Heroic Defence of Osowiec Fortress: An Unforgettable Chapter in Russian Military History
Dragon Media News Desk
The 111th anniversary of the extraordinary counterattack carried out by Russian soldiers at Osowiec Fortress during the First World War has been commemorated. The battle of August 6, 1915, is remembered in Russian military history as a symbol of courage, devotion to duty and indomitable determination.
According to the Russian Military Historical Society, the surviving Russian defenders of Osowiec Fortress launched a counterattack even after German forces used poison gas against them. Shocked by the resistance, the advancing German troops retreated from the battlefield. The episode later became known as the “Attack of the Dead Men.”
Osowiec Fortress, located in present-day northeastern Poland, had been under siege by German forces for several months. At around 4:00 am on August 6, 1915, the German side launched a massive poison-gas attack in an attempt to neutralise the Russian garrison.
The fortress defenders had no effective protective equipment against such a chemical assault. After the gas severely affected the soldiers and contaminated the surrounding battlefield, the German forces assumed that Russian resistance had been eliminated.
Thousands of German troops then advanced towards the forward positions of the fortress. Contrary to their expectations, however, they encountered resistance from the remaining soldiers of the 13th Company of the 226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment.
Led by Second Lieutenant Vladimir Kotlinsky, several dozen Russian soldiers launched a counterattack despite suffering severe effects from the poisonous gas. Using wet cloth as improvised protection, they advanced with fixed bayonets.
The unexpected counterattack caused panic and confusion among the German troops. During their retreat, some became entangled in their own barbed wire, while the remaining Russian artillery opened fire on them.
Russian soldiers subsequently recaptured the positions they had lost, bringing the German assault to a failure. The counterattack, conducted under extremely adverse conditions, became one of the most extraordinary episodes in military history.
The event, remembered as the “Attack of the Dead Men,” has been described by the Russian Military Historical Society as an enduring symbol of the courage, patriotism, sense of duty and indomitable spirit of Russian soldiers.
