North Russia intervention

North Russia Intervention
Part of the Russian Civil War
Red Army prisoners under the custody of U.S. Army troops in Arkhangelsk
Date June 1918 – March 1920 Location North Russia Result Bolshevik victory
Belligerents
Allies: Australia Canada France Provisional Government of the Northern Region Supreme Administration of Northern Region United Kingdom United States	Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Edmund Ironside F.C. Poole Evgeny Miller George Evans Stewart	Aleksandr A. Samoylo Dmitri Parsky Dmitry Nikolaevich Nadjoznyj
Strength
6,000 troops 5,000 soldiers 1,000 field artillerymen 900–1,700 soldiers	14,000 (estimated)
Casualties and losses
526 killed 83 killed, 84 died of disease/accidents, 29 missing, 12 captured	2,150 (Allied estimate)

The North Russia Intervention, also known as the Northern Russian Expedition, the Archangel Campaign, and the Murman Deployment, was part of the Allied Intervention in Russia after the October Revolution. The intervention brought about the involvement of foreign troops in the Russian Civil War on the side of the White movement. While the movement was ultimately defeated, the Allied forces fought notable ending defensive actions against the Bolsheviks in the battles of Bolshie Ozerki, allowing them to withdraw from Russia in good order. The campaign lasted from 1918, during the final months of World War I, to 1920.

Reasons behind the campaign

Arkhangelsk Oblast

In March 1917, after the abdication of Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the formation of a provisional democratic government in Russia, the U.S. entered World War I. The U.S. government declared war on the German Empire in April (and later upon Austria-Hungary) after learning of the former's attempt to persuade Mexico to join the Central Powers. The Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky, pledged to continue fighting Imperial Germany on the Eastern Front. In return, the U.S. began providing economic and technical support to the Russian provisional government, so they could carry out their military pledge.

The Russian offensive of 18 June 1917 was crushed by a German counteroffensive. The Russian Army was plagued by mutinies and desertions. Allied war materiel still in transit quickly began piling up in warehouses at Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and the ice-free port of Murmansk. Anxious to keep Russia in the war, the Royal Navy established the British North Russia Squadron under Admiral Kemp.

The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, came to power in October 1917 and established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Five months later, they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, which formally ended the war on the Eastern Front. This allowed the German army to begin redeploying troops to the Western Front, where the depleted British and French armies had not yet been bolstered by the American Expeditionary Force.

Coincidental with the Treaty, Lenin personally pledged that if the Czechoslovak Legion would stay neutral and leave Russia, they would enjoy safe passage through Siberia on their way to join the Allied forces on the Western Front. However, as the 50,000 members of the Legion made their way along the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Vladivostok, only half had arrived before the agreement broke down and fighting with the Bolsheviks ensued in May 1918. Also worrisome to the Allied Powers was the fact that in April 1918, a division of German troops had landed in Finland, creating fears they might try to capture the Murmansk–Petrograd railroad, the strategic port of Murmansk and possibly even the city of Arkhangelsk.

Faced with these events, the leaders of the British and French governments decided the western Allied Powers needed to begin a military intervention in North Russia. They had three objectives: they hoped to prevent the Allied war materiel stockpiles in Arkhangelsk from falling into German or Bolshevik hands; to mount an offensive to rescue the Czechoslovak Legion, which was stranded along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and resurrect the Eastern Front; and by defeating the Bolshevik army with the assistance of the Czechoslovak Legion, to expand anti-communist forces drawn from the local citizenry.

Severely short of troops to spare, the British and French requested that US President Woodrow Wilson provide U.S. troops for what was to be called the North Russia Campaign, or the Allied Intervention in North Russia. In July 1918, against the advice of the US War Department, Wilson agreed to a limited participation in the campaign by a contingent of U.S. Army soldiers of the 339th Infantry Regiment, that was hastily organized into the American North Russia Expeditionary Force, which came to be nicknamed the Polar Bear Expedition. Under his Aide Memoire, Wilson set the guidelines for American intervention by saying the purpose of American troops in Russia was "to guard military stores which may subsequently be needed by Russian forces and to render such aid as may be acceptable to the Russians in the organization of their own self-defense."

International contingent

A Bolshevik soldier shot dead by an American guard, 8 January 1919

Lieutenant General Frederick C. Poole, who had previously spent two years in Russia, was appointed by the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Milner,, to lead the expedition to Archangel.

The international force included:

• British Empire
  • Royal Navy: a flotilla of over 20 ships including the seaplane carriers; HMS Pegasus and HMS Nairana
  • British Army: 236th Infantry Brigade, 6th Battalion Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI), 548th (Dundee) Army Troops Company, Royal Engineers, 2/10th (Cyclist) Battalion, Royal ScotsRoyal Scots, 52nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment, and elements of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
  • Slavo-British Allied Legion (SBAL): a British-trained and led contingent comprised mostly of anti-Bolshevik Russian volunteers (including Dyer's Battalion).
  • Canadian Field Artillery (67th and 68th Batteries of the 16th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery)
  • Royal Air Force: contingent comprising Airco DH.4 bombers, Fairey Campania and Sopwith Baby seaplanes along with a single Sopwith Camel fighter.
• United States
  • North Russia Expeditionary Force (also known as the Polar Bear Expedition): approximately 8,000 personnel from the US Army, including the: 310th Engineers, 339th Infantry, 337th Field Hospital, and 337th Ambulance Company. Also the 167th and 168th Railroad Companies, which were sent to Murmansk to operate the Murmansk to Petrograd line.
  • US Navy: the cruiser USS Olympia during August and September 1918 (including 53 personnel attached to British naval units)
• France: 2,000 French Army personnel, mainly from French Colonial Forces (e.g. the 21st Colonial Battalion) and engineers.
• Other countries: 1,000 Serbian and Polish infantry attached to Admiral Kolchak’s forces in the north (as distinct from his Siberian forces, which included the Czechoslovak Legion); a small numbers of volunteers from countries such as Italy.

"White Russian" forces included the Northern Army (previously the army of Alexander Kerensky's provisional Russian government, led by General Evgenii Miller)

In late May 1919, the British North Russia Relief Force (British Army) arrived to cover the withdrawal of British, US and other anti-Bolshevik forces. It was made up primarily of the 45th Battalion and 46th Battalions, Royal Fusiliers, two companies of the 201st Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, and the 385th Field Company, Royal Engineers. (Two companies of the 45th Battalion and one of the machine gun companies were comprised mainly of Australian volunteers who were veterans of the Western Front: about 200-300 former members of the Australian Imperial Force.)

Opposing these international forces were the Bolshevik Sixth and Seventh Red Army, combined in the Northern Front (RSFSR), which was poorly prepared for battle in May 1918.

Landing at Archangelsk

On 2 August 1918, anti-Bolshevik forces, led by Tsarist Captain Georgi Chaplin, staged a coup against the local Soviet government at Archangelsk. British diplomats had travelled to in preparation of the invasion, and General Poole had coordinated the coup with Chaplin. Allied warships sailed into the port from the White Sea. The Northern Region Government was established by Chaplin and popular revolutionary Nikolai Tchaikovsky; to all intents and purposes, however, General Poole ran Archangelsk, declaring martial law and banning the red flag, despite the decision of the Northern Region Government to fly it.

It was reported in the British press in early August that the Allied Powers had occupied Arkhangelsk, although not officially confirmed by the British authorities at the time. By 17 August it was being reported that the Allies had advanced to the shores of Onega Bay.

The lines of communications south from Arkhangelsk were the Northern Dvina in the east, Vaga River, Arkhangelsk Railway, the Onega River in the west, and the Yomtsa River providing a line of communication between the Vaga River and the railway in the centre.

In September 1918, the Allied Powers took Obozerskaya, around 100 miles (160 km) south of Archangel. During the attack, the RAF provided air support to the advancing Allied infantry, conducting bombing and strafing runs.

On 28 August 1918 the British 6th Royal Marine Light Infantry Battalion was ordered to seize the village of Koikori (Койкары) from the Bolsheviks as part of a wide offensive into East Karelia to secure the British withdrawal to Murmansk. The attack on the village was disorganized and resulted in three Marines killed and 18 wounded, including the battalion commander who had ineffectually led the attack himself. A week later, B and C companies, led this time by an army major, made a second attempt to take Koikori, while D company was involved in an attack on the village of Ussuna. The British were again repulsed at Koikori; the army major was killed and both Marine company commanders wounded. D company was also beaten off by Bolshevik forces around Ussuna, with the death of the battalion adjutant, killed by sniper fire.

The next morning, faced with the prospect of another attack on the village, one Marine company refused to obey orders and withdrew themselves to a nearby friendly village. Ninety-three men from the battalion were court-martialled; 13 were sentenced to death and others received substantial sentences of hard labour. In December 1919, the Government, under pressure from several MPs, revoked the sentence of death and considerably reduced the sentences of all the convicted men.

In September, with the Allied withdrawal already ongoing, a British detachment was sent by sea to Kandalaksha to stop sabotage operations carried out by Finnish Bolsheviks against the railway there. The British party was ambushed even before landing and suffered heavy casualties. Consequently, the unopposed Bolsheviks destroyed a number of bridges, delaying the evacuation for a time.

Advance along the Northern Dvina

A British River Force of eleven monitors (HMS M33, HMS Fox and others), minesweepers, and Russian gunboats was formed to use the navigable waters at the juncture of the rivers Vaga and Northern Dvina. Thirty Bolshevik gunboats, mines, and armed motor launches took their toll on the allied forces.

The Allied troops, led by Lionel Sadleir-Jackson, were soon combined with Poles and White Guard forces. Fighting was heavy along both banks of the Northern Dvina. The River Force outflanked the enemy land positions with amphibious assaults led by US Marines, together with coordinated artillery support from land and river. Their Lewis gun proved to be an effective weapon, since both sides were only armed with the bolt action rifles.

The 2/10th Royal Scots cleared the triangle between the Dvina and Vaga and took a number of villages and prisoners. The strongly fortified village of Pless could not be attacked frontally, so 'A' Company, less one platoon, attempted a flanking movement through the marshes. The following morning the company reached Kargonin, behind Pless, and the defenders – thinking themselves cut off by a large force – evacuated both villages. The regimental historian describes this as 'a quite remarkable march by predominantly B1 troops'.

By late September, US Marines and 2/10th Royal Scots had reached Nijne-Toimski, which proved too strong for the lightly-equipped Allied force. The monitors having withdrawn before the Dvina froze, the force was shelled by Bolsehvik gunboats. It withdrew to a defensive line for the winter, first driving off a number of attacks with the help of a Canadian Field Artillery battery, culminating in a very heavy assault on 11 November. The Allied troops were inactive in the winter of 1918, building blockhouses with only winter patrols sent out.

Setbacks for the Allied Powers

Konetsgorye, view from the Northern Dvina river

Within four months the Allied Powers' gains had shrunk by 30–50 kilometres (19–31 mi) along the Northern Dvina and Lake Onega Area as Bolshevik attacks became more sustained. A steady withdrawal was made from September 1918. Fierce fighting took place on Armistice Day 1918 at the Battle of Tulgas (Toulgas) at the Kurgomin–Tulgas line: the final defensive line in 1919. Trotsky as Commander in Chief of the Red Army personally supervised this task on the orders of Lenin.

The Bolsheviks had an advantage in artillery in 1919 and renewed their offensive while the Vaga River was hurriedly evacuated. 'A' Company of 2/10th Royal Scots had to be sent to reinforce a heavily-pressed force on the Vaga, marching with sledges over 50 miles (80 km) in temperatures 40–60 degrees below freezing.

The furthest advance south in the conflict was a US Mission in Shenkursk on the Vaga River and Nizhnyaya Toyma on the Northern Dvina where the strongest Bolshevik positions were encountered. Allied troops were expelled from Shenkursk after an intense battle on 19 January 1919.

The River Force monitors made a final successful engagement with the Bolshevik gunboats in September 1919. The Allied Powers then withdrew to prevent the Bolsheviks from carrying out the same tactics on the retreating Allied forces.

Withdrawal of British troops

Captured British Mark V tank in Arkhangelsk (2006)

An international policy to support the White Russians and, in newly appointed Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill's words, "to strangle at birth the Bolshevik State" became increasingly unpopular in Britain. In January 1919 the Daily Express was echoing public opinion when, paraphrasing Bismarck, it exclaimed, "the frozen plains of Eastern Europe are not worth the bones of a single grenadier".

From April 1919, the inability to hold the flanks and mutinies in the ranks of the White Russian forces caused the Allied Powers to decide to leave. British officers at Shussuga had a lucky escape when their Russian gunners remained loyal. A number of western military advisers were killed by White mutineers who went over to the Bolsheviks.

The British War Office sent General Henry Rawlinson to North Russia to assume command of the evacuation out of both Archangelsk and Murmansk. General Rawlinson arrived on August 11. On the morning of September 27, 1919, the last Allied troops departed from Archangelsk, and on October 12, Murmansk was abandoned.

Archangelsk Railway and withdrawal of US troops

Minor operations to keep open a line of withdrawal against the 7th Red Army as far south as Lake Onega and Yomtsa River to the east took place along the Arkhangelsk Railway with an armoured train manned by the Americans. The last major battle fought by the Americans before their departure took place at Bolshie Ozerki from 31 March through 4 April 1919.

The US appointed Brigadier General Wilds P. Richardson as commander of US forces to organize the safe withdrawal from Arkhangelsk. Richardson and his staff arrived in Archangelsk on April 17, 1919. By the end of June, the majority of the US forces was heading home and by September 1919, the last US soldier of the Expedition had also left Northern Russia.

Aftermath

The White Russian Northern Army now had to face the Red Army alone.
Poorly discipined, this Army was no match for the Red Army and it quickly collapsed, when the Bolshevik launched a counter-offensive in December 1919.

Many soldiers capitulated and the remnants of the Army were evacuated from Arkhangelsk in February 1920.
On February 20, 1920 the Bolsheviks entered Arkhangelsk and on March 13 1920, they took Murmansk.
The White Northern Region Government ceased to exist.

Legacy

In 1927, the Constructivist-styled Monument to the Victims of the Intervention was raised in Murmansk, on the tenth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. It was still standing as of November 2017.

The campaign in fiction

Two fictional television characters fought with the British Expeditionary Force: Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In (as an intelligence officer in Murmansk) and Albert Steptoe in Steptoe and Son.

See also

• American Expeditionary Force Siberia
• Aunus expedition
• Australian contribution to the Allied Intervention in Russia 1918–1919
• Estonian War of Independence
• Viena expedition
• Murmansk Legion
• British campaign in the Baltic (1918–19)

References

Bibliography

• Churchill's Secret War with Lenin: British and Commonwealth Military Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918-20, Damien Wright, Solihull, 2017
• At War With The Bolsheviks, Robert Jackson, London 1972
• Forgotten Valour: The Story of Arthur Sullivan (VC). Peter Quinlivian, Sydney, 2006
• Churchill's Crusade: The British Invasion of Russia 1918–1920, Clifford Kinvig, London 2006, ISBN 1-85285-477-4.
• Undefeated, The Extraordinary Life & Death of Lt. Col Jack Sherwood Kelly VC, DSO, CMG. Philip Bujak, Forster Books, 2008.
• Book review of "Intervention in Russia, A Cautionary Tale", The Spectator, July 24, 2004

External links

• American Polar Bears , the American Expeditionary Force, North Russia
• Polar Bear Memorial Association
• An account of a Royal Navy trip to North Russia on a hospital ship, June – October 1919
• Foreign Command of US Forces 1900–1993
• Russian Bolshevik Navy 1919_files
• North Russian Expeditionary Force 1919, The Journal and Photographs of Yeoman of Signals George Smith, Royal Navy
• The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki Campaigning in North Russia 1918–1919
• The Evacuation of Northern Russia, 1919 (1920)
• Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections Housed at the Bentley Historical Library. More than 50 individual collections of primary source material, including diaries, maps, correspondence, photos, ephemera, printed materials, and a film.
• Original movie clip of US Army [1]