corps, General Dubovoj, however, did not regard these troops as being particularly threatening. Despite this, he complied with General Radzjijevskijâs three-day-old order, making it clear that the tank corps alone did not have permission to storm the buildings inside the city. Thus the 16th Tank Corps waited in MiÄdzyleÅ and Zbytki for the arrival of the 125th Rifle Corps out of the 47th Army. To better the 2ndTank Armyâs situation, General Dubovoj renewed the attack on the area of ZakrÄt â and after it was seized, he dispatched the 73rd Infantry Division to the Zastowski-Forest which lay between Anin and Stara MiÅosna. Outside ZakrÄt, the 16th Tank Corps linked up with the 8th Tank Guards Corpsâ left flank. Despite the 3rd Tank Corpsâ difficult situation, the 109th Tank Brigade from the 16th Tank Corps withdrew to the army reserve at the rear of the front.
Two Panther tanks from the 4th Panzer-Division east of Warsaw at the beginning of August 1944. Note the extra camouflage which is draped on both vehicles. Apparently, the Luftwaffe wasnât totally to be relied on! (Leandoer & Ekholm Archive)
On August 3, Gruppe âvon Sauckenâ placed even more pressure on General Vjedjenjejevâs increasingly weakened 3rd Tank Corps. After the tank attacks, came aerial assaults with SG 1s and SG 77s, along with intensive artillery bombardment. However, the Soviet troops were not completely chanceless. What they plainly lacked were fuel and ammunition, but around WoÅomin they organised a defence by making use of close to 100 tanks. The terrain was favourable to making anti-tank ambushes, but the fighting was hindered by hilly terrain and marshy wet lands. General von Saucken attacked from the north with a Kampfgruppe from the 4thPanzer-Division; from the west with the 19th Panzer-Division and a portion of the âHerman Göringâ; and from the east with units from the 3rd SS-Panzer-Division âTotenkopf.â The 5th SS-Panzer-Division âWikingâ attacked the 8th Tank Guards Corps east of Okuniew. General Popovâs forces also launched offensives. The Soviet forces tried to improve their situation along the MichaÅów-Okuniew-Sulejówek line. Controlling this line would ensure contact with those units fighting at WoÅomin.
For the entire day, the 3rd Tank Corps held their positions outside WoÅomin at the cost of some tens of tanks, but they also caused significant losses to the German forces. Reports from Gruppe âvon Sauckenâ tell of heavy fighting having taken place. In Gruppe âHerman Göringâsâ daily report, special mention is made of the III Panzer-Abteilung âHerman Göringâ 10th Company, under Captain Bellingerâs command, which apparently had destroyed as many as 36 enemy tanks. Panzer-Regiment 35 from the 4th Panzer-Division reported the elimination of 14 Soviet tanks. However, in the commander of the 2nd Panzer-Armyâs report made some four weeks later it states that, on the day of the engagement at WoÅomin, 47 tanks were lost as well as six 7.62 cm guns, two 5.7 cm guns, a 12 cm mortar, two motorcycles (footnoted as having been crushed), seven 8.2 cm mortars, along with 12 vehicles. By that evening, it was apparent to General Vjedjenjejev that it would be impossible to hold the town any longer. He ordered his troops to withdraw south through LeÅniakowizna. During the night of August 3, the Soviet troops left WoÅomin and after having marched through the woods along the DÅuga Brook, they reached the 8th Tank Guards corpsâ position. A part of the heavy war-equipment was evacuated, among other things, some tens of tanks. These were probably driven away on a forest road via Åysa Góra.
Command tank, PzBfWg V âPantherâ Sd Kfz 267, from the company staffâs Panzer-Regiment 35. The photo is probably taken during fighting in the vicinity of Radzymin during the first
Christine Zolendz, Frankie Sutton, Okaycreations