Soviet OPW II to Guards Major Savelyev

[Guest Rick Research]

Congratulations! Well done!

[Ed_Haynes]

Bravo! This is what we must all try to do.

[Christian Zulus]

Some research about Savelyev's OPW 2cl citation

Dear Auke,

congratulations to your fast growing group - extraordinary well preserved items

Sorry, the passed away SS-Rottenf?hrer (driver of the "vorgeschobener Beobachter" in the 3rd SS-Sturmgesch?tzabteilung) didn't write anything about these weeks of heavy fighting in his memoirs .

The citiation about the documents of the SS-Panzergrenadierdivision "Totenkopf" is highly interesting . Is it possible to get more detailed informations out of your documents ?

A friend of mine, SS-Rottenf?hrer Ing. Richard Zimmermann (he died as an old man last year), served in the "Totenkopf"-unit (one of the Sturmgesch?tz-Abteilungen) from the very beginning, from the mid 1930s, till to the very end, Vienna, april 1945, constantly. Years ago he published his memoirs and gave a very comprehensive history of the "Totenkopf"-unit to me. I will be back to my library in Vienna end of next week and maybe I might find something from the German side about these days, when comrade Savelyev captured the documents.

But I found some informations and a useful map in Charles W. Sydnor's comprehensive book "Soldiers of Destruction:

The SS Death's Head Division, 1933-1945" (I have the German edition): http://press.princeton.edu/titles/847.html

The map shows the movements of the SS Death's Head Division at the Eastern Front:

The entry of SS-Brigadef?hrer Hellmuth Becker (the unit's commander at that time) has also some informations: http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/W...er-Hellmuth.htm

Results of my quick research:

At the period in question - 15th of october to 3rd of november 1943 - the 5th Guards Tank Army tried fiercely to capture the town Krivoy Rog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryvyi_Rih , a strategically most important railway junction and industrial center in the Ukraine. The Red Army failed completly with high losses (Sydnor writes, that Konev lost more than 300 tanks!). In the first line of the Germans and their spearhead was the SS Death's Head Division and that German elite-unit inflicted the biggest losses to 5th Guards Tank Army. As shown at the map, the SS was coming from the north, from the region of Alexandria and attacked the right flank of Rotmistrov's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Rotmistrov advancing tanks. So the captured SS-documents by Guards Major Savelyev might have been of some importance for Rotmistrov's staff for getting insight into the plans of the SS Death's Head Division. Maybe they SS-documents didn't help too much and so comrade Savelyev didn't get the proposed RB, but an OPW 2cl - just my humble speculation. Guards Major Savelyev combat reconnaissance must have taken place in the region north of the vital town Krivoy Rog, I guess.

It's interesting, that the 5th Guards Tank Army was north of Krivoy Rog again confronted with the SS Death's Head Division, like in the battle of of Prokhorovka (Kursk) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Prokhorovka some month before. Another clash of two elite-tank-units.

Anyhow, it had been a extraordinary keen action of Guards Major Savelyev to capture in the night documents from the SS Death's Head Division staff, an absolute elite-unit of the Germans.

Best regards

Christian

Edited January 9, 2008 by Christian Zulus

[Ferdinand]

Thanks for that, Christian. Especially the map is interesting. Here is another map I found on http://www.dean.usma.edu , showing the operations on the southern part of the Eastern Front from 17 July to 1 December 1943. It also shows the clash at Krivoi Rog between Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army and Hube's 1. Panzerarmee, at that time including the Totenkopf Division.

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Auke,

many thanks for the "West Point"-link - I can use one map for my Gnitienko-thread .

That special "Totenkopf"-map shows, that Hitler used his elite-tank-division with their "Tigers" always as a "Feuerwehr" ("firebrigade") at the Eastern Front.

Best regards

Christian

[Paul R]

The orders look good together. Congratulations!!