ATTACK OF THE DEAD MEN 1915 WW1

BY: DANIEL HARRINGTON

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 LOCATION
• The Osowicz Fortress is located northeast in Poland built in the
19th century by the Russian Empire.
• This is a battle between Russia and Germany which had been going on
for months.
• The main reason it was built was to protect its border from Germany and
was heavily contested between German attackers and Russian defenders.
• There were many casualties and the Russians could not evacuate since
the air was presumed to be controlled by the German air force.
 THE FIRST ASSAULT TO TAKE THE FORTRESS

• The Germans made their first assault on the against the Osowicz fortress
in September 1914 only using large caliber artillery guns bombarding
the fortress for six days.
• After a Ten Shelling The Germans confidently launched an attack .
• However, Russian infantry and counter attacks forced them back with
a swift withdraw.
• The Germans however were not ready to give up
their attacks.
THE SECOND ASSAULT
ON
THE OSOWICZ FORTRESS
• The second German attack was attempted
in February to March 1915, German forces
began becoming optimistic
with their new Heavy 420 millimeter Caliber
Big Bertha cannons.
• The fortress was bombed with intensity from
the air which was presumed by the German
Air Force.
• Which was hoped to cause the quick
surrender of the Russian Command.
• The Russian Command had a similar notion
that the Fortress be held 48 hours after the
retreat.
 THE THIRD ASSAULT TO TAKE THE
FORTRESS
• In early July 1915, the German troops where now under the command of
field Marshal Von Hindenburg, which began a new offensive.
• This time they decided to use poison gas to achieve their objective as they
knew the Russian defenders did not have gas masks.
• Thirty heavy artillery guns and 30 gas batteries where brought in range, and
with the wind in their favor, it made the gas travel farther.
• Along with the artillery bombardment a dark green smog of chlorine and
romy moved towards the Russian position.
• The gas turned black and the tree leaves turned yellow, the Russian guns and
.
shells turned into a capper of green chlorine peroxide.
• The Russian 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th company's where all annihilated in the gas
coverage.
 WHAT SURPRISED THE GERMANS
• After the gas cleared, 14 German battalions which included 7,000 troops, moved in to capture the
Fortress.
• But as the Germans moved in, a shocking site took them by surprise.
• As the remaining soldiers of the 8th and 13th company's came in contact with the poison gas,
they countered attack with all they had left.
• These troops attacked the Germans with their bayonets.
• The Russians showing signs of chemical burns on their faces, their bodies in rags and spitting out
blood and pieces of their lungs.
• The sight was so terrifying that approaching German troops, that made them go into a panic and ran
back to their own position, trampling over each other and falling over their own barbed wire.
• The Russian forces then returned rifle fire and killed many Germans with artillery.
 AFTER THE GAS ATTACK
• 2 weeks later the remaining Russian survivors of the Osowicz Fortress evacuated.
• The newspapers would later call this, ATTACK OF THE DEAD MEN.
THANKYOU FOR LISTENING TO MY PRESENTATION