III. (germanisches) ϟϟ-Panzerkorps: Battle of Tannenberg Line

SS-Obersturmführer Helmut Scholz

Sd.Kfz. 250 n°402 of 11.SS-Frw.Pz.Gren.Div.Nordland

The Tannenberg Line at Narva Front anchored on three strategic hills. Running west to east, these were known as Hill 69.9, Grenadier Hill and Orphanage Hill. From July 27 1944, 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland fought alongside the Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS, the Walloon 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien, the Flemish 6.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Langemarck, the Dutch 4.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Brigade Nederland and Kampfgruppe Strachwitz from the Großdeutschland Division to keep control of Orphanage Hill. Despite the death of the Nordland Division's commander, SS-Gruppenführer Fritz von Scholz killed in action and the subsequent deaths of the commanders of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 Norge and 24 Danmark, the division helped to grimly hold onto the Orphanage Hill and destroyed 113 Soviet tanks on July 27 – 29 1944. Of the 136,830 Soviets initiating the Narva Offensive in July, a few thousand had survived. The Soviet tank regiments had been demolished. The delay of the Soviet advance allowed over 25,000 Estonians and 3,700 Swedes to flee to neutral Sweden. The total number of Estonian Swedes who left during the war was some 8,000. Left image: a formal studio portrait of the Wiking veteran SS-Obersturmführer Helmut Scholz. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on June 4 1944 while defending the Narva Bridgehead as company commander in SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 49 de Ruyter of the Nederland Brigade and the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross on September 21 1944 for his Battalion's actions when fighting their way back from the Tannenberg Line. Helmut Scholz died aged 77 on November 12 1997 in Herne in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Credit: Matthias Ruf. Commons Bundesarchiv. Right image: a member of the 4th Company of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 hand over information to a motorcycle courier in July 1944. Note the sun wheel, a pre-Christian Nordic symbol adopted by the Nordland Division. Fair use.