We travelled south following the opposing defence lines. Our walk followed the line of the Russian attack through to the point which marked the line of withdrawal for the German defenders. Behind the tree line is a river crossing and old mill where the fighting on the 24th was particularly intense. This marks the military cemetery which contains 329 German and 1000 Russian graves. On the extreme left you will see a small cross at the front of the trees. In the picture on the right, my friends are standing on what was the Russian front line. We chose to walk the Russian front line position on a forward slope 100 yards in front of the German trenches which still exist in the environs of Orlau Military Cemetery. Cultivated fields, small woods & copses and a smattering of villages and farmsteads. The topography around Orlau is not what I had imagined - it is rather like the Somme area of Northern France.

The first substantive contact on the North / South axis came at Orlau (Orlawa) on the 24th August where the German XX Corps were heavily entrenched. the Arrival of Rennenkampf's 1st Army and Samsonov's 2nd Army in East Prussia presented a major challenge. The Russians had mobilised much more quickly than anticipated. The area in question is in the vicinity of Allenstein (now Olsztyn). However with some help we covered some of the central ground covered by the Russian 2nd Army and the German 8th Army during the fighting of the 26th to 29th August 1914. It covers a vast area and most of the monuments, markers and cemeteries have been lost in the years that have intervened. The Tannenberg battlefield is not easy to interpret.

1944 battle of tannenberg line