Baltic Approaches D+20 (29 July, 1987)

0035– Officers from the East German 28^th Motor Rifle Regiment meet with a contingent of Danish officers at Viemose. The meeting lasts just twenty minutes and revolves around the terms and conditions necessary to bring about a formal surrender of the East German regiment. A second meeting is agreed upon and scheduled for later in the morning. Until then, a temporary ceasefire goes into effect.

0700– Late the previous evening, COMLANDJUT had ordered his main ground component commanders to meet with him at Karup at 0700. Once all the men are present, COMLANDJUT informs them Brussels has ordered LANDJUT and its parent command AFNORTH to begin preparations for an offensive aimed at clearing Jutland and Schleswig-Holstein of Warsaw Pact forces. The purpose of this 60-minute gathering is to brainstorm and discuss what form an offensive could take.

0800– The commander of the Soviet 108^th Guards Airborne Regiment sits down with a contingent of senior NATO officers. Terms and conditions for the surrender of the Soviet paratroopers are negotiated thoroughly and with haste. At 0845 the regiment commander returns to Skrydstrup Airbase and informs his command the surrender of the 108^th Guards Airborne Regiment will take effect at 1200 hours.

1055–  The second round of talks between East German and NATO officers begins. These negotiations are handicapped by the indifference of the East German government to the plight of its soldiers trapped on Mon. The East German regiment commander has been reluctant to surrender his unit until hearing from Berlin first. The absence of news or guidance from the politicians spoke volumes, however and convinced the colonel to begin the process of standing his troops down and surrendering. The war was over for them.

1130– The Danish government inquires NATO about its timetable regarding the recapture of Bornholm.

1200– The Soviet 108^th Guards Airborne Regiment surrenders. The majority of the unit’s men and officers begin the march into captivity. However, a small number of troops are holding out and it takes the Danish Home Guard units the rest of the afternoon and early evening to clear out the base facilities of remaining Soviet paratroopers and hidden traps they’d planted.

1600– SACEUR receives an update on preparations from AFNORTH and tells his northern commander in Kolsas to revise his timetable. Offensive operations could start in the next 24-36 hours. AFNORTH inquires about the possibility of including Swedish units in his plans and SACEUR tells him not to for the time being.

1640– Western TVD informs Northern Group of Forces that a theater-wide NATO offensive is expected to commence at some point in the next seventy-two hours.

2100– After discussions with his operations staff, COMLANDJUT requests that the two brigades of the US 10^th Mountain Division now in central Norway be chopped to his command for use in the upcoming offensive. AFNORTH is undecided on the matte and promises a decision will be made by the next morning.