Where the Iron Crosses Grow

The battalion ordered that a platoon from the 2. Pionier-Kompanie would lead the 132. Infanterie-Division’s assault. Oberfeldwebel Palle contacted IR 436 and told the platoon leaders to be ready immediately for removing mines or assault operations. At 1100hrs, the platoon and the regiment attacked the northeast side of the heavily reinforced work. Oberfeldwebel Palle captured three large shelters and penetrated into the position, regardless of the violent defensive fire and became involved in close combat.

Despite the pressure of strong enemy counterattacks and heavy flanking fire from the southern forts and the surrounding field positions, Oberfeldwebel Palle was able to hold the northern part of the work. On instructions from the division in the afternoon, the pionier force was reinforced with the rest of the 2. Pionier-Kompanie [under Oberleutnant Heinz-Peter Wack] for the capture of the work.

After equipping itself with plentiful pionier weapons, the company attacked the northern part of the battery at 1900hrs. Simultaneously, part of IR 436 and IR 437 advanced and attacked the field positions on the east and west sides of the work.

With exemplary boldness, Oberleutnant Wack led the assault platoon from the front and penetrated into the work despite strong enemy defensive fire from the south. Again and again they succeeded, by combining the firepower of our companies even against strong flanking fire from machine guns and riflemen … and meter by meter, the fortifications were silenced.⁶⁹

Wack’s pioneers were unable to complete the conquest of the battery by nightfall and spent the night involved in close combat. At dawn, Wack led a platoon-size raid that overwhelmed the remaining defenders and captured the battery. Most of the garrison fought to the death, but 36 naval gunners emerged from an underground shelter and surrendered. Wack’s company had suffered eight dead or missing and 14 wounded in the assault, but demonstrated the kind of small-unit leadership and aggressiveness that wins battles. Immediately after the fall of the battery, both IR 436 and IR 437 were pulled out of the line to refit. Gottlob Bidermann noted that by this point his division was spent, and that one company was reduced to only two NCOs and a few enlisted men.⁷⁰ While the 132. Infanterie-Division eliminated Coastal Battery No. 12 and the remnants of the 95th Rifle Division, the 24. Infanterie-Division cleared the town of Bartenyevka and closed in on the final cluster of Soviet-held fortifications on the north side of Severnaya Bay.

Meanwhile, the engineers of 1./Pionier-Bataillon 173 spent June 18 trying to demolish Coastal Battery No. 30’s two damaged 305mm turrets with fuel drums and satchel charges, but they succeeded only in causing cracks in the armored plates on the turrets. Unable to force their way into Bastion I, even with flamethrowers, the German engineers did succeed in damaging the air-handling system, and the underground bunkers soon filled with smoke. At first a few soot-covered Soviet soldiers emerged from an exit, then more, until 108 had surrendered. However, Aleksandr remained inside with about 90 more that refused to surrender.