Operation Doppelkopf

Eastern Front, June–August 1944. The attack at the connection between Army Groups Centre (Third Panzer Army) and North (Sixteenth Army) west of Riga is marked.

Date	16 August 1944 – 27 August 1944
Location	Western Lithuania 55°50′N 23°10′E / 55.833°N 23.167°E / 55.833; 23.167Coordinates: 55°50′N 23°10′E / 55.833°N 23.167°E / 55.833; 23.167
Result	German victory

Belligerents

Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Georg-Hans Reinhardt
(Army Group Centre)

Erhard Raus
(Third Panzer Army)

Ivan Chernyakhovsky
(3rd Belorussian Front)

Hovhannes Bagramyan
(1st Baltic Front)

Operation Doppelkopf (German: Unternehmen Doppelkopf) and the following Operation Cäsar were German counter-offensives on the Eastern Front in the late summer of 1944 in the aftermath of the major Soviet advance in Operation Bagration with the aim of restoring a coherent front between Army Group North and Army Group Centre. The operation's codename was a reference to the German card game Doppelkopf.

By the end of July 1944, Soviet mechanised forces had reached the Gulf of Riga following their headlong advance in the Kaunas and Šiauliai Offensives, part of the third and final 'pursuit' phase of the strategic offensive Operation Bagration. The Soviet 2nd Guards Army had exploited a breach between the German Sixteenth Army of Army Group North and the neighbouring Third Panzer Army of Army Group Centre, and severed the connection between them. German counter-attacks failed to restore it, and significant elements of the German armed forces were left isolated.

The Oberkommando des Heeres made immediate plans for an offensive to restore the connection between the two Army Groups.

A number of armoured formations were assembled under Army Group Centre in Courland with orders to attack towards Jelgava (German: Mitau), cutting off the Soviet spearheads. The XXXX Panzer Corps, with the 7th and 14th Panzer Divisions, the Grossdeutschland Division and the 1st Infantry Division, was assembled at Liepāja / Libau, while the XXXIX Panzer Corps was assembled at Tauroggen.

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Wikipedia