THE EASTERN FRONT
GERMANS SEIZE THE PORT OF RIGA: SEPTEMBER 1917
(FOR OPERATION ALBION IN THE BALTIC (WAR AT SEA) SEE BELOW)
Itxwas at the beginning of September that the Germans, having soundly defeated and put to flight the Russian army during Kerenski’s disastrous offensive, launched their battle for Riga – a long-
Acknowledgements
Riga Offensive (map): commons.wikimedia.org Battle of Jugla: historia.fandem.com Germans enter Riga: roadstothegreatwar-
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The German high command had begun to prepare for this battle as early as December 1916. It was meticulously organised, and all preparations and rehearsals were carried out far behind the front line to ensure that, when launched, the Russians would be taken completely by surprise. For this purpose the bulk of the attacking force (The Eighth Army under the command of General Oskar von Hutier) was not moved up to the front until the night before the opening of the offensive. This began on the 1st September with a massive artillery barrage (some 560,000 rounds from over 1,000 canons and mortars), and the release of vast quantities of poison gas. This proved highly effective. It forced the Russians to withdraw from the right bank of the River Daugava, and allowed specially trained German assault troops to make a crossing. Once a bridgehead had been established – in little more than an hour – engineers were building pontoon bridges in three locations. By the end of the day six divisions had crossed the river, followed by three more the following day. The main thrust, of course, was towards Riga, but, as the map above shows, the Germans did plan an advance to the north, hoping at best to overwhelm the Russians as they made their escape or, at least, to drive them out of the fighting zone. By any standards, it was an impressive operation.
Accountsxas to the performance of the Russian forces are quite mixed. Some suggest there was no serious resistance to the German crossing, and hardly any attempt at a counter attack. Large numbers of infantry, it is held, broke ranks and fled, and the remainder were quickly overwhelmed. This said, at a later stage, in the afternoon of the second day, there is clear evidence of a spirited resistance along the banks of the River Jugla (see map above). Here, a force that included a Brigade of Latvian Riflemen (6,000 strong), held out for twenty six hours against a German attack that employed heavy shelling, the use of flame throwers and gas, and a spate of aerial bombing. This delay allowed a large number of Russian forces to withdraw from Riga before the city fell into German hands early the next day. But this rearguard action came at a price. The Latvian brigade alone lost more than half its strength, and the overall loses were put at 25,000 compared with the 5,000 suffered by the German forces.
The Battle of Riga was not only meticulously well planned. Prepared at comparative leisure, it also produced some very valuable tactical improvements on the battlefield, the products of three years of constant trench warfare. Owing much to the German strategist Colonel Max von Hoffman, chief amongst these innovations was the creation of the stosstruppen (storm troopers), a group of specially trained infantry men who, armed with light machine guns and flamethrowers, infiltrated the enemy’s lines, and, by overpowering weak spots and undermining defences in general, greatly increased the success of the mass attack that followed in their wake. As we shall see, storm troopers were used to good effect at the Battle of Caporetto, on the Italian Front, and then at various encounters on the Western Front. In addition, the creeping barrage, introduced in the summer of 1916 and often lacking in coordination (leading to dire consequences at times!), was greatly improved. Under the direction of the gunnery specialist, Colonel George Brunchmüller, all artillery was put under a central control, and reconnaissance aircraft were tasked with sending morse code messages back to this centre so that the depth of artillery and mortar fire could be adjusted. And good use was made of aircraft throughout the action. Some 200 aircraft took part, with “battle planes” carrying light bombs as well as machine guns.
With Riga in German hands, together with 15,000 prisoners and a vast amount of war material, General Hutier was convinced that his army was strong enough to give the Russians a knock out blow and then make a direct advance on the Russian capital. In such circumstances, he held, the Provisional Government would be forced to sue for peace. But this plan was surplus to requirements. Russia was in a state of collapse. There was an almost complete breakdown in discipline, and public morale was at an all time low throughout the country. As we shall see, the October Revolution was to bring the Bolsheviks to power, and, within a week of seizing control of the country, Lenin asked for an armistice. In March 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-
As seen above, the capture of Riga was a triumph for the German forces, but whilst the city provided excellent port facilities, it did not substantially increase the influence of the Central Powers within the Baltic Sea itself. As shown on the maps above, the passage to and from the Gulf of Riga was virtually blocked by three islands that formed a part of the Western Estonian Archipeligo: Osel, Dago and Moon. All three had garrisons and coastal defences, and the Russians had set up a large number of minefields across the area. In order to overcome this problem, the Germans produced a strong amphibious force of 25,000 men, supported by a flotilla of ten dreadnoughts, 50 destroyers, and 300 other vessels, six zeppelins and around 80 aircraft. Launched from the port of Libau (see map above) on the 11th October, it proved to be the most successful sea, land and air operation of its kind in the First World War ….. in stark contrast to the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915! By the 16th the largest of the islands, Osel, was in German hands, and the two smaller islands had been captured a few days later. In addition, 20,000 Russians had been taken prisoner, and a hundred guns captured. Now the tables had been turned. The Russian naval bases in the Gulf of Finland were now under threat, and a sea route had been opened up to the Russian capital, Petrograd.
Consideringxthe amount of land that had to be taken; the defences that had to be overcome; and the pressing need to clear the numerous minefields, the operation was surprisingly short and sharp. Fighting was heavy in places, and notably so in what came to be known as The Battle of Moon Sound, a naval encounter in which the Russian Baltic Fleet – with only two pre-
From a military point of view, Operation Albion put the Germans in a favourable position for an advance on Petrograd, but it was not to be. The invasion proved to be the last major operation on the Eastern Front. As we shall see, the October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power and amid the confusion that followed, Lenin sought peace on the Eastern Front. In the south, that brought an end to the Caucasus campaign and, for a short time, the Ottomans took advantage of the situation, advancing eastward to the Caspian Sea and, as we shall see, intensifying their activities in the Black Sea.
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Incidentally, it wasxsoon after Operation Albion, on 17th November, that the Second Battle of Heligoland was fought, close to the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. Unlike the first Battle (in August 1914), it was an inconclusive, minor engagement. The British suffered slight damage to two of their light cruisers, HMS Caledon and Calypso, and, while making it back to base, the German light cruiser SMS Königsberg was hit and put on fire by the battle cruiser HMS Repulse.