The area is located near the town of
Lomonosov (formerly Oranienbaum) and centred on the
Krasnaya Gorka Fort complex. The Germans approached Leningrad in early September 1941 and reached the Gulf of Finland on 7 September, isolating an area long and up to deep along the Baltic coast. This area was fortified and defended by the soldiers of the Red Army and sailors of the Baltic Fleet. An attempt to link up with the main Soviet forces around Leningrad, the Strelna Peterhof operation (
ru) was mounted from 5 to 10 October but failed. On 2 November 1941, the
19th Rifle Corps was reorganised as the 2nd Neva Operations Group, then quickly the Coastal Operations Group, of the
Leningrad Front to defend the pocket. It initially included the
48th Rifle Division and the 2nd and 5th Naval Rifle Brigades, under the former commander of the 19th Rifle Corps, General Antonov. Later the garrison included the 48th Rifle Division, the
98th Rifle Division, the
168th Rifle Division and parts of the
Baltic Fleet which provided gunfire support and supply. The commander between 1942 and 1943 was General
Vladimir Romanovsky. He was replaced by
Ivan Fedyuninsky in December 1943. In November 1943, the
2nd Shock Army was sent into the bridgehead. A component of the
Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive was the
Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive which helped break the Siege of Leningrad. On 14 January 1944, the 2nd Shock Army attacked from the bridgehead and linked with Soviet forces attacking from Leningrad. ==Monuments==