Overview of the events of 1944
For the first time, the hostilities of 1944 reached the Lastekodumägi region in early February. While the German military division ‘Nord’ retreated to the Narva line, German staff and warehouse bunkers were built on Lastekodumägi Hill. A huge number of heavy weapons belonging to the ‘Narva’ army group were stored between the hill and the coast.
During the offensive that began in mid-February, the 30th rifle corps of the Red Army broke through to the Tapa-Narva railroad and significantly enlarged the Krivasoo bridgehead created earlier in the month.
In the course of the ensuing battles, attempts were made to move towards Lastekodumägi Hill, which dominated the landscape. The 170th German infantry division, which built its command post on the hill, managed to stop the advance of the Red Army. The latter made a new attempt to take the hill on 17 March, and Soviet tanks breached the Germans’ defensive line. The 502nd German heavy (Tiger) tank battalion covering the hill drove the Red Army back. As a result of this counter-attack, which began on 26 March under the command of Lieutenant General Hyazinth von Strachwitz, the Soviets were forced back behind the railroad and the front moved further away.