Russian Sideshow
Page 39
10. Lieutenant Smith was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for the Seltso action.
11. Dennis Gordon, Quartered in Hell (Missoula, Mont.: Doughboy Historical Society, 1982), 219.
12. UMBHL, Edwin Arkins, Journal.
13. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary.
14. In two of the best books on the AEFNR, E. M. Halliday, The Ignorant Armies (New York: Harper, 1960) and Richard Goldhurst, The Midnight War: The American Intervention in Russia, 1918–1920 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978), there are references to Company B attacking Puchuga, suffering casualties, and having to withdraw to Seltso. Both also mention Captain Boyd’s adventure with his Company B returning to Seltso; however, Stewart’s official report makes no mention of any fighting near Puchuga or of any casualties. Diaries of Company B soldiers (Parrish and Davis) also make no reference to a fight, and Boyd, quoted extensively in History, Moore et al. describe the march to Puchuga in detail, but makes no comment about fighting.
15. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 34–35.
16. U.S. Militay Academy Museum (USMAM), George Stewart Papers, “Report of Expedition to the Murman Coast,” 7.
17. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 9–10.
18. Michigan’s Own Museum, Frankenmuth, Michigan, Lt. Ray Mc-Curdy, Diary.
19. Michigan’s Own Museum, Frankenmuth, Michigan, Thomas Hancock, Diary.
20. Moore et al.’s History sets forth the names, units, dates of death, and other information about AEFNR casualties. He lists Connor as another victim of the drowning incident, apparently in error.
21. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 299–301.
22. Robert Jackson, At War with the Bolsheviks (London: Tom Stacey, 1972), 76.
23. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary.
24. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary.
25. According to a captured communist captain, the Bolos had sixteen hundred men on both sides of the river, and six-inch howitzers and six-inch naval guns on rafts in the river. “Does not see any reason why the Americans retreated from Seltzo.” (AEFNR, RG 120)
26. Wisconsin State Library (WSL), John Hall, Diary, Wisconsin manuscripts.
27. WSL, John Hall, Diary, Wisconsin manuscripts.
28. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 9.
29. Lieutenant Cudahy was from a very wealthy meat-packing family in Wisconsin.
30. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary.
31. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 34.
32. A Chronicler (John Cudahy), Archangel: The American War with Russia (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1924), 145.
33. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 106–107.
34. Gordon, Quartered, 245.
35. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 107.
36. Karan was visiting with his family in Europe when war broke out. He tried to enlist with the Czechs. Too young, he was finally hired by the British in the Balkans, but was sent to his home in New York. He then went to Canada, enlisted in 1917, was sent to England, then to Murmansk, and finally to Archangel, where he joined the 339th Infantry, Company B. He stayed in Russia until the British left in July 1919.
37. Gordon, Quartered, 247–248.
38. UMBHL, Gen. R. G. Finlayson, “Toulgas Engagement,” November 11–14, 1918, AEFNR, RG 120.
39. Gordon, Quartered, 249.
40. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 21.
41. Ironside, Archangel, 54.
42. Goldhurst, War, 137.
43. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary.
44. UMBHL, Gen. R. G. Finlayson, “Toulgas Engagement,” November 11–14, 1918, AEFNR, RG 120.
45. UMBHL, Finlayson, “Toulgas.”
46. Prince was the last prisoner released by the Soviets on August 16, 1920.
47. NACP, Albert M. Smith, “Report of Engagement, B Company,” March 12, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
48. NACP, Erastus Corning, “Investigation of Complaint,” June 9, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
49. A more stinging indictment was filed by a naval aid investigating the American fronts. “When he arrived at the America hospital in Bereznik [from the British hospital] he had a bed sore in his back two inches deep and six inches long exposing five inches of the spinal column with the nerves. This sore the British Medical Authorities did not know he had ....I myself saw this man and it is impossible to believe that his condition could have come from anything but gross neglect” (NADC, Oliver E. Cobb to Admiral McCully, Naval Records, RG 45).
50. Gordon, Quartered, 216.
51. UMBHL, Sgt. Silver Parrish, Diary. Company B was ordered across the river to Turgomin on March 20 and replaced by Company C on April 6.
52. NACP, Capt. E. Prince, “Report on Morale of American Troops on Dvina Front,” February 2, 1919, 1, AEFNR, RG 120.
53. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 112.
Chapter 9
1. U.S. Military Academy Museum (USMAM), George Stewart Papers, “Report of Expedition to the Murman Coast,” 6.
2. Dennis Gordon, Quartered in Hell (Missoula, Mont.: Doughboy Historical Society, 1982), 222.
3. University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library (UMBHL), John Sherman Crissman, Diary, 4; and USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 10.
4. Joel R. Moore, Harry H. Meade, and Lewis Jahns, The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia (Detroit: Polar Bear Publishing Co., 1920), 64.
5. UMBHL, John Sherman Crissman, Diary.
6. Wisconsin State Library (WSL), Glenn Weeks, Diary.
7. Roy MacLaren, Canadians in Russia (Toronto: MacMillan of Canada, 1976), 74.
8. WSL, Glenn Weeks, Diary.
9. Michigan’s Own Museum, Frankenmuth, Michigan, Robert Ray, Diary.
10. UMBHL, Edward Brock, Diary.
11. WSL, Glenn Weeks, Diary. Records indicated that six bodies were recovered.
12. In The Ignorant Armies (New York: Harper, 1960), E. M. Halliday notes that Cuff’s mutilation was the only atrocity documented; however Cpl. G. J. Anderson in Gordon’s Quartered notes several incidents he witnessed where bodies had had heads “bashed in” and forearms severed.
13. Halliday, Armies, 151.
14. WSL, Glenn Weeks, Diary.
15. Gordon, Quartered, 105.
16. Halliday, Armies, 159.
17. NACP, Chief Surgeon’s Correspondence, AEFNR, RG 120.
18. Stier was posthumously presented the Distinguished Service Cross.
19. Dorothea York, The Romance of Company A (Detroit: McIntyre Printing Co., 1923), 80.
20. York, Romance, 83.
21. UMBHL, Edward Trombley, Diary.
22. MacLaren, Canadians, 78.
23. York, Romance, 85.
24. UMBHL, John Sherman Crissman, Diary.
25. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 138.
26. Gordon, Quartered, 112.
27. UMBHL, John Sherman Crissman, Diary. The dates are somewhat confusing, but the GHQ War Diary shows the sequence of “Leave Ust Padenga night of the 22, arrive at Shalosha at 10 P.M. for rest, go to Spasskoye on the 23d, withdraw to Shenkursk on Jan 24, evacuate Shenkursk beginning 1:30 A.M. Jan 25.”
28. York, Romance, 89.
29. MacLaren, Canadians, 78
30. Gordon, Quartered, 115.
31. Halliday, Armies, 132–133.
32. Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Godfrey Johnson Memoir, Godfrey Johnson Collection.
33. Vanis was released in Sweden on April 25, 1919.
34. National Archives, College Park, Maryland (NACP), Lt. Harry Steele, “Attack on Shagovari,” War Diary GHQ, May 2, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
35. Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Godfrey Johnson Collection, Godfrey Johnson Memoir.
36. Gordon, Quartered, 143.
37. Grand Rapids Public Library, Godfrey Johnson Collection, Godfrey Johnson Memoir.
38. Grand Rapids Public Library, Godfrey Johnson Collection, Godfrey Johnson Memoir.
39. Gordon, Quartered, 144.
40. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 45.
41. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 147–148.
Chapter 10
1. Joel R. Moore, Harry H. Meade, and Lewis Jahns, The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia (Detroit: Polar Bear Publishing Co., 1920), 85.
2. Dennis Gordon, Quartered in Hell (Missoula, Mont.: Doughboy Historical Society, 1982), 264.
3. Gordon, Quartered, 264–265.
4. National Archives, College Park, Maryland (NACP), “Report of December 7 on Pinega Situation” to O.C. L. of C. by illegible lieutenant colonel, AEFNR, RG 120.
5. U.S. Military Academy Museum (USMAM), George Stewart Papers, “Report of Expedition to the Murman Coast,” 25.
6. Gordon, Quartered, 268.
7. Gordon, Quartered, 294.
8. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 25.
9. Gordon, Quartered, 270.
10. NACP, “Report of December 7 on Pinega Situation” to O.C. L. of C. by illegible lieutenant colonel, AEFNR, RG 120.
11. Joel R. Moore, ‘M’ Company: 339th Infantry in North Russia (Jackson, Mich.: Central City Book Bindery, 1920), n.p.
12. Moore, ‘M’ Company, n.p.
13. Moore, ‘M’ Company, n.p.
14. Moore, ‘M’ Company, n.p.
15. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 35.
16. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 40.
17. Gordon, Quartered, 271.
18. Gordon, Quartered, 272.
19. Gordon, Quartered, 272.
20. Gordon, Quartered, 266.
21. Gordon, Quartered, 271.
22. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 154.
23. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 117.
24. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 41.
25. USMAM, Stewart Papers, “Report,” 46.
26. Gordon, Quartered, 277.
27. E. M. Halliday, The Ignorant Armies (New York: Harper, 1960), 216–217; Detroit Free Press, November 17, 1929. Macalla would return again to Archangel in 1929 to assist in recovering bodies of the Americans left behind in the Allied retreat and departure in 1919.
28. NACP, Disposition of U.S. Troops in North Russia, April 17, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
29. Gordon, Quartered, 280.
30. Gordon, Quartered, 280–281.
Chapter 11
1. Eugenie Fraser, The House by the Dvina (New York: Walker and Co., 1984), 207.
2. Fraser, House, 215.
3. National Archives, Washington, D.C. (NADC), Telegram, Cole [Felix, U.S. Consul] to State Department, August 12, 1918, Naval Records, RG 45.
4. Fraser, House, 215. There were, however, no American ships in the fleet, only American naval personnel.
5. E. M. Halliday, The Ignorant Armies (New York: Harper, 1960), 50.
6. Willard Library, Battle Creek, Michigan, American Sentinel Newspaper, Archangel, April 12, 1919.
7. National Archives, College Park, Maryland (NACP), Telegram, Secretary of State Lansing to Ambassador Morris in Japan, September 26, 1918 (copy to Francis), Naval Records, RG 45.
8. George F. Kennan, The Decision to Intervene. Vol. 2, Soviet-American Relations, 1917–1920 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 427.
9. NACP, Cablegram, Biddle to Stewart, September 17, 1918, AEFNR, RG 120.
10. U.S. Army Military History Institute (USAMHI), Carl Russell Collection, WWI Survey, Supplemental Report, AEF, to the Adjutant General of the Army, July 23, 1919, 2.
11. USAMHI, Carl Russell Collection, WWI Survey, Supplemental Report, AEF, to the Adjutant General of the Army, July 23, 1919, 2.
12. USAMHI, Carl Russell Collection, WWI Survey, Supplemental Report, July 23, 1919, 2.
13. NACP, undated memo, Brig. Gen. H. Needham to Stewart, AEFNR, RG 120.
14. University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library (UMBHL), Charles Brady Ryan to his wife, February 15, 1919.
15. Joel R. Moore, Harry H. Meade, and Lewis Jahns, The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia (Detroit: Polar Bear Publishing Co., 1920), 40.
16. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 41.
17. Fraser, House, 220.
18. Fraser, House, 220.
19. Joint Archives, Hope College, Holland, Michigan, Charles Grace Papers.
20. Dorothea York, The Romance of Company A (Detroit: McIntyre Printing Co., 1923), 41.
21. Fraser, House, 227.
22. UMBHL, George Albers Papers, Fred Krooyer, Diary.
23. Donald E. Carey, Fighting the Bolsheviks (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1997), 46.
24. NACP, “Report of the Work Accomplished by the Medical Department,” 5, AEFNR, RG 120.
25. USAMHI, Carl Russell Collection, WWI Survey, Supplemental Report, AEF, to the Adjutant General of the Army, July 23, 1919, 3.
26. Harry J. Costello, Why Did We Go to Russia? (Detroit: Harry J. Costello, 1920), 67.
27. NACP, General Court-martial No. 2, Headquarters U.S. Troops (Murmansk Expedition) AEFNR, RG 120.
28. Dennis Gordon, Quartered in Hell (Missoula, Mont.: Doughboy Historical Society, 1982), 169–171.
29. NACP, General Court-martial No. 1, Headquarters U.S. Troops (Murmansk Expedition) AEFNR, RG 120.
30. Carey, Fighting, 62.
31. UMBHL, Paul Totten Memoirs.
32. Fred L. Borch, III, “Bolsheviks, Polar Bears and Military Law,” Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Fall 1998): 183–184.
33. NACP, Lt. Col. Edmund S. Thurston, “Memorandum As to Cases of Self Inflicted Wounds,” Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, May 10, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
34. NACP, Lt. Col. Edmund S. Thurston, “Memorandum As to Cases of Self Inflicted Wounds,” Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, May 10, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120; and various court-martial records, same source.
35. NACP, Chief Surgeon’s Correspondence, AEFNR, RG 120.
36. UMBHL, Henry Katz Collection, “Short Summary of Activities of Medical Personnel with First Battalion 339th Infantry,” 3, RG 120.
37. UMBHL, G. T. James, Diary.
38. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 178.
39. Edmund Ironside, Archangel: 1918–1919 (London: Constable and Co., 1953), 77–78.
40. While there was no direct evidence that Poole was in on the coup, most felt that he was undoubtedly aware of its planning. Ironside wrote, “There was, of course, no truth in such a stupid accusation” (Archangel, 21).
41. Due to the strange methods of British promotions, Ironside was a major in the Gunners, a lieutenant colonel by brevet, and a temporary brigadier general. Ironside cites a classic case of rank increase: “Lieutenant (Temporary Brigadier General) E. A. Bradford, V.C. to be brevet major on reaching the rank of captain.” Unfortunately, before Bradford became a regular captain, he was killed in action.
42. Richard Goldhurst, The Midnight War: The American Intervention in Russia, 1918–1920 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978) 94.
43. Joseph V. Taylor, “Report of Engagement,” AEFNR, RG 120.
44. Moore, Meade, and Jahns, History, 178.
45. Ironside, Archangel, 69–70.
46. Ironside, Archangel, 70.
47. NADC, General Intelligence Report #5, April 13–July 9, 1919, Naval Records, RG 45.
48. Costello, Why, 116.
49. Gordon, Quartered, 6–7.
50. NADC, Cablegram, Francis to Navy Department, September 13, 1918, Naval Records, RG 45.
51. Interestingly, McCulley’s orders from the Navy Department addressed him as captain, not rear admiral.
52. Wilds Richardson, Notes on the War and on the North Russian Expedition, AEFNR, RG 120, n.d., 38–39.
53. U.S. Military Academy Museum (USMAM), George Stewart Papers, Cable, Stewart to Adjutant General, November 14, 1918.
54. Michael Kettle, Churchill and the Archangel Fiasc
o: November 1918– July 1919 (London: Routledge, 1992), 269.
55. Fraser, House, 221.
56. NACP, “Memo to Base Commandant,” February 14, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
57. UMBHL, The American Sentinel Newspaper, February 15, 1919.
58. Fraser, House, 263. In a review of all officers in the 339th Infantry, there is no officer with the first name of Frank.
59. Fraser, House, 224.
60. NACP, Office of the Chief Surgeon, Report, April 9, 1919, AEFNR, RG 120.
61. NACP, GHQ, “Memo to Stewart,” September 25, 1918, AEFNR, RG 120.
62. UMBHL, John Sherman Crissman, Diary.
63. Willard Memorial Library, Battle Creek, Michigan, American Sentinel Newspaper, February 15, 1919.
64. NACP, Robert C. Johnson to his father, October 21, 1918, AEFNR, RG 120.
65. Historical Museum, Manistee, Michigan, Red Cross Records, Golden Bahr.
66. UMBHL, George Albers Papers, Fred Krooyer, Diary.
67. Ralph Albertson, Fighting without a War (New York: Harcourt Brace and Howe, 1920), 71.
Chapter 12
1. Peyton C. March, The Nation at War (Garden City, N.J.: Doubleday, Doran and Co., 1932), 148.
2. March, Nation, 149.
3. John E. Wilson, “When Murmansk Went Yank,” American Legion Magazine (February 1940): 12. While such a request might have been radioed, there is no mention of it in the discussions, nor is such a cable found in the files of the 339th.
4. Richard Goldhurst, The Midnight War: The American Intervention in Russia, 1918–1920 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978), 171.
5. U.S. Army Military History Institute (USAMHI), Albert Galen Papers, Brian Clark, Russia, 1919, February 15, 1980.
6. USAMHI, E. E. MacMorland, “American Railroading in North Russia,” The Military Engineer (September–October, 1929): 417. MacMorland would obtain the rank of major general before he retired in 1953.
7. Wilson, “Yank,” 44.
8. MacMorland, “Railroading,” 419.
9. USAMHI, Edward MacMorland Papers, undated letter.
10. USAMHI, AEFNR, U.S. Army, Harold Weimeister Collection, “Battles and Engagements,” 380–384.
11. USAMHI, Edward MacMorland Papers, Edward MacMorland, letter, March 6, 1919.
12. University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library (UMBHL), John Wilson, Arctic Antics (Salina, Kans.: Padgett’s Printing House, 1919), n.p.