ASL Comp Cherkassy IV: Oktabyr EVERYMAN EDITION

Near Lysyanka, Russia, 14 February 1944: The encircled German forces were in their third week of being trapped. The supply and morale situation was getting desperate. General Manstein was the overall commander of the region, and he was desperate to re-establish contact with the Kessel. The 1st Panzer division led the drive by the three of Manstein’s command driving north and east, initially to link up at Shenderovka with units of the Kessel.  The “point of the spear” for the 1st Panzer division was the heavy tank Rgmt, named for its commander…Oberstleutnant Bäke. Dr Franz Oberstleutnant Bäke served in WWI and earned a degree in dentistry between the wars. He set up a dental practice, just before the onset of WWII, joined the reserves and later served as an armor officer. He quickly moved up through the ranks, mostly because of his aggressive fighting style. Ultimately leading a heavy tiger tank Rgmt at the time of the Cherkassy battles. Oberstleutnant Bäke would earn the Swords to his Knights Cross for his actions to relieve the Cherkassy pocket, fighting around Hill 239. Leading his Heavy Tank Rgmt, he drove up hill 239, initially taking the Soviets by surprise, took the hill, but could not hold it in the face of their ferocious counterattacks. Subsequently he and his unit were driven back to the villages of October and Lisyanka at the foot of hill 239. Over the next two days repeated attacks by Oberstleutnant Bäke could not dislodge the Soviets from the hill, which stood in the path of the escape route for the German units entrapped in the Kessel.  As the 1st Panzer Division in Lisyanka could drive no further, Manstein ordered the entrapped forces to break out, during a anticipated four days of overcast and snowstorms. General Stemmerman received the order to commence the breakout, late in the evening, with the simple message, “Watchword Freedom 2300”. The 105th Panzer Gr Regt led the breakout, from Komarovka, just west of Novo Buda, through a small valley, dotted with small groups of trees, many gullies and along one rutted road, finally over hill 239, to the small village of Lisyanka, where freedom lay.