The story of 19-year-old Rice Ahmedeyev about the reconnaissance battle on February 14, 1945 near Priekule

"It was February 1945. The weather is changing, as it is in the Baltics. It is cold in the morning, it snows during the day, it starts to rain in the evening, but it freezes again at night.

Our 267th Red-flagged Guards Rifle Division, awarded the Suvorov Order, was located just over 1 km southwest of Priekule, where peat excavation work had previously been carried out. There was the front line of our army. From there the attack on the German forces stationed in Priekule on February 20, 1945 began. This place temporarily became our home - the Riflemen. Artillery and other parts of the army were arranged behind us, on a hill in the woods. It was easier to dig sheds there, to install blinds. We, the infantry, had a more convenient location in a peat bog. I was serving in the 848th Rifle Regiment at the time.

The German line of defense in the form of a zigzag was located on a plateau from the ravine of your school to the railway station in the city. In relation to the Germans, we were in the palm of our hand. The hardest part for us was to spend the day, because we couldn't lift our heads out of the trenches if we didn't want to get a bullet in our head. From time to time, the Germans fired at our positions with shrapnel that exploded just above our heads.

The excavations could not be deeper than 1 m or in the depth of the sapper blade, as the water accumulated deeper. We placed the ground from the trenches very carefully around them, creating a small protective wall. We covered it with snow as much as possible. In the trenches we covered the ground with alder branches. I remember very well that there was a small alder forest near my position. We could dig only in the trenches at night, and also with great difficulty, because near our trenches the shells of the enemies had set fire to the peat. It burned. On the one hand, well - could slip up to warm up. On the other hand, very dangerous, because the Germans were able to shoot the daredevil in the light of the burning peat.

The move closer to the road closer to the food was especially dangerous. We only eat 2x a day: very early breakfast while it's still dark, and very eager for lunch when it's already dark. It often happened that the food carrier was fired and either fired or not shot. It also happened that a soldier who was carrying food ran away from the firing and spilled food from the pot. Then we did not eat.

When I wanted to eat, we thought a lot about what to do? We figured it out! Horses were shot near our position. We slipped to them, cut off or cut off a piece with a spatula. Then we put it on a flexible alder stick and ran to the burning peat, where it could be fried. If you were lucky that there were no fires, you could put snow in the pot, melt it and boil a piece of horse meat. But just boil, inside it still remained raw. But that's nothing. When you want to eat, you can also eat one.

From time to time our soldiers went to the scouts. They were also ordered to capture a German to ask for more information on German defensive positions. That is why we called such prisoners "tongues", and the scouts went after "tongues". At the same time, German snipers with optical sights and powerful floodlights scanned our positions and fired at anything that looked like a human being. From time to time, a balloon could also be seen in the sky, from which the Germans studied our defensive positions. Our artillery shots often fired at these balloons and their drivers.

Aviation took part in the battles near Liepaja, above the port. We knew it, because there were calls everywhere “To Liepāja! About Liepāja! ” That was the main direction of our struggle - the main goal.

At night, communist youth meetings were held, where in addition to discussions on communist youth issues, the soldiers were also psychologically prepared for battle. There were no breaches of discipline, the soldiers were very disciplined. But it is also understandable, because breaches of discipline could have cost lives.

We received letters from home regularly. There were also consignments from completely strangers - socks, boots, handkerchiefs, tobacco and other useful things for the soldier. They were very happy about these shipments, because they came from there - from home, from the back of the front. Because of this, we were ready to fight as much as necessary to get home again as soon as possible.

We lived that way until February 20, 1945. Every day we watched Priekuli and its surroundings and waited for an order to go to battle. ”

Defensive positions had also been prepared by the Germans. Only they had more time to complete this task as the front line approached. Probably, therefore, their positions of defense resembled an impregnable fortress.

Almost every house built of stone or brick in the town and countryside of Priekule was adapted for both hiding and shooting. Most of these houses also had basements, where they could hide from air raids, rest, bandage the wounded, store weapons, ammunition and food. As there were quite a number of such country houses in the relatively flat area of Priekule, access to these fortified points of the German defense system was extremely difficult. If there was a forest, a hill, bushes near the house, then nothing else. But so ... across the open field…

In the vicinity of many country houses, the Germans had used an unusual element of the defense system - tanks buried in the ground to the barrel. From here, with optical devices, it was possible to view the whole distant surroundings, you could shoot from here, because the barrels of the tanks were rotatable. Tanks hidden in the ground were relatively difficult to spot. They could only be destroyed with aerial bombs or large-caliber weapons with a catastrophic shortage of ammunition. Therefore, the machines buried in the ground were a very safe cover for everything and everyone in them. In some places in Priekule municipality you can still see square partially filled pits. Some of them were not blinds, but tank places.

In Priekule, all the city's masonry buildings were made the strongholds of the defense system: a station, a church, a brick kiln, a cast iron foundry (on the site of a former dairy), a grain storage point, the Swedish Gate and the Corfu House. There was a school during the last war, but as the front line approached, a German hospital was located here. There were several more brick buildings with several floors in the area between Raina, Tirgus, Galveno and Ķieģeļu streets. Only those aircraft were bombed in 1944.

The Lutheran Church is the highest point in Priekule. It was also possible to see a wide area around the city during the war, so the church was made the main point of observation and control of the area. At night, a powerful spotlight burned in the church tower, which could illuminate any part of the city with its light beam so that it was extremely difficult to approach the city unnoticed. The church also had a sniper station so that everything and anyone approaching Priekule could be destroyed immediately.

All the main points of the German defense system, both inside and outside the city, were connected by trenches. The soldiers were able to move around them relatively easily and safely. Trenches were extremely important for maneuvering during the battles, especially in the relatively flat terrain around Priekule. By the time of the battles for the liberation of Priekule and its surroundings, the Germans had established three lines of defense about 7 km wide. In each of them 1 - 3 trenches, which connected the main fortification points - some buildings and structures above or below ground.

Absolutely all important roads were mined, demolished or blocked with stones and felled trees. Mined, covered with barbed wire screens and ledges were also the main approaches to all lines of defense and their fortified support points. Forest paths were also blocked with felled trees. The Virga River, with its relatively steep banks, was a natural element of the German defense system that was more difficult for heavy warfare to overcome.

A system of trenches suitable for individual soldiers and small groups of them covered the whole area around Priekule just like a net. Many of these places are still clearly visible in places that are not used by people in their daily lives - in the woods, on the edges of forests and bushes. "