RIGA 1916

During the Campaigns of the Eastern Front, combat took a different appearance. The conditions were brutal and unforgiving, with winters cold enough to freeze over Hell itself, and a sparsity of food that drove soldiers back to scavenging and foraging. Combat was unlike that on the Western Front. Cavalry charges remained commonplace, and many conflicts occurred in areas where the landscape could be used against the roving horsemen, of either side.

One such area that remained contended for much of the war was the coastal town of Riga, and its surrounding hilly plains, dotted with clusters of forest. The town’s castle and overall location made it an attractive target for the Central Powers on their expansionary drive towards Petrograd, and so they diverted resources to the Riga Gulf in efforts to hold the land-based lines which had seen naval battles off their shores a year prior.

The Russian powers, with…