Combat Operations of the Red Army Units against the French SS Assault Brigade in the Area of Sanok (August 1944)
Natal’ja V. Bashkireva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associated Professor
Voronezh State Pedagogical University, Voronezh, Russia, nat.val.saf@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0307-4481
Abstract
Based on documents from the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense, the article reconstructs the course of military operations in the area of Sanok (southeastern Poland) in the first half of August 1944, during the Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive, which aimed to destroy the German Army Group North Ukraine. It is indicated that in this sector of the front the 101st and 67th Rifle Corps of the 38th Army, in addition to German units, were confronted by the French SS Assault Brigade, which was part of Horst Wessel, the 18th Motorized SS Division. The article notes the conditions and circumstances of the formation of the French SS unit from volunteers in 1943, with official support from the Vichy government. It shows that the battles in the area of Sanok became fierce due to the German command’s desire to retain the strategically important Sambor — Sanok — Krosno route, which was used to withdraw the Sambor-Drohobych group of troops that had been defeated by the Red Army offensive. The article concludes that the French SS unit generally fulfilled its objectives, but suffered significant losses.
Keywords
Great Patriotic War, Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive, Red Army, 38th Army, French SS Assault Brigade.
For citation:
Bashkireva N. V. Combat Operations of the Red Army Units against the French SS Assault Brigade in the Area of Sanok (August 1944). Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2026, no. 1 (57), pp. 88—99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2026.57.6.
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