Expecting Chinese Bandits

This night was a sleepless one for us as we were not going to be caught asleep but morning came and nothing happened. But, we got some nice news from our friend. He said that the Chinese bandits were camped about three miles away and they had just came the night before from Okovosk where they had burned the whole town down. This night we had some more to think of. We were the only American soldiers in thirty miles with a whole tribe of Chinese bandits only three miles away. This night we did not stay in the cars at all but we had a light burning in the cars so, if they did come, we would be able to tell where they were. As we did not want to be trapped in the cars we sat on the hillside all night long but nothing showed up. At nine o'clock in the morning the show bunch showed up and we were sure glad.

Chinese Bandits, Japanese Graves, and General Kalmykov

The rest of the bunch left us in the morning so we had all day to look around, which we did to perfection. We were in a valley with high hills all around us. Here there was a small town which did not have more than a hundred people at most. My friend and I had a good time here as up to this we were in Siberia over half a year and we could hold a pretty good conversation in Russian. We made friends with a fellow who had been to Alaska and could talk pretty good English and he gave us an invite to his house for dinner which we sure did take up. We had a fine meal here with some very good vodka. He said that most of the people had left this town as it was raided so many times that they got tired of it and left. He also said that there was a gang of Chinese bandits in the hills not far that would come down on this town any day and take everything they could lay their hands on. This we did not call good news as we did not like to put up any fight with a bunch like that.

In the afternoon we walked around and we found a place in some woods where the Japanese must have had a big fight as all over the woods the Japs had stuck boards in the ground over the graves of the dead ones.

Toward evening General Kalmykov came in here with his armored cars to load his train with coal. When the people found out who it was they beat it to the hills. He broke into most every house and I guess he got all he wanted as he left at night for Shkotovo. We heard that he lost over three hundred men at Shkotovo.

April 12th 1919

April 12th we were at the end of the railroad, for here, the narrow gauge starts, which are nothing but small coal cars. This line is 30 miles long over nothing but mountains. This trip took the whole day to make.

The 31st infantry had a company at the mine but they did not have a piano so the medical doctor and I were left back to guard the cars till they came back and we were just about twenty miles from the place where we got into the fight so the Doctor and I did not feel any too good.

Siberia War Poster

I just found this poster on an interesting site run by a descendant of a Veteran of the Siberian Intervention. Check out his website, America's Secret War. I am not sure whether the site is still maintained.

There are a number of interesting photos, some official government docs, and stories from the AEF mission in Siberia.

There is also a list of images of stamps, pins, and other items relating to the Siberian Intervention.

Letters Sent and Received

George dedicates a few pages in one of his hand written journals to a list of all the letters he sends and receives, with names and dates. You can see an example page here.

Click on the image for a larger view.

At the end of the list he counts over 140 letters sent and received between his time training in California and the final days in Siberia.

Horrors of War

We did not stop long so we could not see all of it. But, all along we could see soldiers dropping, and if it had not been for the depot and the car we were in we would have never been able to tell the tale. The same gang have been operating in the Amur District for quite a while. As they advanced the Bolsheviks grew stronger and bolder. A small Cossack detachment was surrounded and annihilated. A stronger detachment which was sent to the rescue found the bodies of their comrades in a ghastly condition. Some of them were crucified on the wall of a house while others were laying in a heap horribly mutilated. Most of them were officers and the Bolsheviks, before killing them, had hammered nails into their shoulders to replace the stars showing their rank.

The Garrison of Vladimirovo-Alexandrovsk on this same date was also attacked and was surrounded by the enemy. Some of the men managed to cut their way through the lines but many were wounded and unable to move. The Bolsheviks, after capturing them, selected a dozen officers, tied their hands and feet with ropes and placed them in a row on their backs with a bomb tied to each. The bombs were then connected by means of a wire and exploded by electricity. The remainder of the wounded were divided into two groups. One group were buried alive. The other, having petrol over them were burned alive.

Impressions of Suchan Mine

Coal Mine, branch line off the main line about 78 miles from Vladivostok, There is thirty miles of narrow gauge mostly pulled up hills by cables. The country is beautiful, the hills being so steep many of the cars get away and leave the track. In this district there are many Bolsheviks and a band of 5000 Chinese bandits who roam the hills and rob small villages. This place is about 15 miles from the Japanese Sea.
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The image is a scan of one of George's hand written journals. He wrote up a number of descriptions of the different cities and areas he visited. You can click on the tag "impressions" below to see the others.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Escaping The Firefight

We were in this battle for two hours till our engineer got nerves up to leave and we were not a bit mad. About two miles away our engineer was so excited that he could not make a grade so we got out and put cinders on the track as the Russian engines do not have any sand. When we left the town it seemed as though the whole town wanted to get on our train so they could get away from the fighting.

Even one of the Police of this town was on our train.