War Diaries Talk

Russian units on Western Front?

  • sdorman120 by sdorman120

    There is mention on this page (dated May 1915) of "L/C Haytor recommended for Russian decoration for gallant conduct on the Aisne".

    My research shows that Russian units were deployed on the Western Front, alongside French forces, from early 1916. But this extract would seem to suggest earlier involvement, although perhaps it was only in the form of some sort of liaison groups.

    Can anyone provide any additional information on this or could 'Russian' be a misunderstanding on the part of the diarist or a misreading of the situation by myself?

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    The allied countries all had allowances of gallantry awards from one another, which they could hand out as and when. There's a discussion about it here:

    https://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD0000009/discussions/DWD00010v6

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Part of an interesting article re Russia and First World War: 1914-1916

    By December, 1914, the Russian Army had 6,553,000 men. However, they only had 4,652,000 rifles. Untrained troops were ordered into battle without adequate arms or ammunition. "Untrained troops were ordered into battle without adequate arms or ammunition. And because the Russian Army had about one surgeon for every 10,000 men, many wounded of its soldiers died from wounds that would have been treated on the Western Front. With medical staff spread out across a 500 mile front, the likelihood of any Russian soldier receiving any medical treatment was close to zero".

    Tsar Nicholas II decided to replace Grand Duke Nikolaias supreme commander of the Russian Army fighting on the Eastern Front. He was disturbed when he received the following information from General Alexei Brusilov: "In recent battles a third of the men had no rifles. These poor devils had to wait patiently until their comrades fell before their eyes and they could pick up weapons. The army is drowning in its own blood."

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  • sdorman120 by sdorman120 in response to ral104's comment.

    Thanks for the link - that explains things nicely.

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