Dunsterforce
| Dunsterforce | |
|---|---|
|
Dunsterville (far left) with staff | |
| Active | 1917–1919 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom and British Empire |
| Allegiance | Allies |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Detachment |
| Size | Brigade |
| Engagements | Battle of Baku |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Lionel Dunsterville, Ranald MacDonell |
Established in late 1917, Dunsterforce was an Allied military mission of under 1,000 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian troops (drawn from the Mesopotamian and Western Fronts), accompanied by armoured cars, deployed from Hamadan some 350 kilometres (220 mi) across Qajar Persia. It was named after its commander General Lionel Dunsterville.
Its mission was to gather information, train and command local forces and prevent the spread of German propaganda.[1] Later on, Dunsterville was told to take and protect the Baku oil fields. The force was initially delayed by 3,000 Russian Bolshevik troops at Enzeli but then proceeded by ship to the port of Baku on the Caspian Sea. This was the primary target for the advancing Turkish forces and Dunsterforce endured a short, brutal siege in September 1918 before being forced to withdraw. Some 50,000 Christian refugees accompanied the column on its retreat to Baghdad.[2]
Order of battle
The British element of Dunsterforce comprised 39th Brigade of 13th (Western) Division. On July 1, 1918 the brigade received orders to be detached from the division for attachment to the North Persia Force. The component units left the division between July 10 and August 19; Brigade HQ arrived in Baku at Dunsterforce HQ on August 24.
- 39th Brigade
- 9th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- 7th (Service) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
- 9th (Service) Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment
- 7th (Service) Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment
- 1st/4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment (platoon of)[2]
- 39th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (MGC)
- 39th Supply & Transport Column, Army Service Corps (ASC)
- 39th Trench Mortar Battery
Soviet account
Soviet archivist Vasili Mitrokhin claimed that Dunsterforce's objective was, under the guise of defending British India, to secure a foothold in the Caucasus. The force would then co-operate with counter-revolutionary forces to overthrow the Baku Soviet and seize control of the whole of the oil-rich Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and all surrounding regions. Mitrokhin claimed that General Dunsterville had "forty Ford vans loaded with gold and silver" to pay for the operation.
Notes
- ↑ The Azerbaijani Turks: power and identity under Russian rule, Audrey L. Altstadt
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hammerton, Sir John, ed. (10 October 1935). "106: To Baku and Mosul". World War 1914–1918, A Pictorial History. London: Amalgamated Press. pp. 1,357–1,364. OCLC 16534206.
See also
Further reading
- Austin, W. S. (1924). The Official History of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own). New Zealand in the First World War 1914–1918. Wellington, NZ: L. T. Watkins. OCLC 22988355. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- Donohoe, Major M. H. (1919). With the Persian Expedition (PDF). London: Edward Arnold. OCLC 2650768. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- Dunsterville C.B., Major-General L. C. (1920). The Adventures of Dunsterforce (PDF). London: Edward Arnold. OCLC 317431. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- Easton, Paul (17 April 2010). "Tough little Kiwi fought to the death". The Dominion Post (Wellington). p. A5. ISSN 1175-9488. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- Marlow, Joyce (1967). Billy Goes to War (illustrated, fictional account of the Dunsterforce expedition based on a real soldier's diary and photographs). London: Whiting & Wheaton. OCLC 30285086.
- Perrett, Bryan; Lord, Anthony (1981). The Czar's British Squadron. London: William Kimber. ISBN 07-1830-268-0.
- Plotke, A. J. (1992). Imperial Spies Invade Russia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-31328-611-6.
