Battle for Narva, 1944

The struggle at the Narva bridgehead represents the struggle of World War II on the eastern front itself. The German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Estonian, and even Russian volunteers had signed up to fight against what they saw to be the Communist threat looming to the east. As other German units in 1944 failed to hold ground in Russia, Heeresgruppe Nord held one of the last occupied positions near Russia; the Estonian city of Narva. This toehold was what these volunteers would fight so dearly for in winter conditions, enormously outnumbered by their enemies. On the other side lay the Soviet troops with revenge on their minds, and rightly so. After enduring months of starvation at Leningrad and Oranienbaum the soldiers would finally get their chance to fight the enemy that had invaded their home. The city itself was fought over for months with gruesome hand-to-hand fighting often erupting, leading to thousands of casualties. This publication takes a somewhat unique approach in portraying the battles of 1944 by incorporating large amounts of photographic evidence. The photographs and their captions offer great insight into the life of the normal soldier wanting nothing more than to survive another day. In some cases the photos from 1944 are even contrasted with the same location as seen today. The photographic evidence is effectively mixed with a precise historical text and geographic information so the reader may fully understand the context of the battle. This study includes 120 historical photographs, including many published for the first time, and 4 maps. Extensive archival research was combined with eyewitness accounts to fully inform the reader of these events in 1944.