Sandomierz foothold on the Vistula (1944)

The famous Sandomir bridgehead was captured by Soviet troops on the left bank of the Vistula in late July 1944. He got his name from the nearby Polish city.

Soviet offensive

In historical literature, the Sandomierz bridgehead is also sometimes called Baranuvsky or Baranav-Sandomirsky. The operation to seize this important sector of the front was undertaken by the forces of the First Ukrainian Front (the 13th and the 1st Guards Tank Armies, commanded by Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev).

First of all, the Sandomierz bridgehead was vital for the continuation of the offensive to the west. In early August, bloody battles were fought on this sector of the front, which ended in the strategic success of the Red Army. Under continuous fire it was possible to pass another 50 kilometers (the width of the bridgehead increased to 60 kilometers).

On the way to the Vistula

In the summer of 1944, fighting for Sandomierz became the key battle in Poland. Before this, I had to cross the Vistula. The forces of the First Ukrainian Front marched to the river without stopping and delaying, leaving liberated Polish settlements behind them. The operation on the ground was led by Lieutenant-General Nikolai Pukhov and Colonel-General Mikhail Katukov. July 27 was taken by Yaroslav. After that, the army received an order to continue the movement to the Vistula, without getting involved in a skirmish with the enemy.

The offensive of tank detachments was complicated by the lack of any air support. The thing was that because of the high pace of advance the airfields simply did not keep up with the advanced units. Two weeks before the surrender of the city of Vistula, the 3rd Guards Army, Colonel-General Vasily Gordov, was forced. July 29, its units defeated the enemy group, located in the vicinity of Annapolis. This success allowed to expand the Sandomierz bridgehead.

Crossing

The width of the Vistula crossing was no more than two kilometers. All the time there was a threat that the seizure of the bridgehead was about to "choke". However, the Germans panicked, they were paralyzed and thought only of how to retreat with the least losses. In the Wehrmacht even decided to undermine the dams on the Vistula. However, the rapid offensive of the Red Army frustrated these plans.

The Lvov-Sandomierz operation proved to be an unbearable blow for the Germans. The dams did not blow up only because German parts continued to remain on the opposite bank. To destroy communications meant cutting off their own.

Meanwhile, on July 30, the Red Army men led ferries, and the next day the construction of a low-water bridge across the Vistula River began. Auxiliary aviation was still not there, so the ferry was covered with a smoke screen. In the evening, the first Soviet units were on the opposite shore. It formed a springboard. He became the starting point for further advance.

Expansion of the bridgehead

On July 31, the 17th Army of the Wehrmacht attempted to counter a Red Army soldier. However, these efforts proved futile. The strategic initiative and a qualitative superiority were on the side of the Soviet soldiers. For some time they held their positions, did not go on the offensive and only repulsed the enemy's attacks. This was done in order to gain time. Two weeks later, all the new detachments were transferred to the opposite bank of the Vistula.

Only having gained strength and coordinated their actions, on August 15 the 13th and 3rd Guards armies took the strategically important city of Sandomierz. The Germans retreated in panic. Their attempts to throw the enemy over the river failed every time. Now the Wehrmacht had only to leave the position and go west. Formed bridgehead was held until January 1945. Then another big offensive began from Sandomierz, which was called the Sandomierz-Silesian operation. In the course of it, the Red Army finally liberated Poland from the Nazi occupation.