A Monument Dedicated to the First Battle of Oskar Kalpak’s Battalion in Lielauce
Memorial site

A monument dedicated to the first battle of Oskar Kalpak’s battalion is situated next to the ruins of Lielauce Lutheran Church. It was erected at the site of the battle of Kalpak’s battalion, which took place on the night of 15 to 16 Janu ary 1919. In the battle, two companies of Kalpak’s bat talion repelled an attack by an entire Bolshevik battalion and a squadron of cavalry. It was the first important battle of Kalpak’s battalion. As the Landeswehr lost the battle in Auce, the decision was made to retreat and hold the front at a natural obstacle – the River Venta. The monument was unveiled on 19 August 1934 in the pres ence of the former fighter of the battalion, Minister of Ag riculture, J. Kauliņš. The monument was designed by an architect P. Dreimanis and manufactured by J. Sieriņš. The monument is made of grey granite blocks, with a black granite plaque at the front with the following inscription: “The battle of Colonel Kalpak’s battalion took place here on the night from 15 to 16 January 1919.” Four soldiers were killed in action. The monument was destroyed in the early 1950s and the plaque was smashed. It was restored in 1991 by using the original plaque, which had been split in two. In the restored monument, the plaque no longer faces the church, but the centre of Lielauce.