Narrative of the advance of Panzer Group 4 towards Leningrad In 1941,
available in English for the first time.
At the launch of Operation Barbarossa, Army Group North was tasked with
the operational objective of Leningrad--what lay between it and the city
was 800 kilometers of the Baltic states, and 18-20 infantry divisions,
two cavalry divisions, and eight or nine mechanized brigades of the Red
Army. It was apparent that in order to succeed they would have to race
through to the western Dvina and establish a bridgehead before the
Russians exploited this natural feature to organise a defensive front.
Panzer Group 4, which included LVI Panzer Corps and XLI Panzer Corps,
was to lead the way. By the end of the first day the group had pushed 70
kilometers into enemy territory. Red counterattacks on their unprotected
flanks slowed them down, resulting in the tank battle of Raseiniai, but
the group managed to capture Dünaburg on the Western Dvina on June 26,
with a bridgehead established shortly thereafter. The group then pushed
northeast through Latvia to the Stalin Line. In mid-July Hoepner was
preparing to push the last 100 kilometers to Leningrad, however Leeb,
commander of the army group, had other plans for the group and the
advance did not continue for several more weeks.
This account of Panzer Group 4's advance was written by Walter Charles
de Beaulieu, chief of staff of Panzer Group 4. Published in German in
1961, this is the first English translation. Beaulieu not only gives a
detailed account of the Panzer Group's advance, but also offers an
assessment of the fighting, an examination of how Panzer Group 4's
operations were affected by the limitations imposed on Army Group North,
and the lessons that can be learnt from its experiences in the Baltic
States. He concludes with a discussion of whether Leningrad could ever
have been taken.
