Soon...

We are coming back, revamped, very soon...

Downtime

We are working on upgrading our recording hardware, meaning I will be buying a better microphone soon. Also, we are working on getting an actual voice actor to read each episodes journal reading. We hope to have a new episode by the end of the month.

More on the Red River Prison Camp

Episode 5

We talked a little bit about the Red River Prison Camp in Episode 5 so I wanted to provide a little more info on the prison camp. What follows is a description of the Red River Prison Camp from Dimirti Minaev who runs the excellent blog De Bebus Antiquis Et Novis

Red River (Krásnaya Réchka) is now a district of Khabarovsk (here).

During the WWI, it was a camp for the POWs. Altogether, from 40,000 to 45,000 people were kept in the camp throughout 1915-1919. So, in June 1915, there were 904 POWs in Red River, including two Italians. One of those Italians was Roberto Oros di Bartini, who later became a Soviet aviation engineer and the prototype of Woland in Master and Margarita by Bulgakov.

Another well known inmate of Red River was Mate Zalka, Hungarian communist and writer.

The conditions in the camp during the WWI complied with the Hague convention and were much better than in the German camps for Russian POWs.

Map for Episode 5

Link to Episode 5


This map shows the area covered in Episode 5. You can see the locations of the cities Spasskoye and Vladivostok among others. You can also see the railroad routes. The map was taken from the book Russian Sideshow

Episode 5: Spasskoye, Khabarovsk, Prisons, and Trains

Link to Episode 5

Listen to us talk about the Red River Prison and the Russian Railroad Service Corps and more!

This episode also covers part of George's trip from Spasskoye to Khabarovsk. Here are two postcards and a photo from George's collection of Khabarovsk. He uses a little 'x' to mark the spot of the barracks he stayed at while in Khabarovsk.

This next one is a photograph I think, the original caption, handwritten by George in his album indicates the building as the Barracks in Khabarovsk. I don't know who the soldiers in the photo are.

The next picture is an example of the type of damage the Russian Railroad Corps may have faced when trying to repair damaged parts of the railroad. The caption indicates the bridge was destroyed by the Bolsheviks.

The Czech Legions One More Time

I wanted to post this post card of the Czech Legions from George's collection. The caption reads, "Gallant Czech going to France to join the French Army: Arrival at Vladivostok." It's a pretty interesting relic for a couple of reasons. First, its a great old shot, with interesting details if you click on the image and get a more detailed view. Also, it is factually inaccurate as far as I can tell. Based on the research I have done no Czech Legions made their way to France via Vladivostok. Of course, the intention was that the Czechs would be transported from Vladivistok to France to help in the fighting but it didn't happen. The War ended and the Czechs were more or less stranded in Siberia until 1920 when they were sent home to help form the Czechoslovakia.

Episode 5 coming soon. We'll be discussing the Russian Railway Service Corps - a group of American railroad workers sent to Russia prior to the military intervention, along with some other topics.

More on the Czech Legions

Check out this "video" chronicling the history of the Czech legions during and after WWI. It is mostly a string of old photos but its interesting nonetheless.



In case you missed it, here is Episode 4 of the podcast.

Episode 4: Czech Legions

Listen to Episode 4: Czech Legions

This episode deals mainly with the role and history of the Czech legions. Here is a picture from George's collection of the Czech Legions.



Here is a link to the book used for much of the information in this episode: The United States, Revolutionary Russia, and the Rise of Czechoslovakia, by Betty Miller Unterberger.

Transport Logan

I want to to provide a little bit of history of the U.S.A.T. Logan, or as George calls it the Transport Logan. Not a lot of information is easily accessible on transport ships, especially those used so long ago. What follows, however, is some of what I could find on the U.S.A.T. Logan, the ship that brought George Voegeli to Siberia.

The U.S.A.T. Logan was previously the U.S.A.T. Manitoba. It appears as though the system of Army transport started following problems with transport during the Spanish American War.

According to patriot.net, prior to the creation of the U.S.A.T.,

The Navy would escort the transports with combatants, but did not provide what today would be called sealift for War Department, i.e., Army, use. One has to remember these were separate Departments at Cabinet level until formation of the Department of Defense. Getting the War Department and Navy Department to cooperate was probably at least as difficult as getting State and Defense in full cooperation today. Each had its own mission and parochial interests with aspects of jealously and competition for resources. Out of this chaos on the Cuban beaches came the Army's own sea transportation service. I even speculate it had strong support from that Navy advocate "Teddy" Roosevelt himself since it is reported that one of his horses was among those lost.

The U.S.A.T. ships were crewed by civilian employees of the Army and some of the ships had additional Army staff on board to provide support services. The U.S.A.T. fleet was apparently small leading up to WWI but was grown to some 500 ships during the war.

For more info on the U.S.A.T. check out this link. There are also an interesting photos of Czech Legions being evacuated from Russia by U.S.A.T. ships, including the Logan.

Remember, one of the objectives of the AEF in Siberia was to rescue the Czech Legion who had been fighting with the Allies prior to the Russian Revolution.

More on Episode 3

Link to the Podcast, Episode 3

Vladivostok by Matt Boyle

In Episode 3 we heard about George's arrival in Vladivostok. He talks about the city having many droskies. A drosky is a type of horse drawn carriage an example can be seen below.




I also wanted to include a few pictures from George's personal collection.

The French Army lands in Vladivostok

The British Army lands in Vladivostok

American troops marching in Vladivostok

"The Majestic Sight of the Allied Naval Fleet in the Port of Vladivostok"

Click on the images to get a good look at some of the neat details.

Look for episode 4 in about two weeks. We'll have a post or two between now and then here so check back soon.