The famous Sandomierz bridgehead was captured by Soviet troops on the left bank of the Vistula at the end of July 1944. It got its name from a nearby Polish city.
Soviet offensive
In the historical literature, the Sandomierz bridgehead is also sometimes called Baranow or Baranow-Sandomierz. The operation to capture this important sector of the front was undertaken by the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front (13th and 1st Guards Tank Armies, commanded by USSR 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 took place on this sector of the front, which ended in the strategic success of the Red Army. Under incessant fire, we managed to go another 50 kilometers (the width of the bridgehead increased to 60 kilometers).
On the way to the Vistula
In the summer of 1944, the key battle in Poland was the battle for Sandomierz. Before that, the Vistula had to be crossed. The forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched to the river without stopping or delay, leaving the liberated Polish settlements behind them. The field operation was led by GeneralLieutenant Nikolai Pukhov and Colonel General Mikhail Katukov. On July 27, Yaroslav was taken. After that, the army received an order to continue moving towards the Vistula without getting involved in skirmishes with the enemy.
The advance of tank detachments was complicated by the lack of any air support. The fact was that, due to the high pace of advancement, the airfields simply could not keep up with the advanced units. Two weeks before the surrender of the city, the Vistula was crossed by the 3rd Guards Army of Colonel General Vasily Gordov. On July 29, its units defeated the enemy grouping located in the vicinity of Annopol. This success made it possible to expand the Sandomierz bridgehead.
Crossing
The width of the crossing of the Vistula was no more than two kilometers. All the time there was a threat that the capture of the bridgehead was about to "choke". However, the Germans panicked, they were paralyzed and only thought about how to retreat with the least losses. The Wehrmacht even decided to blow up the dams on the Vistula. However, the rapid offensive of the Red Army thwarted these plans.
The Lvov-Sandomierz operation turned out to be an unbearable blow for the Germans. The dams were not blown up only because German units continued to remain on the opposite bank. To destroy communications meant to cut off their own.
Meanwhile, on July 30, the Red Army brought ferries, and the next day, the construction of a low-water bridge across the Vistula River began. There was still no auxiliary aviation, so the crossing was covered with a smoke screen. In the evening, the first Soviet units were onopposite shore. It formed a bridgehead. It became the starting point for further offensive.
Expansion of bridgehead
July 31, the 17th Wehrmacht Army tried to launch a counterattack on the crossed Red Army soldiers. However, these efforts were in vain. The strategic initiative and the 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 attacks of the enemy. This was done in order to gain time. For two weeks, all new detachments were transported 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 push the enemy across the river failed each time. Now the Wehrmacht had only to leave their positions and go to the west. The resulting bridgehead was held until January 1945. Then another big offensive began from Sandomierz, which was called the Sandomierz-Silesian operation. During it, the Red Army finally liberated Poland from the Nazi occupation.
