Russian Expeditionary Force in France - Before March 1917

Before March 1917

In December 1915, Paul Doumer, on a visit to Russia, proposed that 300,000 troops be sent to France in exchange for munitions. While the Russian high command was not enthusiastic about this proposal, Czar Nicholas II was. General Alexeyev, the chief of staff, made an offer to send Russian troops to France, as long as the Russian troops were overseen by Russian officers operating under the French High Command, and that the French Navy must equip and transport them.

The 1st Russian Special Brigade was formed in January, 1916, led by General Lokhvitsky. It was composed of the 1st and 2nd regiments, from Moscow and Samara respectively. The Brigade was formed mostly by reserve units, with the 1st regiment's troops mainly being factory workers and the 2nd's mainly being peasants, with a total of 8,942 men. It left Moscow on February 3, 1916 and arrived in Marseille on April 16 of the same year.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th Brigades soon followed. The 2nd and 4th Brigades arrived in the Salonika front in August and November 1916. The 3rd Brigade was made up mostly of professional soldiers and reserve units formed in Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk and left for France in August 1916.

General Aleksei Brusilov was responsible for the 4 Special Brigades which contributed a total of 44,319 men to the war in France. The 6th, 7th and 8th Brigades were never formed because of the Russian Revolution.

Approximately 450 Estonian troops also served with the REF, mostly in the 1st and 3rd Brigades. After February 1917 these troops wore small Estonian flags to distinguish themselves from their Russian allies.

On the 23rd of April the 1st Special Brigade was transferred to Châlons-sur-Marne and overseen by General Henri Gouraud of the 4th Army. The French President was impressed by the camp and awarded General Lokhvitsky with the "Commander of the Legion of Honor" medal. The 1st Brigade was then sent to the East between Suippes and Auberive at the end of June, 1916.

By March 1917 the Special Brigades were in the Fort Pompelle region, and on April 16, 1917 the 1st Brigade took Courcy and the 3rd brigade took Mount Spin, resulting in 4,542 men killed, wounded or missing in action.

The Cimitière Militaire Russe de Saint-Hilaire le Grand at Mourmelon-le-Grand in the Marne Department contains the graves of 1000 Russian officers and men. In 1937 a chapel was built here to commemorate all of the Russians who died on the Western Front. There are also two Imperial Russian war graves in the Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery, near Cambrai.