 A volunteer corps of town inhabitants was formed to protect the town against the Red Army.The volunteer forces, numbering about 300, and outnumbered tens to one, managed to hold back the offensive for six weeks, from 28 July to 14 September 1944.The Soviet bombardment of 11–14 September 1944 destroyed 100 buildings in the town and damaged more than 300 – destroying more than one third of Bauska.