighting vehicles (five of these were knocked out by infantry in close combat, with handheld anti-tank rocket-launchers).

In consequence of the Soviet attack, the Germans had to pull their MLR [main line of resistance] back to the Kisalag north − Alag north − Dunakeszi area. However, the defence positions there were still under construction. Between the right flank of Panzer-Division “Feldherrnhalle” and the left flank of the 13. Panzer-Division yawned a 4km gap.7

That same evening, the frontline of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Corps, the 25th Guards– and the 409th Rifle Division, extended along the line three kilometres north of Alag − 500 metres south of Csomád.8

On that day, the independent Maschinengewehr-Bataillon “Sachsen”, which was marching from Szentendrei island to the new MLR, units minus one company, was attached to Panzer-Division “Feldherrnhalle”. III. Panzerkorps requested a further Panzergrenadier-regiment and a number of Panther tanks from the replacement armour arriving in t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of maps
• List of tables
• Glossary of German Military Terms
• Introduction
• 1. Armour along the Ipoly and the Garam (11-31 December 1944)
• 2. Averting the counterattack: the tank battle at Komárom (6-22 January 1945)
• 3. Operation “Südwind” (17-24 February 1945)
• 4. Attack of the Soviet-Romanian forces in the direction of Bratislava−Brno (25-31 March 1945)
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Plate section