This is Part two of our Christmas special about one of the most forgotten theaters - and
most forgotten actions of the war.
Today we’ll see some of the real chaos of the Caucasus post-Russian revolution, and
some real adventure by the Caspian Sea.
I’m Indy Neidell, welcome to part two of this year’s Great War Christmas Special-
the adventures of Dunsterforce, the Hush-Hush Army, as written by General Lionel Dunsterville.
In part one, we saw the force try and fail to reach Tiflis - Tbilisi - or Baku, but gain
Cossack allies, nearly be taken by the Bolshevik Red Guard, provide essential famine relief,
and have those Cossack allies help stymie Mirza Kuchik Khan, would be ruler of Persia.
When we left off, Dunsterville was at the port of Enzeli, on the Caspian Sea making
deals with the local Bolshevik committee, and Colonel Bicherakov and his Cossacks - claiming
they were Bolsheviks - were hoping to stop the advancing Ottomans by taking the Kura
Bridge together with Bolshevik controlled Baku’s local Red Army.
If the Ottomans captured Baku they would have big stores of oil to run the Caucasian railway
and the Black Sea shipping.
They would also have control of the Caspian Sea and an open door to Afghanistan and Asia.
On the other hand, if the British could secure Baku, this would close the door to central
Asia for the enemy, stop the local railways, and gain control of the Caspian Sea.
By mid July, Dunsterville from Enzeli was in daily contact with the Social Revolutionaries
in Baku and it seemed that soon they could bring off a coup against the Bolsheviks and
set up a pro-British government.
He finally got news of Bicherakov, but all hope of securing the bridge was gone, as the
Red Army there, who were revolutionaries and not soldiers, just wouldn’t do its job.
They gave ground without firing a shot and Bicherakov could only count on his men, so
he fell back to Baku.
So the Bolsheviks then realized Bicherakov isn’t really one of them and are trying
to push him into the arms of the Turks.
He figures this out and soon abandons the town entirely and heads to Derbend.
This turns out to be a bad decision because if he had waited for just a few days for the
Dunsterforce to arrive then Baku would never have fallen.
Dunsterville’s men were now trickling in from Mesopotamia, but Kuchik Khan’s Jangalis
were going to try a new attack.
They did this July 20th at the Battle of Resht, on the Enzeli road.
They sent their best men to attack the British detachment based outside of town, while simultaneously
taking the town.
The attacks on the detachment were beaten off, and of the 2,500 Jangalis attacking,
100 were killed and 50 or so taken prisoner.
The British took 50 casualties roughly, but the now Jangalis held the town.
Two days of street fighting and aerial bombardment cleared them out, the entire road to the Caspian
was now open, and Mirza Kuchik Khan began to sue for peace, but Enzeli had to be secured.
So Dunsterville invited the Enzeli Bolshevik committee of three to Kasvin and arrested
them on charges of complicity with the Jangalis, the only thing for which they could theoretically
be arrested, since they had killed a bunch of Russians on the road, and that was certainly
against Persian law.
He had a letter from 19 year old committee member Babookh congratulating Kuchik Khan
on his attempts to beat the British and promising future support as proof.
If this isn’t all complicated enough, on July 26th came the coup in Baku and the new
governing body was the Centro-Caspian dictatorship, who called Dunsterville for help.
He had now established control over Enzeli Port, which the locals apparently had no problem
with, and managed to secure one 1,000 ton ship there - the President Kruger that could
hold 800 men - and two smaller ships at Baku, three of the best ships on the Caspian.
Headquarters was transferred to the Kruger August 10th.
Dunsterville took down the Red flag and put up the Russian flag, but the locals were worried
that this was counter revolutionary activity.
He assured them this was not the case, but he was not a revolutionary either, so they
compromised by flying the Russian flag upside down.
This meant that the force sailed the Caspian under the Serbian flag since the locals weren’t
aware that it’s the same as the Russian flag upside down.
So you now had a British General sailing on the Caspian Sea, aboard a ship named after
a South African Boer President of partly German descent, sailing from a Persian port, under
a Serbian flag, to assist a body of Armenians in a revolutionary Russian town against the
Turks.
You genuinely cannot make this stuff up.
Dunsterville arrived in Baku the 17th to find a city on the verge of starvation.
The population of the oil city was around 300,000, mainly Armenians, Tartars, and Russians,
with smaller colonies of Georgians and Greeks, and even smaller numbers of British, French,
and Americans.
The countryside was totally barren except for the avenues of trees grown in the city
with the new water supply and the surrounding villages, which were basically oases.
The Five Dictators - yep, five - requested a meeting with Dunsterville, just after he
sent his force of some 900 men to the front lines.
He describes them as intelligent, zealous, and around 30 years old.
“The idea of five Dictators seemed to me absurd, and I suggested their choosing one
of their number as a single Dictator” but that didn’t happen.
Gotta point out that unlike many European leaders of his age and era, Dunsterville did
not think of other races and cultures as inferior, his problem here was their lack of training.
Of the local Armenians he writes, “He was not a soldier, but just an ill-fed... factory
hand.
A rifle was pushed into his hand and he was told to go and fight.
He had no equipment, no proper instructors, no decent officers, and no regular arrangements
for food supply... under such circumstances no troops could be expected to display a high
standard of valor.”
Plans were begun for possible evacuation of the town and it was heavily shelled the night
of the 23rd.
Still, machine guns were reorganized and the Armenian town defenses were gradually shaped
up.
A peace was signed with Kuchik Khan back at Enzeli, who then became their sole contractor
for rice, which was a big boon for Baku.
The Turks had, however, attacked Mud Volcano near Baku the 26th and inflicted heavy losses,
including killing the British major who was charged with wiring the front, but they failed
to break through and take the town.
It was obvious that the great assault was soon to come.
The main problem everywhere though, was the delay between agreement and action.
Everything was done by committee and every single man had a say.
Every battalion has a committee, and so does each company in the battalion, and committee
meetings are held during action.
But once they’ve reached a decision, they have no power to enforce it, because of course
the men do not consider themselves bound by such a decision if they don’t personally
support it.
Dunsterville says that all of this “freedom” put a stop to any enterprise and that much
of Russia is longing for any form of government that will restore a semblance of law and order.
He also says of those fighting the revolution, “Revolutionaries are quite the least brotherly
people toward each other that the world contains, and constitute a living refutation of their
fundamental doctrines.”
The Turks again attacked August 31st.
Troops from the town kept in reserve could have easily counterattacked and carried the
day, but this they did not do.
Dunsterville by now despaired of the situation- though he says that retreating to the heights
south of the railway line could save the city and port, but the local men have to be willing
to actually fight, and they weren’t.
He was asked to attend a Council of War that evening.
There were the Five Dictators, the Armenian National Council, workman’s delegates, soldiers’
and sailors’ delegates, and peasant deputies.
General Dukuchaiev, the local C-in-C, gave an address on his strategy and summed up his
remarks.
Even as he was concluding, a sailor rose and gave his views.
He spoke for an hour and then proposed plans the exact opposite of the C-in-C. Then the
Armenian National Council proposed a third set of plans.
Then the Dictators had their plans, then other speakers.
An exasperated Dunsterville left at 0100, while they were still talking.
He decided that the situation was unsalvageable and the next afternoon met the Dictators to
tell them so.
The Hush-Hush army has done all the fighting, but the men came to help fight, not do ALL
the fighting, and he won’t sacrifice their lives needlessly, so he will soon leave Baku.
He advises the Dictators to send out a flag of truce and sort out peace terms before an
invasion can happen, and not waste time making speeches and resolutions.
The Dictators are thunderstruck, as if the idea of the fall of Baku had never been a
possibility for them.
Later, Dunsterville returned to HQ and found the various committees all passing resolutions
as fast as they could.
While it is ludicrous, he points out that the ludicrous situation is not really their
fault and would likely arise to a certain extent after any revolution.
By this time, though, it should be noted that a big part of the town was eager to replace
the Dictators with something else.
At 0400 September 14th, the final assault on Baku began, and the local troops for the
most part did not fight, were immediately overrun, and evacuation seemed the only option.
However, the Dunsterforce managed to check the advance at 0800, though counterattacking
proved impossible.
They couldn’t fight the whole enemy alone, so the order was given for retirement to commence
at 2000.
The sun set, and the fighting had died down after 14 hours as both sides were exhausted.
The sick and wounded were aboard ship shortly after dark and they made for Enzeli.
By 2200, troops and guns were aboard the Kruger.
Two Dictators arrived and demanded the British return to its fighting line positions.
Dunsterville says that after 14 hours fighting with no relief or support that’s not possible.
The Dictators say they will sink the ships.
Dunsterville says, “I hope not.”
They made it safely to Enzeli.
Fewer than 1,000 men had kept a force ten times their size at bay for nearly a month.
The local Baku artillery had actually been great but it was the Dunsterforce that had
held the town.
Casualties had been 180, about a 5th of the force.
Once beyond Enzeli, the adventure of the Dunsterforce comes to an end.
Here are a few of Dunsterville’s words about revolution: “It is extremely easy to break
down an existing form of government, but to build up anything substantial in its place
is a matter of considerable difficulty... and a long period of disorder must ensue during
which the best efforts of the best men will not suffice to prevent ridiculous situations
from arising.”
That’s pretty short but sweet, and it certainly helps explain the Baku situation in the summer
of 1918, a situation of absurdity following revolution.
We thought this two-part tale of revolution, chaos, and adventure might make a bit more
upbeat Christmas special than last year’s and hope you enjoyed it.
But don’t forget, a lot of people died here, from all sides, and even post revolution;
they were still casualties of the Great War.
I definitely encourage you to read “The Adventures of Dunsterville” and you can
find a link to that in the description below.
If you missed part 1 of our Dunsterforce adventure, you can click right here for that.
Don’t forget to subscribe, see you next time.