Germans retake Memel
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Eastern Front
- Date:
- 21 March 1915
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- Germany, Russia, East Prussia, Kaiserliche Marine
On 21 March 1915 German troops drove the Russians out of Memel. Russian rule in the northernmost town of East Prussia had lasted less than three days. Opolchenie units had entered Memel on the evening of 18 March, and now they had to withdraw hastily to Courland.
Fighting in the streets
The Russians did not intend to hold the town for long. According to a German report, on the morning of Saturday 20 March only Russian patrols were left in Memel, and in the evening the main force marched out northwards. Only scattered small groups of soldiers remained in the town, preparing to surrender their weapons at the town hall. On the afternoon of Sunday 21 March, however, new Russian units entered Memel from the north. They ran into German patrols, behind which stronger forces were approaching from the south.
After a short fight south of the town, fierce street fighting broke out. According to the German report, a battalion of a Königsberg reserve regiment particularly distinguished itself in it. The Russians lost about 150 killed in the fighting in the town. The Germans reported that their own losses were slight. Among the soldiers who entered Memel was the youngest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Prince Joachim of Prussia, which German propaganda was keen to emphasise.
The hostages taken by the Russians on 19 March were taken northwards under escort. Their cart got stuck outside the town, however, and the escort fled. As the hostages were trying to return to Memel, the Oberbürgermeister, Pockels, fell and was badly wounded with bayonets by fleeing Russian soldiers.
The pursuit
In the following days the Germans pursued the Russians to the border and beyond, into Russian territory. According to a communiqué of 23 March they took the Russian town of Kretinga and freed more than 3,000 inhabitants abducted from the Memel district. The pursuit was supported from the sea by German warships, which shelled the retreating columns near Palanga. According to a communiqué of 24 March, about 500 prisoners, three guns and three machine guns were taken at Palanga, and looted cattle, horses and other property were recovered. There was also fighting further east, near Tauroggen, where according to their communiqués the Germans repulsed Russian attacks.
Russian documents present these days more modestly. The report of a naval battalion that took part in the raid stated that on the second approach to Memel it had to fight not the Landsturm but regular German troops, and that in four days the unit lost four machine guns and left behind about 200 men.
The raid on Memel did not change the situation at the front, but it drew the Germans’ attention to the poorly guarded northern border of East Prussia. At the end of April 1915 the Germans advanced from this area deep into Lithuania and Courland, and at the beginning of May they took Libau. Russian troops did not return to Memel for the rest of the war.
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 18 March 1915 · Eastern FrontRussians take MemelOn 18 March 1915 Russian militia units entered Memel from Courland. They took hostages and plundered the town and the surrounding villages.
- 22 February 1915 · Eastern FrontEnd of the Second Battle of the Masurian LakesOn 22 February 1915 the Germans declared the winter battle in Masuria over. The Russian 10th Army left East Prussia, but most of its corps escaped.
- 21 February 1915 · Eastern FrontSurrender of the XX Corps in the Augustów ForestOn 21 February 1915 General Bulgakov's Russian XX Corps, encircled in the Augustów Forest, laid down its arms after failing to break through to Grodno.
- 4 February 1915 · Eastern FrontWinter Battle of Masuria beginsThe British chronology dates the start of the Winter Battle of Masuria to 4 February 1915. The Germans were still massing; the attack began on 7 February.