Battle of Kielow Ridge

Battle of Kielow Ridge
Part of Northern Territory War
Date 27 May 1915 Location Kielow, Finnmarck Result Tactical Fuerstenburg victory
Belligerents
Rotgeheim	Fuerstenburg
Commanders and leaders
Waldtraud Hertz-Meckler (128th IR) Franz Waldmüller (1st Company, 128th IR) Albrecht Schildhauer (4th Company, 128th IR) Dieter Steinhauer (3rd Company, 205th AIR)	Dietrich Luehmann Alfred Bittrich Paul Emersen
Units involved
128th Infantry Regiment 205th Airborne Infantry Regiment	32nd Infantry Division 54th Infantry Division
Strength
238 infantrymen 63 paratroopers 3 tanks	~900 soldiers 20 tanks
Casualties and losses
Dead: Wounded: Missing: Captured:	Dead: Wounded: Missing: Captured:

The Battle of Kielow Ridge took place on a ridge little over a mile east of Kielow, Finnmarck, a small town with a vital railway junction, on 27 May 1915.

The battle primarily involved elements of the 32nd and 54th Infantry Divisions of the Army of Fuerstenburg, as well as the 1st and 4th Companies of the 128th Infantry Regiment of the 50th VS-Füsilier Division Kurland and the 1st and 2nd Platoons of the 3rd Company, 205th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd VS-Airborne Division Merzhausen.

Although the battle was a tactical victory for Fuerstenburg, the delaying action performed by Rotgeheiman troops bought troops within the town of Kielow enough time to pack up and move essential equipment, wounded troops, and heavy weaponry. Many Rotgeheiman troops perished during the battle, all of which are honored on a memorial atop the highest point on the ridge.

Background

By early Spring 1915, the Rotgeheiman operations to regain the initiative during the war was not going well. To stabilize a front, the Rotgeheiman Army retreated to a line stretching across the island of Finnmarck on a series of large hills and ridges, the largest of which surrounded most of the villages of Görlitz, Abernau, and Kielow. The highest point in the area, Kielow Ridge, lay just over a mile to the east of the rail hub of Kielow. Since Kielow was the last of the large rail junction towns in Rotgeheiman hands in the area, the Rotgeheiman Army fortified the entire front, especially around the town. The troops posted on the defensive areas would be tasked with defending Kielow until the last of the heavy weaponry, wounded troops, and other irreplaceable materials were evacuated. Once the evacuation had been complete, the units guarding the area around Kielow would retreat to a more advantageous position some 10 kilometers south, a defensive line known as the Kronprinz Hermann Line. The divisions responsible for defending the hills around Kielow were the 29th VS-Cavalry Division Nibelungen, 50th VS-Füsilier Division Kurland, and 53rd VS-Panzergrenadier Division Kaiser Rudolf Geske. Posted on Kielow ridge were elements of the 50th VS-Füsilier Division Kurland: the 127th Infantry Regiment, most of the 128th Infantry Regiment, a company of the 50th Panzer Regiment, and a platoon of engineers from the 50th Pioneer Battalion.

However, the defensive fortifications atop Kielow Ridge were never fully completed, and construction progress was at a near standstill at least a week before the battle. This was due to a few factors. Firstly, the majority of resources was diverted to the ongoing evacuation in Kielow itself. Secondly, the elevation of Kielow Ridge made it difficult for building materials to reach the summit, and since most of the heavy equipment was being used in Kielow, much of the building materials sat unused. Lastly, the depleted manpower made construction slower than normal in all sectors, a problem amplified atop Kielow Ridge by higher command diverting troops to the evacuation in Kielow. Defensive preparations atop Kielow were minimal at best. Many troops were in shoulder-high trenches and dugouts, and only two pillboxes had been completed by the time Fuerstenburg troops arrived in the area. A platoon of engineers attempted to hurry along construction just a day before the battle, but there were too few men and too much work for any significant impact to be made.

Four days before the battle, on 23 May, the evacuation process was nearing completion. To hurry the last stages of the process, and to begin withdrawal of Rotgeheiman forces, the following units were pulled out and moved southward: the 29th VS-Cavalry Division Nibelungen, the majority of the 50th VS-Füsilier Division Kurland, and half of the 53rd VS-Panzergrenadier Division Kaiser Rudolf Geske. By the day of the battle, the only Rotgeheiman forces atop Kielow Ridge were the the depleted 1st and 4th Companies of the 128th Infantry Regiment, in which there were 106 soldiers and 132, respectively.

Early stages of the battle

Rotgeheiman pickets first encountered enemy forces on the northern and eastern edges of Kielow Ridge at about 9:00 am on 27 May. These troops were able to successfully halt the Fuerstenburg troops, members of the 54th Infantry Division, for about half an hour. This half hour window bought time for a squad of Rotgeheiman engineers to prepare charges to collapse paths and walkways up to the ridge. At around 9:45, the primary northern and eastern paths to Kielow Ridge were destroyed by the engineers.

By the time the engineers had destroyed the pathways, the rest of the 1st and 4th Companies had become ready to defend the ridge. A system of interlocking fields of machine gun and rifle fire were set up as the last Rotgeheiman pickets and engineers fell back. Hauptsturmführer Franz Waldmüller, the 1st Company's commander, radioed back to 1128th Infantry Regiment HQ for assistance, but was denied. The command of Kurland decided that troops committed to combat would fight to the last man in a delaying action for the hurried evacuation in Kielow – if Rotgeheiman troops atop the ridge had time to retreat they could, but they were forbidden from doing so until Kielow had been evacuated.

Rotgeheiman defensive positions on the northern flank, defended by the 1st Company and nicknamed "Hellbrunn Redoubt", were able to easily defend against encroaching Fuerstenburg troops of the 32nd Infantry Division. Fuerstenburg troops had to climb a steep, rocky slope to approach the defensive positions, which exposed them to intense small arms fire. High casualties were inflicted upon the attackers. Two mortar tubes, allocated to the 1st Company from 1st Battalion artillery, offered intermittent support while the company's five machine guns provided sustained fire down the slope. Marksman Dieter Grasshof rose to notoriety on Hellbrunn Redoubt due to his ability to provide accurate and deadly sniper fire on Fuerstenburg troops. Rotgeheiman troops in the first trench threw dozens of fragmentation grenades at the attackers. The grenade explosions sent shrapnel and rock fragments into the Fuerstenburg troops, inflicting heavy losses.

Positions manned by the 4th Company on the eastern flank, dubbed "Fuchsheim Redoubt", fared similarly. The slope climbed by Fuerstenburg troops was not as steep as in the north, however, so a lot of ground was covered before Rotgeheiman defenders were able to slow the advance with rifle and machine gun fire. A single anti-tank gun mounted just behind the third row of trenches gave direct and indirect fire support to the Rotgeheiman troops, as well as one NbW 100 heavy caliber mortar.

Since Kielow Ridge is so close in proximity to the town itself (little over a mile), troops within the town easily heard the fighting. Since most of the heavy weaponry of the 1st Battalion, 29th Artillery Regiment (Motorized) was earmarked to be left behind and/or destroyed, the four batteries petitioned their commander to provide fire support for troops atop the Ridge. He permitted it, and the four batteries totaling around 12 to 15 guns provided heavy fire support to the Rotgeheiman defenders, primarily the north flank.