North Russia Relief Force, 1918-1919
C193891 Grave of Sergeant S.G. Pearce, VC, MM, of the North Russia Relief Force.
An Allied expeditionary force, including some Australian volunteers, was landed at Murmansk in March 1918 to support the weakening Russian front against Germany. The front was reinforced by further landings at Archangel in August 1918. In supporting the White Russians, the force became involved in operations against the Bolsheviks. To extract the force after the Armistice and after the Russian winter, the North Russia Relief Force was raised in UK, again including Australian volunteers, arriving in North Russia in June 1919. All British forces were evacuated by September 1919.
Two Australians were awarded a Victoria Cross for actions in North Russia: Corporal Arthur Percy SULLIVAN and Sergeant Samuel George PEARSE. Their Victoria Crosses are on display in the Hall of Valour at the Memorial.
Further Information
- North Russian Force
- Brief account of North Russia Relief Force operations from Lionel Wigmore, They dared mightily, 2nd revised edition, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1986
- Jeffrey Grey, "A 'pathetic sideshow': Australians and the Russian intervention, 1918-1919", Journal of the Australian War Memorial 7, October 1985, pp. 12—17
- Michael Challinger, "Aussie VC winners in North Russia", Wartime 45, 2009, pp. 62—65
- Corporal Arthur Percy Sullivan VC
- Sergeant Samuel George Pearse VC
- The Hall of Valour