Fighting on
streets of Memel, at the entrance of Libauerstraße on March 21, 1915 - sketch
by Jamie, taken from an original image that can be seen at: http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/memel.html
The age-old
Kingdom of Prussia,
Became a victim
of border games
An ethnic region
to include
Slavic tribes and
Polish blood -
To the West and
to the East,
Baltic tribes -
an old era to end
Under a Teutonic
knight order -
Then back again
to Ducal Prussia.
A varied country
from Gdańsk Bay,
Across to the
sandy Curonian
Spit on the
southeastern coast,
Curving on the
Baltic Sea - lands
That had seen
many battles
And disputes
about its borders -
All to be
consolidated by Versailles
Hall of Mirrors,
of 1871 reformed
Into the Unification
of Germany.
Within Prussian
territory, where
The mouth of Danė River flows
To
the Baltic Sea - sat the town
Of
Memel, a city of significance -
With
varied trades and harbours,
A
place of chemical works, iron
Foundries,
crops of flax and grain,
And
a centre of Baltic lumber trade -
To
bring timber across the Niemen
River
and shipped on in commerce.
The
city lay sharply seated, on an
Angled
part of German territory -
Reached
by a single railway, about
Woody
marshy, roadless country -
Behind
that Vilna-Libau rail line,
Any
attempts in passages of armies
Would
face problematic difficulties.
Fort
defences lay across Memel
Harbour
- one on the mainland,
The
other on Kurische Nehrung.
Within
its perimeters lived a little
Population
of 22,000 - when in
1914
declaration of war came,
Nothing
more than a few forays
Saw
the Germans cross over
Borders
- Teutonic built Memel,
Having
little strategic value, felt
Untouched
by the 1914 war.
Having slowly
been rebuilt after
A fire of 1854,
the northeasterly
City of Germany
Memel - without
Much importance -
was held only
By unspecified
amounts of troops -
Came under a
Russian strategy
Of invasion -
into East Prussia
18 March 1915
came marching
Russians -
appearing by direction
Of North and East
from Courland.
Up to 10,000
soldiers of mounted
Kind came -
Russian Militia, border
Troops, Marines
and reservists -
In manning
Prussia's borders, was
A German lack of
Landsturm force.
Low numbers then
led to a fall back
Towards Memel,
then still further
Back into the
city, as Russian
Boots fell into
Memel's boundary -
On the evening of
18 March 1915.
In a Russian
trail were left burning
Buildings -
hostages of three men
And the Memel
Mayor were taken;
Civilians lay
dead - with children
and women
citizens, captured many
Were sent from
Memel to Russia -
Still the German
Landsturm force
Retreated, beyond
Kurische Haff
Out to the Dunes of the Baltic Sea.
Despite commands from their
Commander, Russian troops
Still plundered the Memel stores
And civilian’s homes - until a brief
Withdrawal, saw the city freed -
For one day - until on Sunday
21 March Russians from the North
Re-entered Memel, to be met
By new Germans patrols from
The south - to push back invaders.
In the capture of Memel, under
Russian forces, street fighting
Started, with Przemysl forces
Repelled - within a deadlock
About the Memel fortress.
The Russians had brought shock
To the Prussians who had felt
Safe from all invasions - an act
Of fierce Russian Leadership
That took Germans by surprise.
Russians now turned to nearby
City of Lithuanian Gorzhdi, taking
In a western approach to march
At the Landsturm's weak ability
And bar their path - in capturing
Machine guns and cannons,
They held city by 8 p.m. 18 March.
In the retreat of two Landsturm
Regiments, citizens became
Fighter’s - irregular 'Franc-Tireurs' -
In a withdrawal, to stop further
Close-handed acts of bloodshed,
Russians instead started to hit
The town with artillery - assisted
By harboured ships, the people
And fled to Kurische Nehrung.
Evidence of German surprise,
Came with Berlin's warnings,
To the Russian allies - there
Would be reprisals, to places
Possessed by Germans forces -
Yet the argument remained,
That if Russians had razed
The town, to kill the whole male
Population, they would have
Acted as Germans had done.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. Russian
Raid on Memel - Details of the Coup - The Town Shelled - German Franc-tireurs. The Daily
Telegraph, [online] 22 Mar. P.11.
Col.1. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11480925/Daily-Telegraph-March-22-1915.html
[Accessed: 22 March 2015].
Source.,1915.
Prussia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussia [Accessed: 21 March 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 22 March 2015).
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