Order of Battle for Tarnopol

Orders of Battle for Fortress Garrison Tarnopol.

German Order of Battle

At its peak the garrison had 4,600 men (Buchner, 1995). This included quite a range of types including under trained youths, older militiamen, volunteers, Waffen-SS troops, and regular soldiers. They were short of ammunition, in particular for artillery and heavy weapons. After reinforcements the garrison comprised:

German Order of Battle at Tarnopol

  • Fortress Commandant with Staff (Generalmajor von Neindorff)
  • Two battalions of the 949th Grenadier Regiment (from 359th Infantry Division) – young soldiers with cursory training.
  • Demba Fusilier Battalion (a veteran unit)
  • 543rd Regional Defence Battalion
  • 500th Proving Battalion
  • Mitscherling Battalion (3rd Battalion, 4th SS-Volunteer Regiment, from Galizien Division)
  • The remnants of 3rd Battalion, 4th SS-Volunteer Regiment (from Galizien Division) in company strength
  • Kampfgruppe Grundmann (company strength)
  • Alert Company (from elements of the 8th Panzer Division)
  • Alert Company Vogel
  • 4th Battalion, 359th Artillery Regiment with 3 Batteries
    • 3 x 10.5 cm guns
    • 8 x 15.0 cm guns
  • 1 x battery of assault guns with 9 assault guns
  • 1 x anti-tank company with 6 guns *
  • 1 x Self-propelled artillery battery of the “LAH” with 6 guns
  • Remnants of 4th Battery, 384th Flak Battalion
    • 3 x 2.0 cm anti-aircraft guns
    • 4 x 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns
  • Other small units

* The total complement of anti-tank guns for the entire garrison was 15, including some outdated 3.7 cm Pak 35/36. It is probable that the nine unaccounted for anti-tank guns were part of infantry battalions.

Soviet Order of Battle

It is possible it was the Soviet 13th Army around Tarnopol as this unit was assigned the task to push westward whilst the rest of the Front moved south ( Moniushko, 2005)

References

Buchner, A. (1995). Ostfront 1944: The German Defensive Battles on the Russian Front 1944 [D. Johnston Trans.]. PA: Schiffer.

Erickson, J. (1996). The Road to Berlin: Stalin’s war with Germany: Volume Two. Phoenix Giants.

Moniushko, E. D. (2005). From Leningrad to Hungary: Notes of a Red Army soldier, 1941-1946 (O. Sheremaet, Trans; D. M. Glantz, Ed.). Frank Cass.

Wikipedia: Tarnopol Voivodship

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