Withdrawal of Armee-Abteilung „Narwa" from Narva to Tannenberg Line

Belgian-Walloon officer Léon Degrelle of SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien

SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 Nordland

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 Danmark

The situation was chaotic as the line seemed ready to crumble under the hammer blows of Soviet armor and air strikes. The Russians were streaming through the region like a tidal wave. With the Estonian sector of the front buckling under Soviet pressure, the Germans needed men to fill the gaps in the line. Walloon SS-Stubaf. Léon Degrelle who was in Belgium on leave for his brother's funeral, was absolutely furious when he was informed that his barely-trained recruits of the 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien had been thrown into the line near Dorpat. Defying Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's orders that he not return to the fighting, he immediately left for Estonia in search of his training battalion. Unfortunately, only 32 of the original 300 inexperienced recruits survived to rejoin the brigade. On July 23 1944, SS-Ogruf. Felix Steiner ordered a withdrawal from Narva to the Tannenberg Line, a prepared position 16 km to the west. Dutch SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 48 General Seyffardt and the Brigade's artillery component was to provide a rearguard for the retreating troops. Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov launched the Narva Offensive on the German lines on July 24 1944, and in the afternoon, the 4.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Brigade Nederland's Artillery Battalion started withdrawing across the Narva bridge. The Dutchmen got involved in heavy fighting but managed to hold the Soviets while the last of the European volunteers got across the river. The Nordland's Pioneer Battalion blew up the bridge. However, due to a colossal mistake by its officers, the General Seyffardt Regiment would not survive the withdrawal. The Nederland Brigade had lost one of its two regiments, and many valuable veterans were lost forever. With the exception of the General Seyffardt, the withdrawal had been a success, and Steiner's men began to dig in on the Tannenberg Line. Degrelle, who had arrived the previous day, commanded an ad hoc force at Pskov with incredible vigor, skill, and courage. He rallied panicked German troops in his sector and forced them back into the line. In the ensuing Battle of Tannenberg Line, the German Army Detachment Narwa held its ground. Top image: Léon Degrelle is seen here with a commander of the French LVF and Nazi collaborator Joseph Darnand of the Milice française in Paris before his return to the front. Degrelle wears the insignia of the Walloons below the SS sleeve eagle. Photo by French photog. André Zucca in March 1944. Credit: Mateusz Pietruszkiewicz. Signal Mag. FU. Middle image: Nordland volunteers riding on a Sd.Kfz.250 during the fighting in Estonia. On the right is Swedish SS-Ustuf. Gunnar Eklöf, a Waffen-SS veteran since 1941. Eklöf was posted to SS-Pz.Aufkl.Abt.11 in 1944. PD. Bottom image: Danish Nordland volunteers prepare to counterattack after Soviet forces managed to break into their lines near Orphanage Hill on July 28 1944. Photo by SS-KB Erich Fabiger. Credit: Julius Backman. c. Bundesarchiv.