Christmas Battles

Christmas Battles
Part of the Eastern Front of the First World War
German scheme of the Riga front and Christmas battles.
Date December 23 (January 5) - December 29 (January 11) 1916 (1917) Location Tīreļpurvs (Tirelis swamp) near Riga. Result Draw
Belligerents
Russian Empire	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Radko Dimitriev	Friedrich von Scholtz
Strength
~40 000	~25 000
Casualties and losses
13 000. Among them ~8000 Latvian Rifleman (2000 dead).

Christmas Battles (latvian:Ziemassvētku kaujas; german:Aa-Schlachten; russian:Митавская операция) was offensive operation of Russian army during World War I, conducted in the area of city Jelgava, Latvia by 12th. army of the northern front from December 23 (January 5) until December 29 (January 11) 1916 (1917). Army was commanded by Gen. Radko Dimitriev and it was opposed by 8th. German army.

Battles took place in swampy region Tīreļpurvs (Tīrelis swamp) between Lake Babīte and Jelgava and main assault force was VI Sibirian rifle corps which included two Latvian Rifleman brigades.

Background

Advance of German 8th. army was stopped near Riga in october 1915. Almost immediately german forces started to fortify their positions. Huge, 30km. long wall (so called:German Wall) from sand and wood was constructed across Tīreļpurvs which separated both armies for more than a year.

German fortification German Wall across the Tirelis swamp.

Russian 12th. army before attack was divided in the three groups. Main task force was Babīte group which consisted from 48 battalions and 208 cannon. On the opposite side was 19 german battalions from 6th. Landwehr-Brigade. Core of the Babīte group consisted from VI Sibiran corps. which included both Latvian Rifleman brigades.

Battle

After the failure of the 1916th. campaigns on the Romanian territory the Russian commanders of the 12th. army received an order to attack on the Riga front. It was planned to attract the German reserve troops, thus helping their allies to resist on the Verdun battlefield. In the 1916th mid-December frost started, making it possible to navigate through the frozen bog and to force German fortifications. It was quickly decided to launch an attack at Christmas. The main objective was to take Jelgava (Mitau).

Latvian Rifleman in the trenches during Christmas Battles

The attack started on the early morning 23.december (5.january) and surpised the Germans, who thought that Russian troops would be celebrating Christmas. Latvian Riflemen were the advance guard of the Russian army and their main task was to take the first German lines and clear the way for the main forces. Riflemen used their white winter outfits and cover of the heavy snowstorm to cut passages through the German barbed wire barriers. After that, the main forces of the two Latvian rifleman brigades rushed forward and in the surprise attack, without any artillery support, crossed the German wall and after brief fighting took the first German battle line. The battle continued the next two days with varying success as all Latvian units were involved in heavy fighting and German forces received their first reinforcements from Jelgava. After a bloody fight the German second defensive line at Mangali homestead was broken. However, further attacks stopped as the Russian commander-in-chief had no reinforcements and 17th Siberian regiment refused to go to battle. This decision was supported by several other units from the II and VI Siberian Army Corps.

The Germans, however, received strong reinforcements from Jelgava and soon started to counter-attack Russian and Latvian positions. Despite low temperatures (-35 °C), Latvian riflemen managed to hold back German attacks for 48 hours. On the 25th. December (7. January) Russian troops launched an attack on heavily fortified sand dunes on the northern side of the Tirelpurvs. Central part of those fortifications was a fortified hill, which later got the name Ložmetejkalns (Machine-gun hill). On Christmas morning 3rd. and 7th. the Latvian rifleman regiment, together with the 53rd. Siberian regiment, suffering heavy losses, was able to partly besiege German forces. The 2nd. Latvian Rifleman brigade attacked from the back and thus finally broke the German resistance at Machine-gun hill. Many German soldiers managed to retreat but about 1000 were taken prisoners. It was the biggest Russian victory at the Riga front and the German army lost one of its strongest fortifications.

Overall, the German lines were inflicted a more than 7 km. wide gap. However, the command of the 12th. Russian army did not organize a follow-up attack, perhaps because it was not ready for the Latvian Riflemen success.

January battles-German counterattack

After partly defeat in the Christmas battles, German 8th. army organized counterattack to conquer back lost positions. Germans got strong reinforcements and many fresh divisions was stationed in Jelgava. On the early morning 23rd. January started massive artillery fire which was soon followed by infantry attack in the whole battle line. Main german forces consisted from 1st. Reserve division (1. Reserve-Division) and 2nd. infantry division (2. Infanterie-Division). They attacked across Tirelis swamp against latvian and russian positions. Latvian Rifleman and Sibirians desperately defended their positions for three days. Russians tried to launch three counter attacks, but all of them failed. In one of those counter attacks latvian riflemans were forced to attack across open field against german machine guns and thus suffered heavy losses (especially 3rd. Kurzeme regiment). Temperature dropped until -38°C and both sides was unable to continue active warfare. Germans managed to conquer back 4/5 of their lost positions, although Machine-gun hill stayed in the hands of russians.

Aftermath

Christmas battles brought to the Latvian riflemen capable warrior fame, but also huge losses as the Latvian Riflemen lines declined by more than a third (Latvian riflemens lost about 9000 soldiers). Christmas eve's battle slogan of liberation of Jelgava and all of Courland was proved to be just a slogan without serious coverage. The heavy casualties resulted in a strong resentment against the Russian generals and the Tsar among the riflemen. This resentment led to an increased support for the Bolsheviks, who were advocating an end to the war. However 12th. Army Command severely punished Siberian Riflemens, who refused to go to battle - 92 of them were transferred to the war tribunal and condemned to death, but several hundred sent to Siberia.

Reconstructed fragment of the German Wall and bunker in the Museum of the Christmas Battles. (2009)

Today Tirelis swamp and nearby forests is part of Museum of the Christmas Battles which in it's turn is branch of Latvian museum of War. Museum was made to honour latvian riflemans and all other soldiers who fought in the Riga front during First World war. Many of the old trenches is still visible today and there is also many reconstructed fortifications and bunkers.

References

• Information of the Christmas Battles (in german).
• Илья Максимов. Военно-исторический атлас России. IX - XX века. ДРОФА, Дом интеллектуальной книги, 2006 г. (in russian)
• History of Latvian Rifleman's
• Chronology of the Christmas Battles (In english)