Report of Captain Jānis Ozols of the III./19. Artillery Regiment (2.Latvian) on the battles of December 24 and 25, 1944

Captain and Jānis Ozols, in their report of 27.12.1944 to the commander of the 15th (1st Latvian) SS Artillery Regiment, reported on the losses of the 7th, 8th and 9th battery guns in the battles of 24-25 December in the Zvejnieki - Dirba area:

9.battery:

24.12.1944. the battery was located 300m NE of Zvejnieki. At 10:00 the battery was attacked by the 1st company of Dirba infantry. the battery allowed the infantry to a distance of 500m, destroyed some of them with direct fire, the rest scattered and retreated. [..] 25.12.1944. at 10:00 3 tanks approached - in the first 2 minutes one tank received a direct hit and caught fire, the other two retreated back into the forest. After 30 minutes. along the N edge of the Dirba forest 6 enemy T-34 tanks and 1 enemy company approached from the forest S of Dirba. Again the battery repelled these attacks with direct fire.

Ignoring the heavy fire and taking losses, the battery prevented the enemy from breaking into its area. 3 guns were damaged, 2 soldiers fell, 1 officer (battery commander), 3 instructors, 8 soldiers were wounded. During both days of the battle, the battery fired 442 shells.

As darkness fell, the enemy repeated the attack and the battery's escape route through Zvejnieki was cut off. The battery commander gave the order to destroy the guns and withdrew.

8.battery:

On 24.12.1944. the battery was located 400m SW of the Rumba railway station. Around noon, the battery was attacked by a company of infantry, some of whom were destroyed by direct fire, the rest dispersed and retreated. On 25.12.1944. the battery was attacked by 6 T-34 tanks. Firing with direct fire, 3 tanks were destroyed at 500m, the rest broke away and crawled back into the forest. The 4 tanks that arrived again from a distance of 600m for 30min. conducted direct fire. One tank bypassed the battery and stormed the battery position. It was destroyed by a fist cartridge.

On both days, the battery also received very heavy artillery and volley fire. Losses: 1 gun shot from a tank, 2 soldiers killed, 6 soldiers wounded. The negligible losses were due to the fact that the battery was positioned directly behind the embankment of the tank ditch, which created a no-holds-barred area against tank fire.

On the night of 25-26.12.1944 the battery left its positions and moved to Cīruļi. At 9:00 AM the battery was attacked by 2 infantry companies, threatening to bypass the battery. The battery commander called for reinforcements, but all 3 six-horse chariots were destroyed by the enemy with machine gun fire. The battery commander gave the order to blow up the guns and returned with his men to Ormani.

7.battery:

On 24 and 25.12.1944, the battery was in positions 800m NE of Rumba. By conducting direct aimed fire along a 1200m ridge, it prevented the enemy from advancing to attack. It shot down 1 tank, which caught fire. On 26.12.1944, the battery was in position near Cīruļi. When the enemy had already bypassed the battery through the forest, the commander gave the order to withdraw. The guns were not fired. With the soldiers gathered in the Ormani area, the forest was cleared and the 7th battery was recaptured.

Direct losses were suffered by the division headquarters on 24.12.1944, when the telephone exchange bunker was destroyed by a direct hit, and the communications platoon commander was also found dead. Between 23 and 26.12.1944, the division suffered 23 casualties and 66 injuries.

On 24 and 25.12.1944. the division, being in the center of gravity, carried on its shoulders the entire burden of stopping the enemy who had invaded from the rear. Without this selfless action, the enemy would have reached a significantly greater depth already on 24.12.1944. The division thus greatly facilitated the regrouping of our forces. The battles took place without infantry.

WH'stuf. and d-na commander

(captain and division commander)