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;.0MUON, EDWAKD ARNOLD .

THE ADVENTURES OF

DUNSTEEFOECE

MAJOE-GENEEAL L. C. DUNSTEEVILLE

C.B., C.S.I.

ILLUSTRATED

LONDON
EDWAED AENOLD

1920

lAll Bights Beserved}

•i *.: •

• » ••

'• • • • ,

PEEFACE

THIS book is not intended to form a precise record
of military operations and will be of small value to
the student of strategy and tactics ; it is written solely
with the design of interesting the general reader. Stories
of the Hush-Hush Army, which bear no relation to facts,
have been for a long time current, and it may be as well,
therefore, to give an account of the actual occurrences.
It would be impossible for any one member of my force
to give a truthful account of anything but the actual
operations in which he was personally engaged, and this
would give no idea at all of the undertakings and achieve-
ments of the mission as a whole ; the task, therefore,
devolves on myself. This account is written from memory
with only the assistance of a rough private diary. I
can, therefore, only guarantee the facts while leaving
numbers " round " and figures ** approximate."

To attempt a detailed account of the various operations
undertaken by detachments of the Force would be quite
beyond the scope of the present volume, and such accounts
to be of real value should be written by those who led
the several expeditions. Thus Major Wagstaff would tell
of the Zinjan-Mianeh venture among the Shah-Savans,
Major Starnes of the dealings round Bijar with the Kurdish
tribes. Major Macarthy of the Persian levies, Colonel

439840

vi PREFACE

Matthews of the fighting round Resht, Colonel Keyworth
of the Baku fighting, and Colonel Stokes of Staff work
in a revolutionary army.

In recounting the various episodes, it is not possible
always to give full recognition to those officers who
contributed on each occasion to the success of certain
enterprises or to whose ingenuity and suggestions certain
plans were due. Such recognition is found in the official
records, and the reader will understand that when a
General is writing an account of the achievements of
a force under his command, it is not possible for him
entirely to eliminate the first person and say " I and
my Staff," or to add in each case the name of any
officer who may have furnished the brilliant idea.

I was particularly well served not only by my Staff,

but by all the officers to whom various tasks were

entrusted, and to whom I desire to record my deep

sense of gratitude.

L. C. DUNSTERVILLE.
Agra.

CONTENTS

CHAPTBB

I. THE GATES AJAR .

II. A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE

III. "the SEA ! THE sea!".

IV. WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN
V. AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS

VI. WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS

VII. FAMINE ....

VIII. A PAUSE AT HAMADAN .

IX. A STEP IN ADVANCE

X. THE LAST STAGE TO THE 8BA .

XI. TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS

Xn. IN TOUCH WITH BAKU

XIII. WE MAN THE BAKU LINE

XIV. SHORT OF EVERYTHING .

XV. THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES

XVI. THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS

XVII. THE WITHDRAWAL

INDEX ....
vii

P4aa
1

. 11

. 31

. 50

. 68

. 85

. 102

, 118

. 13J>

. 155

. 175

. 195

. 218

. 239

. 263

. 279

. 297

. 319

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS

PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR . . . Frontispiece

TO FACE PAQH
"colonel DUNCAN AND MYSELF SET OFF IN THE EARLY
MORNING " .

THE KA8VIN-RESHT ROAD

LIEUTENANT SINGER IN THE ARMOURED CAR

"a MOUNTAIN STREAM PROVIDES WATER AND A DRAINAGE
CHANNEL " .

24
82
36

. 58

GENERAL BARATOV . , . . . .70

COSSACKS HOMEWARD BOUND . . . . .86

A COURTYARD IN THE BAZAAR, HAMADAN . . .112

RESHT, CLOSE TO THE CONSULATE .... 164

A BRANCH OF THE SEFID-RUD AT RESHT . . .172

MIRZA KUCHIK KHAN : RETURNED TO CIVIL LIFE . . 190

"a MAZE OF NARROW AND TORTUOUS STREETS" . . 202

OIL WELLS AT BIBI-EIBAT ..... 226

"the quays in the NEIGHBOURHOOD OF OUR WHARF '' . 232

MAJOR-GENERAL DUNSTERVILLE AND COLONEL ARATUNOV . 256

"refugees ESCAPING PROM THE WRATH TO COME" . . 260

AFTER THE EVACUATION. THE 39tH INFANTRY BRIGADE AT

ENZELI ....... 314

LIST OF MAPS

GENERAL OUTLINE MAP OF MESOPOTAMIA, PERSIA AND

TRANSCAUCASIA . . . Instde front cover

THE ENVIRONS OP BAKU .... Facing page 220

THE BAKU PENINSULA . . . . , At end

THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

CHAPTER I
THE GATES AJAR

THE history of these adventures, which cover the
whole stretch of country lying between Baghdad
i»nd Baku, deals with a problem which by a curious coin-
ddence abounds in unavoidable alliterations, the letter

standing for Berlin, Batoum, Baku, Bokhara and
[Baghdad, and if one wanted to run the alliteration to
death, one might add Byzantium for Constantinople.
Thus the object of the mission with which I was ordered
to proceed to the Caucasus at the end of 1917, as well
as the enemy plans that led to the dispatch of the mission,
can best be set forth briefly under this letter of the
alphabet.

One of the big items in the deep-laid pre-war schemes
of Germany for world-domination was the absorption
of Asia Minor and the penetration into further Asia by
means of the Berlin-Baghdad railway. When Baghdad
was taken by the British in March 1917, and the prospect
of its recapture by the Turks appeared very remote,
the scheme for German penetration into Asia had to be
shifted further north and took the obvious line Bbrlin-
Baku-Bokhara.

In this latter scheme it was evident that the Southern
Caucasus, Baku and the Caspian Sea would play a large

2 1

2 TfE tlDVJENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

part ; and the object of my mission was to prevent
German and Turkish penetration in this area.

Fate ordained that, just at the time that the British
thwarted the more southern German scheme by the
capture of Baghdad, the Russian breakdown opened
the northern route to the unopposed enterprise of the
Germans. Until the summer of 1917 the Russian troops
held firm, though it was obvious that the process of dis-
integration could not long be delayed. Their line extended
from South Russia, through the Caucasus, across the
Caspian, through North- West Persia until its left joined
up with the British right on the frontier of Persia and
Mesopotamia, east of Baghdad. By the autumn of 1917
this line was melting away, troops deserted en masse
and the entire army announced its intention of with-
drawing from the struggle and proceeding home.

Thus in the neighbourhood of Erzerum the Turkish
Army, acting unconsciously as the Advanced Guard of
German aims, found nothing between it and the long-
coveted possession of the Southern Caucasus, with the
exception of a few Armenian troops, disorganized, without
cohesion and equally impregnated with the spirit of the
revolution. But, as the line of the Turkish advance lay
through their homes, they were compelled to offer resist-
ance. Tiflis, the capital of the Southern Caucasus, was
likely to fall without serious resistance into the hands of
the enemy, and the capture of this town would give the
Turko-German armies control of the railway line between
Batoum on the Black Sea and Baku on the Caspian, the
enormously valuable oilfields of Baku, the indispensable
minerals of the Caucasus Mountains, and the vast supplies
of grain and cotton from the shores of the Caspian Sea.

The scene of conflict being too far removed from any
of the main areas of the war — Baghdad to Baku is 800
miles — it was quite impossible to send sufl&cient troops
to meet the situation.

THE GATES AJAR 8

The only possible plan, and it was a very sound one,
was to send a British mission to Tiflis. This mission,
on reaching its destination, would set to work to re-
organize the broken units of Russian, Georgian and
Armenian soldiery, and restore the battle-line against
the Turkish invasion. The prospects were considerable,
and success would be out of all proportion to the numbers
employed or the cost involved. It was attractive and
practical.

The honour of command fell to my lot, and I set forth
from Baghdad with the leading party in January 1918.

Let me state at the outset that it entirely failed to
achieve its original object, and never even reached Tiflis !
But the story I propose to tell is of its endeavours to
reach that spot, of the other tasks that fell incidentally
to its lot, and of its minor achievements, which I am
convinced were of great value to the Allied cause.

It will be left to the reader to deduce from the general
narrative the value of these achievements, but I may
draw attention to the one immediately following the
abandonment of the Tiflis scheme, to wit, that by a kind
of moral camouflage, the original first party of twelve
officers and forty-one men filled the gap left in North
Persia by the evacuating Russians on 300 miles of
road, and entirely checked all enemy enterprise on this
line, though hampered by the threatening hostility of
the neutral Persians.

Before beginning the narrative of the adventures of
the mission, it may be interesting to survey very briefly
the Tiflis scheme.

From the enemy's point of view, the Turk would
undoubtedly be actuated by an intense desire to gain
possession of valuable territory in the only theatre of war
where victories fell like ripe plums into his lap, he could
indulge his long-standing hatred of the Armenian to its
fullest extent, and the individual soldier would be tempted

4 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

by the rich loot which the larger cities would afford. But
on the other hand the Turkish Army as a whole was no
longer the well-organized machine of 1916. The troops
were tired, and their leaders were no longer inspired by
the certainty of ultimate victory, but rather were de-
pressed by the extreme probability of the contrary result.
Against such an army it should be easy to reorganize the
large numbers of Georgian and Armenian troops, whose
fighting spirit would be multiplied a hundredfold by their
determination to keep the hated invader out of their
homes.

This last proposition seems so obvious that it might
well be taken as a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately
the event proved the exact reverse ! The revolution had
so taken the heart out of the men, that this primitive
spirit of the defence of hearth and home, one of the
strongest instincts the human being possesses, was
entirely absent in the case of the South Caucasians.

' The only possible line of success for the mission would
have been to have worked on this feeling of patriotism
and love of home. It may seem incredible, but it is
certain that such a feeling did not exist, and plans based
upon it would have been foredoomed to failure ; but to
make the assertion is surely not to be laid to the blame
of those who counted on the existence of such a feeling.

The truth of the matter is that Tifiis, long before
the war, had what the Russians call a German " orien-
tation."

In their deep preparation for this great war the
German left no stone unturned, and the Caucasus, north
and south, had been thoroughly exploited by them in
view of possible eventualities.

The inhabitants of Tifiis read their Reuters and com-
pared them with the glorious revelations of the German
wireless : Obviously Germany was going to win the war.
'* Therefore why should we have the British here to prolong

THE GATES AJAR 5

matters ? Let the Turks take the country : we look to
a victorious and magnanimous Germany to protect us
from Turkish excesses and to turn them out again when
the war is over. The Turkish invasion is only a temporary
inconvenience from which the Germans will later relieve
us." Such was undoubtedly the Tiflis train of thought,
especially among the Georgian population. At the back
of the Armenian mind always lay the terror of impending
massacre.

This lack of national spirit is an example of the terrible
uncertainty with which those are confronted who are
called on to deal with military problems. The one factor
that may fairly be regarded as certain turns out exactly
contrary. When this story reaches the final stage of
the defence of Baku against the Turks, it will be seen that
in the eleventh hour, with their beloved city, their private
wealth, their wives and children, in hourly danger of
falling into the hands of the enemy, and firmly believing
in the certainty of a general massacre — even at such a
moment as this, the spirit on which a successful defence
could alone be based was never evoked. There is no
doubt that this lack of heart must be attributed to the
revolution. All the factors that go to make up what
we call " bravery " are shivered to pieces in a revolution,
and their place is taken by a dull apathy that meets all
situations with the hopeless query, " What is the use of
anything ? "

So much for the South Caucasus. Now as to Persia.

Although Persia was declared neutral, her territory
had been used from the commencement of the war, both
by the Russians and the Turks, who fought each other
up and down the road from Kasvin to Kermanshah, until
our capture of Baghdad left the Russians in undisputed
possession. In 1917, therefore, the Russians were holding
the road running north-east from the Perso-Mesopotamian
frontier to the Caspian Sea. The Turks, though not

6 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

showing any intention of attacking on that line, still
kept a sufficient number of troops on a line parallel to
and north-west of the Russian line to necessitate a
constant look-out in that direction.

When, with the advent of the Bolsheviks to power in
November 1917, the Russian troops in North Persia
began to break away, it became obvious that a gap of
some 450 miles would be left open on the right flank of
the British Mesopotamian army, through which Turkish
and German agents and troops could flood Central Asia
unopposed.

It was hoped to stop this gap by re-enlisting, under
the British flag, a sufficient number of well-paid volunteers
from the ranks of the retreating Russians.

The efforts made in this direction were a complete
failure.

The reasons for the failure were mainly those narrated
above — revolutionaries will kill, but they won't fight. The
few men enlisted were quite worthless, and the revolu-
tionary Committees proclaimed sentence of death on
any one supporting the movement ; so it had to be
abandoned. As a matter of fact, the gap created in this
portion of the line was actually filled by the officers and
N.C.O.'s of the mission, under circumstances which will
be narrated farther on.

It only remains now to give a very short description
of the geography of the terrain.

Leaving Baghdad in an easterly direction, the monoto-
nous flat country of Mesopotamia continues for about
80 miles as the crow flies, until the Persian frontier, which
practically coincides with the foot of the mountains, is
reached. The approach to the hills is gradual, commencing
with the usual Jebels, or foothills, which begin to break
the level of the dead flat ground at about 20 miles before
we come to the actual frontier.

From this point on to the Caspian Sea, 400 miles in

THE GATES AJAR 7

a straight line, the country consists of a succession of
barren hills and fertile valleys, the line of the parallel
ranges running N.W. to S.E., while the road runs N.E.,
thus taking each range at right angles. The passes run
to between 5,000 and 8,000 feet above sea-level, and the
general level of the country lies between 3,000 and 7,000
feet.

On the Taq-i-Giri Pass, by which travellers from
Mesopotamia enter the Persian uplands, there are a few
stunted oaks on the hillsides ; these are practically
the only wild trees seen until we come to the Elburz
mountains, which skirt the southern shores of the Caspian
Sea. Passing through this mountain range at Menjil,
the last 70 miles down to the sea display an example of
the vivid contrasts that only Asia affords. After more
than 300 miles of hills as barren as the rocks of Aden, a
country is suddenly entered which is clothed in the very
thickest of forest, producing an effect as striking as a
sudden transition from one planet to another. The last
20 miles of this road down to the Russian Concession
Port of Kazian (or Enzeli) lies on the flat among low
dunes, and represents the portion of the sea that has
gradually been silted up in the course of centuries by
the mud brought down from the Elburz range and the
sand blown in from the sea by the northerly gales.

The Caspian basin encloses every sort of climate and
temperature, the shores display every variety of country,
inhabited by numberless races, the fragments of submerged
great races of the past. As regards climate, the port
of Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga in the extreme
North is icebound in winter, while the country round
Enzeli is rice-growing ; plantains and palms flourish in
the open, and the winter is chiefly characterized by warm
drizzling rain.

The country on the north-west, north and most of
the eastern shores is flat, either grass-growing steppe or

8 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

sandy desert ; on the west and south tower the offshoots
of the Caucasus range and the magnificent range of the
Elburz Mountains.

The principal races inhabiting the shores are Russians
and Cossacks in the northern area, Turcomans to the
east, Persians and Gilanis to the south, Tartars, Georgians,
Armenians and Daghestanis on the west.

With the exception of the southern shore, which is
Persian territory, the entire sea lies within the Russian
zone, and on this southern shore, a veritable Naboth's
vineyard, the chief port and the fisheries form a Russian
concession — and a very valuable concession it is. The
road from the port to Teheran and to Hamadan is equally
a Russian property.

The traffic on the sea is very considerable, as it forms
a sort of exchange market for the caviare and frozen fish
of the Russian fisheries, the rice of Gilan and the wheat
and cotton of Turkestan, against the oil of Baku and the
cotton fabrics and other European commodities that are
brought down the Volga to Astrakhan. Where oil fuel
is so cheap, and fierce storms so frequent, there is not
much scope for sailing ships, and the fleet of steamships
is large for so small an area. Without having access to
official figures we calculated on a mercantile fleet on the
Caspian of something like 250 ships, running from 200 tons
to over 1,000, some, built in England, having reached the
Caspian via the Volga on their own bottoms.

A small fleet of three very diminutive gunboats, the
KarSy the Ardaghmi and the Geoh Tepe, rules the waves
in this inland sea, and are sufficient to keep order where
there can be no opposition. This fleet has naturally had
a good deal to say in politics since the revolution started,
mainly with a view to the financial advantage of the
sailors. It is remarkable how willingly a revolutionary
government listens to the demands of the fleet when the
seat of government is on the seashore and the guns of
the ships are trained on vital spots.

THE GATES AJAR 9

The foregoing very rough outline of the political events
leading up to the determination to dispatch the mission
to Tiflis, and of the general nature of the country traversed
in the course of operations, will suffice, I hope, to give
the reader a sufficient notion of the setting of the scene.

One other point requires to be dealt with — the com-
position of the mission.

In view of the special nature of the task with which
it was to deal, actual troops would not be required. A
nucleus of some 200 officers, and a similar number of
N.C.O.'s, would take the place of leaders and instructors
in the reorganized units.

These officers and N.C.O.'s were chosen from all the
units in the various theatres of the war, from France,
Salonika, Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were chiefly
from the Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South
African contingents. All were chosen for special ability,
and all were men who had already distinguished themselves
in the field. It is certain that a finer body of men have
never been brought together, and the command was one
of which any man might well be proud.

But the assembling of the force was a difficult task.
If time had not been an important factor, it would have
been a great advantage to have first assembled it at some
point, and then set forth on our quest. This, however,
was quite impossible. Time was the chief factor in the
problem, and I had to push off personally as soon as I
could get together an advance party of a few officers.

The remainder of the force arrived in batches during
the next two months. In its entirety it was never collected
in one place, owing to the varying nature of the duties
and the huge area in which it was operating. This, in
itself, was a great handicap, but quite unavoidable.

My own knowledge of the Russian language and known
sympathy with Russia had probably a good deal to do
with my selection for the task, but it was not to be expected

10 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

that the officers of my force would, as a general rule, be
linguists : and they were not.

There were, however, a few who could manage a little
Russian as a result of lessons taken on board ship on the
way out, and here and there one or two who could manage
intelligible French. The officers originally selected for
Staff work were admirably chosen and included several
who could speak both Russian and French.

Others from the remoter corners of the earth were
acquainted with the languages of the tribes they were
accustomed to deal with, but such languages would
obviously bear little affinity to those of Asia or Europe.
On one occasion I had to explain that the Zulu " clicks "
would be of no assistance in mastering Persian !

To this body of British officers were added a splendid
batch of Russian officers sent out from London, and
various other Russians, refugees from the revolution who
joined me later, and whose services were of the greatest
value.

This, then, will suffice for a general introduction. I
have endeavoured to make clear the strategic, and political
situation that resulted in the sending of the mission :
I have given a rough description of the country over
which the mission was to seek its adventures, and I have
introduced the characters who are to take part in these
adventures.

CHAPTER II
A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE

ON December 24, 1917, while in command of the
1st Infantry Brigade on the North- West Frontier
of India, I received secret orders to report at Army Head
Quarters at Delhi, with a view to proceeding overseas
on special work.

The Frontier Tribes, who in the previous year had
made things quite lively for us, had been lulled to rest
by the various ingenuities of frightfulness that accompany
modern war — aeroplanes and armoured cars having
quite taken the heart out of them.

Things were distinctly dull, and one was beginning
to feel that one had drifted into a backwater, when the
welcome orders came bringing the longed-for opportunity
of plunging once more into the tide.

Arrangements for departure occupied the shortest
possible time, and after a brief stay at Army Head
Quarters in Delhi for the purpose of conference and
selection of Staff, I embarked at Karachi on January 6,
1918, reaching Basra — the new Basra, with its wonder-
ful development and miles of wharves — on January 12th.

On the morning of January 18th I arrived in Baghdad
and reported to General Head Quarters.

So far, I was the single representative of my force,
and though impatient of delay, it was obviously neces-
sary for me to await my officers there. Even had they

12 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

been at once available, a certain amount of delay would
have been inevitable. There were plans to be considered,
experts to be consulted, office arrangements to be per-
fected and the thousand and one things to be attended
to that must crop up on such occasions.

In the first place it was desirable to appreciate the
situation and to realize what difficulties would have to
be overcome. For this purpose it was necessary to study
maps and get in touch with the latest intelligence from
the regions in which we would be operating. In this
matter I was greatly helped by Major Sir Walter Barttelot,
D.S.O., of the Coldstream Guards, who had recently
traversed the whole route while the Russians were holding
it and before their line had broken away. At this time,
Captain G. Goldsmith arrived from England on a special
mission which was to link up with mine, and I decided
to send both these officers through in motor-cars a few
days in advance of my party, to ensure petrol supply
at certain points en route.

I calculated that I should be able to start in a few
days with ten or twelve officers travelling in Ford touring
cars and vans.

For the party of twelve officers and two clerks which
eventually composed the advanced party, it was
necessary to have four touring cars and thirty-six vans —
a liberal amount of transport, it may be thought, for
so small a party. But the vans are very small and light,
and from the space available in each must be deducted
the requirements of the driver, including liberal bedding
in view of the climatic conditions anticipated. Then
there was a considerable weight of money in Persian
silver and English gold, an office establishment, medical
stores, reserve rations and other impedimenta insepar-
able from an undertaking of this sort.

In appreciating the situation, the following unfavour-
able factors constituted a rather formidable list :

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 13

(a) Road difficulties.
(6) Winter storms.

factor at this period.

(d) Hostility of Kurds.

(e) Possible difficulties with revolutionary Russians^

especially with Bolsheviks.
(/) Declared hostility of the Jangalis of Gilan on the

South Caspian shore.
(g) Supplies of food.
(h) Supplies of petrol.

To take these in turn : The road from Baghdad to
Khanikin, 94 miles, over the ordinary hard clay soil,
was reported quite good in dry weather ; from Khanikin
to Hamadan, 240 miles, a very doubtful road, improved
and made passable for motors by the Russians, difficult'
in good weather, impassable in bad ; from Hamadan
to Enzeli (Kazian), 267 miles, a first-rate road made by
the Russian Road Company many years ago, and now
sadly in need of repair.

Snowstorms were reported to be frequent at this
time of year, possibly blocking the passes.

Possible hostility of Persians ; it was hard to feel
certain on this point. The known factors were that the
inhabitants were well armed and strongly resented our
intrusion. At the same time a study of Persian character
in the world-famous book of " Haji Baba of Ispahan "
led one to discount the dangers of this hostility.

The Kurds lying to the north of the road were rather
a different matter. Living in the most mountainous
regions and doing a good business in highway robbery,
the mention of their name strikes awe into the ordinary
Persian, though the Russians, too, held them in great
respect and certainly over-estimated their ferocity.
During the Russian tenure of this road, losses of indi-

14 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

vidual men from Kurdish raiders were very frequent.
Comparison was made between them and the Pathans
of the North-West Frontier of India, and had this been
a true comparison the prospects of the mission would
indeed have been dismal.

The meeting with the Russian Army in revolution,
and especially with the Bolshevik portion of it, seemed
to promise insuperable difficulties, as the Bolsheviks
had already, in resentment at the British Government's
refusal of recognition, adopted a strongly anti-British
attitude.

The Jangalis of Gilan, under the redoubtable revolu-
tionary leader Kuchik Khan, might offer an even greater
obstacle to the success of the mission. Mirza Kuchik
Khan had forcibly taken over the administration of the
whole of the Gilan country, through which lay the last
70 miles of our road, had adopted a fiercely anti-foreign
programme threatening death and destruction to all
white men who came his way, and was now, in con-
junction with the Bolsheviks, holding Enzeli, the only
port on the Caspian from which we could hope to embark.

Difficulties of this sort usually melt away when firmly
confronted, but should they be all successfully over-
come, we would be eventually landed in the port of Baku,
more strongly Bolshevik and anti-British at this time
than any point in the Caucasus.

Next, the question of food supply for fifty-five officers
and men would certainly prove difficult in a famine-stricken
and war-devastated country in the depth of winter ; and
finally the question of petrol supply was extraordinarily
difficult and was naturally the key of the whole situation,
as every pint had to come from Baghdad, and the diffi-
culty thus increased in geometrical progression with
every mile of road traversed.

The risk of failure of petrol supply was very con-
siderable, but in the end no such failure occurred. From

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 15

Baghdad to Kermanshah, where we met the first Russian
detachment, we carried our own petrol, filling up from
the last dump 150 miles from Baghdad. From Ker-
manshah onwards the Russian authorities helped us.

Major Barttelot and Captain Goldsmith left on
January 24th with an escort of one light armoured motor-
car under Lieutenant Singer, having orders to proceed as
far as Hamadan, ensure the petrol supply and await
the arrival of my party there.

The risk of so small a party entering Kurdish territory
would have been considerable ; but the moral effect of
the armoured car is enormous, and the advent of winter
had driven most of the Kurds to the lower valleys on the
Mesopotamian side.

By January 26th my party had grown to fourteen,
and at last the moment had arrived when a start might
be made. During these days of waiting, I had had to
consider whether it would not perhaps be better for me
to push on to Hamadan alone, and so get more in touch
with local conditions and begin collecting information.
But I decided against this plan for two reasons, firstly
because it would make communication with London more
difficult, and there were many important minor points
not yet settled ; and secondly because a possibly long
halt in Hamadan would attract attention to the mission
and give our numerous ill-wishers plenty of leisure to
plan out annoyances for our further move.

I had cabled home stating that I had decided to stay
in Baghdad till a small party of officers had been col-
lected, and then to hasten on a non-stop journey through
to Enzeli, thence straight on boardship and to Baku,
where I would arrive, if all went well, in about twelve
days, and before any of the various enemy plans to stop
us could mature. In theory the idea of the non-stop
journey was delightful ; as a matter of fact the journey
eventually involved more stopping than travelling.

16 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

The soldiers' worst enemy, or best friend, the weather,
turned against us at the start, and put a stop to any-
thing in the nature of rapid progress.

At last, at 7 a.m. on January 27th, the forty-one
Ford cars were lined up outside the walls of Baghdad
waiting for the word to start. I had chosen the follow-
ing officers to accompany me : Captain Dunning, A.D.C.,
Lieut. -Colonel Duncan, A.Q.M.G., Captain Saunders,
G.S.O., Captain Stork, Staff Captain, Captains Hooper,
Jackson and Annett, representing Infantry, Artillery and
Cavalry ; Major Brunskill and Captain John, Medical ;
Captains Campbell and Aldham, Supply and Mechanical
Transport ; and as clerks, Sergeants Routledge and
Watson.

For fighting purposes we could muster forty-one
rifles from among the drivers, and we had one Lewis-gun
in charge of Captain Hooper,

With a punctual start and fine weather the distance
to Khanikin, 94 miles, was covered without excessive
delay. But even under such favourable conditions it
took ten and a half hours to cover the distance. As it
is imperative in such circumstances to keep a convoy
together, all cars must halt at intervals till the repair
car at the rear of the column joins up and reports "all
correct." The delay, therefore, to be expected when
travelling with forty-one cars is roughly forty-one times
the average delay when travelling with one car. It may
be considered a good day when the average speed
approaches 10 miles an hour.

Since my arrival in Baghdad the weather had been
uniformly fine, but it seemed too much to hope for a con-
tinuance of the blue sky. Sure enough, as we approached
the mountains the clouds gathered over the distant hill-
tops, and there was every indication of the worst
possible weather, an indication completely fulfilled in
the next few hours.

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 17

After spending a very comfortable night in a ruined
Turkish building at Khanikin, and receiving much kind
hospitality from the British garrison there, we left again
on the 28th for Pai-Taq, 61 miles, reaching our destina-
tion in a violent gale accompanied by sleet, after a run
of about ten hours. We had averaged only 6 miles an
hour owing to bad roads, bad weather and bad luck
with repairs. The rain started almost as soon as we
left Khanikin, and amply fulfilled the gloomy prophecies
of yesterday.

The village of Pai-Taq at the foot of the Taq-i-Giri
Pass afforded us shelter of a sort for the night. The
wretched villages all along this road had been destroyed
time after time by Russians and Turks in turn, in the
course of the fighting during the two previous years.
The remaining miserable inhabitants wander, gaunt with
famine, among the ruins, and tearfully regard the advent
of yet another host of invaders, of yet another nation-
ality. They will soon learn that the new-comers are
not destroyers but restorers.

From Pai-Taq the next stage of the journey was to
land us in Harunabad, but starting on January 29th
it was not till February 2nd that we actually completed
those 41 miles. The road from Pai-Taq ascends for the
first 3 miles very steeply up the face of a cliff, and as
we got under way at break of day in the worst sort of
weather, our prospects did not seem very bright. We
soon found that pushing our cars up the incline by hand
was good enough exercise, but not helpful from the point
of view of progress.

At the top of the cliff it was pleasant to find a rosy-
faced Hampshire lad sitting on the edge of the rock, a
sentry from one of the last picquets that guarded our
road for us. This war has produced many scenes of mar-
vellous contrast, but I think the picture of that young
soldier was among the most striking. There on the

18 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

road from Persia to Babylon, the road trodden by the
Medes and Persians, on the rocky barren hillside of
the Persian mountains sat a youngster from the kindly
Hampshire downs.

When the top of this the steepest portion of the
road has been successfully climbed, another 3 miles of
bad road remains before the watershed is reached. It
remained to be seen whether this second half would be
at all passable in the snowstorm, which continued with
unabated vigour. At this point we found the camp of
the 1/4 Hampshire Regiment, close to the village of
Surkhadisa, and a halt was made to fill up our petrol
tanks and await a break in the weather before bidding
a farewell to the last outpost of the Mesopotamian army,
and finally launching out on our own resources. The
longed-for break occurred soon after 1.30 p.m., and
the journey was resumed in high spirits. But not for
long. The sun shone brightly for precisely ten minutes,
when down came the snow again in a blinding whirl that
made further driving, on a mountain road that was
entirely obliterated, a matter of absolute impossibility.
So after one or two ineffectual charges into snowdrifts, we
had to bow to the inevitable and get back to Surkhadisa,
where we tucked ourselves up very comfortably in a
ruined caravanserai. Most of the roof was down, but
enough remained to give shelter to us all, and the presence
of two dead horses did not prevent us from feeling glad
of the shelter.

Evils and blessings balance 'as a rule. As witness
those horrible horses. In summer time they would have
made the whole atmosphere unbearable. As it was,
being frozen, they were only remarkable to the eye.
So with the insects of these filthy serais ; they were
all dormant for the winter and left us in peace.

So again with the Kurds. The same snow that
annoyed us had driven them down from the hills, and

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 19

had left the few who remained very disinclined to molest
us. Under normal summer circumstances the risk of
bullets from Kurds, and typhus from insects, would
have been considerable. " Autant de gagne sur
I'ennemi."

In the serai at Surkhadisa we were fated to stay for
several days, each day reconnoitring with a view to getting
the cars to the top of the pass ; but as snow fell daily
and the drifts became deeper and deeper as the top was
approached, it seemed that we might be compelled to
stay for an indefinite time.

At last, on February 2nd, I decided to make an early
start and try to get over the pass before the snow-surface
melted.

Starting at 4 a.m. in bright moonlight, the top of the
pass was reached by 7.30 a.m. Nothing could exceed
the beauty of the narrow snowclad glen which leads to
the summit, and as we pushed the cars slowly over the
crisp snow, we were confronted every now and then by
grey visions of passing Kurds, who flitted harmlessly
by. The only test of the hostility of these heavily armed
figures is when they open fire.

The British Consul at Kermanshah, which lay some
70 railes ahead of us, had evolved a system of road-guards
from among the Kurds themselves, making it difficult
for the new-comer to be certain whether any particular
individual was there to guard us, or whether he was the
Kurd we were to be guarded against. In any case there
is not much in it. He could assume either character as
the occasion dictated.

However, the mere fact of there being road-guards
and consuls ahead of us, and bank managers, and
alongside of us telegraph and telephone wires, made us
feel that, however wild the land we were in, we were
not quite out of touch with civilization. True, the
telegraph and telephone wires were hanging in festoons,

20 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

but the poles and insulators remained, and the line could
be restored without much difficulty. These consuls
and bank managers are the real heroes whose tale is
seldom told. Through all the troubles and vicissitudes
of these years of war, they (and their brave wives with
them) have kept the flag flying in these remote corners
of the earth. Harried by Turks, threatened by local
disturbances and sometimes compelled to fly for refuge,
leaving all their wordly goods behind them, they reappear
when the storm is over and complacently continue their
truly imperial tasks.

The rate of progress to the top of the pass was just
one mile an hour, and this only achieved by dint of
pushing and pulling and occasional digging. However, at
7 a.m. we found ourselves with a nice down slope before
us and the worst part of our labours over. At Surkhadisa
we had been joined by a light armoured car as escort,
but it was quite impossible to get anything but the very
light Fords over the difficult road, and we had to leave
this escort behind.

Up to this point signs of famine were numerous, and
we not infrequently passed the corpse of some poor,
weary, hungry fellow who had given up the struggle by
the roadside. At Karind, 20 miles from Pai-Taq, we
encountered gangs of villagers, men and women, work-
ing under the guidance of an American missionary at the
usual form of famine relief — road-improvements. This
was part of an extensive system of relief inaugurated by
the British Consul at Kermanshah.

From Karind another 20 miles brought us to our
destination of Harunabad, having covered the distance
of 41 miles in twelve hours, or at the rate of a little better
that 3 miles an hour.

At Harunabad, a typical Kurd village, we passed a
very comfortable night in some of the few houses still
left standing, and nothing occurred to disturb our slumbers

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 21

except a visit from a donkey who insisted on sharing our
sleeping apartment.

At 6.30 a.m. on February 3rd we were off again for
Kermanshah, and managed to do the 40 miles in seven
hours, a good deal better timing than yesterday's.

The road was mostly across the flat-bottomed valleys
common to this part of Persia. The most important
of these valleys is the Mahi-Dasht, which we were lucky
to cross in the early hours of the day. This plain is
usually a sea of mud of the consistency of cream, and
in wet weather forms an impassable obstacle.

At the outskirts of the town we found two Kuban
Cossacks on their shaggy horses, waiting to show us the
way to our billets. They were fine -looking fellows,
belonging to Colonel Bicherakov's " partisans." Circling
the town under their guidance, we came to a well-built
Persian house standing opposite to the British Consulate,
the Imperial Bank of Persia and the American Mission.
This house had been arranged for our accommodation,
and provided the bath of which we were very much in
need.

It will be necessary now to introduce Colonel Bichera-
kov, a truly heroic figure, as he and his picturesque
Cossacks have much to do with the further narrative.
Bicherakov is a man of about forty years of age, slightly
built and of commanding presence. He is an Ossietin
Cossack, one of those semi-wild tribes that are typical
of the North Caucasus. Throughout the war he has
done splendid service, and has been wounded on many
occasions. His men worship him as a fearless leader.
Incidentally, he is C.B., D.S.O.

At the time of our meeting he was commanding a
mixed Cossack force of all arms. His men, though not
unaffected by the undisciplined ideas of the revolution,
had resolved to be faithful to the death to Bicherakov's
person, and their unflinching loyalty to him has since

22 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

enabled him to accomplish great feats. Why the Rus-
sians have chosen the name of " partisans " ^ for this force
I do not know. With this detachment was Lieut. -Colonel
Clutterbuck, of the Indian Army, acting as liason officer,
a Russian scholar and a great favourite with the Cossacks.
In addition to these troops Kermanshah had a Russian
wireless installation worked by men of the New Zealand
detachment.

Our welcome from the European community was
warm, and the contrast of sitting at an English dinner-
table in the Consulate with white linen and glass made
us smile as we thought of the friendly donkey and the
dirty rooms of the night before. Colonel Kennion, the
well-known traveller and " shikari," is the representative
here of His Britannic Majesty's Government. Mrs.
Kennion, who shares his risks and dangers, is one of those
brave Englishwomen, of whom I have already spoken,
who do so much in an unobtrusive way for the needs of
the Empire.

Delightful as Kermanshah was, it was not possible
to spare time for a halt, though the cars would have
been glad of a day's rest, so on the following morning,
February 4th, at 5.30 a.m. we started for Hamadan (103
miles), hoping to do the trip easily in two days. From
the start things did not go well with us. Within the
first quarter of a mile we had a broken axle that delayed
the column for an hour and a half. At 20 miles we passed
Bisitun, with the ancient rock inscriptions of Darius I,
thence over a single arch bridge blown up by the Turks,
but with just sufficient of the arch remaining to suit
the width of our wheels. The ground here was free from
snow, the sky was blue and the road so good that a Staff

' Editor's Note. — The word *' partisan " is used equally in

Bulgarian to express that familiar fauna of the Balkans called

by the Turk the " komitadji,'* by the Greek the " andartis," by
ourselves the " irregular."

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 23

Officer yielded to the fatal temptation to say, " Well,
we've got over our troubles now ; this is like a pleasure
trip." He made that remark at about the fortieth mile,
and at the forty-first mile we reached the foot of the small
but steep Sahneh Pass where we had to man-handle
each car up the slope, taking three hours to cover
the distance of one mile. At the fifty-sixth mile the
cars were running well, and we reached the town of
Kangavar where, close to the ruins of a temple
dating back to classical Greek times, a small Russian
detachment welcomed us in the overwhelming style
of Russian hospitality, with a hot meal for officers and
men. It was getting late now, 4 p.m., and we had 22
miles still to do. It was obvious that we should get
belated in any case, and might experience increased
difficulties and dangers in the dark. But on the other
hand we might never reach our destination at all, and
the chance, therefore, of giving the hungry drivers at
least one full meal was too good to be lost. Moreover,
we now had with us a guide, in the person of Lieutenant
Georgiev of the Russian Army, who had been detailed
by Colonel Bicherakov to accompany us as far as Hama-
dan ; a most useful officer, without whose aid we would
probably not have reached Asadabad at all that night.
So, having yielded to temptation, we left again at
5 p.m. Darkness soon came on, and the road was
generally just a cross-country track often hardly dis-
tinguishable from the surrounding plain. The drivers
were almost too sleepy to carry on, and at 8 p.m. I was
nearly tempted to halt in the open plain. The night
was exceptionally fine, and nothing seemed less pro-
bable than a change in the weather. However, by good
fortune as events proved, I decided to press on, and we
eventually reached Asadabad and got the cars and our-
selves into a fairly clean serai, where we fell asleep with
the pleasurable anticipation of an early start on the next

24 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

morning, a stiff climb up the pass, 7,600 feet high, and
an easy run into Hamadan only 25 miles ahead. The
drivers had been at their work on this day for eighteen
hours, and doubtless looked forward as much as any of
us to the prospective comfort of decent billets and a
day or two's halt. This was the night of February 4:th.
The cars did not reach Hamadan till February 11 th !

I was up at 4 a.m. and stepped outside our little
sleeping room to see that things were getting ready for
the start. My horror and surprise may be imagined
when I found a foot of snow on the ground and the sky
filled with fast-falling heavy flakes. My first feeling was
one of thankfulness that I had not camped out for the
night on the open plain : had we done so, it is hard to
see how we should ever have extricated ourselves from
our dijBficulties. The next was naturally one of exaspera-
tion at further delay just when time was becoming more
and more valuable. *' Pleasure trip," indeed ! Let me
dissociate myself on this one occasion from my Staff's
views.

The whole of the day was spent in endeavours to
clear the pass, but as fast as we dug through the drifts
the snow came down and obliterated our work. On the
third day, February 6th, large gangs of villagers were
employed but without success, and the snow continued
to fall.

On February 7th I determined to ride over the pass
with one Staff Officer. After procuring two decent ponies
and a local guide, Colonel Duncan and myself set off
in the early morning, reaching Zageh on the far side of
the pass at about noon, and motoring thence into
Hamadan in a Russian car with Lieutenant Zypalov,
who had been sent out from Hamadan to meet me.

My object in getting to Hamadan ahead of the party
was to procure assistance from that side in getting the
cars over (they were eventually got over with drag ropes)

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 25

and also to meet the many important people awaiting me
there. Firstly there was General Offley-Shore, recently
returned from Tiflis, who was to post me in all the
latest information concerning the South Caucasus. Major
Sir W. Barttelot and Captain Goldsmith, who had been
collecting local information and arranging petrol supply,
should also be here. In addition to these, there was
valuable knowledge to be acquired from the Consul, Mr.
McDowell, and from the Bank Manager, Mr. McMurray.
And here I was to meet General Baratov, lately com-
manding the victorious Russian Army that had fought
the Turks on this road. He was now most uncomfort-
ably remaining in command of revolutionary troops
who would obey no orders.

The problem of the evacuation of these disorderly
troops was most difficult. Under normal circumstances
an evacuation is difficult enough, but with troops that
defy all authority it was obviously an almost impossible
task. The great point was that the individual soldier
was most anxious to get home, so he was certain to move,
with or without orders, in that direction. With General
Baratov was Colonel Rowlandson as liaison officer.

On arrival at Hamadan we found most comfortable
quarters at the Bank House. The same roof sheltered
Major Barttelot, Captain Goldsmith, General Shore and
others, and the charming and indefatigable hostess seemed
prepared to welcome any number more.

Throughout all the varying fortunes of the force in
North Persia the Bank House at Hamadan stands out
as a landmark, a never-failing refuge for the weary, a
centre of genial hospitality and a focus of all the local
political news.

The first thing to do now was to send on Captain
Goldsmith to explore the further road to Enzeli and to
see about our petrol. He accordingly left on the follow-
ing day, and fate ordained that we should not meet again.

26 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

As he travelled singly on a road crowded with retiring
Russian troops, he attracted no attention, and, being an
adept in finding his way through difficult places, he reached
Enzeli and thence Baku before local suspicions were
aroused. As my party did not reach Baku till seven
months later our prospect of meeting was small, and
he had by that time joined up with Colonel Pike in the
North Caucasus.

On February 11th the cars at last got over the pass.
On arriving at Hamadan the entire party of officers and
men were most hospitably entertained by the American
missionaries, who could not have welcomed their own
men more warmly. Comfortable billets were found for
all, the cars were overhauled and all was ready for a
start, when further falls of snow blocked the Sultan
Bulaq Pass which lay just ahead of us, rendering it im-
possible to start till February 15th. On that day we
got away by 6.30 a.m., and now that we were on the
well-made Russian road we had every hope of making
good progress, a hope that was, this time, not to be
disappointed. The snow would have again blocked us,
but the evacuating Russians in their anxiety to get them-
selves home worked as they had never worked before,
and the drifts were soon cut through. We crossed the
pass without great difficulty in fine weather, and reached
Aveh (75 miles) by 2 p.m., an average of about 10 miles
an hour. The next day, February 15th, we reached
Kasvin, where again we enjoyed the hospitality of the
Imperial Bank of Persia, represented here by Mr. Goodwin.
Kasvin is a town of 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the
many earlier capitals of Persia. It lies at the junction
of the Enzeli-Teheran road with the road by which we
had come. Here it was useful to be able to consult with
Sir Charles Marling, the British Minister in Teheran,
before moving on to the Caspian and possibly leaving
Persia finally behind us. Acting later in the Caucasus,

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 27

a thorough knowledge of the Persian situation would
be indispensable, and it was a great advantage to have
had the experienced opinions of this Minister.

Kasvin itself did not seem to welcome us at all. In
Hamadan there had been a few smiles among the crowd,
but as we entered this city we got only scowls ; the
populace, however, instead of resorting to violence,
contented themselves with holding anti-British meetings
in the mosques, and passing fierce resolutions. Our party
of twelve officers, two clerks and forty-one drivers was
certainly not strong. But the forty-one cars gave quite
a false impression of strength, and we also had now with
us as escort the armoured car under Lieutenant Singer
that had preceded us to Hamadan. It is probable that
but for the armoured car the resolutions might have
ended in action, although this would have involved the
breaking of a well-established rule.

At Kasvin we learnt that further progress was im-
possible. Mirza Kuchik Khan, the leader of the Gilanis
whose district we were about to enter, had vowed not
to let the British through, and his Committee were work-
ing at Enzeli in conjunction with the Bolshevik Com-
mittee, who were equally determined not to allow our
passage. Still, so many of these granite difficulties
had up till now turned out tissue-paper, that it was
obviously necessary to see if this last " impossible "
could not be managed. Arrangements were accordingly
made for an early start on the following morning.

A short description of the " Jangali " or " Gilan '*
movement is now necessary.

The Elburz Mountains, the highest peak of which,
Demavend, near Teheran, ascends to over 18,000 feet
above sea-level, form a wall separating the Persian plateau
from the Caspian Sea. The watershed lies about 50
miles from the shore, to which the spurs gradually descend
through thick and beautiful forest. The country com-

28 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

prised in this area is divided into two provinces, Mazan-
deran composing the eastern half and Gilan the western.
Through the latter country runs the road connecting
Persia via the Caspian with Europe. Resht, the capital
of Gilan, lies on this road about 20 miles from the Enzeli-
Kazian port, whose double name requires explanation.
The harbour is formed by two long sandspits running
from east and west like the jaws of a huge pair of
pincers, enclosing a large shallow lake. On the western
spit lies the old Persian town of Enzeli, on the eastern
spit the new Russian town of Kazian, built by the Russian
Road Company in connection with their valuable trade
concessions. Only a few hundred yards of water separ-
ate the two towns, and while the wharves lie almost
entirely on the Kazian side, the merchants' residences,
the banks and all the hotels lie on the Enzeli side, where
all business is transacted.

The inhabitants of Gilan are spoken of as " Jangalis "
for no other reason than that they live in a forest country
or jungle. It is a misleading term, as it is apt to convey
the idea of something wild and fierce and uncivilized,
and the Gilani is none of these things.

The so-called ** Jangali " movement was started by
a well-known revolutionary of the name of Mirza
Kuchik Khan, an honest, well-meaning idealist. His
programme includes all the wearisome platitudes that
ring the changes on the will-o'-the-wisp ideals of liberty,
equality and fraternity. '' Persia for the Persians "
and " Away with the foreigners " are other obvious items,
a further enumeration of which is not necessary in view
of the fact that they are all obvious, all fallacious and
the world is already tired of them all.

The next scene in the play is also an unvarying one
in such dramas. Kuchik Khan appoints a Committee
to assist in the control of affairs, and from that date
the Committee run Kuchik, who thinks he still leads,

A PLEASURE TRIP ON RECONNAISSANCE 2d

while being merely pushed. And do the Committee
really lead, or are they also being a little pushed ? The
answer to this question is one which affords point where
we find the solution to many such problems — German
and Turkish agents and propaganda. Kuchik's troops
are led by a German officer, von Passchen, and are drilled
by Austrian instructors. Turkish machine-guns and
ammunition form a large part of the material of his
army. So we have first the leader Kuchik Khan, not
very intelligent, but a high-minded enthusiast. Pushing
the leader we have the Committee, each member of which
has private ends to seek. Pushing the Committee we
have on one side Germany with promises of pecuniary
gain, and on the other Turkey with spiritual appeals
to religious fanaticism and a machine-gun or two. What
a thing it is to be a leader ! Now the attitude of
these Gilanis towards the Russians may be explained.
The general feeling of the North Persians towards the
Russians may be described politely as one of extreme
dislike ; but with the advent of the revolution, the pro-
claiming of the fraternity business and the withdrawal
of the troops, the dislike is temporarily put on one side.
Kuchik Khan is only too glad to see the Russians leaving
Persia (as he hopes for ever) by the road that passes
through Gilan. This enables him to buy huge stocks
of rifles and ammunition at very low prices. So their
passage is in every way facilitated, and a combined Com-
mittee of Bolsheviks and Jangalis run the port of Enzeli,
united in the common desire to thwart the British: the
Bolsheviks chiefly because they imagine that the British
are out to prolong the war, the Jangali because, having
at last thrown off the Russian burden, they fear lest the
British take their place and lest their conception of
** Persia for the Persians " be once more indefinitely de-
ferred; and both of them because they are the victims
(mostly unknowingly) of subtle propaganda.

80 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Mirza Kuchik Khan claims to have 5,000 troops, and
he probably has that number of armed men. What
numbers he can induce to take the field, and what will
be their fighting value, are questions that later events
will answer.

CHAPTER in
THE SEA! THE SEA!

AS our convoy passed out of the Resht gate of Kasvin
at daybreak on February 16th, the hearts of all
were elated at the thought that by to-morrow night
the last obstacles would have been surmounted and
the party embarked on the Caspian, heading for Baku.
There were not really any serious grounds for believing
that we should get through. On the contrary, the hind-
rances loomed larger than ever. But our party contained
no pessimists, and we felt confident that whatever diffi-
culties arose would be overcome.

Since leaving Hamadan the whole road had been
blocked with Russian troops evacuating in disorder;
Kasvin was filled with them, and though mostly friendly
in a general sort of way they were obviously going to be
a nuisance on the road.

The weather at any rate was in our favour ; no snow
fell, and we crossed the last high pass near Buinak,
30 miles from Kasvin, without difficulty. Here, as
on the Sultan Bulaq Pass, the retiring Russians had
cut a first-rate road through the snowdrifts.

From Buinak to Menjil, 40 miles, the road winds
down a rather desolate valley, crossing the streams occa-
sionally by well-built bridges, and finally emerging on to
the small open plain of Menjil, on which some fine clumps
of very old olive-trees help to vary the monotony of the

32 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

landscape. Our halt for the night was arranged for in
the little post-house belonging to the Russian Road
Company, where large advertisement boards of the
" Grand Hotel " in Teheran with *' Cuisine Fran9aise "
made our " bully stew " taste less luscious than
usual.

The only impediment on the road had been the Russian
troops, whose transport consisted chiefly of the enormous
Persian country carts with four horses harnessed abreast,
not an easy vehicle to get by on a narrow mountain road.
The troops themselves were cheerful, and showed no signs
of making themselves unpleasant to us. Life for the
time being was very pleasant for them, and as all men
are brothers they wished it to be pleasant for others as
well. The principles of freedom and fraternity were
applied with great zeal to poultry and other unconsidered
trifles that lay not too far from the roadside, and the
tedium of the march was relieved by shooting the insula-
tors off the telegraph poles, or testing marksmanship for
a small bet on heedless crows. No formation was kept,
except occasionally among the mounted troops. Parties
pottered along in twos and threes or larger bunches, and
now and then a tired soldier would beg for a lift, or try
to get one without begging by jumping on to the back of
one of the vans, an athletic feat that was generally beyond
his powers.

At the serai, where we went with a special permit to
draw petrol for to-morrow's journey, we were surrounded
by a crowd of soldiers, and enjoyed some rather amusing
and instructive conversation. The soldiers wanted to
know where we were going. I replied, "To Enzeli.'*
** And then ? " " That depends on circumstances, we
want to help you who are our allies." The invariable
reply to this was " We are not your allies ; we have made
peace with Germany, and you only want to prolong the
war." This was the parrot-like refrain that never varied

THE SEA! THE SEA! 33

and had evidently been carefully taught to the men by
some ardent propagandist.

Asked as to their political ideas, the general replies
may be reproduced somewhat as follows : " We have had
a revolution because we were ill-treated and oppressed.
Now we are free, but ignorant and uneducated. We
don't know how to rule ourselves. Everything is in
disorder. I am a Bolshevik, but I don't know what Bol-
shevism means, as I cannot read or write ; I just accept
what the last speaker says. I want to be left alone and
helped home, and as the Committee in Kazian is Bolshevik,
I am too. If it were anything else I would be that."

Great curiosity was evinced as to the real reason for
our presence in their midst, and the general consensus
of opinion was that we were up to no good. The peasant
mind is naturally suspicious, that of the Russian peasant
especially so, and the guileless Englishman has an unfortu-
nate reputation in Russia of being very cunning ; so our
party was regarded with mixed feelings of suspicion and
dislike tempered with good-natured tolerance.

Menjil lies at the head of the fifty- mile valley that runs
down to the Caspian Sea through Resht, and the narrow
gap in the hills, through which the Sefid Rud, or White
River — ^generally red, by the way — flows down to the
sea, acts as a funnel for the north wind that blows in
a perpetual hurricane throughout the summer and has
made Menjil infamous as an intolerable place of residence.
Luckily this wind does not blow during the winter months,
or we should have had a miserable time. We had scant
leisure for exploring the neighbourhood: darkness soon
came on, and we were only too glad of an excuse for
turning in early and getting a good night's rest before
embarking on to-morrow's adventures.

The next day, Sunday, February 17th, we were off
at dawn in fine weather for the last and most critical
stage of our journey, with the pleasant prospect of cross-

34 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ing the Caspian Sea on the following morning if the fates
were good to us. But we were beginning to realize that the
fates would have to be extraordinarily good to bring it ofF.

The beautiful 70 miles of road from Menjil to the
sea have been described by every traveller, and I am
obliged to add my modest contribution. Leaving the
post-house, the road winds downwards with a gentle
slope for about IJ miles to the Menjil Bridge, where the
Sefid Rud is crossed and the final descent to the sea
begins. The bridge is well built of stone and iron,
and lies in a sharp V-shaped gap in the hills where the
road turns due north. After crossing the river the road
winds along the left bank for the next 40 miles, when
the flat country is reached. From here it diverges slightly
to the left, reaching Resht at about the fifty-second
mile and Enzeli at the seventieth.

On entering the gorge immediately beyond the Menjil
bridge, the thoughts of the soldier are inevitably drawn
to the terrible natural difficulties confronting any army
that might endeavour to force this defile against a deter-
mined enemy. The road is cut out of the rock in many
places ; the cliffs tower above on the left, while on the
right there is a sheer drop to the roaring torrent of
the Sefid Rud, impassable at all times of the year.
The rocky spurs and sharp ravines on the right bank
of the river give excellent cover to an enemy for
sniping the troops on the read, and any attempt to
advance would obviously entail a parallel movement
on both sides of the river.

So far, although the traveller feels most distinctly
that he has left Persia behind and has entered an entirely
new country, the real forest has not begun. The lower
hills are still barren but not entirely devoid of trees;
large groves of olives line the road and fill all the hollows
on the mountain side, while higher up a glimpse can be
caught of the upper forests of pine and oak.

THE SEA! THE SEA! 35

The real forest is not entered till the twentieth mile
from Menjil, where the Russian toll-gate of Nagober is
passed and the road plunges into thick woods with dense
undergrowth. Here we feel that we have not only left
Persia but Asia behind, when we stop for repairs beside
a mossy bank on which j)rimroses and cyclamen are just
coming out, and farther down the road we find banks of
violets and snowdrops. The trees are not in leaf, with
the exception of a few evergreens, and it is hard to identify
them in a rapid glance from a motor-car, but chestnut
and a tree resembling a beech are the most noticeable,
while the undergrowth is chiefly composed of box.

At Imamzadeh Hashim, about 40 miles from Menjil,
the hills abruptly cease, and from here on to Enzeli the
road runs on the level, at first through alternate forests
and rice-fields and later, as Enzeli is approached, through
pasture land and sand dunes.

It was hardly to be hoped for that we should be allowed
by the fierce Kuchik Khan, after all his threats, to pass
through the Menjil defile unopposed, and it was necessary
to arrange the convoy so that at the first sign of opposi-
tion all possible fire should be brought to bear on the enemy.
Our only chance would lie in acting with determination
and rapidity. But at the same time we were handi-
capped by having to leave the firing of the first shot to
the Jangalis, as until that shot was fired it might be
possible to bluff our way through. And bluffing is far
better than fighting when you have very little to fight
with.

The armoured car under Lieutenant Singer led the
way. Captain Hooper with the Lewis-gun was well up in
front, and each driver had his rifle and a hundred rounds
ready to his hand. Frequent halts were made to ensure
the cars being all kept together.

Through the forest belt we encountered no signs of
opposition at all, but as we neared Resht we passed

36 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

here and there fierce-looking and heavily- armed warriors.
With successive bandoliers of cartridges arranged round
their bodies so as to form a very showy waistcoat, Mauser
pistol on waistbelt and rifle in hand, these soldiers really
looked as if they meant business. But Persia is a land
where most things are done by " looks," and any attempt
to ensure military success by other means need not be
tried till that method has failed.

At Resht we halted for half an hour to meet on the
roadside the British Consul, Mr. Maclaren, and his Russian
confrere, M. Grigorievitch. The former, together with
Mr. Oakshot, of the Imperial Bank of Persia, bravely
keeps the British flag flying under most adverse circum-
stances. After Kuchik Khan's recent announcement
of his feeling towards the British, it required some nerve
to continue to reside in the Jangali capital. As a matter
of fact both were shortly afterwards taken prisoners,
and suffered very much at the hands of the Gilanis before
effecting their escape.

After a short and useful conversation with them the
cars again moved off, passing through Resht undaunted
by more scowls from more desperadoes, and covering
the remaining 20 miles to Enzeli in good time and
without incident, puzzling our brains to guess why after
such fierce threats we had been allowed to come through
unscathed.

It was about an hour before sunset that the proximity
of the sea was announced by the sand dunes, a moment
later — Ba\a(T(ra ! QaXaacra ! — the blue waters of the
Caspian became visible in the distance, and we were
soon in the outskirts of the Kazian settlement.

Now we had to see how the Bolsheviks and other brands
of revolutionaries would receive us. Curiosity was much
more evident than hostility, in fact there never was much
of the latter except from the Bolshevik officials (numerous
enough) and a small proportion of really anti-British

THE SEA! THE SEA! 37

agitators. The attitude would therefore be as dictated
by the officials, and it remained to be seen what their
attitude would be. There were at this time about 2,000
Russian disbanded troops in the town, and as we drew up
in front of the Persian Customs House the whole 2,000
flocked round, eager with curiosity and betraying no sign
of hostility.

In Persia the Customs are entirely run by Belgian
officials, and we were given a most hearty welcome by
M. Hunin, who, with his wife and children, occupies the
spacious building here provided for the head of the
Customs.

The arrangements which had been made for our
reception were as follows. I was to have the honour of
living with the Hunins, the cars were to be parked inside
the Customs yard, the drivers were to be accommodated
in a Customs shed close by, and the officers in a very com-
fortable building in the Fishery Depot about a mile away.

More unsuitable arrangements could not be imagined.
Hitherto at every halt we had all lived together with our
cars in our midst, officers and men sharing the same
quarters and the same bully-beef stew prepared by our
indefatigable and cheery cook. Private Pike of the A.S.C.
Under such circumstances, whatever happened we could
give a good account of ourselves, but scattered all over
Kazian as we now were we could hardly do our best
in the event of a row.

But at this late hour to set out, followed by a gaping
crowd of Bolsheviks, to make other arrangements was
not to be thought of, and I had to accept matters as they
were and take certain measures to bring things together
in the event of a crisis. The only thing that I had absolutely
to decline was the extremely kind personal invitation for
myself, and I threw in my lot with the other officers in
the Fishery Depot. It was sad to think that any mind
could conceive arrangements based solely on comfort,

38 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the last thing we desired. All we wanted was safety and
strength.

I could not, however, be so churlish as to refuse
the warm invitation for myself and a Staff Officer to dine
with the Hunins, which was therefore duly accepted.

The cars were soon stowed away inside the courtyard,
but as many of the crowd as could squeeze in were inside
as well.

How to get them out ?

The conversational method appeared to be the easiest,
so Captain Saunders and myself commenced haranguing
the men, who were deeply interested in our remarks and
flocked around to listen. The topics were simple. We
talked of the latest war news, we agreed that liberty was
a fine thing and admitted that all men were comrades ;
in the British Army, at any rate, officers and men had
always regarded each other as comrades.

On their side questions were asked as to uniform ;
was the Staff badge worn on his cap by Captain Saunders
(a crown surmounted by a lion) meant to be the badge of
the Persian lion ? As to the war, when would it end ?
For Russia it had already done so. Thus pleasantly
conversing we gradually approached the door, passed
through the archway and into the open space, the crowd
following us as if I was the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Then,
during a continuance of the discussion, the doors were
quietly closed and a sentry posted.

It was now possible to move down to the wharves and
see what ships would suit us, but we were not able to do
more than make a note of their names and a rough estimate
of capacity, as we were followed at every step by a gigantic
crowd that listened to every word and rather hampered
our movements. The first thing to be done, therefore,
was to shake off the crowd, which we eventually succeeded
in doing, getting our men into their shed and installing
ourselves in the Fisheries house. Here we occupied

THE SEA! THE SEA! 89

ourselves with toilet arrangements, during which a crowd,
hostile this time, assembled in the open space before the
house and began to look rather ugly. Before, however,
we could take steps to deal with these people some one in
authority evidently gave the word " not yet," and the
mob gradually dispersed.

After devising secret methods of ascertaining shipping
facilities, and setting on foot inquiries regarding the
local situation, we prepared to set forth for our most
ill-timed dinner-party. At this moment an unkempt
individual appeared with an important-looking note from
the " Revolutionary District Soviet. The Military Revolu-
tionary Committee of the East Persian [sic] Circle of the
Caucasus Front." The note that followed this grandiose
and unabbreviated title was curtly worded as follows :
" The Committee desire your attendance at an extra-
ordinary meeting of the Committee to explain the arrival
of the motor-cars and the mission." No time was
mentioned, and it was obvious that if I had dinner first
I should have time to think. So we decided just to carry
on with the dinner and see what would happen.

The dinner was certainly excellent, and we were doing
thorough justice to it when the sound of heavy boots was
heard in the hall outside and the Persian servant hurried
in in great agitation to announce that the Revolutionary
Committee had arrived in the house, demanding to see
the British General. I reassured my hostess, who was
horror-stricken at the invasion, and left the roon at once
to meet the visitors, of whom I expected at least half
a dozen. As I entered the sitting-room I was rather
surprised to find only two representatives. Comrade
Cheliapin, formerly a clerk in a shipping office and now
President of the Enzeli Bolshevik Committee, and a
swarthy sailor in uniform.

I at once shook hands warmly and begged them to be
seated, when the following conversation took place:

40 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

** May I ask what I can do for you ? '*

" We sent you a note that you were to attend a
Committee meeting to explain your arrival here and to
answer other questions. Did you not get the note ? "

*' I got the note, but as it contained no mention of
time I was waiting for a more precise invitation."

** We desire you to come with us now and make the
necessary explanations to the Committee who are waiting
for you."

" The Committee must be very tired, as I am, after
the day's work, and I suggest that if you could assemble
at 11 a.m. to-morrow we could talk over all matters
pleasantly and at length. Meantime I may tell you
briefly that we are animated only by feelings of
friendship for Russia, and have no ideas of setting up
any counter-revolutionary movement."

After this I expressed my surprise and pain at their
general attitude. I had expected a warm greeting from
them, and felt sure that to-morrow I could at least count
on their fullest assistance in all matters. I was only too
anxious to explain, as I knew that their ideas and mine
would probably coincide on all points. I thanked them
very warmly for taking the trouble to come and see me,
and after smoking a cigarette and exchanging further
complimentary remarks (not quite an exchange, as the
compliments were mostly on my side) we shook hands
once more and parted with the usual Russian expressions
of politeness.

I was anxious to defer any meeting with the Committee
till we had learnt something of local conditions, and until
I had heard the result of the inquiries now on foot as
to shipping facilities. It was very necessary for me to
learn the situation before entering into any discussion.
With full knowledge of conditions on their side, and
complete ignorance on mine, any controversy would be
a very one-sided affair.

THE SEA! THE SEA! 41

I was now able to return to the dining-room and relieve
the anxiety of Madame Hunin, who had expected to see
me dragged ofiE to instant execution. Dinner was soon
finished, and after an excellent cigar we made our
apologies and withdrew. The night was young and there
was a good deal to be thought of before turning in
to rest.

First of all the shipping reports came in. Two ships
were available and willing ; but no ships were privately
owned, all were " nationalized " and entirely in the con-
trol of the Bolshevik Government. Any idea therefore
of getting on board in the dark and making a run for it
was out of the question. Next as to accommodation on
board. The ordinary steamer would take from 100 to
500 men, but none could take more than ten cars. There-
fore if we endeavoured to slip away in one steamer we
should have to leave thirty-one cars behind, a fact which
alone sufficed to negative any scheme of stealthy
departure.

Other items of intelligence were also not very
encouraging, and it appeared likely that we should be
faced with the problem of being unable to go forward
and equally unable to go back.

Our house was watched from every corner by sentries
concealed, to stop or give notice of any suspicious move-
ments on our part. These sentries were posted each
night during our stay in Enzeli.

To-morrow we would see what the day would bring
forth, and I had reasonable hopes that the Committee
would fall in with our ideas. I still feel certain that
they would have done so if left to themselves, but
with Kuchik Khan's emissaries at their elbows, and
German agents in their midst, it is not surprising that
they were led into a hostile attitude.

Rain had begun last night, and we woke on February
18th to find a dull, drizzly morning, with the landscape

42 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

entirely enveloped in mist. We were soon astir and
about our various tasks. Our movements in the town
still attracted some attention, and apart from the curious
crowd there was of course always a reporter from the
Committee dogging our footsteps. It was therefore
difficult to accomplish much by direct inquiry, and we
had to rely chiefly on secret agents, of whom we had one
or two who were sincerely acting on our behalf, but
whose reports were frequently incorrect or exaggerated.

At 11 a.m. Captain Saunders and myself duly presented
ourselves at the small building where the Committee
held its meetings. Happy soldiers in full enjoyment of
the delights of freedom lounged round the entrance. The
delights of freedom were chiefly indicated by the bestowal
of silly smiles instead of salutes, the neglect of ablutions,
unbuttoned uniforms and dirty belts and rifles. Passing
up the wooden steps we entered a crowded ante-chamber,
where more soldiers and sailors smoked and talked and
indolently regarded the new-comers. In a short time the
door of the inner room opened and Comrade Cheliapin
advanced with outstretched hand and an official frown
that fitted the seriousness of the occasion. Hands were
solemnly shaken in token of equality, and our leader
ushered us into the adjoining room, where we found
ourselves in the presence of the redoubtable Committee.

The twelve individuals composing the Committee
were seated at a long table that almost filled the room,
and each had before him in the most correct manner
paper, pens and ink, to show that he could write if called
upon to do so. There was no general rising on our entry
into the room, but each rose or half rose as we exchanged
the usual hand-grips, and on the whole we received
a welcome that showed a general desire to be polite
while remaining severely formal. The members were
all young men, mostly soldiers and sailors in uniform,
and those who wore tunics buttoning up to the neck

THE SEA! THE SEA! 48

left the collars undone, as a further sign of their recently
won freedom. Throughout the entire period of my
relations with revolutionaries I noticed this distinguishing
sign of the unbuttoned collar : To look the part of a
revolutionary, grow your hair long, refrain from brushing
it and leave your collar undone, or if in mufti wear an
open turned-down collar cut as low as a lady's dinner
frock, and the disguise is complete.

The flouting of the greybeard is also a revolutionary
sign. The absence of the men of experience from among
revolutionary officials leads to many false moves that
wiser heads would have avoided ; but youth will have its
fling, and in all ages and in all civilizations there is always
a permanent undercurrent of revolution on the part of the
young men who know everything, against the older men
who are considered out-of-date and incapable of under-
standing their brilliant schemes of reform. But it is
good to be young, and the effervescence of youth is
possibly of some small value in the general scheme
of life.

I was not able to say all this to the Enzeli Com-
mittee, though I should have liked to have done so.
Time pressed and I was anxious to get through with
the business.

It was known in the town that Kuchik Khan's
Persian Committee were urging the Russian Committee to
arrest us, while the Bolsheviks were anxious to throw the
onus on the Persians. There was no reason why either side
should hesitate, but there is a good deal of prestige about
the British flag, and neither party so far cared to put our
strength to the test. There was moreover the armoured
car, which looked as if it would account for a good many
of the attackers if an attempt was made to take it. Still,
there was the prospect of our own arrest, as Captain
Saunders and myself were entirely in their hands, and to
make us realize the serious nature of our predicament an

44 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

armed guard surrounded our chairs. This guard soon
grew tired, and when they concluded that their presence
was not producing any great impression on us, they sat
down on benches round the room and made themselves
comfortable.

We were accommodated with seats at the table, and
the discussion opened with a short speech by Cheliapin,
in which he informed the Committee that the English
General had been invited to attend this meeting to explain
the reason of his sudden descent into their midst, and to
answer questions generally as to the future intentions of
his party.

In reply I stated briefly that I was astonished at
their attitude, that we had come solely to help them
and were pained at the very poor welcome we had
received.

It was necessary for me to be very careful in my replies
to the volley of questions that now ensued, each member
determined to justify his existence by taking a part in
the cross-examination. My desire was naturally to adhere
strictly to the truth, not always an easy task when one
is in possession of State secrets, and very difficult in this
case where the entire object of the mission had been
kept a very close secret, and where it would be unwise to
avow all the details of our plans before a hostile assembly
such as that before which we were undergoing cross-
examination.

This difficulty was at once removed by the kind Presi-
dent, who informed me that he knew all about our plans
for going to Tiflis and helping the Georgians and Armenians
to continue the fight. He was too anxious to show me
how hopeless our case was when he knew so much, but he
could have used his knowledge as a much better weapon
had he waited till he had succeeded in getting false replies
from me and then produced his bombshell.

It appears that the Bolsheviks had full information

THE SEA! THE SEA! 45

from the Tiflis side of the objects of the mission, and of
the date of our probable arrival at Enzeli, and they had
peremptory orders (at German instigation) to stop us at
all costs.

The result of the meeting may be summed up as
follows: The Committee stated that Russia was no
longer our Ally. Russia had made peace with the
Germans, Turks and Austrians, and among all nations
mistrusted only Great Britain, as a symbol of Imperialism,
and the Tiflis people whom we proposed to help, as being
anti-Bolshevik.

At Enzeli they possessed the telegraph and telephone
line, the wireless apparatus and the petrol supply. All
shipping was in their hands, and a gunboat lay ready to
open fire on any ship endeavouring to leave the port
without their permission. They forbade any endeavour
on our part to reach Baku. Baku was under the Bol-
shevik Government, and had already been informed of
our arrival by wireless, and had replied that the party was
to be stopped at all costs. For Russia the war was over,
and they objected to a mission whose avowed intention
was to prolong the war.

On my side I protested that our only object was to
help Russia, without taking notice of political parties,
that I should in spite of their threats carry on with
arrangements to proceed to Baku, that we had sufficient
machine-guns to enable us to overcome any resistance,
and that we did not recognize the right of the Bolshevik
Government to imp*^'^'^ our movements.

I expected that the announcement of this determina-
tion would lead to our arrest, but while some members
were doubtless in favour of this, there was lack of unani-
mity, of which I took advantage, and rising with the
usual expressions of leave-taking Captain Saunders and
myself walked out of the room without interference.

The rest of the day was spent in feeling our way as

46 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

regards shipping facilities and calculating chances. A
visit to the wharf left us rather hopeless. All steamers
were strongly guarded, and out in the stream lay
the vicious-looking gunboat with guns prepared for
action.

With the Bolsheviks and Jangalis around us, Bolsheviks
ahead of us and Kuchik Khan waiting for us on the road
behind, it was not easy to see one's way through, either
forward or backward. One thing only was certain,
that the longer we delayed the smaller would be our
chances of escape. Yet I felt it necessary to hold on for
at least forty-eight hours in the hopes of something
turning up. What I really looked for was some sign of
assistance from our friends on the other shore, some
indication that if we got as far as Baku we might count
on at least a few helpers. There were people over there
who were undoubtedly looking forward to our arrival —
the Armenians especially — and surely they would be
sending emissaries to suggest some plan and help us
through.

But the hours passed by and there were no signs of
any such helpers, and it was obviously useless to hope
for anything from this source. My later experience
has taught me that these people are glad enough to ask
for help, but having asked they sit with folded hands,
and when help arrives they welcome you warmly and say,
" Now we give you a free hand, just carry on and we
will sit and watch how well you H . it ! " This is exactly
what happened when we eventually reached Baku about
six months later.

I sat up most of the night weighing the intelligence
that had been collected during the day, and balancing
the pros and cons of each possible solution.

We might face the situation, seize a steamer and risk
the gunboat. I knew a method that seldom fails of
stopping the fire of the latter. I considered that there

THE SEA! THE SEA! 47

was almost a sufficient prospect of success in this scheme
to justify its attempt, but it was negatived by the fact
that as the steamer could only take at the most ten cars,
thirty-one would have to be left behind to fall into the
hands of the Bolsheviks, and my party would receive
a warm reception from the Bolsheviks of Baku, informed
by wireless of our impending arrival. Finally, at the
very best, we should be landed in the Caucasus, leaving
the road by which we hoped the remainder of the party
would arrive in the hands of a very irritated enemy,
who would see to it that no further parties got through.
Under such circumstances our position in Baku or Tiflis
would be ridiculous.

Colonel Pike was at Tiflis as Military Agent and was
anxiously awaiting our arrival, but it was impossible
to expect that he could do anything to help us, his own
position being fairly desperate until we could get through
to him. Captain Goldsmith would also now be with him,
but was out of touch with us, owing to the impossibility
of communication.

The next plan to consider was the possibility of our
remaining in Enzeli, establishing friendly relations with
the local Government and wheedling them into a better
attitude. The risks of this plan were too great. The
combined hostility of the Persians and the Bolsheviks
would certainly burst into flame, and one or other would
at last pluck up the courage to put our strength to the
test, and find that the strength was all weakness. More-
over, the rumour that we had large stores of gold with
us made such an effort all the more tempting.

Comrade Cheliapin himself proposed another plan,
that we should officially recognize in writing the Bolshevik
Government (our non-recognition being the chief cause
of their hostility) and proceed to Baku under Bolshevik
auspices, leaving our further movements to be directed
by the Bolsheviks. This meant, in fact, becoming

48 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Bolsheviks. He offered to wire to Baku in these terms,
but did not anticipate agreement.

I had no particular objection to becoming a Bolshevik,
but to take up the Bolshevik programme of non-resistance
to the invader would be rather far away from my orders.
Cheliapin also suggested that the Tiflis business was a
played-out game, and if we threw in our lot with the
Bolsheviks we would be much more useful in the Moscow
direction. And he said all this without a smile !

The upshot of my midnight deliberations was a decision
to get out of Enzeli while there was time, run the gauntlet
of Kuchik Khan on the Resht road and get back to Persia,
call up my second party and watch for a favourable
opportunity to renew the attempt.

There is a telephone line all along the road from Enzeli,
with Persian operators, and I could hardly hope to get
through to Menjil without my movement being notified,
but we should just have to take our chance of that.

In accordance with this decision I sent a message to
the Revolutionary Committee early on the morning of
the 19th, asking them to assemble at 11 a.m. and to
allow me to address certain remarks to them.

At the appointed hour I arrived at the Committee
room with Captain Saunders, and we were ushered in with
the same ceremony as before. The only difference on
this occasion was that the smiles were now frowns, and
the intimidating guard was largely increased in numbers
and looked most impressive.

I opened the discussion by stating that I wished to
know finally whether the Committee had changed their
minds and were willing to give us all the assistance in
their power, or whether they adhered to their former
ill-advised decision to thwart us. The answer was a
quite unanimous one in favour of the latter proposition.

I then asked to be allowed to speak to Cheliapin alone,
which request being granted I withdrew with him into a

THE SEA! THE SEA! 49

separate apartment, where we were as much alone as
revolutionaries are ever allowed to be. *' Trust no one '*
is the sound motto of all revolutions.

I informed him that I regretted I was quite unable
to accept the Bolshevik proposition, that I was undesirous
of bloodshed, which would be the natural result of any
effort on his part to thwart our forward movement, that
I was quite convinced by his eloquence, and consequently
decided to withdraw my party. I congratulated him
warmly on the very admirable manner in which his
government of the town was conducted, and made him
feel that I regarded him as a peer among men. I then
begged for and got a signed order for all the petrol I
required and, after requesting the Committee to keep
my intended departure a secret, I withdrew from the
assembly.

In paying such compliments as I did to Comrade
Cheliapin, I was not altogether romancing. I could
sympathize with the difficulty of his position, the endeavour
to carry on the business of government with no experience
and little education, and I wish to record here the fact
that I consider he did extremely well in maintaining a
semblance of law and order amid the chaos of a revolution.
Anyway, I shall always be grateful to him for the petrol.

In spite of my request for secrecy the news of our
intended departure was beginning to leak out, as of
course I knew it would, and it would be a very good thing
to get through Resht before Kuchik Khan had time to
digest and act upon the telephone message he was probably
now receiving. I accordingly gave orders for a very early
start on the morrow, and after an excellent meal at which
bully beef was quite put in the shade by fresh fish and
caviare, we turned in for the night.

CHAPTER IV
WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN

ALL people are apt to change their minds, revolu-
tionaries especially. The night of February 19th
was therefore a very anxious one, as, although Cheliapin
had agreed to our departure and supplied the petrol,
there would be many who would think it a pity to let
the Englishmen get away with all those bags of gold they
had, and the amount of gold had doubtless been greatly
exaggerated. Hence I decided on a very early start.

Long before dawn on February 20th the cars were
quietly got out and loaded up, and we were soon on the
move ; when daylight came we were already some miles
on the road to Menjil and ready for the second time to
run the gauntlet through the Jangali country. The
day was dull and rainy, and the cheerless weather corre-
sponded to our mood, which without being despondent
was certainly as cheerless as the sky. It was well to
hope for a renewal of opportunity and a prospect of
later success, but nothing could compensate for the fact
that we had entirely failed to carry out the object with
which we had set forth, and were turning back in our
tracks.

To-day a conflict with the Jangalis appeared certain ;
it was not to be conceived that they would let us return
through their country carrying that precious load of
gold and silver, and we were prepared to encounter

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 51

opposition as we passed through Resht. But again no
attempt was made, the scowls were fiercer and an
occasional warrior significantly tapped the butt of his
Mauser pistol, but we were not fired on.

We had got accustomed to the playful Russian habit
of firing at anything along the road, and keeping up a
cheerful fusillade most of the night, as this had been the
usual state of affairs ever since our arrival at Hamadan ;
but it made it very hard for us to guess whether the sounds
of firing we now heard ahead of us meant just the usual
insulator and crow shooting, or whether business was
really going to begin.

A great deal depended on the cars, which had now run
some 700 miles from Baghdad over poor roads and without
proper overhauling ; however, they behaved splendidly
and there were no serious breakdowns. A three hours'
halt for repairs, such as we often had to endure later,
would have brought about a most uncomfortable situation
in the forest country.

Menjil was reached at 5.30 p.m., and we rested again
in the post-house with the tempting advertisements.

At 6 a.m. on February 21st we started for Kasvin,
but it was going to be a day of misfortune, and we only
reached the town on the following day. The cars were
getting tired, and breakdowns were frequent. A halt
of two hours was necessary before we were out of sight
of the village : this considerably shortened our day,
but we trusted with luck to make up time and did very
well till midday, when a second halt of three and a half
hours removed all hope of reaching Kasvin that day.

The weather was fine and there appeared to be no
need to get over the pass to-day. The drivers were tired,
and we could very well spend the night in the village of
Bikandi on this side, and have quite a short run into
Kasvin to-morrow. I was very much tempted to do this,
but choice fortunately decided against it. We pushed

52 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

on and crossed the pass at sunset, and two miles farther
on found an excellent serai that held us all for the night.

The same startling change took place in the weather
at night as we had experienced at Asadabad. We woke
to find the whole country buried in snow, and a first-
class blizzard in full progress. Had we remained last
night on the far side of the pass we might have been held
up for a week. As it was, the distance to Kasvin was
only 20 miles, and the road, when you could find it in
the snow, was not bad. Driving was difficult with freezing
hands and the glass screen obscured with clinging snow-
flakes, but we got in by noon after an unadventurous
journey, and were glad to be able to tuck ourselves into
warm billets.

The people of Kasvin had not looked as if they liked
us when we passed through on our way down ; it was
not likely therefore that they would be any more amiable
now. It was certain that we would not have a very
pleasant time in the town, and it would be too lively
for our permanent resting place. For this reason I
selected Hamadan, where we could occupy a good
defensive position outside the town and on the higher
ground, and whence communication with Baghdad would
be facilitated through the Russian wireless station.

Before proceeding to wind our way through the narrow
and muddy roads of the town, I halted the convoy behind
a vineyard near to the principal gate to enable them to
close up and make a smart entry. At this moment we
were greeted with a sudden outburst of rapid firing and
the sound of bullets whizzing quite as near as an aimed
Persian bullet would be likely to be. However, they
proved to be not hostile but friendly bullets ; a large
wagon filled with Russian soldiers came slowly round
the corner through the snow, and the occupants were
indulging with rather more than usual vigour in their
favourite pastime of firing a feu de joie.

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 58

We proceeded on our way through the town to the
British Consulate, where Mr. Goodwin had again made
all arrangements for the comfortable housing of officers
and men.

Our arrival had caused quite a stir in the town.
Reports went round to the effect that Kuchik Khan had
stopped us at Resht and allowed us to go back as an
act of clemency, after relieving us of our cash and valuable
stores. We were naturally regarded as a defeated party,
and the determination to wipe us out was more vigorously
made then ever.

It must be remembered that at this time the whole
of North Persia was full of arms and ammunition, and
any mob that turned out would be a mob armed with
Russian, Turkish and English rifles ; so if they could only
screw up their pluck sufficiently to substitute action for
talk we might anticipate a rather warm time. Meetings
were held in the mosques, and inflammatory placards
posted on the walls of the houses.

The next day, February 23rd, was spent in Kasvin
thoroughly overhauling the cars. It was most desirable
to get on, but the cars were not up to it. During this
day the proceedings of yesterday were repeated in a more
marked way, and all the mob now required was a leader,
which they luckily failed to find — plenty of talkers but
a dearth of leaders.

I was now able to send home by the Indo-European
telegraph line which passes through Kasvin a report of
the occurrences up to date. This had not been pos-
sible at Enzeli, where there was only the Russian
wireless station, which was naturally not placed at our
disposal.

I cabled to the effect that the mission had failed to
get beyond Enzeli and were only enabled to withdraw
from there by sheer good fortune ; that it would be useless
to make any further attempt to reach Enzeli until we

54 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

either fought or came to an agreement with Kuchik
Khan.

At Kasvin I received an official intimation from this
leader that his troops had been ordered to attack the
column if any attempt were made to repeat the experiment
of passing through his country. We also became aware
of a plot, the failure of which accounted for our not being
molested on our previous journey. It appears that the
Jangalis had determined to ambush the convoy on the
road, but had feared lest the Russian troops marching
in an endless procession down the road might throw in
their lot with us and act as reinforcements. They had
therefore addressed the Russian leaders on this point
and begged from them a promise of non-interference.
There is reason to believe that there was considerable
delay in the Russian reply, which, however, in the end
proved to be a refusal to give the required guarantee.
Although according to their own point of view they were
no longer our Allies, any other decision would have been
disgraceful, and we must be grateful that even the
revolutionary soldiers proved themselves to be " white
men " in this matter and refused to be parties to such
treachery. The Enzeli Committee were in favour of letting
the Jangalis have their own way, but the troops on
the road were against it.

I had also the interesting news that a strong detach-
ment of Red Guards from Baku had arrived at Enzeli
the moment after our departure. This probably explains
the effusive manner in which Cheliapin begged me to
stay one more day as their guests, to enable a reply
to be received to a certain message he had sent asking
if we could possibly be allowed to proceed.

The Red Guards were to do the work the Enzeli Com-
mittee were afraid to undertake — the capture of the
British mission.

During February 23rd no outbreak occurred. The

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 56

night was kept lively with perpetual firing, but it was
only the usual expression of Russian joy, although it
sounded as if a fierce battle were in progress.

At 8 a.m. on the 24th our procession once more passed
through the Kasvin streets with the formidable armoured
car acting as rear-guard, and we were soon bowling along
the really good road and enjoying a spell of fine weather.
We reached Aveh at 4 p.m., and shared the small and
dirty post-house with some Cossacks. On the following
day we crossed the Sultan Bulaq Pass in deep snow, but
as before, with a good road cut through the drifts, and
reached Hamadan in the evening.

Here we got the men into good billets on the premises
of the American Mission, while for the officers we were
able to secure two good bungalows in the vicinity. Colonel
Duncan, Captain Dunning and myself were accommodated
in the Bank House, which is alongside the mission com-
pound. We were thus very suitably situated as regards
defence — cars, men and officers in close proximity and
ready to turn out at a moment's notice.

The ancient town of Hamadan, or Ecbatana, the
treasure city of the AchaBmenian kings, lies on the northern
slopes of the Elvend range, the highest peak of which
runs to 11,900 feet. The lower part of the town is 6,500
feet above the sea, and the foreign settlement which I
had chosen for our position lies at about 7,000 feet, which
means something like an Arctic climate in winter. A
better position could not be imagined ; the site is healthy
and entirely overlooks the town, and water is plentiful
from the streams that flow down from the mountain
side, and which we were able to use without fear of
pollution.

The city itself is quite uninteresting, the houses being
of the usual type in Persia and Northern India, the
better kind well built of brick surrounded with mud walls,
the poorer of sun-dried bricks. A few ancient domes

56 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

with the remains of coloured tiles brighten the general
dulness of the city ; these are either mosques or tombs,
among the latter being those of Esther and Mordecai.
On the east lies the big mound supposed to be the site
of the ancient palace, of which no trace now remains.
In fact, it would be hard to find any city with half the
history of Hamadan possessing fewer relics of its bygone
glories. It was taken and plundered by Alexander the
Great and was the scene of some of his wildest orgies.
Successive conquerors appear to have most effectually
removed any trace of the wonderful buildings described,
probably with much exaggeration, in ancient records.
The solitary remnant of past glories is the stone lion
which lies in the fields a few hundred yards from the
north-eastern edge of the town, a piece of sculpture that
possibly stood at one of the former entrances. This
lion is now supposed to possess all sorts of magic
qualities, and is much appealed to by those to whom
male offspring has been denied or who suffer from some
incurable disease.

I should like to quote here a verse from a poem on
Hamadan by Clinton Scqllard, which I copied from a
book on travel in Persia in the possession of the American
mission.

Nought of all the radiant past,

Nought of all the varied, v^ast

Life that thrilled and throbbed remains

With its pleasures and its pains.

Save a couehant lion, lone

Mute memorial in stone

Of three Empires overthrown,

Median, Persian, Parthian,

Round the walls of Hamadan.

A mountain stream flows through the centre of the town
and helps to brighten the dull surroundings and simul-

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 57

taneously to provide water and a drainage channel for
the inhabitants.

Hamadan is a place of considerable commercial im-
portance, being noted among other things for leather
manufactures and carpet weaving. The population is
about 50,000, including a considerable proportion of
Jews and Armenians. The people of the district are
partly of Turkish origin, at least one half belonging to
the Turkish Karaguzlu tribe, and Turki is more spoken
in the villages than Persian.

The town is surrounded by cultivation, and is very
beautiful in the spring when the young wheat is coming
up and the fruit-trees are in blossom. From our quarters
we looked out over the plain which lies unbroken to the
north for 50 miles as far as the Sultan Bulaq Pass.

The site we had chosen was ideal from a military
point of view. The Turks had equally selected it when
here, and the house which was now my Head Quarters
had a year ago been theirs. It is due to the Turks to
say that very little damage had been done by them to
the Bank House.

The original plan having for the time being quite
broken down, we needed to take our bearings and see
what could still be done to thwart the Turk in these
regions.

The first obvious thing was that by remaining where
we were, if we could hold out, we could interfere with
the numerous Turkish and German agents who were at
work in this part of Persia, while awaiting a change in
the situation which might enable us to make another
dash for the Caucasus. Meantime the Persian internal
situation was very complicated and required watching.
In any case, as snow now continued to fall almost daily,
all passes were completely blocked and no move could
be attempted ; we were quite cut off from Baghdad and
nothing could possibly reach us. A Russian party with

58 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ammunition loaded on pack transport had lost six men
and thirty animals frozen to death on the Asadabad Pass,
which we had crossed a fortnight ago, and it was clear
that we were in for a long spell of bad weather.

I was able through the Russian wireless to com-
municate with Baghdad and thence with London, and
received instructions to remain where I was, to watch
the Persian situation and to move forward if any
possible chance occurred.

The next thing to do was to consider if there were no
other routes by which we could enter the Caucasus. The
only other possible route was from Kasvin through Tabriz
and Julfa, where we could get on to the railway to Tiflis.
The distance from Kasvin to Tabriz is over 300 miles,
the road is impassable for motors in winter and lies
through the Shahsavan tribe with the Jangalis on our
right flank. Balancing pros and cons, it did not seem in
any way possible to attempt any movement by this road
with any prospect of success.

Troops were now urgently needed, as Persia was on
the verge of very serious internal trouble, but as long as
the Arctic winter remained it was not possible properly
to equip and march men up the road by which we had
come. So we had just to stay where we were and to
carry through with blujBf.

In the eyes of the Persians we always looked stronger
than we were. The mere sight of the armoured car
inspired awe, and the forty-one cars were probably each
supposed to contain some fearful weapon. The forty-
one drivers, too, looked most imposing, the Persians
not being aware of the fact that their military training
hardly extended beyond the technical knowledge of their
motor vehicles. But these drivers deserve all the praise
I can give them. With their two Sergeants, Harris and
Watson, they performed marvels, and never grumbled
under the most trying circumstances.

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 59

The situation and the measures taken to meet it were
as follows :

The Persian Government were quite naturally sitting
on the fence, and leaning rather towards the side of the
Germans, whose propaganda and rose-coloured war news
enchanted the Teheran people. Teheran was still neutral
in practice as well as in theory. While the Turks and
Russians had been freely using the Kasvin-Kermanshah
road as a battle-ground, the sanctuary of Teheran remained
undisturbed. Alongside of the British Legation the flags
of the Turkish and German Legations floated proudly on
the breeze, and the Turks had a free hand for propaganda
and intrigue. The Germans, however, in spite of the
laws of neutrality, did not seem to regard the Persian
capital as a healthy place of residence, and though the
flag flew over the building the Legation was actually
closed.

The Kuchik Khan movement was also in the ascend-
ant. Our retirement was undoubtedly attributed to
his action, and his prestige was duly enhanced. His
reform programme recommended itself to all the serious
democrats as well as the usual turbulent element that
wants any change that brings disorder and prospects
of loot. He had sympathizers in the Cabinet itself,
Kasvin was full of his agents, as well as Hamadan and
all other large towns. He was acclaimed as the saviour
of Persia, who was going to turn the foreigners out and
bring back the golden age. Added to all this was the
fact that the spirit of Bolshevism was in the air, and j

the microbe of revolution was spreading through all the /

nations of the world : it was not likely that Persia would
escape. One would have thought that the object-lesson
provided by the Russian troops would have acted as a
deterrent, but it apparently had the contrary effect.

It was clear therefore that Kuchik Khan had only
to display his banner, march on Kasvin and thence on

60 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Teheran and establish a revolutionary Government in
Persia. With all the leading officials, as well as the greater
part of the populace on his side, success was certain if
only he struck now. The time was ripe, but the weather
was bad, and by the time he eventually decided to move
we were able to checkmate him. Behind him he had
the very strong propelling power of German and Turkish
agents and the Mahomedan Committee of Union and
Progress, and against him he had nothing, but he failed
to snatch the opportune moment and Persia was saved.
The interesting details of this movement will appear in
a later chapter.

My situation was affected by the movement to the
extent that, if it were successful, we were obviously
among the obnoxious foreigners who were to be got rid
of, and the large number of sympathizers in the town of
Hamadan ought to feel it their duty to show their sympathy
by getting rid of us on the spot. But any plan for our
direct removal was shelved as usual for the more exciting
but less efficacious method of plot and intrigue, against
which we were more proof than we were against bullets.

The first step to ensure our own safety and to render
services that should be very valuable to the Allied cause
was to start a good intelligence system. This was at
once inaugurated under Captain Saunders and achieved
most valuable results. Nothing could have been better
than the work done by the officers in this department,
and no greater compliment could be paid them than that
contained in the following extract from an intercepted
letter written by one of the many plotters, " the English
hear even our whispers." Through our agents we were
at all times thoroughly in touch with the general situation
in Persia, the local situation in Hamadan and the strength
and position of the nearest Turkish detachments. We
were also able eventually entirely to check all movements
of spies on the stretch between Kasvin and Kermanshah,

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 61

and several quite good fish fell into the nets that we spread
for them. As regards local intelligence we were able to
know the exact degree of complicity with enemy agents
of every single man of importance in the neighbourhood,
and knowledge of this sort is very literally strength.

Endeavours had also to be made to get in touch with
Colonel Pike and Captain Goldsmith at Tiflis, and special
messengers were dispatched for this purpose, but all our
efforts to establish communication with Tiflis failed.

From among the Persians themselves we recruited a
very few but very good agents. These men worked for
money, but money alone would not have produced the
results ; they threw their lot in most whole-heartedly with
us, and one of them at least was as brave a man as I
have ever met in my life, risking his life for the sheer
pleasure of risking it, and no danger or threats ever
prevented him from following up a clue. The Russians
were still occupying Hamadan ; the whole town was
full of them, and sleep was much disturbed by their un-
restricted indulgence in night-firing. Their Head Quarters
were in the small summer resort of Sheverin, about 3
miles away, and the prospect of their quitting the neigh-
bourhood seemed very remote.

General Baratov was in command, with General
Lastochkin as Chief of the Staff, and our sympathies
were very deeply with these officers in their difficult task
of endeavouring to control troops who had broken away
from discipline, and any prospect of the restoration of
discipline had disappeared since officers had been for-
bidden to wear any badges of rank. Bicherakov was
still at Kermanshah, but a small detachment of his
men were here, and represented the only unit that
had any respect for law and order.

Among other matters that required attention was the
question of supplies. Our own needs were considerable,
and we had also to be prepared for any number of troops

62 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

that might be sent up later to these parts. In the midst
of the terrible famine that was now at its height I did
not wish to draw supplies from the country that would
still further reduce the stock available for the starving
people. But we soon had accurate intelligence on the
supply question and found that there was sufficient grain
and fodder for all, though no abundance, and it was only
being held up to secure higher prices. Unfortunately,
however, the result of our small purchases was to send
prices still higher, and each fractional rise meant the
death of many individuals. Only a properly regulated
wheat control system could meet the case, and we were
not at present strong enough to enforce our views on this
subject, but we were able later to undertake the necessary
measures when Brigadier-General Byron came up to
Hamadan as my second-in-command. General Byron
remained for a long time in Hamadan and was able
to deal with the famine and wheat control in a
businesslike way which did much to enhance our
popularity.

As it was impossible to forecast how long we were
likely to be in Hamadan or in North Persia generally, it
was necessary without further ado to tackle the language
and get to know the officials and the people. Those of
us who had a smattering of Persian soon learnt to improve
our pronunciation, and those who knew none began
taking lessons.

The visits to the various officials and land owners were
interesting and instructive. The principal officials in a
Persian town are the Governor, the Deputy Governor,
the Kar-guzar, who deals with foreign matters, and the
Head of Police. In Hamadan we had also a special
official appointed in connection with the liquidation of
the Russian debts. The official who held this appoint-
ment at the time of our residence in Hamadan was Haji
Saad-es-Sultaneh, a most enlightened Persian who had

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 63

travelled much, and to whose society I am indebted
for many a pleasant and instructive hour.

Li Persia all people of any consequence are known by
titles, and their names are never known to their ordinary
acquaintances. This makes it hard to trace people, as
titles change frequently, and the title bears no reference
to the nature of employment. Thus a gentleman of
noble birth who bears the title of " Leader of the Army "
has no connection with any military occupation. " The
Governor of the Kingdom " is a pronounced democrat,
" Headman of All " is a humble person of no importance,
and one of the most dunderheaded illiterates I ever met
was entitled " The Ocean of Knowledge."

Within a few days of our arrival in Hamadan we had
begun to make acquaintances among the people. The
inevitable football was produced and the men were able
to get a little relaxation and exercise. The Persians
joined freely in the game which, owing to the presence
of the American Mission here, was not entirely new to
them, the graceful extra-long-tailed frock-coat they wear
looking quite an unusual garment on a football ground.
It certainly is more attractive than the football jersey,
and any one who has seen the tails of a Persian frock-coat
flopping in the breeze, as its owner flies down the ground,
will realize that there is no comparison between the two.
The boys who had been under the influence of the mission
school were usually more correctly but less quaintly
garbed.

It seemed as if the drivers might have much leisure
for football as the cars would not have much chance of
running for some time. Not only were the passes quite
blocked, but the petrol question had become very acute.
We now relied entirely on the Russians for our supply.
General Baratov was most anxious to help, and took steps
to ensure an ample supply, but with the roads blocked
and with subordinates not amenable to discipline the

64 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

petrol seldom arrived. A certain amount was always
to be purchased in the town, and we laid in a stock of
this at most exorbitant rates. This petrol found its
way into the bazaars through the Russian drivers,
who added to their slender incomes by disposing of a
proportion of their consignments in this way.

Our first efforts at establishing friendly relations with
the people were not entirely successful. The prospects
of our success in this direction naturally called forth
increased anti-British efforts on the part of the local
officials. The Governor and all the chief people of the
town spared no means to set the people against us ; while
the politicians of every shade, Extreme Democrats,
Moderate Democrats and Social Democrats, held the
usual meetings denouncing us and decreeing our immediate
extermination.

Although we had been in Hamadan only a few days
the people were informed that the rise in the price of
bread was the result of our purchases of wheat (which
were so far nil), that we were the advance-guard of an
army, and if we were allowed to live, the army would
arrive and eat up all the country and commit all sorts
of atrocities. On the other hand, if we were slaughtered,
the army would never dare to come. I thought it worth
while to take a leaf out of their own book and try the
effect of a printed proclamation. I therefore had notices
posted in the town to the following effect: " The British
are here as quite a temporary measure, and have no
intention at all of remaining in this part of Persia, where
our presence is only necessary in order to counteract that
of the Turks. In all lands our first care is that of the
people, and it is well known that wherever the British
flag flies it stands for freedom, peace and prosperity.
We have made no purchases of wheat and we are anxious
to help to alleviate the famine. The present high prices
are not due to our purchases, as we have so far made

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 65

none, but to a deliberate plot of the democrats who
intimidate grain dealers and bakers and force up the price
artificially in order to drive the people into a frenzy."

This proclamation produced a considerable effect in
the town, and helped to discredit the agitators. Nor was
the good effect much reduced by their counter-proclamation
which consisted chiefly of abuse, but contained the following
amusing sentence. " The British General says he comes
to bring peace and prosperity. Did we ask for it ? Let
him keep his peace and prosperity till we demand it.
Persia represents a civilization that was in its prime
long before the British were ever heard of, and conse-
quently we are not likely to learn much from them."

I do not think that the sentimental appeal to patriotic
pride in their ancient civilization interested the people
half as much as my statement that our policy would be
to help to alleviate the famine conditions. The fact is
that the presence in their midst of a new type of soldier,
who behaved himself with dignity and paid good prices
for the articles he purchased, was beginning to sway
popular opinion in our favour, and the more this feeling
on the part of the people became apparent, the more
vigorously did the democrats plot and scheme to turn
the tide against us.

In a few days the change of feeling in our favour was
quite marked, and the intelligence department was
beginning to make our presence felt in other beneficial
ways. A complete system of agents and messengers was
organized to cover the whole area from Hamadan to the
Caucasus, and we were soon able to mark down and later
to deal effectively with the most violent of our opponents.

Meanwhile there was the question of our further parties
now assembling in Baghdad. The mission had been
officially designated '* Dunsterforce," and a Dunsterforce
camp was formed at Baghdad, and afterwards at Ruz,
to accommodate the various parties till orders could b©

66 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

issued as to their disposal. The unofficial designation
was '' The Hush-Hush Army."

I was anxious to get up another batch of officers,
but we were not yet quite sure of our ground, and motor
transport for them could not at the time be spared from
Baghdad. I thoroughly realized the unfortunate situation
of these officers and men arriving from some active theatre
of the war, full of hope for the chance of great achievements,
being obliged to kick their heels in camp in Mesopotamia ;
but for the moment things must remain as they were, and
the only thing for them to do was to undertake the study
of Persian or Russian — a dull enough task for men who
were primarily fighting men and who had never expected
to be asked to qualify as linguists.

The following is an extract from an appreciation of
the situation which I dispatched at this time:

^ "... The real combination we are up against is not

only the Bolsheviks but the Pan-Islamic scheme uniting
the Tartars of Baku with the Jangalis of Enzeli — a very
strong anti-British combination backed with German
money and German officers. ... As regards Tiflis, we are
out to help people who cannot agree among themselves
and seem to want not British interference but just British
money, and that is all. Had it been possible for my mission
to have been in Tiflis by the autumn of 1917, I would
have devoted the whole of my energies to the drawing
together of the two Christian peoples, the Georgians and
the Armenians, while trying to bring the Mahomedan
Tartars into line with them. On this basis alone could
complete success be achieved.

" But what has happened during those six months ?
So far from sinking their religious differences, both sides
have accentuated them, and the attitude of the Christian
communities has driven the Tartars into a leaning towards
the Turks. As regards the immediate future, let Persia

WE FALL BACK TO HAMADAN 67

and the Jangalis be first settled, and the road is clear
at least as far as the South Caspian. ..."

To deal with the Jangalis effectively troops would be
required. As long as we had no troops on the ground
Kuchik Khan refused to enter into any negotiations.
Once troops were visible he would either fight or more
probably admit the sense of a mutual agreement.

CHAPTER V
AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS

BY the middle of March we were firmly established
on a fairly solid foundation in Hamadan. The
strength of our position was much improved by the
Persian habit of exaggeration, which leaned very much in
our favour. We were fortunate in being able to see most
of the telegrams that passed between various officials,
and which generally ran something on these lines:

" From X. to Z.

Why have you not reported the numbers of British
troops in your neighbourhood ? You do not do your
work properly and you will have to be removed."

" From Z. to X.

I do my best to get information, but it is hard
to find out what troops there are. They do not allow
us to come near their place of residence."

" From X. to Z.

You must ascertain personally and give me
accurate information. I must know what numbers
they have. You must obey orders."

This peremptory message worries and annoys Z.,
who in his exasperation lets himself go as follows :

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 69

"In compliance with your orders I send figures that
are reliable. They have here about 500 men and twelve
armoured cars, each of the latter has four large guns.
I have seen all this with my own eyes. They also have
about 150 motor-cars."

Then Z. probably smiles to himself as he thinks of
the delight of X. at receiving such authentic information.

We were beginning to get about the country a good
deal now, and small parties with three or four Ford vans
might be seen in various towns, each party resulting in
a similar telegram to the above. When X. came to add
up the totals received from his various informants our
party of twelve officers, two clerks, forty-one drivers
and one armoured car must have assumed the dimensions
of an army corps. I purposely omit names and
official titles from these telegrams for obvious reasons.

The Turks were certain to have better information,
but probably also much exaggerated, and I do not think
they ever realized that the 240 miles of road from
Kermanshah to Kasvin was being held by twelve officers
and two clerks plus the armoured car. They were so
close — in Shenneh, for example, only 100 miles from
Hamadan — that a raid on our party would have been
easy and probably successful. We were, moreover,
surrounded by individual Turks ; in fact there were so
many that we could not possibly undertake to arrest
them all as we could spare neither guards nor rations.
One or two of the more active among them had to be
arrested, but the remainder were left in peace. They
were in most cases our sincere well-wishers, chiefly men
who had recently deserted from the Turkish detachments
to the North- West, or from the army that had fought
with the Russians on this road in 1916-17. Some of
the latter had settled down in the villages as peaceful
inhabitants and had married and begun to raise families.

70 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

The Russian evacuation was proceeding now with
some rapidity and we would soon have nothing but the
men of Bicherakov's detachment left. This would place
us in a far more favourable position. I had at this time
a great deal to do with General Saratov and his Staff,
and it was necessary to discuss many things with reference
to the evacuation.

There were two points to be settled, one the question
of finance, the other the question of handing over of
material.

I have mentioned General Baratov before as being
the original Commander of the Russian Army that had
in the earlier stages of the war done so much to help
the Allied cause by operating against the Turks on this
road through North-West Persia and by linking up with
our right flank on the Turko -Persian border.

General Baratov is himself a Caucasian, with his home
in Tiflis, and naturally had his heart very much in any
scheme that would tend to the restoration of law and
order in that region. But during a revolution those who
previously possessed most influence become the least
influential of all, as they represent the very class against
which the people have risen. The more valuable therefore
his services had been and might still be to Russia and
her Allies in this war, the more the Bolsheviks demanded
his blood ; and the Enzeli Committee asked me to convey
a polite message to him that if he would only come down
to Enzeli, they were very anxious to try him by court
martial (verdict and sentence a foregone conclusion).
Under these circumstances I could expect little help
from him except in the matter of advice.

Had it been possible to utilize his services in the
Caucasus there is no doubt that his personality would
have been a great asset. He is an extraordinarily able
speaker and always exceedingly popular. In North
Persia the Russians had done little to endear themselves

General Baratov

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 71

to the people, but the feelings of friendship and affection
with which General Baratov was regarded by the people
who had least cause to like him, are evidences of a very
fine character. He was at this time more particularly
odious to the revolutionaries as having been one of
the principal supporters of the Russo-British Volunteer
Corps, which they regarded as being a counter-revolu-
tionary movement. The history of this corps is briefly
as follows :

When it became evident in the autumn of 1917 that
the Russian troops were going to evacuate their portion
of the line in North Persia, leaving a gap of 400 miles
on the right flank of the Mesopotamian army, it was
thought that a force of volunteers might be raised from
among the retiring troops, who would continue to serve
under British control and on British pay, and this would
obviate the necessity of sending up troops who could
ill be spared from Baghdad. These volunteers were
raised under the direct command of a very distinguished
Russian officer, Colonel Baron Medem, but they were
a failure from the very start, and when I saw them in
February it was obvious that they would never be of
any use.

The idea had been that, with Russia in a state of
anarchy, a large number of men would be glad to remain
in a well-paid service until a change in affairs might render
a return to their homes a more pleasant prospect than
it was at present. This scheme was undoubtedly attrac-
tive, and a fairly large force might have been raised
under British officers. But it was decided that the force
should have Russian officers, which was not acceptable
to the men. The eventual failure was due to the
Bolsheviks, who declared the movement counter-revolu-
tionary and threatened with death any who supported
it. And it was no real loss to us.

Judging from the few specimens I saw I am convinced

72 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

that the force at its best would have been quite worth-
less. Even under British officers proper military dis-
cipline could never have been restored, and the men
composing the force would have been only the spiritless
loafers who wanted to draw good pay and rations and
avoid the turmoil of their own country, while equally
refraining from risking their lives or undertaking any
arduous tasks for the " cunning " Englishmen in Persia.
We should therefore be grateful to the Bolsheviks who
nipped in the bud a scheme that was destined under
any circumstances to be a complete failure.

A good deal of my time was also taken up in discussing
with General Baratov the possibilities of British assistance
in the matter of the costs of the Russian evacuation.
It was clear that it was to the interests of all that the
Russian troops should be got out of Persia without delay,
and as the Russians had no money it would be advisable
to afford whatever financial assistance might be neces-
sary. This had been agreed to, and the payments were
carefully controlled by a local board, of which Mr.
McMurray, of the Imperial Bank, was President.

But there remained the question of the Russian debts,
and on this subject the British Government was adamant.

The position was certainly unpleasant for General
Baratov personally, but it could hardly be expected
that we could allow arguments of a sentimental nature
to have any force.

The British Government had offered, under certain
guarantees, a fixed sum payable at certain periods, which
was calculated to meet the difference between a sum to
be received by General Baratov at intervals from the
Tiflis Government and the actual cost of the evacua-
tion. The Tiflis Government failed to produce their
share, and the Russian Commander had to make up the
deficit by the issue of payment requisition orders in lieu
of cash. These paper obligations now amounted to a

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 73

considerable sum, and General Baratov begged that
the British Government would undertake their redemp-
tion in order not only to clear his personal honour,
but to uphold the prestige of the European in Asia, a
matter which he maintained affected British credit as
much as Russian.

His heart-rending appeals were met by constant
and unqualified refusals, and it was my painful duty to
convey the news of these reiterated refusals on each
occasion.

The arguments adduced by the gallant General would
have melted the heart of a stone ; but as they could
not be cabled home in full the heart of the British
Government remained quite unmelted.

" See, Lev Lvovitch," he would say to me in intro-
ducing a picturesque allegory, " there on the floor before
you lies a dead body. Whose body is it ? It is that of
Russia. Have you no tears of pity for it ? Can you
forget that that friend, who now lies in the awful still-
ness of death before you, saved you and saved all the
Allies in the first year of the war ? Because we have
fallen from grace, are you to take no account of our
earlier heroism ? You stand before me, Russia's friend.
Before you lies, uncared for and unburied, the dead body
of your friend. Do you mean to tell me that you will
not even pay the funeral expenses ? The redemption
of the requisitions which I demand from your Govern-
ment, is only to save your deceased friend from a
pauper's grave ! "

The contrary contention was, however, firmly up-
held, and the requisitions were in the end only partially
redeemed by other means.

Another matter that absorbed much time was the
question of paying the Russians for material taken over
from them. All supplies we were glad to have and took
over without hesitation. Wheeled transport, telegraph

74 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

equipment and certain military stores would also be of
great value. But there were certain items which could
hardly be seriously entertained. Among such repudi-
ated items I give the following specimens :

1. Payment for the military telegraph line from

Hamadan to Enzeli. Answer : Totally destroyed
and of no value.

2. Purchase of military roads constructed by the

Russian Army. Answer : The question of roads
constructed in Persia must be referred to the
Persian Government. Whatever sum of money
I paid for these roads would not make me
their owner.

3. Purchase of bridging material. Answer : Per-

manent bridges having been constructed, this
is not required.

4. The Russians had meant to repair the Asadabad

road and had collected a lot of metal by
the roadside ; will the British purchase this ?
Answer : No.

Then when it was decided to take over certain things
the question arose: "Who was the owner?" There
was General Baratov representing the Tifiis Govern-
ment, but there were also various other bodies such as
the Zemski Soyuz, a charitable Red Cross institution,
and these bodies did not hand over their rights to him.
So we generally found that the things we bought from
one man belonged to another, and when the latter's
claim came up it was generally a very nebulous one.

With regard to some telegraph material I arranged
to purchase, I found it already belonged by previous
agreement to the Persian Telegraphs, and while we and
the Persian Telegraphs were considering the matter,
the stuff was removed by a third party who had a very
doubtful claim, but wisely decided that possession was

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 75

nine points of the law and walked off with it. This
individual afterwards showed me the document on which
his claim was based, and which was simply a chit signed
by a Russian Second-Lieutenant to say that " the bearer
can have the wire if he wants it."

Between these Russian negotiations and the endeavour
to establish reasonable relations with the Persian com-
munity, it may be understood that our time was fully
taken up. Measures for defence were also necessary in
view of the rumours, based undoubtedly on real inten-
tions, of an attack on the mission. Sometimes it was
to be the townspeople themselves urged on by the
political agitators, at other times it was to be wandering
bands of desperadoes, raiding tribes, and professional
highwaymen. It may have been just the fact that we
were always prepared both night and day that prevented
any of these bloodthirsty schemes from materializing.
As long as the Russians were near us, it was possible
that they might help us in case of difficulty, but it was
equally possible that revolutionary soldiers might be
tempted to join in with the other programme, that
included, like all good programmes, the looting of
the bank.

The weather remained very bad, and this factor
was more for us than against us, causing a reluctance
on the part of would-be attackers to undertake opera-
tions in the snow, which fell frequently and rendered
movement difficult on foot and impossible in wheeled
conveyances.

After a heavy fall on March 16th the weather cleared
for a spell, enabling the last of the Russians to get on
the move, leaving only Bicherakov's detachment at
Sheverin, 3 miles out of the town.

My thoughts being still fixed on the Caucasus, many
schemes were put up before me for consideration, but not
one of them showed any reasonable chance of success.

76 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

I was interviewed frequently by individual Russian
officers, who, inspired with the desire to do something
for their country in her desperate plight, propounded
schemes that belonged more to the realm of fairyland
than to that of practical possibilities.

One such scheme commenced with a suggestion of
the payment by the British Government of fourteen
million pounds in a lump sum and ended with the restora-
tion of order in the Caucasus and a triumphant entry
into Moscow. Other smaller minds suggested the capture
of a gunboat on the Caspian by aeroplane, forgetting
that when the aeroplane had captured the gunboat the
latter would have no port to put into and would have
to spend its time till its oil fuel gave out, wandering round
and round the Caspian.

Our supply question was also a matter of some
difficulty. I wanted not only to supply our own needs,
but also to begin laying in stocks for the troops that must
eventually move up this road. But we were hampered
by the famine conditions, by the resistance of the local
officials and by an order issuing from the Govern-
ment at Teheran that the British were to be prevented
from getting supplies of any sort. The food we got was
good enough, but not the sort of ration to keep a British
soldier fit. Meat was not hard to obtain, bread in the
form of Persian " Sangak," somewhat like the Indian
chupattie, could be procured at a high price, fresh vege-
tables were not to be had, and their place had to be taken
by dried figs and apricots. The men ate their rations
cheerfully enough without caring much for them, the
British soldier being a very staunch conservative in
the matter of his food. But the Persian bread was too
much for their digestions, and they began to suffer from
stomach trouble which would in the end have become
serious had we not managed at last to set up a small
bakery and turn out some quite decent bread. This

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 77

bakery we were enabled to construct out of some of the
useful gear we had taken over from the Russians.

We began now to add to the strength of our force
by taking into our service several Russian officers, of
guaranteed integrity and proved ability, who had fled
from the clutches of the Bolsheviks of Baku. These
helped us greatly to keep touch with the Baku situa-
tion, and two of them were at once dispatched on a
secret mission. All of those who entered our service
at this time were men who had already distinguished
themselves in the war and who would stick at nothing
to prove their merit ; they nobly maintained their
reputation.

The last of the Russian regular army having with-
drawn, Bicherakov's men were now getting restless, and
he informed me that he had the intention of following
the rest of the army and leaving Persia as soon as his
transport could be arranged. If he carried out this
move, all chance of retaining our hold on North Persia
would be gone. I could continue to hold out in Hamadan,
but I should be able to exert no influence farther north,
and there would be nothing to prevent Kasvin falling into
the hands of the Jangalis, who would certainly be getting
on the move now that the weather showed signs of
improvement.

It was therefore necessary to tempt him to throw
in his lot entirely with us, and to draw up an agreement
that would be advantageous to both of us. After many
discussions on the various points we finally settled on
the following terms :

1. That he would not withdraw his troops from Persia

till I could replace them with our own troops.

2. That I would assist him financially, as he had great

difficulty in paying his men, but that he was in
no sense a mercenary, would accept no money

78 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

for any service performed but only for expenses
actually incurred for military operations.

3. That neither would undertake operations without

consulting the other, and that any financial
assistance from the British Government would
cease if he undertook operations not in
accordance with the general plans of the Allies.

4. That the first operation to be undertaken would

be an attack on Kuchik Khan's army and the
clearing of the road from Kasvin to the
Caspian.

5. That if he would fall in with my plans in Persia,

we would try to evolve a mutual plan for
later operations in the Caucasus, where my
assistance to him would be as valuable as his
to me.

This excellent agreement had no sooner been drawn up
than an opportunity occurred of testing its value. On
March 23rd we received reliable information that the
Jangalis were preparing to march on Kasvin and that
Kasvin was preparing to welcome them. They were
now holding all the strong points on the Resht road and
had entrenched themselves in a position to cover the
Menjil bridge and close the road to all traffic.

On March 24th we pushed oJBf a small detachment
of Cossacks to Kasvin, and the remainder moving by
route march reached that town in the nick of time.
Kuchik Khan's scheme was for the moment thwarted
and Kasvin saved. The situation there had become so
critical that the bank had had orders to close, and all
officials to withdraw. The bank at Resht had been
looted ; the bank manager, Mr. Oakshot, and the British
Consul, Mr. Maclaren, had both been arrested and were
now prisoners in the hands of the Jangalis. Captain
Noel, endeavouring to reach me with dispatches from

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 79

Tiflis, also fell into their hands. The two former were
allowed a certain amount of freedom and escaped to
Enzeli after some months' captivity ; the latter, however,
was treated with great rigour from the first and was
kept a prisoner for five months until released under the
terms of peace made after the defeat of the Jangalis. He
had made several attempts to escape, being thwarted
in each case by sheer bad luck, and each unsuccessful
attempt resulted in increased severity in his treatment
which, without going into details, was far from being
in accordance with the rules of civilized warfare, though
Kuchik always maintained that in such matters he was
on a par with European nations.

It would now be possible for Bicherakov to move
forward on the Menjil road and he was anxious to do so.
As I had as yet no troops to put up behind him this would
have left me in a very bad position, and I was able to
make him defer his departure by the promise of aeroplanes
and armoured cars to support his move if he would only
wait another week. In this way I was able to keep him
hanging on for ten weeks, by which time the needed troops
had arrived and the scheme was brought to a success-
ful issue. Those ten weeks were not a very happy time
for either of us, and we got dangerously near to what
are politely called " mutual recriminations."

A suggestion that Persian levies and irregulars should
be raised was at once taken up and added considerably
to the heavy tasks which fell on the small number of
officers available. It was decided therefore to get up
a second batch of officers and N.C.O.'s.

My present duties were now defined as being to take
energetic and immediate measures to frustrate enemy
penetration through North- West Persia. We had already
had considerable success on these lines, and a rather
valuable Austrian army officer fell into our hands on
March 21st. He was captured through the agency of

80 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the Cossacks, together with a Turkish sergeant who was
acting as his guide and interpreter. The officer was dis-
guised as a Persian lady, but his height and gait aroused
suspicion, while the Turkish sergeant was more easily
disguised as a Persian peasant, and could have passed
muster if alone. The only special request the Austrian
had to make was that he might be given some European
bread to eat, and he was astonished and disgusted to
hear that we had been eating " Sangak " ourselves for
two months and had nothing else to offer him : a week
later we could have given him the treat he asked for,
when our famous bakery had got under way.

In the surrounding villages some drilling was going
on at this time under Turkish instructors. This was
all part of the scheme to exterminate our party, and
we took steps to interfere with these parades ; not that
they seemed likely to result in anything very serious for
a considerable time at least, but the actual drilling of
well-armed men is certainly getting nearer to action than
the passing of resolutions to which the plotters had
hitherto confined themselves.

Famine relief had already commenced and was begin-
ning to work well ; a description of the work undertaken
will be given in a later chapter. The evidences of famine
were terrible, and in a walk through the town one was
confronted with the most awful sights. Nobody could
endure such scenes if he were not endowed with the
wonderful apathy of the Oriental : " It is the will of
God ! " So the people die and no one makes any effort
to help, and a dead body in the road lies unnoticed until
an effort to secure some sort of burial becomes unavoid-
able. I passed in a main thoroughfare the body of a
boy of about nine years of age who had evidently died
during the day ; he lay with his face buried in the mud,
and the people passed by on either side as if he were
merely any ordinary obstruction in the roadway.

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 81

Spring was now beginning to show signs of its advent,
but on April 1st down came the snow again and for a
time winter regained the supremacy. It was not possible
to dispense with fires till May.

On this day we really thought that the expected
climax had actually arrived. Breathless messengers from
the town brought the news that the people were taking
up arms, and the Governor himself was issuing rifles
and ammunition to the mob with orders to destroy the
English. This was very much like the real thing, and we
prepared for our destruction. But investigation proved
that the alarm was false and the occurrence was of quite
another nature. As I was by this time a firm friend of
the Governor I could not believe that he would behave
quite so treacherously. It is a good maxim to trust no
one in war time, and I never trusted my Persian friends
to the extent of relaxing all precautions, but I always
found that the measure of trust I considered judicious
was never betrayed.

In fact all that had happened was that a Persian
Cossack had been arrested and imprisoned by the Governor.
Bicherakov's Cossacks got the idea that it was one of
their comrades who had been confined, galloped into
the town and prepared to storm the prison. This was
too much even for the very yielding Governor, who
quite rightly met the situation by arming his men and
proceeding to defy the Cossacks. A conflict was only
avoided by the arrival of General Baratov, who called
a truce, examined into the facts of the case and per-
suaded the Cossacks to return to their quarters.

On April 3rd General Byron arrived with the second
party, a very welcome addition of twenty officers and
as many N.C.O.'s to our little force. The party were
well selected and included Captain Donohoe, the well-
known war correspondent, who was doubly welcome on
account of his knowledge of Russian, and Captain Eve,

82 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

equally a Russian scholar, of the Royal Engineers, a
service so far unrepresented in our small detachment.
Another useful addition was Lieutenant Akbar, a Persian
gentleman with business connections in England, whose
services proved of the greatest value.

Looking back on our first passage through these
mountain defiles, I never cease to marvel at the fact
that while travelling on the road from Baghdad to Enzeli
and thence back to Hamadan, only one single shot was
fired at the party. The Russians did not fare so well,
and always ran into trouble. A motor lorry containing
six Russians was ambushed near Hamadan at the end
of March and all the occupants killed. Another car was
attacked beyond the Sultan Bulaq Pass and three oflficials
killed, and a third attack on a motor lorry at the foot
of the pass was successfully beaten off.

I do not think that this necessarily showed excessive
hostility to the Russians as compared with ourselves,
but more perhaps the utter neglect of precautions which
was characteristic of the former's happy-go-lucky methods.
The same tragedies continued to be enacted on the Enzeli
road till the last of the Russians had gone. Lorries were
continually being held up and burnt and the occupants
killed, whereas with the exception of the casualties involved
in actual fighting, we never lost a car or a man on
the road throughout the whole period of our occupation.

A small detachment of the 1/4 Hants Territorial
Infantry, consisting of thirty rifles, joined our force at
Hamadan at the end of March, and on the same day
the first aeroplane arrived from Baghdad. The former
though not a large body of troops was quite a formidable
addition, as things go in Persia, and was promptly
reported to Teheran as being a whole battalion ; the latter
produced a moral effect that was of more value than
many troops. It was an unmistakable sign of strength
and suggested the proximity of the Baghdad army.

AN ALLIANCE OF PHANTOMS 83

Neither the Russians nor the Turks had been able to use
aeroplanes in these parts, and the effect of our aeroplane
was much enhanced by its novelty.

The news of the arrival of numerous aeroplanes and
the battalion of infantry had a good effect in the distant
capital, where enemy propaganda had lately been
running with great vigour and had resulted in various
disturbances and the holding of the usual anti-British
meetings. The position of the British Legation was very
precarious.

The Persian Government now made a rather clever
move. Seeing that by our alliance with Bicherakov we
had secured Kasvin and had thwarted the movement
of Kuchik Khan, and that such an alliance was likely
to be most beneficial to our cause, an attempt was made
to separate us from the Russians. A peremptory message
was sent to Bicherakov ordering him to remove his troops
at once from Persia, in accordance with the previous
agreement between the Russian and Persian authorities,
under which the former had promised to evacuate Persia
by a date already far past. Dire threats were made as
to what would happen if there were any further delay
in compliance with this order. But it did not result
in any hastening of the withdrawal, Bicherakov ex-
plaining that he was getting along as quickly as he
could, and was only delayed by the presence of Kuchik
Khan's troops on the road.

The mission now began to assume quite an inter-
national character, being joined by three French ofl&cers.
These officers were on their way under Colonel Chardigny
to join the French mission in the Caucasus, but attached
themselves to me till they could get a chance of reaching
their destination. Two of them later returned to France,
leaving with us Lieutenant Poidebard, an excellent
fellow, who remained with us from this time onwards
until the fall of Baku.

84 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Several cases occurred of officers being shot at, but
without casualties, the firers preferring to keep a good
distance away, and they were not at all good at long
shots. The only case of shooting at close quarters was
where a Persian drew his revolver on an officer, but the
latter was fairly handy with his weapon and got in his
shot first. With the exception of these few instances
there were no attempts at violence, and the town began
to look on us as permanent, and not at all unwelcome,
residents.

CHAPTER VI
WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS

THINGS were much more plain sailing from the
latter end of March, when the Russian troops had
completed their evacuation and Bicherakov and ourselves
had a clear ground to work on.

The agreement we had entered into was very sound
as long as it lasted, but there was always the risk that
the impatience of the Cossacks to get back to their homes
in the North Caucasus might lead to their breaking away
from us. They were already chafing at the delay, and I
knew it would be many weeks yet before their further
move towards the Caspian would suit our plans. It
seemed very doubtful whether we should be able to hold
them till our troops were up.

In any case, in the absence of our troops, although
the Persians estimated my body of twelve officers, two
clerks and forty-one chauffeurs with one armoured car
and thirty soldiers as representing several thousand troops,
it was obviously not possible to conduct operations with
this phantom army, and active operations would soon be
necessary. It was clearly a case of the Cossacks or
nothing.

In describing the various phases through which the
work of the mission passed at this time, it is difficult to
adhere to an exact sequence. We were simultaneously
engaged in so many parallel tasks that it is only possible

86 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

to make the situation clear by devoting separate chapters
to each phase. These chapters therefore do not describe
events following one another, but events actually taldng
place concurrently.

Thus in the last chapter I endeavoured to set forth
the situation as between the Russians and ourselves.
In this chapter we must hark back to the time of our
first arrival in Hamadan in order to explain our relations
with the Persians.

As soon as it became apparent that our stay in
Hamadan might be prolonged, I set out to make the
acquaintance of all the officials, the landowners, the
politicians and the merchants. The numerous visits
and return visits constituted a somewhat arduous
task, but the experience was on the whole enjoyable.
Certainly the Persians have no monopoly of the virtues,
neither have they of the vices. They make very poor
soldiers in these degenerate days, but the most pugnacious
people are not necessarily the most amiable, and I see
no reason why the Persian should be despised because he
has adopted a line of philosophy which regards fighting
as an anachronism and prefers the tongue to the sword.
The Chinaman divides his nation into two classes, the
braves and the non-braves, and the Persian follows much
the same line of thought. Certain classes, such as high-
way robbers, make a profession of being brave and have
to live up to it (though they don*t !) ; others openly
profess not to be brave and are consequently not expected
to encounter, but rather to flee from, danger. " I drew
the feet of security under the skirt of contentment " is
a Persian phrase that expresses the feeling quite neatly.

In my earlier calls I was very kindly conducted by
the British Consul, Mr. MacDowell, who interpreted and
advised me on points of etiquette. Our first visit was
of course to the Governor, Nizam-es-Sultan, an ultra
extreme democrat as far as political nomenclature went,

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 87

but otherwise an aristocrat in ideas and tendencies. He
was renowned as being so " ultra extreme '* that his views
were practically anarchical, and altogether he promised
to be a very difficult person to tackle. It was for March
3rd that our visit had been fixed, and at 4.30 p.m. on that
date we arrived at the Governor's residence, where we
were received by a general salute from the police guard
and escorted to the room of audience by a uniformed
retainer.

Captain Saunders, and Captain Dunning, my A.D.C.,
accompanied me, the former, who had served in Seistan,
possessing some knowledge of Persian and being quite
in his element in visits of this kind.

We received a polite and frigid shake of the hand
from the Governor who, after introducing his friend Haji
Saad-es-Sultaneh, the special delegate for Russian affairs,
begged us to be seated and ordered tea to be served.

Nizam-es- Sultan was a nice-looking Persian gentleman
of about thirty-five years of age with the polished manners
of Teheran society ; his companion was a good-looking
man about ten years older, who had travelled much in
Europe, spoke French fluently and had adopted European
manners and, with the exception of headdress, European
costume.

Some time was absorbed in the usual inane remarks
of polite society. The Governor remarked that there
had been a lot of snow, to which one could but assent,
and that there would very likely be more, to which
probability I equally agreed.

On my part I spoke of deaths from famine and
deplored the uncertainty of life, commenting also on the
execrable nature of the road between here and Asadabad.
This brought us immediately out of inanities into realities.
The Governor at once woke up and fired off a volley of
questions at me.

" Was the road really very bad ? "

88 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

** Where had we come from ? "

** Why had we come ? '*

" How many men were there in the party ? "

With the exception of the last, these questions were
easy to answer, but this demand for information was
rather disconcerting though easily warded off with a
good square lie ; but in this instance I was able to answer
that there were " quite a lot, and a lot more coming
and then lots more."

In order to prevent a pursuance of this embarrassing
theme and fearing to be asked for a precise definition
of the meaning of the word *' lot," I now switched off
the conversation on to Kuchik Khan, a topic which
immediately caused the inquiries as to our numbers to be
put aside. " Excellent fellow this Mirza Kuchik Khan,"
I said, " I rather like him, although so far he and I have
not quite agreed about things ; but that is only because
we have not yet been able to meet and talk. If we could
meet I am sure he would find we had nothing to disagree
about. I suppose your Excellency is in sympathy with
him ? "

This brought forth the pained and indignant denial
I had expected, but a denial that did not convince me.
The intentionally abrupt introduction of the subject
had taken him rather off his guard, and there was a
hesitation in his manner that indicated a mind not
altogether innocent. The fact of the matter is he
was not of those who had actually thrown in their
lot with the Jangali movement, but was among the
wiser ones who were waiting to see which way the
wind blew.

The other official joined in the conversation and tried
to get various admissions out of me, but I trust he drew
a blank, and as this was only an official call I made a
point of withdrawing early, which put an end to any
further cross-examination.

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 89

I am sure that the British residents of Hamadan will
smile when I say that I took a great liking to Nizam-es-
Sultan, their point of view and mine not being likely to
be the same. Their first objection to him would be that,
though a Governor, he did not govern. But the question
arises are Persian Governors meant to govern ? In no
case among my many acquaintances with Governors was
there any indication of a serious effort to govern in our
meaning of the word. They represent government, and
their real function begins and ends with that. To take
actual examples, at a time like the present the question
of famine relief should be the first step of a Governor.
Was there one in Persia who even mildly interested him-
self in it ? At all times the question of sanitation is a
vital one. Is there a Persian Governor in the whole
kingdom who cares twopence for it ? No ! My friend
was all he should be according to Persian lights, a nice
gentleman and a charming representative of Teheran,
but he did not govern !

Other visits followed, to the Kar-guzar, and to the
chief landowner, Amir Afgham, the former a pleasant
fellow, hating his enforced residence in a dull provincial
town and never ceasing to regret his inability to get a
decent game of Poker. This regret was shared by the
Governor, and both prayed fervently for a transfer to
Teheran, where they could taste again the delights of
society in that gay capital and play Poker to their
hearts* content.

But the other. Amir Afgham, was a very fine type of
the Persian country gentleman, a little man about sixty
years of age, hale and hearty, with a boisterous laugh that
could be heard half a mile away ; enormously wealthy
and, as is usual with very wealthy people, always very
hard up. He was quite naturally a great hater of demo-
crats and politicians generally and of the Governor
especially. At the time of our visit he had the Deputy

90 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Governor staying with him, and the latter was present
while we conversed. It was another insight into Persian
affairs to hear the old man revile the Governor in the
most biting terms, while the Governor's right-hand man
sat there and applauded.

The real cause of the Amir's indignation was that the
Governor had, in the routine performance of his duties,
demanded from him the payment of very considerable
arrears of taxes. The taxes were undoubtedly legitimate
and very much in arrears ; but to demand them seemed
so very uncourteous ! Such forgivable lapses of memory
ought not to be drawn attention to, and the old gentle-
man resisted the tax collectors by force of arms, the
incident ending, as such incidents fortunately do
in Persia, without bloodshed. And the taxes remained
unpaid.

To see the Deputy Governor heartily sympathizing
with the wicked old man in this flouting of authority
enabled me to realize the difficulty of a Persian Governor's
really governing. Perhaps, after all, the Persian system
of letting things take their own course is as good as any
other.

The Persian point of view was set forth in the reply
to my printed proclamation, of which I have already
spoken — " Our methods may be deplorable, but they are
our own ; they suit us, and we don't want yours, which
don't suit us."

My visit to the Amir certainly threw a new light on
the question of a Governor's position. You may abuse
him for not governing, but it must be a hard task to
administer public affairs when the biggest man in the
neighbourhood defies your authority and resists by armed
force your attempts to enforce it, while your assistant
sides so strongly with the cause of all the trouble that
he severs all connection with you and goes to live with
the enemy.

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 91

Incidentally it was gratifying to realize how such
Gilbertian situations strengthened our otherwise weak
position in Hamadan.

The old Amir did not put me to any very severe
cross-examination; he seemed rather glad than otherwise
at the prospect of British troops coming to this part of
Persia. He felt that any rule would be preferable to the
rule of democrats, who paid little respect to his position
and had the effrontery to suggest the payment of his
arrears of taxes.

A few days after these visits the return calls began.
The Governor, the Kar-guzar and Haji Saad-es-Sultaneh
arrived in due state with official escorts, and the conversa-
tion this time was not quite so frigidly formal ; the ice
was beginning to thaw. The Amir called with a most
imposing retinue, including a handsome pony led by a
retainer carrying only his pipe and tobacco and a brazier
of lighted charcoal, the latter looking rather an un-
comfortable load for a fidgety pony ; but perhaps sad
experience had taught the tobacco pony not to fidget.
During this time the other officers were getting into touch
Avith minor officials in the town, and famine relief work
had already begun brought us into contact with all
classes, so that by the end of the month we formed an
integral and indispensable part of local society.

But the cross-examination of myself and my Staff
continued with unabated vigour and was becoming
insupportable. I knew the sort of telegrams the Governor
and others were receiving from the Minister of the Interior
ordering them at all costs to discover the exact strength
of the British detachment, so I could hardly blame them
for making some sort of a show to carry out their orders.
My studies in Persian were progressing famously, and a
renewal of my early acquaintance with the " Gulistan "
of Sa'adi proved of great value to me in the fencing
matches that ensued.

92 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

It is a marvellous thing that while all Persians are
brought up on the wisdom of Sa'adi and other deep and
attractive thinkers (and there is not a problem in life
that has not its solution in the writings of these poets),
they read them and quote them and are never guided
by them. They look feebly for enlightenment to the
West, when all that we have worth knowing, except
modern science, we have got from the East.

In the eighth chapter of the *'Gulistan" I found
what I was looking for, a quotation that I could learn
by heart and which would shield me from the shower
of embarrassing questions that the Governor made a
point of putting me at each interview.

I finally protested on these lines : ** My visits to you
and yours to me are a source of undiluted pleasure to me,
but I do not think that we conduct our conversations
on proper or fair lines. I talk to you of the weather,
the crops, the pleasures of life, the uncertainty of existence
and the ultimate destiny of mankind. Your conversation
on the other hand consists of a series of oft-repeated and
most uninteresting questions, such as : How many troops
have you got ? How many rifles have they ? How many
rounds per rifle ? How many more are coming ? When
will they arrive ? Where are they now ? Conversation
on such lines is extremely wearisome to me, and must
be equally so to you. I could quite easily answer all
your questions by telling you lies, because obviously my
Government does not expect me to lay bare official secrets,
but I have a great objection to telling lies, and in that
respect I may represent a type quite new to you ; but
I repeat that falsehood is most repugnant to me. I might,
according to the well-known Persian saying, wrap up
my principles in the napkin of oblivion, but I prefer not
to do this. In answer therefore to all questions you have
so far put to me and intend to put to me in the future,
I give you the following quotation from Sa'adi :

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 08

Not every secret that one has in one's heart

Should one reveal to the best of friends —

God knows, he may be an enemy to-morrow !

And not every possible injury

Should one do to an enemy —

God knows, he may be a friend to-morrow !

This settled finally the irritating cross-examinations,
and I was never really bothered by them again. Now
and then in response to a peremptory order from Teheran,
a fitful effort was made to revive the old process, but it
was not even necessary to produce the quotation; it
suJBficed to say " Eighth Chapter," and with a smile my
interlocutors turned to brighter themes.

It is not to be imagined that my unassisted Persian
would run to these flights of eloquence. The conversation
was sustained partly by the combined efforts in Persian
of Captain Saunders and myself, partly by means of the
Consul or Mr. McMurray acting as interpreter, and partly
by making use of French in addressing the Haji.

Our friendship with the local notables was now firmly
established, and bore ripe and luscious fruits for both
sides. The monetary basis, which is the ordinary, useful,
but sordid method of gaining one's ends, was entirely
absent from our relations, and though when any kindly
act was done, the other politicians invariably scented
a bribe, I can truthfully say that whatever was done to
help us at this time was done without any recourse to
money payments.

I can give an example, however, from our dealings
with an official, not mentioned by name, which occurred
in another town at another time.

This official was a great personal friend of mine, and
showed the reality of his feelings in a very marked way.
The question of obtaining supplies at the time of which
I am speaking, was becoming one of daily increasing
difficulty.

94 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

On a certain morning I was made aware of the fact
that a cipher telegram from a person in high authority
had been delivered to the official in question. And it
was also made known to me that the contents of the
telegram were as follows : " You are to see that the British
get no more supplies of any sort. All their contractors
are at once to be imprisoned." This looked as if we
might expect rather more active opposition in the matter
of obtaining supplies, but there was nothing to do but
** wait and see." We had not long to wait before we
saw.

The first report I got was from the Supply Officer,
who informed me that supplies promised for delivery
that morning had not turned up. This was soon followed
by a wail from families bereft of their breadwinners to
the effect that the heads of the families who were our
contractors had been thrown into a dungeon.

An urgent message was sent to the official asking for
an explanation, and begging for a release of the men.
This drew forth a reply couched in polite but severe
language stating that the men had been arrested on
certain charges and could not be released.

Now was the time for choosing between two
diametrically opposite lines of action. Should we parade
the twelve officers, two clerks and forty-one drivers
and endeavour to rescue our contractors at the point of
the bayonet, or should we put our friendship to the
test and see if our friends would act up to their
professions ? The latter course commended itself to
me, and I set forth with a Staff Officer to interview
the obstructive official. I was afraid he would say he
was ill and unable to see me, which is the usual Persian
method when trouble is brewing ; I took it as a good
sign, therefore, when we were admitted without hesita-
tion to his residence and courteously received by
him in his most severely official manner. After the

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS »5

usual exchange of compliments we commenced busi-
ness by my asking for an explanation of the tyrannical
treatment of my contractors. In reply I received the
following statement:

" With regard to the imprisonment of the men you
refer to, I regret to state that I am acting under orders
which in my official capacity I am bound to obey. You
may not believe it, but I will tell you in confidence that
I have just received explicit orders to the effect that every
measure is to be taken to prevent you from getting supplies,
and your contractors are to be forthwith imprisoned as
a first step to giving effect to this decree. Your presence
is not desired in Persia, and it is intended to make your
position here impossible. Why do you disturb the peace
of a neutral country like Persia by bringing troops
here ?

" As regards the imprisonment of the contractors," I
replied, " surely it is not possible in your country to put
men in prison without bringing a legal charge against
them, and surely there is no law in this land prohibiting
the sale of grain to any would-be purchaser ! "

To this the official retorted, " You do not know our
laws and you are not therefore competent to discuss
them ; they do not resemble yours. I am ordered to
arrest these men and I have done so."

I then explained, not for the first time, that as to the
remark regarding our presence here in a neutral country,
we were most unwillingly forced into that position. If
Persia would keep her neutrality there would be no need
for our presence here, which was solely necessitated by
the activity of the Germans and Turks in this neutral
country. The Persian Government seemed to acquiesce
in Turkish occupation and German intrigue, and to
claim the laws of neutrality only as regards one of the

96 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

belligerents. There was no great need for entering on
such a discussion at this time but Orientals do not like
to be hurried, and it is polite to talk a little round your
point before you come to it. So after interchanging a
few more opinions on these general subjects, I deemed
it time to work back to the original point, which I
did in these words : ''I am grateful to you for your
detailed explanation of the circumstances leading to
the present trouble, and as a soldier I would be the
last person to suggest disobedience of orders. I see
that the course you have adopted was the only one
open to you and I admire the promptness of your
obedience. You have now fulfilled your duty, and
can report your having done so, with a clear conscience,
to your superiors. That quite finally settles the official
side of this interview may be regarded as closed.

** Now may I address you as a friend? In that capacity
I feel I can rely upon you to do whatever you can for me
personally. So far our friendship has consisted of words,
not deeds. Were those words sincere ? If so, translate
them into deeds. As a friend therefore I beg you to
release all the contractors at once. And, as a friend, I
equally trust that the question of the supplies may not
be made too difficult.'*

The happy ending to this annoying episode was the
release of the offending contractors and a withdrawal of
all obstruction in the matter of supplies. At a later
meeting I congratulated my friend on his ready solution
of the difficulty, and he suggested that if the great nations
now at war had been only half as sensible as he and I
were, there would not have been any war. Which is
a fact.

I have given a general idea of what I may call the
pleasant meetings. But there were other categories which
were most unpleasant, those with the leading merchants,
and those with the leading politicians.

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 97

The merchants were cheerful and effusive, but had
none of the charm of the refined Persian gentleman, and
they had no views on any subject outside their little
business. The sentimental business man is a type not
yet developed, more's the pity. I was generally able to
bring an uninteresting meeting with such gentry to an
abrupt close by referring to the horrors of the famine,
and suggesting a handsome contribution from them for
the purpose of famine relief.

The politicians were mostly men of humble origin,
some genuine idealists, some who were only " in it for
what they could get out of it." For a long time they
fought against coming to my tea-parties, but in the end
they were brought along in twos and threes until at last
the uncompromising leader himself, Ferid-ud-Dowleh, was
persuaded to put in an appearance, and we spent a most
cheerful afternoon together. The extraordinary diffi-
culties involved in inducing these people to enter into
any sort of relations, even purely social, with their avowed
enemy, was chiefly overcome by Mr. Moir, who acted as
political adviser to me, and with a great command of
the language and intimate knowledge of Persian customs
was able to work wonders. Mr. Moir had been working
in Persia for years as representative of a large business
firm and also in the capacity of Vice-Consul, and had now
thrown in his lot with my mission, where his services
continued to be of great value throughout the operations.
I was also very greatly helped by one of my Persian
friends.

These meetings were only useful as helping to form
an estimate of character, and as tending to abate in a
very small degree the virulence of the agitators. I had
no hope or desire of converting the conspirators, but I
brought them to a frame of mind which rendered them
less anxious to conspire.

The intelligence office under Captain Saunders waa

98 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

now achieving such success that there was practically
no information I required that I did not get. In all
such work money plays a great part, but money alone
will not achieve the best results ; there has to be a good
deal of inspiration both on the part of the Staff and of
the people they employ, and a very complete system
of counter-check to avoid the acceptance of false or
misleading information.

All this time there was a Turkish Consul just a hundred
miles away, with a military escort strong enough to wipe
my party off the map ; but the fighting spirit had quite
left the Turks since the fall of Baghdad, and with his
exaggerated notion of my strength he was more afraid
of me than I was of him.

This official was naturally in touch with the Turkish
Legation in Teheran and spent a great deal of time and
money in telegraphing to them. These telegrams had to
pass through Hamadan, and without any treachery on
the part of the telegraph officials we secured them all.
Some were in plain language and were useful to us, others
were in a cipher of which we did not yet possess the key.
The result of our manipulation of these telegrams was a
plaintive appeal sent by special secret messenger from the
Turkish Consul to the head of the telegraph office at
Hamadan, to this efPect : " What has happened to your
office ? It does not seem to be working properly. I
have received by messenger from one of my agents the
information that of nine telegrams lately sent to Teheran
two have altogether failed to reach, and the seven that
reached are altogether undecipherable. The fact of the
two being missing is traceable from my numbers. Will
you please be more careful in future." One might have
expected the Consul to have guessed the answer to this
very easy riddle : he probably solved the problem later.

With such a complete and reliable system it was easy
to secure documentary evidence of the state of mind

WE GET TO KNOW OUR HOSTS 99

and aims of the local Democratic Committee, headed
by Ferid-ud-Dowleh. Their correspondence was most
enlightening and enabled me to appreciate the local
political situation with accuracy. Letters passed
almost daily between the leaders and Kuchik Khan
in one direction and between them and the Turkish
Legation on the other, and most of these letters passed
through my hands.

To the former they wrote somewhat in this strain:
" The British are here, but in very small numbers. At
a sign from you we can rise and destroy them, but you
should send some of your soldiers to help ; we have not
many fighting men here, and the British are well armed.
All the people of the town and most of the leaders are
heartily in your favour, and we only await your signal.
We are short of funds." To the latter they wrote : " The
British force here is a small one. We hear that German
troops are being passed through Baku by the Russians.
When they come, if you could send some here, we could
easily destroy the small British garrison and all the other
English here. Or send some Turkish troops. We do all
we can to help the aims of the Germans and yourselves
and are ready at a moment's notice to lay down our lives
for the cause. We could accomplish more if we had more
money." These letters show that the politicians realized
our weakness better than the officials did. Their common
final note is a sear c Wight on Persian politics.

With a good deal of such information at my disposal
I was thoroughly prepared for my guests at the afternoon
tea-parties. One party took place within a few hours of
the writing and dispatch of two such letters as the above,
and I was privileged to read these letters just before my
guests arrived. After a considerable discussion of such
topics as the weather and the famine I changed the subject
to a direct inquiry concerning Kuchik and the Turks.
The fact that my guests lied to me is of course not

100 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

remarkable ; had they been the most upright people
in the world they could not have been expected to give
truthful answers to my questions, and to have done so
would have been to betray their own cause. But with
letters in my hand containing their very latest expressions
of opinion, their falsehoods were distinctly entertaining.
It would have been still more amusing had I confronted
them with their actual letters with all their signatures
attached. There were occasions later when it paid to
do this ; to do so at the present moment would be to
acquaint them with the fact that their letters were falling
into our hands, which would at once dry up this fount
of information.

" I hear a great deal," I went on, " in the shape of
rumours in the town of your hostility to my mission here.
I pay no attention to such rumours, but of course we have
to face facts. You naturally resent our presence here ;
we regret that it is unavoidable. You obviously sym-
pathize with Kuchik Khan ; why shouldn't you ? You
are democrats, and he is said to be the chief of democrats.
But you might remember also that I am a democrat, in
the sense that I represent the only truly democratic
country in the world, and in a way I sympathize with
Kuchik. The only mistake he makes is in making
an enemy of me and closing the road to the Caspian :
that will in the end get him into trouble."

Loud murmurings of dissent greeted this speech.
" What baseless rumours ! what fanciful ideas ! How
could we possibly sympathize with Kuchik Khan, who is
an upstart and endeavouring to lead a revolution, whereas
we represent law and order."

" But you must very strongly resent our intrusion
here, although we have most excellent reasons for it,
and I understand from placards and manifestoes that
you intend to murder us all in our beds. The Jangalis
might help you to do that." More protestations of inno-

WE GET TO KNOW* OTJTR HOISTS ^^^'^tOI

cence ensued, and I switched off on to the question of their
most right and justifiable love for the Germans and the
Turks. " The great advantage of having the German
or Turks, or both, here in preference to ourselves is that
by this means you ensure stability of government. We
have no intention of staying here, and our eventual
withdrawal after we have won the war would throw you
back again into the chaos which is the normal state of
Persia. Now with the Germans and Turks there would
be no risk of that. Once here they are here till the crack
of doom, and a stable form of government is assured in
perpetuity. German rule would be a nice bracing tonic
for Persians who, as you yourselves complain, are too
lethargic. There won't be any lethargy left when you've
had a dose of Kultur. And as to the Turks, well ! you
know more about them and their methods of government
than I can tell you. Still, all these advantages are only
to be gained if the Germans win the war, and they won't.
Therefore I think that on the whole your leaning to
them and antagonism to us is not going to do you any
good." This produced quite a volley of negatives.
" What an unheard of thing to suggest that we have any
sort of leanings towards those horrible Germans whom
we loathe and the Turks whom we despise. We have
the greatest admiration for the British, but we are a
neutral country, and you must leave Persia at once.
We intend no open hostility to you and will even offer
you protection in case of trouble, but the people of the
town are fierce and will not be controlled by us."

This will suffice to give an idea of the entertaining
conversations with which we whiled away the pleasant
hours. They were both amusing and useful to me — I
doubt if they were useful to the democrats, but they
must have been extraordinarily amusing. To think how
easily the British General had swallowed all that stuff
about their hating Kuchik and loathing the Germans and
Turks ! Ha ! ha !

CHAPTER VII
FAMINE

IT is hard to convey to any one who has never been
in a famine even the faintest idea of the horrors
that dearth of food entails. In the struggle for existence
the human side of nature gets thrust out of sight and
only the animal, like a ravening wolf, remains.

Many may be acquainted with famine conditions
in a country like India where, however great the suffering
may be, the Government undertakes full responsibility,
and private charity properly organized assists in the
endeavour to alleviate the sufferings of the poor.
Even then the misery is appalling. But imagine what
the conditions must be in a country like Persia, where
the State makes no effort and where private charity
would be regarded as lunacy.

Signs of the famine had greeted us at the very outset
of our journey in January when we encountered the dead
and dying on the road, and passed through half-ruined
villages with their starving inhabitants. But as time
went on conditions went from bad to worse, and it was
obvious that the distress must increase until the reaping
of the next harvest some six months hence.

The famine was due to many causes. Firstly, owing
to war conditions and bad weather, the harvest of 1917
had been a bad one. Secondly, the demands of the

102

FAMINE 108

troops, Turkish and Russian, had been considerable
and had much reduced the quantity of grain on
the market. Thirdly, the extraordinary rise in price had
opened such vistas of wealth to the landowners and
grain dealers that they had made a ring with a view
to keeping these prices up and forcing them still
higher ; and although there was always wheat enough
for the food of the people, the holders of wheat refused
to put their stocks on the market, waiting for still
better prices, regardless of the fact that every fractional
rise in price meant a large increase in the death-
rate among the very poor. The wheat was there, but
not the money to pay for it.

The apathy of the townspeople of Hamadan was
extraordinary. Among the population of 50,000 over
30 per cent, were on the verge of starvation and for a
very large percentage death was inevitable. But Hama-
dan contains a very large number of wealthy people,
and the well-to-do community could easily have saved
their poorer brethren from starvation had they but
parted with a very small percentage of the enormous
profits they had already made out of wheat transactions.
But not only would they take no steps themselves, but
when I took the steps for them I had the greatest
difficulty in getting prominent men even to assist
in the organization of the gangs, distribution of
tickets, etc.

When we arrived in Hamadan there were already two
centres of famine relief at work, one at the Imperial Bank
of Persia and the other at the American Mission ; but
the numbers they were able to deal with fell far short of
the 15,000 people who were in acute distress. These
relief centres were run on purely charitable lines, no
work being exacted and no money paid, but good food
issued on tickets.

The relief I proposed to undertake would be on the

104 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

lines of cash payment for a day's labour, without
demanding any special standard of work.

The most suitable form of famine relief work appeared
to be the construction of new roads and the improve-
ment of those already existing in the neighbourhood. I
therefore begged that a sum might be allotted for this
purpose, and my request was sanctioned without delay.

Having received permission to incur the necessary
expenditure, all that remained was to get the men to
work. None of us had any experience of famine relief
work, and the problem before us appeared fairly simple ;
but it was not. The problem was this : "In this town
are, say, 10,000 men and boys on the verge of starvation.
Of these we can employ 5,000 ; but these 5,000 must
be chosen only from the very poorest. How can we be
certain of getting the poorest ? How can we best notify
conditions as to work, time, place, etc ? How can we
ensure the men we want turning up and no others ?
With so few officers superintending and such large
gangs at work, how can we be certain that the men
we pay out at pay-time are the men who actually did
the work ? "

These are not the only questions we had to ask
ourselves ; there were a great many more, but
these were perhaps the main problems, a solution of
which was indispensable to satisfactory commencement
of the work.

In discussing this on paper I may be giving the false
idea that we had carefully considered all these questions
beforehand. We did nothing of the sort, and only
realized the necessity for various lines of action as we
learnt day by day by sad experience.

There were too many other things to be attended to,
and it was not possible to devote oneself entirely to the
problems of famine relief. We were even ignorant of
the numbers to be dealt with, as to which it was not

FAMINE 105

feasible to obtain any reliable estimate ; we could only
find out by trial.

Our earlier efforts were great failures, but we soon
got things in order, and in the end achieved remarkable
success.

For the first day's work no one seemed quite certain
if the people would turn out at all, and we were certainly
quite unprepared for the enormous crowd of applicants
we had to deal with. It was announced in the town
on the previous evening that the British desired to have
some work done on the roads and would pay workers
three krans a day, that the work was intended to help
the starving people, that only the very poorest would
be accepted, and that intending workers were to
assemble at a spot near the eastern exits of the town
at 8 a.m.

At the appointed hour on the next day I sent Captain
John, with two other officers to assist him, to start the
day's proceedings. The instructions I gave him were
these : *' As soon as you get your men assembled make
them sit down in rows. Pick out all the robust ones
and send them back to the town till you have reduced
the numbers down to the level we can afford to pay.
Divide up into gangs of fifty, choose a likely man as
head of each gang and get to work."

There was not for a moment any doubt as to the
number of people applying for work. The entire town
rose as one man and rushed to the rendezvous, the
unfortunate officers were overwhelmed and lucky to get
out alive, although the disappointed crowd showed no
malice. There was nothing to do but to give up any
further effort for that day and try again to-morrow,
having in the meantime thought things out a little more
and issued further explanatory proclamations in the
town.

Tickets were also printed, to be given out on the

106 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ground to each man before commencing work and to
be presented by him as a coupon for payment at the
end of the day.

The next day, with a strong escort of drivers, Captain
John again proceeded to his task, but again returned
reporting a failure.

I was not pleased with this repeated lack of success,
and explained to the officer in charge that it was simply
owing to his lack of ordinary intelligence. Colonel
Duncan quite agreed with my reproaches and added,
*' The mistake you make is in not making the men sit
down. Once they are sitting it is quite easy to keep
order."

The next day again I received a despairing message
from Captain John to say that he was powerless to do
anything with the mob. I replied that I would send
Colonel Duncan out to show him how to do it.

So Colonel Duncan forthwith proceeded and, after
making some such remark as " Now you watch me,"
addressed the crowd in Persian, as follows : "Sit down,
sit down, sit down ! Nothing till you sit down. Sit
down ! " Whereupon the crowd of several thousands
sat down. Then the interpreter announced, "The gentle-
man will now give tickets to those who are entitled to
work. No one must move, all must remain seated."

Perfect order reigned, and a triumphant smile
enlivened the features of the Staff Officer. " Now
all you have to do is for each of you to go round with
a bundle of tickets and issue them to the most
hungry - looking " ; with which remark he stepped
forward with one ticket in his hand to demonstrate
the process. In one moment the whole six thousand
were on top of him, and he returned sadder but
wiser, admitting another failure, after having been
severely trampled on.

Our next scheme was to issue tickets the evening

FAMINE 107

before through the Consul and any of the prominent
citizens of the town who would undertake to be respon-
sible for the various quarters in which they resided.
From this time on things worked more or less satisfac-
torily. But in manipulating any charitable scheme the
whole world seems to be against you ; genuine helpers
there were none, and the recipients of the charity were
as bad as any in their dishonesty. The great difficulty
was to ensure that only the poorest got the tickets ; but
the poorest are the weakest, and the weakest go to the
wall, and it was hard to prevent fairly robust men coming
to the works while the really starving were j)ushed out
in the scramble for tickets.

Then there was a traffic in tickets which we were
powerless to stop. Assuming that one of the men
deputed to issue tickets acted conscientiously in
his distribution, he could never be sure that the same
applicant had not been up three times and received
three tickets. Or, if he were not conscientious, there
was nothing to prevent him from giving five tickets
straightaway to any favoured individual.

These tickets gave the right to work for one day and
receive a payment of three krans ; the normal value of
a kran is a little less than fivepence. The lucky holder
of five tickets could go round the town, sell the five
tickets for one kran each, enabling the purchasers to earn
two krans by putting in a day's work on the roads, while
he pocketed five krans without having to do any work
at all. Nothing could put a stop to this kind of fraud
except the co-operation of the well-to-do Persians, but
so far there was no sign of any desire on their part to
help us. I had already begged the Governor, the other
officials and all the big men of the town to show some
interest in the scheme, but they showed none. The only
sign of interest displayed by notables came from the poli-
ticians, and took the form of the most active opposition.

108 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

They realized that I was fulfilling the promise of my
proclamation, in which I had stated that the British
always interested themselves in the welfare of the people ;
they saw that we were gaining in popularity, and they
infinitely preferred the death of their neighbours to such
an undesirable contingency. It was the same unuttered
thought of all revolutionaries: " Life must be sacrificed
in this good cause ; so let any life but mine be freely
offered up."

The next step of our opponents was that when I had
provided the starving people with money to buy bread,
they closed the bakers' shops by intimidation and
insisted on the people dying " in a good cause." This
difficulty we also overcame.

Then there was further trouble on the ground. With
so few officers to supervise, how could we be sure that
the ticket -holders did any work at all ? It was hard to
prevent a man from getting his ticket, sneaking off into
the town and either selling it or turning up himself at
pay-time after having done no work. And work was
only exacted in proportion to strength. Some were
only capable of pretending to work as we came along
to inspect, feebly patting the ground with a small imple-
ment, and ceasing this effort as soon as we had passed.
Of these a certain number lay dead on the ground by
the time the day's pay came to be issued. It seems
horrible that men should have to work under such
conditions, but Government funds are not available for
issue in the form of simple charity, though we got as
close to that as we conscientiously could.

As time went on the deaths entirely ceased and
within only a few days each man w'as capable of doing
some appreciable work without over-exerting himself,
and no Persian is prone to over-exertion.

Our system of having gangers to each fifty was the
only workable one ; but the gangers were not to be

FAMINE 109

trusted, and they probably got their mite out of each
member of the gang. The most we could do to thwart
this was to make all payments ourselves direct to the
workers, a British officer actually putting each man's
money into his hands ; but this would not prevent the
ganger from applying afterwards what the Chinese
appropriately call " Squeeze." This task of direct
payment by an officer was very toilsome, but we never
swerved from it.

We employed no women, and it was now suggested
that while we were giving each man the bare amount
to support his own life, there was nothing over for his
family, who starved as before. This difficulty was over-
come in a very simple way, by increasing the value of
each ticket to an extent that would enable the worker
to buy enough bread for his wife and children as well
as himself.

Like all these simple solutions, this was doomed to
instant failure and had to be at once withdrawn. What
we intended to happen did not happen, and instead the
result was wholly unfortunate. The agricultural labourers
who were just making both ends meet in the surrounding
villages, hearing of the good wages I was paying, flooded
the town, elbowed the starving townsmen out of the
way and secured a large proportion of the tickets. My
intended boon to the poor had a quite contrary result
and had to be withdrawn. Any one of experience would
have foreseen all this, but we had no experience and had
to learn as we went along.

By the time the second party — the first addition to
our force — arrived, we had got things going fairly well,
but were still hampered by paucity of officers for super-
vision. I entrusted the future working of the scheme
entirely to General Byron, who was very soon able to
introduce many much-needed improvements. Arrange-
ments were made for a portion of the wage to be paid

110 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

in cash, and the remainder issued in the shape of food
from soup kitchens established in the town. The reduc-
tion in cash payments, while supplying food in kind to
the workers, helped very much to eliminate the stronger
members who had hitherto been our chief difficulty.
They wanted the cash only, and the necessity of drawing
part payment in the shape of food from the soup kitchens
successfully choked them off.

The work on which the officers and N.C.O.'s were
engaged was undoubtedly a noble one, but it was the
exact reverse of any task which these essentially fighting
men had expected. Chosen especially for their martial
qualities, and panting to achieve " The bubble reputa-
tion at the cannon's mouth," it was indeed a dispiriting
step on the path to glory to find themselves dumped
down in a Persian village, issuing soup to the poor. All
I could do was to cheer them by putting before them
the prospect of more lively events later.

Cases of cannibalism were not uncommon, and the
punishment of such offenders as were detected was worse
than the crime. It is easy for a mullah with a full stomach
to condemn to death miserable beings who are insane
from the pangs of hunger. Two culprits, a mother and
daughter, who had cooked and eaten one of the family
(a boy six years of age) were stoned to death in front
of the telegraph office by order of the religious authorities.
In this case the offenders were women, who are of small
account ; and they had eaten a male child. There may
have been cases equally bad where the culprits were male
and the victims female, but I know of none such being
brought to light. It was always the women who were
brought up.

We are taught from early youth that only properly
organized charity is of any avail, and that fortuitous
charity does more harm than good. It is impossible
always to act up to principles, and the extreme pleasure

FAMINE 111

of being able to relieve the immediate sufferings of some
wretched individual is apt to lead into indiscretion. Such
a case occurred to me and gave me a lesson which I shall
remember for the rest of my life.

I was walking through the bazaars with my friend
Haji Saad-es-Sultaneh when we came opposite a bread-
shop, where the long strips of "Sangak," or Persian
chupatty, were hanging temptingly on pegs, looking
more like dirty cloths than bread. In front of the shop
was an emaciated child of about nine, looking longingly
at the bread with its eyes half out of its head. I looked
round and saw there was no sign of any other beggars
in the street, fearing that, if there were, any gift to the
child might cause a scramble. The temptation was too
strong to resist and I hastily paid for a large chupatty
(they are about five times the size of the biggest Indian
specimens), and presented it to the wretched infant.
In one instant the whole bazaar was in a state of pande-
monium, hosts of starving people, hitherto invisible,
appeared to drop from the sky, and before I could realize
what was happening the unfortunate holder of the prize
was literally buried beneath a mass of fighting and
screaming humanity, each with murder in his heart
trying to obtain possession of a morsel of the food.
" Beastly ! " you may say. But why malign the beasts ?

The restoration of order was a difficult task. With-
out aid the owner of the bread would undoubtedly have
been killed ; as it was the bread was torn to scraps,
rubbed into the mud of the road and the fragments
swallowed whole by the lucky holders, in the intervals
of fighting, scratching, biting and strangling each other.
There was not one that was not covered with blood.

The work was continued till the harvest was at hand,
when the holders of grain stocks began to release them,
proving thereby the correctness of my previous state-
ment that there was plenty of wheat in the country

112 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

which I could have drawn on if I had been able to apply
military force to bring it on to the market.

In the early days of famine relief it could not be
expected that the workers would show much return for
the expenditure ; in fact, for one month we did little
more than keep them alive. After that, rapid progress
was made and much useful road-work undertaken. The
first task was the construction of a road entirely
encircling the huge straggling town. The advantages of
such a road were very great both from the point of view
of tactics and also of general convenience of convoys,
of which there would be many when the hoped-for troops
began to move up. Without such a road a driver who
approaches a Persian town from one side with a view
of reaching some place on the other, is very severely
handicapped ; to find his way, for instance, without
being able to speak the language, through the tortuous
streets of Hamadan, would be well-nigh impossible.
Added to this is the fact that in many streets only the
smallest cars could get through, and big lorries would
get stuck. By means of the circular road, lorries could
pass rapidly and without hindrance from any one point
to another, and in case of trouble in the town the
armoured cars could get round to any point in a very
short time, avoiding the risk and difficulty of forcing
their way through the narrow streets. The next road
undertaken led from the upper ground where we were
billeted to the aeroplane ground on the low plain east
of the town. The remainder of the work consisted in
a general improvement of existing roads.

Up till March 28th all the various tasks described
up to this point were undertaken by the small original
party, and our days were more than busy. On the 28th
and 29th the thirty rifles of the Hants and the aero-
plane had arrived, and from this date our position might
be regarded as secure. The time when the hostile demo-

A COUKTYAKI) IX THE BaZAAK, HAMAUAN

FAMINE 118

crats might have hoped to have attacked us with some
prospect of success was gone for ever, and the feelings
not only of the townspeople but also of the surrounding
districts had changed from an attitude of suspicion and
hostility to one of honest liking for the new-comers. Our
agents returning from far-off villages in Kurdistan and
elsewhere brought back tidings of our reflected glory in
the form of bazaar reports in those neighbourhoods, that
we had done wonderful things with the famine in Hama-
dan, and intended shortly to extend our charitable opera-
tions over the whole province, a hope which it was quite
impossible for us to convert into a fact. We had been
able to do much for Hamadan where we felt it incumbent
on us to do what we could, but the whole of North Persia
was famine-stricken, and the horrors of other towns
and villages equalled or exceeded those of Hamadan.
The fame of our relief works spread down even as far
as Gilan, and Kuchik Khan, in his pose as an enlightened
ruler, felt called on to undertake relief work on some-
what similar lines but on a smaller scale.

At the beginning of April, as it was now certain that
either myself or my second-in-command would be in
Hamadan for a long time, I shifted my quarters from the
hospitable dwelling of the McMurrays and set up my
own establishment in a small house lent me by the
Bank.

About this time the constant firing at night which
was carried out with a view of terrifying us ceased almost
entirely. It had never been very dangerous, the shots
being always unaimed, except one or two which struck
my bungalow but did not even break a pane of glass.

On April 24th arrived a squadron of the 14th Hussars,
under Captain Pope.

Supplies were now easier to obtain and Captain
Campbell, the Supply Officer, was able to report that
our stocks had reached a figure that made the prospect

114 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

of any further crisis very remote. Even if supplies were
not always easily obtainable we knew where the wheat
hoards were, and only required troops to insist on their
surrender at a fair price. Thus, except for the bacon
and jam part of the ration, we could guarantee to feed
a large number of troops without difficulty.

As soon as the snow began to melt on the lower
hills I sent a small party under Captain Hooper to examine
and report on the road over the Asadabad Pass. The
party consisted of three officers and two drivers, and
while carrying out their task of reconnaissance they
became engaged in a very minor military operation.
Half-way up the pass it was found that the cars could
proceed no farther, and a halt was ordered, to enable
the party to examine the road on foot. At this point
a descending caravan of pack donkeys was encountered,
and the owners complained that they had just been looted
by thieves who had taken refuge in a village near by.
As it would be necessary to get labour for road improve-
ments from these villages close to the road. Captain
Hooper decided to inquire about the prospects of obtain-
ing coolie gangs here, and with this view moved with
his little party, leaving one man in charge of the cars,
towards the village, expecting at the same time to run
into the robber band.

If the robbers had kept quiet nothing would have
happened, but on seeing the approach of the very small
party their guilty consciences led them to decide on
flight. They emerged from a house on the outskirts of
the village and fled towards the hills, pursued by all the
villagers and the plundered merchants, who overtook
them, gave them a sound hammering and recovered the
stolen property.

The amusing thing about all this is, that what the
villagers and merchants accomplished with merely the
moral support of one or two men with rifles, they could

FAMINE 115

have equally accomplished without, another example of
the effect of lack of leadership.

It was not Captain Hooper's duty to interfere in a
case of this sort, the policing of Persia forming no part
of our responsibilities, but the movement in the direction
of the robber band coincided with the legitimate move-
ment towards the village for other purposes. The
guilty consciences of the bandits settled the rest of the
matter.

On April 21st the real advent of spring was heralded
by the appearance of the first blossoms on the fruit-trees,
and we were glad to feel that we had said good-bye to
the snow. Two days later an Armenian doctor arrived
from Baku, bringing suggestions from the Armenian
National Council there with regard to possibilities of
our helping to put things straight in that part of the
world.

The Bolshevik Government was still in power under
the leadership of an Armenian named Shaumian, but
there was a growing feeling on the part of the people
against them, and their influence was distinctly on the
wane. Very serious disturbances had broken out in
March in connection with the disarming on arrival at
Baku of troops from Persia, street-fighting had ensued
and a large number of very valuable buildings in the
Tartar quarter had been destroyed by Armenian troops.
The result of this was naturally to accentuate the animosity
already existing between the Tartars and the Armenians,
and to make the plight of the latter very unenviable in
the event of the Turks eventually taking Baku. The
British Consul, Mr. MacDonnell, was still in the town,
and he was able to furnish very useful statements
concerning the situation.

The schemes propounded by the doctor were all based
upon British military support in the shape of actual troops,
and he stated that he was not authorized to accept our

116 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

aid merely in the form of leaders and organizers. I had
to make it very clear to him that I had no troops and
could make no promises as to the dispatch of troops
from Baghdad. So we could agree upon no plan suitable
to both parties, and nothing came of our conversation.

On this day a Turkish naval oflficer surrendered to
us. He was tired of wandering about Persia and wanted
decent food and a rest-cure. It is not likely that he had
been actively engaged in any of the enemy schemes in
this part of the world, but it was just as well to have
him out of the way.

On May 1st we had news of the entry of the Turks
into Tabriz, a move that we had long been expecting and
that might threaten our position at Kasvin, if they had
the energy to push down the Mianeh-Zinjan road towards
that town ; and there was nothing to stop their doing
this. The move was obvious, but indecision on the part
of the Turkish Commander fortunately delayed it until
September.

Having firmly established ourselves in Hamadan we
might now hope to secure a similar position in Kasvin,
and I accordingly dispatched a small party of officers
and N.C.O.'s under Major Hay, to get a footing there,
spy out the land, start famine relief and reconnoitre
for billets and supplies. I purposely made the thin end
of the wedge as thin as possible, but to make some small
display of force in this direction I also dispatched the
squadron of the 14th Hussars, who went into camp at
Sultanabad, about 5 miles on our side of Kasvin.

The third party had now arrived, and provided
sufficient personnel to enable us to undertake further
enterprises. With a view to thwarting Turkish efforts
to win over the Kurds and other tribes lying between
them and us, and to raising levies and irregulars among
these tribes for our own purposes, I dispatched Major
Starnes with a party to Bijar, 100 miles north-west of

FAMINE 117

Hamadan, and Major Wagstaff with a similar party and
and an armoured car to Zinjan, a little more than 100
miles west of Kasvin on the road to Tabriz. These
two parties, consisting only of officers and N.C.O.'s with-
out troops were dangerously weak, but it was all we could
do at the time, and with the Turks already in Tabriz and
also threatening an advance towards Hamadan from the
direction of Sauj-Bulaq, south of Lake Urumiah, I hoped
that this very weak screen would for a time at least baffle
their enterprises in our direction, while the possession
of Zinjan would stop the artery by which Turkish agents
were communicating with Kuchik Khan and supplying
him with arms and ammunition.

Having set on foot arrangements for the raising of
local levies I decided to visit Kasvin and see how our
small party were faring there, and what could be hoped
for in the way of recruits for levies in that neighbour-
hood. I was also anxious to get to Teheran for a few
days to try and get a grip of the internal situation, and
obtain the Minister's advice on the subject of the levies
and other kindred matters.

I accordingly left Hamadan on May 12th, accompanied
by Captain Saunders and Captain Topham, who had
now taken over the duties of A.D.C.

CHAPTER VIII
A PAUSE AT HAMADAN

BEFORE leaving Hamadan for Kasvin I wrote a
letter, in which I endeavoured to make as clear
as I could how things stood at the time of writing. The
following extracts from the letter in question will probably
be of general interest, and help the reader to form a
correct mental picture of the general outlook.

"Hamadan,

''May 5, 1918.

". . . There are so many situations here, that it is
difficult to give a full appreciation of each. There is
the local situation, the all-Persia situation, the Jangali
situation, the Persian-Russian situation, the Turkish-
advance-on-Tabriz situation, the question of liquidating
Russian debts, the Baku situation, the South Caucasus
situation, the North Caucasus situation, the Bolshevik
situation and the Russian situation as a whole. And
each of these subdivides into smaller and acuter situations
— for there is no real Caucasian or even North or South
Caucasian point of view, there is no unity of thought
or action, nothing but mutual jealousy and mistrust.
Thus the Georgians of Tiflis regard the problem from a
Georgian point of view and play only for their own hand ;
the Armenians and the Tartars in the south, and the
Terek and Kuban Cossacks and the Daghestanis in the

118

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 119

north, do the same. And not even these small races can
agree among themselves as to any line of policy, because
they have two distinct lines of thought, that of the
greybeards who cling to the traditions of their fore-
fathers, and that of the young bloods who think
everything contemptible that is not brand new. This
applies with especial force to the Cossacks, who have
hitherto been entirely ruled by a council of elders.

"Bolshevism is far from being firmly rooted in the
Caucasus, but its malevolent tendencies have permeated
the blood of all the races in this part of the world : the
present ultra-democratic movement in Persia is really
the same spirit as Bolshevism. The name is new, but
the spirit is the old spirit of revolution, the spirit of
men gone mad. * What is yours is mine and what is
mine is my own ; all men are equal and brothers ; discipline
and control are contrary to the spirit of freedom, and all
men are free.' And out of this always emerges the insane
doctrine : * The more blood we can shed the freer we shall
be ; and it doesn't matter whose blood it is as long as
it isn't ours.' The mobs are bloodthirsty and cowardly
and are at the mercy of any disciplined force, however
small.

** Here, to begin with, the situation is enormously im-
proved. As regards troops, I have at present one squadron
of cavalry and two armoured cars at Kasvin and fifty
rifles and two light armoured motor-cars here. The
detachment of fifty rifles 1/4 Hants Regt. have no nights
in bed, being all used up to furnish ordinary guards and
to guard the numerous prisoners I collect. I have at
present one Russian officer suspect, one German civilian
sp3% one Turkish naval officer, two Turkish soldiers and
four Indian deserters. I have to use N.C.O.'s as privates
and officers as N.C.O.'s.

" Being practically without troops my weapons have
been propaganda, winning over leaders by personal

120 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

methods, and also famine relief work. All of these have
been successful and have resulted in turning the inhabitants
of this district from an attitude of hostility to one of
marked friendliness. Unfortunately the forces of good
are always more or less passive and the forces of evil
are extremely active, so that while in this town of
50,000 inhabitants I have 49,950 well-wishers, there is a
nucleus of fifty sincere haters who have the power to
cause a great deal of trouble. By an excellent system
of intelligence worked by Saunders I know the details
of all their plots, and we are so far able to counter
them.

** Occasional shots are fired at officers, and they have
sometimes sniped my house at night with the object of
terrifying me. I have no troops to spare for a guard.
I have been informed that I shall be shot in the town
some day, but there has been no attempt to put this
threat into execution. I have made friends with the
leading democrats, but get little results from that, as,
so far from my friendship with them leading to friendly
relations with the democrats in general, it merely has
the effect of putting the other democrats against
them.

" One of my friends, a high Government official, called
on me the other day and showed me a threatening letter
he had received — written in red ink to suggest blood,
and with a picture of a Mauser pistol at the top of it.
The letter said that it was obvious that he had sold
himself for money to the English and if he continued
to visit me he would be shot.

** On the other hand the fame of the famine relief
work has spread far beyond the limits of the district
and is much spoken of in the bazaars of Sinneh and
Bijar, which all helps the cause, and I have been able
to improve existing roads and to construct some 9 or
10 miles of useful communications. So on the whole

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 121

the situation is as good as it can be under the
circumstances.

" The Persian situation fluctuates, but is never much
in our favour. The people are attractive ; they are good
workmen but lazy, and they have only one real political
idea, fair terms for farmers and a guarantee of order.
They have no other political ideas, but in their hatred
of the present tyrannical system of landlordism they
unconsciously become true democrats as opposed to the
political democrat who does not know what the word
means. Politically * Democracy ' is only a banner to
wave, and the programme, so far from being democratic,
is merely a stupid combination of an anti-European
movement with an attempt to bring about disorder in
which every poor man would hope to possess himself of
the rich man's hoard.

" The Jangali situation is quiescent and is perhaps
reaching a point of stagnation owing to the fortunate
interposition of Bicherakov's partisans ... at Kasvin
and Menjil. It was an extraordinary piece of luck that
his troops were late in evacuating, and I was able to get
him to deal with the Jangali problem just in the nick of
time. He reached Kasvin on March 28th about the date
on which Kuchik was to have taken over the town un-
opposed. Had Kuchik succeeded in that, Teheran would
have raised the Jangali banner on the following day and
North Persia would have gone. In the East a small
success spreads like a flame, and Jangali sympathizers
in Teheran include a portion of the Cabinet. Success
would bring all the waverers in and Persia would have
started another revolution. It has to be remembered
with gratitude that although so far he has had no actual
fighting, Bicherakov alone solved this very precarious
situation.

" I would like to meet Kuchik Khan personally and
talk things over, but his German advisers would go to any

122 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

length to prevent this. Meantime I hope to bring about a
meeting between Stokes and a representative of Kuchik's,
and we may perhaps come to a settlement. If one has
no troops one has to try the tongue. Kuchik Khan
himself is a man of humble origin, poses as a religious
enthusiast and is not of much intelligence. He is, I
rather think, a true patriot, which is rare in this land,
but like many true patriots, goes the wrong way to
achieve his objects and does not realize that he is being
made a tool of. He has a nucleus of about twenty
foreign officers, German, Turk and Russian, who he thinks
are his servants but who really are the mainspring of his
movement and are trying to push him over the precipice
in order to achieve their own ends. Meanwhile he is at
least clever enough to pause on the brink, and if I
could only whisper a word in his ear I think he would
be saved the fatal leap.

" Bicherakov makes rather large financial demands,
and the War Office asks if he is worth it. He cer-
tainly is. I do not consider his demands exorbitant,
when you realize the task he is accomplishing and the
fact that he alone can do it. We have no alternative.

" At present rates it costs but very little under one
pound a day to feed a horse, bread and meat are one
shilling and tenpence a pound, sugar three shillings and
sixpence and tea four shillings and sixpence, so that a
million krans, which looks a big figure, does not go very
far. Whatever we pay him does not got into his pocket,
but is honestly spent for military purposes, though with
his system of accounts there may be a leakage among
the subordinate grades.

'* Mixed up A\ith his situation is the question of the
liquidation of Russian debts. So far our Government
has refused this peremptorily, but I have advocated it
and still do so. . . .

"... The Baku situation is obscure. It is separate

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 123

from the Caucasus question generally. At present the
Armenian colony there and the Bolsheviks are holding
out against the Caucasus-Islam Army — The Georgians of
Tiflis, who heartily dislike the Armenians, offer no help.
How can we help them in any way that would hold out
a chance of success ? It appears to me quite impossible.
Troops alone could restore order — and we have no troops.
A few officers, a few armoured cars and liberal finance
would not turn the tide ; in fact such an effort would
probably add fuel to the flames.

" The South Caucasus situation has long been hopeless.
They must go on killing each other until they are tired
of it : we may then get a chance of pulling things
together again. But for the moment the racial and
religious animosities are so fierce, the spirit of Bol-
shevism is so rampant and the usual mistrust of the
supposedly self-seeking Britisher is so strong, that an
opportunity for us to help seems far away. When they
appeal to us for help they mean money, money, money.
We are to them the goose that lays the golden egg.
We should be temporarily popular with those who
secured the egg, but we should get no real gratitude
even from them, and we should earn the more
intense hatred of the others. The North Caucasus is
the same, but not to so acute a degree. There is less
racial and religious hatred, but there is a hearty dislike
of the South Caucasus and the poison of Bolshevism
is also in their blood. The Bolshevik himself is not of
much account ; but it must be remembered that those
who fight against the Bolsheviks are themselves uncon-
sciously impregnated with this vile spirit of Bolshevism
— the poison innoculated unnoticed into their veins by
the German propagandist. The Tiflis Government is
anti-Bolshevik, but the members are probably as much
inspired by Bolshevik ideals as the Bolsheviks themselves.

" The famine here has been awful. The highest

124 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

price I know of quoted for wheat has been 230 tomans,
or about £70, for one kharwar=800 lb., the normal
price being 12 tomans or, say, 70 shillings. We are
buying forward crops at 40 tomans and hope to get
some for less. Cases of cannibalism have occurred in
the town. Many die daily, and men have sometimes
died while actually on relief work. Now that the snow
has melted and spring has begun the people go out and
graze in the fields like cattle.

"Meantime, though wheat and barley are short, they
do exist. I could collect by force enough to feed the
troops and stop the famine, but I have no force to employ.
I know where the wheat is, but have difficulty in getting
it. Firstly, the owner holds on in the hope of higher
prices ; secondly, the villagers resent it being taken from
a village while they starve ; thirdly, brigands attack grain
convoys on the road ; fourthly, the extreme democrats
threaten to kill any one who supplies the British ; and
fifthly, the Governor shows me an order he has received
from the Government at Teheran to the effect that he is
to see that I get no supplies. ... In spite of this, supplies
come in very well, and I could supply a Brigade in actual
bread and meat between here and Menjil. There is a
shortage also at Resht, but rice is obtainable there, and
is much cheaper than wheat. The country is naturally
rich in grain, fruit and sheep, and there will be no supply
difficulty as soon as the new crop is in. At this elevation
(6,500 to 7,000 feet) crops are late, but as soon as the
lower harvests are reaped the prices will fall here and
grain now hoarded will be released.

" Lastly there is the matter of levies. Colonel Kennion
(Political) guarantees the road from Qasr-i-Shirin to
Asadabad, so I have given up the idea of raising levies
from the local Kurds in that section. I am raising one
group at Hamadan, and later intend one at Kasvin,
each group to consist of one squadron of cavalry and two

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 125

companies of infantry, total strength 600, with 6 British
officers to each group. These levies will not take the
place of regular troops, nor will they form road-guards.
They Avill be used to deal with gangs of robbers, to round
up German or Turk emissaries, of whom there are many
actively employed in propaganda, and to garrison posts
at dangerous places on the roads.

** The Persian is not dangerous as a fighting man, but
he will be more dangerous in this revolution than in the
previous one, because the country is full of arms and
ammunition sold by the Russian soldiers or taken from
them, and also provided through German agencies.

" The Turkish advance on Tabriz is not being very
vigorously pressed, and we may be able with the aid
of the Jilus and other tribes south of Lake Urumiah to
thwart them entirely. I am sending in a day or two a
party of twelve officers and eight N.C.O.'s towards Tabriz
to organize this resistance. The recent very successful
operations from Mesopotamia against the Sinjabis and
the defeat of the Turks at Kifri and towards Kirkuk has
enormously improved the situation in Kurdistan and in
Persia generally, and will possibly also affect the Turkish
advance south of Lake Urumiah.

" The only opposition to the entry of our troops into
Persia is political. The people are glad to see soldiers
of a new type who . . . bring with them law and order.
But even the political difficulty may eventually be over-
'come. I am not aware of our Government's attitude
towards the democratic movement in Persia, but I assume
that we make the Persians feel that, being a democratic
country ourselves, we cannot oppose a democratic move-
ment in another country, and we are not out to support
against them the other party of the big landowners.
Nor do we desire the hostility of the latter, who have a
more direct influence over the large numbers of people on
their land than the democrats are ever likely to have.

126 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

It is obviously difficult to support the moderate democrat
without alienating the landowner, or at any rate without
driving him into too hostile an attitude. It is perilously
near to trying to run with the hare and hunt with the
hounds.

" I have collected about twenty Russian officers, very
specially selected and all capable men, mostly aviators
from the school at Baku, with a view to seizing any
opportunity that may occur of our intervening in the
Caucasus. Meantime they are useful in various ways and
enable us to kee^D in touch with Baku and to get reliable
information.

" We have made several efforts to reach Pike at Tiflis,
but have not succeeded in getting direct news of him for
a long time. He and the remainder of ours, including
Goldsmith as well as the French party under Colonel
Chardigny, are probably either refugees or prisoners. . . .

" The winter has been long and the cold very severe,
but the snow has now melted, except on the hilltops, and
spring has begun. Officers and men have kept well, and
in spite of a very arduous time there have been only a
few trifling cases of sickness among the first party. ..."

Much of this letter is a recapitulation of events already
described, but it will be useful as a means of taking stock
of events up to date.

My Staff was now strengthened by the addition of
Lieut. -Colonel Stokes, who joined me as General Staff
Officer, First Grade, for Intelligence duties. I considered
it important to work up our information from the Teheran
side and accordingly posted him to the capital, where
he could work with the Military Attache at the Legation,
constituting a liaison between my force and the diplomatic
representative.

Work in connection with the raising and training of
the Persian levies and irregulars had begun by the end,

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 127

of April, and I will explain in as few words as possible
why it was thought advisable to raise them and how they
were raised.

The difference between the levies and irregulars may
be explained briefly as follows. The levies were to be
regularly formed units enlisted from the surrounding
districts, and employed at a fixed salary, under British
officers, in guarding dangerous points and defiles on the
road, reconnoitring the country for enemy spies and
agents, and furnishing escorts for any parties of mine
moving at any great distance from Head Quarters. I
knew that it would be useless to employ them against
the Turks, and from the outset I had no intention
of putting their valour to this test. They would be
good enough to encounter robber bands, but were not
likely to face the fire of any sort of regular troops.

The irregulars, on the other hand, were meant to fight.
They were to be raised from among the Kurds and other
tribes lying along any probable line of Turkish advance.
They were not to be formed into regular bodies, nor
submitted to the regular training of a soldier as the
levies were.

Levies would be regularly formed and trained, would
be liable to service anywhere, but could not be relied on
to fight against the Turks. Irregulars were merely bands
of tribesmen under British leadership, not liable to service
anywhere but on their own ground, and organized only
with a view of fighting the Turks and harassing their
communications.

Before we could do anything on the lines of " irregulars "
it would be necessary to get thoroughly in touch with the
tribes, and this was accomplished by the dispatch of
Major Starnes' party to Bijar, and Major Wagstaff^s
to Zinjan. But with the levies we could and did make
an immediate start.

In neither case did we contemplate arming these forces.

128 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

There was no necessity to issue arms in a country where
nearly every man possessed a good rifle and a quantity
of ammunition.

The disadvantages of not arming them were, firstly
the heterogeneous nature of the arms employed, secondly
the difficulties of ammunition supply during a fight, and
thirdly the reluctance of each man as owner of his rifle
and ammunition to risk losing the former and expending
the latter. But the great advantage which outweighed
all these considerations was that we were saved the trouble
and difficulty of supplying the arms, and we removed the
chief incentive to desertion. With no sort of civil control
over the tribes, to issue rifles to men would have been to
put a premium on desertions, and the men would have
left for their homes, never to reappear, the day they
received their rifles from us.

As regards the other disadvantages mentioned above,
rules were framed without great difficulty removing the
reluctance to risk loss of arms or expenditure of ammu-
nition by a system of rewards and compensation. Uniform
was made up and issued on the spot, and in a few days
Major Engledue and Captain Henderson, in charge of the
first Hamadan group, were able to turn out some very
stalwart-looking soldiers, who proved very useful in this
land where " looks " go for so much.

As regards the isolated picquets placed at points of
danger on the road later on, these would probably have
put up only a very feeble resistance to any sort of attack
by well-armed robber bands, but here again we relied on
*' looks," and they won the day. The intending marauders
became aware of these uniformed detachments at certain
points ; they didn't like the " look " of their rifles or their
British leaders, so they adopted the line of least resistance
and left the road alone.

The levies were to be raised in three groups, two at
Hamadan and one at Kasvin. Each group consisted of

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 129

two companies of dismounted men each two hundred
strong and one of mounted men of the same strength,
making a total of 600 men. The companies were com-
manded by Persian officers, and the British personnel
acted only as instructors in cantonments and leaders in
the field. The first group at Hamadan was raised by
Major Engledue from the local people without reference
to any particular tribal connections. The second group
was raised by Major Macarthy and consisted of a solid
block of men taken entirely from the tenantry of a big
landowner, and regarded as his special corps, to the upkeep
and maintenance of which he was willing to subscribe.
These two groups very soon furnished us with sufi&cient
men for our immediate purposes, and were most useful
to us. The Kasvin group was naturally more diiBficult
to start as we had not yet made ourselves properly known
in that part of the country, and men were shy about
coming in to enlist under total strangers. But they came
along in twos and threes and we soon had enough men
there to help us in carrying out minor police duties.

Although not much of an addition to our fighting
strength, these levies were very useful, and more than
justified their existence. Among other advantages was
the fact that our dealings with them brought us very
intimately into touch with a large circle of the people,
and this was a very valuable political gain.

Mistakes were bound to occur in our early efforts,
and among these were the fact that we accidentally
enlisted a complete gang of robbers, who came to us not
for our benefit or for that of their fellow-countrymen, but
for their own. Their idea was to obtain pay, uniform
and authority from us, and then use the latter to extort
money from the Persians ; in fact the only contemplated
change in their careers was that, from being unlicensed
robbers, they were now to become licensed. Their
method of procedure would be merely an enlightened

130 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

re-reading of orders. The orders you give are : " All
people on this road are to be stopped " — they read this,
** People can only go down this road if they pay for the
privilege " ; you order, " All armed men are to be dis-
armed " — they issue the improved version, " Nobody is
allowed to carry arms without paying a handsome fee
to us." In addition to this, another favourite method
is to undertake the duties of escort to some well-to-do
person, and then at a convenient opportunity to change
their role from guardian to highwayman, and relieve
their charge of his superfluous wealth.

I do not say that any of our men were guilty of these
things ; the Persians made such accusations against
them, but they would have accused them just as
vehemently whether they had done the deeds or not.
In any case, if they had such intentions, their career was
cut very short, as on their proclivities being discovered
they were soon weeded out as undesirables.

The usual opposition to all our enterprises was set
on foot by the local Democratic Committee. The town
was informed by printed manifestoes that to serve the
English was to incur everlasting disgrace, and that the
assassin's knife would punish any who yielded to such
base temptation. But recruiting went on very well in
spite of all this, and the murderous threats were never
put into execution.

The irregulars did not develop till later on, but I may
mention them briefly here. The Turks had two divi-
sions round Lake Urumiah and were holding the
country as far south of the lake as Sakiz, 100 miles
in our direction. Major Starnes was dispatched with
a small party to Bijar, 100 miles north-west of
Hamadan, to guard our flank against any sudden move
of the Turks from Sakiz. The 150 miles of country
between Bijar and Sakiz was peopled by tribes with a
genuine reputation for valour and warlike instincts.

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 131

These tribes both the Turks and ourselves endeavoured
to use against each other by offering rewards for
services rendered as levies or irregulars. The equal
endeavour resulted more or less in stalemate, which
was not an altogether unsatisfactory position from our
point of view. Had we made no effort in this direction
the Turks would soon have been in Bijar (as they
already were in Sinneh, 100 miles south-west of that
place), and our position on the Hamadan road would
have been very seriously threatened. As it was, we
were never worried here at all, owing to the good work
effected by Major Starnes' party among the Bijar
people.

Exactly similar work was done by Major Wagstaff's
party on the Kasvin-Tabriz road, among the Shah-
savens. His party was pushed out in the same way towards
the Turks, and acted as a very efficient shield for our
movements on the Hamadan-Kasvin road, until at last
the Turks advanced in force in September and drove
us back as far as Zinjan.

Among the most influential men in this neighbour-
hood was the Amir Afshar, a very remarkable old
gentleman, whom I met by appointment in Hamadan
when he was staying there as the guest of the Amir
Afgham. He is over eighty years of age and a con-
firmed drug-taker, but for a few hours in the morning
his mind is as clear as crystal ; my visit to him was
therefore paid at the unearthly hour of 5.30 a.m. His
estates are in the neighbourhood of Zinjan, and he could
easily put up over 1,000 men from among his tenants ;
but he wanted rather a large price for his services.
Firstly he complained that the Russians had punished
his tribe, on a groundless accusation of pro-Turk pro-
clivities, by taking away from them a thousand rifles.
I must get these back from General Baratov. Secondly,
whether I got these rifles back for him or not, he wanted

132 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

a thousand rifles from me to enable him to take on the
serious programme I wished him to adopt. Thirdly
(and very wisely), he would do nothing actively against
the troops unless he saw our troops at hand to save
him from Turkish vengeance, which would be bound
to fall on him if unsupported by us and defeated by the
Turks. This was a form of support it was difficult for
me to guarantee.

In the end I was led to expect very little active
support from him in the face of my failure to agree to
his third clause. I sent him 250 rifles (captured Turkish
rifles sent up to me for this purpose from Baghdad)
to see if that would induce the right frame of mind.
He acknowledged them with a very flowery letter of
thanks and asked for more. To this I replied that he
should have as many more as soon as he balanced the
account by letting us have 250 armed men of his tribe
for active operations. I explained further that when
he had received 500 rifles from me I should expect to
see 500 of his men in the field. But the 250 rifles failed
to bring about the result I aimed at, and he got no more
from us. The truth of the matter is that these tribes
were willing enough to back the winning horse, but
could not make up their minds as to which was likely
to be the winner.

The news from France at this time was of the very
worst description from our point of view ; the victori-
ous German thrust towards Amiens which had begun
in March was well advertised by German wireless as
far as Hamadan, where it was picked up by the Russian
wireless and disseminated among the people. The
fact that the German advance was now checked and
that there were signs of a turn of the tide was naturally
omitted in bulletins from German sources, and news
from our sources was regarded with considerable sus-
picion. On the whole it looked to the Persians as if Ger-

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 133

many was going to win the war, and if she did it meant
a triumphant Turkey who would ruthlessly exterminate
any tribes who had opposed her in the days of her trouble.
Moreover, if we won and the Turks lost, we would
eventually go away and the Turks would remain very
close at hand, so that even in that case they could make
it very uncomfortable for any who had shown hostility
to them.

It was partly in connection with the subject of our
attitude towards these tribes as embodied in our general
policy in Persia that I decided to visit His Britannic
Majesty's Minister at Teheran at this time.

We left Hamadan on May 12th, arriving at Kasvin
on the next day and staying the night there. At Kasvin
we were glad to find that Major Hay had been able to
get excellent quarters for his party in a large house
belonging to one of the best-known representatives of the
Persian aristocracy, the Sipah-Salar. This house stood
in its own extensive grounds on the west-ern outskirts
of the town, and was so situated that the occupants
were able to have first turn at the water supply which
enters the town from this side. The building had up
to this time been used by the Russians as a hospital,
and was admirably adapted to our purposes.

Famine relief on a small scale had been started in
the town, the people were becoming accustomed to the
sight of English faces and English uniforms, and the
scowls which had formerly greeted us were already
exchanged for smiles or looks of indifference.

On May 14th we left for Teheran, distant about
ninety miles from Kasvin, and arrived in the British
Legation in the afternoon. The road from Kasvin to
Teheran runs due east along the foot of the southern
slopes of the Elburz Mountains. The surface is good,
but the Russian road company had attempted very little
in the way of engineering, choosing a straight line up

134 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

and down each rise and fall of the natural lie of the
land, and avoiding any expense in the way of cutting or
embankment.

The country is treeless and for the most part uncul-
tivated, while the southern slopes of the Elburz
Mountains that flank the road on the left-hand side
are as barren as the usual hills in Persia, and give no
indication of the wonderful forest land that lies on
their northern slopes.

At our entry into Teheran we were challenged and
halted by a guard of Persian gendarmes, and were only
permitted to proceed after solemnly entering in a book
our names and our father's names, and giving an assur-
ance that we were not conveying arms into the town.

Teheran has a very Europeanized appearance, and
is quite unlike any of the other towns with which we
had so far made acquaintance. The roads were broad
and in many places lined with handsome trees, while
frequent signboards in French and Russian notified
the presence of numerous hotels and emporiums of
every kind. But the general aspect of the town is not
very pleasing, and its lack of beauty renders that of the
Legation grounds more intense by contrast.

It is hard to describe the beauties of this wonderful
oasis. To those who have visited Kashmir it recalls
the memory of the old Moghul gardens on the Dal Lake,
and gives an idea of what those gardens must have
looked like in the days of their youth. But its beauty
is enhanced by the abruptness of the transition from
unbeautiful things, as the traveller turns from a dusty
street, after ninety miles of treeless road, into a fairy-
like grove of magnificent plane-trees. And when night
falls and the nightingales start to sing, it is hard to
realize that one is really living in these horrible days
of war and bloodshed.

The Austrian and German prisoners moving freely

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 185

in the streets, and the sight of the German and Turkish
flags flying over their respective Legations, added to the
air of unreality.

We stayed three days at Teheran, during which
time I had the honour of making the acquaintance of
the American, French and Russian Ministers, and of
many of the important Persians, including the Sipah-
Salar and the two sons of the Firman-Firma, who are
likely to play a prominent part in the future of Persia.

I spent the early mornings riding with Major Bart-
telot ; the later hours of the mornings and the whole
of the afternoons were devoted to interviews from
which I derived much value.

On May 17th we left Teheran, stayed the night in
Kasvin and reached Hamadan on the evening of the
18th, finding the journey a very different affair from
what it had been in the winter.

Although the country is treeless, and the unirrigated
tracts are very barren-looking, the whole ground is
carpeted in this one month with very beautiful flowers.
On the higher passes we enjoyed the sight of large red
tulips and several kinds of iris, while lower down the
hillsides were bright with the varied hues of many
unknown flowers. These thrive for a very short time on
the water provided by the melting snow, and as there
is no rainfall in summer they are soon burnt up, and
the landscape resumes its aspect of dreary monotony.

The most beautiful flowers were those on the top
of the Sultan-Bulaq Pass, exactly in the spot where we
found seven corpses of unfortunate victims of the famine.
Such corpses strewed the road between Kasvin and
Hamadan at intervals throughout its length.

The general discomfort of a long drive in small cars
over rather rough roads was very much increased by
the necessity of taking back with us to Kasvin several
prisoners who had recently been rounded up by our

136 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

agents and by Bicherakov's Cossacks. It was becoming
very diJ0ficult for enemy agents to get through the nets
that were spread for them in every direction. With
our small forces we could not scour the entire country,
and with regard to movements off roads we could only
rely on information from our agents, but we were able
to render movement on the main roads quite impossible.
The road company had established toUgates about every
thirty miles along the road, and these we held with small
parties of ofi&cers and levies, and were thus able to keep
a minute check on all traffic.

The present batch of prisoners included one German
civilian and one Hungarian officer with his wife and
child. This officer had been taken prisoner by the
Russians early in the war, had been released in Turkestan
when the revolution broke out and, seeing no chance
of getting home to Hungary, had married a Caucasian
lady, and was now the father of a promising infant.
Having heard of the prospect of well-paid service under
Kuchik Khan, he was on his way with his family to
join that leader when he was arrested. The lady and
child presented such difficulties that one almost wished
he had been successful in slipping through our fingers.
I was fated to have them for companions throughout
the interminable day, as I was the only possessor of a
touring car, and it was hardly fair to submit a lady, even
though a prisoner, to the discomfort of a Ford van.

I unfortunately gave away the fact that I spoke
Russian, and I shall never regret anything so much in all
my life. We were all very bright and cheerful in the early
hours of the day, Madame explaining that she had never
been in a motor-car before and was enjoying the trip very
much. But after some hours the charm of novelty wore
off, and its place was taken by quite another sensation.
The lady explained that the unaccustomed motion was
making her feel sick, and thereafter frequent halts had

A PAUSE AT HAMADAN 137

to be made to enable her to deal with this dilemma. I
was extremely sorry for the poor woman, who was very
plucky about it, and bobbed up quite *' merry and bright "
after each episode, announcing her firm intention of
becoming accustomed to the motion, but her pluck was
not rewarded with any improvement in this respect.
I was as delighted as she was when we eventually reached
Hamadan and I was able to hand her over to the kind
ministrations of Mrs. Funk, a lady of the American mission.

My short visit to Teheran, and a useful interview I
had had with Bicherakov at Kasvin, had decided me to
give up Hamadan entirely as Head Quarters and to move
forward to Kasvin. Many schemes were now coming to
a head. Matters must soon be settled one way or another
with the Jangalis, and it would be easier to deal with these
affairs if I were on the spot at Kasvin than to do so by
messengers and telegrams from Hamadan. Moreover, I
had also, on my way through Kasvin, got in touch with
certain Russian agents who were willing to be of service
in connection with any enterprise in the Baku direction.
These latter belonged to the Social-Revolutionary party,
and it was due to their influence that the Bolshevik power
in Baku was eventually overthrown.

We had also to think of our prisoners in the hands of
the Jangalis — Captain Noel, Mr. Oakshot (of the Bank),
and Mr. Maclaren (the Consul) — and see if any plan for
their rescue or release could be devised. So far we had
been able to do nothing for them, and it was difficult
to see how we could effect their release except by
Kuchik Khan.

Having decided therefore to shift Head Quarters to
Kasvin, I sent General Byron up there with three Staff
Officers, to enable him to make himself acquainted with
the neighbourhood before taking over the command of
Hamadan and the lines of communication which I would
hand over to him on departure. General Byron was also

138 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

able to go into the question of supplies, billets etc., and
to select a suitable residence for Head Quarters.

On May 25th Colonel Key worth arrived, bringing with
him the fourth party composed of 50 officers and 150
N.C.O.'s, a splendid addition to our numbers, enabling
us to put full pressure on to many schemes that had been
languishing for want of personnel. This party, as well
as the previous one, had walked all the way and seemed
very fit after their long march. They brought with them
the specially selected Russian officers who had been sent
out from home. These officers were mostly from regiments
of the Russian Guard, and many of them in the Guards
cavalry. The experience of footing it through Persia was
one they had never expected to enjoy, but they were a
cheerful community and there was no disposition to
grumble.

CHAPTER IX
A STEP IN ADVANCE

WE left Hamadan for Kasvin on June 1, 1918,
almost exactly four months after our departure
from Baghdad.

During those four months work of considerable value
had been accomplished and we were entitled to regard
our achievements in Persia with some satisfaction. But
this feeling of satisfaction in no way removed the sting
of our original failure, and all felt elated with the certainty
that the advance of Head Quarters to Kasvin was but
the prelude to an entry into the promised land of the
Caucasus. When the moment for that entry would come
none could tell. If troops had been available the moment
would have been to-day, but in the absence of troops it
was necessary to endure the delay of securing a footing
in Baku and to endeavour to neutralize it by means of
intrigue. Every day's delay in our movement brought
the Turks nearer to the oil city, and the probabilities were
that our second failure would be brought about by their
capture of the town before we could get our enterprise
further under way.

Meantime it can easily be understood that it was very
difficult to run the Persian venture at full pressure and
at the same time to manipulate affairs in such a way that
when the word came to cross the Caspian, we should be
able to take with us the necessary complement of selected

139

140 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

officers and N.C.O.'s. This in the end proved impossible.
To have worked on such lines would have contributed
greatly towards our success in the Caucasus, but would
have endangered the success of our many schemes in
Persia. The proper fulfilment of these schemes demanded
our best and had to have them. When, therefore, the
time eventually came to risk the Baku venture the greater
proportion of officers and men were already employed in
Persia in tasks from which they could not be relieved
without risking entire dislocation. A considerable staff
was necessary for the administration of Persian towns,
a large number of officers were required for the levies
and irregulars ; intelligence and supplies absorbed a
great many, and the balance that would be available
for service in Baku would be but small.

It is necessary to explain how an undertaking,
originally based on the idea of getting to Tiflis and
reorganizing local troops there against the Turks, had
now been diverted into the fresh channel of the Baku
adventure.

When the Tiflis plan proved to be quite out of our
reach and it was certain that the enemy would soon be
in full possession of the South Caucasus, the question
arose as to what must now be undertaken to hinder
him in the enjoyment of his conquest. It was obviously
impossible to allow him a free hand.

The capture of Baku by the enemy would give him
ample stocks of oil for the running of the Caucasian railway
lines and the Black Sea shipping (the oil is pumped in
pipes from Baku to Batoum), and it would mean the
control by him of the Caspian Sea, with all the valuable
supplies obtainable from the various ports on its shores,
and an open door to Asia and Afghanistan. Any enemy
scheme of penetration into Asia through Turkestan would
be greatly facilitated by the large numbers of released
Austrian prisoners set at liberty in that country by the

A STEP IN ADVANCE 141

revolutionaries, and now wandering about ready to under-
take any task that would procure them their daily bread.
It was probable that there were as many as 30,000 of these
released Austrians, and it was from their ranks that the
Bolshevik army lately operating in the neighbourhood of
Merv and Askabad had been chiefly recruited.

On the other hand the possession of Baku by us would
mean the converse of these propositions : denial of the
stocks of oil to the enemy, and the closing of the door to
Central Asia. The retention of the oil in our hands would
eventually stop all movement of the South Caucasian
railways which are normally dependent on this source
of fuel.

To sum up then, our new plan was to get control of
the Caspian and, as this could only be achieved by securing
Baku, to save this town from the clutches of the enemy.
Its importance was enormous and any risk was justified
in our endeavour to secure it.

It can easily be understood how hard it was to con-
centrate on the Baku problem without endangering the
Persian situation. We had with great pains built up a
fairly solid position in North Persia, and this position was
founded on the abilities of the various officers selected
for each appointment. To remove them from their
Persian responsibilities at a moment's notice and throw
them into the Baku scheme would be equivalent to
pulling out the foundation stones of the building.

With Head Quarters at Kasvin, we should be in a
position to make the best solution possible of the difficult
problem before us, and to seize the first fleeting opportunity
of a move to the Caspian. We arrived on June 1st
and installed ourselves in a comfortable house belonging
to the American missionaries, in the neighbourhood of
the Sipah-Salar's house, and at once set to work, as at
Hamadan, to make the acquaintance of the local notables,
while General Byron returned to Hamadan to take over

142 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

command there. An aerodrome had to be built to receive
the four aeroplanes allotted to the force, and landing
grounds were made here, at Zinjan and at Mianeh : the
one at Hamadan had been constructed a month ago.

We found Kasvin a very different town from
Hamadan. In population it is about the same, with
probably 50,000 inhabitants. The attitude of the people
and the politicians was the same as in Hamadan, the
former anxious to be friendly, the latter stirring up
hatred and ill-feeling against us.

The town lies at an elevation of 4,000 feet above sea-
level, about 10 miles from the southern slopes of the Elburz
Mountains : it is not in any way remarkable for natural
beauty or striking architecture, but the houses in general
have a rather more ambitious appearance than those of
Hamadan. In fact the outstanding difference between
the two towns is that Hamadan is distinctly a provincial
town, while Kasvin tries hard to look like a city. It
endeavours to achieve this result by means of numerous
inns with the grand names of all the best-known hotels
in Europe, and by European shops with actual plate -glass
windows, looking very ugly and out of place in an Oriental
town. These shops display a variety of goods, from ladies*
white satin high-heeled shoes to gents' summer suitings
at sale prices, reminding us of much that is least attractive
in our own country.

Where Russians are, there will be many hair cutters,
and Kasvin is full of excellent barbers* shops chiefly kept
by Armenians and Greeks. As long as the Russians remain
these shops may make a living, but the English soldier
pays less attention to his coiffure, and when the Russians
depart a good many barbers will have to put up their
shutters and choose some other means of livelihood.

The commercial population of the town is very cos-
mopolitan. There is a large Russian colony, and the
retiring troops have left behind them a horde of women

A STEP IN ADVANCE 143

and children, who are apparently anxious to follow their
lords and masters but don't quite know how to do so.
Bicherakov's troops are also here, and a goodly number
of Russian ne'er-do-weels, many of whom are in touch
with the Enzeli Bolsheviks and looking for an oppor-
tunity of thwarting our plans.

With such a population it is much harder to deal with
the question of enemy agents than it was in Hamadan.
There any one with a white or semi-white face could be
arrested on sight, and was certain to be an individual
who ought not to be at large. Here if you wished to
carry out such procedure, you would have to arrest half
the town.

Bicherakov kept order in a rough-and-ready sort of
way, and his trusty lieutenant Sovlaiev was quite prepared
to take the risk of arresting many harmless people in
the hopes that there might be a guilty one somewhere
in the bunch. As I had to take over and deal with these
prisoners, I soon found the large numbers of indiscriminate
arrests rather embarrassing. I complained on one occasion
that I had rather a lot of these suspects on my hands, and
as there appeared to be nothing at all against the majority
of them 1 proposed to release them. To this Sovlaiev
retorted, *' There very likely is nothing against most of
them, but one can never tell. I don't like the looks of
any of them. I suggest you need not punish or confine
any of them ; just run them all down to Baghdad in a
motor-lorry and let them walk home. That will help to
keep their heads cool."

Sovlaiev was a magnificent type of Ossietin from the
same district in the North Caucasus as Bicherakov. He
stood about 5 feet 9 inches in height and was splendidly
proportioned, with a muscular development that boded
ill for any who fell into his clutches, and as he carried
out most of his arrests in person his prisoners could
generally testify to the strength of his grip. His methods

144 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

were probably those best suited to a very difficult situation,
where it was impossible to get very exact evidence against
any particular person. On one occasion he flew into the
Hotel de France to arrest the proprietor, but the latter
saw him coming and fled by a back door. Baulked of
his prey Sovlaiev gave a sound hammering to all of the
establishment who were within reach and, determined not
to come back empty-handed, marched off in triumph with
the innocent chef de cuisine !

We found prices in Kasvin about the same as in
Hamadan, but supplies were not difficult to obtain. Food
was quite good but never up to the standard of a private
soldier's ration, and-our rate of messing, for the simplest
diet was 30 krans, or just under £1 a day. Officers receive
an allowance of £1 a day for food and lodging ; but the
cost of living was never within that sum, and later was
much above it.

Wheat remained at abnormal famine prices, though
the new crop would soon be harvested, and there were
still large stocks of the old crop unsold. There is no doubt
that the famine was to some extent artificial. Although
there had been much loss owing to a bad season in 1917
and the Russian troops had made large demands, still as
this part of Persia is so fertile that in normal seasons most
of the valleys are capable of producing seven times the
requirements of the people, it seems certain that any
possibility of famine in this country would be removed
if one were able to introduce a system of wheat control.

In Kasvin we were much more in touch with the
Russians, and I was able to have frequent conferences
with Bicherakov as to plans for the immediate future,
which involved the settlement of the Jangali affair, and
for the more distant future, which concerned the possibility
of our getting a footing in the Caucasus. Discussions on
the latter point were rendered difficult owing to the fact
that I had no power or authority to guarantee anything,

A STEP IN ADVANCE 145

and Bicherakov often petulantly exclaimed, *' How can I
fix up any arrangement with you, when you have no
troops, and cannot even assure me that you are going to
get any." Moreover I had, since the failure of our original
plans, received no authority to undertake anything in
the Baku direction. But as the control of the Caspian
was still our aim, I felt sure that the authorities would
eventually be convinced that control of that sea would
rest with whoever held Baku, and that any endeavour
to control the Caspian must therefore involve the holding
of that town. The Russian officers who had come out
with the last party from home proved invaluable as
interpreters, and filled many important posts. One was
attached to the squadron of the 14th Hussars, several
were employed on dull but useful duties at the tollgates,
some assisted in supplies, and Captain Bray, a Russian
officer of English descent, was appointed A.D.C. and
proved very helpful in my frequent interviews with
messengers from Baku.

There were many Russian lady nurses also, who had
been left behind by the retiring troops, and it was necessary
to do something for them. Many of them had passed
high degrees in medical science, and the greater number
were sent down to Baghdad for duty in military hospitals.

Our visiting experiences among the Persians here were
more amusing than those at Hamad an, but we never
got on quite such friendly terms. Sovlaiev's activities
brought many people to me in despair. The first to
claim my protection was the head of the telephone
service, who came flying round the day after our
arrival in a state of breathless excitement and poured
his tale of woe into my ears. " I come to implore
you to protect an innocent man from the Russians.
They have declared their intention of arresting me, and
that desperate man Sovlaiev is at this very moment
scouring the town for me. I cannot think of what I

146 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

am accused, but whatever it is I am perfectly innocent,
as you must be aware. Do I look like a guilty
person ? "

I must own that he did look extremely guilty, but I
could only reply, " I am quite new to this town and know
nothing of any of the inhabitants. The Russians have
been here for years and must know all about everybody.
I cannot therefore undertake to pit my experience against
theirs, and I cannot possibly interfere with any arrests
they decide to make. As you are quite certain of your
innocence I should not resist the arrest. You had better
allow Sovlaiev to take what steps he thinks right and
rely upon the proofs of your innocence to put matters
square."

The Rais-i-telefon smiled a sad smile at this advice
and intimated that he was not inclined to take the
risk of relying on Sovlaiev's discrimination. As I could
offer him neither assistance nor palatable advice, he
begged permission to withdraw and was soon galloping
off in his little two -horse carriage.

Five minutes later up turned Sovlaiev hot on the
trail of his enemy, and very much annoyed with me for
not having arrested the culprit. I explained that I had
no information as to any charge against him, and I could
not be expected to fall in with his idea of arresting people
just because I didn't like their looks. On this he flew
off to continue the chase, the intended victim continuing
to elude him up to nightfall. At daybreak on the following
morning he was round again at my quarters with the news
that the Rais-i-telefon had taken refuge with the Governor,
and he intended to attack the Governor's palace in order
to effect his arrest. I dissuaded him from this quite
unnecessary act of violence, and we agreed that I should
take over the task of further pursuit ; I did not, however,
immediately press the matter, as it did not appear to
belong to the category of events that were going to win

A STEP IN ADVANCE 147

the war. I merely asked Captain (now Major) Saunders
to find out what it was all about, and awaited his
report.

My first official visit was necessarily to the Governor,
Midhat-es-Sultaneh, a charming personality of Falstaffian
build and humour — a genial philosopher who laughed
his way through life and met each change of fortune with
an equanimity worthy of the Vicar of Bray. His motto
was, *' Come what may I will retain my position as Governor
of this town," and he told me with pride that he was the
only Governor in Persia who had managed to cling to
office for more than three years. He had to swing the
pendulum this way to please the Persian Government,
and that way to please the Russians, and now we^ had
come he was quite ready to swing it any way we liked.
As long as we were pleased, he was going to be pleased.
In politics he posed as a democrat, but he told me this
with a very sly chuckle. He was certainly not the type
of man to demand " government b}^ the people for the
people," but, as he said, " in these days of politics, for
which we have to thank you European gentlemen, one
has to be something or another, and the democratic
label is the popular one at present." The result of our
investigations as to his past leanings and tendencies showed
him to be quite innocent of any plots or intrigues. He
was pro-nothing and anti-nothing and had only one aim
in life, which was to steer his boat clear of all the rocks
and whirlpools by which he was surrounded.

After calling on the Governor, we visited the Kar-
guzar, Ihtidar-ul-Mulk, a pleasant young man, who
welcomed us with every courteous attention. In conver-
sation he protested a little too much, and went so much
out of his way to denounce the Germans and Turks and
to sneer at Kuchik that we felt convinced he would prove
to be one of our worst enemies. It was not long, however,
before we knew all about his hostile activities, and he

148 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

tacitly admitted his guilt by fleeing to Teheran before
we had decided to take action against him.

Among the local gentry we made the acquaintance of
Prince Bisharat-es-Sultaneh, a relation of the Sipah-
Salar, a charming specimen of the refined Persian
gentleman.

Several batches of officers had now arrived from
Hamadan, and we were able to begin getting the town
into order. Lieut. -Colonel J. Hoskyn had arrived to carry
out the duties of General Staff Officer, First Grade (for
operations). Lieut. -Colonel Warden, of the Canadian
Infantry, was appointed Commandant of the town, and
Captain Cockerell took over the arduous duties of Assist-
ant Provost-Marshal. The latter officer was quite the
most gifted individual I have ever met in the art of
producing law and order from chaos. Two days after his
arrival I found him going round the town with the genial
Governor, explaining the advantages of sanitation. The
Governor was finding it hard to live up to his principle of
agreeing with the last-comer, and the perpetual smile on
his genial countenance had faded to a hardly perceptible
flicker ; but he still had sufficient strength to murmur a
cheerful assent and to promise great efforts in the near
future. For the first time in his life he was going to find
some one who would see that he lived up to his promises,
and in a few days Kasvin was delighted with the sight
of a Persian governor actually engaged in sanitating his
town, an event not previously recorded in Persian history.

In spite of our efforts at sanitation, Kasvin was not
a healthy town, and our chief Medical Officer, Major
Brunskill, soon had his small hospital overflowing. But
except for rare isolated cases we escaped the two scourges
common to this part of Persia, typhus and cholera.

We must now return to follow the doings of the Rais-
i-telefon. We left him hiding in the Governor's palace,
with Sovlaiev watching the exits to pounce on him if

A STEP IN ADVANCE 149

he emerged. But he took very good care not to show his
face outside, until at last he received the joyful news that
his persecutor had marched down the road to Resht.
If he had only known it, this was merely a case of "out
of the frying-pan into the fire " ; it was only going to
result in a change of methods, but the result would be
the same.

In a very short time I was shown papers thoroughly
implicating the suspected man in every sort of plot and
intrigue to " down the British," and the majority of
these papers being in his own handwriting there was not
much need to ask for corroboration of his guilt. After
all, one uses the term " guilty " in a very comparative
sense. The term is not really applicable to an inhabitant
of a neutral country who displays a preference for one
nation as compared with another. But in time of war
one has to regard as " guilty " any one who does not
side with oneself, and in this sense the documents were
most incriminating.

As soon as I saw these papers I determined to arrest the
Rais-i-telefon ; but not wishing to disgrace the Governor
by making a forcible entry into his palace, I sent a request
to him that he would come round and see me at Head
Quarters on an urgent matter. In a remarkably short
time he arrived in his little carriage and pair and entered
my room with his usual smile. When I stated the reason
of my desiring his presence and gave him the letters to
read, the smile, for the first and only time in my experi-
ence, left his face, and he literally gasped for breath.
I do not think it was the contents of the letters
that took away his breath so much as the fact that
we had obtained possession of them. At last his
indignation (well assumed) found words. ** Alas, what
treachery ! Is there a man in the world one can trust ?
To think of a former friend of mine sunk to such
depths of infamy ! " etc.

150 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

When he had concluded his long tirade I informed
him that I should be under the painful obligation of
invading his sacred precincts in order to effect the arrest.
This brought back again the accustomed smile to his
lips as he retorted with a chuckle, " He isn't with me any
more. Since Sovlaiev left, he has gone back to his own
house." He now begged, in the polite Persian way,
permission to withdraw. But there was a delay in
getting hold of Captain Cockerell to give him the orders
for arrest, and until he came I could not release the old
man, whose anxiety to get away was obviously merely
to warn the friend he had so savagely denounced. So
we had to keep the conversation going on rather forced
subjects, and at every pause the old man bobbed up with
his request to depart, and I had to say once more, *' Please
wait half a minute, I see so little of your Excellency,
and I want particularly to ask you if there is any prospect
of a fall in the price of grain." At last Cockerell arrived
and I was able to give him the necessary orders, and as
he would be travelling in a motor-car, I thought he would
easily get to the offender's house before the Governor
could carry out his obvious intention of warning his " false "
friend. I accordingly released the Governor, and it was
amusing to note the un-Persian speed with which he
rushed to his carriage, hopped in and instructed the coach-
man to whip up the horses. Cockerell's car vanished
down a road to the left, while the Governor's carriage
disappeared in a cloud of dust round a corner to the right.
And the Governor won the race. Owing to uncertainty
as to the exact spot at the Rais-i-telefon's residence the
car was slightly delayed, and by the time they reached
the house, the offender, evidently warned on the telephone
by his friend, had fled.

The failure to arrest him was not very serious. If
he had fled the town like the Kar-guzar, it would suit
me equally well, and if he remained in the town we should

A STEP IN ADVANCE 151

get him to-morrow or the next day. I never attached
the same importance to these arrests as Sovlaiev did.
In the first place, until our arrival, what could be more
natural than that the Persians should favour our enemies
who were on the spot and prosecuting a most vigorous
propaganda ? The fact that the people of Kasvin had
favoured the enemy cause was not of any great importance
as long as they now agreed to cease their activities against
us. To arrest all who were guilty of pro-Turk or pro-
Kuchik tendencies would have been to arrest every man of
standing in the town. It was not so important therefore
to arrest one or two individuals, as to make all of the
offenders change their minds. I accordingly issued a
proclamation to the effect that we knew the exact measure
of every man's guilt up to date, but that all sins of the
past were remitted on the condition that no offence was
committed after the date of our arrival. Any sign of
activity against us from this date would be treated with
the greatest severity.

Another advantage in leaving a man at liberty when
once we had marked him down as an enemy agent was
that, with the requisite knowledge in our possession, we
were able to obtain information of the greatest value from
his correspondence. We kept a general look-out for the
Rais-i-telefon without pressing the matter very much,
but the whole situation was brought to a dramatic close
by his unlooked-for surrender.

Major Saunders was seated in his office on the day
following the failure to carry out the arrest, when the
door opened and in walked the Rais-i-telefon. Major
Saunders was very much surprised at this sudden entry
into his sanctuary of the very man we were supposed to
be hunting the town for, and informed him abruptly that
he must now consider himself a prisoner. The Rais-i-
telefon meekly acquiesced, but begged to be allowed to
say a few words, which were to this effect : "I thoroughly

152 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

admit my former mistaken activities in support of your
enemies. I realize that I was entirely wrong, and must
plead that I was misled by others. I intend from this
date to renounce my former tendencies and to devote
the rest of my life to pro-British propaganda."

In the end I decided not to arrest him, and he was set
at liberty. It is possible to doubt the genuineness of his
conversion, but it is quite certain that during the remainder
of our time in Kasvin he entirely severed his enemy
connection and was helpful to us in many ways.

A few days later I met the Governor and told him of
our surprise at the Rais-i-telefon surrendering himself. The
old man chuckled and said : *' That was all my advice.
I told him to go and walk into the office, and he would
find that you would not touch him. I warned him that
if you caught him in the town he would be sent to Baghdad
for a certainty, but that you would consider it a point of
honour not to be hard on him if he gave himself up. He
was afraid to risk the plan, but I made him do it.*'

There were of course many more incidents of this
kind, but the above will suffice as typical of them all.
Arrests of real importance were as a rule not amusing,
and were carried out with a swiftness and secrecy that
enhanced their value.

In a conversation with an honest democrat {rara avis)
in Kasvin we got as usual on to the favourite topic of
every one at this time — Kuchik Khan, and I stated that
I had quite a genuine admiration for him and a general
agreement with his policy. What battle-cry could be
more suitable for a Persian than " Persia for the Persians ! "
but like all such cries it calls for definition, and it is not
easy to define a Persian. In Persia there are large com-
munities of Turks, Turcomans, Jews, and Armenians
who have been there for centuries ; are these Persians ?
Then as to the second cry of " Out with the Europeans,"
what desire could be more creditable to the Persians ?

A STEP IN ADVANCE 153

But of course it would entail *' Out with the Persians "
in other lands where Persians are to be found. And
finally it is not enough to give vent to these aspira-
tions ; words can never take the place of deeds, and as
the Europeans will not go voluntarily, Persia will have
to apply force. And that is just the weak point of
the whole scheme, there is no force behind it and there
never will be.

Persia has no army, and if she started to-day to create
one, spending money (which she has not got) lavishly,
she would in fifteen years' time be able to put a large
number of well- trained soldiers on parade. But putting
them on parade would not make brave men of them,
and I very much doubt if they would be of any value
as fighters. To be good fighters men must have strong
beliefs and high ideals. The strongest of all incentives
is love of country, and I see no signs of that in Persia.

" What shall we do then ? " asked my friend.
" What do you propose as a future programme for
Persia ? "

" Well," I replied, *' after my very short acquaintance
with Persia, my opinion is of little value, but I would
suggest the following. You talk of the glories of your
past history ; teach it to your children. Talk of it less
and live up to it more. You read the works of Sa'adi ;
quote him less and be guided by him more. As long as
every man says in his heart, ' Let Persia sink as long as
I swim,' it is no use shouting * Persia for the Persians.'
If you could start to-day to educate all Persian children
from six years of age upwards on these lines, they would
give you the right kind of soldiers in fifteen years' time,
but it will take you fifteen years to get an educational
system going ; so that you won't get your first soldiers
till thirty years from now, and it will take another fifteen
years to build them up into armies ; so if you start to-day
on this simple programme, you will begin trying to turn

154 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

out the Europeans in 1963. And even then you must
remember that you will be only ' trying ' to turn them
out, which is a very different thing from turning them
out."

" Your scheme is rather a hopeless one," said he.

'* So is your Kuchik Khan's programme," I replied.

CHAPTER X
THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA

OUR relations at this time with Bicherakov were
becoming rather strained. He was naturally very-
anxious, and his men even more so, to get on the move.

Kuchik Khan was holding the Menjil bridge, 70 miles
from Kasvin and exactly half-way to Enzeli, and although
we could not believe that even under their German officers
his troops would put up a very serious fight, yet it was
clear that he did intend to oppose the Anglo-Russian
advance. Every day's delay enabled him to increase the
strength of his entrenched position covering the approaches
to the bridge, a position naturally very strong even without
artificial improvement.

It was impossible for me to agree to a forward move
on Bicherakov*s part until I could feel sure of some troops
to put up behind him, and to hold Kasvin and the various
posts on the road to Enzeli as the Russian column marched
down to the Caspian ; and those troops I had not yet
got. The only bond that really held him to us now was
the financial one and that was slender, as he had already
been offered better terms in the Caucasus if he would
throw in his lot with the Bolsheviks. I also impressed
upon him the great advantage it would be to him to have
the support of aeroplanes and armoured cars, and these
I could not give him if he broke away from us. I think

155

156 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

he was quite justified in displaying some feeling of
exasperation.

At the beginning of June I got the welcome news that
troops were on their way in sufficient numbers to meet
the demands of the moment. The remainder of the 14th
Hussars were marching to Hamadan, eight armoured cars
were at Kermanshah, and a mobile column of a thousand
rifles of the 1/4 Hants Regiment and the 1/2 Gurkhas
with two mountain guns were on their way up with all
speed in 500 Ford motor- vans, and would probably arrive
in Kasvin by June 12th. The movement of so many cars
was rendered difficult by the shortage of petrol, but we
just managed to accumulate sufficient to get them all
through. But by the time this column reached Kasvin,
it no longer merited the designation of " mobile " : the
rough journey had been very hard on the cars, there was
a shortage of spare parts, and less than fifty per cent,
of the cars were fit for immediate use.

In addition to these troops, No. 8 Battery Royal Field
Artillery was on its way from Baghdad to Kasvin.

We now had before us the final choice of coming to
terms with Kuchik Khan or fighting him, though it would
be more correct to say that we gave him the choice.
There were several interchanges of our respective points
of view by means of messengers, but it seemed impossible
to hope for any peaceful solution. It was too much to
expect of Kuchik Khan that having paraded his brave
army, and vaunted its pro^v^ess in the most bellicose
language, he would now tamely submit to see our troops
march unopposed through his entrenchments. Nothing
came of these negotiations therefore, and as a last resource
I sent down Colonel Stokes with a flag of truce with full
powers to speak for me. I was anxious as to what might
befall Captain Noel and the other prisoners in the hands
of the Jangalis if we declared war on the latter. The
number of prisoners had considerably increased, but

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 157

Noel was now the only Englishman among them. Oakshot
and Maclaren had escaped ; Noel was confined in chains
in a dungeon. The other prisoners included one French
ofl&cer and several Russians.

I authorized Colonel Stokes to make any reasonable
agreement with Kuchik, our unconditional points being
the immediate release of all prisoners, the opening of the
road to Enzeli and a guarantee of non-interference with
movements of our troops on the road. In exchange
I offered him a free hand as regarded any steps he might
take with regard to the internal politics of Persia.

Colonel Stokes remained for two days at Kuchik Khan's
Head Quarters near Resht, but was only able to get evasive
replies. Finding himself unable to induce the Jangalis
to see the folly of their ways, and knowing that according
to our programme hostilities would now be commencing
he closed the negotiations and left for Enzeli on the same
day that the fighting at Menjil began.

On June 5th I agreed to Bicherakov setting his troops
in motion, with a view to attacldng the Jangalis at Menjil
and securing the bridge. Accordingly on that date the
combined army set out from Kasvin composed of some
thousand Cossacks, including artillery, cavalry and in-
fantry, one squadron of the 14th Hussars under Captain
Pope, and two of our armoured cars. It was also arranged
that when hostilities commenced, two aeroplanes from the
aerodrome at Kasvin should co-operate. To Bicherakov's
force I attached Major Newcome, of the Canadian army,
as financial adviser and Captain Derbyshire to supervise
supplies. Colonel Clutterbuck remained throughout as
liaison officer with the Russians, and Major Rowlandson,
who also spoke Russian, accompanied the force for
general duties.

By June II, 1918, all was ready for the attack on
the Jangali position. On the night of that date Bicherakov
had collected his force at Bala Bala, 8 miles from

158 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Menjil, and at dawn on the 12th he moved ofiE to the
encounter.

The two aeroplanes sent down from Kasvin to co-
operate in the attack had orders to fly over the enemy's
trenches, but not to use their machine-guns or to bomb
the trenches until the enemy had made his intention of
fighting clear by opening fire. I gave this order because
I knew that the whole attitude of the Jangalis might
well be only another example of the time-honoured
Persian custom of fighting a battle by " looks," and
if that were to be their line of action, it would only be
fair to let them see our " looks " before proceeding to
deeds.

The matter was settled at once by the Jangali troops
opening a furious but harmless fusillade on the aeroplanes
as they flew over the trenches ; and thus commenced
the Battle of Menjil Bridge.

Meantime Bicherakov was steadily advancing at the
head of his troops. This is not the proper place, according
to correct ideas of modern warfare, for a General Officer
commanding a force about to come into action ; in fact
it is the very last place where he ought to be ; but in Persia
the ordinary rules of tactics are reversed, and action that
would be fatal in European warfare brings about most
successful results.

It is not easy to calculate what strength Kuchik Khan
brought into action on this day. He boasted of possessing
5,000 men, and he may have had half that number in
the trenches on both sides of the bridge, and on the
surrounding hills. He had no artillery, but was well sup-
plied with machine-guns, which were placed in excellent
positions to command the approaches to the bridge
and the road on the other side of the river.

The road has already been described in Chapter III,
but it will make things clearer if X give a more detailed
description of the few miles of ground over which the action

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 159

took place. Approaching Menjil from the east the road
runs at the foot of the mountains which lie on the
right-hand side while a broad stony river-bed runs
parallel to the road on the left. At a point about 2|
miles before the bridge is reached a low spur runs out
from the hills, causing the road to take a hairpin bend,
on rounding which the plain and village of Menjil come
into view. The bridge is not visible from here, in fact it
can only be seen from a very short distance, as it lies in
a very narrow gap between steep cliffs. At the point of
the hairpin bend referred to above is a small tea-shop,
whence an uninterrupted view of the whole ground is
obtained.

It is obvious from the above description that the
enemy should have held this spur to cover the approaches
to the field, and to deny so favourable a position to us.
But it was held only by an observation picquet, which
withdrew without firing on Bicherakov's approach. Stand-
ing at the tea-shop and looking west one sees in the near
foreground to the left, and left front, the village and the
cultivated fields of Menjil, abruptly terminated at a distance
of about 2 miles by the river-bed, which here swings
round to the right to find its way north to the Caspian
Sea through the gap over which the Menjil bridge has been
constructed. The country in the distance in this same
line of view is fairly open for some 6 miles, consisting of
broad river-beds, patches of riverside cultivation and
low hills ; beyond that the hills rise to considerable
altitudes, and close the panorama. The road to the
bridge is naturally obliged to follow the lines of the spur,
curving beyond it sharply to the right for half a mile till
the open ground is reached and then leading due west to
the bridge. In the immediate foreground at a distance
of 2 miles is a small isolated flat-topped hill about
800 yards in length running at right angles to the line of
the road and completely covering the bridge which lies

160 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

about half a mile north-west of it. On the right the rocky
cliffs of the Elburz Mountains rise within a few yards of
the road, and render manoeuvre in that direction difficult
except for well-trained mountain troops.

The German Commander, von Passchen, failed to hold
this spur, which was of course the real key of the position,
and contented himself with entrenching his troops on
the crest-line of the isolated hill, keeping a few small
detachments on the lower slopes of the mountains to our
right. Without artillery the hill might have been difficult
to take, but such a position would be obviously untenable
in the face of artillery fire, forming a target which an
artilleryman would go far to seek and would seldom
find. The crest-line of this small hill is at a slightly
lower level than that of the tea-shop spur.

The whole dispositions of the defence were so farcical
that I am bound to believe that the Persians never meant
to fight, relying upon " looks " to carry the day. But for
that class of warfare they found Bicherakov quite the
wrong sort of man.

Presumably von Passchen must have known better,
but I think the Persians believed that we would argue
thus : " The Jangalis hold a hill that lies right across
our path, protects the bridge and brings all the road over
which we must advance under fire. To turn them out
will cost many lives, even if successful. They will not
go of their own accord. We must therefore halt here
for several days to discuss the situation."

Having omitted to hold the spur, the next most
favourable ground for the enemy was the rocky slopes
of the mountains on our right and the similar slopes on
the far side of the bridge. Troops holding positions on
these slopes would be difficult to dislodge, and their
machine-gun fire properly directed would have made an
attack on the bridge, without first dislodging them, a
very costly affair and quite possibly a failure.

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 16i

There were a few troops in these positions, but their
opposition was very feeble. They made little use of
their machine-guns, and very soon withdrew entirely
from the field of battle.

The ball was opened by the arrival of the aeroplanes,
which swooped gracefully over the Jangali entrenchments
without opening fire, returning to report the details of
the enemy's position. They were heavily fired at, but
were undamaged.

At the same moment Bicherakov at the head of his
army came round the corner of the spur by the tea-shop,
where he encountered a small body of the enemy's troops,
who had the appearance of intending to resist his
advance. Having been badly wounded in the legs early
in the war Bicherakov is obliged to walk with a stick,
which he now carried as his only weapon, and with
which he walked boldly up to the leader and asked him
what he was doing there and why his men assumed so
threatening an attitude. To this the picquet commander
replied, " We are here to hold this post with the last
drop of our blood ! "

" Get out of it, at once ! " shouted Bicherakov, waving
his crooked stick at them, and his fierce and threatening
gestures so alarmed the Jangalis that they turned and
fled as one man down the road, leaving the spur in the
hands of the Cossacks. This completed the second phase
of the battle.

The third phase was commenced by the arrival of the
German officer, von Passchen, with a Persian escort carry-
ing a flag of truce and demanding a parley. The German
was dressed in his national uniform and had quite the air
of a commander-in-chief, evidently much impressing his
Persian associates, but only making the Cossacks smile.
Bicherakov advanced to meet him and inquired what his
errand might be. Von Passchen replied that he came
to treat on behalf of Kuchik Khan and proceeded to
express himself in these terms :

162 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" The Jangalis are, as you see, very strongly entrenched,
and the troops at your disposal will not suffice to move
them from their position. Any attack you may therefore
see fit to undertake is foredoomed to failure and will
only result in needless loss of life. Mirza Kuchik Khan
therefore empowers me to make the following offer to
you. If you will dissociate yourself from the English,
he will gladly allow you a free road to Enzeli. He has
always regarded the Russians as friends and still continues
to do so ; his quarrel is only with the English. Your men
may pass down the road, without disarming, in batches
of two hundred daily and the Jangalis will not molest
your parties, but no English will be allowed to pass."

Bicherakov was quite overcome with the impertinence
of this proposition, but retained some control over his
temper and his tongue. His reply was something to the
following effect:

" I do not recognize a German officer as a representative
of Kuchik Khan, and I consider your appearing before
me in German uniform as a piece of insolence. I want
no terms from the Jangalis, and intend to open fire as
soon as you get out of the way."

The Cossack mountain artillerj^ had meanwhile been
taking up an excellent position on the tea-shop spur, and
as soon as von Passchen was clear of the field of fire
the order was given to open on the isolated hill entrench-
ments. The Cossack cavalry and the Hussars then moved
out into the open towards the enemy's right, and the
armoured cars came into action on the road against the
enemy's left, while the Cossack infantry extended over
the plain.

In a very short time the Jangalis were seen to be
evacuating their trenches and making in confusion for
the bridge, the cavalry and armoured cars followed up
in pursuit and gained the bridge without a check, cutting
off a large number of stragglers who were taken prisoners.

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA. 163

The bridge should have been untenable at this early stage
of the proceedings, as the machine-guns which were sited
on the other side of the river to cover it and all the
approaches were still in position and had not even come
under our fire. But the spirit of panic was in the air,
and the machine-gunners fled almost without firing a
shot. The mounted troops crossed the bridge, the infantry
were reformed and the whole force marched 10 miles
down the road to Rudbar without any further molestation.
This seems incredible when you consider the nature of
this terrible defile which I have already described. Had
only one machine-gun remained in action on this road
the whole advance would have been stopped. The
Jangalis left a large number of killed and wounded on
the ground, making no effort to remove them, and so
ended the Battle of Menjil Bridge. The casualties on
our side were trivial.

Very determined opposition had not been expected,
but no one had contemplated quite such an easy victory.
The Jangalis are not altogether cowards, as they proved
later, and Kuchik Khan explained their flight on this
occasion as being due to the fact that he had no intention
of fighting and was quite taken by surprise. He had
expected the Russians to be overawed by the mere sight
of his troops, and had felt certain that they would agree
to his terms. He was painfully surprised at the rough
treatment they had received at the hands of Bicherakov's
force.

The squadron of the 14th Hussars remained at Menjil
under Captain Pope to hold the bridge, and were shortly
afterwards strengthened by the addition of an infantry
detachment from the mobile column.

As our troops were not yet quite ready to take up the
various posts that it would be necessary to hold to keep
open the road to Enzeli, I had still to use all the tact and
gifts of persuasion I possessed to restrain the impatience

164 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

of Bicherakov. In the end he decided to push on to
Enzeli with his main body, leaving small detachments at
Rudbar, Rustamabad and Resht to be relieved by our
troops as soon as possible and to rejoin him at Enzeli. We
were able to carry out these reliefs within the next week
and to separate ourselves finally from Bicherakov's force.

Kuchik Khan now inspired his followers by announcing
that the Russians having withdrawn, the British were
left by themselves and, as they notably were poor fighters,
they would soon fall an easy prey to his gallant troops,
whom he ordered to attack and harass the British de-
tachments on the road and to exterminate them. The
result of these efforts was very similar to the result of a
similar order given at the commencement of the war by
the Kaiser with reference to a certain " contemptible
little army."

On June 18th a detachment of the l/4 Hants was
attacked on the road. Captain Durnford was killed and
six men wounded, but the enemy were driven off with
considerable loss. At the same time the enemy displayed
considerable activity in the neighbourhood of the other
posts, especially near Imamzadeh Hashim, 10 miles from
Resht, where the road leaves the hills and enters the
dense forest and rice-fields of the flat country, and also
at Resht itself. The town of Resht is large and straggling
and entirely surrounded by alternate tracts of impene-
trable forest and rice-fields. It is of considerable
commercial importance, and has an even more ugly
Europeanized appearance than Kasvin, with theatres,
cinemas and many hotels. In the centre of the town
are public gardens with a bandstand, and close to these
gardens is the humble dwelling that is occupied by
the British Consul. This is obviously a very bad site
for such a residence. The Russians, more wisely, have
built a splendid Consulate standing in its own grounds,
just on the southern outskirt of the town and on the

Resht, close to the Consulate

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 165

main road. Our troops were billeted alongside of the
Russian Consulate outside the town, in a position that
gave them considerable tactical advantages.

The greatest number of troops we ever had at Resht
was 450 rifles and two armoured cars, and with this
number it was quite impossible to defend the town against
the Jangalis, who were concentrating in the surrounding
forest and were never more than a mile away from the
outskirts of the town. Only one road led through the
forest and that was the direct road to Kasma, 25 miles
to the west, where Kuchik Khan had his Head Quarters.
Our force was too small to risk an offensive against the
Jangalis, of whom there were over 2,000 in the immediate
neighbourhood, and even had we possessed sufficient
strength it would have been putting men into a death-
trap to move them along the Kasma road, while off the
road movement in any formation was almost impossible.
There was nothing therefore to prevent the Jangalis
from taking the actual town, the perimeter of which would
be about 7 miles, a distance far beyond the capacity
of 450 rifles to defend. The town lies open on every
side and the dense undergrowth comes right up to the
walls of the outer houses. The troops were therefore
kept concentrated on the outskirts, where they could
hold their own against a large force of the enemy and
whence they could deliver a counter-attack at any
favourable moment.

The situation of this detachment would have been
precarious but for the aeroplanes, which produced a great
effect by bombing and machine-gunning any concentration
of the enemy ; but this task was also rendered difficult
by the density of the forest, which gave the enemy cover
from view. The casualties inflicted were therefore slight,
but the moral effect was great.

These operations on the Menjil-Resht road were
conducted by Lieut. -Colonel Matthews, of the l/4 Hants,

166 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

who commanded the mobile column of 800 rifles and two
mountain artillery guns, which was a small force to cover
the 50 miles of mountain road and forest from Menjil
to Resht ! There was a good deal of hard fighting and
the men acquitted themselves well, both Gurkhas and
Hampshire men vieing with one another in showing the
Jangalis of what stuff our troops were made. The
armoured cars also helped much to impress the enemy,
although the country was of the very worst description
for their action, it being quite impossible for them to
manoeuvre off the roads. The one thing an armoured
car cannot negotiate is a rice-field.

On June 26th I left for Enzeli with a view of fixing
up plans with Bicherakov before he embarked for Baku,
and also of ascertaining the present attitude of the Bol-
shevik Committee. We stayed the night at Resht in
the British Consulate, and I noticed the extreme danger
of its position in the heart of the town. It was defended
by a guard of one N.C.O. and twelve men, but a determined
attack could not be beaten off by so small a detachment,
and Colonel Matthews could not spare more men from
his small force. Mr. Maclaren, who had been a long time
a prisoner in the hands of the Jangalis, was now re-occupy-
ing the Consulate, but it was intended to replace him by
Mr. Moir, and arrangements were made to install the new
Consul with due ceremony on our return journey.

We reached Enzeli early on June 27th and took up our
quarters as before in the Fishery Depot. The whole of
the 27th and part of the 28th were spent in discussing
plans with Bicherakov and interviewing Comrade
Cheliapin.

Bicherakov had decided to turn Bolshevik, as he saw
no other way of getting a footing in the Caucasus. He
had written and wired to the Bolshevik Committee an-
nouncing his conversion and stating his belief that only
by means of the Sovietski Vlast (the power of councils —

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 167

a new name for the Bolshevik authorities) could Russia
find redemption. His conversion was loudly acclaimed
in the Bolshevik newspapers of Baku, and he was offered
the command of the Bolshevik troops or the so-called
" Red Army," which he accepted. He was ready to
embark at once, and I decided to send with him the staff
of British officers who had accompanied him from Kasvin
and " A " Squadron No. 2 Battery Armoured Cars (Locker-
Lampson's unit). Disembarking at Baku would put his
force rather too much in the hands of the Bolsheviks,
who might turn round on him at any moment ; he there-
fore decided to land at Alyat, a small port 50 miles south
of Baku, where the railway turns at a right angle due
west towards Tiflis. This would keep his force separate
from the Bolsheviks and would at the same time bring
it into the best position for co-operating with that portion
of the Red Army which was actually in the field.

The strength of the Red Field Army was calculated
at about 10,000 men, and if they really had been soldiers
and had had any fight in them the plan evolved by Bicher-
akov should have been successful. But as usual, revolu-
tionary troops are only troops on paper, and in the field,
where each man is out only to avoid being killed, they
count for nothing.

The situation in the South- East Caucasus at this time
was as follows : The Turkish Caucasus-Islam Army, about
12,000 strong, composed of about one-half regular Turkish
troops and one-half levies from the local Mahomedan
races in the South Caucasus, was advancing from the
Tiflis direction along the railway line with a view of cap-
turing Baku. They were much hampered by the bad
state of the railway and rolling-stock and shortage of
fuel for the engines. The Germans in Tiflis also were
doing their best to prevent the Turks getting to Baku
at all, as they had a private arrangement with Lenin,
and through him with the Baku Government, that the

168 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

town should be peacefully handed over to them. To see
the Turks in Baku would be almost as bad as to see the
British there.

This peculiar situation resulted in a most extraordinary
^tate of affairs. In their anxiety to prevent the Germans
obtaining possession of Baku, and also in their eagerness
to take any chance of fighting the Bolsheviks, many
Russian officers joined this Turkish force, and when we
were later fighting against them in Baku we had Russian
officers on our side, while the enemy had as many
on his.

On July 1st the Turkish Army had not yet crossed
the Kura River, over which there is only one bridge, at
Yeldakh, 150 miles from Alyat. This river drains the
south-eastern half of the Caucasus Mountains from a
point just north of Tiflis, and joins the Aras River 100
miles from the point where the latter flows into the
Caspian Sea, 50 miles south of Alyat.

The possession of this bridge was therefore all im-
portant. The advance guard of the Red Army was
approaching the bridge from the east, and Bicherakov
hoped to make a dash and capture it before the Turks,
advancing from the west, could succeed in doing so.
If he could seize and hold the bridge there would be no
possibility of any further advance of the Turks on Baku
for a very long time. Even should he fail to secure the
bridge, his troops might still defeat the enemy in the
fighting that wotdd ensue, or at any rate delay their
advance long enough to enable the Baku commander to
choose a defensive line in the mountainous country west
of Baku that should be impregnable.

With these objects in view Bicherakov commenced
the embarkation of his force, on July 1st.

My other task at Enzeli was to interview Cheliapin
and ascertain his frame of mind. A short precis of our
conversation will be given later on.

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 169

The first thing that struck me at Enzeli was the entire
change of atmosphere since our unfortunate visit here in
the winter. Then the Committee with some 2,000 men
behind them were able to dictate ; now with only
200 Red Guards, faced by 100 men of the 1/4 Hants,
the air of dictator had vanished. The numerous com-
mittee had dwindled to three, of whom we already
knew Cheliapin ; the second member was Lazarev, a young
shopkeeper about thirty years of age, and the third was
Babookh, a youth of nineteen years of age, who had served
as a trumpeter in a cavalry regiment. The ignorance of
this latter member was astounding ; he was probably
only just qualified as ** literate," but he had the courage
of ignorance and the conceit of youth, and he undertook
to speak severely to me on several subjects of which
he knew nothing, such as our Colonial policy and our rule
in India. He was a nice enthusiastic lad and really did
intend to set all the wrongs in the world right, but the
lines on which he hoped to work were not such as were
likely to lead to success.

Connected with the Committee was Lieutenant Alkhavi,
an officer of Arab descent in Bicherakov's service. He
was military governor of the town and representative of
the Baku Soviets. As a member of Bicherakov's force
he was naturally inclined to help us, but he liked his
position as King of Kazian, and seemed a little afraid
that in the end we might supplant him.

Our detachment at Enzeli was very much objected to
both by him and Cheliapin, but I pointed out that we were
preparing a landing-ground for aeroplanes here and I
must have a guard to look after the planes. They very
kindly offered to undertake the guarding of the planes
for us, but I had to insist that this was a duty that
could only be performed by our own men.

Another change in the atmosphere was that instead of
summoning me to attend a meeting in the revolutionary

170 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Head Quarters, the Committee very kindly oame to see
me, at my request, in my quarters.

The most important matter to settle with Cheliapin
was the supply of petrol. This was entirely in the hands
of our enemies the Bolsheviks, and it was not easy to get
them to part with the one indispensable product, the
lack of which would paralyse all our movements. Of
course they should have absolutely refused to part with
a single drop of petrol, in which case my force in Persia
would have entirely lost its mobility, and we would have
found ourselves in an extremely serious situation.

But revolutionaries are short-sighted and not inclined
to look very far ahead in their transactions. They wanted
motor-cars, with which I alone could supply them. Money
they had no need of as long as there was a printing-press
handy, but motor-cars were not so easily called into
existence as currency notes. So we arranged an exchange
of motor-cars for petrol, at the rate of £300 worth of
petrol for every £100 worth of cars. They wanted cars
badly, but cars were far from being indispensable to them,
whereas petrol was absolutely indispensable to me. Had
they had the sense to see that they were gaining a very
slight advantage and giving away a very valuable one,
they might have refused the deal, and my force would
have had to cease all movement in Persia. Baghdad
objected very much to being asked to find the cars to
enable me to carry out this deal, but in the end the demand
was never a very large one. I received petrol from the
Baku Soviets to a value of about £50,000, and when I had
sent over ten Ford cars in part payment the Government
was thrown out and I was unable to complete a transac-
tion with a Government that had ceased to exist. These
petrol transactions had the additional advantage of
enabling me to strengthen our position in Enzeli by
sending some officers down to reside there to superintend
the unloading and dispatch of the consignments. By

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA. 171

means of these officers and the aeroplane guard we had
now secured a firm foothold in Enzeli, which was the
first step towards gaining control of the Caspian.

Altogether I regarded our visit to Enzeli as extremely
satisfactory, we had arranged our future plans with
Bicherakov, we had secured an unlimited petrol supply
and we had established ourselves in the port. Compared
with these solid advantages I made light of having had to
listen to a lecture on the iniquities of British Imperialism
from the lips of young Comrade Babookh, aged nineteen.

On June 28th we left Enzeli and returned to Resht,
staying again in the British Consulate. Some fighting
had taken place in our absence, and the Gurkhas at
Imamzadeh Hashim had had a very successful encounter
with a party of Jangalis near their post, in which the
latter were quite wiped out, and the fame of the Gurkha
kukri spread consternation in the country-side. Two
officers driving in a motor-car and not very well acquainted
with their surroundings, mistook the Kasma road for the
Enzeli one, and headed straight into the enemy's cordon.
Within a mile from the town the car was fired on, one
officer was killed, and the other managed by a good use
of his legs to get back to the town.

The ceremony of reinstatement of the British Consul
was arranged for June 29th, and we went carefully into
the details of the programme beforehand with the new
Governor, Sirdar -i-Kul, so that there should be no hitch
in the proceedings. And there were none, except that
the Governor absented himself, sending an excuse at
the last moment complaining of the usual Persian attack
of sickness that arises when an unpleasant duty has to
be performed. His share in the proceedings was to have
been to make a public apology on behalf of the Persian
Government for the insult offered to the flag, and to
promise better behaviour in the future — quite enough to
bring on a severe attack of giddiness and indigestion.

172 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

At the appointed hour a British guard of honour was
drawn up in the street opposite the entrance to the Con-
sulate, and an armoured car stood by to keep order.
The British Consul, Mr. Maclaren, attended with his
confreres of Russia and France in full uniform, and the
whole of the Persian town police were formed up in a
body under the chief police officer. I opened the ceremony
by making a brief speech explaining the nature of the
occasion and trusting that this day would see the final
settlement of all unpleasantness between the Persians and
ourselves, due solely to misunderstanding, and inaugurate
an era of peace, friendliness and mutual respect. This
was followed by speeches in a similar strain by each of
the Consuls present. The flag was hoisted and saluted by
the guard of honour. The Persian Head of Police came
forward, and made an humble apology for the behaviour
of the police in the recent troubles and promised on their
behalf better conduct for the future. The entire body of
police then marched past and saluted the flag, thus
bringing the ceremony to a very picturesque and satis-
factory conclusion. Mr. Maclaren then handed over his
duties to Mr. Moir, who had been appointed Consul
in his place, and with whom I parted with great
regret.

On the next day we left for Kasvin, reaching our
destination without being fired at on the road, which
showed that our system of piquets was a very efficient one.
At Kasvin I was able to take stock of events up to date
and consider our further movements. With regard to
the former we had good cause for satisfaction, and with
regard to the latter good grounds for hope.

It may be as well to say a few words here as to our
achievements up to date, and to consider what would
have happened had the Dunsterforce not been in position
on the Kermanshah-Hamadan-Kasvin road in February
and March 1918 to thwart the Turks in these partg. It

CO-

THE LAST STAGE TO THE SEA 173

is obvious that in such a case enemy detachments would
have occupied Bijar and Zinjan, bringing them into direct
touch with the Jangalis, and enormously strengthening
the position of the latter. In April, May and June, had
we not been on the spot to co-operate with Bicherakov
against the Jangalis, the latter would have offered no
opposition to the passage of the Cossacks through their
country, and there would have been no inducement for
Bicherakov to go out of his way to fight people who were
not intending to molest him. His interest in Persia had
entirely ceased, and his only desire was to get his troops
out of the country and into the Caucasus, a desire which
accorded in every way with the feelings of Kuchik Khan,
who would be only too glad to facilitate his departure.
The Jangali Army, under its German and Austrian leaders,
with supplies of arms and munitions from the Turks
would therefore have encountered no opposition in their
advance on Kasvin and Teheran, and the armed population
of Hamadan and other towns under their democratic
leaders would have raised the Jangali banner and joined
the revolution. The whole of North Persia would have
been overrun with Bolshevism (into which Kuchikism
would soon have degenerated) ; the British Legation
in Teheran, the staff of the Imperial Bank and Indo-
European telegraph, the Consuls and the missionaries
would have had to flee the country and would have been
lucky to escape with their lives. It may seem going
rather far afield to build all these surmises on the
prospects of success of such an army as Kuchik Khan's,
but I do not consider the lurid picture which I have
drawn of possible contingencies to be in the least
exaggerated.

Finally, with North Persia in a state of Bolshevism,
the remainder of Persia following suit and linking up with
Turkestan, and whole of Central Asia and Afghanistan
would be thrown into chaos. This is exactly what the

174 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Germans were playing for in these parts, and it makes one's
blood run cold to think how near they were to a gigantic
success. It may fairly be claimed that the action of our
force was the sole cause of complete failure of this far-
reaching effort of German diplomacy.

CHAPTER XI
TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS

GETTING back to Kasvin had quite a sort of home
feeling about it.

What a different Kasvin to the one that had made
faces at us in February ! Now there was nothing but
smiles and polite attentions. The Governor called to
inquire after my health, the Rais-i-telefon beamed grate-
fully as I passed him in my car in the High Street and the
inhabitants generally looked cheerful and friendly. We
had by this time given English names to all the streets in
these Persian towns to facilitate the giving of directions
to drivers. Thus Oxford Street, Piccadilly and the Strand
greeted one in each town with a cheery reminiscence of
the Homeland.

The imposing of such a nomenclature on the streets
of these historic towns may savour somewhat of vandalism,
and we had many kind suggestions as to a more suitable
series of names commemorating the heroes of ancient
history. These suggestions made a strong appeal to our
artistic sense, but in war time the artistic must give way
to the purely utilitarian. Names were chosen which the
lorry drivers would remember and which would cheer
them up. Memories of Rustam the valorous, and other
Persian heroes of the glorious past, would have been quite
beyond their powers of appreciation or of memory.

It is quite probable that these names made Cyrus,

175

176 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Darius, Xerxes and Alexander the Great turn in their
graves ; if so I regret it. In spite of our historic sur-
roundings we had to be ultra-modern ; and I am sure
that the names of the streets cannot have been half so
distressing to the spirits of the ancient heroes as my
"Daylight Saving BiU."

As we approached the period of long summer days, it
seemed a pity to be letting all that daylight run to waste,
so I ordered all clocks to be put forward two hours. Great
consternation reigned for forty-eight hours, and after that
the new time seemed no more remarkable than the old.
The scheme was a great success from my point of view,
but a dead failure from every one else's. It certainly
resulted in my getting two more hours a day work out
of every one, which constituted the success I aimed at,
though just how it achieved this happy result it is dijQ&cult
to explain. At first sight it looks as if the account would
balance itself. You commence the day two hours earlier
and you end it two hours earlier. But in practice those
two extra hours do come into the work- time somehow,
and one still has plenty of time for exercise and recreation.
And it is remarkable how one's mind is deceived by one's
watch. If I had ordered convoys to start at 4 a.m.
the drivers and travellers would have felt aggrieved, but
when they looked at their watches and saw the hands
pointing to 6 a.m. (although they still knew it was 4 a.m.
by real time) they were quite cheerful about it.

The drivers had on the whole a rather worried time of
it in these days. Not only were their watches put forward
two hours, but from Hamadan northwards they had to
have a new rule of the road to meet the Russian or Persian
traffic rule, " Keep to the right." If, in addition to fic-
titious time and a new rule of the road they had also
been confronted with streets named after Persian heroes,
they would have gone mad. It was only just the cheery
sign of Piccadilly and Leicester Square that prevented

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 1T7

them from feeling that they were living in Wonderland
with the March Hare and Alice.

If we had been isolated, both the new time and the
change in the rule of the road would have worked quite
simply, but as we had now through connection with
Baghdad and there was a constant stream of traffic up
and down the road, the sudden change on entering and
leaving my area was too much to impose on the men,
and eventually I had to give up the daylight scheme.
The rule of the road had to be enforced, but it was very
hard on drivers to have to remember " Keep to the left '*
as far as Hamadan, and from there on " Keep to the right,*'
and after a month in my area, having become accustomed
to ** Keep to the right," to pass down the road again
and get run in for not keeping to the left.

About this time Hamadan began to misbehave, and
it was necessary for the Governor (the same man who
had been Assistant Governor on our first arrival here) and
Ferid-ud-Dowleh, the leader of the Extreme Democrats, to
be removed elsewhere. From the date of their departure
all troubles in Hamadan ceased. The Hamadan levies,
under Colonel Donnan, were beginning to look quite smart
and soldierlike, and were already doing useful work.
The supply question was no longer acute. But another
fresh trouble occurred in the shape of a money famine.

The actual currency in Persia is not very extensive
and our demands were now very large. The problem
was how, after being drained of all their coin to meet
our requirements, the Bank was to attract the cash back
to their vaults (through the medium of depositors and in
payment of bills of exchange on London) with sufficient
rapidity to meet our next cheque. As our requirements
increased daily, it was necessary that the krans paid out
to us at one door, and disbursed by us to our creditors,
should immediately enter the Bank by another door to
be in time to meet our further demands. Thanks to the

178 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ingenuity and skill of Mr. McMurray, the manager of the
Imperial Bank of Persia at Hamadan, the circulation was
maintained at the high speed necessary to cover these
transactions. How he did it no one knows ; but the
miraculous feat was accomplished, and though the horror
of a possible financial crisis was added to that of all the
other crises, the crash was always averted. Our paymaster,
Major Whitmarsh, lived through very anxious times, and
his task was not one to be envied.

In view of the probable advent of troops, huts for
their accommodation had to be run up at Hamadan and
Kasvin, and the staff of engineers under Major Haslam,
R.E., was kept very busy.

We now received an addition to our strength in the
advent of a party of the Royal Navy under Commodore
Norris, R.N., and several four-inch guns were on their
way up from Baghdad to enable us to " rule the waves,"
once we could get a chance of arming merchantmen on
the Caspian.

Colonel Battine also arrived and was selected, owing
to his knowledge of the Russian language, to take a party
to Krasnovodsk, the port on the Turkestan side of the
Caspian immediately opposite to Baku. The Krasnovodsk
situation was a very favourable one, the strategical
importance of that port being only second to that of
Baku as, in the event of the latter being taken by the
Turks, we could hold the former and still keep the
gate to Central Asia closed to the enemy. The Govern-
ment of Krasnovodsk, under a most able railway
engineer of the name of Kuhn, was strongly anti-
Bolshevik and pro-British.

From Krasnovodsk the railway runs to Askhabad and
Merv, and a strong Bolshevik force was operating in the
neighbourhood of Merv, against which a mission under
General Malleson had been sent which was moving north
from Meshed on to this railway. Colonel Battine at

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 179

Krasnovodsk would be able to work in with Kuhn and
assist the operations of General Malleson's mission.

Lieut. -Colonel Rawlinson, R.F.A., also reported his
arrival and was at once placed on special duty as an
expert in camouflage and extemporized motor machine-
gun work, in which he excelled.

With our eyes fixed on the Caucasus we had none the
less to keep a very sharp look-out on our left and left
rear aganist the activities of the Turks from the direction
of Tabriz and Urumiah. The situation at the latter place
must be described.

The town and district of Urumiah lying on the west of
Lake Urumiah, the southern shore of which is distant
about 220 miles from Hamadan, contain a population
estimated at about 80,000, the majority of whom belong
to the two Christian communities of the Armenian Church
and the Assyrian Church, the latter possessing the tribal
name of Jilus. The district had for the past year been
entirely surrounded by the 5th and 6th Turkish Divisions,
against whom the Christian inhabitants had so far put
up a very good fight ; in fact in a recent sortie they had
signally defeated the Turks, taking a large number of
officers and men prisoners and capturing considerable
war material. The Jilus were trained and led by a body
of Russian officers, who had been sent to them for the
purpose, under the command of Colonel Kuzmin. Latterly
there appeared to have been some misunderstanding
between the Jilus and their Russian staff, several officers
of the latter having been killed by their men. The rights
and wrongs of this trouble I was never able to ascertain,
but it seems that the Assyrians suspected treachery on
the part of the Russians. Aga Petros, the spiritual and
temporal leader of the Jilus appears to have been a man
of considerable character and had the reputation of
bravery and skill in action.

At this time our party under Major Starnes in Bijar

180 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

was within 120 miles of the Jilu territory, but the Turkish
Army intervened at Sauj-Bulaq. The two Turkish divi-
sions were very weak, being certainly well under half
strength, and the portion south of the lake was quite
insignificant.

The Jilus had got a messenger through to us some time
before this, asking for help in the matter of arms, ammu-
nition and money. This help we were quite ready to
render and a reply was sent by aeroplane directing them
to fight their way through the Turkish cordon south of
the lake and meet us at Sain-Kaleh on a certain date,
when a party of ours would hand over to them the arms
and ammunition asked for.

The weakness of the Turks in this neighbourhood
suggested the consideration of a plan for permanently
ousting them from this area, and for securing the line from
Bijar to Urumiah by our own troops. It appeared that
only in this way could the Jilus be finally saved from the
Turks, as the pressure of the latter would eventually
compel surrender in the ordinary course of events. We
had, however, too many irons in the fire to permit of this
scheme being entertained, and in any case before it could
have been brought into operation the Jilus solved the
problem for themselves in another way.

According to the pre-arranged scheme they broke
through the Turkish troops south of the lake and met
our party who had gone up to take the arms and ammu-
nition to them. But there was some delay in their return ;
wild rumours were spread in Urumiah to the effect that
they had all been slaughtered ; and the whole population,
men, women and children, with all their cattle and be-
longings came flying down the road to Bijar in appalling
confusion, with the Turks and Kurds on their heels mas-
sacring and plundering the unfortunate refugees. As soon
as they came into contact with our troops the latter
formed a rear-guard, and the remainder of the population,

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 181

probably some 50,000, were rescued and sent down to
Baghdad. These events took place at a much later date
than this portion of the general narrative, but the whole
incident will be more intelligible to the reader if I conclude
it here. The refugees were cared for by the British
authorities — rationed and encamped in various localities,
the strong men being formed into levies and labour corps
and the others, together with the women and the cattle,
settled in an encampment in Mesopotamia. They are
now being repatriated.

So many questions required discussion and explanation
that I thought it would be best to make a hurried trip to
General Head Quarters, Baghdad ; but before doing so
I should have to visit Teheran to get the Minister's opinion
on several matters.

I accordingly left for Teheran on July 4th, arriving
the same day. I found Sir Charles Marling installed in
his summer residence at Gulahek, about 17 miles outside
Teheran. The Legation grounds at Gulahek are even
more striking than those in Teheran. The house stands
on the slopes of the, foot-hills of the main Elburz chain
in a beautiful English -looking wood, with rippling streams
of clear water running through the grounds in channels
lined with turquoise-blue tiles. My stay in this delightful
spot was necessarily short, and on July 7th I was back
in Kasvin arranging for my further trip to Baghdad.

I was particularly sorry to have to leave Teheran at
this time, as the capital was in the throes of a " Cabinet
Crisis," and it would have been interesting to watch the
progress of this political upheaval, w^hich excited only
very mild comment in this land of topsy-turvydom and
which finally proved abortive.

I could ill afford the time for a trip to Baghdad, and
it seemed best therefore to endeavour to carry out the
journey by aeroplane. I begged for a two-seater plane
to be sent up to fetch me down ; an endeavour was made

182 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

to comply with my request, but with the hot-weather
conditions in the Mesopotamian plains it proved impossible
to get the plane up to me, and I was informed that it
would only be possible to convey my by plane the last
80 miles from Mir j ana : even in such a short distance
the saving in time would be considerable.

No news had yet been received from Bicherakov's
force, and I was naturally very anxious to hear how his
adventure was progressing. The possibility of our getting
to Baku either through the medium of his assistance or
on our own, appeared to be daily becoming more hopeful ;
I was now in touch with Baku by almost daily messengers,
and our friends the Social Revolutionaries seemed likely
to be able to bring off shortly the coup-d'etat which was
to throw out the Bolsheviks, establish a new form of
government and invite British assistance. To enable
me to seize this opportunity, which might occur at any
moment, I still lacked troops ; but I had the welcome
news that the 39th Infantry Brigade, composed of new
army regiments, was being dispatched to me with all
speed in motor-lorries under the command of Lieut. -
Colonel Faviell. This brigade was composed of the
following regiments from the midlands of England, the
7th Service Battalions of the Gloucesters and North
Staffords and the 9th Service Battalions of the Worcesters
and War wicks.

The following extracts from a letter written by me
from Kasvin on July 13, 1918, will serve to focus events
up to date :

" Since last writing to you many changes have taken
place, and these changes have in a general way been
favourable to us.

" The various situations are rather perplexing, but they
are obviously interdependent, and success on any one
of the lines reacts favourably on all the others. Omitting

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS. 183

the kaleidoscopic changes of the Russian revolution which
affect us very nearly, but are impossible to deal with in
the scope of an ordinary letter, there are :

1. The local Persian situation.

2. The Baku situation.

3. The Krasnovodsk-Turkestan situation.

4. The Tabriz Turkish invasion situation.

5. The Lake Urumiah situation.

6. The Jangali situation.

7. The raising of levies and irregulars.

" 1. The Persian Situation. — From a military point of
view everything in this part of Persia is satisfactory ;
troops sufficient for safety are already on their way,
and there seems a good prospect of my getting in the end
sufficient troops to enable me to deal successfully with all
the above situations — all of which are at the present
moment favourable.

" The bad morale of the Turkish troops, and the quarrel
between the Turks and Germans in the Caucasus, suggests
a bold policy on our part. One division, exclusive of
line of communication troops, would do all the work.

" As regards the morale of the Turks, they probably
have 2,000 men in Tabriz. I have a small party of some
60 officers and N.C.O.'s on the Kasvin-Mianeh road, of
which the advanced portion, consisting of one L.A.M.
car and a few officers under Captain Osborne, was recently
within a few miles of Tabriz on the Shabli Pass. The
Turks are probably not aware of my extreme weakness
here, but they must know that we are not in force ; yet
the above party was not molested and men desert from
them to us frequently.

" From a political point of view it is difficult in a short
space to convey a correct idea of things. From intercepted
correspondence it is obvious that a very large number of
officials are pro -Turk : the people of the country certainly

184 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

are not. A great deal of propaganda work is carried on
from the Turkish Legation in Teheran, and the Persian
Government make no sign of resisting or even protesting
against the Turkish invasion.

" I do very little propaganda work, except that I occa-
sionally yield to the temptation of issuing a proclamation
putting facts before the people, which may do some good.
But our real propaganda lies in our presence here, the
appearance and behaviour of our officers and men and
the good cash we pay for our requirements. The towns
are now all behaving well ; all begin with furious anti-
British agitation and end soon after with most active
assistance and gratitude for security and order. Taking
the towns in turn : Enzeli is still run by the Baku Red
Army, who object to our presence there, but I think they
are getting accustomed to it, and I gradually increase
the strength of the detachment there until I shortly hope
to be able to ignore the revolutionaries. Resht, which
was in the hands of the Jangalis until a few weeks ago,
is a large town with hotels and cinemas, filled with
a heterogeneous collection of Persians, Greeks and
Armenians. It is distinctly pro-British, but I have
not had time to clean it up properly yet. Captain
Cockerell, my A.P.M., is the last word in A.P.M.'s,
and has the worst conspirators either eating out of
Lis hand or locked up in less than no time. When
I can get him down to Resht the town won't know
itself.

" Kasvin has ceased anti-British agitation. The
religious leaders drink tea with me ; the leading
democrats, Turkish agents and others are either in prison
or have fled. By the excellent Intelligence system run
by Saunders I can produce a list of principal inhabitants
showing their exact degree of guilt.

" Hamadan, since the arrest of the Governor and of the
chief firebrand Ferid-ud-Dowleh, is quite quiet and has

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 185

not forgotten to be grateful for famine relief, which in
the early days when I had no troops was of more value
than many machine-guns. Bijar, Mianeh and Zinjan
are all quiet and contented. With all this I do not allow
myself to be lulled into a false sense of security, and I
am prepared to meet an outbreak at any time in any of
these towns. With aU the enemy activity around us
and the weakness of my small isolated parties in distant
areas the risk is considerable, and the marvel is that
nothing has so far happened. Zinjan is held to be
fanatical, pro-Turk and anti-British. On the entry of
my party into the town two of their servants were
murdered in the streets by day for serving the British,
yet the total strength of my party there had to be at one
time as low as twenty officers and N.C.O.'s. But we
grow stronger every day and the risks are less.

" The capital is quite unlike the rest of Persia. It
still keeps up real neutrality, and the first sight on entering
the town is the flags of the German and Turkish Embassies.
An Austrian officer, whom I rode up to to have a good look
at, startled me by taking off his hat and bowing. The
Parliament does not sit, and the Cabinet is quite useless
and any work it does is against our interests. I have
just returned from Teheran, where I stayed three days
with the Minister. A Cabinet crisis was in progress, but
showed no signs of becoming serious. Teheran is the
centre of all enemy propaganda, as it not only contains
the enemy Legations, but is a harbour of refuge for all
the firebrands in the provincial towns whom I fail to
arrest.

" As regards the general military situation, the time is
ripe for bold action on our part. The Armenians are
not yet finished, and continue to hold their own bravely
in isolated localities such as Alexandropol and Urumiah.
The Turks are sick of the war and sick of the Germans
and have no money. The Germans are quarrelling with

186 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the Turks and finding it harder to put up troops than we
do. The Turks want to take Baku, the Germans want
to stop them from doing so.

"2. The Baku Situation. — The power is still in the
hands of the Sovietski Vlast (let us call them S.V.'s),
another name for the Bolsheviks. They are in touch
with the Central Committee at Moscow, but are daily
losing power. It seems probable that the Social Revo-
lutionary party (called S.R.'s for short) may oust them
at any time. But as Baku depends on Astrakhan for
food and ammunition it will not pay the S.R.'s to turn
the S.V.'s out until similar action has been successful in
Astrakhan. I interviewed Cheliapin at Enzeli a few
days ago and attach a short precis of our conversation,
from which it will be seen how uncompromising is the
attitude of the S.V.'s.

" I have had several talks with the S.R.'s, whose pro-
gramme is far more suitable for our purposes and is con-
structive instead of being, like that of the S.V.'s, purely
destructive. They want our aid, especially financially.
I keep on friendly terms with the S.R.'s, and they know
they could rely on us for a great deal if they got the
power into their hands.

" Richer akov sailed for Alyat at the beginning of the
month, taking with him five of my officers and four
armoured cars. I went to see him off at Enzeli and we
mutually agreed on plans which give great hope of success,
but which I will not repeat here. He has caused great
consternation among the other Russians by throwing in
his lot with the Bolsheviks, but I am sure he is right.
^/ It was the only way to get a footing, and once he is
established it will be a case of the tail wagging the dog.

" None but myself, Russian or English, believes in
him, but I do so sincerely. In any case I should have to
compel myself to believe in him, as he is literally our
only hope at the present moment. He is all for Russia,

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 187

and the plans he intends to carry out are in the interests
of Russia in general and the North Caucasus in particular,
but they entirelj^ coincide with our interests.

" I have had practically no news of him since he left
and I am naturally anxious. His whole scheme may be
a failure, the risks are great and the temper of his men
a little uncertain. The Russians here all think they wdll
desert when they get near their homes. I do not share
this opinion, though I think some may go.

" 3. The Krasnovodsk Situation from our point of view
has not developed. I am sending on a small body of
officers and men, to see how they are received. If the
cotton there can be saved from the Germans it will be a
great thing ; at present it is being shipped up the Volga
via Astrakhan for their use. Turkestan is hard to under-
stand just at present and the news we get is very conflicting,
but there seems no doubt that the people are inclined
to put politics on one side and to accept any form of
foreign aid that will lead to a restoration of order. Next
in importance to the cotton question is the question of
the very large number — possibly 30,000 — of German and
Austrian released prisoners in Turkestan. If my mission
is well received it might be possible seriously to hamper
German movements towards Afghanistan in the event
of their capturing Baku.

" 4. The Tabriz Situation. — The Turks have established
themselves in Tabriz and have probably about 2,000 men
there. I do not see that they have much chance of increas-
ing their strength without altering their present plans in
the Caucasus. I do not think that they contemplate an
invasion of Persia via Zinjan and Kasvin, but if they do
I should soon have sufficient troops to secure that line.
They would like to draw off my troops in that direction
and content themselves with the occupation of just the
north corner of Azerbaijan, including Ardebil and the
port of Astara on the Caspian. They would then join

188 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

hands with the Jangalis, and their scheme would, if
successful, at the cost of very few troops give them (a) sup-
plies, (6) a port upon the Caspian, (c) the cutting off from
the South Caspian of British movements. They have no
enterprise, however, or they would long ago have turned
my detachment out of Mianeh, whereas they allowed a
very small party to remain on the Shabli Pass till quite
recently. Owing to the defection of the Persian Cossacks
who it was hoped would act with my party, the L.A.M.
car was nearly captured, and the Turkish failure to do
so shows how little they are worth.

" 5. The Lake Urumiah Situation. — This is the most
interesting of all, and promises most. All the schemes
are interdependent, and our success in Urumiah would
mean moving the Turks from Tabriz, joining up with
the Armenians near Alexandropol, threatening the whole
of the Turkish movement in the Caucasus, and helping
Baku and the Caspian situation.

** An aeroplane flew on July 9th to Mianeh, where we
had prepared a landing-ground and small stock of petrol.
On the 10th it flew to Urumiah, returned to Mianeh, picked
up petrol and returned here after a most successful flight.
Lieutenant Pennington, the aviator, carried a message
from me to Aga Petros, the fighting cleric of the Assyrians.
On alighting he was received with a most tremendous
ovation, having to submit to having his hands and knees
kissed by almost the entire population. The town being
entirely surrounded by the Turks had had no news for
about four months. They were certain that we had no
troops in Persia and were equally certain that we had taken
Mosul. They were therefore on the point of fighting
their way through to us in Mosul — a population of 80,000
with perhaps 10,000 fighting men. The result would
have been a terrible massacre of Christians and the
needless surrender of Urumiah to the Turks.

" All this Pennington was just in time to prevent. We

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 189

are taking ammunition up to them and have arranged
to meet at Sainkaleh on July 22nd, they fighting their
way through the Turks at Sauj Bulaq, where there is no
great force. The whole of the Turkish division is in the
area south-west of the lake, but the division is weak and
dispersed and the operation should be successful. If it
prove successful and I can follow up with British troops
and hold the line Hamadan to Urumiah, we outflank
Tabriz and secure rich crops which the Turks are now
engaged in reaping.

** 6. The Jangali Situation. — The Jangali bubble was
pricked at last on June 12th, when Bicherakov fought
the Battle of Menjil Bridge with his Cossacks and one
squadron 14th Hussars. . . . The aeroplanes are especially
useful, as troops fighting through the dense jungle would
be terribly handicapped and casualties would be high.

"7. Levies and Irregulars. — We have now three groups
of levies at Hamadan and Kasvin, with a total of 800
men. They have already been useful in holding posts
on the roads and passes and in forming escorts. They
are good value as a political move, and are quite useful
to the above extent ; but I never expect to use them
against the Turks.

" The irregulars are being raised by Wagstaff from
among the Shahsavens and by Stames from among the
Kurds at Bijar. I wish them to be not merely mercenaries
but to be actuated in the first place by a dislike of the
Turk and a desire to fight him on their own ground.
They will only be assembled for short periods to carry
out raids. Both the Shahsavens and Kurds ought to
work well on these lines.

" The Turks are playing the same game, and I have
told my parties that their first efforts should be directed
to countering the enemy's schemes.

" In the early days of the war the Germans were badly
let down by their levies, to whom they paid vast sums of

J 19a THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

money, in exchange for which the levies did nothing and
deserted when trouble came ; I am therefore working on
a system of payment by results, which should prove
satisfactory. We have not armed either the levies
or the irregulars, so they have no temptation to desert.

" In conclusion I should like to repeat what I said
earlier in my letter, that a great deal of our success here
has been due to the demeanour of the few troops under
my command. The general appearance and behaviour of
the N.C.O.'s has produced a most favourable impression
on the Persians, and they realize that the British soldier
is a very different article to any soldier they have met
before. From intercepted letters I learn that Kuchik
Khan complains that he finds it hard to work up any
feeling against us, as we do nothing to arouse the resent-
ment of the populace — he wishes we would.'*

The following is a note recording the conversation
between myself and Cheliapin at Enzeli on June 28th :

" Cheliapin is the same leader who presided at the
meetings at Enzeli in February, when the combined com-
mittees of Bolsheviks and Jangalis prevented the departure
of the first party of Dunsterforce for Baku. Many of the
delegates are quite interesting men to meet, but Cheliapin
is of the worst type. He is convinced of his own wisdom,
but he is thoroughly stupid and has very little education ;
he is dictatorial in his manner, talks loudly and has no
desire to hear the other side of the question. Like many
of the peasant class he is cunning and suspicious, and the
absolute honesty of my arguments and intentions only
intensify his belief in my treachery. His mental attitude
is pugnacious and his mouth is filled with all the well-worn
tags of revolutionary orators. He can talk for hours in
a rasping and unpleasant voice, but is quite incapable of
making a single original remark.

MiRZA KucHiK Khan : returned to civil life

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 191

" He suspects Great Britain of having taken advantage
of Russia's temporary difficulties to seize North Persia,
and he will not believe me when I explain that our occupa-
tion of this country was due to (a) the necessity of guarding
our right flank in Mesopotamia, (6) the desire to keep
a road open from Baghdad to Baku to help the Caucasus.

** I am inclined to believe that Cheliapin is an honest
patriot, but I fancy his brother revolutionaries suspect
him of feathering his nest

" Like most Russians he sees a deep ulterior motive in
any action on the part of Great Britain, and credits English-
men with a Machiavellian cleverness that is quite the
opposite of the English character. My frank statement
to him that we took no side in the revolution, and that
we came to the Caucasus only to help the people to keep
out the Germans and Turks, was the only thing that made
him smile during the whole conversation. He certainly
believes that we want to capture and hold for all time the
Baku oilfields, to obtain various mineral concessions in
the Caucasus, and to reinstate the Czar. His only wise
remark (which was probably not original) was, ' Whether
you like the Bolsheviks or not, you make a great mistake
in not recognizing them. The Germans at once wisely
recognized the Bolsheviks and then attacked them ; you
refuse to recognize them and yet you ofter them help.'

" The only change his attitude had undergone since our
last meeting was that on the former occasion he said,
* We have no quarrel with the Germans now that peace
has been declared and we like them better than we do
you.' He now says : * Germany has betrayed us, and we
will fight agamst the Germans to the last drop of our blood.'
Of the Jangalis he used to say : * They are good, honest
patriots fighting, like us, against a criminal monarchy for
freedom and the rights of man.' He now says : * The
Jangalis are merely highway robbers and should be
exterminated,'

192 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" The term * Sovietsld Vlast ' is now used instead of
* Bolsheviks.' Sovietski Vlast means the power of councils.
It is meant to include the revolutionaries of all parties.

" The Social Revolutionary party (called the S.R.'s for
short) are a party of growing strength who will probably
oust the Sovietski Vlast in a short time. It is their declared
intention to do so. I asked Cheliapin about this and he
said, * The idea is absurd ; they work with us on our com-
mittees, where they have a proportion of representative
commissaries.' This sounds very well, but the Baku S.R.'s
told me they refused to accept the offer and had refused
to appoint any commissaries or work with the Sovietski
Vlast.

" Cheliapin wished England to help Baku with arms
and motor-cars in exchange for oil and petrol. All
offers of troops or military instructors were out of the
question.

" His chief argument against the introduction of British
troops into Baku was that the Germans in North Russia
would at once retaliate by taking Petrograd and Moscow.
Finally he said, * It is no use you and I talking, we should
never agree. It is impossible for one hke me who knows
what freedom means to talk to one who subjects himself
to a King and Crown ! ' "

To show the sort of anti-British propaganda that was
being worked against us at Baku at this time I give this
interesting extract from a Baku newspaper dated July
16, 1918.

" The English in Persia.

" When the question of the occupation of North- Western
Persia was decided on by the English Imperialists the whole
country, the entire people, who are generally passive and
quiet, were filled with disgust.

" Their helpless cries of anguish, horror and hate must

TURKS, INFIDELS AND HERETICS 193

have reached the ears of the Russian slaves of English
money, but their ears are deaf when convenient.

" The half-wild, famished, powerless people gathered
into bands and threw themselves at every car or cart
that they suspected to be carrying English.

*' There were cases of murder.

" The rebels did not allow cars to pass if Persian silver
was found on the passengers in large quantities, as the
only source of this silver for Persians was the EngHsh
Bank, the buying and bribing capacity of which is well
known to the Persians.

" The leaders of Persian democrats in vain tried to turn
the stream of popular indignation into a channel of fruitless
protests.

" When the English delegation arrived at Enzeli with
General Dunsterville at its head on their way to Tiflis in
order to bring pressure to bear on the Trans-Caucasian
Government, the representatives of the Persian Social
Democratic Committee held guard at the Russian IVIihtary
Revolutionary Committee, and were only satisfied when
it was settled that General Dunsterville would not be
allowed to pass to Tiflis but would * clear off ' to Mesopo-
tamia. For the Persians know that the wheel of an
EngUsh Ford is more destructive than the hoof of the
Hun's horse.

" Between Hamadan and Kasvin, near Ab-i-Garm, the
Persians killed the passengers of a Russian lorry and a
Ford, in all ten people, suspecting that they were English.

" The hostihty of the Jangalis to the Russian troops
arose only because they could not convince the latter that
they ought not to be the instruments of the Imperialism
of the EngHsh. Even after his defeat by Bicherakov, with
the few remnants of his dispersed force, Kuchik Khan at-
tacked convoys and is still attacking English Fords, braving
the armoured cars and machine-guns. (During one of the
attacks the English had some men killed and wounded.)

194 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" Arrivals from Enzeli say that Kuchik Khan has again
gathered his force, and with new vigour has commenced
guerilla warfare against the English. The exploitation of
the native populations in the English colonies and occupied
territories where they find no resistance is being carried
on in the most shameless manner, and the natives are
treated like cattle.

" Our soldiers (from Bicherakov*s detachment) who were
in Mesopotamia fighting in front of the English line reaUzed
very well the EngHsh tactics * Making other men pull the
chestnuts out of the fire.' If the EngUsh get you you become
an Indian (native). This is the result of their labours.

"... But as soon as the news of the Russo-German
peace arrived and the Russian soldiers voted a return home,
the attitude towards them changed and the British annoyed
them in all ways.

" The wounded and sick that returned from Baghdad
say that the insults became intolerable and the treatment
from the doctors was disgusting.

" The hero of R. Kipling's story complains that since
India has had seK-government, the * naukar ' does not
pronounce the word * Sahib ' with sufficient respect.
General Dunsterville, Colonels Rowlandson and Clutter -
buck, are specialists in trading in live stock obtained
from Russian Counter-revolutionaries, and may they be
content. The figure of the social * naukar ' is already
seen, with its hand to its forehead humbly murmuring
' Salaam '. . , " This completes the effusion.

The sneer at the Russian Counter-revolutionaries was
of course meant to be a hit at my Russian officers. The
statements about the feeling of Bicherakov's men towards
the British force in Mesopotamia, alongside of whom they
were fighting, are entirely untrue, and are inserted solely
for reasons of hate propaganda. The real feeling was one
of sincere friendship.

CHAPTER XII
IN TOUCH WITH BAKU

ON July 14th I left by motor-car with Captain Bray,
and arrived at the Head Quarters of the 14th Division
at Mir j ana, 400 miles from Kasvin, on the evening of
July 17th, continuing my journey by aeroplane on the
next day, and arriving at Baghdad just at daybreak on
July 18th.

We were glad to note on the way down the enormous
improvement in the road. Work is being seriously under-
taken on the whole stretch from Kermanshah to Khanikin,
and it now bears no resemblance to the snow-covered
track and seas of mud over which we pushed our cars
in February.

I remained at General Head Quarters, Baghdad, for
forty-eight hours, leaving again by aeroplane to Qasr-i-
Shirin, 106 miles, on July 20th, and thence by car 160
miles, reaching Kermanshah the same evening, a very
good day's work. On July 22nd I inspected Major
Macarthy's group of levies near Hamadan, and was
extremely pleased with their progress. They were
drawn up in line, with the cavalry on the right as at
an inspection of regular troops, and a band performed
throughout the inspection with remarkable rigour.

On July 23rd, after a good many breakdowns on the
road due to bursting of tyres and engine trouble, we
arrived at Kasvin, having been absent for nine days,

105

106 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

during which much had been taking place. My visit to
Baghdad, which was very necessary, had been carried
out just in the nick of time, as it was obvious that we
were now on the verge of the Baku enterprise.

At Baghdad I had been able to discuss many minor
but important points as well as the major points of Urumiah
and the question of petrol supply. The authorities at
first were horrified at my suggestion to exchange motor-
cars for petrol, but petrol was indispensable. The Baku
people would give it on no other terms, and the purchas-
ing price was extremely favourable. Mesopotamia re-
quired every car they could get, but the small number
I required formed a hardly appreciable proportion of
the available supply, and my demands were accordingly
agreed to.

I received news at last of Bicherakov's movements,
which I was sorry to hear had not met with any great
measure of success. Disembarking his force at Alyat on
July 5th, he had hastened forward to take over the com-
mand of the Baku Red Army operating astride of the
Tiflis railway towards the bridge at Yeldakh over the
Kura River. His own troops were hurried up to stiffen
the Red Army, who seemed to be very lacking in enter-
prise, and who were already being driven back by the
Turks. All hope of securing the bridge had gone owing
to the pusillanimous behaviour of the Baku troops, who
had allowed the Turks to possess themselves of this all-
important point without making any great effort to
thwart them.

The Caucasus-Islam army might still be beaten in the
field, but Bicherakov soon found to his disgust that no
reliance at all could be placed on the Red Army troops,
who frequently gave ground without firing a shot, and
his own men were all that he could count on for any real
fighting. Under these circumstances there was nothing
to be done but to fall back on Baku, contesting each mile

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 197

of ground and delaying th© onemy sufficiently to enabl*
the Baku people to prepare a proper line of defence
covering the town, a precautionary measure which they
altogether neglected. As an example of the behaviour
of the Red Army troops I will relate an incident that
resulted in the loss of one of our armoured cars at this
time.

Bicherakov ordered a reconnaissance to be carried
out by one of his Cossack squadrons supported by a
British armoured car. The party passed over a bridge
which was held by a strong detachment of the Red Army,
and they impressed on the commander of this detach-
ment the importance of his post, as this bridge carried
the road over an impassable nullah on their only line
of withdrawal. The reconnoitring party carried out
their duties and proceeded to withdraw. On arrival at
the bridge they found that it was in the hands of the
Turks. The Cossack cavalry put up a very good fight
in the endeavour to regain possession, and to cover the
withdrawal of the armoured car, but the effort did not
succeed ; the cavalry suffered very heavy losses, and the
armoured car fell into the hands of the Turks. One can-
not help smiling at the idea of troops in action leaving
their posts to attend political meetings, but these comic
incidents have tragic endings, and in this case the amusing
behaviour of the Red Army soldiers meant the lives of
many brave men and the loss of the armoured car. When
freedom is carried to the extent of permitting men to
leave their military duties during the progress of an
action, war becomes impossible.

This is the first example of such failure of duty recorded
in the history of this campaign, but it will not be the last.
We soon learnt that such conduct was the rule and not
the exception.

Arising from such behaviour on the part of the Red
Army soldiers a feeling of dislike and hostility grew up

198 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

between the Cossacks and them, which ended in Bichera-
kov severing his connection with these worthless troops.
Throughout July he made every endeavour to stem the
Turkish advance, but his efforts, unsupported by the
local troops, were in vain.

In the last days of July the Red Army and Bichera-
kov's force were driven back into Baku, and the Caucasus-
Islam army may be said to have practically captured
the town ; that is to say, they were in full possession
of the heights above it and within 3,000 yards of the
wharves, with no troops opposing them.

But at this moment one of those miracles occurred
which seemed so frequently to intervene to defer the
actual fall of Baku. For no reason that can yet be ascer-
tained, the Turks, in the hour of their victory, were
seized with an unaccountable panic and turned and
fled. It is said that their flight was due to a rumour
that their rear was being threatened by a large cavalry
force, but whatever the cause may have been, the result
was that the entire army turned and ran, hotly pursued
by the Armenian troops, who returned to Baku, proudly
(but falsely) asserting that it was they who had saved
the town.

During the progress of this fighting Bicherakov realized
that the Red Army leaders were trying to force him into
a position whence retirement would be impossible, and
where it was equally certain that in the hour of danger
they would afford him no support. They had come to
the conclusion that his professions of Bolshevism had only
been a pretence to enable him to get a footing in the
Caucasus (which was a very right conjecture), and that
he was ready to turn round on them at the first oppor-
tunity. They therefore decided to forestall this move by
rounding on him and pushing him into the arms of the
Turks.

The knowledge of this intention on their part caused

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 199

Bicherakov to separate his force entirely from the town
troops, and to draw off to the north between Baladjari
Railway Station and the seacoast. From here he could
again join in the fight from a very advantageous point
on the left flank of the Turks, if the town did not fall ;
and if the town fell, he had a good line of retreat up the
railway to Derbend, where he would be sure of water
and supplies. His position had been rendered extremely
critical during the last few days, owing to the failure of
the Baku Committee to meet any of his demands for
ammunition or supplies ; and signs of a Turkish movement
towards the railway line on his right eventually led him
to decide on severing his connection with Baku and
continuing his retreat to Derbend. The Baku people
regarded this as a betrayal, and Bicherakov as a traitor ;
but we ourselves found later what impossible people they
were to deal with, and had equally to withdraw our troops
to save them from being needlessly sacrificed.

At the same time, this move of his at this juncture was
a fatal mistake. In war time a commander has to form
rapid decisions and adhere to them. The decision formed
may be absolutely right in view of the known factors,
but after action has been commenced an unforeseen factor
appears that indicates quite another line. Bicherakov
was right to consider the town as already in the hands
of the Turks, and this would compel his immediate with-
drawal, so he accordingly acted in the light of this assump-
tion. But, as I have described above, the town did
not fall into the hands of the Turks, and, had the " par-
tisan " detachment remained in position north of Baku
and joined hands with us a few days later, Baku would
never have fallen. All we required later, and entirely
failed to get, was some sort of stiffening for the local
troops, some formed body of regular soldiers who could
set the right example and help us to force reluctant
troops into the firing line.

200 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Another fatal mistake which was also made at this
time by the town troops affords an example of the futility
of entrusting military operations to men who have not
been trained to think on military lines. The strategy
of Baku was directed not by the so-called military authori-
ties, but by the tinkers and tailors who formed the govern-
ing committee. The lack of forethought on their part,
and the lack of cohesion on the part of the troops, robbed
Baku of the fruits of the mairaculous victory over the
Turks. The brave troops returning to town to loll in
restaurants and recount to their admiring women-folk the
deeds of valour they had accomplished in defeating and
pursuing the Turks would have been better employed
had they just carried the pursuit a few yards further,
driven the Turk off the high ground west of the railway
line and dug themselves in. Preferring, however, to
return to the ease and comforts of the town, they left
this position to the Turks, and thereby rendered any
further defence of Baku merely a deferring of the evil
moment. The Turks held this position throughout the
remainder of the fighting, and, Avith troops that hardly
knew how to march and obeyed no orders, it was
impossible to attempt to dislodge them.

In describing Bicherakov's movements in the course
of the fighting round Baku up to this point I have got
beyond the date of the general narrative, but when we
come to the history of our action in Baku, a knowledge
of these earlier events will be necessary, and it will make
it clearer for the ordinary reader if I finish the story of
Bicherakov's troubles straight away, as I have done in
the preceding paragraphs, instead of cutting it up into
fragments to secure an actual sequence of dates.

We must now get back to Kasvin and follow the moves
of our own force until they lead us finally to Baku.

In the middle of July the first detachments of the
39th Brigade began to arrive in Kasvin. They travelled

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 201

from Mesopotamia in motor-lorries as far as Hamadan,
and thence motored or marched, according to whether
vehicles were obtainable or not, to Enzeli. The greater
portion did not arrive in the latter port, however, till
late in August. The Ford cars were in a terrible state,
and at that moment, when every hour was of value,
everything seemed to break down, and I was never able
to get any of the detachm^ents to any destination within
a liberally estimated limit of time.

The Jangalis had decided about this time to test the
mettle of the British troops, who, their German instruc-
tors informed them, were notoriously cowardly. In the
one or two small encounters we had already had the
Jangalis had had reason to wonder if the German estimate
of the British soldier's fighting powers was quite accurate,
but still, on the whole, they felt that it was worth while
having at least one grand attack on the British just to
see what would happen.

In fighting irregular troops like the Jangalis it is as
a rule hard to get them to concentrate and attack, and
unless they can be induced to do this it is difficult to
bring matters to a conclusion, and these small campaigns
drag on and on interminably. We have therefore to
thank their German commander, von Passchen, very
much for his success in bringing about the great Battle
of Resht, which settled the Jangali question once and
for all, and enabled us to make a sound treaty of peace
with Kuchik Khan, and to secure the release of Captain
Noel, who had been a prisoner for over four months in
their hands.

At daybreak on July 20th a determined attack on
the garrison and town of Resht was launched by the Jangali
troops from the west and south-west. The enemy was
obviously determined to put matters to the supreme
test by attacking the British detachment under Colonel
Matthews, which was billeted outside the southern out-

202 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

skirts of the town in the vicinity of the Russian Consulate.
In taking this action the Jangalis were guided by the
soundest principle of war, namely, to attack and defeat
the enemy's main force in the field. Such action is,
how^ever, quite contrary to the tactics of irregular troops
such as these, and must naturally be attributed to the
leadership of von Passchen. The entire town was at
their mercy, and the more usual procedure would have
been for them to seize and hold the town itself, whence
we should have had great difficulty in dislodging them,
once they had secured a firm footing. Their present
plan was to combine the two operations, and, while their
best fighting men attacked and destroyed our detach-
ment (which numbered about 450 rifles of the l/4 Hants
1/2 Gurkhas, with two mountain guns and two armoured
cars), the remaining portion were to attack and loot the
town. The troops allotted to the town attack achieved
an easy success, the defence of a town with a 7 -mile
perimeter being, as I have previously pointed out, quite
beyond the power of our small detachment ; but the defeat
of their main attack on our troops outside the town, and
the heavy casualties they suffered in the attempt, reacted
on the invaders of the town and caused them to put up
only a very half-hearted resistance when we had leisure
to set to work to clear them out.

While the fighting was going on between our troops
and the pick of the Jangali army on the southern outskirts,
a large body of the enemy penetrated to the heart of the
town and attacked the British Consulate, which was
defended by a garrison of about twenty rifles all told.
The unfortunate position of this building has already
been commented on ; it was surrounded by houses which
overlooked it and from which the enemy snipers could
fire direct into the courtyard, and reinforcements could
only reach it directly by passing through a maze of narrow
and tortuous streets. The normal method of reaching

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 208

the Consulate from the billets of our detachment on the
south was to proceed north along the Enzeli road for
2J miles, then west by the circular road outside the
town for 1| miles till the Pir-i-Bazar road was reached,
and then south into the centre of the town, thus
compassing three-quarters of the perimeter.

At an early hour in the morning Colonel Matthews
was notified of the perilous position of the party in the
British Consulate, and determined to effect their rescue
by the direct road that lay through the narrow streets
of the town. It was fortunate that these streets were
just wide enough to admit the passage of an armoured
car, if cleverly steered, and the relieving party, accom-
panied by an armoured car, succeeded after severe
street-fighting in reaching the Consulate just in time
and bringing off Mr. Moir and the garrison.

The relief was effected just as the enemy had succeeded
in setting fire to the outer doors of the courtyard, and
in a short time the Consulate would have fallen and its
occupants would certainly have been massacred. This
highly successful task was carried out under the command
of Captain McCleverty, of the 1 /2 Gurkhas, who conducted
the operation with great skill.

Repeated attacks on our main body were successfully
beaten off, and the Jangalis eventually drew off in despair,
having found the British garrison to be made of very
different stuff from that which von Passchen had described.
Kuchik Khan had had about 2,500 men engaged, and
when they eventually broke off the engagement they
left over 100 dead on the ground, and fifty prisoners
in our hands, the latter including several Austrians.
Our casualties all told amounted to only fifty, and the
fighting resulted in a victory for our troops that would
have been even more signal had it been possible to crown
it with a pursuit. The small number of our troops, the
nature of the surrounding country, and the fact that

204 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the Jangalis were still in possession of the town, prohibited
any attempt at pursuit, and as the sun set the firing
entirely ceased, and the main attack was withdrawn ;
but the actual town remained in the hands of the enemy.

The operations during the next two days consisted
of getting the Jangalis out of the town. This involved
a good deal of street-fighting, but success was mainly
achieved by aeroplane bombing, which soon rendered
their retention of the various hotels and public buildings
impracticable.

By the end of the month Resht was finally cleared
of all signs of active Jangali opposition, and came under
our effective administration. A military governor was
appointed in place of the Persian Governor, who had
fled from his unpleasant post, and an excellent intelli-
gence office got to work under Captain Searight, of the
Queen's Regiment, who vied with Major Saunders in
the cleverness and efficiency of his measures. We had
thus finally secured the road to the Caspian, five months
after our first hazardous passage in the middle of February.
Kermanshah, Hamadan, Kasvin, Menjil and Resht were
in our hands, and it only remained to secure the actual
port of Kazian (Enzeli) itself.

The road picquets were kept out for some time longer
as a precautionary measure, but no further fighting took
place, and Mirza Kuchik Khan, now reduced to a sensible
frame of mind, began to sue for peace.

To return to Kasvin, there was much important work
to be attended to in that rather troublesome town, while
we awaited the longed-for summons from Baku. Major
Browne, of the 44th Indian Infantry, was proving a very
capable commander at Enzeli, and was working hard to
clear away the Red Army obstruction in the port. He
had some rather delicate negotiations in hand at this
time bearing on this point, and it was very necessary to
get the obnoxious revolutionary Committee out of the

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 205

way for a time. They were accordingly invited to visit
me in Kasvin to discuss some important secret matters
connected with the question of exchange of motor-cars
for petrol and other kindred subjects.

I am glad to say they accepted the invitation with-
out our having to apply any pressure, and Comrade
Cheliapin with his following duly presented themselves at
my Head Quarters — a very meek-looking trio compared
to the fierce and uncompromising individuals of earlier
days. They had an uncomfortable feeling that their
reign at Kazian would soon be drawing to a close, and
their forebodings were very shortly to be realized.

They stayed two days with me in Kasvin, which was
just long enough to enable Major Browne to carry out
what was necessary at his end of the line ; they lunched
with me and we drank each others' healths in very cheer-
ful mood. We had had so much to do with each other
since the hazardous days of February that our common
reminiscences almost induced a feeling of friendship.

What we were trying to get at was the exact nature
of their relations with Kuchik Khan. We knew that at
the time of our first visit to Enzeli they were hand-in -
glove with him, but they had latterly pretended that that
was merely owing to force of circumstances, and Cheliapin
had solemnly promised me that they had now broken off
all relations with the Jangalis.

To have arrested the Committee merely as Bolsheviks
would have been taking a false step, and would have
put the whole of Baku against us. It is obvious that to
a revolutionary there can be no worse a person than a
counter-revolutionary ; we were already suspected of
the latter tendencies, and if we had adopted any course
of action tending to justify the accusation, we should
never have been able to acquire any influence in Baku.
There was to be only one plank in our platform there,
and that was absolute non-interference with the purely

206 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

internal affaire of the revolutionaries. The only safe
grounds, therefore, on which we could attack the Enzeli
Committee were on a charge of complicity with our
declared enemies, the Jangalis.

On his departure from Kasvin Comrade Cheliapin
very naively gave himself away by refusing an escort,
and saying, " Oh, they won't touch us, I am sure. I shall
fly a white flag on the bonnet of the car, and they will
let us through all right." This made it quite certain
that they were in friendly communication with the
Jangalis, and it only remained to procure proof of
this to justify us in carrying out the arrest, which we
did a few days later in circumstances shortly to be
described.

General Baratov was still in Kasvin presiding over
a Committee which was making most praiseworthy
endeavours to settle the Persian requisition claims,
without being in possession of the necessary funds
for the purpose — a somewhat difficult task.

He had received an invitation from the British authori-
ties to visit India, at which he was most gratified, and he
intended proceeding shortly to Baghdad in order to
avail himself of this courtesy. His position in Persia, as
a General without an army, was an absurd one, and a
return to his own country was impossible, as a price
>had been put on his head by the revolutionaries. I
had taken a great liking to him, and felt that I should
miss his genial companionship. He certainly deserves
all praise for his assiduity in pressing the rather far-
fetched claims of Russia on the British Government. I
have never met a more " importunate widow." I had
frequently to tell him that the only blot in our friendship
was his horrible little pocket-book in which he kept notes
of the various points for discussion with me. My heart
literally sank within me whenever I saw this book pro-
duced ; I knew I was in for a discussion on at least six

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 207

points, with half an hour devoted to each, provided my
time and patience were equal to his demands.

I must record here the agreement made between
ourselves and the Russian Road Company to take over
temporarily all their property and interests in the road
from Hamadan to Enzeli and from Teheran to Kasvin.
The road had been constructed by a private Russian
company, and was worked as a concession under the
Persian Government. Post-houses were built at con-
venient intervals, and tollgates at every 30 miles. A
telegraph and telephone line followed the 380 miles of
road, the latter having instruments in every toUgate
house. The acquisition of this property with the tele-
phone rights was most valuable to us, and the agreement
was an excellent one from a financial point of view. The
sum we paid monthly was less than it would have cost
us to carry out the repairs to the road, and for this sum
we not only got a certain amount of indispensable repairs,
but the general control of the whole road, buildings
and telephones. The company was glad to have the
money for payment of salaries, but their real gain was
that by our taking over the road the revolutionaries
were prevented from " nationalizing " the company,
which would spell ruin to the shareholders and the working
staff of engineers.

On July 26th, just in the middle of the Caucasus-
Baku fighting which I have described, in which Bicherakov
was being driven back into the town, the long-expected
coup d'etat took place at Baku, the Bolshevik Govern-
ment were thrown out, and replaced by a new body calling
themselves the Central- Caspian Dictatorship. Shaumian
and Petrov, the two leaders of the Bolshevik party, deter-
mined to leave the town with their followers and transfer
themselves by sea to Astrakhan, which was now the sole
remaining stronghold of the Bolsheviks on the Caspian
Sea. They accordingly seized thirteen ships, in which

208 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

they embarked the greater part of the Red Army, and
also loaded them up with the entire contents of the arsenal
and all the war material on which they could lay their
hands. Had the new Government permitted the depar-
ture of these ships it would have been impossible to
continue the defence of Baku another day, but luckily
the little navy was on their side, and the Dictators rather
hesitatingly ordered the recall of the ships ; the gun-
boats pursued, and the whole convoy was brought back
into harbour and kept at anchor while the usual intermin-
able discussions took place. The recapture of this convoy
is the solitary instance in our experience of Baku of
direct decisive action being immediately decided on and
carried into effect. The moment the great feat was
accomplished the new Government were so out of breath
at the rapidity and success of their action, that they very
nearly spoilt it all by allowing themselves to be drawn
into a week's discussion with Shaumian and Petrov that
might have ended disastrously, had we not appeared on
the scene and given them the heart to proceed with their
good work.

^he new Government had no sooner taken up the
reins than, according to our pre-arranged plan, they sent
messengers to us asking for help. Although troops were
not even yet immediately available, except in the form
of very small detachments, I decided to accept the in-
vitation, and dispatched Colonel Stokes with a small
party of the 1 /4 Hants to announce our impending arrival.
He reached the town on a very critical date, August 4th,
on the eve of a determined attack by the Turks. Although
the townspeople were bitterly disappointed at the arrival
of only one or two officers and a handful of men, where
their uncontrolled imaginations had led them to expect
ship after ship pouring out British soldiers on to the quay,
yet the mere sight of these fine-looking soldiers inspired
them to that extent that, when the Turkish attack took

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 309

place on the following day, every man in the town seized
his rifle and rushed to reinforce the firing line, with the
result that the Turks were thrown back in confusion.
This evidence of a fine spirit on the part of the towns-
people led us to hope for much later on, but it was the
solitary instance of such valour, and hopes based on it
were doomed to bitter disappointment.

Troops now began to arrive in small detachments
as motor-cars could be found available to transport them
to Enzeli, and I sent over Colonel R, Keyworth, of the
R.F.A., with an improvised staff to command the fighting
troops in Baku.

On August 4th I moved my Head Quarters from Kasvin
to Kazian, taking up my residence as before in the Fishery
Depot. On our way down we stopped the night as usual
at the little post-house in Menjil, where we met a very
mournful trio coming up from Enzeli to Kasvin in custody.
These were no others than Cheliapin, Lazarev and
Babookh. They asked to see me, and I at once went to
have a talk with them and find out what it was aU about.
According to their own account it was all a silly mistake ;
I informed them that if that were so they would at once
be released with apologies when their case had been
inquired into. According to the account of the officer
in charge of them they were accused of complicity with
the Jangalis, and we had documentary evidence of their
guilt in the shape of a letter from Babookh to Kuchik
Khan congratulating him on his recent efforts to destroy
the British detachment at Resht, and urging him to renew
his efforts, while promising all support in his future
attempts. This letter was actually handed to me on
my arrival at Kazian, and left no doubt whatsoever as
to their guilt.

As soon as he had ascertained the undounted genuine-
ness of this letter. Major Browne had decided to seize
,the opportunity of getting rid of the Enzeli Committee,

210 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

who had now become an anachronism. The three
conspirators were arrested (on a charge of having dealings
with our enemies) at the hour of their afternoon siesta,
and as soon as they had had time to arrange their gar-
ments and put their belongings together they were offered
seats in a Ford car and started on the road to Kasvin.

They were apparently quite unlamented, their sudden
disappearance caused no stir in the town, and even their
own followers evinced no interest in their arrest and
deportation. Every one seemed to be glad to be rid of
them, and Kazian heaved a deep sigh of relief, which
shows how sadly one's best efforts often fail to secure
genuine appreciation. Kazian port is a Russian con-
cession forming part of the road concession, and the
Fisheries were another concession. Both of these
bodies were on the point of being " nationalized " by
Cheliapin and Company, and our prompt action just
saved them from this dismal fate.

The first thing to do at Kazian was to secure per-
manently sufficient shipping to enable me to withdraw
the troops from Baku in case of necessity. For this pur-
pose I selected a fine vessel of over a thousand tons,
with the ominous name of the President Krilger, while
Stokes in Baku managed to secure two good ships, the
Kursk, and the Abo. These ships we managed to hold
until the fatal day when their services were required.
I need not enter into details as to how we secured three
of the best ships on the Caspian ; we should never have
been allowed to retain them had the Centro- Caspian
Dictatorate suspected our intentions as to their ultimate
use. As a matter of fact, every now and then a
member of the Government did appear to smell a rat,
and several attempts were made to persuade us to give
them up, but we always succeeded in holding on to them.

I lay particular stress on this acquisition of the ships
because it is a point on which there has been the most

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 211

unaccountable misunderstanding. I read, for instance,
in the newspapers at the time of our evacuation from
Baku a surmise to the effect that the Russians must
have relented and kindly given us ships at the last
moment, whereas it will be seen in the last chapter of
this book that the exact contrary was the case.

The Kriiger was a fine ship and as fast as anything
on the Caspian, with the exception of the gunboats, and
she had accommodation sufficient for my staff, the clerks,
and the office, as well as about 300 men normally ; at a
pinch she could carry 800 men by utilizing all deck space.
We rigged up a pack wireless set which had sufficient
range to keep me in touch when at sea with either Baku
or Enzeli, in both of which ports the Russians had very
powerful wireless installations.

Having cleared the atmosphere by the removal of
the obstructive Committee, our next step was to acquire
control of the port. In each successive step of these
transactions I was urged to use military force ; but realizing
that that would be a fatal error, I managed to secure
all that we required by means of peaceful negotiations.

The key to the Caspian problem was the little fleet,
who were now acting loyally with us and with the new
Government. At the same time it was obvious that they
had their suspicions of " perfide Albion,'* and any overt
act of aggression on our part, such as the arrest of the
Committee on grounds other than those on which we had
fortunately been able to act, or the acquisition of the
port by a display of armed force, would have been too
flagrant a display of the " mailed fist " which we were
not strong enough to live up to, and which would at once
have turned the feelings of the fleet and of the Baku
people against us. Moreover, although we had a very
efficient staff from the Royal Navy, with some 160 naval
ratings, we could never have run the port otherwise than
by being on friendly terms with the local authorities and

212 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

staff. For instance, the keeping open of the harbour is
entirely dependent on the efforts of a single dredger.
If the harbour staff were hostilely inclined to us, there
is no doubt that something would have happened to that
dredger, and the harbour would have been useless.

I therefore dealt with the matter of the port on a
purely business basis. The income had sunk to almost
nothing owing to the fact that everything (except, so far,
the port itself) had been " nationalized." All shipping
on the Caspian had been " nationalized," and conse-
quently paid no dues. This put the port authorities in
a very difficult situation. We drew up a very satisfactory
agreement, under the guidance of Commodore Norris,
by which we guaranteed all salaries and port expenses,
and claimed in return any sources of income.

This agreement was never ratified by the Centro-
Caspian Government, and the documents connected with
it continued to pass to and fro between them and us
up to the time of the fall of Baku ; but we had got to
understand revolutionary procedure, and regarded this
delay in ratification as quite unimportant. Revolution-
aries revel in writing and talking, all crises are met by
passing resolutions, or haranguing uninterested crowds,
so it was obvious that if we neither talked nor wrote,
but acted, we should probably get all we wanted. Acting
on these lines, we proceeded to put the agreement into
force on the day the port authorities signified their assent.
We installed an embarkation commandant, and in a few
days Enzeli was to all intents and purposes an English
port, and has since remained so.

By this I must not be understood to mean that the
British Government had any desire at all to acquire any
sort of permanent rights in this neighbourhood, either
with reference to the port or anything else ; the agree-
ment was to last only for the duration of hostilities.

We were not allowed to imagine that our reception

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 213

in Baku would be entirely friendly. This extract from
one of the Baku newspapers will prove interesting as
showing the nature of the propaganda that was being
worked against us at this time. The mere title of the
paper is another indication of the lack of brevity that
characterizes revolutionaries.

" The News of the Council of Workmen, Red Army,
Sailors, and Peasant Deputies of the Baku
Area.

" Comrades, workmen, sailors, Red Army, and all
citizens of Baku ! The agents of the English Im-
perialists are carrying on counter-revolutionary work ;
they sow discord among you, they intend to put up the
sailors against the workmen^ the workmen against the
revolutionary Government.

" We have news that the English Capitalists have con-
cluded a close agreement with our local counter-revolu-
tionaries. They wish to destroy our power and put up
in its place the power of the English and the Bourgeois.

" The Bourgeois and their despicable dependents are
in favour of the English. The Workmen and Sailors are
in favour of the Russian Revolution.

" The Bourgeois and their dependents are in favour of
cutting adrift from Russia. The Workmen and Sailors
are in favour of the unity of the Russian Socialist Federalist
Republic.

" The Bourgeois, pledged to the English, bartered
souls, pitiful cowards, and all counter-revolutionaries,
are in favour of cutting adrift from Russia, for English
might, for a new war with Germany. They are against
the independence of Russia !

" Away with the English Imperialists I
Away with their paid agents !
Away with the Bourgeois Counter-revolutionaries !

214 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Hurrah for the Peoples Committees !

Hurrah for independent Russia !

Hurrah for Russian Social Revolution !

What can the English give you ? Nothing !

What can they take from you ? Everything !

Away with the English Imperialists !

All to the front ! to arms ! All to the saving of Baku ! "

The days at Kazian were very busy, getting in the
small detachments of the 39th Brigade and embarking
them for Baku, arranging for supplies for incoming troops,
arrangements for their accommodation, councils of debate
with emissaries from Baku, negotiations for peace with
Kuchik Khan and settling matters connected with the
working of the port under our control.

Among the visitors from Baku was Dr. Araratiantz,
a representative of the Baku Armenian National Council.
This official expressed to me the disappointment of the
Baku people at the small number of British troops arriving
in the town in response to their appeal for help. They
had expected much larger reinforcements, and he tried
to tie me down to definite promises of definite numbers,
which I refused to give. In order that his mind should
be made quite sure on this important subject, and also
in order to prevent him from saying later that we had
not acted up to our obligations, I put the gist of our
conversation into a letter, the contents of which I begged
him to communicate to the Baku people. The letter was
as follows :

*' Kazian,

*' August 7, 1918.

** Dear Dr. Araratiantz,

" In order that there may be no doubt on the
subject, I desire to put in writing my views on the questions
you put before me yesterday evening.

*' The three questions dealt with were —

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 215

(1) The defence of Baku.

(2) The position of the Armenians in Erivan.

(3) The position of the Armenians in Julfa.

" As regards (1) the following is my reply :

" The defence of Baku appears to me to be quite
feasible, and its capture by the enemy forces extremely
unlikely, provided that the inhabitants of Baku are heart
and soul with us in our determinatioJi to defeat the enemy.
It is not sufficient that the town should merely be held,
but the defence can only be successful when the Baku
troops can issue from the town and defeat the enemy on
the field of battle. This particularly affects the Armenians,
who form a great proportion of the fighting strength.
The forces suffer at present from lack of organization,
owing to which much of their gallantry in fighting is
displayed in vain. I shall shortly have sufficient officers
to remedy this defect.

'' The entire defence of the town cannot be undertaken
solely by the British who, as you know, have to maintain
large armies on several different fronts, and the distance
from Baghdad to Baku, with no railway, makes the
maintenance of our troops a matter of some difficulty.

" I can assure you, however, that every available man
will be sent to Baku as soon as possible. If with the help
of some British troops your comrades are ready to under-
take the defence of the town, victory is assured. But
on the other hand, if your men are undecided and half
hearted, it would be better for you to say at once that
you do not intend to fight to the end, and you would be
well advised to make what terms you can with the enemy,
after first giving me time to withdraw my men.

" As regards (2), it is a pity that the splendid fighting
material available at Erivan cannot at present be utilized
by the Allies. I can hold out no hopes of any assistance
in their direction in the immediate future.

216 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" The same applies to (3), though in this case the
Armenians are much nearer to a possible line of Allied
ofEensive.

" I write thus clearly in order that I may not later
be accused of holding out false hopes which in the end
I failed to fulfil.

" There can be no doubt whatsoever of the eventual
victory of the Allies and the restoration of the Armenian
people, and this alone can give you hope in this dark
hour of despair.

" Any change in our policy that may affect the situation
in the regions concerned I will duly notify to you."

As the events described in this chapter have been
numerous and varied, it will be as well to sum up briefly
the achievements of the month.

We commenced with the visit to Baghdad to put
everything in train for the next move, when our connec-
tion with Head Quarters might be entirely severed. It
was pretty certain that when the Turks saw us arriving
in Baku they would strike the long-threatened blow from
Tabriz on our Persian lines of communication, and it
would be necessary to be prepared to meet this.

We next noted the course of Bicherakov's operations
on the Tiflis railway, in which we lost one of our armoured
cars.

Then came the move of the 39th Brigade by motor-
lorry from Baghdad. Resht was taken by the Jangalis
and retaken by us, and peace negotiations were entered
into with Kuchik Khan.

An important agreement was entered into with the
Russian Road Company by which we entirely took over
the road with its personnel. A similar agreement was
entered into with the Kazian port authorities. The
Bolshevik Government was thrown out in Baku and its
place taken by the Centro-Caspia which demanded our

IN TOUCH WITH BAKU 217

aid, and our first troops were sent to Baku in compliance
with this demand. We had arrested and deported the
Enzeli Bolshevik Committee, and secured sufficient ship-
ping to enable us to carry out an evacuation from Baku
if necessary. A busy month !

CHAPTER XIII
WE MAN THE BAKU LINE

HEAD QUARTERS were transferred on board the
Kriiger on August 10th, and we hauled down the
Red flag of the revolution, substituting the orthodox
Russian flag. We had no sooner done this than we received
a deputation from the local Committee asking as usual
for explanations and wanting to know if we were " counter-
revolutionary." I was beginning to get sick of the
word and replied that 1 was not, but that also 1 was not
a revolutionary and therefore absolutely objected to
fljdng the Red flag. We effected a compromise permit-
ting us to continue flying the Russian flag, but only on
condition that it was upside-down. This I agreed to
cheerfully, and we sailed the Caspian Sea thereafter
under the Serbian flag, the revolutionaries not being
aware of the fact that the Russian flag upside-down
constitutes the flag of Serbia.

The Kriiger proved to be a very comfortable ship,
and we soon got on good terms with the crew. The saloon
was just large enough to hold us all at meal times with
room for one or two ofl&cial guests. The only adorn-
ment consisted of a life-size portrait of Oom Paul, with
his inevitable top-hat surmounting his remarkable features.
Many of my officers were South Africans who wore the
two medals for 1899-1902, and it was amusing to observe
their startled expressions when they came into the saloon

218

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 219

to report and were confronted with this striking
portrait.

The lightning sears the night landscape on the
eyeball. Here is a flash in the blackness through which
we were stumbling.

A British General on the Caspian, the only sea un-
ploughed before by British keels, on board a ship named
after a South African Dutch president and whilom enemy,
sailing from a Persian port, under the Serbian flag, to
relieve from the Turks a body of Armenians in a revolu-
tionary Russian town.

Let the reader pick his way through that delirious
tangle, and envy us our task who will !

The Captain was a first-rate man, a good seaman
and a brave fellow, and the other oflicers seemed a fairly
good lot. It took us some little time to understand the
system of command on board a revolutionary ship. The
arrangement was that all movements, and the general
affairs of the ship, were run by the ship's committee, of
which the Captain was an ex-officio member. In theory
this was absurd ; in practice we found that the crew
were very amenable, and after we had weeded out one
or two undesirables, we seldom had any trouble. They
never actually refused to carry out any order given them
through the Captain, though there were occasions when
they carried out movements without consulting him.
They had a great idea of the value of their own lives,
and once or twice at Baku, when the ship was being shelled
and I happened not to be on board, they quietly put to
sea till they were out of range, returning when all was
quiet.

The first undesirable we had to get rid of was a
drunkard. This unfortunate specimen was addicted to
a vile Caucasian drink with the suggestive name of " Gee-
gee " — a kind of arrack. My attention was first called
to him by his peculiar performances on the wharf when

220 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

under its influence. He had not altogether the appear-
ance of being drunk, but behaved rather more as a mad-
man. When I saw him he was dancing a sort of wild
hornpipe, at the conclusion of which he drew a long knife
and proceeded to run amok, leaping on to the ship and
scattering the crew right and left. At last he vented
his fury on the only thing that was unable to get out
of the way, which was a water-melon, plunging his knife
into it until the unfortunate fruit was bleeding from every
pore. He then sat down on the deck and quietly allowed
himself to be arrested. One of the crew stated that he
was often like that, that he never stabbed or wanted to
stab anybody. He invariably contented himself with a
water-melon or something similar, and always waited
to be arrested as soon as his fury had spent itself.
It also appears that this extraordinary behaviour is
common to all the devotees of " Gee-gee."

Before leaving Enzeli I was anxious if possible to
bring our negotiations with Kuchik Khan to a close, and
secure the release of Captain Noel, who had several times
been reported dead, but whom we now knew to be alive.
But in the end I had to sail without having actually
concluded the peace.

In the meantime I received a deputation from Len-
koran, a strip of the coast on the south-west of the Caspian
where the Russian frontier runs southward from Baku
as far as the port of Astara. The province is bounded
on the west by the high mountains which are a continua-
tion of the Elburz range, and on the north, where it
includes the Mughan Steppe, by the River Aras. The
original inhabitants are Mahomedans of mixed Persian
and Tartar origin, but the country has, during the last
half century, been colonized by the Russians, who now
occupy all the settlements on the fertile low-lying
lands bordering the sea, while the original inhabitants,
who are not very friendly to the colonists, are rele-

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WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 221

gated to the mountain tracts. The colonists are of pure
Russian descent and have all passed through their
period of military service. They possess a fairly good
armament, including several field guns, and they claim
to be able to turn out 5,000 fighting men.

The deputation brought letters from a Russian officer
who had been selected by the residents of Lenkoran to
guide them in military affairs. Since the revolution
the colony had been compelled to run on the lines of
inevitable " committees," but the people were apparently
quite untouched by the real spirit of the revolution,
and paid little heed to the committees, while relying
solely on their military commander as a sort of autocratic
ruler.

The colony is rich and possessed large supplies of grain,
which they were anxious to exchange for cotton fabrics
and ammunition. They desired to work with us in any
scheme of opposition to the Turks, and might be very
helpful to us in Baku, the colony lying on the right flank
of the lines of communication of the Caucasus-Islam
army. They brought a cargo of flour and other commo-
dities as a present to the force, and desired to enter into
some permanent agreement with us, their first demand
being for instructors for their troops. They also
placed the services of two small steamers at our
disposal.

In response to this appeal I sent a small party of officers
and N.C.O.'s to visit Lenkoran and make themselves
acquainted with the situation there. With this party I
sent two Russian officers, who were to remain in Lenkoran,
Captains Stepanov and Gurland, the former a distin-
guished artillery officer who had seen much service in the
early stages of the present war, and the latter a specialist
in matters of supply. It was very necessary to make the
most of these friendly advances ; the troops of the colony
might be useful to us tactically, and the supplies were

222 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

very important, in view of the fact that Baku was on
the verge of starvation.

On August 15th I received a letter from Colonel
Key worth at Baku, of which the following is an extract :

*' You have already received maps showing the present
line of defence. It mostly lies along the top of a stony
cliff, except on the extreme left and on the right. Rifle
pits are badly sited, so that the occupants can only shoot
into the air. Even if they were sited on the extreme
edge, the fire would be a very plunging one, and the
position is equally unsuitable for machine-gun fire.

" The front is not wired ; there are no communication
trenches. The total length of the present front is 21,000
yards. Rifles available (exclusive of our own men)
are some 6,000, organized into twenty-two battalions,
which vary in strength between 150 and 500 men.

" I am trying to get the Commander-in-Chief here to
dig trenches and wire the front, and they have started
this morning after much consultation with our machine-
gun officers. The Commander-in-Chief stated yesterday
that he had enough wire to cover the whole front. They
now seem to think they have no wire at all. It is difficult
to find out what stores they have ; they do not know them-
selves. The North Staffords are occupying the extreme
left flank and also have about 100 men near the centre
of the line, where one of the local battalions had to be
withdrawn (or rather withdrew themselves and melted
away).

" From our present front line to the enemy is some
2,000 to 3,000 yards. The only possible position for siting
trenches is either withdrawn from the crest or at th foot
of the cliffs ; both have a good field of fire. I prefer the
latter, as the moral effect of retiring to the former would
not be good. If the former were occupied, machine-
guns would have to be placed half-way down the cliff.

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 228

The top of the cliff itself is of course a shell trap and the
exact edge easily ranged on. So far, wiring has started
only on the left flank, where these conditions do not
prevail, and to-morrow I am deciding definitely which
line to occupy.

** The whole position is absurdly close to the town,
and enemy batteries could at any time, with aeroplane
observation, bombard the harbour and destroy shipping,
especially if they bring up heavy guns. Before Baku
can be safely held an advance must be made and a position
farther west occupied, and preferably one some 15,000
to 20,000 yards west of the town. This would render
the docks and shipping safe from shell-fire. At present
we cannot advance, weak as the enemy is. We must
first reorganize and hold on where we are.

" Organization of local material for war purposes is also
badly needed. They are short of nearly all stores and
material. Yet I fancy there is plenty in the town and
it only needs requisitioning. Most of the population of
the town, both friendly and otherwise, are armed, and
there are a quantity of rifles amongst them, but the
Government at present feel themselves too weak to take
any action. When the Petrov question is settled we
may be able to go ahead and disarm the whole lot.

" They are gradually getting a move on, but it takes
time. The battalions have not yet been reorganized,
there are practically no ofliicers, and men return to the
town when they like. There is no supervision over
ammunition, and much is wasted. Sanitation is bad.
When Colonel Warden and some other officers arrive
we can get to work better.

" The one idea of the Baku army is to retire and rest
from those parts of the front occupied by us. Hence
100 men of the North Staff ords now occupy a front of
some 4,000 yards, and their reserve (Baku army) is too
far away to be of any use to them — altogether a some-

224 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

what impossible situation. Time is precious ; yet they
dawdle. Of course I know this must be so at first. Politi-
cal discussions and meetings and speeches occupy far too
much valuable time. We have tried our best to make
friends of Petrov, but so far he refuses to meet us. Yester-
day the Central Committee delivered an ultimatum to
him. He replied that he could not possibly fight in
alliance with English Imperialism against German Im-
perialism, and that he would leave the town, but insisted
on being allowed to take sufficient ammunition to enable
his force to maintain its military efficiency, as he had a
possibly enemy country to move through before reaching
Moscow. In the meantime he has locked up all his am-
munition and guns in an arsenal and has sentries posted
everywhere. I told the Central Committee to get a definite
statement from Petrov of what he wishes to take away
and what he will leave behind. There are the wildest
rumours of what he possesses. Some say 500 guns and
thousands of rounds of ammunition. Others say five
guns with hardly any ammunition. The question should
be settled to-day, but you know what these people are —
all talk and no action. I have at last got them to agree
on a definite line of defence, which runs roughly as shown
on enclosed map. The part coloured green has been up
to now, and still is, entirely open and not even patrolled,
so that Turks have got round into the Tartar villages
to our rear which are now full of armed men and machine-
guns, and it is this we are trying to clear up now. But
these infernal politics hinder one at every turn. Rus-
sians will not work with Armenians ; Russian officers
are said to be with the Turkish troops fighting against
us, and therefore Russian officers here decline to go to
the front. Most of all this is only talk, but the Armenian
seems anxious to work with the Russian if only the
Russian will let him.

"We are now living in this hotel, where the food

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 225

alone costs £2 10s. a day per head. The food question is
becoming acute. It seems Baku has imported nothing
for two months and that they have only a week's supply
left. The workers in the oilfields are being starved ;
the price of food augments daily. Lenkoran is giving
us nothing at present, as the small railway is not com-
pleted, and they lack means of transport, which of course
you know. Crawford, now on the Food Control board, is,
however, getting a move on, and they are beginning to
think, and to-morrow I hope they will begin to act. It
is a great pity Petrov will not come in with us, but we
have done our best, short of begging on our knees.

'' Another difficult problem here is the transport ques-
tion. Cars cannot go everywhere and animals cannot very
well be fed in any numbers ; water also has to be carried
a long way. The only solution seems to be man-handling
from the cars to the front line at night. The heat here
is intense and one drips all day and night, making any
energetic supervision of this very long front impossible
without cars ; and even with cars a very large amount
of walking has to be done. The army here can give us
no cars, instead they expect us to supply them. They
either cannot or will not understand the difficulties we
have, and insist on looking on us as universal providers."

This letter brought the situation very clearly before
us, and it was evident that our departure for Baku could
no longer be delayed, in spite of the fact that we had not
yet actually signed the peace treaty with Kuchik Khan.
Military advisers from Baku were also anxious that I
should still further delay my departure ; they had an
absurd idea that it would be better for me to wait until
we had a large body of troops to transport to Baku ;
when these were ready I should cross over with them
and make an imposing entry into the town. They
thought that if the British General arrived in the town

226 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

with only a handful of troops, the effect of the dis-
appointment would be so exasperating to the towns-
people as to take all the heart out of them.

But, on the other hand, as I was aware that
I should never have a large body of troops with
which to make this imposing entry, I thought it
best that the people should realize as soon as possible
the exact limits of our assistance and get over their
disappointment as best they might. Moreover, it
seemed to be that there was something peculiar in the
reiteration of their remonstrances at my departure.
Accordingly on August 16th the President Kriiger left
Enzeli, and arrived at Baku on the afternoon of
August 17th (the run is about eighteen hours). As
we neared the harbour we caught our first glimpse
of an oilfield, passing the Bibi Eibat wells, which come
down to the water's edge 2 miles south of the main
town. The borings are very close together, and each
well is worked by machinery that requires the use of a
derrick. A cluster of 1,000 wells means therefore 1,000
derricks. These are built of wood with asbestos and tin
sheeting to minimize the risk of fire, and in the distance
the fields look like ghostly forests of dried-up trees. Our
course lay midway between the Bibi Eibat fields on the
west, and Narghin island on the east. Narghin island
was, up to the time of the revolution, the main war-
prisoners' camp in this area, and it was chiefly from here
that the Austrian prisoners of war were released who
now swell the ranks of the Bolshevik army in Trans-Caspia.
Under the shelter of this island lay the thirteen ships
of Shaumian's and Petrov's fleet, guarded by two small
gunboats.

The view of Baku from the sea is most imposing,
the buildings near to the sea-front being in the most
florid European style, with a distinct leaning towards
German artistic notions. In the centre of the town

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 227

rises the dome of the Russian Cathedral surmounted
with a gold ball and cross. The town, as may be seen
from the map, lies in a crater-like cup, the ground on the
west and north rising gradually for about 2 miles till it
reaches the line of cliffs, whence it falls precipitously to
the bottom of the desert valley by which the railway
from Tiflis enters Baku. The population is approxi-
mately 300,000, chiefly Armenians, Tartars and Russians :
there are also a few Georgians and Greeks, and smaller
colonies of British, French, Americans and others. The
country is entirely barren, except for avenues of trees
grown in the town with the aid of the new water supply,
and for the surrounding villages, which are really oases in
the midst of sandy deserts and partly dried-up salt lakes.

The chief oilfields are at Binagadi, Balakhani and
Bibi Eibat. The town as marked in the map shows
only the central portion, but the dwellings are really
continuous for 9 miles from Bibi Eibat in the south to
the White Town in the east. Black Town is the centre of
the oil refineries and is a mass of oil and petrol reservoirs,
between which are crowded the workmen's dwellings.
There are 2 miles of wharves on the sea-front opposite
the control town, and there are, as a rule, not less than
sixty steamers in the harbour. The streets are paved
in the usual Russian style with cobbles, which renders
them very durable but unpleasant to ride or drive over.
Horse trams run in the main streets, but these had been
suspended before our arrival, owing to a shortage in the
supply of horses and the excessive cost of forage.

The Krilger was berthed at the most western wharf
belonging to the Caucasus-Mercury Steam Shipping
Company, opposite the centre of the business part of the
town. Alongside of us lay the Kursk and Abo, which I
have before mentioned as having been secured with a
view to a possible evacuation. Guards were kept on all
three steamers with orders to resist any attempt at inter-

228 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ference, and the three ships were kept together through-
out the whole of our time in the port. As soon as we
were tied up Colonel Keyworth came on board to report ;
all was going well so far, and the Turks were showing
no great sign of activity. I also received a message from
the Dictators (there were five of them), asking me when
it would be convenient to me to receive them. The
remainder of the afternoon was spent in inspecting the
excellent building we had secured as a hospital, and the
officers and men's billets. Every available officer and
man was already in the front-line trenches, but there
remained in the town the supply and transport staff,
the sick and a small detachment to furnish necessary
guards.
'^ Colonel Keyworth had selected the enormous empty
Hotel d'Europe as his Head Quarters, and a certain
number of billets were engaged in the Hotel Metropole.
Both of these buildings and their appointments were
most luxurious, gilt furniture and crimson plush curtains
offending the eye at every turn. But the luxury ceased
at this point. It was not possible to be luxurious in the
matter of food, because there were only the merest neces-
r--saries to be got. I noticed from the bill of fare at the
Metropole that an ordinary dinner of soup, fish, joint
and water-melon, with bread inclusive, cost one hundred
roubles — that is at pre-war rates of exchange £10, at
present rates of exchange about £2 — a large price
for a meal and a poor one at that. I will refer to
the question of prices later. In the case of the Hotel
d'Europe an arrangement had been made for an inclusive
daily rate which was not much more than twice the amount
of the allowance that officers received to feed themselves
on. On board the Kriiger I was able to make cheaper
arrangements with the caterer, to whom we paid eighty-
two roubles a day and supplied our own bread, which
brought the daily rate just under £2.

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 229

On the next day, August 18th, at daybreak I set
out with Colonels Duncan and Hoskyn to inspect the
front line. Beginning on the left, where the high ground
runs down in a series of rocky spurs to the sea one mile
west of Bibi Eibat, the position was a good one, with a
fair field of fire and with a naturally guarded flank. The
North Staffords had made every use of the folds in the
ground and their trenches were already sufficiently deep
to afford a certain amount of cover from artillery fire.
On their right was an Armenian battalion who, inspired
by their activity, had also made some efforts at entrench-
ing. From here the position followed the line of the cliffs
due north for about 7 miles from the sea, where they
curve round to the west ; from this point the line continu-
ing north came gradually down on to the level ground,
crossing the railway about 1 mile west of Baladjari
junction, and continuing thence to the Mud Volcano,
at which point (12 miles from the left) it turned back
east for another 2 miles to Binagadi hill. This was of
course the weakest point in the whole line which, instead
of turning back here, should have continued due north
to the sea, thus giving a total length of about 19 miles
with both flanks resting on the sea. The right portion
of this line between the Mud Volcano and the northern
coast required very few men for its defence, as the Masazir
salt lake, an impassable obstacle, occupied one-half of
the distance. This gap on the right had been originally
caused by the withdrawal of Bicherakov's detachment,
and the local military authorities attributed all the blame
to him ; but as they had had three weeks in which to
remedy the defect and had done nothing, the fault now
evidently lay with them alone.

Various efforts were now being made to fill this gap,
but the Turks in the meantime had got well round this
flank, and all the villages from north to east of the
town (which are nearly owned by Tartars) were full of

230 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

small Turkish detachments and local Tartar levies. The
main Turkish position ran on a slightly higher ground
on the opposite side of the railway valley roughly parallel
to our line, and 3,000 to 4,000 yards distant. The cliff
portion of our line was almost impregnable and could be
held by very few reliable troops, but the local troops were
not reliable and our small numbers could not be cut up
into an indefinite number of weak detachments. We
held therefore the left with the North Staffords, with a
detachment of theirs at " Wolf's Gap," 3 J miles from the
sea, and another at the Mud Volcano, which was the
obvious danger point of the line. The Mud Volcano
detachment was strongly supported by two complete
battalions of local troops in Baladjari railway station,
which was all we could do to render the position reasonably
safe. As a matter of fact, when trouble came those
two battalions were not at Baladjari station, and no
support was consequently available.

On the arrival of the War wicks and the Worcesters
both of these battalions were sent up to strengthen this
portion of the line. These general dispositions were not
materially changed throughout the fighting that ensued.
The actual command of the troops in the field devolved
on Colonel Key worth and that of the Infantry Brigade
on Colonel Faviell. With so small a number of troops
available it was not possible to retain anything in the
shape of a general reserve from our own men ; this was
supplied by the town troops, but was never at hand when
required. Supports and lodal reserves were all we could
manage from our small detachments, and they were
able on many occasions to save the situation. The actual
number of British troops in the position was never more
than 900.

This general description will enable the reader to
form some idea of the town, the country and the position.
As regards the town the greater portion is built in the

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 231

ordinary continental style. The quays in the neighbour-'
hood of our wharf are beautifully planted with trees
and brilliantly lit by electric light at night, when all the
people of the town come down to promenade on the
boulevards at the water's edge. It must be remembered
that the country itself is quite barren ; on the west,
between us and the Turks, there is not a sign of a single
tree, or a blade of grass, and every movement of the troops
by daylight can be clearly seen by the opposing sides.
As regards the steep cliffs I have mentioned, they are
about 500 feet in height and quite precipitous, but a good
road leads up the face of them from the enemy's side,
debouching on to the upper plain at a point known as the
Wolf's Gap : it was here that we had our centre detach-
ment of the North Stafford Regiment.

The local troops, who were for the most part Armen-
ians, dug very little in the way of trenches, and when
urged to do so replied, " Why should we dig ourselves in ?
We do not want to dig ; cowards do that ; we want to
fight ! " They liked to line up in a row just behind the
edge of the steep cliff and fire off their rifles at the sky ;
they frequently did this when there was no sign of a Turkish
attack and when the nearest Turk would be behind cover
about 3,000 yards away.

Although we were in full view of the enemy's lines
throughout the tour of inspection, the Turks never fired
a single shot at my party on this day, which shows
that they had more sensible ideas on the subject of
controlling ammunition expenditure than our local
troops had.

Returning to town I met the Dictators by appoint-
ment and spent much time in discussing the situation
with them. They expressed to me their deep disappoint-
ment at the small number of troops we had sent, to which
I replied that I had stated from the first that I could
not pledge myself to numbers. I also called on the

332 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Commander-in-Chief, General Dukuchaiev, his Chief of
the Staff, Colonel Avetisov (Armenian), and his Adjutant-
General, Colonel von der Fless. I invited them to a
state banquet on board the Kriiger, where we exchanged
many polite speeches and discussed the various problems
connected with the defence of Baku. General Dukuchaiev
was not a product of the revolution, but a real Russian
General who had originally been with the troops fighting
in the neighbourhood of Trebizond. He was an exception-
ally refined and pleasant gentleman to deal with, but
his character was not suited to the position of Commander-
in-Chief of a revolutionary army, for which it may be
admitted the qualifications are rare. Only a strong
personality could exercise effective command over
troops without discipline and who were not liable to
any laws, regulations or punishments.

His Chief of the General Staff, Colonel Avetisov, was
also a regular officer of the old Russian Army, and a good
type of the Armenian soldier. He possessed considerable
individuality and was quite fearless in his speech towards
the revolutionaries ; but he was ill, and I think his work
suffered on this account. He eventually went over to
help the people in Lenkoran, and his place was taken by
Colonel Stokes.

Colonel von der Fless was also a Russian regular
officer, young for his rank, and he was one of the very
few people we met in Baku who knew what a day's work
meant.

On the following day, August 19th, I continued my
inspection of the front, and later in the day met the ten
members of the Armenian National Council, among whom
were some remarkable men of considerable ability. I
also paid my respects to the War Minister, General Bog-
ratuni (an Armenian), who was still an invalid, suffering
from the after-effects of amputation of his left leg, and I
was favourably impressed by him. There were endless

ot-

w
a:

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 233

ojB&cial calls to be paid or returned, the details of which
I need not record.

The five Dictators were naturally the most interesting
of our acquaintances ; they were intelligent and zealous,
and of the average age of thirty years. The three workers
were Lemlin, a former naval officer, Yarmakov, also a
naval officer, and Sadovsky, a man of the people. Of
these three Lemlin was the most attractive, Sadovsky
the most capable, and Yarmakov the strongest character.
The idea of five Dictators seemed to me absurd, and I
suggested their choosing one of their number as a single!
Dictator, but all five unanimously declared they were not
good enough to run things single-handed. As a matter
of fact Yarmakov was a strong enough man, but he was
unbalanced and headstrong and quite unfit to steer the
ship of state. Throughout our stay in Baku he had his
suspicions of our intentions and thwarted us at every
turn.

Commodore Norris was naturally impatient to get
to work with the arming of merchant steamers, but it
was a very delicate matter to handle. I begged for
six ships to begin on, and gave the following reasons
for requiring them :

1. The Baku fleet had big guns, but no means of
replenishing their scanty supply of ammunition. When
they came to the end of their supply the guns and ships
would be useless.

2. Even while the Russian ammunition lasted our
ships would be a great addition of strength. The com-
bined fleets could operate against the railway line, which
ran close to the coast south of Baku and which the Turks
were using to bring up ammunition and supplies.

3. With my constant movements of troops between
Enzeli and Baku it was not safe to run the risk of a
Bolshevik ship from Astrakhan attacking one of my

234 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

transports. I therefore required my own armed ships for
protection.

The above were the principal arguments in favour
of my proposal, though there were others.

The navy and the Dictators were dead against the pro-
posal from the very first, and it was only with the greatest
difficulty that we eventually secured two ships, the Ventur
and the Ignati. Their armament was not completed
when we were compelled to evacuate Baku, but these
ships and others that came away with us were eventually
armed, and have since taken part in encounters with
Bolshevik ships.

The Baku fleet felt that once we possessed armed
ships their importance would sink to zero, and they
naturally put up a very strong opposition to the proposal.
And as the fleet controlled the Government it may be
realized that we had considerable difficulty in finally
squeezing a very reluctant consent out of the latter.
The Caspian sailors admired our bluejackets extremely,
but they did not want to see them entering into com-
petition with the Caspian Navy for the ruling of the sea.

The replies of the Dictators to my arguments were :

1. It would be better to let them have our guns and
mount them on their gunboats, and so save us all the
trouble.

2. The question of our armed ships aiding the existing
fleet in its general duties was evaded.

3. They would be glad to convoy our transports for
us (though they had no ships to spare for this purpose).

The whole opposition was of course headed by Yar-
makov, who never gave in, but remained in a dissentient
minority of one, even when permission was finally given.

The situation in Baku was evidently as bad as could

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 235

be, and it seemed certain that the most we could hope
for would be a passive defence, which obviously entails
defeat in the end. We had already set to work to
reorganize and train the local units, but it would be a
long time before they could be considered mobile. They
would be able to sit in their trenches and put up a stout
reistance, and we would be grateful enough to them if
they would only do this (and they did not). But the
saving of Baku could only be effected by mobile troops,
who would issue from their trenches and attack the enemy
in his position. The only real plan for defending Baku
was to secure and hold the heights due west of our lines
now occupied by the Turks. If no forward movement
on the part of the local troops were possible, the fall of
Baku became only a matter of time. Still, even with
the certainty of the fall before us, every day that we could
delay the entry of the enemy was of value to the cause,
and new factors might arise which would alter the balance
in our favour.

If the Turkish troops were of any value at aU they
would have taken the town before now, and there was
no hour on any day when they could not have taken it
by a determined assault. There was never a day or a
night that there was not a gap of one or two miles in our
line owing to the intentional failure of local battalions
to reach their destinations. The town was full of German
and Austrian released prisoners, and the Tartar popula-
tion of 80,000 might also be regarded as Turkish sympa-
thizers. So the enemy should have been able to obtain
most detailed information of our dispositions.

We might reasonably expect another thousand of
our own men, which would at once solve all problems by
giving us the power of counter-attack without which our
situation was hopeless and with which we could ward o£E
any Turkish attack. The Caucasus-Islam army was not
made of the stuff that will stand up against counter-

236 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

attack, for which they gave us great opportunities on
each occasion when they carried out an assault.

Should we not receive the hoped for increase to our
numbers, we might get a detachment of Bicherakov's
back to the town. If all reinforcements for the town
failed we might still hope for a diversion such as the
materializing of a contemplated attack by the Erivan
Armenians on the Turkish lines of communication in
the rear of the troops attacking Baku. Even an
indication of this would suffice to produce a panic in
the Caucasus-Islam army.

It must be remembered that we had come to Baku
under very different conditions from those originally
contemplated, the chief difference being the absence of
Bicherakov's force, on which we had relied as a nucleus
of disciplined troops to set an example to the others.
Without Bicherakov we could still carry on, but it meant
a greater consumption of time, and this was altogether
a time problem.

Had Bicherakov not made that fatal move to the
north, but awaited our arrival in Baku, the town would
never have fallen. But the future can never be foreseen,
and I do not think that he can be blamed for carrying out
the move, having due regard to the circumstances in which
he was placed. Moreover, up to the last moment, I
could not give him any guarantee as to when we should
arrive or even if we should arrive at all.

Had we been able to instil the least spirit into the
local troops we might even without outside aid have
won the day, but cowardice and disobedience of orders
were rampant. I am far from wishing to brand Armenians
as a whole as being cowardly ; my remarks refer only to
the Baku Armenians, who are very different from the
Armenians of Erivan and other mountainous tracts in
Asia Minor, whose bravery has frequently been recorded.
And I do not blame the Armenian soldier of Baku for his

WE MAN THE BAKU LINE 237

cowardice, which is at best merely a comparative term.
He was not a soldier by instinct or training, but just an
ill-fed, undersized 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. Meanwhile
as he sat in the trenches, with the bullets whistling by and
the shells bursting overhead, he knew that most of his mates
had skulked back to town and were having tea with the
girls, and why shouldn't he go too ? A Baku soldier
could hardly be expected to prefer the crash of bursting
shells to the delight of ladies tea-parties and the ease
and comfort of life in the town.

I hold no brief for the Baku Armenians, but I think
it only fit to say that under such circumstances no
troops could be expcted to display a high standard of
valour. And finally I would add that there were many
cases of individual bravery among them.

The following is a translation of a handbill scattered
throughout the town at this time in the vain hope of
arousing some military enthusiasm :

" Declaration.

" We, the * frontiViki ' (veteran first-line troops) of the
1st and 2nd Model Regiments for the defence of the front,
and machine-gunners of the 2nd and 4th Companies,
at the present calamitous moment, when the enemy is
on three sides of us, when the ring that surrounds us grows
tighter and tighter, when shells are bursting in the town,
call upon all citizens capable of bearing arms, and appeal
to all to whom the Fatherland is dear and in whom the
spark of holy fire for the salvation of Russia has not
yet been extinguished, to go to the front and defend their
interests.

" The present moment is not the time to engage in

238 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

election agitations, or to attend meetings. All, as
one man, should go to the front for the defence of
our native town.

" We must first finish one thing before we start
another.

" We protest against the Bolsheviks participating
in the elections for the Soviet. That is not the place
for the traitors of their country, and against whom we,
the defenders of the revolution and proletariat, have
been struggling.

" Germans pawns must not be the arbiters of the fate
of Russian territory.

" We protest against the fact that many thousands
of healthy citizens, armed from head to foot, walk about
the town and terrorize the peaceful inhabitants, whereas
the place for these heroes of the rear should be at the
front.

" We, frontiviki, who in a fateful moment are holding
the front and saving the town, and who up to the present
have not complained of our fatigue after being in the
trenches without relief, protest against the shameful
agitation behind the lines, and, expressing our full con-
fidence in the Centro-Caspia only, we demand that the
Dictatorship of the Centro-Caspia, with its own power,
eliminate unworthy persons holding positions of authority
in various organizations, and substitute worthier people.

" (Three signatures.) *'

CHAPTER XIV
SHORT OF EVERYTHING

I HAVE omitted to mention a rather curious incident
that happened just on the day that Colonel Stokes
arrived in Baku. On August 4th the Kursk (which
had since become one of our ships) had arrived at Baku
from Astrakhan with a German mission on board.

As soon as the ship was tied up alongside the wharf
the leader of the mission stepped ashore and asked to be
directed to the Turkish Head Quarters. His surprise and
disappointment were considerable when he was informed
that there were no Turkish Head Quarters in Baku, that
the Turks had not taken the town and never would. The
entire party were taken prisoners, and I know nothing of
their eventual fate ; they were quite probably released
by the town authorities and may have joined the many
Germans and Austrians who were wandering all over the
Caucasus and Trans-Caucasia at this time. It is probable
from their certainty of the town being in possession of
the Turks, that positive news of its capture had been sent
by the wireless operators at Baku to Astrakhan on July
29th at the moment when the town had appeared, as
previously related, to be already in the hands of the
Turks.

Questions were now asked ofiScially by the Government
as to our reasons for the arrest of the Enzeli Committee.
These questions were prompted by the party who were out

240 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

to discredit us in the eyes of the Baku people by proving
that our real aims were counter-revolutionary. I have
already described the events that led to the arrest of
these officials, and it was lucky that I was able to give
an explanation that not only silenced our accusers,
but tended to sway popular feeling very much in our
favour. The town had no sympathy with renegades
who had allied themselves with our enemies in Persia,
especially as it must be remembered that the Jangalis
had recently done to death several Russian parties on
the Kasvin-Enzeli road. The behaviour of Cheliapin
and his associates was therefore regarded as being as
traitorous to his own folk as to us.

One of the many difficulties that confronted us in Baku
was the financial question. I cannot explain this better
than by giving extracts from a report written by Major
Newcome, of the Canadian Infantry. I was extremely
lucky to find in my force this officer of considerable financial
skill and experience, and, while I was relieved by his efforts
of all anxiety, the British Government was saved very
large sums by the protection I gained thereby from local
sharks. I had first discovered his talents in Persia and
had consequently attached him to Bicherakov's force to
supervise the financial arrangements, and he now returned
to me in Baku, bringing dispatches from Bicherakov, who,
since his entry into the Caucasus, had been promoted to
the rank of General.

The report, it will be seen, was not written until imme-
diately after the evacuation, but I insert it here, as a proper
knowledge of the exchange question will be necessary for
the general understanding of our situation in Baku. I
may also note that while Major Newcome gives three
rates of exchange, the local Government refused to
recognize any difference between the three currencies,
and made it a criminal offence to differentiate between
them. It was necessary of course for them to issue

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 241

such an order, otherwise the Baku notes would have
been worthless even in Baku, whereas by this means
they were compulsorily given a certain value. But in
large transactions it was naturally found that if you
produced Baku notes the seller regretted extremely
he was quite out of stock, whereas the same man
had plenty to sell if he saw Nikolai notes in your
hand.

The following is the extract :

" I arrived in Baku on the 19th August with dispatches
from General Bicherakov, who had just captured Derbend
a few days previously. Owing to the uncertainty of
normal methods of communication, it had been decided
by the General that some one in touch with his plans and
situation generally should visit General Head Quarters,
Dunsterforce.

" On my arrival here I was placed in charge of financial
matters, and on looking into things found that we were
confronted with a very serious state of affairs, it being
necessary to provide for large expenditure for which no
previous provision had been made, and in the entire
absence of the usual machinery to faciHtate exchange.
The banks and larger private business concerns had
some time previously been nationalized, the skilled staff
done away with, and now ignorant and unscrupulous
committees were endeavouring to carry on. As a conse-
quence of the many restrictions, etc., confidence on the
part of the public had been entirely destroyed, and the
only money in circulation was that required for the daily
necessities of life.

" Under these conditions, and also knowing that Persia
left only a very limited field, I took immediate steps to
persuade the various men at the head of financial matters,
that the banks must be reorganized, personal enterprise
encouraged and free use made of money deposited in

242 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the banks, and other means adopted calculated to restore
confidence.

" It was necessary for me to secure some fairly large
sums of money almost immediately, and with some little
delay an advance of five million roubles was obtained from
the Dictators.

*' My attention was then turned to the sole remaining
means of raising money, namely the selling of either
sterling or krans. Transactions in sterling were only
available in small amounts, and only from people who
wished what money they had hoarded transferred to a
safe place, and it would have taken some time to get in
touch wdth these. In fact, only at the time of our leaving
had I made arrangements for the first transfer of this
nature of any importance, covering some ten million
roubles, and delivery was to have taken place the day of
the evacuation. The matter of rates took some time to
adjust and had finally been settled as follows : Nikolai
roubles 57 to the sovereign, Kerensky 71, and Baku bonds
121. These rates were about 5 J points better than the
present kran exchange for sterling.

" By these quotations it will be seen that there were
three dijfferent kinds of money in circulation, all of a
different value outside of Russia and also to the initiated
in Baku. The Nikolai was the old pre-war currency,
the Kerensky was the issue of the early revolution, while
the Baku bonds were a purely local issue. When the
banks were nationalized all balances were seized, and
drawings were restricted to 300 roubles a month. People
then naturally began to hoard their money, and normal
circulation ceased. In order to keep up some circulation
for business purposes these local issues were then made,
at first on the town securities with proper legal guarantee,
but latterly merely printed as required.

"It is estimated that the total of these local issues
amounted to something in the neighbourhood of two

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 243

hundred and fifty million roubles. These different issues
all had different values in krans approximately averaging
as follows. Nikolai 65 krans per 100 roubles, Kerensky
46-47, Baku bonds 36-40 depending on the trade demands.
This rate was also influenced by our heavy and continuous
purchases of roubles in Persia for operations in Baku and
the north. The first two issues were really current and
accepted in other parts of Russia, but the Baku bond
outside of Baku was looked on as valueless, and was of
no use for the purchase of supplies, etc., at outside points.
There was only a very limited supply of the first two
currencies. Taking these matters into consideration I
immediately decided that for all Baku purchases, expenses,
pay, allowances, etc., payments would only be made in
Baku bonds.

" I also took steps to sell krans, accepting roubles in
exchange at rates varying as above, and from this source
obtained some eight million.

" All through my operations it was my intention to
establish some means of securing roubles direct for sterling
exchange, and in another couple of weeks some of the
schemes under way would have borne fruit. This means
of obtaining funds had two advantages, firstly easing the
situation in Persia, and secondly a much more favourable
rate could have been obtained than is at present in force
in Persia for the selling of sterling for krans. By obtaining
sufficient funds in this way, the selling of krans would
be limited to the usual trade requirements only, and thus
a double saving effected."

I should explain here that the officer originally entrusted
with the financial arrangements for the force. Major
Whitmarsh, had had to remain behind in Persia, being
quite unable to deal with the two situations. I had
foreseen that on moving to Baku I should be handicapped
in this way, a large number of my best officers and meu

244 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

being employed in Persia in appointments from which
it was impossible to release them. For instance, my
position would have been enormously improved if I could
have had the services of Major Saunders, Captain Searight
and Captain Cockerell, but to withdraw these officers
from Persia would have meant a breakdown there. The
result was that my Intelligence department in Baku
was very weak, and I suffered much from lack of in-
formation as regards the enemy ; every officer was fully
employed — mostly in the firing line — and I had no surplus
to draw on to undertake special tasks. Even Colonel
Duncan, my able A.Q.M.G., whose services would have
been invaluable, was naturally unable to sever his connec-
tion with Persia entirely, and was only occasionally able
to help me in Baku.

I The excitement of the day was now the disarming of
Shaumian and Petrov's men, and the unloading of his
ships and restoration of their contents to the main
arsenal of the town. The Government had nerved them-
selves to the undertaking, and the Bolshevik leaders
submitted after the firing of one or two shots by the gun-
boats. The disarmament was very methodically carried
out, each ship was brought in turn up to the arsenal pier
(the arsenal itself being almost on the quay) and the
contents of the hold removed and stacked on the wharf.

\ The ships had not been very carefully loaded, and the
contents of the hold varied from big-gun ammunition to
gramophones, perambulators and stores of every kind,
from which it is obvious that the statement of the
Bolsheviks as to the necessity of removing a certain

|, amount of ammunition for purely military purposes was
J only a cloak to cover a general looting of the town.

The process of disarmament lasted several days, at the
end of which the thirteen ships were permitted to proceed
to Astrakhan with their disarmed troops, a rather weak

I proceeding. It meant thirteen ships permanently lost

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 245

to Baku, as the Bolsheviks of Astrakhan naturally retained
all they got hold of. On the other hand the Government
was not prepared to imprison such a large number of
Bolsheviks, and was equally unwilling to have them loose
in Baku, so perhaps their departure for Astrakhan was
the best solution of the difficulty.

Shaumian and Petrov were imprisoned in the town
jail. They w^ere released on the day of the fall of Baku,
when they crossed over with a small following to Kras-
novodsk. Unfortunately for them, Bolsheviks were at
that time very unpopular in this Trans-Caspian port,
and the entire party was destroyed. i

We were now confronted with the difficulty of food
supply. Baku produced nothing itself, and since the |
revolution very little had been imported from outside. I
In the days when the seller, and the buyer, and the shipper7
each made a profit out of the transaction, the import of
the necessary food-stuffs from various Caspian ports was
a very simple affair. But under the socialistic plan of
nationalization, imports had practically ceased.

The goods in the port of departure were nationalized,
and the ships that transported them were nationalized ;
under such circumstances it was not to any one's
interest to import anything whatever. Private enter-
prise had entirely ceased, and State enterprise was
a failure.

If the town was to hold out against the Turks for any
length of time, it would be necessary for us to concern
ourselves with the question of supplies not only for the
troops but for the civil population. I deputed Colonel
Crawford, assisted by Mr. Clarke (a Baku resident), to
inquire into the matter and report. Colonel Crawford
was in command of the Locker-Lampson armoured cars,
but as he showed signs of business ability, I added to
his normal duties this of the Food Control Board. This
is his report :

346 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" Herewith a short report on the various organizations
dealing with the purchase and distribution of food in
Baku and as to how the food situation is affected by local
politics.

" The Commissariat (Food Control Department) is
responsible for the purchase of supplies and distribution
in the town through its agents in various districts. It
is responsible for negotiation with the other departments
as regards transport, shipping, etc., as well as with the
authorities of neighbouring districts.

" The distributing organizations are :

** (1) The Co-operative Societies and their shops, con-
trolled by a Co-operative Society Federation.

" This organization is at present extremely unpopular
owing to its inability to cope with the food shortage or
to ensure fair distribution amongst the people. It does
not appear to be more corrupt than any other department,
but it is composed mainly of small men, only partly educated
and without sufficient commercial or industrial loiowledge
to manage such an organization efficiently. Its recent
unpopularity has driven them to ask my assistance to
improve this condition. They have very slight political
significance, and are at the moment chiefly concerned
about preventing their organization from being deprived
of its present position.

" (2) The House Committee Organization, composed of :

" (a) Central House.
(6) District Committees.

(d) House Committees.

This is the people's own organization. Originally organized
for the purpose of giving people protection from robbery
and violence, it was looked upon by the Bolsheviks as

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 247

counter-revolutionary . Later it was made use of by them,
and is now a legalized organization. It has latterly
obtained a footing in the distribution of food. It is respon-
sible for the statistics, and House Committees draw food
for their members from the Co-operative shops.

"This organization represents the householders and
more responsible citizens of the town. The head organiza-
tion, the Central House, is composed of prominent citizens,
educated and commercial men. It is composed largely
of pure Russians. Its tendencies are anti-socialistic.

" (3) Workmen's Committees.

" These assume on the oilfields the functions of the
House Committees. The government is maintained in
power by the workmen, whose policy is governed by food.
Whichever party can provide food will also have the power.

" The Food Control Department is largely composed
of Jews, who are anxious for a firm authority in Russia
which will ensure their position. They see no prospect
of this in a Russian Russia. Realizing this to be the
British policy they are mainly pro-German and in conse-
quence pro-Turk ; they are therefore not enthusiastic
over improvements suggested by the British.

" It is not possible to devise any social machinery such
as would satisfy the collectivist socialism of Russia,
and which at the same time could cope with the food
situation under existing conditions. The practical
methods proposed by me, and w^hich they admit might
prove successful, are of such an anti-socialistic nature
that to introduce them would defeat their political
aims.

" The Food Controller, Roklin, is a social revolutionary
and an ardent party man. He has no special qualifica-
tions for his present position and no commercial or
industrial knowledge. His first thought is his party
and not the feeding of the people.

248 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" He is using the food situation purely to further the
interests of his particular party, and his proposal is that
the British should buy the food and hand it over to him,
and he gain thereby power for his party. The Central
House have put forward a similar suggestion, with the
exception that they would like us to take full control and
hand it over when we had got the organization running
satisfactorily.

*' In my opinion it is not possible to make any definite
improvement within two months, and any party attempt-
ing to deal with the food situation now will suffer in
popularity. I consider it would be unwise for the British
to take it over for the same reason. Our interests will
be best served by buying from all possible sources and
handing over what we obtain to the local authorities,
taking steps to make known what we so hand over.'*

The scarcity in food naturally brought about a rise in
the prices of all commodities, of which I will presently
give examples. The artificiality of any currency system
becomes very apparent in a revolution ; where all security
comes to an end the value of money practically ceases
to exist. Actual coins of precious metals disappear
because the people hoard them, and their circulation
entirely stops. Paper money has always played a large
part in Russian currency, but there was presumably gold
behind the Nikolai rouble, and its fluctuations in exchange
before the war were very small. The rouble was then to
all intents and purposes the same as an English florin,
ten to the sovereign.

As outsiders in Baku it was necessary for us to put
down gold or a guarantee of gold to get our roubles, so
that every time we spent fifty-seven roubles we put down
£1. I mention all rates and prices in Nikolai roubles in
order to make the three rates of exchange less confusing
to the reader, although as a matter of fact certain com-

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 249

modities were paid for in the ridiculous paper currency
of Baku, and for certain others Kerensky notes were
accepted.

I cannot recall the price of bread, but the following
incident will throw some light on it. I was present at
the unloading of Shaumian's ships and found the Tartar
coolies working very slackly. I spoke to one through
an interpreter and asked what he was paid a day ;
he replied twenty roubles (£2 old rate of exchange, ten
shillings present rate). I said : *' What an unheard-of
sum of money for the little work you do. In India your
wages would be eightpence a day." To which he retorted,
" Keep your roubles and give me bread. The twenty
roubles do not fill my stomach, whereas eightpence in
India probably would."

The price of a water-melon in India is twopence, at
Enzeli eightpence, in Baku twenty to twenty-five roubles
(ten shillings). A bottle of vodka, normally two roubles,
now cost one hundred roubles ; a pair of long field boots,
a thousand roubles. I have already mentioned that a
rather poor dinner in the hotel cost a hundred roubles.
Where money has so little value the tendency seemed
to be always to run in round figures ; the prices of most
things seem to be either fifty or a hundred roubles.

As Enzeli is only eighteen hours' steam from Baku the
question may be asked why, if water-melons are eight-
pence in the former port, they should cost ten shillings
in the latter. The answer is, because the shipping was
nationalized, which means that all private enterprise was
dead. The only way in which water-melons reached
Baku was the following : Ships, such as my transports,
were ordered to Enzeli on duty. Before leaving on the
return journey the crew clubbed together and purchased
water-melons, stacking them in the hold and on the decks,
till nothing was visible but a green mound of melons.

On the arrival of the ship in Baku a queue of intending

250 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

purchasers was formed from the ship's side along the pier,
out on the quay and up the adjoining streets, so keen was
the desire of the Baku inhabitant to possess himself of
this uninteresting fruit at the enormous price of ten
shillings apiece. The ship's committee deputed sales-
men, who dealt with the produce over the ship's side
till the stock was exhausted. Baku seemed to live on
water-melons, and the only pudding we ever ate during
the time we were there was a slice of water-melon,
an invariable item in the menu of the hundred-rouble
dinner.

It will be seen that the sailors of these ships had quite
realized the pleasures of " getting rich quick," and one
of my transports from Enzeli, timed to depart on the
evening of a certain day, refused to leave till the next
evening because there was a shortage of melons on the
Enzeli market, and the crew would not sail without.
The profits were quite beyond those of an ordinary gold-
mine ; you put down eight pounds, and in twenty-four
hours you picked up a hundred and twenty pounds.
If the water-melons had been nationalized as well as the
ships, the prices would have dropped to normal, but
as the nationalization of the fruit would have taken all
the profits out of the transaction, nobody would have
bothered to bring water-melons over to Baku.

Having given a general idea of the economic conditions
in Baku, I can return to the narration of more stirring
events.

After having made myself thoroughly acquainted
with the situation in Baku, I concluded that the best
method of dealing with the main problem, which was the
control of the Caspian Sea, would be to visit the various
ports whose situations, tactical and economic, linked up
with ours.

I intended to run the risks of the Bolshevik pirate
ships and get up to Derbend to interview Bicherakov

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 251

and see what he could do to work in with us. From there
I would return to Baku in forty-eight hours, then visit
Krasnovodsk to examine the harbour (which Commodore
Norris was particularly anxious to do) ; thence to Enzeli
to settle up finally with Kuchik Khan, capture every-
thing I could lay hands on in the way of reinforcements,
and make arrangements for rice supply from the Gilan
country ; thence to Lenkoran to cheer up the little army
there and arrange a raid north on to the Tiflis line on the
Turkish lines of communication, and to fix up a proper
supply arrangement. Our supplies from Lenkoran were
being much interfered with by the obstructive " com-
mittees," who were trying to nationalize the grain, with
the natural result that the farmer found that they had
none to sell.

I carried out my programme as far as Enzeli was
concerned. I failed to reach Derbend, and my plan for
co-ordinating all operations on the South Caspian was
not approved, so the remainder of the scheme was
shelved.

At 9 p.m. on the night of August 20th I sailed from
Baku with a view of reaching Derbend (about 180 miles
by sea) and rearranging plans with Bicherakov. It was
known that Bolshevik ships were about, but I trusted
to luck not to run into them. Unfortunately, as
Bicherakov had only recently driven the Bolsheviks
out of Derbend and had no armed ships to accompany
his movements on the coast, there were likely to be a
good many of these piratical craft knocking about.

During the morning of August 21st we made good
progress against a stiff breeze from the north and at about
4.30 p.m. were approaching Derbend, when we observed
a ship lying at anchor off the coast. I was on the bridge
at the time with Commodore Norris, and we noticed
distinct signs of uneasiness on the part of the Captain,
who presently remarked : " I don't like the look of that

252 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

ship. I think she is the Usbeg, and if so she is one of the
worst of the Bolshevik craft." " Keep on your course and
see what happens," was the Commodore's suggestion,
and we continued to steer a course parallel to the Usbeg
and about 2,000 yards distant, with a view of turning into
Derbend, which was now about 4 miles ahead of us. The
next thing that happened was a flag signal from the strange
steamer, which the Captain read, " Come alongside and
report." On this the identity of the ship as an enemy
one became a matter of certainty, and two courses were
open to us. The first was to steer ahead of the Usbeg
and reach Derbend, risking the enemy's fire, before she
could up -anchor and follow us. This was quite feasible,
but if successful the Usbeg would only have to cruise
outside the port and prevent our getting out, and we
should be shut up there for an indefinite length of time,
which was a situation not to be contemplated ; so that
line of action was negatived. The second course and
the one we adopted was to steer out into the open sea,
turn and get back to Baku.

As soon as our change of course became apparent the
Usbeg opened fire with fair precision ; the shots fell all
round but none struck the Kriiger, and our speed enabled
us to escape without pursuit. Thus ingloriously ended
our first fight on the Caspian. I determined as soon as
I could get back to Baku to use this case as a final argument
with the Dictators to compel them to agree to our arming
some of the merchant ships, and at last assent was obtained ;
so we were gainers to that extent by the episode. But
it was a great score for the Bolsheviks, having prevented
the meeting between Bicherakov and myself, which might
have led to important results.

We returned to Baku on August 23rd, and I wasted
no time in waiting on the Dictators with my request
for the ships we required to arm. The Commodore was
getting impatient at the delay and showed no signs of

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 258

getting accustomed to the dilatoriness and procrastination
of revolutionary procedure.

The next step was to get all in order for a possible
evacuation, and a general plan was drawn up based on a
concentration at the wharf where we now were and which
appeared most suitable for the purpose. As a matter
of fact there was a more suitable wharf in a position farther
east which I had not discovered, but which we found later
with the assistance of the Turks. The shelling of my ship
became so accurate and constant (though the Kriiger bore
a charmed life and was never once hit) that we were eventu-
ally compelled to change our berth, and in searching for
another accidentally discovered the wharf near the
arsenal, which was in every way ideal and from which
the evacuation eventually took place.

Several attempts were now made to get us to release
the Kursk and the Abo. No attempt was made on the
Kriiger^ as I intentionally retained it as my Head
Quarters, which the Dictators respected. Each ship was
permanently guarded, evasive replies in the best
revolutionary manner were given, coupled with a stolid
refusal to comply with any such requests, and the ships
remained in our possession.

The town was rather heavily shelled on the night of
the 23rd, terrifying the unfortunate inhabitants, but
causing very little loss of life and doing us in a general
way much good, by reminding them that the Turk was
at the door. Whenever the shelling ceased for a day,
the townspeople relaxed their efforts under the impression
that the danger was not so imminent ; when it recom-
menced they got spells of great activity, during which
the troops made good progress in training.

We were now getting things into excellent order. The
Armenian troops were really drilling rather well in the
town, though reluctant as ever to take their proper share
of duty in the trenches. Colonel Warden had been ap-

254 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

pointed Inspector of Infantry, his duty being to pass
right along the line from flank to flank and see that the
town troops were in their proper places (which he never
saw), that their demands for food and ammunition supply
were promptly met, and to listen to, and remedy if possible,
the many just complaints and grievances of the men.
This appointment was of very great use and did much to
give cohesion to the line.

Major Vandenberg, of the South African contingent,
was placed in charge of the machine-gun defence of the
whole position and effected great improvements. Before
he took over his appointment the machine-gun situation
was hopeless, the weapons being placed anyhow : some-
times in trenches with parallel lines of fire, and no field of
fire, followed by large gaps with no guns at all. The
extraordinary state of affairs that existed may be under-
stood, when I explain that in many cases soldiers regarded
their armament as their own property and not the
property of the army. On one occasion Major Vandenberg
visited the line and sited the machine-guns according to his
scheme. On visiting the line shortly afterwards he found
one gun missing, thus leaving a gap in the belt of cross-
fire. He complained of this, and was informed : " Oh, that
gun belongs to X. ; he's gone off duty and taken his gun
with him." This stupid behaviour was put a stop to. A
school for instruction in the use of machine-guns was
started in the town, which promised to result in a great
improvement in general handiness and fire discipline.

Colonel Rawlinson was placed in charge of the main
arsenal and soon began to produce order out of chaos.
When he took over the arsenal the contents were piled
in confusion just as they had lain since the disarming of
Shaumian and Petrov's men, when the assorted cargo
from the holds of their ships had been thrown in anyhow
on top of the already mixed assortment of ammunition.
To comply with demands for ammunition on an emer-

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 255

gency was almost impossible, the particular class of shell
required having to be sought for anywhere in the heap.
The ammunition store was partly occupied also by per-
ambulators, gramophones, sewing-machines and other
miscellaneous rubbish off the ships. In the arsenal yard
guns of every type and calibre were lying about, sights
missing, and breech mechanisms out of order or not to
be found. These were soon sorted, put together and
sent up to the front, until we had over thirty good Baku
guns in action, our own British battery, No. 8 R.F.A.,
being the only mobile artillery in the defence.

An officer and, where possible, one or more N.C.O.'s
were appointed to each local battalion and battery, the
latter soon attaining a high degree of proficiency and
doing most excellent work.

We now proposed to link up the local troops with our
own, so as to bring them under proper discipline. The
idea was to attach three local battalions to each of ours :
the North Staffords, the Warwicks, the Worcesters, the
commander of each British battalion commanding the
small brigade thus formed. The idea was an excellent
one, but it met with so much stupid opposition and delay
that it was never properly introduced before the evacuation.
I visited the Minister of War and got him to agree. I saw
the Commander-in-Chief and received his assent, and
the five Dictators and the Armenian National Council
also agreed, after inserting many needless provisions ;
but from agreement to action was a very long call in
Baku, and we only reached the stage of action too late
to be of any use.

On the night of August 24th I sailed for Enzeli, reach- "^
ing there on the afternoon of the 25th. Peace was finally
settled with Kuchik Khan, who from this time became our
sole contractor for the big rice harvest of Gilan, which was
very important to us in Baku. An exchange of prisoners
was agreed to and Captain Noel at last released. With

256 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

reference to this exchange of prisoners a question arose

as to whether the restoration of prisoners was compulsory,

or dependent on the wish of the individual. The Austrians

whom we had taken prisoners at Resht and who had yielded

themselves perhaps a little too willingly to us, objected

strongly to going back to the Jangalis. But Kuchik

Khan had evidently something to say to them, and refused

to release Noel until we delivered them, so we had to send
p
them over.

This was to be my last visit to Persia, as we would
shortly be reaching the critical stage in Baku and it would
be dangerous to absent myself. I took the opportunity
therefore of impressing on the commandant and embarka-
tion staff of Enzeli that we wanted all we could get in
> the way of officers, men and supplies. The command
in Kasvin had now been taken over by Brig. -General
Bateman-Champain, of the Indian army, and I was no
longer responsible for anything on the Persian side.

On August 27th we arrived in Baku, bringing back with
us a further consignment of four-inch and twelve -pounder
guns and ammunition for the arming of our prospective
fleet ; it was a good thing we were able to bring these guns
with us, as from now on it became extremely difficult
• to get anything from Enzeli.

Colonel Keyworth came on board to report, and
informed me of the Turkish attack on the Mud Volcano
on the 26th, in which the Turks had gained their objective
and our losses had been considerable. Further details of
this action will be given later. It was certain now that
the Turks had received the necessary reinforcements and
were preparing for their great assault on the town. If
we received any considerable reinforcements from Persia
we could regard the issue with confidence ; if we did not,
then it was merely a question of postponing the final
fall and making the best arrangements for getting our men
away when the crash came.

fe>3 *:ivC *<. ^-« I ^'- *«?^ W>:

".* ».• - -- - s»*

Major-General Dunsterville and Colonel Aratunov

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 257

The Turks were of course wise enough to foresee this
and, with a view of stopping any further reinforcements
for us from Persia, they commenced their advance from
Tabriz on Kasvin, hoping that this threat would serve
to check any further dispatch of men to me. This move
of theirs had been obvious for many months, but there
were difficulties in the way of our assembling sufficient
troops to meet the attack on the Kuflan Kuh which was the
strongest point of our defence on the road. The position
was taken by the Turks and the road to Kasvin lay open.
They never seriously advanced very far in the Kasvin
direction once they had succeeded in their chief design,
which was to stop reinforcements reaching me. Even
individual officers of my original force, whose services
would have been invaluable, were held up on the Persian
side owing to the situation there.

While going round the position the following day with
Colonel Aratunov (Armenian), I was much struck with
the general improvement in the town troops. If we had
only had time we would in the end have made quite good
stuff out of them. Ammunition, both artillery and small
arms, was still being frequently wasted despite the urgent
need for economy, and I drew the attention of an Armenian
Colonel, who was commanding the right sector, to his
artillery which was firing apparently at nothing. He
replied, " Yes, they are not firing at anything, but the men
in the trenches like to hear the sound of their guns now
and then, and if I don't fire them off occasionally they
will not stay in the trenches."

The shelling of my ship, the Hotel d'Europe and the
town generally was now becoming so accurate, that I
could only believe that the enemy had a telephone line
from the town, with an operator within a few hundred
yards of myself. I do not think any artillery officer
could give any other solution of the accuracy of their
fire. They had of course a large-scale map of the town,

258 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

and without direct observation could easily put their
shells within a given area, but the series of shells they
fired for ranging purposes progressed with such unerring
regularity and precision that it was quite uncanny to watch.

From my ship, lying out in the open, clear of the town,
the fall of each shell could be clearly seen, the series coming
straight down towards me as down the steps of a ladder.
Thus the first shell would land in the upper town, the
next half way down, the next alongside, the next between
the masts, and then the information of their having got the
range would be notified and we would get two rounds
battery fire. By some strange chance everything was hit
except the gallant Kriiger. A boat just astern (with
no one in it) was destroyed, and a heap of ammunition
on the edge of the wharf within three feet of the side of the
ship was hit, the shell boxes smashed open and two men
on sentry-go slighty wounded, but no explosion took place.

This example of the progressive series of ranging shots
was of daily occurrence, and it is not possible to conceive
any other means of attaining such unerring accuracy
except by means of a telephone, but we were never able
to find it.

The Hotel d' Europe was shelled with equal accuracy,
and with equal immunity from loss of life. At the busiest
time of the day various rooms were struck by H.E.
shells, but never an occupied room. The clerks at their
work were peppered with dust, a Russian lady type-
writer was knocked over unharmed by the explosion of
a shell in the adjoining room, and Major Newcome had
a narrow escape. We soon had to give up the upper
storey, and in the end evacuated the hotel entirely, re-
moving our Head Quarters to the Metropole, to which the
Turk at once transferred his attentions. In the end both
hotels were knocked to pieces, people in the street and
some of the hotel staff were killed, but of my party not
one was touched.

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 259

At this time I generally remained on board ship,
but occasionally transferred myself to the gorgeous chamber
and the plush upholstery of the Hotel d'Europe. It was
extremely inconvenient, but I had to sleep in the hotel
for a week, as our traducers had started a rumour in
the town that the British General slept on board ship, with
a view of deserting the town in case of a serious attack !
During the first few days of my stay in the hotel they sent
a man daily to see if I was really there.

We were being very closely watched by many parties,
and a representative from the Russian Legation in Teheran
was also in the town taking notes. I received various
deputations every day and occasionally entertained them
on board the Krilger. Among such deputations was one
from the Russian business men, who had much to suggest
and propose, but any endeavour to work with or through
them would have been damaging to our interest as they
were labelled by the town " Bourgeois " and " Counter-
revolutionary," so that I could not even afford to be seen
talking with them. I also had an interesting meeting with
one of the leading Tartars, a very intelligent and highly
educated man, but if I were known to be entering into
any sort of relations with these excellent people the town
would have been in an uproar, so again I could do nothing
for the time being. Had we remained in Baku I feel
sure we could have eventually settled the Tartar- Armenian
quarrel. As it was, in order to meet this gentleman I
had to go at dead of night, unaccompanied except by my
guide, to a house in the Tartar quarter of the town, where
I was ushered, after ascending many flights of stairs, into
his rooms.

Steamers were now leaving daily for Krasnovodsk
crowded with refugees wisely escaping from the wrath
to come. Their departure was an advantage to us, any
reduction in the civil population helping very much to
simplify the supply question.

260 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Colonel Chardigny, of the French mission to the Cau-
casus, was also in Baku at this time, and we discussed
together the extent to which it would be advisable and
possible to destroy the facilities for oil production and
refinery before leaving the town to the enemy.

I enlisted a few helpers locally, and among the most
useful was Mr. Dana, an American citizen who had been
employed in the oil works here and was now at a loose
end. I attached him as interpreter and assistant to Colonel
Rawlinson, and he did very good work. Ladies of the
English colony in Baku were taken on as hospital nurses,
and proved a blessing in their care and attention to the
sick and wounded.

Captain Noel, just released from the Jangali prison,
reported his arrival and at once put up a scheme for a
raid on the enemy's lines of communication in a tract of
country with which he was previously acquainted. Colonel
Rawlinson was also engaged in the preparation of a similar
scheme to be undertaken through Lenkoran and across
the Mughan Steppe. Schemes of this nature were neces-
sarily extremely hazardous, but their chances of success
were considerable ; however, the end was too near at
hand to enable us to put any of them into execution.

Colonel Battine, who was getting along well with Kuhn,
the Dictator of Krasnovodsk, came on August 29th to
confer, and returned to his post the same evening.
Representations from Lenkoran also arrived, so that we
had good co-ordination of work in the surrounding districts.
I was particularly anxious to keep on good terms with
the Krasnovodsk people, as I hoped that when Baku
fell I should be allowed to reform my troops at Enzeli
and cross over to Krasnovodsk to recommence operations
in the Turkestan direction from there, linking up eventu-
ally with General Malleson*s mission on the railway north
of Meshed.

Major Rowlandson, whom I had sent with Bicherakov's

SHORT OF EVERYTHING 261

party, had been doing very good and hazardous work
and was now on a special mission to join up wdth Colonel
Pike in the North Caucasus. The latter was soon after-
wards killed and Rowlandson had a hard time to extricate
himself from his Bolshevik surroundings in Vladikavkaz,
which he finally succeeded in doing.

Major Haslam, R.E., had been entrusted with the
entire scheme for wiring the front. He was engaged on
this duty in the neighbourhood of the Mud Volcano when
the Turks attacked that position on August 26th. He
at once threw in his lot with the defenders and was
killed.

The Armenian leaders in the town were really making
great efforts to get their men up to the scratch, and it is
no fault of theirs that their efforts met with no great
success. There were many fine men among them, such as
Colonel Amazasp and Colonel Aratunov. The charge
of treachery brought against the Baku Armenians cannot
be substantiated. Individual Armenians may have had
tendencies to betray both us and the town, but I had no
evidence to prove even this. It must be remembered that
Shaumian, the leader of the Bolsheviks, was himself an
Armenian, and he was certainly against us — not as an
Armenian, but as a Bolshevik. I may close these remarks
on the Baku Armenians by stating that while heroism
was rare among the men, there were certainly remarkable
instances of bravery, and the Armenian women in the
firing line were nothing less than heroines. The lack
of fighting spirit on the part of the men as a whole has
already been explained ; it was based not purely on cowar-
dice, but also on an utter inability to understand anything
about warfare. On one occasion the Turks emerged from
their position in broad daylight, moving across the open
desert of the railway valley, seemingly with the intention
of assaulting a certain portion of our line. One of my
officers in charge of an Armenian battalion urged the men

262 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

to move forward and man the trenches to meet the
attack. The troops refused to move, and their spokesman
exclaimed, " What, go up there ? Why that's just where
the Turks are coming ! "

Commodore Norris now had his first experience of the
Baku fleet and revolutionary methods of fighting. He
proceeded on board one of the gunboats to shell Turkish
trains which were in movement on the line south of
Baku. This line was within a thousand yards of the coast,
and trains on it offered a splendid target for the naval
guns. When within a fair range the guns opened fire,
but the shooting was poor and the results were nil. The
Commodore suggested to the Captain that he should stand
closer in to the shore, so as to shorten the range and make
sure of a hit. Orders to this effect were no sooner given
than consternation appeared on the faces of the crew,
who promptly sent the spokesman of the committee to
interview the Captain. " The crew," he began, " wish
to know what is the meaning of this change of course ? "
The Captain replied, " The English admiral thinks you
would make better shooting if we got closer in to the shore."
To this the spokesman replied, "The ship is to be put back
at once on her former course and no change is to be made
till the committee have discussed the matter." The
original course was consequently resumed, the committee
meeting was held, and decided unanimously that as the
enemy were known to have a field battery somewhere on
this part of the coast, to stand closer in might be to bring
the gunboat under fire from the shore. The order was
consequently cancelled and a safer one issued, that the
ship should at once return to Baku, which was promptly
carried out, and the operations abandoned for the day.

CHAPTER XV
THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES

THE accidental discovery of the new wharf was
entirely due to the desire of the crew of the Kriiger to
get away from the enemy's shell fire. The occasion which
I described when the ammunition dump ought to have
been blown up, but was not, showed that the Turks were
very accurately aware of the position of my Head Quarters.
A move farther east might get us altogether out of the
range of their guns, and if it did not it would at least take
them some little time to pick up the new range. So
when the shelUng next began the crew, without waiting
for orders (or even holding a committee meeting), took up
their position at the new wharf, which they had evidently
previously selected. I had not a word to say. It was no
more pleasure to me to be shelled than it was to them,
and the new wharf offered many facilities for a quiet
evacuation that the previous one did not. It was in a
less conspicuous part of the town, and in the neighbour-
hood of the arsenal, and the approaches to it were easy
to find by night. The Kriiger lay on the east side of the
wharf, the Kursk on the west and the Abo tied up on her
outer side.

More detailed orders were now issued to units with
which each individual man was made acquainted, and
each unit was directed to make itself thoroughly acquainted

268

264 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

with the nearest route from its position at the front to the
embarkation wharf.

In this chapter it will be necessary for me to give
several extracts from my correspondence with the local
Government. It must not be imagined from these that
I had acquired the revolutionary love of writing. I was,
as a matter of fact, most unwilling to use my pen, but
these statements of opinion had to be put down in black
and white to prevent the officials from denying later
that they had been informed of certain facts and intentions.
The matter contained in the letters was usually the gist
of a conversation previously held, and subsequently
put in writing for record : nearly all my work was actually
done verbally in the first instance. In some cases verbal
means were impossible, owing to the difficulty of finding
the person to whom one wanted to talk. A luncheon
interval of five hours was not unusual for the civil and
military officials in Baku, though there were some admirable
exceptions to this rule, and it must be admitted that
Russians are wonderful night-workers, and they were
very probably making speeches and passing resolutions
by the score when we were comfortably in bed.

It now remains to describe the fighting that resulted
in the capture by the Turks of the Mud Volcano on August
26th. On this day the position of the troops was very
much as I have stated in my description of the general
position in Chapter XIII. I had visited the spot and
spoken with the officer commanding concerning the
necessity of keeping in touch with the Armenian support
in Baladjari. With this support at hand the danger of
the position was not too great to be risked, but if this
support failed the position could not be held against a
serious attack. The detachment was in telephonic com-
munication with Baladjari station, and if the telephone
was cut or failed a mounted messenger would not have
far to go to call up the Armenians. As far as I can

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 2«5

discover this Armenian support was never there, but
Colonel Kazarov, who commanded this sector of the
defence, asserts that it was always there except on the
day when it was required. On that day there was
some misunderstanding as to reliefs, the old troops
marched back to town, and the new troops had not
reached Baladjari when the attack took place.

The position was assaulted by the best Turkish troops,
who were evidently specially selected and attacked with
the greatest bravery and determination. Their numbers
were not large, and if, when the Armenian support from
Baladjari had failed, the local Baku troops right and left
of the Mud Volcano had moved out to threaten the flanks
of the assaulting column, the attack would have failed.
But no movements of any sort took place and the local
troops stuck to their usual role of interested spectators.

I cannot describe the action better than by quoting
in full the report of Colonel Faviell, commanding the
39th Brigade, which is as follows :

" Turkish Attack on August 26, 1918.

" The Mud Volcano position was held by D Company,
North Staffordshire Regiment, under the command of
Captain Sparrow, M.C.

" The attack opened at 10.30 a.m., when the enemy
were seen debouching from south-west of Mud Volcano
in four lines in extended order, with a body of cavalry
operating on their right flank.

" The strength of the enemy forces was estimated
about one thousand.

**' The attack was launched with great vigour, sup-
ported by light and heavy artillery fire on our positions.
For some considerable time the enemy were held by our
machine-gun and rifle fire. Five separate attacks were

266 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

launched on No. 1 Post. The fifth succeeded in an-
nihilating the defence in that particular section.

" About 12.30 p.m. the enemy succeeded in working
round the northern flank of the Volcano and, bringing
up machine-guns, they then opened heavy and accurate
fire in reverse on No. 2 and 3 Posts, his attack on the
southern flank being at the same time annihilated. By
1.30 p.m. No. 2 and 3 posts were rushed by the enemy ;
only about half a dozen unwounded men succeeded in
getting back from the actual positions attacked.

" All the officers were casualties, and about eighty men
of the company are at present missing, including these
officers. Reinforcements under Major Ley, D.S.O., con-
sisting of sixty North Staffords, and seventy Royal
Warwicks, dispatched in lorries from Baku at 1.30 p.m.,
arrived too late to save the position. One company
9th Worcester Regiment dispatched as a further rein-
forcement at 3 p.m., came under Major Ley's orders
shortly after 3.30 p.m.

*' In conjunction with the above operations the enemy
launched an attack on the hill west of Binagadi village
from the village of Novkhany. This hill had been held
by an Armenian battalion.

" During the attack on the Volcano one company
North Staffords at Diga were ordered to move to Binagadi
village to support this battalion. Arriving about 2.15 p.m.
this company, seeing that the hill was not held by our
troops, pushed up the hill, and arriving at the summit
found the enemy about 250 strong advancing to occupy
it, having already reached the lower slopes on the northern
side. The leading men of the North Staffords immediately
occupied the trenches below the crest of the hill and poured
in a heavy fire with Lewis -guns and rifles at short range,
driving back the enemy with severe loss. The company
suffered slight casualties, only about ten killed and
wounded, including Lieutenant Craig, who was com-

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 267

manding the company, and Lieutenant Macbeth, both
of whom were wounded. Shortly afterwards the enemy
reformed and launched another attack, but this was
easily driven off before the enemy reached the lower
slopes, and he retired in disorder to a sunken road out
of effective range.

" After we were driven off the Volcano, we occupied a
new line as follows. From Binagadi hill west of the
village to Baladjari railway station with two intermediate
posts, one of one company Royal Warwicks among the
oil derricks east of the Volcano, and another of one com-
pany North Staffords south of them in the low ground
between that place and Baladjari station.

*' (Note. — Two local battalions which had been ordered
to Baladjari as reserve for this section of the line had not
left Baku when the attack took place. It appears either
that they refused to move or that the local staff had failed
to transmit the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.) '*

The splendid gallantry of this company of the North
Staffords saved Baku on this occasion, and once again
postponed the inevitable fall. Had the attack fallen on
local troops there would have been nothing to check
the Turkish advance on to the line of the cliffs and thence
into the heart of the town. It now became an urgent
question as to whether I could justify myself in allowing
more lives to be risked in a cause that seemed beyond all
hope.

The rations for troops were a matter of some difficulty.
We never suffered from a shortage of good wholesome
meat and bread, but all that goes to make food palatable
and wholesome such as vegetables, jam, butter and milk
were unobtainable. I was lucky getting some splendid
honey from Enzeli, and the men were once or twice cheered
by an issue of Baku beer which bore some slight resem-
blance to the real stuff. In Baku, where cheap things were

268 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

dear, dear things were cheap, and I was able to issue a
ration of the greatest delicacy, namely fresh caviare.
But caviare requires a trained palate, and the soldiers,
who called this rumoured delicacy " herring paste," had
no great liking for it.

Another difficulty was the lack of transport. We had
with us some of the Ford vans of No. 730 Company,
which after nine months of the roughest usage were still
doing splendid work, but the number was quite insufficient.
The fact that these cars were usable at all was solely due
to the great skill and care expended on them by Captain
Aldham, who had been with us from the start, and who
had nursed the cars as if they were his own children.

The town possessed a good deal of mechanical trans-
port in various stages of disrepair. One of our mechanical
transport companies could have got most of the vehicles
working in a few days, but these revolutionaries with their
committee methods are incapable of accomplishing any-
thing. All matters are referred to committees, and even
if the decision of the committee is a favourable one, the
deliberations generally last so long that the point under
discussion has lost its importance by the time a decision
has been reached. Thus every battalion has its committee,
and so has each company in the battalion ; and committee
meetings are actually held during the progress of an
action. One may hazard a guess that the troops allotted
for the support of the Mud Volcano failed to arrive because
they were holding committee meetings to decide whether
they should take action or not.

The futility of these committees is obvious from the
fact that when they have reached a decision they have
no power to enforce it, and the men do not consider
themselves at all bound by the committees unless their
decisions are in accordance with their own wishes. They
may finally say, " We will not go." The solution is simple
— appeal direct to the men. This annoys the committees

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 269

very much, but it settles the matter finally one way or
another.

There are many brands of revolutionaries in Russia
at the present time who disagree on many points, but all
unite in asserting the freedom, equality and brotherhood
of man. It is this freedom and equality that puts a stop
to all enterprise, each man saying, " I'm not going to do
it, if the other fellow doesn't" ; so nobody does anything.
The Bolshevik troops and officials are in just the same
frame of mind as the soldier I mentioned in Chapter III,
who said, " I am a Bolshevik, but I do not know what
Bolshevism means, as I cannot read or write. I just
accept what the last speaker says. I want to be left
alone and helped home, and as the committee in Kazian
is Bolshevik, I am too. If it were anything else I would
be that." Lenin and Trotzky from the first have held
the money and the arsenals, then obviously if you want
a daily wage you must enrol yourself as a Bolshevik,
and if you want to fight you must fight as a Bolshevik,
because they alone control the supply of arms and
ammunition.

In addition to the two leaders, all the Bolshevik
committee men are in a minor sense true Bolsheviks,
and would not be willing, like the ordinary man in the
street, to accept any other form of revolutionary govern-
ment that could feed and arm them. Men change their
minds like weathercocks, and the Bolshevik of to-day
is the Menshevik of to-morrow. In Baku most of the
previous Bolsheviks were now sincere well-wishers and
active supporters of the British Government, simply
because we represented cash and armed strength.

But I should imagine that the whole of Russia, to
whatever category of revolutionary ideas they may
subscribe, are longing, like the people of Baku, for any
form of government that will restore some sort of law and
order. They are heartily sick of their liberty, equality

270 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

and fraternity. Revolutionaries are quite the least
brotheriy people towards each other that the worid
contains, and constitute a living refutation of their
fundamental doctrines.

On my return from Enzeli I took an eariy opportunity
of discussing the events of August 26th with General
Dukuchaiev, and received from him many explanations
and assurances that such failure to support our troops
would never occur again. His intentions were certainly
of the best, but we found later that he was unable to
give effect to them.

I also addressed the Dictators on the same subject,
and took the opportunity of pointing out that I had never
seen any of them or the military staff (with the exception
of von der Fless) at the front. They contented themselves
with studying the position on maps in their offices, and
issued orders based on reports that were frequently untrue,
and they never attempted to verify these reports by
having a personal look round.

During the next three days the Turks kept us pretty
busy with minor attacks which were not pressed home,
and on August 31st, they again attacked in force, this time
on Binagadi hill, which was held by our troops for the
reason that it had seemed to be the most likely place of
attack. This time every precaution had been taken to
secure adequate support, but again the town troops
failed to do their duty. I give Colonel FavielFs report
in fuU.

" Report on Turkish Attack on Binagadi Hill
ON August 31, 1918.

" At dawn rifle fire was heard from the direction of
Binagadi hill, occupied by one company 7th North
Staffords, strength eighty all ranks, under Lieutenant
R. L. Petty, M.C., who reported an encounter with a strong

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 371

enemy patrol. At 6 a.m. a second report was received
to the effect that the enemy, strength about 500 rifles,
was massing for an attack at the foot of the western slopes
of Binagadi hill. Information received from various
sources confirmed the report, and it became obvious that
an enemy attack was about to take place.

" I accordingly ordered Head Quarters and one com-
pany Royal Warwicks at Diga to move to the centre of
Binagadi oil derricks and remain there in reserve. At
the same time I asked Colonel Kazarov, commanding Right
Section to move the armoured train to Baladjari and
there create a diversion against Mud Volcano. At 6 a.m.
the attack developed, supported by machine-guns and
about twelve field and mountain guns. The machine-guns
had been brought under cover of darkness to within 500
yards of our position, and so placed as to enfilade our
trenches. These machine-guns were placed in the open
behind large shields, without any attempt at concealment.
The hill was swept with intense machine-gun fire and the
defences considerably weakened by casualties, and the
necessity of withdrawal, unless the hill could be reinforced,
became probable. The Russian commander was asked
for support which was eventually given, but the reinforc-
ing troops only reached the eastern slopes of the position
after the evacuation. At about 7.50 a.m. Binagadi hill
became untenable. Lieutenant Petty, the company com-
mander, had been killed, and to avoid complete annihila-
tion our troops at 8.30 a.m. were compelled to withdraw,
and fell back steadily to the right of Warwick Castle.
The Royal Warwick Company from Diga arrived too late
to save the position. At 11.5 a.m. an attack against
Warwick Castle developed. The loss of Binagadi hill,
together with the failure of the Armenian battalions in
reserve in Binagadi village to support the right, exposed
that flank, and the retirement of an Armenian battalion
on the left of Warwick Castle left both flanks of the

272 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

position in the air, a weakness of which the enemy took
full advantage, and he soon began working through
the rough ground round the position to within forty
yards of it, compelling the withdrawal of the garrison
to avoid complete isolation and capture.

" The Royal War wicks then fell back steadily to the
line of Binagadi derricks, thence turning north-east
through the western end of the derricks. Our line roughly
was then from Baladjari — running north towards the
eastern end of Binagadi derricks, and then to Biga,
with large gaps at intervals.

" I then ordered the company of the Royal War wicks
in reserve to occupy the line of Binagadi derricks, but
they only succeeded in obtaining possession of the southern
edge of the line, and considering the line unsatisfactory
I withdrew them to a more southerly position about
200 yards clear of the derricks. Having no further
reserves at my disposal, I decided that it was impossible
to hold the line with the troops then occupying it, and
consequently asked permission to withdraw to the line
Baladjari village along the forward railway embankment
to the western edge of the Darnagul salt lake. Sanction
having been obtained, the withdrawal took place after
dusk, and the new line established. Two companies of
the Royal Warwicks at Diga having been placed under
the order of Major Dayrell, remained at Biga, which
place was attacked the same evening, for which opera-
tions I am submitting a separate report.

" Total casualties : One British officer killed and
one British officer died of wounds, thirty-four British
other ranks killed, wounded and missing. Reports
received as to enemy casualties all agree that they were
very considerable. The enemy carried out the attack
with vigour and determination. Having no reserves
under my hand to assist the garrison at Binagadi hill,
complete annihilation was merely a question of time,

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 273

and further resistance would have produced no other
result."

During the progress of the action described above,
I came across Major Engledue with one of the town
battalions. The moment was one when, without even
waiting for orders, every man should have been moving
to the front, yet the men of this battalion were rapidly
progressing towards the town with their backs towards
the enemy. Major Engledue, assisted by two British
N.C.O.'s, was vainly endeavouring to stem the tide, but
with no great success. He managed at last to get them
to line up on the railway embankment, but by this time
two-thirds of the men were already well on their way into
the town. This oJSicer remained doing splendid work
with the local troops till the end, and was very severely
wounded in the final action of September 14th.

The result of the day's action was enough to fill one
with despair. I returned to the town, spoke with the
Commander-in-Chief and with the Dictators, and later
embodied my remarks in the following letter :

" To the Provisional Government of Baku.
** (Copy forwarded to the Chief of the Staff.)

" Sirs,

" I feel it my duty to put before you my i^
opinion of the present military situation in Baku.

" To begin at the beginning. You are aware that for
six months I was looking out for an opportunity of helping
Baku.

" Towards the end of July the Bolshevik Government of
Baku was overthrown and I was invited to come to the *•
aid of the town. I had at that time very few troops at
my disposal, and of those not many could be spared owing
to the necessity of dealing with many situations in Persia,

274 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

including the movement of Kuchik Khan. I arranged
terms of peace with the latter and sent you the few troops
I could. I then wired to Baghdad and have forwarded
on as fast as possible all troops as they arrived.

" It must be remembered that Baghdad is 900 versts
from Enzeli ; the road is not good, and even with auto-
mobiles reinforcements cannot move quickly.

" I took it that the situation in Baku was that there
were perhaps 15,000 fighting men, scarcely trained at all,
but armed and inspired with a fierce determination to
save their town. I therefore regarded the proposition
as quite favourable — with a nucleus of some 2,000 to
3,000 regular troops and some artillery, such citizen
soldiers should be able to accomplish a good deal on the
pure defensive.

" Unfortunately the Baku authorities apparently ex-
pected at least 16,000 British troops, and, lacking military
knowledge, had not calculated the great length of time
necessary to convey that number of troops with stores,
supplies, ammunition, equipment, etc., a distance of 900
versts. They expected that this number of troops would
suffice to hold the town with an active defence (as indeed
they would), while the Baku citizen army retired entirely
from the front line and occupied itself with training in
the rear. The result has been, I understand, a deep
feeling of disappointment on the part of the inhabitants
of the town, and a sense that they have been deceived
by their English Allies. It should be understood by all
that no exact number of troops was asked for or
promised.

" The Turks are not merely attacking Baku, but are
threatening my lines of communication in Persia, advanc-
ing towards Hamadan and Kasvin from the north-west,
and they will also probably succeed in making Kuchik
Khan break the peace I have lately concluded with him.
Thus my difficulties of reinforcing Baku are very much

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 275

increased, and troops intended for us have had to be
diverted to meet the various Turkish movements towards
the Kasvin-Hamadan road.

" At the present moment a great additional reinforce-
ment of British troops is not to be expected, owing to the
Turkish advance from the west on my line of communica-
tion, and in the end it is possible that the line of com-
munication may be cut and we shall be quite isolated
from Baghdad.

" I was present at the front this morning during the
Turkish attack on Binagadi hill. When I arrived on the
scene, large numbers of Baku soldiers were moving in
twos and threes from the direction of the enemy back
to Baku. Meanwhile the small British detachment of
seventy men held on to the position and asked for a
counter-attack by the Baku troops in reserve in the village
of Binagadi. To bring off such a counter-attack was not
difficult, and it was certain of success, but nothing happened,
and my troops had to retire and yield the position to the
enemy. I believe a few troops did move forward, but
nothing really serious w^as afforded in the shape of support.

" Under such conditions it will shortly be necessary
to withdraw the line of defence to the high ground just
south of the railway line. This will shorten the line
considerably, but has the disadvantage of being the last
stronghold, from which any retirement means the surrender
of the town. It also gives the Turks full possession of
the whole Baku peninsula north and east of the town,
and enables them to shell the town at their pleasure
from three directions.

" Still, even in this position the actual town and port
can be saved, but only if the Baku troops develop, what
they do not now possess, the spirit to fight and the determina-
tion not to yield. If, on the other hand, these retirements
are to continue every time your troops come under fire, the
further defence of Baku is a waste of time and life.

276 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" I am willing with my troops to continue the defence
to the bitter end, but it is quite hopeless to endeavour to
do so with troops who have no intention of fighting.

"Baku, August 31, 1918."

In the afternoon I received an invitation from General
Dukuchaiev to be present at 8 p.m. at a Council of War.
I replied that I was not in favour of such councils, but if
it was decided to hold one I should be glad to be present.

Accordingly at 8 p.m. I presented myself at the Govern-
ment offices, accompanied by Colonel Clutterbuck and
Captain Bray, Colonel Stokes was also present as Chief
of the Staff to General Dukuchaiev.

I found the Commander-in-Chief seated at the central
table with maps spread before him, and he offered me a seat
at his side. The entire room was filled with the members
of the various committees. The Armenian National
Council was there in full force, the five Dictators, Work-
men's Delegates, Soldiers' and Sailors' Delegates, and
Peasant Deputies. It did not appear likely that a Council
of War held on these lines was going to achieve anything
useful.

The proceedings commenced by General Dukuchaiev
giving a very clear but lengthy appreciation of the
situation, his remarks being punctuated by interpellations
of assent or disapproval from the members of the various
committees. He was, however, permitted to conclude
his address without serious interruption, and he finally
summed up his remarks by saying, " The enemy have
taken A and B, and will probably next move on to C,
which will render D untenable, etc. I therefore propose
to alter the whole line as follows ..."

Before the concluding remarks were out of his mouth,
a burly sailor arose and strode up to the table to give his
views of the situation. He made use of the General's
map, indicating points as required by the use of his broad

THE ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES 277

thumb, oblivious of the fact that his thumb covered more
than a square mile of country, leaving his points rather
vague. He spoke for an hour with obvious enjoyment,
repeating himself a good deal and wandering off the track
every now and then to work in some well-worn tag, or
to give vent to some such sentiment as " We will fight
to the very last drop of our blood," which produced
vociferous applause. He eventually arrived, in the correct
manner, at his summing-up, which was the exact contrary
of that of the Commander-in-Chief, and he suggested plans
of action which were the reverse of those outlined by
the Commander-in-Chief, and urged the taking up of
a line totally different to that advocated by the Com-
mander-in-Chief.

His final peroration was to the following effect : " The
Greneral says the Turks are holding such and such points.
That is not so, their line runs thus (describing the enemy's
imaginary line with considerable detail). He says we have
had to give up B. That is not so. I have just had
a telephone message from a friend of mine out there.
The General says we must take up such and such a line.
He is quite wrong. That is not the line to take up. This
is the one (more detail). His counsel is not that of a
brave man. We mean to fight to the bitter end, etc."

To my surprise the General in no way resented this
amateur interference with his plans, in fact he seemed to
think there was a good deal in what the sailor said.

When this speaker had reluctantly resumed his seat,
the Armenian National Council had their say, proposing
plans neither agreeing with those of the Commander-in-
Chief, nor with those of the sailor. After them the Dictators
had quite a fresh plan to propose, differing from all the
others. The Dictators were followed by other speakers,
each with his own views to put forward, and each inspired
by a desire to continue talking as long as his breath held
out.

278 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

So time went on till the clock struck one and my
patience was exhausted. How long the meeting continued
I do not know, but having decided that it was quite time
for my Staff and myself to be in bed, I apologized quietly
to the Commander-in-Chief and withdrew, leaving the
assembly to continue their futile discussions.

CHAPTER XVI
THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS

ON the following day, September 1st, I talked over
the situation with General Lewin, who was on tour
from Baghdad and was returning that day, and decided
that a further continuance of the defence of Baku must
be given up and the British Garrison withdrawn.

I accordingly sent a message round to the Dictators
and the various committees asking them to meet me in
the Hotel d'Europe at 4 p.m., when I would have a very
important communication to make to them.

At the hour named the various committees had
assembled and I addressed them as follows :

" What I have to say can be said in a very few words.
No power on earth can save Baku from the Turks. To
continue the defence means only to defer the evil moment
and to cause further needless loss of life. Up till now my
men have done all the fighting. In each action, in spite
of the bravery of my soldiers, the Turks have succeeded
in capturing each position, owing to the lack of support
from local troops. I will not allow my men's lives to be
thrown away in vain in this manner. We came here to
help your men to fight the Turks, not to do all the fighting,
with your men as onlookers. In no case have I seen your
troops when ordered to attack do anything but retire, and
it is hopeless continuing to fight alongside of such men.

279

280 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" I am about to give orders to withdraw my men from
the firing line and I shall move them from Baku to-night.
I have invited you here to give you this warning, so that
you may be able to fill the gaps in the line caused by the
withdrawal of my men. You would be best advised to
send out a party at once with a flag of truce to the enemy
and see what terms you can make with him. You will
have no difiiculty in securing terms which will enable
you to get your women-folk away, and you will at the
worst be able to bring about a better condition of ajffairs
than will be the case if you wait till the Turks and the
Tartars take the town at the point of the bayonet. I
beg you will forego your usual custom of speech -making
and the passing of resolutions ; this is a time to act and not
to talk. Every man in this town knows and feels the truth
of what I have said ; what then will be the use of prolonged
discussions ? I will leave you here, however, to make
what decisions you like, and will return in an hour when
I hope you will have completed your deliberations."

While I was making this speech I noticed expressions
of doubt, horror, despair, and in some cases rage and
hatred on the faces of my listeners. They seemed abso-
lutely thunderstruck, as if the idea of the possible fall of
Baku was being put before them for the first time. As I
spoke of the withdrawal of the British detachment,
Yarmakov sprang from his chair and left the room. I
begged Major McDonnell to follow him and watch him.
He was always a man of action and capable of making
a quick decision, and I knew he had gone to the telephone
to call up the gunboats to open fire on our ships if we
attempted to leave the port.

During the next hour I visited General Bogratuni, the
War Minister, and found he had nothing to say against
my proposal to withdraw my troops, beyond begging
that I would not do so.

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 281

When I returned to the hotel I found the various
committees all passing resolutions as fast as they could.
I begged of them to cease the resolutions and take some
action, and again left them. In another hour I returned
and found a sailor just putting the fourteenth resolution
to the vote. After that it appeared certain that no action
would be taken that day. Under such conditions I could
not, in fairness to the town, carry out the immediate
withdrawal of my troops, and they remained in their
position. I sent, however, a warning note to the
Dictators, to which I received this reply :

''September 1, 1918. No. 34, Baku.
" From the Provisional Dictatorship of the Centro-Caspian.
" To Major-General Dunsterville, British Army Staff.

" We beg to inform you, in reply to your letter of
the 1st inst., that the British troops can only be per-
mitted to leave Baku at the same time as our own troops
and on the same terms, and only after evacuation of the
town by non-combatants.

" Signed by six members of the Prov. Dictatorship of
the Centro-Caspian and the Presidium of the Provisional
Executive Committee.

" Signed by the Secretary (illegible).''

On September 2nd and 3rd, the Turks showed little
signs of activity, and our troops remained in their previous
position, but from this moment everything was prepared
for an immediate evacuation, and only the word " go "
was necessary to set the whole scheme working.

On September 3rd I addressed the following letter to
the Commander-in-Chief :

282 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

" To General Dukuchaiev. (Copy to Dictators.)

" I learn with regret that the decision adopted on
September 1st by the majority of those interested in the
fate of Baku was overridden by some of the young members
of the Dictatorship. The members responsible for this
decision, in opposition to the more experienced leaders,
do not perhaps realize the future tragedy for which
they have made themselves responsible.

" The plan I put forward was with a view of saving the
large population of women and children from needless
massacre, a result it would have achieved. The present
course of action will, I fear, end in a sauve qui pent.

" So many miracles have so far occurred in our favour
that we may have perhaps even more, but nothing less
than a miracle can save the town from falling into the
hands of the enemy. And when it does fall there will be
no further warning. A successful attack from the north-
west would bring the Turks into the town before the
inhabitants were aware of their proximity.

" The danger point now is the right angle formed north
and west of Baladjari Station. It seems to me now
clearly indicated that this is where the final Turkish attack
will be made, while their cavalry will possibly endeavour
to come round our extreme right. No one can foresee
military events with certainty, and the attack may come
elsewhere, but this is a point where large reserves are
necessary.

" As regards my own troops, I am glad to have the
honour of accepting your orders tactically, as long as my
troops are not cut up into small detachments. But as
I understand that your war plans are controlled by the
Dictators, young men of no war experience, I must decline
to carry out any movements which I consider injudicious.

" With regard to the very curt reply of the Dictators
concerning the withdrawal of my troops, I do not consider

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 283

the command of my troops to be in the hands of the Dic-
tators, nor do I intend further to waste the lives of my
men by allowing them to hold on to positions when not
supported, and when units on their flanks retire.

" I have therefore instructed my commander at the
front to use his own discretion and to withdraw his
troops entirely from the fighting line when he thinks fit.

" This is the second time that I have spoken to this
effect, and when the time comes it will not be possible
to give you any further warning."

On September 4th I received this interesting communi-
cation from the Baku Government :

To Major-General Dunsterville, British Army.

" Your Excellency.

" Your letter to the Dictatorship, dated the
3 1st August, and your own and your assistants' verbal
statements that Baku will have to be surrendered, that
beyond the number of British troops already forming
your army you are unable to give * a single soldier,' and
finally your letter to General Dukuchaiev of the 3rd
September, compel the Dictatorship of Baku to inform
you in your capacity of Commander of the British Forces
and representative of the British Government at Baku as
follows :

" When we entered into a military agreement with you
We assumed joint responsibility with you for the
preservation of the town and district of Baku, both for
the Russian Republic and for the common front of the
Allies.

" Our alliance with you led to a rupture with the Bol-
shevik power in Russia. The supply of fighting men,
ammunition and materiel, foodstuffs and other commo-
dities to Baku had ceased altogether. You are, we trust,
not aware that after the overthrow of the Bolshevik power

284 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

in Baku, the representatives of Lenin's Government were
willing to acknowledge a Coalition Government in Baku,
to supply soldiers, ammunition and materiel, etc., and to
afEord us active assistance in the defence of Baku on
one condition, viz. the withdrawal of British troops
FROM Baku and district.

" We were unable to accept this condition. We believed
that in order to save Baku, to secure a democratic peace
in Europe, to bring about the annulling of the degrading
peace of Brest, and to upset the plans of conquest formed
by Germany and her Allies, concerted action with you
was necessary.

" We considered therefore (and in this respect we based
our conclusions on our negotiations with you and on your
own and your Government's declarations and announce-
ments), that you would bring to Baku a sufficient force,
not only to relieve the town from siege, but even to clear
the enemy out of Trans-Caucasia which has been torn
from the Russian Republic.

** Unhappily we were mistaken. During a period of
more than a month to the 3rd September you have
transferred to Baku little more than one thousand
MEN, with six guns and some other technical items.

" Leaving on one side the question of the force required
to drive the enemy out of Trans-Caucasia, the assistance
supplied by you is totally inadequate even for the
purpose of compelling the enemy to raise the siege of Baku.

" Whatever explanation may be forthcoming of the
inadequacy of the support you have rendered, however
excellent the military behaviour and technical equipment
of your Baku detachment, we consider it necessary to
inform you (and we request you to communicate our
views to your Government) that you have not rendered
the aid which we were entitled to expect of you,
on the grounds of your own pronouncements and declara-
tions and those of the representatives of your Government.

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 285

" Moreover, having in view the terms as offered to us
by Lenin's Government, we assert that your forces have
not only failed to augment but have actually reduced
the defensive strength of Baku, on which we might have
relied had we accepted the terms of the Bolshevik
party.

*' In view of the foregoing we insist that yof immedi-
ately TRANSFER SUFFICIENT REAL FORCES FROM PERSIA

OR Baghdad. We consider this assistance indispensable
FOR us AND OBLIGATORY ON YOU. In the expectation
of this assistance (we also expect reinforcements from
Bicherakov in Petrovsk and the North Caucasus) we con-
sider it imperative to sustain the attacks of the Turkish
Army for the next few days.

" We trust that in this we shall be successful. We
reject the suggestion to surrender the town to the enemy,
and are surprised at your insistence in urging such a
course. We are imbued with the sense of the imperative
necessity to fight to the end, to the last possibility. We
are convinced that your small, but in every respect
admirable, detachment will do its duty and share our
common fate. United by the bond of a common pur-
pose, WE MUST AND SHALL BE TOGETHER. Either We

win, or if history decides we perish together.

" Your letter to General Dukuchaiev was based on a
misconception. You suggest the surrender of the town.
We value your experience very highly, but we hold that
the suggestion of surrender is inadmissible and that all
possible means have not yet been exhausted. Such being
the case, your detachment must operate in contact with
the whole of the Baku army, of which it constitutes part.
The commander of your forces must act under the general
operative control of the commander of the Baku army.
In no case can he be permitted to * act on his own initi-
ative and to withdraw his troops from the firing line,'
as you say in your letter of the 3rd September, * whenever

286 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

he may consider it necessary.' There is a fundamental
principle of military wisdom ; Unity of action — Unity

OF CONTROL.

" We trust that your military experience and the excel-
lent organization of the British Army will not only enable
us in these difficult days to realize such unity of action,
but will furthermore create such conditions in our army,
feebly organized as it is and deficient in training and
officers, yet prepared to lay down its life, as will enable it
to offer effective resistance to the enemy's attempts to
take the town.

" In conclusion we beg to point out that the Dicta-
torship has no intention whatever * to command your
detachment ' or to influence military operations. The
Dictatorship of the Centro-Caspian and Ispolkom (Execu-
tive Committee) represents the supreme power in Baku,
pending the assembling of the Baku Council of Workmen,
Soldiers' and Sailors' Deputies, and has appointed suit-
able and trained specialists (the Commander of the Force
and the Chief of the Staff at the front and the Military
and Naval Commissary at the rear) to the office of directing
the fighting forces, to whom is entrusted the control of
the military operations of the army and who, we trust,
with your direct co-operation, will carry out firmly and
energetically, the only military demand of the Dictator-
ship, viz. the defence of the town at all costs from the
Turks, until such time as the necessary reinforcements are
forthcoming, whether from your side or other parts of
Russia, and thus strengthen the common fighting front of
the Allies against the armies of the Turko- German
coalition.

" (Signed) President of the Dictatorship :

H. TUSHOFF,

Vice-President, Members and Secretary.
(Signatures illegible.) "

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 287

Judged purely on its merits as a literary effort
this letter could hardly be improved on, but judged
from the standpoint of facts its merits are entirely
lacking.

The narrative up to this point will enable the reader
to see for himself the fallacies on which most of the argu-
ments are based, but I will single out the most important
ones.

The statement of their basing their expectation of
more substantial aid on the grounds of my pronounce-
ments is entirely refuted by my letter to Dr. Araratiantz
in Chapter XH.

As to the Dictators not desiring to command my troops,
the truth of the matter is that although they had appointed
a Commander-in-Chief, they interfered in all military
matters, even going to the length of issuing orders direct
to the town troops and sending indents for ammunition
required at certain points direct to the arsenal.

Finally, the statement to the effect that the Baku
army was prepared to lay down its life was as far from
the truth as any statement is capable of being. Had the
Baku army been inspired by any such feeling, the defence
of the town would have been easy, and we could have
driven the Turks back to Tiflis. But I have already
given a few examples, out of the many that occurred
daily, showing that to " lay down its life " was just
exactly what the Baku army was unanimously determined
not to do.

Before receiving this letter, I had already sent the
following communication to the Dictators :

" Dictators.

** As it is essential to any form of success that allies
should work together in friendly harmony (and I regret
to state that since my arrival here the Government have

288 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

never ceased to regard the whole of my work in a most
unfriendly way), I think it advisable to forward for perusal
copies of certain dispatches, the originals of which may
be seen in my office on application to me.

" My contemplated withdrawal of my troops in the last
extremity has been also regarded as a dishonourable act.
I wish to point out for the benefit of those who have not
studied war and who do not know the rules of war that
it is the first duty of every commander to avoid needless
sacrifice of lives when a situation is hopeless, to avoid
surrendering his troops to the enemy and to place them
in a fresh position whence they may be able to continue
their general operations against the enemy.

" It is said that by failing to send a larger detachment
here the British have betrayed the town of Baku. This
cannot for a moment be admitted. In the face of immense
difficulties, and at the sacrifice of their plans elsewhere,
the British responded to your appeal for help, and sent
to you every man they could spare. For three weeks the
British troops have borne the brunt of attacks by over-
whelming numbers, and it cannot be denied that they
have fought with courage, and have freely given their
lives for you. Their presence here has at least postponed
the evil day of the fall of Baku, and in the last event I
am confident that it will enable you to make better
terms with the enemy than you could otherwise have
done.

" With this explanation, together with my letter of
August 31st, I trust the whole matter may be made quite
clear and that we may avoid misunderstanding in future.
The enemy has agents among you even of your own
nationality, whose one task is to sow discord between us.
Do not let them succeed.'*

The whole correspondence was closed by the following
letter, which I dispatched on September 5, 1918 :

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 289

" To the Dictators of the Centro-Caspian Government,

" Gentlemen,

" I have received your letter of the 4th September,
the contents of which I have transmitted to the High
Command in Baghdad.

" Since writing, you will have received my letter of the
same date, with extracts from telegrams which I trust
will completely remove any misconception as to what
my attitude has been.

" I am fully in agreement with all that you say as to
the importance of saving Baku, and I have never ceased
to impress this view on my Government. I am bound to
point out, however, that your view of the conduct of the
British Government in failing to provide a sufficient
force to raise the seige of Baku is based on a fallacy.
Neither I nor my Government have ever declared that
we could bring to Baku a sufficient force to save Baku
unaided. On the contrary, we were led to believe that
Baku already possessed a fighting force of at least 10,000
men, who only required organization and a backing of
a small British force to render them capable of defeating
the enemy. I have no desire to belittle the bravery of
the men of Baku, still less to enter into a controversy
with you on the subject ; and in saying that neither in
discipline nor in steadiness under fire have they come
up to my expectations, I refer to this matter for the last
time.

" It now remains for us to face the situation together,
and to do our best to meet it with the means at our disposal.
I have submitted to your Minister of War a proposal for
the organization of the Baku forces in brigades, which I
am confident will lead to good results. If you see any
objections to the proposal, I trust that you will tell me
frankly what they are.

'*The promise of reinforcements from Petrovsk,

290 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

together with a thorough reorganization and the infusion
of a new spirit into the Baku troops, may temporarily
put a new complexion on the situation. But it is still
my duty to warn you that the chance of saving Baku by
military force is very remote. I have reliable information
that the Turks and Germans are sending very large rein-
forcements, including aeroplanes and heavy guns, to their
army before Baku ; and I put it to you in terms of the
strongest recommendation that you should urge on the
evacuation of your women and children by every means
in your power.

" Baku,

''September 5, 1918."

The foregoing extracts from the correspondence which
passed between myself and the Baku Government will
give a very clear idea of the situation in that town in the
first week of September 1918.

Before I finally quit this subject of the Baku Govern-
ment, the military command and the peculiarities of
revolutionaries in general, I wish to make it quite clear
that I have no intention of belittling their laudable efforts
or of making fun of their troubles. The ridiculous situa-
tions I have described would presumably take place to a
greater or less degree in any revolution in any country.

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. The military staff could not be
expected to accomplish much more than they did with
untrained troops and with no powers of enforcing discipline.
The young men who composed the Dictatorate were keen,
intelligent and enthusiastic. In many ways they achieved
remarkable successes.

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 291

While all previously existing laws were in abeyance,
the maintenance of order among the citizens of Baku was
remarkable, and the difficult task of rationing the popula-
tion was dealt with courageously.

On September 6th a shell intended for our Head
Quarters fell a hundred yards short and set fire to a house
in the adjoining street. In five minutes the fire engines
were at work, the firemen being smartly turned out and
as efficient as in any town in Europe. The fire was quickly
got under, and by that time the fire brigade received an
urgent summons to another quarter of the town, to which
they responded with equal alacrity. This episode struck
me as showing a very marked advance towards the restora-
tion of general order in the town.

During the week from September 5th to September
12th good progress was made in training of troops, but
discipline still remained weak, and troops dispatched to
take up certain positions in the line often failed to reach
their destination. The enemy contented himself with
minor operations carried out with a view of discovering
our weak points, and with very frequent shelling of the
town.

We had now two Russian hydroplanes and two of
our own aeroplanes at work, and as the enemy possessed
no aircraft this should have given us a great advantage
over him. But September is the month of hot winds
and dust-storms in Baku, and the advantages we might
have gained from aerial observation were nullified by the
bad weather conditions.

We had six armoured cars in action, three of our own,
and three Russian under Captain the Marquis d'Albizzi,
all of which did extremely good work.

On September 12th an Arab deserted to us from the
Turks, and from the information we obtained from him
we gathered that the enemy were preparing for a great
assault on September 14th. This information was ex-

292 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

tremely useful, as it enabled us to have all our troops on
the ground, whereas on ordinary occasions a certain
proportion were always employed on various detached
duties. But our informant was unwilling or unable to
give any exact information as to where the attack would
fall, and we had therefore to make dispositions with our
very small number of troops to meet an attack on a large
scale on any part of a 14-mile front. The Arab certainly
made suggestions about our left being the point of attack,
and that flank was accordingly strengthened ; but it was
impossible to rely on his rather vague assertions, nor was
it likely that he would be in possession of such information
which would certainly be kept secret by the enemy Head
Quarters till the last moment.

The warning as to the probability of an attack on
the following day came just in time to enable me to keep
back Colonel Rawlinson, who was to have left on September
13th for Lenkoran, whence he was to carry out a raid in
Ford cars on the enemy's lines of communications north
of the Mughan Steppe. The intention was to destroy a
bridge on the Tiflis line and so cut the railway in the rear
of the Caucasus-Islam Army. Colonel Rawlinson had
made very careful preparation for this task, and I am
convinced that it would have met with success had time
allowed of its being undertaken.

A slight increase to our garrison had recently been
received in the shape of 500 men with ten machine-guns
sent by Bicherakov, with a promise of more as soon as
he could arrange for dispatch. These men were not of
his best troops, in fact they were mostly composed of
Baku men whom he had taken north with him in August,
and who were now merely returning to their homes, but
their training and discipline was superior to that of the
local forces, and they were a welcome addition to the
garrison.

It was certain that during the ensuing fight and possible

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 293

withdrawal telephones would play a large part. We were
well equipped with these, and Major Pulverman, who
had been in charge of our signalling arrangements for
the last six months, was busy throughout the day and
during the next day's fighting in keeping the lines in
working order. Both he and Captain Foxlee were experts
at their work, and the success of the final evacuation is
due in a great measure to their being able to keep com-
munication going up to the last moment.

Our aeroplanes had during the last week been able,
in the occasional lulls in the dust-storms, to observe the
enemy's movements, and their reports were to the effect
that a large number of troop trains were constantly arriving
from the west, from which it became increasingly clear
that considerable Turkish reinforcements were arriving.
In spite of this the Dictators persisted in clinging to the
fanciful idea that the Turks were evacuating !

Up to the very last moment the question of the Brigade
organization to which I have referred was still under
discussion, furnishing our last example of the dilatoriness
of revolutionary procedure. The Dictators demanded that
in all cases the Brigade Commander should be a Russian
or Armenian officer. To this I replied that I had no
objection to my troops serving under a Russian or Armenian
commander, provided that he were not only of the proper
seniority, but also an officer of considerable experience
in the present war. They had no officers of the necessary
war experience, but I would have eventually agreed to
anything to get the movement started, and would have
relied on getting things into order later. In any case
I knew that the British battalion commander would see
things through on the right lines, whether he were in
command or not.

At the same time the army, the fleet and the town
generally were daily becoming more impatient at the
ineffectiveness of the Dictators, and a strong movement

294 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

was on foot to remove the present Government and to
hand over the entire control, civil and military, to the
British.

This was a question I had already considered. It had
sometimes appeared to me that the only solution of the
difficulty would be forcibly to remove the Dictators and set
up an allied government, with full power of civil and
military administration in my own hands.

I was very much tempted to take this line of action,
but I had to abandon the idea in view of the paucity of
officers available for the various tasks that would become
necessary. The great majority of my officers had been
left in Persia, and not one of those now in Baku could be
spared from the firing line or from the various adminis-
trative appointments we were already holding.

I had therefore to rest content with the limited control
we had already secured by having a British officer as
Chief of the Staff and others in charge of the arsenal,
the machine-guns and the combined infantry of the
defensive line.

On the night of September 13, 1914, the general dis-
position of the Baku troops and our own was as
follows :

The high ground on the extreme left of the line, covering
the Bibi Eibat oilfields, was held by A Company of
the 7th North Staffords, about 60 rifles, under Captain
Bollington. A battalion of Armenians (probably not
much over 100 strong) was in local reserve in rear of this
flank. At Wolf's Gap was a detachment of Russians
with two machine-guns. A hundred rifles of the North
Staffords, which were the only British troops in general
reserve, were sent at dusk to occupy the crest of the hill
in rear of A Company, the intention being to guard
that particular point, which dominated the whole of the
left flank from a night attack, and to withdraw the reserve
at daybreak by motor transport to Baku.

THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS 295

On the northern slopes of this hill were a battery of
three-inch field guns and two howitzers.

To the north of Wolf's Gap about 800 yards of the
line were held by B Company of the North Staffords
under Captain Turkington. The line was prolonged to
the right by Armenian troops to a point opposite the
village of Khoja Hasan. One battery of howitzers and
one of three-inch field guns were posted north of the
Wolf's Gap road. A reserve of two Armenian battalions
was posted at White House, 1 J miles on the road to Baku,
where was also the Head Quarters of the left section,
commanded by Colonel Beg Surab, with Major Dayrell
as liaison officer.

The right section of the defences, commanded by
Colonel Kazarov, with Major Engledue as liaison officer
commenced from opposite the village of Khoja Hasan.
From that point to the apex of the Baladjari salient the
line was held by Bicherakov's brigade, about 600 strong.

Baladjari was held by two companies of the 9th
Worcesters, and the line from Baladjari to Darnagul by
the 9th Royal Warwicks. The south bank of the Darnagul
salt lake (which was almost dry) was held by an Armenian
battalion, and the defile immediately east of it by four
machine-guns of the Armoured Car Machine Gun Squadron.
One company of the North Staffords, about 50 strong,
was in local reserve at the point where the Baladjari road
crosses the ridge ; and a company of the Warwicks,
100 strong, was in local reserve at the 39th Brigade
Head Quarters, about 2 miles east of that point on the
Baku-Binagadi road. Four field batteries, including the
8th Battery R.F.A. and one battery of howitzers, were
with the right section. Two of the British armoured cars
were stationed at Baladjari, the third was in reserve at
Baku. A force of about 500 Armenians with a battery
of three-inch guns, three Russian armoured cars and the
cavalry squadron, was operating in the vicinity of Sura-

296 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

khani on the extreme right, in order to check a Turkish
mounted force which was threatening that flank. This
threat was never of a serious nature, and General Duku-
chaiev was urged to withdraw the greater portion of this
force to reinforce his left, but he was unaccountably-
nervous about his right flank and refused to weaken it.
The command of the combined troops was of course
in the hands of the Russian Commander-in-Chief, but
the executive commands for the movements and dis-
positions of the British troops on September 14th were
actually given by Colonel Key worth, who was throughout
in communication with Colonel Stokes, Chief of the Staff
to General Dukuchaiev, and by Colonel Faviell, com-
manding the 39th Brigade, on the right, and by Major
Ley, commanding the 7th North Staffords, on the left.
I was myself in close touch with General Dukuchaiev,
as well as with the Dictators, and General Bogratuni, the
Minister of War.

This statement takes no account of most of the Baku
troops, whose dispositions were never known to us. We
received copies of the orders issued by General Duku-
chaiev, but the troops never moved in accordance with
these orders.

CHAPTER XVII
THE WITHDRAWAL

BEFORE dawn on this fateful day, September 14th,
the information given by the Arab deserter had
been proved to be entirely accurate.

At 4 a.m., from my Head Quarters on board the S.S.
President Kriiger alongside the Caucasus-Mercury wharf,
the sound of very heavy firing all along the line announced
that the great attack had begun. Now for the supreme
test of the Baku troops ! If they would only hold firm,
all would be well. Their training and morale had latterly
much improved, the position had great natural strength,
and if the Turks gained a footing on the heights above
the town they could only do so after suffering heavy loss.
Should this happen a counter-attack would give us the
victory, and before another attack on a large scale could
be brought off reinforcements from Bicherakov in the
north and from our own people in the south would render
the town practically impregnable.

So it was with high hopes that we realized that the
issue was now to be put to the test, hopes that were to be
dashed to the ground on the receipt of the first telephone
message. This despairing message was to the effect that
the battle was over, and the victorious Turks were advanc-
ing at a run, without opposition, on the town. This was
no great exaggeration of the actual facts, which were as
follows. Attacking at 4 a.m. due east across the Railway

297

298 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

valley on to the Wolf's Gap, the Turks had stormed this
strongest part of the line, where the road leads directly
up the steep cliffs, and having broken right through the
Baku battalion supposed to be holding this line, were now
actually in possession of the heights immediately above
the town, within some hundreds of yards of its outskirts
and 3,000 yards from the wharves. It was incredible
that this strongest portion of the whole line should so
easily have fallen to the enemy, especially when all troops
had been warned of the impending attack, but though
incredible it was true. With troops who suffered immediate
defeat with every factor in their favour, truly there was
nothing more to be hoped for from Baku, and the problem
now became one of how to save a rout and hold up the
enemy long enough to enable an orderly evacuation of
our troops to be effected.

If the enemy already had his cavalry and infantry on
the high ground, his guns should be there shortly, and once
they were there the harbour lay at his mercy.

But at this moment the Caucasus-Islam Army was
seized with its usual hesitation, giving us time to make
such dispositions as almost enabled us to turn defeat
into victory ; in fact, victory would even now have been
assured if the town troops would only have made the
smallest effort.

The 900 rifles of the 39th Brigade — which with some of
Bicherakov's men and the town artillery were all that
could be relied on — were disposed with the Warwicks and
the Worcesters on the right, facing north opposite the
Baladjari Railway Station, and the North Staffordshire
on the left, with their left on the sea.

The pressure being now entirely on the left centre
and left, and the Turks being in actual possession of the
centre, it became necessary to withdraw the North Staffords
to a second position, thus saving them from being out-
flanked and shortening their Hne, while still retaining hold

THE WITHDRAWAL 299

of the higher ground. This shortening of the line enabled
Major Ley, who handled his battalion throughout the day
with great skill and bravery, to send one company to
engage the Turks holding the plateau, while Colonel Key-
worth dispatched further reinforcements to strengthen
this part of the line and endeavour to render the enemy's
position on the plateau untenable.

These dispositions, which were effected by 8 a.m.,
entirely stopped the Turkish advance, but owing to the
security afforded to the enemy by the folds in the ground,
and the small number of British troops available rendering
counter-attack impossible, our efforts did not succeed
in driving him from the position, which he held throughout
the day.

However, the enemy's advance was now checked, and
all hope was not lost. To use a considerable portion of the
39th Brigade for counter-attack, which one was much
tempted to do, would have resulted in the usual melting
away of the portion of the line from which they would
have to be withdrawn, and was consequently not to be
thought of. Was it too much to still hope for some
form of counter-attack from the town troops ? This was
the hope we clung to throughout the day, and which more
than once seemed on the verge of realization. Counter-
attacks ordered by General Dukuchaiev seldom even got
as far as the assembly of the necessary troops, those detailed
for the task mysteriously failing to reach the rendezvous.
But there are exceptions to every rule, and among
unheroic people one does get remarkable instances of
heroism.

Twice a counter-attack was got on the move and
advanced bravely, but bravery mthout skill is unavailing.
The leading was bad and failure was the result. In most
cases the Baku battalions had fine commanders, but
company and platoon commanders, who are all-important
in counter-attack, were miserable.

•00 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

However, at 8 a.m. the situation was not so bad. The
left was fairly secure, the centre had been reformed, and
the Turks on the plateau were now unable to pursue the
victorious advance that they could so easily have maintained
earlier in the day but for their initial hesitation. The
Warwicks and Worcesters, under Colonel Faviell, were
holding their own on the right, but were threatened by a
Turkish attack from the north. This attack materialized
later, but was successfully beaten off. The line was being
reinforced and strengthened everywhere ; two aeroplanes
were busy with machine-guns and bombs, and the six
armoured-cars — three British and three Russian — were
doing fine work on the plateau.

But as the enemy was now holding the heights right
and left of Wolf's Gap, he was enabled to bring up his
reinforcements almost unimpeded, and, unless a successful
counter-attack could be brought off, it would soon be
impossible to prevent him from completing his capture
of the town. Any further advance on his part would
drive a wedge in between the two portions of the 39th
Brigade and compel their withdrawal.

All this time the town was being shelled at intervals.
The shells did little harm, but the Turk knew well the
moral effect of shell fire in a town. He calculated on
maintaining a state of panic, and the town fully justified
his calculations.

About 9 a.m. came the joyful news that two ships had
arrived bringing reinforcements from Bieherakov. As his
troops could certainly be relied on, it seemed that now
indeed the situation might be saved. The news went
round the town and up to the fighting troops with extra-
ordinary rapidity, and the fighting value of the local
army increased by fifty per cent. There were the ships
slowly coming into harbour, crowded from bow to stern.
But alas, our field glasses showed us only too plainly
that whatever they were they had not much the appearance

THE WITHDRAWAL 301

of troops. In a short time it transpired that the ships
contained not Bicherakov's heroes, but the unheroic
elements of Baku itself, who had boarded two steamers
and put to sea in ignominious flight and had been
recaptured by one of the gunboats and brought back.
But the false news had been helpful, and the reaction
on discovery of the disappointment could not make
things any worse than they were before.

The principal targets in the town for the enemy*s
artillery were the two hotels, the Europe and the
M^tropole, which had been alternately used as Colonel
Key worth's Head Quarters. These were soon rendered
untenable.

Throughout the morning I was very loth to interfere
with General Dukuchaiev, the Commander-in-Chief, as
I was quite aware of the need for his being able to work
out his plans without disturbance, and with Colonel
Stokes as his Chief Staff Officer I felt quite confident
of the liaison between the 39th Brigade and the local
troops being maintained and of sound measures being
undertaken. When I did determine to visit him in his
Head Quarters I found that I had been needlessly diffident.
I was admitted to his office at 11 a.m., and a worse
state of confusion I have never beheld. This indeed made
me lose all hope. I am not blaming the General himself ;
it is hard to play the part of Commander-in-Chief in a
revolutionary army when aU are equal and all have an
equal right to make and discuss plans, but the adoption
of any consistent line of action amid such turmoil becomes
impossible.

True enough the General's room was in a sort of inner
sanctuary, reached after passing through several other
rooms containing an unnecessary number of soldier-
clerks and officials, but on opening the door I soon found
that though in a remote corner, it was by no means a
sanctuary. In fact it is hardly an exaggeration to say

802 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

that the sound of the shells bursting in the street outside
was drowned by the din within. The first sight that met
my gaze was the General himself, not seated quietly with
his Staff pondering the problem before him, but standing
in the middle of the room with a tall Cossack Lieutenant
towering over him and gesticulating with such fury that
I really thought he was about to strike him. There is
no advantage in mentioning this officer's name, but he
was well known to us all as a man of most excitable tem-
perament, and he will doubtless recognize himself if this
book ever comes his way.

When the Lieutenant was removed, the General,
instead of ordering his arrest, merely said, " Yes, he's
a hot-tempered fellow, isn't he ? " Truly the Russian
temperament is a wonderful mixture of extremes. Frantic
excitement instantaneously replaced by placid calm.

Other less furious advisers stood ready to take the
Lieutenant's place, the telephone bell rang incessantly,
and the General answered most of the calls himself, while
on the balcony were gathered Colonel Stokes and other
British officers, who found the turmoil of the street
noises less disturbing than the clamour of the office.

The object of my visit was firstly to find out how things
were going at Russian Head Quarters, and secondly to
impress on the General that only by determined counter-
attack could the situation be saved. The latter point
had naturally been already considered, and after short
discussion it appeared that the orders the Chief was about
to issue should bring about the desired result, But judg-
ing from the half conversations that I overheard as the
General spoke on the telephone to some Staff Officer,
I entertained small hope of the attack being brought off.
The following are examples of the telephonic fragments
I overheard. '* Why isn't his battalion there ? " "I
gave the orders two days ago and have since repeated
them three times." " Don't you know where that

THE WITHDRAWAL 808

battalion is ? " " If he doesn't obey orders he'll have to
be placed under arrest."

The result of this visit was to convince me that unless
a fresh miracle were added to the already long list, Baku
could not be saved, and it was time to consider the pre-
liminary steps for evacuation. I therefore returned to
the ships and gave instructions to commence precautionary
measures. Commodore Norris, R.N., thereupon took all
necessary measures for the preparation of the ships.
The Kursk and Abo were made ready for the sick and
wounded, while the Kriiger was to carry the guns and the
greater portion of the fighting men. The latter would
number about 1,300, as in addition to the 900 in the firing
line, some 400 were employed on town duties, guards,
supplies, etc. This last reserve was also to find, in case
of a sauve qui peut with which we were always threatened,
a rallying point and general support amidst the confusion
of a fighting retirement. Cotton bales from the wharf
were hauled on board and disposed so as to protect the
bridge and the more vulnerable parts of the ship against
rifle fire. This was all we could do in the way of protection,
as no strengthening could help us against the fire of the
larger guns from the Baku fleet if, as seemed probable,
it turned against us at the last moment.

It was a great boon that so far the telephone lines had
not been cut, in spite of the fact that the town was full
of enemy agents, and as a matter of fact they remained
intact up to the last moment, thereby greatly facilitating
movements covering the evacuation.

Detailed orders had been previously issued on the '
subject of the withdrawal and made known to every
man in the force. The final order would now merely
require to state the hour at which the withdrawal should
commence, and the flank from which it should begin.
But even with every possible contingency foreseen, the
operation would be attended with very great risks, and

804 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

the chances of success were not great. To endeavour to
extricate troops from the fight is in itself a risky proceeding,
and is likely, with an active enemy, to result in disaster.
Luckily one might safely say that our enemy was not a
very active one. Then, when the news of our intended
withdrawal spread round the town, the entire population
would regard us as enemies, and my troops would have to
fight their way through the streets to the ships. And
finally I was convinced that the Government would
order their fleet to open fire on us as we left the harbour.

Up till 4 p.m. I considered that a faint ray of hope
still remained. It would take so little to defeat an enemy
who had been kept at bay for twelve hours after having
gained the key of the position. But by that hour the
last flicker of hope was extinguished by the news that once
more the endeavour to mass troops for the counter-attack
had completely failed. So off went the final order to the
troops. The retirement to commence from the right at
8 p.m., covered by the left, where the North Staff or ds
would have to hold on for another hour, till 9 p.m.

The sick and wounded from the shore hospital were
brought on board the Kursk and the Abo, and arrangements
made for future cases to be run straight on board from the
dressing stations. Guards were placed as unostentatiously
as possible at important street corners to help the with-
drawing troops through in case of pursuit by a mob, and
all entrances to the pier were strongly held.

Now remained only a matter of honour and conscience.
I had previously notified the Dictators that when I should
judge the moment right for departure, I would remove
my troops without giving any further warning. I was
quite within my rights, therefore, if I acted up to this and
slipped away without any notification. But nothing is
ever certain in war, and miracles might happen after our
departure that would still enable the inhabitants to hold
the town if given a fair chance of doing so ; and a secret

THE WITHDRAWAL 805

withdrawal, leaving gaps in the most important parts of
the line, would not be giving them a fair chance. The
Turks were not yet actually in the town ; they had once
before been seized by panic and fled in the moment of
victory, under circumstances very similar to the present,
and this might happen again.

On the other hand, it was a foregone conclusion that
if I warned the Dictators of my intentions they would
turn their own troops and the guns of the fleet on to us.
The problem of how to save both my honour and my men
was not an easy one to solve.

I finally decided to inform the Dictators of my inten-
tions and to take the chances, rather than leave them
with a feeling (unjust but natural) that they had been
betrayed by the British. I accordingly dispatched Captain
Bray, my Russian A.D.C., with a written communication
to the Dictators informing them briefly that I was about
to remove my troops. When Captain Bray reached the
Government Head Quarters the building was being heavily
shelled, and those of the Dictators who were there
together with the various Commissaries and Deputies
were in such a state of bewilderment that they merely
replied verbally, " Do what you please." This was
satisfactory so far, but the mood was not to be relied
on, and I relaxed none of the precautions.

Up till sunset the battle raged very fiercely, and the
whole safety of the withdrawal depended on whether the
North Staffords could hold on to the southern ridges till
dark.

Nothing could exceed the gallantry of this battalion,
which accomplished its mission to the last letter. The
whole Brigade worked with unexampled steadiness and
precision, and many stories could be told of the heroic
lives laid down on this last day of the Baku fighting. Among
others a very fine soldier. Major Beresford Havelock, of
the North Staff ords, grandson of the famous Sir Henry

306 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

Havelock of Lucknow, was mortally wounded while
leading his men, and continued issuing calm and collected
orders with his last breath.

As the sun set the fighting died down, both sides
feeling the strain of fourteen hours' unbroken effort.
The great advantage of this was that it made the extrica-
tion of troops easier, and secondly casualties almost
entirely ceased about this hour. The problem of the
removal of wounded men in the dark under all these
difficulties was a nightmare to me, and I was grateful
that the problem thus solved itself.

Soon after dark all the sick and wounded were safely
on board the Kursk and Aho, and the two steamers got
under way for Enzeli. Their instructions were to offer no
resistance to any serious opposition, to comply with all
orders in case of a meeting with the fleet, and to explain
that the steamers held the sick and wounded, to the
evacuation of whom no objection was likely to be raised.
It was fortunate that we were able to get both of these
ships away before the suspicions of the town had been
aroused. That was not likely to be our case.

By 10 p.m. all troops and guns were on board the
Kriiger. The artillery horses we had been able to hand
over to a portion of Bicherakov's detachment, who had
room for them in a steamer, in which they were evacu-
ating north to rejoin their Head Quarters at Petrovsk.
Nothing now remained but to get on board as much
ammunition as possible, and to see that Colonel Rawlin-
son was ready to follow with his small steamer.

The Arsenal, of which Colonel Rawlinson had been in
charge, was within 500 yards of our wharf and had a
small pier of its own. During the day he had been
engaged in transferring the contents of the Arsenal to
barges moored in the harbour, which could be sunk at a
moment's notice if necessary. But it was obviously
advantageous to take away with us such munitions and

THE WITHDRAWAL 807

stores as might be likely to be of use to us in a renewal
of operations. For this purpose Colonel Rawlinson had
commandeered a small steamer, the Armenian , of only
200 tons, and had completely filled her with arms,
ammunition and explosives. The crew of this ship were
mutinous and determined not to sail. It was obvious
therefore that if compelled to sail by force they would
steer a wrong course, so it was arranged that when I
was ready to get the Krilger under way I should haul
down my three lights from the masts (which had been the
guiding signal for any individual soldier who might have
got lost in the town), and Colonel Rawlinson, on seeing
this, would get his steamer on the move and follow
immediately in our wake. This sounds fairly easy, but
in the event proved so difficult that it is a wonder that
the Armenian ever found her way out at all. How it
worked out will be told later in Colonel Rawlinson's
own words.

Now that all was ready for the start, with the excep-
tion of some ammunition which we were still loading on
to the Krilger, came the event which I had foreseen.

The spirits of the Dictators and the town rose and fell,
not as the news from the fighting troops was good or bad,
but as the number of shells bursting close to them in the
town decreased or increased. The only shells that did
not matter were of course those that fell in the town, but
it is the habit of towns to think otherwise.

In Baku, when the town was heavily shelled but with
trifling casualties, the people wailed, '' All is lost " ; when
the shell fire was concentrated on to the fighting troops,
and all might well be truly lost, they cried, " We are
saved ! "

Now with the cessation of shell fire on the town the
spirits of the Dictators rose, and the fighting spirit that
had hitherto been so well concealed became rampant.
Once more was raised the cry that only came with the

308 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

lulls in the firing, " We will fight to the death ! " Then
came the anxious queries, ** What are the British doing ? "
'* Why are they deserting us ? " and so on, resulting in
the dispatch of emissaries to convey orders to me on
board the Kriiger.

Meantime the town also was beginning to take alarm,
and had the wharf not been carefully guarded the trouble
might have begun. A mounted soldier of the Baku
force galloped up to the entrance of the wharf, where he
was confronted by the stolid sentry, to whom he shouted
out, " What's all this going on here ? " " Why are the
British deserting us ? " ** Stop these movements at once,*'
and then galloped off to alarm the town. The gist of his
remarks were quite lost on the sentry, to whom I did not
think it necessary to translate them.

At this moment the expected delegation from the
Government put in its appearance. Two Dictators,
Lemlin and Sadovsky, arrived on the wharf and demanded
to see the British General on an urgent matter. I took
them on board the Kriiger, seated them in the saloon and
inquired their business. The spokesman Sadovsky replied :
" I bring you written instructions from the Baku Govern-
ment to the effect that any attempt at withdrawal on your
part will be regarded as treachery and treated as such.
If you have removed any of your troops from the firing
line you are at once to send them back to their original
positions. The Turks are not yet in the town and we mean
to continue the fight."

In reply to this demand I stated briefly my point of
view in the following words : " Please inform the Baku
Government that my present withdrawal is not in any
sense a betrayal, as you have had full and ample warning
of my intentions. My troops have sustained the fight
throughout the day for sixteen hours without relief or
any real support from your troops, who have done little
of the fighting. Under such circumstances I refuse to

THE WITHDRAWAL 309

sacrifice any more of their lives in a vain cause. As to
their returning to their original positions in the firing line,
they are physically incapable, after their sixteen hours*
fighting, of carrying out that order, and I will give no
such order. I sail at once."

On this Sadovsky assumed a fierce and truculent air
and said, " Then the fleet will open fire on you and sink
your ships," to which I replied, ** I hope not," and bowed
them off the ship.

A Staff Officer whispered in my ear, *' Why not arrest
them and take them along ? " a useful suggestion, but I
felt we could accomplish what we wanted without intro-
ducing any complications, and so I decided against it.

I should be able to sail by 11 p.m. ; the gunboats were
some distance away. It would take the Dictators some
time to get their orders decided on and transmitted to
the fleet, and revolutionary fleets do not obey orders with
any alacrity. The fleet also did not care much for any
Government and were rather friends of ours ; at the last
moment they might, and probably would, hesitate to
fire on the only troops who had done anything to try and
save Baku from the Turks. Moreover, we would leave
with all lights out, and the gunboats had no searchlights,
as we had borrowed them for use on the front ; we could
risk a good deal of fire under such circumstances. The
only real danger was the Guardship stationed at the exit
of the harbour to check all arrivals and departures. It
would be necessary to pass within 500 yards of her, but
we would be going dead slow and the night was fortunately
dark. If she opened fire she had no large guns on board —
certainly nothing larger than a field gun — and the
probability of her sinking us was quite small, so the risk
was not an undue one.

It was an anxious moment when the clock struck eleven
and Commodore Norris gave the order to cast off. The
three lights were hauled down from the masts, giving the

810 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

signal to Colonel Rawlinson that we were o£E, and the ship
silently slipped away from the wharf. Quietly we glided
through the calm waters of the harbour, the Captain
steering cleverly so as to keep some anchored ship or
barge between us and the Guardship.

It is always at such moments of tension that the ridicu-
lous intervenes and brings tragedy very close. The silence
of the night was suddenly rent by an excited Russian voice.
A sailor rushed on deck exclaiming in accents of despair,
*' My wife ! My wife ! I've left my wife behind ! Oh,
save my wife ! " an appeal that to the sentimental crew
was far more urgent than any orders from the Captain
of the ship. The engines stopped, down went the anchor
with a clang and a rattle, the ship slowly swung round,
up came the anchor again and we retraced our course to
the wharf where, after some clever manoeuvring, the
Krilger was brought alongside and the lady rescued. All
such incidents have just to be put up with when dealing
with revolutionary crews. The crew rule the ship, and
any interference with them only turns them sulky and
defeats its own object.

No particular alarm appeared to have been caused by
the rattle of the anchor chains, and the only thing I
regretted was the delay and the knowledge that I was
making things rather difficult for Colonel Rawlinson,
whose orders to " follow the Krilger " would become
rather difficult to carry out.

On a second attempt to leave the wharf another
female voice was raised in supplication, and further delay
occurred in getting this second forlorn person on board,
and when at last we got away again it was well past
midnight.

All went well now till the critical moment when we
were dead opposite the Guardship, creeping along behind
a row of barges at anchor. At this crisis some clever
ill-wisher among the crew turned all the electric lights

THE WITHDRAWAL 311

full on. Now indeed matters would be put to the
test!

With the first flash of lights came a signal from the
Guardship, " Who are you ? Anchor at once." To
which we responded with alacrity signifying acquiescence,
and went full speed ahead.

It did not take long for the Guardship to realize
that we were disobeying orders, and she immediately
opened fire with a gun of small calibre. The first shot
whizzed over in close proximity to the bridge, where
Commodore Norris and Colonel Hoskyn were standing
by the Captain. This was too much for the man at the
wheel, who incontinently fled, leaving the ship to look
after herself. In half a second the Captain, Alexander
Ivanovitch Feodorov, had hold of the wheel and kept
her on her course. Our speed soon took us into safety,
and no shots struck the ship, but from the continuation
of the fire I judged that the little Armenian had been
discovered and was getting the full benefit of the Guard-
ship's attentions. Colonel Rawlinson's predicament in
his vessel loaded with explosives under so heavy a fire
was as bad as it could be, and I momentarily expected
to hear the sound of an explosion, which would mean
the fatal termination of his enterprise. No such sound,
however, reached our ears as long as we were within
hearing distance of the harbour, but there still remained
the great risk of so slow-steaming a vessel with a sulky
crew falling into the hands of a pursuer, and the chances
of his escape seemed very small indeed.

As regards the Kriiger her risks seemed now at an end.
Pursuit was improbable and her speed was only about one
knot less than that of the gunboats. When dawn broke
on the morning of Sunday, 15th, we were making good
way over the smooth surface of the Caspian, and the Baku
happenings were already beginning to seem unreal. The
ship was crowded and uncomfortable with seventy oflicers

312 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

and 800 men on board, but the shortage of food was all
there was to worry about.

This was not due to lack of precaution. Dry rations
had been kept on board from the beginning, sufficient
to feed the largest possible number of troops that the
ship could accommodate, but tinned provisions such as
bully beef, etc., were not to be procured in Baku, and the
provision of fresh meat at the last moment, under the
circumstances in which we left, was obviously not possible.
But it was sad to see the heroes of yesterday's hard fight-
ing having nothing to regale themselves on but bread,
biscuit and tea. If ever men deserved a Lord Mayor's
banquet they did. This Brigade, composed entirely of
New Army Battalions, had covered itself with glory
second to none in the annals of our best fighting regiments.
The eight or nine hundred men who had composed the
firing line had been in the position for six weeks, and had
kept at bay for that period a Turkish army ten times
their strength.

It would be idle boasting to pretend that they alone had
held the 20 miles of front that constituted the defensive
position of Baku ; many of the Baku detachments who
held the line with them did on occasions very well, and
the Baku artillery was quite good. But no one in Baku
would argue that anything but those brave lads of the
English Midland Brigade kept the Turks out of the town.

The total casualties of this small force in this last
fight were 180 killed, wounded and missing of all ranks,
or about twenty per cent, of the numbers engaged. The
casualties of the Turks opposed to them were certainly
very much greater. The result of the day's battle was
that the Turks were fought to a standstill, and it was
owing to this that the extrication of our troops was so
successfully accomplished. It was impossible for any
sane person to hope any longer for counter-attack on the
part of the Baku troops. Had such an attack been

THE WITHDRAWAL 818

possible in the early hours of the 15th, the Turk would
probably have been finally driven off, but in the certain
absence of such effort further delay in evacuation would
merely have meant that evacuation would have become
impossible, the Turks would still take Baku, and more
of these good British lives would have been needlessly
sacrificed.

The loss in materiel was not great. The two aero-
planes that had taken such an active part in the fight
were riddled and had to be destroyed. The armoured
cars that had throughout the six weeks' fighting so nobly
maintained their reputation for gallant action, and also
the thirty Ford cars which had worked like Trojans on
transport duties, were left to the Turks, but not in such
a condition as to be of much use to them.

As we steamed away from the wharf the only thing
left there was the skeleton of the brave little Ford touring
car that had carried me through so many difficulties and
dangers since we left Baghdad in January.

Towards sunset we caught sight of the familiar outline
of the Elburz range as we approached the Persian shore.
It was good to know that so large a portion of the force
as the Krilger contained had been safely brought back
to Persia, but my mind was filled with anxious surmises
as to the fate of the Kursk and the Aho, who had preceded
us. The first news we got on anchoring in Enzeli harbour
was that they had long been in and all the sick and wounded
were comfortably housed in the shore hospital. The
only remaining anxiety now was the Armenian, and as
the hours slipped by with no signs of her, I despaired of
her ever being seen again. But to our great delight,
just twelve hours after our arrival, the brave little vessel
steamed into port and came to anchor, reporting ** All's
well." She had had six direct hits from shells, but
none below the water-line. The following is an extract
from Colonel Rawlinson's report :

314 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

**...! made certain preparations on the night of
September 14th to endeavour to get the Armenian away
from the Arsenal quay with such munitions as might be
of service to the enemy and would be of use to Dunster-
force, in the event of its becoming necessary to evacuate
the town.

" I received notice that this decision had been taken
at 4 p.m.

" On proceeding on board the ship there was at once
apparent a hostile attitude amongst the crew numbering
twenty-six, who refused to work and generally obstructed
the proceedings. The pier was becoming congested with
nervous townspeople and runaway soldiers from the
firing line spreading rumours of disaster. Under these
circumstances I got my two A.S.C. drivers and my batman
and Captain Jackson under arms, and was able with
fixed bayonets to clear the pier and posted them to hold
the shore end, whilst I reported to the Krilger and asked
for a picket. This was duly sent, and consisted of four
men of the Hampshire Regiment.

" On my return I found a Commissar, who stated that
he came by order of the Government to prevent the ship
leaving and to give notice that we should be fired on by
the gunboats if we attempted to pass. He likewise
trumped up a demand for one of the guns on board
(reported to me as unserviceable) to be sent to the front.
I took him into the cabin, from which he at once attempted
to bolt, with the obvious intention of communicating with
the shore. I therefore placed a sentry at the door and
made him prisoner, and proceeded with my preparations
with all speed. In the meanwhile the picquet was holding
the shore end successfully.

" Soon after dusk arrived a second Commissar (whom
I know personally) with the same orders as the other,
and he assured me it would be impossible to pass the
gunboats, but that he would get me a pass to do so and

«•

<
Z

THE WITHDRAWAL 315

that he would send for his wife and family and come also.
I agreed at once, and having passed a quantity of his
relations on to the ship, I proceeded to the Krilger to
report, returning with the instructions that as soon as
she lowered her three lights I was to get out at once, as
she would then be coming out herself.

" On return to the Arsenal pier I found things very
nasty-looking, and at once withdrew the picquet and swept
all those who were crowding round the gangway on to
the ship at the point of the bayonet, at the same time
giving instructions to cast off and to draw out to
anchor.

" Driver Norris and Private Parsons, by their courageous
attitude in the face of large numbers, were of the greatest
assistance in the operations of clearing the pier and
gangway, and all attempts on the part of many people
to leave the ship and give notice of our departure to
the town were resisted at the point of the bayonet,
and we left the pier at 11.30 p.m.

" It was my intention to anchor close by and to await
the Krilger, but there had been foul play with the cable,
and on letting go it snapped, and the anchor was lost.
Owing to the necessity of keeping steerage way in the
crowded anchorage, the boat was a long way out before
I could get her turned, and the Krilger' s three lights had
been hauled down. The Kursh passed me, going in a direc-
tion opposite to where I conceived the entrance to be, and
I concluded she was proceeding to a prearranged anchorage
to await the Krilger, and I held on to the Krilger's pier,
where I found her and spoke her and was then told she
was coming out and that I should follow as closely as
possible.

" In spite of this she rapidly left us, and it was
evident we were not getting steam. However, I stood
by the Captain on the bridge with my revolver drawn and
repeatedly impressed upon him the danger of any under-

316 THE ADVENTURES OF DUNSTERFORCE

hand work on his part. So that when the Guardship
signalled us to stop and he replied that " he was turning to
starboard," I was successful in prevailing upon him to hold
his course and to ignore the fire to which we were at this
time subjected. It was at this juncture that Mr. Dana
repaired to the engine-room with his revolver, with
immediate and marked success and speed increased.

" The Guardship now opened fire with her small gun,
and on several shots striking the bridge in the proximity
of the explosives, it proved too much for the Captain, who
deliberately tried to pass me and leave his post, and was
only retained by force, from which time onwards my
pistol was always in his view, and I called our four men
on to the bridge with their arms, and we proceeded on
our course. The next incident was the arrival of the
spokesman of the Ship's Committee to announce that
the crew would not allow the ship to be taken out. He
was promptly made prisoner on the bridge, and we
proceeded.

** I subsequently intimated to the crew that I would
give them a reward on arrival at Enzeli, and that if
they would not accept that offer we would fight them at
once.

** As the spokesman of the crew was in my hands and
would have been the first to take part in the proposed
fight from a very bad starting position, he placed the
proposal before them in such an inviting manner that it
was at once accepted and we had no further trouble."

The final scene in this drama was the arrival of a
deputation from the revolutionary sailors of the Kursk,
who presented a written petition in the following terms :

" We, the Committee and the crew of the S.S. Kursk
have witnessed with intense admiration the heroic conduct
of your brave British soldiers in the defence of Baku.

THE WITHDRAWAL 317

We have seen them suffering wounds and death bravely
in defence of our town, which our own people were too
feeble to defend. It is wonderful to us that these fine
fellows from that distant island in the North Sea should
have come all this way to the Caspian and have given
up their lives there in the cause of honour and glory.
** We are so much impressed by their bearing and
valour and by the whole episode of the British endeavours
to save Baku from the Turks, that we wish to be at once
taken over as a body and granted British nationality.**

A finer testimony than this it would be hard to
conceive, and a New Army Brigade that could evoke a
feeling of that sort in the minds of the Baku sailors has
indeed something to be proud of.

The only task now left was to call the roll, and assure
myself that not a single man had been left behind in Baku.

I felt certain that all had been brought away, and was
therefore dismayed to find that Major Suttor and Sergeant
BuUer, of the Australian Contingent, were missing, and
also the infantry guard of one N.C.O. and six men
posted at the aerodrome. In neither of these cases did
I feel that the careful arrangements made by my Staff
were at fault, but it was not easy entirely to exonerate
oneself, and it was therefore very gratifying to hear
shortly of the safety of both these parties. Major Suttor
and Sergeant BuUer escaped with the town refugees to
Krasnovodsk, and the guard joined up with Bicherakov's
men and sailed with them to Petrovsk.

Orders were now received for the dispersal of the
Force, and their place has since been taken by regular
troops from the 14th Division.

So ends the story of the adventures of Dunsterforce.

INDEX

Abo, S.S., 210, 227, 253, 263, 303, i

304, 313 I

Aerodromes, 142
Aeroplane observations, 293
Aeroplanes, 142
Aga Petros, 179, 188
Akbar, Lieutenant, 82
d'Albizzi, Marquis, 291
Aldham, Captain, 16
Alexandropol, 188
Alkhavi, Lieutenant, 169
Alyat, 167, 186, 196
Amazasp, Colonel, 261
American Mission, Karind, 20 ;

Kermanshah, 21 ; Hamadan,

26, 55, 63, 103, 137; Kasvin,

141
Amir Afgham, 89, 90
Amir Afshar, 131
Annett, Captain, 16
Araratiantz, Dr., 214
Aras River, 168, 220
Aratunov, Colonel, 257, 261
Ardebil, 187

Armenian, s.s., 307, 311, 313
Armenian National Council, 115,

214, 232, 255, 276, 277
Armenian soldiers, fighting value

of, 236, 261
Armenian troops, 2, 3, 4
Armenians, political complexion,

118
Armoured car, M.G. Squadron, 295
Armoured cars, 156, 291
Arsenal, 306

Artillery, 8th Battery, R.F.A., 166
Asadabad, 23
Asadabad Pass, 58
A.S.C. (M.T.), No. 730 Co., 268
Askhabad, 178

319

Assembling of mission, 9

Assj^rians, 179

Astara, 187, 220

Astrakhan, 7, 8, 208, 233

Austrian instructors, 29

Austrian officers, 79

Austrian prisoners, 134, 140, 187

Aveh, 26, 56

Avetisof, Colonel, 232

Azerbaijan, 187

Babookh, "Comrade," 169, 171,

209
Baghdad, capture of, 1, 2
Baku, importance to enemy, 140
Baladjari, 199, 229, 264, 265, 267,

296, 298
Balakhani, 227
Baratov, General, 25, 61, 63, 70,

71, 72, 73, 81, 206
Barttelot, Major Sir Walter, 12, 15
Basra, 11
Bateman-Champain, Brig.-Gteneral,

256
Battine, Colonel, 178, 260
Beg Surab, Colonel, 295
Berlin-Baghdad railway, 1
Bibi Eibat, 226, 227, 229, 294
Bicherakov, Colonel, C.B., D.S.O.,

21, 61, 79, 83, 121, 122, 143,

155, 196 seq., 250
Bijar, 116, 120, 127, 130, 185
Bikandi, 61

Binagadi, 227, 229, 266, 267, 272
Bisharat-es-Sultaneh, 148
Bisitun, 22
Black Town, 227

Bogratuni, General, 232, 280, 296
Bokhara, 1
Bollington, Captain, 294

S20

INDEX

Bray, Captain, UR, 198, 276, 306
Browne, Major, 204, 209
Brunskill, Major, 16, 148
Buinak, 31
Buller, Sergeant, 317
Byron, Brig. -General, 62, 81, 109,
137, 141

Campbell, Captain, 16, 113

Cannibalism, 124

Caspian fleet, 233, 234

Caspian Sea, commercial import-
ance of, 2, 8 ; Russian fleet on, 8

Caucasus, North, political com-
plexion, 123 ; Southern, 1,2;
pohtical complexion of, 4, 123

Centro-Caspia, see Dictators, pas-
sim, 210, 212, 216

Chardigny, Colonel, 83, 126, 260

Chehapin, " Comrade," 39, 42, 47,
48, 49, 60, 64, 166, 168, 169,
170, 186, 190, 205, 206, 200, 240

Clarke, Mr., 246

Clutterbuck, Lieut. -Colonel, 22, 167,
276

Cockerell, Captain, 148, 160, 184,
244

Cossacks, first meeting with, 21 ;
political complexion, 118

Cost of living, 144

Counter-proclamations, 66

Craig, Lieutenant, 266

Crawford, Colonel, 225, 246

Currency, 241

Daghestan, political complexion,

118
Dana, Mr., 260, 316
Darnagul salt lake, 295
Daylight saving, 176
Dayrell, Major, 272, 295
Derbend, 250, 261, 252
Derbyshire, Captain, 157
Dictators, see Centro-Caspia, passim
Dictators, 231, 233, 234, 252, 255,

273. 277, 279, 293, 296, 304
Diga, 266, 272
Donnan, Colonel, 177
Donohoe, Captain, 81
Dukuchaiev, General, 282, 276,

282, 296, 299

Duncan, Lieut. -Colonel, A.Q.M.G ,

16, 24, 106, 229, 244
Dunning, Captain, A.D.C., 16, 87
Dunsterforce, official name, 65
Durnford, Captain, 164

Elburz Range, 8, 27, 134, 220
Engledue, Major, 128, 129, 273,

296
EnzeH, 7 ; held by Bolsheviks, 14,

15, 28
Evacuation of Russian troops, 31,

32, 70, 75, 85
Evacuation of sick, 303, 304
Eve, Captain, 81

Famine, signs of, 20, 62 ; causes of,

102
Famine relief, 80, 104 seq. ; apathy

of notables, 107 ; success of,

108, 113
Faviell, Lieut. -Colonel, 182, 230,

296, 300
Feodorov, Alexander Ivanovitch,

311
Ferid-ud-Dowleh, 97, 177, 184
Firman-Firma, 135
Fleet, Caspian, 233, 234
Fleet, Russian, on Caspian Sea, 8
Foxlee, Captain, 293
French officers, 83
Funk, Mrs., 137

Garmakov, " Comrade," 280

Geldakh, 168, 196

Georgian troops, 3, 4

Georgians, political complexion,
118

Georgiev, Lieutenant, 23

Gorman agents, 67, 69, 60, 66, 122,
125

Gilanis, hostihty of, 13, 14

Gloucestershire Regiment, 7th Ser-
vice Battahon, 182

Goldsmith, Captain G., 12, 15, 26,
47, 61, 126

Goodwin, Mr., 26, 53

Grigorievitch, Mr., 36

Guhstan of Sa'adi, 91

Gurkhas, l/2nd, 166, 166, 171, 201

Gurland, Captain, 221

INDEX

821

Hamadan, 13, 16, 24 ; ancient
Ecbatana, situation, 65 ; com-
mercial importance, 57 ; poli-
tical complexion, 60 ; change
of feeling, 65

Hampshire Regt., l/4th, 17, 18,
82, 119, 166, 164, 166, 202,
208

Harris, Sergeant, 58

Harunabad, 17, 20

Haslam, Major, 178, 261

Havelock, Major Beresford, 305

Hay, Major, 116, 133

Henderson, Captain, 128

Hooper, Captain, 16, 114, 115,
135

Hoskyn, Lieut. -Colonel J., 148,
229, 311

Hdtel d'Europe, 228, 257, 258, 259,
279

H6tel Metropole, 228, 258

Hunin, M., 37

Hugh-Hush Army, 66

Hussars, 14th, 113, 116, 156, 157,
163

Ignati, s.s., 234
Ihtidar-ul-Mulk, 147
Imamzadeh, Hashim, 35, 164, 171
Imperial Bank of Persia, Hamadan,

25, 103, 178; Kasvin, 26, 78;

Kermanshah, 21 ; Resht, 36,

78
Infantry Brigade, 39th, 182, 200,

214, 216, 296
Intercepted correspondence, 99
Irregulars, Persian, 79, 127;

Kurdish, 127 ; native, 189

Jackson, Captain, 16, 314

Jangali movement, 27, 28, 59 ; oppo-
sition, 67; attack on Resht,
201

JangaHs, 76, 121, 137

Jilus, 125, 179, 180

John, Captain, 16, 105

Julfa, 68

Kangavar, 23
Kar-guzar, 62, 89, 147
Karind, 20

Kasma, 165, 171

Kasvin, 133 ; description of, 142

Kasvin, importance of, 26 ; un-
friendly attitude of, 27, 62 ;
intended attack by Jangalis,
76, 78

Kazarov, Colonel, 266, 295

Kazian, 28 ; arrival at, 36

Kazian Soviet, 39 ; meeting with,
42

Kennion, Colonel, 22, 124

Kennion, Mrs., 22

Kermanshah, 15, 21, 195; Ameri-
can Mission, 21 ; Russian wire-
less station, 22

Keyworth, Colonel, 138, 209, 222,
"228, 230, 256, 296, 299

Khanikin, 13, 16, 196

Khoja Hasan, 296

Kifri, 125

Kirkuk, 125

Krasnovodsk, 178, 179, 187, 251,
260

Kuchik Khan, 14, 251 ; hostiUty of,
27, 28 ; parleys with, 166 ;
sues for peace, 204

Kuflan Kuh, 257

Kuhn, Mr., 178, 179

Kura River, 168, 196

Kurds, hostility of, 13 ; road
guards, 19

Kursk, S.S., 210, 218, 227, 239,
253, 263, 303, 304, 313

Kuzmin, Colonel, 179

Lake Urumiah, 117, 126
Landing grounds, 142
Lastochkin, General, 61
Lazarev, "Comrade," 168, 209
Lemlin, " Dictator," 233, 308
Lenkoran, 221, 226, 232, 261, 260,

292
Levies, Persian, 79, 116; Kurdish,

124; Persian, 124, 126, 189,

195
Lewin, Brig. -General, 279
Lewis gun, 16
Ley, Major, D.S.O., 266, 296,

299
Locker-Lampson's armoured cars

167

322

INDEX

Macarthy, Major, 129, 196
Macbeth, Lieutenant, 267
MacDonnell, Mr., 115
Mahi-Dasht, 21

Malleson, General, 178, 179, 260
Marling, Sir Charles, 26, 181
Masazir salt lake, 229
Matthews, Lieut. -Colonel, 165, 166,

201, 203
McCleverty, Captain, 203
McDonnell, Major, 280
McDowell, Mr., 25, 86
McLaren, Mr., 36, 137, 167, 172 ;

a prisoner, 78
McMurray, Mr., 25, 72, 93, 113,

178
Medem, Colonel Baron, 71
Menjil, 7, 31, 33, 61 ; fortified by

Jangalis, 78; Battle of, 158

seq.
Merv, 178
Meshed, 178, 260
Mianeh-Zinjan road threatened,

116
Mianeh, 186, 188
Midhat-es-Sultaneh, 147
Moir, Mr., 97, 172, 203
Mosul, 188
Mud Volcano, 229, 256, 261, 264,

265, 266, 268
Mughan Steppe, 220, 260

Nagober, 35

Narghin island, 226

Naval ratings, 211

Newcome, Major, 167, 240, 258

Nizam-es-Sultan, 86, 87, 89

Noel, Captain, 78, 137, 156, 157,
201, 220, 255, 256, 260

Novkhany, 266

Norris, Commodore, 212, 233, 261,
303, 309, 311

Norris, Driver, R.F.A., 315

North Staffordshire Regiment, 7th
Service Battahon, 182, 222,
223, 229, 230, 231, 255, 266 seq.,
294, 295, 296, 298, 305

Oakshot, Mr., 36, 78, 137, 167
Offley-Shore, General, 26
Osborne, Captain, 183

Pai-Taq, 17
"Partisans," 21, 22
Pennington, Lieutenant, 188
Petrol, supply of, 49, 03, 170
Petrov, " Comrade," 207, 223, 224,

225, 226, 244, 245, 254
Pike, Colonel, 26, 47, 61, 126, 261
Pike, Private, A.S.C., 37
Poidebard, Lieutenant, 83
Pope, Captain, 113, 157, 163
Parsons, Private, 315
President KriXger, s.s., 210, 226,

227, 232, 252, 253, 263, 297,

303, 307
Proclamations, 64
Profiteering, 249
Pulverman, Major, 293

Qasr-i-Shirin, 196

Rais-i-Telefon, 145, 146, 148, 160,

161, 162
Rawlinson, Lieut. -Colonel, R.F.A,,

179, 254, 260, 292, 306
Red Guards, 64
Resht, capital of Gilan, 28, 164;

political complexion, 184;

Battle of, 201 seq.
R.F.A. , 8th Battery, 266
Road Company, 207
Road-guards, Kurdish, 124
Rouble notes, 241
Routledge, Sergeant, 16
Rowlandson, Major, 25, 167, 260
Royal Navy, 211 ^

Royal Warwickshire Regt., 9th

Service Battahon, 182, 230, 265,

267, 272, 295, 298, 300
Rule of the road, 176
Russian battle-line, 2, 6, 6
Russian fleet on Caspian Sea, 8
Russian officers in Turkish army,

168
Russian officers with mission, 10
Russo-British Volunteer Corps, 71
Ruz, Dunstertorce camp at, 65

Saad-es-Sultaneh, 62, 87, HI
Sadovsky, "Dictator," 233, 308
Sahneh Pass, 23
Sain Kaleh, 189

INDEX

323

Sakiz, 130

Salt lake, Masazir, 229
Sauj-Bulaq, 117, 180, 189
Saunders, Captain, G.S.O., 16, 42,

43, 45, 48, 60, 87, 93, 97, 117,

147, 151, 244
Searight, Captain, 204, 244
Sefid Rud, 33
Shabli Pass, 182, 188
Shahsavens, 131, 189
Shaumian, Bolshevik leader, 115;

" Comrade," 207, 226, 244, 245,

254
Sheverin, 01, 75
Singer, Lieutenant, 15, 27, 35
Sinjabis, 125

Sinneh, Turkish Consul at, 98, 120,
. 131

Sipah-Salar, 133, 135
Snowstorms, 13, 18, 24, 52, 67
Sovlaief, Lieutenant, 143, 145, 146,

148
Sparrow, Captain, 265
Stames, Major, 116, 127, 130, 131,

179, 189
Stepanov, Captain, 221
Stokes, Lieut. -Colonel, 122, 126,

156, 157, 208, 232, 276, 296
Stork, Captain, 16
Sultanabad, 116
Sultan Bulaq Pass, 26, 31, 66, 82,

135
Supplies, 61, 62, 76, 94, 114
Surakhani, 295
Surkh-a-Disa, 18, 19, 20
Suttor, Major, 317

Tabriz, 58, 117; attack on, 126
Taq-i-Giri Pass, 7, 17
Teheran, visit to, 117, 133j
Tiflis, 2, 3 ; political complexioi>

of, 4
Topham, Captain, 117
Trebizond, 232

Urumiah, 179, 180

llsheg, S.S., 252

Vandenberg, Major, 254
Ventur, s.s., 234
von der Floss, General, 232
von Passchen, 29, 160, 161, 162,
201, 202, 203

Wagstaff, Major, 117, 127, 131,^189
Warden, Lieut. -Colonel, 148,^223,

253
Watson, Sergeant, 16, 68
Wheat, prices of, 124, 144
White House, 295
White Town, 227
Whitmarsh, Major, 178, 243
Wolfs Gap, 231, 294, 295, 300
Worcestershire Regt., 9th Service

Battalion, 182, 230, 265, 266^

298, 300

Yarmakov, "Dictator," 233

Zageh, 24
Zemski Soyuz, 74
Zinjan, 117, 127, 131, 185
Zypalov, Lieutenant, 24

Printed in Great Britain by

TJNWIN BROTHEB8, LIMrTBD
WOKING AND LONDON

Telegrams : "Scholarly, London." 41 and 43 Maddox Street,

Telephone : 1883 Mayfair. Bond Street, London, W. i.

March J 1920.

Mr. Edward Arnold's
SPRING

ANNOUNCEMENTS, 1920.

THE MARCH ON PARIS AND THE
BATTLE OF THE MARNE, 1914.

By ALEXANDER VON KLUCK, Generaloberst.

With Portrait and Maps, and Notes by the Historical Section (Military
Branch) of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Demy Svo. los. 6d. net.

In this book General Von Kluck gives us the history of the
First Army from August 2nd to September i6th, 1914, at which
date the " war of movement " came to an end and the long period
of trench -warfare set in. The First Army — which he commanded
— was on the extreme right wing of the German hosts, and thus
it was Von Kluck who came into collision with the British
Expeditionary Force at the battles of Mons and Le Cateau.
His story throws a considerable amount of new light on those
memorable encounters which we are now for the first time able
to examine from the point of view of the German higher
command, but the climax of interest is reached when we come
to the fateful days at the beginning of September which ended in
the Battle of the Marne. Von Kluck's verdict on the September
fighting is that most of the tactical successes were obtained by
the Germans, but that the strategic victory remained with the
Allies. How that momentous result was brought about is a
question which, like the problem of the Waterloo campaign, bids
fair to be discussed for generations to come. Von Kluck's views
on the matter (and no one was nearer to the heart of it than he) are
perfectly clear, vigorously expressed, and evidently most pertin-
aciously held. His narrative can never cease to be one of the
indispensable sources for the history of those tremendous days
in which the fate of European civilization was decided.

The volume is accompanied by a large and elaborate map in
four colours, giving in detail the routes of the units of the First
German Army in the advance to the Grand Morin and retreat to
the Aisne.

2 Mr. Edward A mold's Spring A nnouncements.

A BRIGADE OF THE OLD
ARMY, 1914.

By Lieut.-General Sir AYLMER HALDANE,
K.C.B., D.S.O.,

Author of "How we Escaped i-ko.m Pretoria."

With Maps. Demy Svo. los. 6d. net.

General Haldane, who has just been given the highly import-
ant command in Mesopotamia, was in command of the i6th
Infantry Brigade at Shorncliffe at the time of the outbreak of the
Great War. This brigade formed part of the 4th Division and
left for France to join the rest of the Expeditionary Force on the
22nd of August, proceeding on landing to Le Cateau, where the
Division formed the extreme left of the allied armies in that
engagement. From thence, during the famous retreat and
advance to the Aisne, its movements were bound up with those of
the rest of the force. On October 7th the loth Brigade left the
Aisne and moved to St. Omer, and was soon involved in the
violent fighting along the River Lys which continued until
General Haldane left to take over command of the 3rd Division.

Originally intended for the officers and men of his brigade,
this record of the first phase of the War by their commander has
been considered likely to interest that wide public which cannot
read too much about those memorable first months. Many
books have been and will yet be written on the great retreat, but
few are likely to appear with the cachet of a more distinguished
career in the War than that of Sir Aylmer Haldane.

NOTES ON SPORTING RIFLES

(FOR USE IN INDIA AND ELSEWHERE).

By Major GERALD BURRARD, D.S.O.,

Late Royal Field Artillery.

Crown 8w. Cloth 4s. 6d. net.

Originally intended for the novice in Indian sport, the greater
part of these notes will hold good for big game shooting in other
countries. It is more than fifty years since Forsyth's " The
Sporting Rifle and its Projectiles " was published, and in the
interval no book dealing solely with rifles has appeared — and,
moreover, a great change in the manufacture of sporting rifles
has taken place during the last ten years. It is therefore hoped
that this compact little volume will be a help to the numerous
young men who are going to India and elsewhere in the army
and public services.

Mr. Edward Arnold's Spring Announcements. 3

THE ADVENTURES OF
DUNSTERFORCE.

By Major-General L. C. DUNSTERVILLE, C.B.
With Illustrations and Maps. Demy Svo. 18s. net.

Who is not familiar with Mr. Rudyard Kipling's figure of
Stalky, the schoolboy '* wily Odysseus " ? Stalky has grown up,
and is now Major-General Dunsterville, the author of this work.

To-day, eighteen months after the events described herein, the
eyes of Europe are again focussed on the stage where Stalky and
his command played their part. To any student of political
movement, the first contact of the British soldier with Bolshe-
vism and Pan- Islam must needs be of interest, and the more so
when presented by an observer blessed with an unfailing sense of
humour and a courage undaunted by the appalling complexity of
the task allotted to him.

Towards the end of 191 7, under the seal of absolute secrecy,
a plan was hatched in London to fill the gap left by the defection
of Russia for the infiltration of enemy propaganda into Asia via
the Caucasus and Persia. Hence the '' Hush Hush Army," a
body of officers and N.C.Os. each fastidiously handpicked from
every front, France, Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia — repre-
senting every part of the British Empire — in fact, a microcosm
of Anglo-Saxondom in arms.

It was a very highly picked force that the author was ordered
to lead in a desperate attempt to deal with the newly-arisen
situation. It was originally intended to organize, with Tiflis as
centre, the Christian populations of the Caucasus against the then
unopposed Turkish arms. It was physically impossible for either
London or Baghdad to keep in touch with the kaleidoscopic
changes of the situation, which compelled complete modification
of the original plan. This book sets out the way in which was
achieved that success, whose measure can be gauged by the
amazement with which the world heard during the last fortnight
of August, 19 1 8, that a British force had occupied Baku.

To General Dunsterville's courage and foresight is largely due
our present position in Persia. Treachery, bad roads, famine,
intrigue, armed opposition by those whom he had set out to help,
were successfully overcome. The whole story is a tribute of the
highest order to the amazing versatility of the race. Englishmen,
Australians, South Africans, Canadians, New Zealanders, and a
handful of faithful Russians, pioneered the road for the Gurkhas
and the immortal 39th Infantry Brigade, whose feats of arms
alone would have more than justified the writing of this volume.

Mr. Kipling's estimate of Stalky, the boy, is amply realized in
the story, as told by himself, of Stalky the man.

4 Mr. Edward Arnold's Spring Annowtcements,

OUR KID, AND OTHER LONDON
AND LANCASHIRE SKETCHES.

By the Rev. Canon PETER GREEN,

Author of " How to deal with Lads," etc.

Crown 8vo. Paper 2s. 6d. net ; cloth ^s. 6d. net.

The sketches of which this book is made up, and which attracted
a great deal of attention when they were appearing in the Man-
chester Guardian, fall into three divisions. The first are character
sketches of Lancashire boys of various ages from Our Kid, who
is still at school, to Johnny, the hero of the sketch " Johnny on
Mules," who is in the army. All who know the author's books
on Lads' Clubs and the training of boys will read them with interest.
The second and largest section of the sketches deals with life in
the poorer parts of London and will appeal to all Londoners, for
they are filled with the love of a true Cockney for " that fair city
London." And old public school boys, with pleasant memories
of the school or college mission they support, will read them with
interest. The last section, which includes such sketches as " On
being a Lancashire Man," and "On being a Yorkshire Man" and
" Black Magic," are humorous essays of general appeal.

A SOUL'S PROGRESS.

By P. W. ROBERTSON, M.A., Ph.D.
Demy 8vo. 8s. 6d. net.

This is a book of five studies in temperament when played upon
and modulated by the influence of some gracious and coloured
environment. ^' He felt the genius of places; and I sometimes think he
resembles the places he knew and liked best, and where his lot fell." Dr.
Robertson might almost have taken that sentence from Walter
Pater as the motif of his book. The hunter and the haunter of
cities will certainly care to possess and to return to this volume,
as will many readers who, in an age of emphasis, still desire to
build out of their own experience an inner spiritual city of the
nuances and refinements of memory.

Dr. Robertson has travelled far for his five types : to Alexandria
in the reign of Cleopatra, China in the eighth century, Parma in the
time of Correggio, Danzig in the seventeenth century, and Burma
a few years ago. In a brief introduction he gives the clue to the
understanding of the spiritual unity of his book. It is a book,
also, that shows a finely-wrought style of much beauty and sugges-
tiveness, the portraits being clothed in a verbal raiment which
interprets very exactly the spirit in which they were conceived.

Mr. Edward Arnold'' s Spring Announcements, 5

THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OF
AESCHYLUS.

Represented in English and explained by E. G. HARMAN.

Demy Svo. los. 6d. net.

In this volume the author puts forward an ingenious and
entirely novel interpretation of Aeschylus' famous drama, the
essential feature of which is that he explains it as a daring piece
of concealed political writing, the key to which is to be found in
the party-strife which was raging in Athens at the time. A
similar theme is handled in the book mentioned immediately
below, and the argument in each case is in very close relation to
that of the other. The Essay is followed by an original transla-
tion of the " Prometheus Bound," and the Greek text has been
printed opposite the English version for the purpose of convenient
reference.

THE BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES

CONSIDERED IN RELATION
TO ATHENIAN POLITICS.

By the SAME AUTHOR.

Demy Svo. los. 6d. net.

Mr. Harman here works out a theory with regard to " The
Birds " closely analogous to the one propounded in the book just
mentioned with regard to " Prometheus Bound," namely, that the
real clue to its drift is to be found by regarding it as a veiled
criticism on contemporary events. In the present volume he
develops his view at considerably greater length, and, in a retro-
spect extending over about a century, establishes the historical
points on which his argument is based. He then takes us through
the play, and in a concluding chapter shows that this view of
it throws an illuminating light on the politics of the day.

POEMS.

By E. G. HARMAN. Crown Svo. 6s. net.

COOKERY FOR DYSPEPTICS.

By the late Dr. G. HERSCHELL.

Revised and Rewritten by ADOLPHE ABRAHAMS,
O.B.E., M.D. Camb., M.R.C.P. Lond.

Demy Svo. 2S. 6d. net.

6 Mr. Edward Arnold's Spring Announcements,

TECHNIQUE AND INTERPRETA-
TION IN VIOLIN PLAYING.

By ROWSBY WOOF, F.R.A.M.,

Profbssor of the Violin at the RovAt Academy of Music.

Crown Svo.
In this volume Professor Woof has embodied some suggestions
and directions on both the technical and the interpretative aspect
of violin playing which he has already applied with gratifying
success in the course of his professional career. It is intended
for amateur as well as professional violinists.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED.

GARDENS : THEIR FORM
AND DESIGN.

By the Viscountess WOLSELEY.

Illustrated by Miss M. G. CAMPION.

Svo, 2IS. net.

" Lady Wolseley's handsome volume, with its beautiful illustrations and
spacious pages, is a stately treatise in the grand manner. But it is as an
artist concerned in the principles of form and design that her book should be
welcomed by all to whom fair surroundings are not merely a convenience,
but a necessity of the spirit." — Nation.

MEMORIES OF THE MONTHS.

SIXTH SERIES.

By the Rt. Hon. Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, Bt., F.R.S.
With Plates. Large Crown Svo. los. 6d. net.

" • Memories of the Month ' please us all largely because they record,
without the fuss and formality often thought necessary for Your Authorship,
the natural daily pleasures of the writer. And, himself gardener, fisherman,
naturalist, traveller, and historian, he has an eclectic mind charmingly
adapted for the work of pottering in the wide field of his own experience. ' '
— Observer.

MODERN ROADS.

By H. P. BOULNOIS, M.InstC.E., etc.,
Chairman of the Council of the Roads Improvement Association.

Illustrated. Demy Svo. i6s. net.

"The information given is not only up to-date and reliable, but all the
modern methods of road -making are fully described and critically discussed
in a way that only an engineer of the experience and standing of the author
could be expected to do." — The Surveyor.

Mr. Edward Arnold's Spring Announcements. 7

A MEDLEY OF MEMORIES.

By the Rt. Rev. Sir DAVID HUNTER-BLAIR, Bart.
Illustrated. Second Impression. i6s. net.

" Not a few men of the world who have become for a time guests of the
cloister have observed with surprise that Benedictines seem to know a good
deal more about the world than those who are of it ; if any of them read this
dehghtful volume they will be confirmed in their impression." — Church Times.

"A book which reminds one of those delightful chronicles of the late
Mr. G. W. E. Russell. The cloister did not separate Sir David from the
hearth, and he tells us even more about the social than the religious life of
his times in this most entertaining and genial book." — Daily News.

JOHN REDMOND'S LAST YEARS.

By STEPHEN GWYNN.
With Portrait. One Vol. i6s. net.

' ' A full-length portrait of one of the greatest figures of our time. It is a
deeply interesting historical document because it deals with Irish political
events at their most thrilling period." — Daily News.

" This work is one which every student of modern politics should read, and
read at once. There has been no more important publication on the Irish
question during recent years." — The Times.

A CHILDHOOD IN BRITTANY
EIGHTY YEARS AGO.

By ANNE DOUGLAS SEDGWICK

(Mrs. Basil de Selincoukt), Author of "Tante," and other novels.

Illustrated. Svo. los. 6d. net.

"The memories told to Miss Sedgwick during many talks with her old
French friend have been most charmingly put together and translated by her,
and the atmosphere and spirit of the age have been most faithfully preserved.
The customs, the habits, the dress, and even the food are described so
minutely and with such telling effect that the most vivid pictures rise before
one's eyes." — Country Life.

A THIN GHOST AND OTHERS.

By Dr. M. R. JAMES,

Provost of Eton College.

Author of "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary."

Thivd Impression. Crown Svo. 4s. 6d. net.

" Not only are the studies written with a distinction of style to which the
reader of similar works is totally unaccustomed, but the Provost of Eton has
managed to impart a most authentic feeling of alarming eeriness to the appari-
tions he so vividly describes."— S/'^c^a^of.

8 Mr, Edward Arnold's Spring Announcements,

MONS, ANZAC, AND KUT.

By LiEUT.-CoL. the Hon. AUBREY HERBERT, M.P.
With Maps. Demy Svo, 14s. net.

"The entire book is full of character, and will be read with absorbed
interest by all who took part in the experiences so clearly and definitely
recorded. Military historians of every grade will have to consult this volume
if their record is to sustain a claim to exhaustive information." — Daily Telegraph.

WITH THE PERSIAN EXPEDITION.

By Major M. H. DONOHOE,

Armv Intelligence Corps.
Special Correspondent of the " Daily Chronicle."

With Illustrations and Map. i6s. net.

" Major Donohoe cannot be too heartily congratulated on the production of
a book which cannot fail to add greatly to his already established reputation."
— United Service Magazine.

"Full of amusing anecdotes, and reads like a novel." — Truth.

LONDON MEN IN PALESTINE.

By ROWLANDS COLDICOTT.
With Illustrations and Maps. Demy Svo. 12s, 6d. net.

' ' No one who wishes to get an idea of what the fighting on the way to
Jerusalem was really like can afford to neglect 'London Men in Palestine.'
In very few war books does the reader seem to himself to get so absolutely
behind the scenes. ' ' — Evening Standard.

CAUGHT BY THE TURKS.

By FRANCIS YEATS-BROWN.
Demy Svo. 12s. 6d. net.

" For sheer adventure, intrigue, romance and breathless exploit, it reads
with all the dramatic power more usually looked for in tales of colourful
c/ imagination. — Glasgow Herald.

"A wonderful account, admirably written." — Truth.

THE STRUGGLE IN THE AIR.

By Major C. C. TURNER (late R.A.F.).
With Illustrations. 15s. net.

" Major Turner writes on a fascinating theme, and by the rationed fireside
this winter his book will make many a flying officer reminiscent, grip many a
schoolboy and keep him wondering, and cause us all to settle into our chairs
the more comfortably that the menace from overhead is no longer there."
— The Times. _^

LONDON : EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43 MADDOX STREET, W. i.

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