Battle of Redan in November 1919
Donāts Pudulis was a sergeant of Liepaja Military Port Commandant's Office, who received the Order of the Battle of the Battle of the Bulge for bravery and valour on 14 November 1919, when after the enemy attacked Redāns Fort, he took over the command of the commandant's company from the mortally wounded Lieutenant Commander Robert Radziņš and in a swift counterattack drove the enemy out of the fort, taking 8 prisoners and 2 working machine guns. His life up to the Battle of Liepaja is interesting. He volunteered for the Siberian Rifle Regiment in 1911 at the age of 16. In 1914 he took part in the battles against the German army at Warsaw, Lodz and elsewhere on the Polish front, and later in the battles against the Austrian army. In 1915 he sailed to France via Vladivostok as part of the Russian Expeditionary Corps and fought for 4 months at Verdun. At the beginning of 1917 he joined the Latvian Rifle Regiments, and on 7 April 1919 - the Latvian Armed Forces in Liepaja.
"The front near Liepāja had not changed for two months. On October 9, 1919, the Germans attacked the city, but they were hit. Between October 9 and 14, there were only intelligence marches on our part. and we went to rest in Fort Redan, where we arrived at about 2 a.m. The soldiers attacked the enemy with a powerful rifle and machine gun fire.The German came under attack in thick chains to the full length of the fire and so our fire death in the ranks of the enemies was extremely large. The night battle continued with frequent counterattacks. umus. Around 8-9 in the morning we walked in a more counter-attack on a swamp overgrown with small pines and aspens. The steep places near the trees were frozen, but the most open places were also unfrozen shoots. When going on the attack, Lieutenant Radziņš always went ahead of the jewelry. He did the same time. I follow the commander directly. We came to an aspen by the side of the swamp, when Lieutenant Radziņš suddenly collapsed and fell. I ran and asked what had happened. The commander replied that it was bad for him to take over the management of the company. The order was also repeated in writing. Lieutenant Radziņš was fatally injured in his abdomen. The bullet had passed through his body. The injured died after 3 days in hospital. I immediately ordered the attack to continue. It should be noted that the soldiers of the ornament were without boots, poorly dressed. In just two days, we only got black coffee without sugar and a thin piece of dry rye bread once a day. Despite this, the people of Liepaja fought like rare heroes. Our attack was severely hampered by a German machine gun nest. It had to be eliminated at all costs. A group of jewelry soldiers clung to the machine guns on their bellies and smashed the machine gun crew with hand grenades that had been taken from the enemy in the same attack. The attack succeeded and two machine guns fell into our hands in full battle order. We immediately used them in the battle against the Germans.
At 3 After lunch on November 14, the enemy was finally defeated and with the same blow we finally expelled the Germans from Liepaja beyond the borders of Lithuania. "
Newspaper "Rīts", October 28, 1934
Related objects
The Redan, Karosta
Redans, or Redana Fort, is located in Karosta, 14. novembra Street, about 1.5 km from the Northern Forts, in the nature reserve "Tosmare".
Historically, redans were elements of fortifications where longer sections of fortress walls were divided into shorter sections by building V-shaped positions facing the enemy, which allowed for better protection of the fortification wall. Karostas Redan is a late 19th century Liepaja Sea Fortress, projecting towards Lake Tosmare. As the fortress lost its fortress role, the fortifications and forts around it were partially blown up and rendered unusable. However, Redan remained almost intact.
In November 1919, after the failure at Riga, Pavel-Bermont Avalov's forces launched an intensive attack on Liepaja. The battle was also fought at Redan, where 80 soldiers of the Liepaja Military Port Commandant's Office under the command of Lieutenant Commander Radzins fought. In a swift attack on 14 November, the Bermontians managed to take Redan. This was followed by a counter-attack by Latvian troops and Redan was retaken.
In June, July and August, a knowledgeable guide will be waiting at Redan every day from 11.00-17.00, ready to tell you more about Liepāja Fortress and the historical events in the Karosta.
