Published in „Siegrunen“ Magazine - Vol. XIII, No. 6,
Whole Number 80, Summer 2008
(32nd Year of Publication)
An unknown Latvian Waffen-SS volunteer in a never before published photo. (Erik Rundkvist)
In January 1944, with the Soviet Red Army making penetrations into both Estonia and Latvia, the Higher SS and Police Leader “Ostland” (covering the Baltic States), SS-Obergruppenführer Frederik Jeckeln asked the Latvian Self-Administration (local governing authorities), to begin calling up older men, (born from 1906 to 1914), to do military service in Border Guard Regiments, which would be utilized as a last line of defense for Latvia. Eventually there would be six regiments in all, containing some 16,000 troops, and although not technically part of the Waffen-SS, they were so in all but name. The Border Guard Regiments would all be trained and led by members of the Latvian Waffen-SS and most of their surviving members would be incorporated into the Waffen-SS.
It was one thing to issue a call-up for men to serve in these units, which was not a problem since Latvian patriotism was very high, but it was another altogether to properly supply and equip the regiments. Weaponry and training facilities, not to mention training personnel, were simply inadequate to the task and the regiments would suffer accordingly when they had to be rushed to the front lines on and emergency basis. The following list provides a brief summary of the regimental strengths, commanders and deployments:
1ST LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Riga, Latvia in February 1944.
Commander: Waffen-Standartenführer der SS A. Liepins
Troop Strength (all ranks): 2,769
Deployment: Sent to the Ostrov-Pleskau Front on 31 March 1944.
Final Status: Disbanded after heavy losses on 12 July 1944 with survivors used as replacements for the 15th and 19th Latvian SS Divisions.
2ND LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Riga, Latvia in February 1944.
Commander: Waffen-Obersturmbannführer der SS R. Ciemens
Troop Strength (all ranks): 2,823
Deployment: From 10 July to 31 July 1944 it served on the front in the Daugavpils (Dünaburg) area as part of SS Kampfgruppe “Jeckeln” led by the Army General Gieseke.
Final Status: Disbanded at the beginning of August 1944 after sustaining heavy losses.
3RD LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Riga, Latvia in February 1944.
Commanders: Waffen-Standartenführer Brenkis and Waffen- Obersturmbannführer Celle
Troop Strength (all ranks): 2,775
Deployment: Served with the 15th Latvian SS Division in the Latvian border regions and then near Riga.
Final Status: Disbanded in Riga in early September 1944 with the survivors going to the 15th Latvian SS Division.
4TH LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Tukkum in February 1944.
Commander: Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Kikulis
Troop Strength (all ranks): 2,750
Deployment: Saw frontline duty from 10 July to 31 July 1944 in the vicinity of Daugavpils (Dünaburg).
Final Status: Disbanded on 17 August 1944 due to heavy losses and desertions. The most unreliable of the Border Guard Regiments. Part of it “mutinied” and went over to the other side.
5TH LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Kuldiga, Kurland in February 1944.
Commander: Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Zvaigzne
Troop Strength (all ranks): 3,328
Deployment: First sent into action against partisans in early April 1944, then sent to the eastern Latvian Front from 29 June until 9 July 1944. In early August it participated in the defense of Riga. The largest and most capable of the Border Guard Regiments it was later converted into the independent Waffen- Grenadier Regiment der SS 106 which fought with the VI. Latvian SS Army Corps and the 19th Latvian SS Division in Kurland. In that format it was commanded by Waffen- Obersturmbannführer der SS Jansons and Waffen-Sturmbannführer der SS Stipneks.
A photo of members of a Latvian SS formation; the extremely mixed uniforms show that they might have served in a Border Guard Regiment. They wear Waffen-SS sleeve insignia and cap badges but no collar patches. (Erik Rundkvist Archives)
6TH LATVIAN BORDER GUARD REGIMENT
Formed: Kandava, Sabile, Mtkule and Zemite in Kurland in early 1944.
Commander: Waffen-Standartenführer Brigge
Troop Strength (all ranks): 2,414
Deployment: Sent to the frontlines south of Daugavpils (Dünaburg) from 10 July 1944 until 14 August 1944. It was then sent to Riga and disbanded with its troops being used to supplement the two Latvian SS Divisions.
The uniforms for the Latvian Border Guard regiments were distinctly mixed with mostly surplus Latvian Army attire being used along with German or SS insignia. German Army and police uniforms were also used. The command staff and training cadres generally wore complete Waffen-SS uniforms. But basically it boiled down to what was available at the time of formation.
Studio portrait of a Latvian volunteer. He appears to be the kneeling soldier in the previous photo of a group of Latvian soldiers. (Erik Rundkvist Archives)
Although not immediately sent to the front, the first three Border Guard Regiments were sent to the 15th Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS (Latvia Nr.l) in March 1944 to serve as reserves and replacements for the combat troops. The 2nd Border Guard Regiment suffered severe casualties on the first day that it reached its designated reserve positions when a Red Army force broke through the lines and hit it unawares with a massive attack. Of these three regiments however, only the 3rd Border Guard Regiment would actually serve in the frontlines with the 15th Latvian SS Division as an independent unit in the spring and summer of 1944.
The other three regiments stayed for a longer period of time in their formation areas undergoing training. On 16 April 1944, the 5th Border Guard Regiment was called up to help fight communist partisans behind the main front lines in Eastern Latvia, even though it had still not undergone any “live fire” exercises or had any machine-guns or heavy weapons assigned to it. It would be deployed in frontline positions near Disna on 29 and 30 June 1944. On 4 July 1944, the regiment came under a massive Soviet tank and infantry onslaught which quickly shattered the unit. The survivors later regrouped in Kraslova.
Previously unpublished photo of a Latvian volunteer. (Courtesy of Erik Rundkvist)
On 8 July 1944, the Latvian Border Guard Regiments were assigned, at least on paper, to the SS Kampfgruppe “Jeckeln”, a task force that otherwise was made up of German and Estonian police troops that was generally deployed 12 to 20 kilometers behind the lines of the II. German Army Corps in Latvia. Basically this involved only four of the Border Guard Regiments, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th, since the 3rd Regiment was still serving with the 15th Latvian SS Division and the 1st Regiment never reached combat readiness status; its troops were simply funneled into the two Latvian SS Divisions as replacements when needed.
Of the other regiments, the largest, the 5th, reached its new deployment area without sufficient weapons or ammunition and when the Red Army made a penetration through the lines of II. Army Corps, the unit was ordered to immediately retreat. It then retreated all the way back to Riga to await further developments. It then came under the control of the very efficient SS-Oberführer Dr. Gustav Krukenberg, the then “Inspector” of the Latvian Waffen-SS. He saw to it that the regiment was finally properly armed, equipped and reorganized. In early August 1944, it would become the centerpiece of an emergency task force entitled SS- Kampfgruppe “Krukenberg” to be used in defense of the Latvian capital. Krukenberg later became the inspector of the French Waffen-SS and briefly the commander of what was left of the “Charlemagne” and “Nordland” SS Divisions.
This left only the 2nd, 4th and 6th Latvian Border Guard Regiments still functioning with SS-Kampfgruppe “Jeckeln” and they were now deployed in the area to the south of the town of Daugavpils (or Dünaburg to the Germans). Between 7 and 10 July 1944, the troops from these units only now began to receive adequate weaponry while they were being rushed to front line positions! It would be a matter of too little, too late for the 4th Latvian Border Guard position. Lacking in morale due to chronic shortages of everything, the regiment lost most of its best officers and men in a lopsided combat action near Krawelle. With the leadership seriously depleted some of the troops then actually deserted to the other side, albeit on the advice of communist Latvian elements who had infiltrated into the regiment. After the war this action was termed a “mutiny”, but at the time it was generally ignored by the hard pressed German command, and the regiment continued to function.
On 9 July 1944, SS-Obergruppenführer Jeckeln relinquished command of his battle group to the Polizei Generalmajor Giesecke. Jeckeln then took over another emergency task force based on what was called the Latvian Field Recruit Brigade of the Waffen- SS, consisting mostly of new enlistees. Giesecke’s force now included the 2nd, 4th and 6th Latvian Border Guard Regiments along with battalions of Estonian and German police troops. It would be used in support of the Wehrmacht Divisions of the II. Army Corps, including the 215th Infantry Division.
The 2nd and 4th Regiments were soon deployed to the west of Lake Drysviaty in the Latvia/Lithuania border area, however without any anti-tank weapons they were of little use in facing Soviet armored forces. Still, on 13 and 14 July 1944, one of the Latvian Border Guard Battalions fighting alongside the Estonian Police Battalion 40, managed to eliminate a serious Soviet penetration through the front near Karasino. Despite earlier problems, the Latvians now began fighting bravely on their own, even without contact with neighboring units. The temporary collapse of the 4th Regiment early on proved to be the exception rather than the rule!
As of 24 July 1944, the SS-Kampfgruppe “Jeckeln” had ceased to exist but the Latvians continued to fight on as part of SS- Kampfgruppe “Giesecke” in support of regular German Army formations. The 2nd Latvian Border Guard Regiment particularly distinguished itself when it was sent to Jacava to intercept an advancing Soviet armored force. In vicious close combat the Latvians not only stopped the Red Army but they destroyed 13 enemy tanks in the process. The downside was that heavy casualties, amounting to 207 killed or wounded, were sustained.
By the end of July, the II. German Army Corps was in a general fighting withdrawal. The Latvian Border Guard Regiments also fell back and many of their personnel were put to work building defensive fortifications in the vicinity of Kukuese. They now came under the direct authority of SS-Oberführer Krukenberg and the Inspectorate of the Latvian Waffen-SS into what became known as SS-Kampfgruppe “Krukenberg”, although they saw little or no further fighting, except for some of the Latvians who were still members of SS-Kampfgmppe “Giesecke” which was defending the left-wing of the 215th Infantry Division.
On 28 August 1944, the members of the Latvian Border Guard Regiments in SS-KGr. “Krukenberg” were officially subordinated to the VI. Waffen-Armee Korps der SS (Lettisches), or the VI. Latvian Army Corps of the SS. They were joined by the surviving Latvian soldiers from SS-KGr. “Giesecke” on 16 September 1944. At this time some of them were assigned to military constmction units while those thought still militarily capable were combined into the 5th Latvian Border Guard Regiment which now became the Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 106 of the VI. Latvian SS Army Corps.
This regiment would be well-equipped and fight on valiantly in Kurland alongside the 19th Latvian SS Division until January 1945, when it too was dissolved and its troops used to reinforce units of the 19th SS Division. In summary, the Latvian Border Guard Regiments were part of a desperate attempt to utilize older Latvian manpower in an effort to help impede the Soviet onslaught. For the most part they did the best they could under the circumstances, and the best soldiers from them continued to fight on effectively with the Waffen-SS until the end of the war.
The Latvian SS Military Constmction Battalion “Klavines” was formed on the orders of SS-Oberfhr. Krukenberg from older aged survivors of the 2nd and 5th Latvian Border Guard Regiments in the late summer of 1944. The commander was Waffen-Hstuf. Klavins and the unit strength was listed at 467 men. What particular date that figure was valid for is unknown. The battalion was initially assigned to the Military Construction Staff in Rochow but in mid-January 1945 was subordinated directly to the 16th Army in Kurland.
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