North Russia Intervention - The North Russia Front

The North Russia Front

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.

This campaign saw the first ever coordinated aerial and naval bombardment and amphibious landing in wartime, at the bombardment of the battery at Mudyug Island, Arkhangelsk. The Red Air Force was still in its infancy, with an assortment of aeroplanes. The Allied occupation of Arkhangelsk itself took place on 2 August 1918.

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

On August 28, 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 labor. In December 1919, the Government, under pressure from several MPs, revoked the sentence of death and considerably reduced the sentence of all the convicted men.

On September, with the Allied withdrawal already going on, 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.