latviski
Childhood and youth
"He spent the years of his childhood in his parents' house, where the affection of a beloved mother bred a deep religious sense in the boy. The boy with such a dedicated basis for a spiritual life began to go to school, in which he took great pleasure. Having finished the parish23 school and parochial school4, the hard working boy wanted to further his education but because of lack of money on his parents' part he was not able to do so. Nevertheless, the young seeker of enlightenment did not give up faced with such obstacles, he wanted to progress further.
"In 1902 he left his father's house for ever and went off to Daugavpils↗, where he found lodgings with relatives and entered the sixth class of the city school. Regularly, year after year, he would progress successfully from class to class. The boy would also find spare time for a free life of his own, seeking beauty in religion, cutting himself off from friendly relations with his peers; because of his convictions he did not have a real friend; he did not care for their levity and he would devote the hours which he might have spent with others to finding the means to acquire books. His dream—to become a priest, who would take part in the struggle against moral corruption came upon him largely during the time of the Russo-Japanese War. He saw entering a monastery as the best way to achieve this dream.
"On finishing the city school, the young man went to a monastery with the intention of acquainting himself with the life there, a life he later hoped to make his own. But on the way an incident occurred which as it were poured cold water on the ardent soul of the young seeker.
"In the autumn of 1905 Briedis had found a new calling. That is—military service. He studied diligently the whole winter and in the spring of 1906 he passed the entry examination for the Orel Cadet Corps, and the following autumn he passed the competitive exam in St. Petersburg for the Vladimir Junker School↗5. Here he began a totally new life, quite different from the dreams of his childhood and early youth. This new life was harsh, responsible but fit for a hero. He was the best student in the school."
Let us specify some details. Fridrichs was the youngest son of father Andrejs and a mother Jūle, née Ģērmane, born 23 June 1888 (Old Style)↗ or 5 July (New Style). He also had a sister and a brother. His birthplace was a farm called Ķlenoviki, in the parish of Lavša, in the guberniya of Vitebsk to which his parents had travelled six years earlier. The first schools were the Lavša Parish School and the Vitebsk Parochial School. He was able stay with his sister, who had married a railway worker in Daugavpils, and attend the local school. The town school was a senior elementary school which was fairly well thought of by those who sought after an education but could not afford the high cost of instruction at the gymnasium6 or modern school.78 By study, particularly of languages, it was not unheard of to make a transfer to the penultimate class of the modern school. It was somewhat rarer to prepare oneself, by working on one's own, to take the final exam for some middle schools as Briedis did. The general classes of the Cadet Corps which gave a full middle school certificate was one of the most respected types of school in such cases.
Briedis attended the town school at the age of fourteen in 1902 and left
it in 1905 at the age of seventeen. He could not therefore have gone
"regularly year by year" through all six classes,
It was significant, that Briedis' thoughts of becoming an officer came into focus in the very autumn of 1905. Briedis' brother helped later to explain the stages he9 had passed through in his childhood and youth. Here it should be noted that he was already showing a great urge to learn and had had a desire to read from childhood on, which frequently got in the way of his properly carrying out his shepherding duties. The animals which were usually carefully watched took advantage of a guardian with his head buried in a book. In such circumstances the father would defend the boy against the reproaches of the other members of the household: "Let the boy read and learn. Perhaps something will come of it."
Choosing a career in the military
It was likely not without possibility that Briedis' choice of a military career was determined by the fact that it was difficult to foresee any form of further education given the length of time and the greater expenses incurred. It is not clear whether he would have learned anything at all of military life, had it not been for the unexpected incident with the two monks. Even had it not caused him such deep disillusionment, one might have thought that such incidents were not uncommon elsewhere. Surely, he who was in the habit of weighing everything up, would have taken this into account and decided that the harshness of military life befitted it more for keeping a man's moral nature on a higher plane than civilian life. He took to military life from the very beginning not as a means for something else but as an end in itself, striving to bury himself in it fully.
Fr. Briedis had chosen the harshest school and the most difficult profession, a profession which might demand of him his life. It was also very badly rewarded and was at that time still frivolously censured by so-called progressive society.
Until the 1910 reform, the training of the infantry officer took place in schools of two types—the military school and the junker↗ school. The first only accepted pupils from the cadet corps and they held out for those who completed them their own official privileges in the service; the second was of the three-or two-year type. The two-year type accepted the graduates of different types of middle school or those who had served in military units—all after an entrance exam. At the two year Vladimir Junker School which in 1910 was renamed a military academy and was one of
"Fate also led me in 1908 to the Vladimir Military Academy↗↗ru," said A. Skurbe, "where on joining the first course I was allotted to the 3rd company." Briedis had finished the first course, with very good grades, he had also gained the confidence of the authorities because of his energy and military bearing. The post of senior-sergeant in the military academy was not merely an honorary one. On to his shoulders fell the responsibility for the upbringing of the cadets, especially in their free time, at morning inspection, at meal-times and at evening retreat.
"In the academy there were four senior-sergeants in all. Briedis stood out among their midst because of his rapidity of movement, ready wit, quick thinking and action. Of medium height and thin, he always dressed neatly and irreproachably. He gave his orders and commands in a loud, clear voice, and with great precision. He never went back on his orders, was not friendly to the cadets, but was pleasant, fair and just to all. He rarely took leave, but diligently studied and prepared his military duties. Personally I saw him only three or four times in the Bolshoi Theatre10 at ballet performances and three times in the New Circus at world wrestling contests. From all this one might conclude that Briedis had set as his first goal the completion of the Military Academy and to this he devoted all his free time. When I met him on his own, handing out writing materials to the cadets, he looked at my name on the roll and asked curtly in Latvian: "Latvian?" On my replying he just as briefly responded: "Latvians need to study hard and finish military school well, otherwise we'll not get far." I was prepared for many more questions, but at that moment the class inspector came in and we broke off our conversation.
"At Christmas it became known that the half-yearly tests had been passed in first place both by senior-sergeant N. of the 1. Company and senior-sergeant Briedis of 2. Company with similar marks. The school talked animatedly about this rare coincidence, and so far as I was able to see the cadets would willingly have seen the first place go to Briedis. As a Latvian, this also
"When I met Briedis that year after Christmas and wished him a happy new year, I congratulated him on his success in the tests. Briedis as usual answered sarcastically: 'We have many more vērsts11 of macaroni to consume (breakfast every day was macaroni and rissoles12, and the main thing is that firing requires a lot of powder.' In his expression was a certain marked self-confidence and determination, and one could appreciate that he could get his hands on the requisite powder. Baško and I also talked about Briedis' success. He said that he happened to hear Briedis' answers in a tutorial on military geography. Briedis answered all the questions brilliantly and had sketched out the whole plan of a railway junction on the blackboard. The tutor had spoken to Briedis and said that his answer was worth the top mark. Next Baško had said: 'If you want to remain in the top spots in military academy, then, just like Briedis, you will have to forswear leave.' It must be admitted that Briedis' efforts also left a good impression on us, and we too gave up one other leave period so as to prepare ourselves better for the subject tests.
"As senior-sergeant Briedis was rather independent but in case of need where his subordinates were concerned he would step in.
"There were cases in tactical field training when Briedis would show particular inventiveness. In two-sided battalion manoeuvres his scouts had to mark that a bridge over a swampy river had been blown up. This was usually marked by a petard13 when the enemy approached. Briedis on his own initiative placed the petard charge in a tin box which enhanced the explosion, and broke up the bridge for real. I know only that we foot soldiers crossed the river on logs which had been thrown in, but the guards squadron could not get over—it had to take the long way round.
"There were also surprises proposed by Briedis in night exercises. In all tactical training the cadets in the senior course were designated as commanders so that they would have practice in solving problems.
"Even more clearly, I remember one night exercise in which I myself took part. The enemy units had managed to occupy a defensive position and were holding a railway station and crossroads. Briedis commanded the attacking company. At night he had the area around the railway station continually illuminated with flares and fired on it sporadically, but abstained from any other activity. Complete silence was to be observed in the area of the crossroads and in the areas in between. The enemy was convinced that only a demonstration was taking place at the station and kept all his reserves in the vicinity of the crossroads. Dawn had not yet broken when Briedis with his whole company attacked the railway station, occupied it and dug themselves in along the railway embankment. The staff captain who was running the night exercise, declared the station had been captured and also that the company defending the crossroads would have to retreat because its flank and rear were under fire from the railway embankment.
Graduating at the top of his class
"When the time approached for the senior course to graduate, everyone waited for the results with great interest to see who would come out on top. The situation was the same as at Christmas—senior-sergeant N. and senior-sergeant Briedis had identical placings. The final decision depended on the school's teaching board which went into each cadet's capabilities with a fine tooth comb and from all angles. I too was pleasantly surprised when it became known that the school board had decided: 'The top student for 1909 is senior-sergeant Briedis. His name will be engraved on the marble plaque in the Academy's Great Hall.'
"Afterwards, cadet Zaks and I decided to find out what
This characterisation of Briedis at the military academy clearly showed to what extent Briedis had striven to steep himself in his chosen profession, to think and live in it with all his quick-wittedness and force of will. Here too was revealed for all to see Briedis' future, the brilliant successes in his thoroughly planned and boldly undertaken enterprises, which—thanks alone to his own extraordinary gifts—singled him out already as a young officer in time of peace and five years later, when the Great War started, at the beginning of that war he was shown to be a real hero. Not only for his personal courage, many others would possess this, but also because of other ideal military qualities which he possessed.
Graduation at all military and cadet schools took place on one day, and every school received in advance a regimental roll where the placements of the new officers, the so-called vacancies, were allocated to the school. One could already get to know of these shortly before graduation. Briedis by finishing in first place in 1909, had the choice of any placement: he could take whichever he wanted. It was not really true, however, that Briedis could have had his choice of any
As to why Briedis had chosen a regiment in Daugavpils16, I have not been able to find any expressions of his own views on this. Perhaps it was a recollection of his earlier time in school here, or the nearness of his relatives, perhaps even a romance—he was 21 when he had finished military academy. Briedis, having just graduated military school as a second lieutenant (Podporuchik↗), joined the Ivangorod regiment17 in Daugavpils at the end of September. An officer of such good bearing, one might say a model officer, one who had "come from the school's marble plaque," a former cadet senior-sergeant, could not "disappear." He was placed into the the regimental training command, where he prepared instructors for two years. Already in the next year's (1910) shooting competition he won all the three first prizes and in this way he encouraged other officers to spend more time practising on the range. In 1912 Briedis was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (Poruchik↗).18 That same year he gave a lecture at an officers' assembly on: "German war tactics principles and a possible war". The Chiefs of Staff also turned up to listen to the lecture. He made rapid progress and in his record was the note: "Noteworthy. Earned nomination to company commander ahead of normal schedule".
In 1913 Briedis, as an outstanding officer, was attached to the staff of the 25th Division.19In 1914 he passed the exam for the Vil'na20 Military District staff and obtained the right to enter the exam for the General Staff College in St Petersburg. Studying and working in this way he moved up another step in his career. At this time changes also took place in his personal life, though war was to draw a line through his staff college career. In the winter of 1913 (1912?) was celebrated his marriage to Ksenija Lībermane, daughter of a railway bookkeeper. It was a love match: the young officer married a girl who had scarcely left the desk of the gymnasium. Next summer they had a daughter Vera, who died after a year. Her death was a bitter experience for the parents.
War breaks out
When war actually broke out against Germany in 1914 it was supported by a significant proportion of the population. Nine years prior Russia had experienced a wave of revolution, particularly in the west of the Empire. Now, particularly in the west, there had been that "closing of ranks around the throne" in the interests of total victory, which had expressed itself in patriotic demonstrations. The reference to this helps one to appreciate Briedis' enterprise in the bold movements of his scouts, which correctly took into consideration the likelihood of support from the population.
The 25th Division, to the staff of which Briedis had been assigned, formed part of the Niemen Army of Paul Von Rennenkampf↗.22 Already less than a month after the start of the war the Russian Army had invaded East Prussia and had reached Königsberg. Briedis' patrolling activities were carried on with marked audacity, passing through the enemy lines and returning with important information and sketches of the positions. The incident is often related in a variety of different ways—not by Briedis himself, but by a variety of sources—confusing the events of one patrol with another. It is clear that the patrol took place on his own initiative and had been thought up by him. This indicates Briedis understood German well (preparing for the Staff College?—the so-called "schuldeutsch"23 alone did not give one a good understanding of the language) and it was one of the reasons given why he was ready to run such risks. Briedis took along with him three soldiers whom he had selected from his own 99th Ivangorod Regiment. He had told his family at Ķlenoviki before his departure: "I am setting off on an important task. The result could turn out fifty-fifty. All is in God's hands. If it ends well I'll let you know straightaway.".News of the information acquired also brought the division much prestige throughout the army, and drew widespread attention, as in the past, to the young officer who showed such boldness and initiative. Briedis was awarded the George medal, the so-called golden sword↗. The Imperial Citation said: By order of the divisional Commander, an officer of the 99th Ivangorod Regiment, Lt Briedis, receives this award, because on the 30th August 1915 in the region of Tapiau↗ he did slip out with his patrol through the enemy lines. He reached enemy controlled territory and stayed there for 24 hours, bringing back detailed and accurate information about the enemy positions, on this occasion successfully furthering our subsequent operations.2526
Having defeated Samsonov, the Germans turned to Rennenkampf and hurled him back beyond his own frontier, where the Russians came to a halt behind the Niemen↗. It was urgent to ascertain what German forces faced the 25th Division and its neighbors in the region Marijampolė↗-Virbali↗-Vladislavov↗. The divisional staff called on the regiments for volunteers for the task of seeking information about the situation in the enemy rear, that is, to follow the model set by Briedis. Illness prevented Briedis from volunteering, but others did so. Then Briedis volunteered again, though he was still unwell. At that time his example was followed by an officer in the infantry and by another in the Cossacks.
Each officer was to be accompanied by eight soldiers, and on the night of 28 September three patrols were sent off towards the German positions, each in a different direction. Two patrols set off on horseback but Briedis decided that horses would just be a hindrance in such terrain and set off on foot. The point of departure was the right bank of the Niemen. The German frontier was not far off, but in the frontier area lived Lithuanians whom the Germans
Briedis' reappearance after nine days wandering in the German rear—a reappearance, moreover, with all his soldiers fresh and unhurt—was a real sensation at the front. There was much talk about it, often exaggerating the number of scouts involved and the time spent in the rear. That attention should be given to this successful patrol of Briedis, which gave a perfect picture of the enemy division and corps in front, which allowed further comparative conclusions to be drawn, is even more understandable when placed against the utter failure of the other two groups. Not a single survivor came back from the Cossack group. A single soldier returned from the third patrol, who was able to say only that the others had been killed or captured.
Colonel A. Liberts points to one of the versions that, so to speak, was circulating in the "soldiers' herald" about Briedis' activities in the German rear areas: "When our corps at the beginning of October 1914 went over to the attack and approached the East Prussian frontier, the 100th Infantry Regiment went past us on our way to the front. One of our older officers was able to tell how in that regiment (it was in the same division, but was not Briedis' own regiment), there was a 2nd Lieutenant or Lieutenant who with his own half-company had spent two weeks behind the enemy lines and then rejoined his unit. 'He's certainly a lucky dog!', exclaimed several. 'To remain two weeks without being discovered and taken prisoner!'—That had indeed been the exception since Rennenkampf's army had lost approximately 70,000 men as prisoners."
The awarding to Briedis by Imperial command of the George's Medal for: "volunteering to go on a dangerous patrol, coming at a time when patrolling was risky and not always possible, putting on peasants' clothes in circumstances which endangered his life, he had successfully reached the enemy baggage train at Vilkoviski↗, from where he had brought back very important information of great value about the enemy, which turned out to be entirely correct, and when our troops attacked was of considerable help to his own division".
Before his transfer to the Latvian Riflemen Briedis had received such awards as: the Vladimir↗ 4th Class with swords and ribbons for merit in the battle of 4/17 August; the
Briedis had worked out a plan to move to Galicia↗ and create partisan groups there which would fight in the enemy's rear. The divisional staff dissuaded Briedis and begged him to stay with the division.
The news about the founding of the Latvian battalions, when it became known, greatly interested Briedis. On 19 July/1 August 1915 he happened to be at the Stavka27, just when the plan for forming the Latvian battalions was presented for confirmation. Briedis was no stranger to the staff, and so he was the first to receive permission to join the Latvian battalions about to be formed. The divisional command was not at all pleased at receiving the order for Briedis' transfer. But there was nothing they could do about it, so they all wished him the best of luck.
As member of the division, Briedis had taken part in 19 major battles, and in all this time it was only in December 1914 that he suffered a minor concussion.28
| 1 | Latvju Strelnieks, lit. 'the Latvian riflemen'; a journal published in Latvia after World War One.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 2 | Pagasts, similar to parishes in England. |
| 3 | Both are schools based on the parish, only the parishes differ in size.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 4 | Both are schools based on the parish, only the parishes differ in size.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 5 | These were schools for army cadets which provided some secondary education in the initial classes.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 6 | gymnasium, a German-style secondary school providing a classical based education, designed to provide entry to university. They were fee-paying. Resembled the English grammar school.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 7 | The modern school was more technically orientated.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 8 | Specialized high school, usually six years, with particular emphasis on the natural sciences, mathematics, and new languages. |
| 9 | Original Latvian refers to Briedis as "the deceased." |
| 10 | "Lielais teātris"or "Great (Bolshoi) Theater"—there were two theaters each in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the "Great" for opera and ballet and the "Lesser" for plays. |
| 11 | versts, R. versta was a measure of length used before the Revolution: it approximates to a kilometre.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 12 | Rissoles (rasols, Latvian) is a potato salad made with ham and peas. It is well-known as Olivier salad↗, in Russian, салат Оливье, salat Olivye. |
| 13 | This is probably some small explosive charge used for training purposes like the 'thunderflash', though the earlier petard and more recent variants are used by engineers for blowing holes in obstacles.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 14 | The Latvian word used denotes fleeing, as opposed to an orderly retreat. |
| 15 | The system of selection adopted by Russian guards regiments was clearly copied from the German practice and goes back to the eighteenth century when the regiment was the property of the Colonel with other officers as sub-contractors. It was still the practice in German regiments (line as well as guards) for the officers already on the strength to have a say in the selection of new entrants. The system was totally anachronistic and there was a risk that the selection would be made on grounds other than military competence.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 16 | Daugavpils, also Dünaburg (German) and Dvinsk: as a rule the modern Latvian versions of names will be given except, of course, where there is a standard and acceptable English form, for example Moscow; for the period of this narrative the capital of the Russian Empire was first St Petersburg and then Petrograd. Russian names are transliterated in the normal way, for example Kazan', Iaroslav'. It was not felt necessary to find alternatives for the Latvian names for hamlets in a translated system, even if this were possible. One example is Annas muiža which could be rendered as 'Anna's Manor'.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 17 | Referring to the 99th Infantry (Ivangorod) Regiment |
| 18 | We should note that Guild uses the proper ranks in translating Podporuchik and Poruchik—Second Lieutenant and Lieutenant, respectively, while the original Latvian renders the same as Lieutenant and First Lieutenant. |
| 19 |
25th Infantry Division (25-я Пехотная Дивизия, 25-ya Pekhotnaya Diviziya). 3rd Army Corps. Headquarters, Dvinsk (Daugavpils):
|
| 20 | Vil'na is the Russian name for this city, though the Poles call it Wilno: in modern Lithuanian Vilnius.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 21 | We think it more likely that Briedis was thinking back to the drunken monks who had set his life on to a completely different path than he had envisioned. |
| 22 | Rennenkampf, Russian Commander of the 1st Army↗, which together with the 2nd↗ (under Samsonov) invaded East Prussia in 1914. It was hoped that by encircling the much outnumbered German 8th Army they would take pressure off the French and British in the West who were faced by the bulk of the German forces in accordance with the modified Schlieffen Plan↗. Unfortunately because of disagreements during the Russo-Japanese War↗, Rennenkampf and his opposite number Samsonov were hardly on speaking terms and they failed to coordinate their attacks. The Germans managed to beat them separately: Samsonov at Tannenberg↗, Rennenkampf later at the Masurian Lakes↗. The fact that the Russians lost these battles which they had a good chance of winning points to weaknesses at the top of the Russian officer corps. Thus was created the belief that the Germans were supermen which Briedis was at such pains to dispel.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 23 | That is, school-German; though Briedis could have learned some German from contacts with his German-speaking co-citizens in Latvia.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 24 | the original is worded as the "third" of Briedis' three men drowned |
| 25 | This should read 1914 in keeping with the dates of the events recounted here. |
| 26 | Surely the year ought to read 1914. This would conform with the other dates in this section. There are two possibilities, neither very likely: (1) the event is well out of sequence; (2) the date refers to when the award was actually made (though the citation does not say so). The second point is worthy of consideration. In the first year of the war decorations did not come down with the rations, as the German Army used to say of later years. Even so, the gap seems somewhat long.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 27 | Stavka, The General Headquarters of the Imperial Russian Army. The term was revived in the Second World War.—D.G. (original footnote) |
| 28 | original more literally translates as "contusion to the head" |
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