Attack of the Dead Men
- Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
- Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
- You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is
Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Атака мертвецов]]; see its history for attribution.
- You may also add the template
{{Translated|ru|Атака мертвецов}}
to the talk page. - For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Attack of the Dead Men | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Eastern Front (WWI) | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
German Empire | Russian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Paul von Hindenburg Rudolf von Freudenberg [ru] | Vladimir Kotlinsky † Vladislav Strzeminsky (WIA) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
11th Landwehr Division | 226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
14 battalions
|
| ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Heavy | ~800 dead from gas (almost all present were wounded or killed) |
- v
- t
- e
- 1914
- Wierzbołów
- 1st East Prussia
- Stallupönen
- Orlau
- Kaushen
- Gross-Bresau
- Gumbinnen
- Tannenberg
- Abschwangen
- 1st Masurian Lakes
- East Prussia war crimes
- Galicia
- 1st Kraśnik
- Komarow
- Zolota Lypa
- Gnila Lipa
- Rawa
- Gorodek
- Halich-Lviv offensive
- Jarosławice [ru]
- Galicia war crimes
- Augustów
- 1st Osowiec
- 1st Vistula River
- Laski and Anielin
- San River
- Mołotków
- 2nd East Prussia
- Łódź
- Kraków
- Krzywopłoty
- Limanowa
- Łowczówek
- Bzura-Rawka
- Lupovsky Pass
- 1915
- Cârlibaba
- Carpathians
- Humin-Bolimów
- 2nd Masurian Lakes
- 1st Przasnysz
- Łomża
- Memel
- Kalvarija
- 2nd Vistula River
- 2nd Osowiec
- 1st Courland
- 2nd Bolimów
- Pakosław
- Gorlice–Tarnów offensive
- Konary
- Rokitna
- Tarłów
- 3rd Osowiec
- Kraupishken
- Great Retreat
- Rasna
- Grubeshov
- Strypa offensive
- Prut
- Rovno
- Vilno
- Death Island [lv]
- Smorgon
- Zurnvo
- 1916
- Lake Naroch
- 1st Kekava
- Stolovichy
- Brusilov offensive
- 2nd Kekava
- Baranovichi offensive
- Second Brusilov offensive
- Romanian campaign (1916)
- Schmarden
- Christmas Battles
- 1917
- February Revolution
- Kerensky offensive
- Zboriv
- July Days
- Tarnopol-Offensive [de]
- Krechowce
- Krevo
- Romanian Campaign (1917)
- 2nd Riga
- Kornilov affair
- Albion
- October Revolution
- Zhmerynka
- 1918
- Battle of Galați
- Finland
- Bessarabia
- Battle of Bobruysk (1918)
- Rarańcza
- Faustschlag
- Keila [et]
- Battle of Berdychiv [uk]
- Battle for Kamianets-Podilskyi [uk]
- The Battle of Irpin [uk]
- Narva
- Bakhmach
- Lozova station [uk]
- Donbas [uk]
- Battle for Izyum [uk]
- Crimea
- Assault on Chongar Bridge [ru]
- Sivash
- Salt Lake
- Sevastopol
- Hetman's coup
- Kaniów
- Dibrivka
- Romanian Campaign (1918)
- Anti-Hetman Uprising
- Naval warfare
- Baltic Sea
- Black Sea
- Peace treaties
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Treaty of Bucharest (1918)
- Preliminary Ukrainian-Soviet peace treaty (1918) [uk]
The Attack of the Dead Men, or the Battle of Osowiec Fortress, was a battle of World War I that took place at Osowiec Fortress (now northeastern Poland), on August 6, 1915. The incident got its name from the bloodied, corpse-like appearance of the Russian combatants after they were bombarded with a mixture of poison gases, chlorine and bromine by the Germans. While coughing up blood, the Russians covered their faces with cloths and managed to rout German forces.
Battle
Over twelve battalions of the 11th Landwehr Division, making up more than 7,000 men, advanced after the bombardment, expecting little resistance. They were met at the first defense line by a counter-charge made up of the surviving soldiers of a 13th Company of the 226th Infantry Regiment. The Germans became panicked by the appearance of the Russians, who were coughing up blood and bits of their own lungs, as the hydrochloric acid formed by the mix of the chlorine gas and the moisture in their lungs had begun to dissolve their flesh. The Germans retreated, running so fast they were caught up in their own barbed wire traps. The five remaining Russian guns subsequently opened fire on the fleeing Germans.[1][2][3][4][5]
The 13th Company, under the command of Lieutenant Kotlinsky, counterattacked parts of the 18th regiment along the railway and forced them into flight. During the attack, Lieutenant Kotlinsky was mortally wounded and handed over command of the compound to the 2nd Osovetska Sap Company V. M. Strzeminsky, who, despite severe gas poisoning, with the remnants of the company entrusted to him, carried the attack to the end, using bayonet tactics to take possession of the 1st and 2nd sections of the Sosnya position. Kotlinsky died later that evening.[6][7]
The Russians did not hold the area for much longer. The Germans threatened to encircle the fortress with the capture of Kaunas and Novogeorgievsk. The Russians demolished much of the place and retreated on August 18.[2][3]
Legacy
Russian metal band Aria released a song inspired by the battle, titled "Attack of the Dead", on their 2014 album Through All Times.
Swedish metal band Sabaton released a song about the battle, titled "The Attack of the Dead Men", on their 2019 album The Great War.[8]
World of Warships and Wargaming (company) produced a short film based in the events of the battle.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Petrone, Karen (2015). "7. 'Now Russia returns its history to itself': Russia celebrates the centenary of the First World War". In Ziino, Bart (ed.). Remembering the First World War. London: Routledge. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-317-57371-5.
- ^ a b Kauffman & Kauffman, 2016, pp. 112–113
- ^ a b Kauffman & Kauffman, 2016, p. 225
- ^ Buttar, Prit (2017). Germany Ascendant: The Eastern Front 1915. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-4728-1354-1.
- ^ Cherkasov, Alexander А.; Ryabtsev, Alexander А.; Menjkovsky, Vyacheslav I. (15 December 2011). ""Dead Men Attack" (Osovets, 1915): Archive Sources Approach" (PDF). European Researcher, Series A. 2 (12): 1577–1582. Available at: European Researcher (Sochi, Russian Federation)
- ^ Svechnikov, Mikhail Stepanovic (1917). The defense of the Osovets fortress during the second, 6 1/2 month siege of it (in Russian). State Public Historical Library of Russia.
- ^ Menkovsky, Vyacheslav Ivanovich (2011). ""Attack of the Dead" (Osovets, 1915): Myth or Reality" (PDF). Cherkas Global University Press. 4.
- ^ "The Attack Of The Dead Men – Lyrics". Sabaton.
- ^ Osowiec. Attack of the Dead Men: Wargaming Short Film. Premiere with English dubbing!, retrieved 2023-12-05