Four Golden Stars ETO (id:#60833)

(Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation: Monkeys with Typewriters Vol.III ID: MwT-33)   [next]   [previous]

Cape Krestovyi, Petsamo Bay, Finland 1944-10-12 (17 others)

Overview:

To support the 14th Army ground offensive, orders were given to re-establish a Soviet naval base at Petsamo. Captain Barchenko-Emelianov, commander of an raiding unit consisting of naval infantrymen and sailors, got the task to silence a German 150mm gun position on the northern shore of Cape Krestovvyi, which cointrolled the entrance to Petsamo Bay. As part of a larger amphibious landing operation, the Composite Detachment got ashore on 10 October. After a rapid cross-country march under harsh weather conditions, Barchenko-Emelianov´s men reached their initial target. Senior Lieutenant Leonov´s group attacked a battery of 88mm AA guns, while two platoons from Barchenko-Emelianov´s group attacked a strongpoint 300 meters north. The remaining platoon would storm a shore-battery position. The AA gun position and the strongpoint were quickly overwhelmed, but the attack on the gun-battery failed. The German crews destroyed the guns, afraid of losing them to the Russians. At dawn of 12 October, the remaining German forces, with reinforcements send over the bay in assault boats, counterattacked the Russian held positions...

Defender: Russian (Naval Infantry Composite Detachment)  

Errata (source)