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The Dunsterfarce

Dunsterforce, officially the British Military Mission to the Caucasus, a secret force of 450 imperial soldiers commanded by Major-General Lionel C. Dunsterville. Its mission to safeguard the immense oil installations at Baku from the Ottomans and the Germans, while organizing local groups of Armenians, Georgians, and anti-Bolsheviks to safeguard the railways and approaches to Afghanistan and India. Frustrated by British mismanagement and inept Russian allies, LCol John Weightman Warden became disillusioned with the mission, which he ridiculed as The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce.

On the way home. Note the sour disposition of LCol John Weightman Warden.
December 1918

Group of officers, mainly Dusterforce men, onboard ship leaving Basra on their way home. Those identified are Captain Kendal, centre front, smoking; Private Robson, an Australian, not Dunsterforce, centre left; LCol John Weightman Warden, back row centre with binoculars around his neck; Captain John Harold Ashley Sorrel, MM, originally 45th Battalion, middle centre.

These men a sad-precursor to the 1st Special Service Force (FSSF), an elite joint American–Canadian commando unit in the Second World War, formed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick.

Intelligence Reports

In 1914, Assyrians found themselves solicited in turn by the Allies and Central Powers. Assyrians in their Hakkiari Mountains occupied a key position, sandwiched between the Turks and the Russians advancing from the east. Massacres of Assyrians in the surrounding districts by Turkish and Kurdish forces forced the mountain Assyrians to join the Allies. Not long however before they were forced off the mountains by overwhelming numbers and made their way to Assyrian areas in the lowlands of lake Urmia in Persia. Their closest ally the Russians, the main source of supplies. The revolution in Russia forced the exit or Russian troops, so in 1917 the Assyrians and Armenians in Persia found themselves having to fight alone for eight months with dwindling supplies before contacted by the British, and so entered the Dunsterforce.

The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce. — Armenian refugees from the Lakes Van and Urmia districts, passing through Ruz on their way to Bakuba, when the Dunsterforce Force had established a camp for their reception in October 1918. LCol John Weightman Warden had no sympathy for the plight of the Armenians, and would have supported the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917, had he known about it. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Four distinct groups

There were four distinct groups and all had different agendas and only one group’s agenda was the same as the Dunsterforce.

Highland Assyrians, their agenda was the same, they wanted to defeat the Turks and return to their homes in the Hakkarri mountains.
Lowland Assyrians and Armenians of Persia, their agenda to return to Persia. They had little interest in defeating the Turks but were willing to fight.
The Armenians of Lake Van who previously retreated to Persia, these had no interest in the highlands or the lowlands, this group was most troublesome and the cause of the breakdown in defences that led to the exodus.
Remnants of the Russian army who feared returning to Russia which was now under Bolshevik control. This group allied with the third group and had the same interest of leaving the area and not returning, this group conspired with the third group to vacate the defences without warning the Assyrians.

January

In January 1918, the British assembled a prototype special operations unit known as Dunsterforce. This handpicked team of soldiers undertook a daring secret mission to northern Persia (now Iran) and the Caucasus. Their aim to unify into an effective force the various anti-Bolshevik and anti-Turkish groups fighting there.

Command of the British Mission given to Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville CB. A well-liked and respected Indian Army officer and a fluent Russian speaker, with operational experience on the Indian North-West Frontier and in China. The then British Military Agent in Tiflis Lieutenant Colonel G D Pike MC, 9th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army, and Dunsterville was to take over the appointment from him.

Irregular Army

This all to be achieved by organising local groups of Armenians, Assyrians, Georgians and anti-Bolsheviks into an irregular army.

A major problem the attitude of the theatre commander in Mesopotamia, Lieutenant General William Raine Marshall KCB, who had succeeded in command after General F S Maude’s death from illness in Baghdad.

Marshall strenuously objected to the concept of Dunsterforce because he had to logistically support it across Persia, but more personally he vehemently objected to the fact that Lionel Dunsterville reported directly to London. From this moment onwards Marshall’s somewhat petulant opposition to Dunsterforce grew and Dunsterville’s chances of achieving some kind of success receded.

Secret Mission

In January 1918, Warden volunteered for a “secret mission in the east.” Although extremely reluctant to leave his battalion, the 102nd commander admitted he could no longer stand his superiors, Brig-Gen Victor Odlum (also virulently anti-Bolshevik) and Major General David Watson, whom he considered “very mercenary men.”

In 1917, Odlum and Watson helped their commanding officer Sir Arthur Currie avoid charges of embezzlement by loaning him enough money to repay a very large sum he had stolen from regimental funds before the war. (Left to right: Unidentified Corps officer, Currie, Oldum, Watson).

Warden officially severed his ties with the 102nd on 11 January 1918, never having formally bid farewell to his troops. He did issue a Special Order of the Day, announcing his departure.

Made application for my transfer from Canadian Corp. G.O.C. would not forward it on to Corp Comdt, as he would have to ask for an investigation, & he was not anxious to have one. He (Odlum (Brig Gen)) finally asked me if I would let him withhold it & he would give me leave to England & extend it until I secured a situation myself. (this was after he had offered me a brigade in Eng., a staff appointment with both the Portuguese Army & the new American Army at Paris, also a Govt. situation at home, all of which I refused, as I would not accept anything from him) this I agreed to, this kept him at my H.Q. talking from 8 am till 1.30 pm, he also apologised (sic) very sincerely for the disagreeable way he had acted toward me & my Batt. & tried to dissuad (sic) me from leaving.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

8th – volunteered for service with secret mission to the east, in the Cacassus (sic), & interviewed Corp. Comdr. Lt Gen Sir Arthur Currie & Col Byron who was O.C. mission. Corp Comdr consented to my leaving & issued an order for me to be seconded to Imperials. I should never have left the Canadians, but for the fact, I could not stand my Brigadier Gen. Victor Odlum any longer nor Mjr Gen. David Watson Div Comdr. Both very mercenary men & political with Pullens, who used their Comds to make to gainPublic notice & repute. Odlum was the most clever schemer of the two. He was working for Watson’s job, & was making balls for Watson to fix an order to make him (Watson) unpopular, & Watson was not smart enough to know it, & fixed the balls, a most in compitant (sic) officer, & Odlum is a most averisious (sic) decoration hunter, as are most of the staff.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

102nd Battalion

Left my batt. & France for England. 8 am, this is the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. I have the best Batt. In France, there never were men touer (sic for tougher), braver, more loyal, more capable, more loved by CO, the finest fighters. It just about broke my heart, I could not say goodbye to a single one. God, how I loved them. They called themselves “Wardens Warriors” & the rest of the British Army called us , “The Death or Glory Boys” & no Brit was more entitled to the name, I wish them the best of good luck.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Return to Regina Trench

Following the capture of Regina Trench, on the night of 23 October 1916, the 102nd Battalion relieved by the 54th Battalion and marched to the Chalk Pits half a mile south of Pozières. The success a costly one and the casualty figures (six officers and 46 Other Ranks killed with eight and seventy wounded) witness the price paid and include the following officers: Killed-Capt. Raymond William Nicholls, Lieuts. Adair Carss, T. P. Copp, McLaren Gordon, J. H. Grant (died of wounds), and Crawford Thomas Rush. Missing, believed killed – Major George Rothnie. Wounded Majors H. E. H. Dixon, J. S. Matthews; Capts. W,.J. Loudon, J. E. Spencer; Lieuts. L. J. Bettison, A. G. MacDonald, J.H. Wilson.

Major K G MACKENZIE, 102nd Battalion
Lt T P Copp, 102nd Battalion
Lt C T Rush, 102nd Battalion
Lt Adair Carss, 102nd Battalion

Such is the story of the 102nd’s share in the capture of Regina Trench. It was a great achievement, and in recognition of his valuable services in this operation Lieut. Colonel Warden later in the year awarded the D.S.O.

Congratulations from Victor Odlum

“Dear Colonel Warden:-.

“I want to congratulate you and through you all the officers and men of your, battalion who took part in it, on last night’s splendid operation. It was one of the best I have seen. The Divisional Corps and Army Commanders also send their congratulations. Special commendation is due to Major Worsnop, Capt. Trousdale, Lieut. Lister; Lieut. Mackenzie and Lieut. Matheson. The 102nd Bn. has now carried out two successful operations and I am exceedingly proud of it. The battalion has already established a record to live up to.

“Sincerely,

“V. W. ODLUM,

“Commdg. 11th C.I.B.”

Creation of the Dunsterforce

From 12 to 20 officers and about twenty NCOs each, requested from the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the Canadian Corps, twelve officers and about ten NCOs from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) and several South Africans. The Canadians sent 15 officers and 26 NCOs of

… strong character, adventurous spirit, especially good stamina, capable of organizing, training, and eventually leading, irregular troops.

— G. W. L. Nicholson

Medman, L. Dunsterforce’s top ranking Canadian officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Weightman Warden

Volunteering for this mission, however, would mean giving up command of the 102nd Canadian Infantry Battalion—men he’d personally recruited from Vancouver and from smaller towns throughout B.C. After leading them through the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele, leaving “Warden’s warriors” behind would, he said, be “the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.”

T E Lawrence and camels in Wadi Itm, October 1917 © IWM (Q 60097)

Ultimately, the adventures of the 41 Canadians who joined “Dunsterforce” would rival those of Lawrence of Arabia.

Canadian Officers

Warden most senior of the 15 Canadian officers—half of whom had been promoted to acting captain after assignment to Dunsterforce. The 26 Canadian NCOs also received promotions; privates, lance corporals, corporals and acting sergeants all became acting sergeants.

Geoffrey C Burbidge (Burbage)

Burbidge MC, Geoffrey C., captain, formerly of the 10th Canadian Infantry Battalion. Relieved of his post by Warden in Mesopotamia.

Walter Chambers

Chambers, Walter, captain, formerly of the 12th Battalion. Not mentioned by Warden.

J M Fisher

Fisher, J.M., captain. Not mentioned by Warden.

Adam Harrison Gilmour

Gilmour, Adam Harrison, captain – 8th CIB. Warden meets a friend of Captain Gilmour’s niece in Italy. Warden associated closely with Captain Gilmour. Not to be confused with Warden’s servant, Private Gilmoure whom he considered N.G. (no good).

Robert Harrison

Harrison, Robert, captain – 5th CIB.

Thomas Hodgson MC, MM & Bar

Hodgson MC, MM & Bar, Thomas, captain -14th Bn (private), Quebec Regiment. Not mentioned by Warden.

Gordon Scott Hopkins

Hopkins, Gordon Scott, captain – 1st Overseas Pioneer Battalion – Dunsterforce also included two other men from British Columbia. Captain Gordon Scott Hopkins, 33, of Hopkins Landing on the Sunshine Coast, enlisted in May 1916. He was a mechanical engineer and master mariner. Not mentioned by Warden.

Cecil John Lewis

Lewis, Cecil John, captain – 2nd C.M.R. Captain Cecil John Lewis, 38, was another Vancouverite. He enlisted in Calgary in January 1915 and gave his occupation as a rancher. Appointed adjutant by Warden following his dismissal of Captain Rogers as adjutant. Lewis would also later be relieved.

John Hugh McLean

McLean, John Hugh, captain – 3rd CIB. Not mentioned by Warden.

Peter S Murray

Murray, Peter S., captain. Warden enjoyed his time with Captain Murray, later evacuated to Canada on compassionate grounds.

Harold Kenzie Newcombe

Newcombe, Harold Kenzie, major – 4th Brigade, CFA. Not mentioned by Warden.

William Lumgair Petrie

Petrie, William Lumgair, captain – 46th CIB. Warden may have enjoyed the train ride through Italy with Captain Petrie, but by Empire Day, he considered Petrie ‘not even fit for NCOs’.

Guy Burland Roberts

Roberts, Guy Burland, captain – 5th CIB. ‘He is not a strong man & should never have come on this expedition” – Warden.

John William Henry Terrett Hopman Vanden Berg DSO

Vanden Berg DSO, John William Henry Terrett Hopman, major – PPCLI. Not mentioned by Warden.

Canadian NCOs

Leon Bedat

One of the most colourful of the Canadians under Warden’s command was Sergeant Leon Bedat, also from Vancouver. Born in France, Bedat had previously served for 12 years with the US Navy—service that spanned both the Spanish American War and the Boxer Rebellion. Warden noted that Bedat had also spent “14 months with Venzuala (sic) rebels.”

According to Bedat’s attestation form (available online through the Library and Archives Canada website), he stood five foot, five inches tall and had tattoos of a dragon and a “Japanese lady” on his arms. In 1918, he would have been either 27 years old (according to the date of birth given on the attestation paper) or 38 years old (the age listed on the back of the same form).

Bedat, Leon, sergeant, 207973 (died 17-11-62)

William Thomas Brophy

Brophy, William Thomas, sergeant, 642141 – 75th Bn, Captain from 14-1-18.

Clifford George Campbell

Campbell, Clifford George, sergeant, 54007 – 18th Bn.

Marriage (Lillian V.) approved 12-2-19. Died 23-8-58, Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto.

Roy Casey

Casey, Roy, sergeant, 75341 – 29th Bn. Sergeant Roy Casey, 27, was born in New York but had been working as a carpenter in Vancouver when he enlisted in November 1914. He also, according to Warden’s notes, had experience as a bricklayer and lumberman. Casey served with the 29th Vancouver Battalion (Tobin’s Tigers) before volunteering for Dunsterforce.

Robert Clark

Clark, Robert, sergeant, 5068 – Canadian Engineers

Wilfred Elmer Cummings

Cummings, Wilfred Elmer, sergeant, 5175 – 12th Bn. Thirty-two-year-old Sergeant Wilfred Elmer Cummings of Calgary, a stationary engineer, held a certificate in marksmanship and had experience as a transport driver. Seriously wounded, returned to Canada and discharged 1 November 1916. Desperately wanted to return to action.

Raymond Estabrooks

Estabrooks, Raymond, sergeant, 69257 – 26th Bn

Alfred Prat Gattey

Gattey, Alfred Prat, sergeant, 922428 – 107th Pioneer Bn

Samuel Hamilton

Hamilton, Samuel, sergeant, 79130 – 31st Bn

William Tooley Jackman

Jackman, William Tooley, sergeant, 210619 – 75th Bn

John Lawrence

Lawrence, John, sergeant, 187362 – 24th Bn

John Leeds

Leeds, John, sergeant, 439749 – 52nd Bn

Frank Longhurst

Longhurst, Frank, sergeant, 198310 – 28th Bn. Sergeant Frank Longhurst, a car and airbrake inspector, was a “good horseman.” At 44, he was probably the oldest of the Canadian NCOs in Dunsterforce.

Ambrose James Mahar

Mahar, Ambrose James, sergeant, A44193 – 14th Bn

William Donaldson McCue

McCue, William Donaldson, sergeant, 28649 – 16th Bn

Donald John MacDonald

MacDonald, Donald John, sergeant, 435026 – 10th Bn

David Ferguson McWhirter

McWhirter, David Ferguson, sergeant, 907032 – 5th Bn

William John Murdock

Murdock (AKA Murphy), William John, sergeant, 477622 – RCR

James Murray

Murray, James (“Jimmy”), sergeant, 117035 – 1st CMR

Frederick Carey ParsonS

Parsons, Frederick Carey, sergeant, 311931 – 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column. The youngest Canadian NCO was likely Sergeant Frederick Carey Parsons of Winnipeg, a boilermaker who would have been just 20 when Dunsterforce was formed.

Thomas Henry Pegg

Pegg, Thomas Henry, sergeant, 107475 – 2nd Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles. Sergeant Thomas Henry Pegg, 37, was a general merchant and clerk from Canoe, B.C. Married with two children, Pegg enlisted in December 1914. Warden noted that Pegg could drive and was a sailor who was experienced with marine gas engines.

Alexander Miller Ramsay

Ramsay, Alexander Miller, sergeant, 102194 – 54th Bn. Some of the men had unusual skills. Sergeant Alex Miler Ramsay, 35, a tailor from Victoria, had spent three years in India with the Imperial (British) army and “speaks Hindou (sic),” Warden noted.

Tom Ridgway

Ridgway, Tom, sergeant, 219 – 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column. Warden noted that 24-year-old Sergeant Tom Ridgeway of Collingwood, Ontario, a pipefitter, had been a “sailor on Great Lakes” and had been trained as a “bomber” (trained in the use of grenades).

Alfred Swanwick

Swanwick, Alfred, sergeant, 414761 – 25th Bn. Another bomber, Sergeant Alfred Swanwick, a coal miner from Springhill, Nova Scotia, who at 29 was married and the father of three children.

William Edward Trevor

Sergeant William Edward Trevor, 24, a textile worker, was another ex-US Navy man. Trevor listed his address as Lowell, Massachusetts when he enlisted in July 1916, but he also lived in Vancouver. Trevor was one of the taller men in Dunsterforce; he stood six foot, one inch tall. (Warden was
taller, at six foot, two inches.)

Lorne Festus Weidmark

Weidmark, Lorne Festus, sergeant, 132824

Dunsterforce, Baghdad, April 1918

Group Portrait

Group portrait of Non-commissioned Officers of the 5th Party of the Dunsterforce.

Front row

Shown: unidentified, Canadian Forces, front row, fourth from left (4); 2146 Sergeant (Sgt) H. J. Smith, 40th Battalion AIF (10); 8/66 Sgt Robert Gordon Leeden, New Zealand Forces (main body) (11); 838 Sgt Robert Miller Carnegie MM, 20th Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Division (14); Quartermaster Sergeant (QMS) Raffety, Imperial Force (15); 2914 Sgt A. McGorm, ?52nd Battalion AIF (50th) (16); Regimental Sergeant Major P. Walsh, Imperial Regiment (20); 4350 Sgt C. ?Walley (Whalley), 54th Battalion, front row with slouch hat (21);

Second row

QMS Mitchell, Imperial Force, second row, second from right (23); Sgt Mair, British Force (Scottish Regiment) (26); 1180 Sgt Wilfred Davis, ?18th Battalion (17th), in slouch hat (27); Company Sergeant Major (CSM) Puddick, Munster Fusiliers (40); CSM Hamilton, Imperial Force (41); Sgt Bedatt, Canadian Force (43);

Third row

Sgt Cassey, Canadian Force, third row, sixth from left (57); 54627 Sgt A. Wilkins of NZ (64); 45 Sgt W. E. Carson, 8th Battalion, in slouch hat (84);

Back row

319 Sgt Cecil Oliver Lehmann, 11th Light Horse Regiment, back row (114); 6/3172 Sgt Herbert Alfred Strawbridge, NZ Forces (121); 1026 Sgt John Barnett, ?44th Battalion (42nd) (125); 294 Sgt Charles Doherty, 12th Light Horse Regiment (127); 417 Sgt C. T. Wallis (served as C. T. Wallace), ?42nd Battalion (38th) (129); 2674 CSM G. Parker, 15th Battalion (132); 1427 Sgt Charles ?Olsen (Olson), ?12th Battalion (29th) (132); 3092 CSM J. McKane, 45th Battalion (133); 661 Sgt T. Tait, 44th Battalion (135); unidentified (136); 24058 Sgt William Morton Ryburn, NZ Forces (137); 1764 Sgt B. F. Murphy DCM Belgian Croix de Guerre, 28th Battalion (138); Sgt Gatty, Canadian Infantry (140); 20098 Sgt Robert Clarke, NZ Forces (143); 34906 Sgt Alexander Nimmo, NZ Forces (145); 33158 Sgt Henry George ?Tollard (Tollan), NZ Forces (147); 8/3359 Sgt J. Missen, NZ Forces (149). (Lent by Captain C. McVilly MC)

Left hand side

Left hand side reference of image only to provide position detail for those named.

Front row

Shown: unidentified, Canadian Forces, front row, fourth from left (4); 2146 Sergeant (Sgt) H. J. Smith, 40th Battalion AIF (10); 8/66 Sgt Robert Gordon Leeden, New Zealand Forces (main body) (11); 838 Sgt Robert Miller Carnegie MM, 20th Battalion (2nd Division AIF) (14); Quartermaster Sgt (QMS) Raffety, Imperial Force (15); 2914 Sgt A. McGorm, 50th Battalion (52nd AIF) (16); Regimental Sergeant Major P. Walsh, Imperial Regiment (20); 4350 Sgt C. Whalley, 54th Battalion, front row with slouch hat (21);

Second row

QMS Mitchell, Imperial Force, second row, second from right (23); Sgt Mair, British Force (Scottish Regiment) (26); 1180 Sgt Wilfred Davis, 17th Battalion (18th Battalion), in slouch hat (27); Company Sergeant Major (CSM) Puddick, Munster Fusiliers (40); CSM Hamilton, Imperial Force (41); Sgt Bedatt, Canadian Force (43);

Third row

Sgt Cassey, Canadian Force, third row, sixth from left (57); 54627 Sgt A. Wilkins of NZ (64); 45 Sgt W. E. Carson, 8th Battalion, in slouch hat (84);

Back row

319 Sgt Cecil Oliver Lehmann, 11th Light Horse Regiment, back row (114); 6/3172 Sgt Herbert Alfred Strawbridge, NZ Forces (121); 1026 Sgt John Barnett, 42nd Battalion (or 44th Battalion) (125); 294 Sgt Charles Doherty, 12th Light Horse Regiment (127); 417 Sgt C. T. Wallis (served as C. T. Wallace), 38th Battalion (or 42nd Battalion) (129); 2674 CSM G. Parker, 15th Battalion (132); 1427 Sgt Charles Olson, 29th Battalion (or 12th Battalion) (132); 3092 CSM J. McKane, 45th Battalion (133); 661 Sgt T. Tait, 44th Battalion (135); unidentified (136); 24058 Sgt William Morton Ryburn, NZ Forces (137); 1764 Sgt B. F. Murphy DCM Belgian Croix de Guerre, 28th Battalion (138); Sgt Gatty, Canadian Infantry (140); 20098 Sgt Robert Clarke, NZ Forces (143); 34906 Sgt Alexander Nimmo, NZ Forces (145); 33158 Sgt Henry George Tollan (?Tollard), NZ Forces (147); 8/3359 Sgt J. Missen, NZ Forces (149).

Right hand side

Right hand side reference of image only to provide position detail for those named.

First row

Shown: unidentified, Canadian Forces, front row, fourth from left (4); 2146 Sergeant (Sgt) H. J. Smith, 40th Battalion AIF (10); 8/66 Sgt Robert Gordon Leeden, New Zealand Forces (main body) (11); 838 Sgt Robert Miller Carnegie MM, 20th Battalion (2nd Division AIF) (14); Quartermaster Sgt (QMS) Raffety, Imperial Force (15); 2914 Sgt A. McGorm, 50th Battalion (52nd AIF) (16); Regimental Sergeant Major P. Walsh, Imperial Regiment (20); 4350 Sgt C. Whalley, 54th Battalion, front row with slouch hat (21);

Second row

Third row

Sgt Cassey, Canadian Force, third row, sixth from left (57); 54627 Sgt A. Wilkins of NZ (64); 45 Sgt W. E. Carson, 8th Battalion, in slouch hat (84);

Back row

319 Sgt Cecil Oliver Lehmann, 11th Light Horse Regiment, back row (114); 6/3172 Sgt Herbert Alfred Strawbridge, NZ Forces (121); 1026 Sgt John Barnett, 42nd Battalion (or 44th Battalion) (125); 294 Sgt Charles Doherty, 12th Light Horse Regiment (127); 417 Sgt C. T. Wallis (served as C. T. Wallace), 38th Battalion (or 42nd Battalion) (129); 2674 CSM G. Parker, 15th Battalion (132); 1427 Sgt Charles Olson, 29th Battalion (or 12th Battalion) (132); 3092 CSM J. McKane, 45th Battalion (133); 661 Sgt T. Tait, 44th Battalion (135); unidentified (136); 24058 Sgt William Morton Ryburn, NZ Forces (137); 1764 Sgt B. F. Murphy DCM Belgian Croix de Guerre, 28th Battalion (138); Sgt Gatty, Canadian Infantry (140); 20098 Sgt Robert Clarke, NZ Forces (143); 34906 Sgt Alexander Nimmo, NZ Forces (145); 33158 Sgt Henry George Tollan (?Tollard), NZ Forces (147); 8/3359 Sgt J. Missen, NZ Forces (149).

January

On 24 January 1918 Dunsterville despatched an advance party under Major Sir Walter Barttelot DSO, Coldstream Guards, accompanied by Captain G M Goldsmith, Intelligence Corps, and an armoured car commanded by Lieutenant C M Singer, Devonshire Regiment and Motor Machine Gun Corps.

Three days later Dunsterville left Mesopotamia with 41 Ford cars with Army Service Corps drivers, eleven staff officers and two clerks. The drivers took rifles and an infantry staff officer took a Lewis Gun. Critically the convoy carried a large amount of Persian silver and British gold coins, and the need for adequate protection of this treasure soon to constrain Dunsterville’s actions.

Meanwhile, LCol John Weightman Warden left England, and by 1 February in scenic south-western France, accompanied by Captain’s Murray and Pertrie. Warden did not hold them in high regard, “I do not think they are the right kind for the work we are to carry out.”

February

After struggles through snowdrifts the 41 Ford cars reached Kermanshah on 3 February. Here Dunsterville made contact with 1,200 Russian Cossacks under the command of Colonel Lazar Bicherakov, a courageous and charismatic Ossetian who was to be a staunch ally of the British in northern Persia and the Caucasus. Bicherakov and his Caucasian Cossacks were fiercely anti-Bolshevik.

Lieutenant Colonel C H Clutterbuck, 125th Napier’s Rifles, Indian Army, the British liaison officer with the Russians, assisted by New Zealand army signallers manning a Russian wireless set. Clutterbuck a Russian language specialist and popular with the Cossacks; the New Zealanders were from an Australian and New Zealand wireless squadron.

A mounted Terek or Kuban Cossack officer under the command of Colonel Lazar Bicherakov, who led a relatively small number of them in support of Dunsterforce in Persia/Mesopotamia in 1918. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

The Cossack wearing a traditional cherkesska (coat), astrakhan cap called either a kubanka or papakha, depending on height, and carries a kindjhal [a dagger carried by most Cossack men, not just the military] and a shashka (silver mounted sword). Medals pinned to the row of cartridge cases are possibly the Order of St George, the Order of St Vladimir and the Medal for Bravery. The donor of the image was Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Clanan Marr, DSO, MC, Commanding Officer of 1st Anzac Wireless Squadron, which was also involved with Dunsterforce.

Lieutenant General Nikolai Baratov

Also at Hamadan was the Russian Lieutenant General Nikolai Baratov, commander of the Russian troops in northern Persia. This force had performed well as part of the Imperial Russian Army and had pushed a Turkish advance out of Persia and back into Mesopotamia. But now Baratov’s command had disintegrated and most of his remaining soldiers refused to accept orders as they tried to get home. Dunsterville carefully negotiated separately with Bicherakov and Baratov. He paid Baratov for items of military equipment purchased and he paid Bicherakov when he needed the Cossacks to fight.

Dunsterville left Hamadan on 14 February when a pass immediately ahead was cleared of snow and his convoy, now including Cecil Singer’s armoured car, made good time down an excellent Russian-constructed road to Kasvin. This was an important town of 50,000 inhabitants and the road to Tehran, the Persian capital, forked eastwards from there.

Resht

At Resht, Dunsterville learned that the reason why his convoy had not been attacked on the Enzeli-Resht road was because the Jangalis had been uncertain whether or not the withdrawing Russians would fight alongside the British. Overdue maintenance on the cars was performed at Resht under the supervision of M2/130904 Serjeant R W Harris, Army Service Corps, and then the convoy drove off to arrive back at Hamadan on the evening of 25 February.

Captain Steward, Imperial army and Captain Richard Henry Hooper, MC, originally 58th Battalion, both Dunsterforce men, watch native women working on the road construction at Hamadan. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Dunsterville chose Hamadan as his firm base because of its strategic location within Persia and its healthy climate, and here he spent time explaining his intentions to the local Persian administrators and attempting to secure their support for his activities. This was a delicate task as Persia was still a neutral country and most Persians resented the constant intrusions onto Persian soil practised by both the Allies and the Central Powers.

Taranto

At Taranto, Italy, the Canadian contingent embarked on SS MALWA at 5 p.m. on 10 February 1918. Warden notes, “There are 39 nurses on board & a very representative lot, well bred & very well trained, they go to East Africa.” Sight-seeing at Alexandria, Egypt on 16 February. “The natives are very dirty & the most consumate theaves (sic) liars & swindlers I have ever met.”

Capt Gilmour (Can) & Capt Bray (Russian) left at Alex arrived during the day. Went straight aboard & had breakfast on S.S. Nile, a very dirty ship, the dirtiest I ever traveled on, sailed at 7 pm as soon as Capts Bray & Gilmour got aboard by tender. Saw Mt Sinai & Holy Lands in the distance. Also place where Moses is supposed to have stopped the Red Sea & brought the Isarelites (sic) through on dry ground. I think the tide was out at the time.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Jangalis

Dunsterforce was now approaching territory controlled by a group of Persians known as the Jangalis because they operated from the heavily forested or jungle-like land in Gilan Province south of the Caspian Sea. The Jangali revolutionary leader, Mirza Kuchik Khan, had vowed not to let the British through his region. Kuchik Khan, like many Persians had felt humiliated by the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 that was used to allow ‘Spheres of Influence’ to be created in Persia, the Russian sphere being almost the entire north of the country and the British sphere being in the south-east, adjacent to the Indian border.

So far the Jangalis had resisted attempts by both the Tehran government and the local Russian forces to destroy them. A German mission under Colonel von Passchen was training Kuchik Khan’s men who were equipped with rifles and Turkish machine guns.

March

Cold windy morning (1 March 1918), sighted Kuwait noon, also S.S. Evinpura (Erinpura?) which is to take us to Basrah. Kuwait is a very good.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Arrived at Basrah at noon (2 March 1918). Plenty of shipping & quite a busy place. A large clean hospital in a sheik’s palace. Mud huts & a lot of dirty ragged Arabs, Kurds, Persians running about. Disembarked 3 pm & were posted in small lots in different places. I was sent with 30 other officers to Medical Reinforcement Depot at McKena, the best quarters of the lot, O.C. & N.C.O.s & few officers went to H.Q. Barracks at Ashura.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Portrait of Captain Percy Lay, MC, DCM, MM (8th Bn AEF) of the Dunsterforce, with two Persian children at his billet in Ashar, Basrah. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Beatrice Isabel Jones

“Took tea with Matron-in-Chief for Mesopotamia Miss Beatrice Isabel Jones (QAIMNS) and her assistant Miss Collins & several other matrons & M.O.s also a few Gen ls , met Capt Armstrong from Nelson B.C. of the I.W.T.” Jones had led 250 nurses to organise the first hospital for British troops in Mesopotamia in 1916. As Chief Matron of Mesopotamia, she also established hospitals in Basra and Mosul ensuring that they were organised according to her exacting standards.

Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery

Beatrice left Mesopotamia briefly in 1920 and then returned to serve as Chief of Civil Administration in Baghdad until her death there on 14 January 1921. She was buried in Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery, and was the only woman buried among the 4,487 war casualties.

Not all the casualties commemorated within this cemetery received permanent headstones. Some Indian Great War casualties commemorated on nameless memorials with their names listed in a printed cemetery register. Owing to difficulties accessing the country since the first Gulf War, the CWGC has not yet been able to correct this, although plans are being made to ensure these men are appropriately commemorated. The erection of 511 headstones, with new concrete bases, as well as repair to the boundary fence was completed in 2012.

Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude

The cemetery also contains the grave of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, Commander-in-Chief of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, who died at Baghdad in November 1917 and the memorial to the 13th Division which he commanded. A memorial to the 6th Battalion Loyal (North Lancashire) Regiment was brought into the cemetery from the banks of the Diyala River in 1947.

On 5 March 1918, the Canadian officers invited to dine with the Sheik of Mahamerah on the occasion of the marriage of his favorite son.

We (about 20 Officers) went down on a boat called the Arab (placed at our disposal by Brig. Gen Hughs, O.C. I.W.T.) about 20 miles below Basrah. We arrived at 7 pm & was met with a burst of brilliant lights on shore & this warship. He met us personally & conducted us to his reception room & introduced us to the son which is the Bridegroom & heir & several other sons. (He has 35 wives & about 100 children) The sons never sit down in their father’s presence & the wives & daughters are not allowed out of the Haram (sic) women are mearly (sic) for man’s use & not a companion here in this country. The Sheik pays no dues to the Shah of Persia, but draws a fat one £20,000 from England, Hevie (sic) his loyalty. Several other guests were present among them the the (sic) British Consul & wife & several of the officials of the AngloPersian Oil Coy & Bank Staff. I however was the principle guest & sat on the Rt hand, the marriage ceremony consists of dinners, native Persian dancers, fireworks, theaters & concerts which go on for weeks, as long as the bride’s father cares to keep it up in case it ends in a day or two after over a month’s run, the bride, is a young Virgin 12 years old.

We enjoyed ourselves very much. The Sheik informed me I was the Sheik of Mahamerah & everything he had was mine. I was therefore the possessor of 35 wives just for the night, but I did not get an opportunity to visit them. However I beat him for numbers as I had his 35
& my own one at home.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Garden of Eden

(18 March 1918) “Passed sight of original Garden of Eden at the confluence of the Rivers Tigris & Euphrates. The village of Qurra now stands on the banks. We were shown what was said to be the tree of knowledge of good & evil, but I think the fruit Adam partook of was produced in Eve’s garden, possibly her pea patch. It may have been a very pretty garden then, but only Palms & etc growing now.”

Before, when we used to come to the marshes, there was greenery, water, inner peace. Now it’s like a desert.” This picture taken on July 27, 2022, shows a view of boats along the banks of a stream in the Hawiza marsh near the city of al-Amarah in southern Iraq.

The reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden, Iraq’s swamplands have been battered by three years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced river flows from neighboring Turkey and Iran. Vast expanses of the Huwaizah Marshes, which straddle Iraq’s border with Iran, and the touristic Chibayish Marshes, have now become cracked ground, smattered with yellowing shrubs.

19 March 1918: “Passed Ezra’s tomb on right bank of Tigris, its large enamel dome rising from an enclosure surrounded with date palms, is very pretty.”

Arch of Ctesiphon (Taq Kasra)

Arch of Ctesiphon, built by the Persians nearly 1,500 years ago. It was the facade of the main palace in Ctesiphon, and is the only visible remaining structure of the ancient capital city.

On 26 March 1918 at 4 p.m., Warden landed & walked over the ruins of the ancient & }city of Etesephon (St. Stephon) built 600 B.C. The structure Captured by the Arabs during the conquest of Persia in 637. Used as a mosque for a while until the area gradually abandoned. In the early 10th century, the Abbasid caliph al-Muktafi dug up the ruins of the palace to reuse its bricks in the construction of the Taj Palace in Baghdad.

“The Arch which still stands some 125 ft & built by the Parthens was interesting.” The monument in the process of being rebuilt by Saddam Hussein‘s government in the course of the 1980s, when the fallen northern wing partially rebuilt.

Remains of the arch in 2022. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

On March 7, 2019, a partial collapse further damaged the Taq Kasra, just two years after its latest restoration completed. The arch used to be an important tourist attraction, and Iraqi authorities hope to revive that tourism in the coming years.\

Baghdad

31 March 1918: “Went to Baghdad to see the city. Built about 2000 years ago. Has a population of 150,000 & made up of Arabs, Persians, Kurds, Chaldeans, Armenians, etc, etc, etc. Dirty, stinking city, just the same as everywhere else. Women wear veils here also, several styles.”

April

April saw more Dunsterforce personnel arriving in Hamadan, plus three more armoured cars from the 6th Light Armoured Motor Battery and ‘C’ Squadron 14th (The King’s) Hussars, a British Regular Army cavalry regiment.

British sergeant drilling Assyrian Christian ‘Jelus’ recruits at Hamadan during the formation of the Urmia Brigade. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Nobody’s Child

We are nobody’s child. Every one is wondering why we came here from France & where one party is very anxious to secure the other fellow’s job. The result is the command does not receive proper attention. It was so with South African Constabulary when Gen. Kitchener & Baden Powel were not pulling together. We suffered badly for a year or more.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Armenian refugees. A cart piled with ragged possessions and five Armenian refugee children during the British Army Dunsterforce’s defence of Baku. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*. (Q 24947)

The native people are dying of starvation by the road sides. Its (sic) a pitiful sight to see them come & beg for food & one has to refuse owing to shortage of rations. & we have been on ½ rations for (unreadable word) month.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

May

12 May 1918: Spent day in Pyjamas trying to keep from melting. Frightfully hot & flies & mosquitoes are as thick the very air one breathes. One has to cover ones mouth when yawning in order to keep from inhaling & swallowing a few doz.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

In May Dunsterville visited Tehran to consult with the British Ambassador, and also that month the fourth and final party of Dunsterforce arrived in Hamadan accompanied by a group of specially selected anti-Bolshevik Russian officers.

The Tehran Gate, Kazvin (Qazvin) on the route taken by Dunsterforce to Enzeli in 1918. photograph (Q 25002) North Gate. Teheran. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Route March

Warden’s now contentious relationship with Dunster evident. On 13 May 1918, Warden started out at 3 a.m. on a route march, returning at 8 a.m. “That made 5 hours on an empty stomach which was too long but orders are orders. I think I should march by night, while more up country, to avoid the heat.”

Received following memo from C.O.: “The C.O. wishes to know why the party which you were in charge of was so late starting.”
- Replied: “The party moved of[f] as normally, according to hour of parade.”
Received following memo from C.O.: “The Comdg Officer needs a report in writing as to the reasons why you did not march the party under your comd. This morning to Kurdarrah & back as laid down in Batt orders no 2 of 12.5.18 Please.”
- Replied: ”Because five to six hours marching was to (sic) far or long without breakfast.”

Major General Dunsterville G. O. C. Dunsterforce, and Commodore Norris R. N. on the Caspian. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*. (Q 24906)

He (Dunster) is a priceless Ass, if I have ever met one. When I returned I went to C.O.’s tent & reported back & explained that I did not go to Kusdarrah as it was 3 miles further then where we went, which to take at least 2 hrs longer to go & return, & I felt it was too far to take the men on an empty stomach (about 16 miles there & back) & as we had gone two hours hard walking to where we were it would take two to return. & I was of opinion that was sufficient, & he agreed with me & was perfectly satisfied & offered me a drink & an Orange.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

On 19 March 1918, Dunster Left with his party of armoured cars for Hamadan. Warden went as far Kanikin to look over the road. “The distance is longer than reported I think. It is not going to be an easy march. Had lunch at 14 Div. H.Q.”

Assyrian Christian ‘Jelus’ recruits being drilled by a British officer at Hamadan during the formation of the Urmia Brigade. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Adjutant Relieved

LCol Warden regretting the selection of his adjutant. “For officers absent from Parade, light were burning till one o’clock this morning. Discipline very bad. I shall have to make some changes Adjutant is not strong, & there lies my trouble.”

Paraded the absentees & told them the next officer or officers who disobeyed my orders would be sent back bag & baggage with an adverse report. There is to be no second chance. I’m going to be obeyed or some one will suffer. I also paraded the orderly officer for not attending to his duties & seeing that all lights were out according to orders. Then I relieved the adjt. Of adjt’s duties & appointed Capt. Lewis adjt. Shortly after Capt Rogers (the ex adjt) came with a note from M.O. requesting I let he (Rogers) Capts. Robinson & Burbage proceed by a motor if available as they were all sick. I think the only sickness that is troubling them is O.C. sickness as I have relieved them all of their jobs & they are sore, but I am going to have order & discipline or know the reason why. No motor available for them. They may remain behind.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

The following day, “Capt. Rogers took exception to my remark that “I considered the adjt was largely responsible for the slackness in camp & poor discipline & asked to be paraded to Gen. Dunsterville. I acceeded (sic) to his wish. Later he wrote an application to be forwarded on to the Gen. asking for a investigation which will be duly carried out also poor chap, he must have had several conference in a hurry after being relieved.”

Empire Day

24 May 1918: “Capt. Petrie & his clique of camouflaged gentlemen made the night hideous with their noises. As usual there was plenty to drink. God only knows what Gen. Dunsterville can do with men of their calibre (sic). They are not even fit for N.C.O.s. The Australians are absolutely an undisciplined mob. My experience was the same in South Africa during the Boer War, also in France in the present war.”

Eastern Committee of the War Cabinet

The Eastern Committee of the War Cabinet in London made an important policy change on 27 May, telegraphing that Dunsterforce was now not to attempt to get to Tiflis but was to reach the Caspian Sea and take control of the shipping fleet there. The military priority was to secure the Mesopotamia-Enzeli road. This instruction was modified to allow Dunsterville or one or more of his officers to go to Baku, at General Marshall’s discretion, to reconnoitre the task of demolishing Baku’s oil wells. General Marshall was to find the troops needed by Dunsterforce. But Lionel Dunsterville was never to get the troops he needed to complete the tasks that he would undertake and by now many of his men were dispersed around northern Persia on intelligence, famine-relief and training duties.

The building occupied by Dunsterforce, as a headquarters at Enzeli. A small pack wireless set was established in the rear, as a check on the large Russian Wireless Station, which worked in conjunction with the Force. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Concurrent with Dunsterforce operations were a British military move into Russian Transcaspia from Meshed in north-eastern Persia and the military operations of the British-sponsored South Persia Rifles in the south of the country.

Khanikin

On the same day, Warden’s team arrived Khanikin 2.30 am. 7 men fell out & brought in by M.O. It was a very hard march. The officers & N.C.O.s were very tired. The dust was bad & road was very rough. I shall remain here a day to rest. 10 am. reported in & was ordered to proceed on to KasiIShirin tonight.

The D.A.& Q.M.G. (Col. Marshbank) of 14 th Div (India Service) was very dictatorial & disagreeable & authoritative. He would not discuss the point re overloading of transport & refused to allow me any more & refused to allow me to rest the men who are footsore & exhausted. He was exceedingly nasty. I thank Almighty God I’m not an Englishman or Staff Officer. They are (with exceptions of course) the most perfect samples of camouflage I ever saw. They are the very best finished gentlemen to ones face & the reverse behind ones back. I wonder will this war change them as a nation or individually. I do not think so.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Kasr-I-Shirin

28 May 1918: 14th Div again on the scream. Sent Bd Maj over to know if we were going to proceed tonight. It seems to me I am not under their orders but they must give me protection on the march through their area. They have been very very disageeable & unaccommadating (sic).

I have had to wire ahead to stop my officers from going further on. They are not very considerate. I allowed them to ride from Ruz to Khanikin, as they were not too well. As soon as they got there they told the O.C. they were under orders to proceed to Gen. Dunsterville as quickly as possible & demanded six cars & got them & went on & repeated at each station. If I can catch them by wire they will not get much further that is certain. One would expect an officer to play the game.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

A group of Captain William’s irregular cavalry (part of the Dunsterforce) at Korkora. Captain Francis Edgar Williams, originally 32nd Battalion, joined the Dunsterforce in February 1918. The rider in the front is Saif-ul-Nizan, the Persian Lieutenant. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Warden reveals further exasperation on 30 March 1918. “My staff are not equal to the task. & they are very selfish. I cannot get reports & only disagreeable manners from them. I wish this was a Bat – I would cashier them. Am a bit off colour today. Drank too much water yesterday.”

June

Karind (Kerend-e Gharb)

1 June 1918: “Marched off at 8 am. Uphill for about 6 miles then came on a beautiful plain & camped. A Karind 8 miles further on. This was 14 or 15 miles. First part very stoney (sic), latter portion good. Very nice camp sight but very stoney (sic). Very cool & delightfully restful after the very exhausting heat of the lower country. Plenty of water & good fishing. Fish were of excellent quality like trout. Town built in the Gorge & a filthy dirty place full of Typhus fever.”

Dunsterforce camp showing tents, horselines and motor ambulance at Pia-tak-Pass. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Khorasabad

3 June 1918: “Marched off at 8 am. to Khorasabad 14 miles. Good road men marched well (7 fell out). Capts Gwatin & Campbell missed camp & went on to next camping sight. (12 miles) & returned 3 pm. Very good camping ground. Water fair about 1/2 mile from camp.”

Kharunabad (Kheyrabad)

4 June 1918: “Marched off 7.15. Made a quick get away this morning. Good road. We arrived 11.30 at Kharunabad. Good camp sight but the water was shut off by the Native tribes on E. side of Road up in the hills. Also cut our tellephone (sic) wire. Putting on a strong guard tonight. Taking no chances. So I went on through the pass & found abundeness (sic) of water & good camp sight on eastern slopes of range. Lt. Watson shot 5 partridge here. Major Sutter was sniped at 3 miles from camp by some hillsmen & I also when I rode out to reconnoitre (sic). I had a nasty close call. My swift Arab horse saved me. These hill tribesmen are poor sportsmen.”

Mahadast (Mahad)

5 June 1918: “Marched off 7 am. The road was very good. Our hault (sic) for today was ordered to be 3 miles beyond the village of Mahadast but no water at all. Went 8 miles further on & found water just at foot of pass leading into Kerminshaw. Camped there. Water not too good or plentiful but could easily be conserved and made into good camp sight there a good spring near rest houses. We have now marched 175 miles in 13 days & on iron rations at that.”

A small village typical of those encountered by elements of Dunsterforce in its movement through Persia towards the port of Enzeli on the southwestern shores of the Caspian Sea. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Kerminshaw (Kermanshah)

7 June 1918: “Moved off at 7 am. Very steep climb for about a mile. A raise of about 500 feet then down grade all the way to Kerminshaw. Eight – miles march arrived 10 am. by short cut which saved six miles. Very nice camp. Town is out of bounds owing to Typhus fever & other deseases (sic). Reported to Col Copper I/C here. He wanted me to proceed as soon as possible, but I will take four days here to rest the troops who are footsore & the animals need shoeing & men’s boots must be repaired. Kerminshaw is as dirty as all the other towns. Worse I think, one can count from five to 20 corpse (sic) laying in the bazzars (sic) almost every day. & our food being obtained from these same places.”

The 3rd party’s camp, Dunsterforce, at Sermil, which is a few days west of Kermanshah, in the snow covered mountains. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

One Canadian officer, Major Harold Kenzie Newcombe, of Winnipeg, attached in June 1918 to a force of Cossacks commanded by Colonel Lazar Bicherakov (also spelled Bicharakov, Bicharakoff or Bickerakoff). Bicherakov at first refused to join the Russian revolution, but later did so out of political expediency. Newcombe then became the only Canadian officer to have officially served with a Bolshevik force.

The third party’s transport (Dunsterforce) halted before the “Cave of Farhad” at Bisitun. Paraw Cave lies 12 km northeast of Kermanshah, near Chalabeh Village in the Bisotun Protected Area. It’s been dubbed one of the most difficult caves in the world, having claimed at least five lives so far. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

American Mission

During a rest stop at Kermanshaw, Warden had tea at the American mission with Reverend Stead and his wife, a Canadian woman. Although corpses of famine victims littered the town’s bazaar, Warden was able to purchase mutton, rice, tea, cheese and chapattis. “It is not very filling but the best that can be obtained.”

All Canadian Officers invited to tea at the American Mission with Rev & Mrs, Stead. We had a most delicious tea & cakes. First since leaving Eng. Six months ago. They were very nice. Mrs. Stead is from Nova Scotia (Canadian). Mr. Stead is an American. A Miss Cawdon is there also. An American.

Takibuistan (Taq-e Bostan)

9 June 1918: Went for ride to see the carvings on the rocks at Takibuistan. About seven miles north of Kerminshaw under the side of the mountain. A most wonderful piece of work performed 400 A.D. Consists of figures, hunting scenes (stags & Boars) also the King of Persia of that date & many other figures. Cherubims & Angels & etc & a stream of pure water coming out from under the rocks. About a 100,000 cubic feet per minute. A underground river. Delicious drinking water. Here is where the camp should be & not in the town.

The carvings, some of the finest and best-preserved examples of Persian sculpture under the Sassanids, include representations of the investitures of Ardashir II (379–383) and Shapur III (383–388).

Chenar-Zehab

5 June 1918: “Marched off 7.15 am. No water. Still cut off; cart transport went around by motor road & mule transport by short trail. Cuts off 8 miles. Mules arrived at ChenarZehab 1130 am, carts 2.15 pm. This just through the pass 8 miles beyond the hault(sic) specified in orders. The hault (sic) ordered had not enough water & left 24 miles for next days march.”

Members of Dunsterforce crossing a stone and wooden bridge over a stream. The party on the bridge consists of local men leading pack mules while others walk in front and are watched by a soldier on horseback. The main purpose of Dunsterforce was to reorganise resistance in Mesopotamia and Persia to German penetration of Asia during the period 1918 to 1919. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

On 10 June, negotiations with Kuchik Khan to persuade him to become neutral having failed, Dunsterforce marched out to fight. Bicherakov’s column consisting of two squadrons of Cossack cavalry and a detachment of infantry, a section of Russian mountain artillery plus ‘C’ Squadron 14th (The King’s) Hussars, advanced towards Resht with the British squadron leading. In support two British armoured cars and two British aeroplanes. At Menjil, half way to the Caspian, a 200-metre long, 5-span girder bridge over the Kizil Uzun River that the Jangalis defending with an estimated 2,000 men and several machine guns. However the Jangali defences poorly sited and vital ground not occupied despite the presence of Colonel von Passchen.

Staffords near Menjil. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

12 June 1918: Marched of[f] 7 am. A very long march. Arrived at Bihistan 2.30 pm. The meat ration was small. There was deliciously cold spring water in abundance here. A very fine camping sight.

Bihistan

13 June 1918: Marched off 7 am. This developed into a long march also. We arrived in camp 3 pm. All very exhausted. I personally was also, as I gave my horse to Capt Robertson who was exhausted. He is not a strong man & should never come on this expedition. & there are a number of officers like him. Each with some weakness or old wound which bothers them. & others who are “swinging the lead”. (as they call those who could carry on & who pretend they cannot mearly to get a ride.) They are not good for this job.

Had a great many complaints from officers. Men have not made any yet. I tried to secure more & better but could not. I am getting no help from any officer. All are complaining & helping to add to my difficulties.

Kanqaver

Arrived at Kanqaver 4 pm. All ranks very much exhausted & foot sore. Plenty of rations were available but we have to supply or rather provide ourselves with four days rations, as no more are available this side of Hamadan.

Dunsterforce officers camped near Hamadan. Captain Wells (NZ) in helmet (or possibly second right), Captain C L McVilly 40th Battalion (AIF), Captain E W Latchford 38th Battalion (AIF), Wells (NZ), Bond (Imperial), Major R J Stewart 34th Battalion (AIF). *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Assadabad

15 June 1918: Marched off 7 am. good road and a short march of 14 miles. Arrived at 11.30 am at Assadabad. The day was very hot & all ranks very fatigued. My old leg (right, back of calf) trouble began to trouble me again. I wonder what it is, a sprain or Rhumatism (sic) or from my old wound (Warden seriously wounded 24 April 1915, Second Battle of Ypres).

Zachia

16 June 1918: Marched off 7 am. good road. Arrived at Zachia (just at foot of pass called Pituck) at 11 am. A very poor camp sight for large party. No grazing but plenty of good water for animals & good spring for drinking men wanted me to open or tap one of the barrels of rum, but I will not do so, as they do not require it.

Hamadan

At last, after a march of about 300 miles, the men reached Hamadan in modern Iran on June 17. Very bad road from here in to Hamadan about the worst we have met with. This city seems to be quite a pretty place. About 80,000 inhabitants, but one dare not go about without a revolver, & its unhealthy to go to town alone.

A Dunsterforce Ford lorry passing through the hills. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Captains Searry & Van de Veld tried to get at the rum last night, but the Sgt on guard stopped them. They are a nice lot to send out on a task that calls for trust & honour. I would have them & one or two more cashiered. They never should have had come. Capt Griffith came out with a car from Hamadan for me. Handed over to Maj Hunt & left. Col Donnan lost his kit & revolver last night. The beggars will have to go some to get any of mine. Dined with Gen Byron. He looks poorly.

Commandant at G.H.Q.

18 June 1918: “I am to be Commandant at G.H.Q., taking over from Major Hay. Have taken Capt Cecil McVilly “the Australian Oarsman” (world Champion) for Adjt. & Capt Render for Q.M.”

Two members of Dunsterforce, Lieutenant P. Lay or Captain Arthur Hay, of New Zealand) and Captain C. L. McVilly (right), speak with some local children seated on the ground. In the background is a convoy of over ten Ford vans ready for departure. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Cecil McVilly

Warden seemed to detest nearly every officer of the Dunsterforce. Cecil McVilly certainly the exception. McVilly a three-time Australian champion sculler and the first sculler to represent Australia at an Olympic games, rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics. LCol Warden developed a unique bond with Captain McVilly.

McVilly landed in France on 23 November 1916, promoted captain in December and engaged in training raiding parties at the Ecole Professionale, Armentières, in early 1917. He commanded ‘B’ Company, 40th Battalion, at the battle of Messines, 6-7 June, and awarded the Military Cross for leadership under intensive enemy bombardment as his troops moved to their assembly position. During the 3rd battle of Ypres, at Broodseinde on 4 October, severely wounded and did not rejoin his unit until 20 December 1917.

Selected for special service in Mesopotamia, on 29 January 1918 McVilly embarked in England for Basra at the head of the Persian Gulf. He joined Dunsterforce on 28 March, and took part in the defence of Baku on the Caspian Sea in August. Returning to England in January 1919, he embarked for Australia in March; he was mentioned in dispatches on 21 February for special service in Mesopotamia. McVilly’s A.I.F. appointment ended on 3 June and he became a captain on the reserve of officers, Australian Military Forces.

Kasvin

Some of the Hampshires now joined Dunsterville but the Jangalis, their morale recovered, gave them a warm welcome on 18 June by successfully ambushing a party on a small bridge at Siah Rud. Captain R C Durnford was killed and six men were wounded.

19 June 1918: “Haulted for the night at toll station kept by Russian. Very pretty place. There are hot mineral springs & baths here a sort of health
resort.”

Teheran Road, Kasvin, where the headquarters of the Dunsterforce were located in June 1918 and of the North Persian Force in October 1918.

20 June 1918: Reported to Gen. Dunsterville. Went to billets. Met Maj Hay who wanted to hand over before I had lunch. He knows a few old soldiers tricks anyway. This town seems to be a very nice place. Seems to be plenty of food for sale. Some very nice residences & gardens.

Elevated view of huts used as accommodation by members of Dunsterforce. The walls of the huts were made of canvas to allow ventilation in summer and were protected with solid timber roofs. Note the oxen in the foreground pulling carts laden with stores. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

21 June 1918: Had my first nights rest for over two months & feel like a boy. Called on the Paymaster & drew my two months pay & sent it to Cox’s to deposit to my acct. Maj Hay handed over his duties this pm. & Gen Dunsterville called & took Capt McVilly & myself out & showed us around town & gave me some idia (sic) of my duties. He is a genial old soul. I think I shall like him very much. Dined with him at 10 pm. He is a very genial officer. I think I shall like him. He has a very social staff about him & kindly also.

Lieutenant Geoffrey Watt

Another successful Jangali ambush sprung. For gallantry displayed on this occasion Lieutenant Geoffrey Watt, Motor Transport, Army Service Corps, received a Military Cross with the citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty between Menjil and Resht, Persia on 21 June, 1918. He was in command of a convoy of 66 vans which was heavily attacked by hostile irregulars. Eight vans were put out of action, but by his entire disregard of danger and good conduct he managed to salve them. Later, on three occasions he went out with a small party under fire and salved four more vans which had been abandoned.

22 June 1918: Met the Chief of Persian Police, A fine looking man & extremely pleasing in his manner. Says he has to be very careful as his Govt. will not allow him to do anything for either the British of Huns, as they do not yet know who is winning they are a poor outfit. One Batt would whip the whole lot of them in a fight.

23 June 1918: “Very quiet here. A sniper takes a shot at you once in a while but they are rotten shots.”

25 June 1918: “ordinary day of Routine. Major Hunt arrived. He is to understudy me with view to taking over from me or some other town.”

Disillusionment

28 June 1918: “I’m sick of the whole business. I do not think we shall get to the Cacausus at all. The British War Office “as usual” are behind time. We should have been sent here last August or July, a year ago & even now they will not help us. They want to know “why” & “please state your reasons for wanting so & so”. Oh! They make me sick & tired. They are such a muddling lot, are nice socially but poor business managers except in their old groov[e] made thousands of years ago, they are living in the past. Glory & deeds of their great ancestors, but they will get a nasty knock soon if they do not wake up &take a lick of advice from some colonial cousins. & that they never will do.

They are to[o] Pigheaded & stubborn & conceited in their own history & ability. Its (sic) a good job their forefathers made their history & made the British Empire Great for the present generation could not. They are not made of the same material but their womenfolk are unbeatable, far more capable than the men. The men do not respect their womenfolk enough. They are artific[i]ally polite towards them. Of course there are exceptions, but as an empire they are going to Hell fast. Or to decay if you will.”

30 June 1918: “Began familiarizing myself with my duties. This is not the work I left France for.”

July

Captain Robert Harrison, another Canadian member of Dunsterforce, recalled some of the orphaned children the Steads were trying to help. “Those children were collected from the surrounding country where they had been living on acorns and were practically beyond hope when committed to her charge,” he was quoted as saying in “Canadians in Dunsterforce,” an article that appeared in the Canadian Defence Quarterly of January 1931. “Their abdomens were distended to hideous size, and this, together with their spindly legs, their wan and hollow faces, and the bones protruding through their skin, gave them the appearance of monstrous little gnomes.”

17th Battalion N. Staffordshire Regiment advancing in extended order towards hill seen in the distance which had been evacuated by Armenian troops; the position was recaptured. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

While in Kazvin, Warden lost men to cholera. He inspected the source of drinking water his men had been using, and found to his horror that the locals had been washing their dead in it. “Also their dirty clothes & they even relieve nature in these water courses & wash their private parts.”

Major General L C Dunsterville, General Officer Commanding the Dunsterforce, speaking to some of the Russo-Armenian troops in Baku. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Warden managed to insult a religious leader during Ramadan, the Moslem month of fasting. When “shouting” disturbed his sleep, Warden went with an interpreter, gun in hand, and told the local mullah to “shut up.” He later wrote, “I was sorry afterwards as I did not know it was a religious ceremony.”

So that the enemy may not salve them, all damaged motor cars used by the Dunsterforce, were burnt. A British soldier looks on as a vehicle overturned on the hillside burns. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Sergeant Wilfred Davis, DCM, MM

Sgt Davis enlisted on 1 March 1915 as a 26 year old tram conductor from Kensington, Sydney, NSW and embarked for overseas with the 17th Battalion on 12 May 1915 aboard HMAT Themistocles. The 17th Battalion landed at ANZAC Cove on 20 August and remained at Gallipoli until evacuated in December 1915.

Cape Helles, Gallipoli. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Following further training in Egypt, the 17th Battalion arrived in France in March 1916. Sgt Davis awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for “conspicuous gallantry during operations” at Pozieres, France, on 28/29 July 1916. “Both by day and night he went out fearlessly over the parapet searching for and bringing in the wounded under heavy fire.”

On 25 January 1918, he was selected for special duty with the Imperial Army and became part of Dunsterforce which was the name given to a small multinational force of just under 1,000 elite troops (British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealanders) who were commanded by the Russian-speaking General Lionel Dunsterville.

The burial of 1180 Sergeant (Sgt) Wilfred Davis, DCM, MM, 17th Battalion and Dunsterforce, at Hamadan, Persia, 255 miles (410 kilometres) east north east of Baghdad, Iraq. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

Sgt Davis disembarked at Basra (in present day Iraq) on 2 March 1918 and died on 7 July 1918 of cholera at the age of 28. He was posthumously awarded the Military Medal (MM) for “conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty while serving with Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force.”

“I trust no one will be persuaded or influenced
by these notes. “

On Sunday, 9 July 1918, Warden wrote at length. Warden had not realized it yet – he was suffering from malaria. “I think I’m going mad.”

“It is no wonder cholera, typhus, plague & all manner of vile decease (sic) break out in all these countries from time to time. They are so damnably rotten dirty. Ye Gods, I shall be glad when I get out of this country if the Almighty permits me. The Persian is a born thief & is deceitful to a Degree, & even murder. The longer I remain here the more the Bible seems a mythical book. These people are so full of Holy Superstition & they have many legends of happenings of a religious nature which are the most ludicrously insane impossibilities & to think we are still taking these superstitions as our articles of faith. I cannot easily swallow it.

Sunday I believe there is a Supreme Being. One who rules the universe, but I cannot get any further at present. The conclusive proof that Christ was on earth in Palestine only 2000 years ago seems not in sufficient evidence since they have the proofs of things & peoples 5000 years earlier (B.C.) why are there not some one conclusive relic of the Christ or his deciples (sic) preserved & recorded.

I trust no one will be persuaded or influenced by these notes. They are only my leasure (sic) thoughts when trying to analyse (sic) these things.

I hope & pray I shall rest in peace at the end of my earthly life. My religion is my dear old mother’s as she taught me when a boy at home, & that is the “Golden Rule” (Do unto others as ye would that others would do unto you, do ye even so unto them) if I do that I shall be as good a Christian as the most of the world.

I think I’m going mad. I am having a little trouble with my bowels but seem better again. Everyone is having this trouble. Lt. Col A. R. Rawlinson, a Bro of Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson, arrived in Kasvin & I billited (sic) him with me. He’s got the “Dhulia Tak” or as the yankee says “He’s sure bughouse”. Just another misfit sent to some outlaying point of the Empire to get rid of him.”

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

King Albert of Belgium, Gen Rawlinson 4th Army Commander and Gen. Currie with Georges Carpentier, watching 4th Canadian Division boxing tournament. Palais D’Eté, Brussels. March 1919. MIKAN No. 3522720

In mid-July, Captain Stanley George Savige received orders to transport 45,000 pounds sterling of Persian silver, 12 Lewis machine guns, and ammunition to a local army of Assyrians and Armenians under the leadership of Agha Petros. This army, 15,000 strong, had been fighting the Turks near Lake Urmiah.

A British Warrant Officer with Assyrian Christian ‘Jelus’ recruits at Hamadan during the formation of the Urmia Brigade. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

23-man party

Captain S G Savige MC’s (24th Battalion Australian Infantry) 23-man party set out on July 19, the officers riding horses; the sergeants on mules. Canadian sergeants Roy Casey and William Thomas Brophy, a 21-year-old student from Collingwood, Ontario, were part of the small force. Along the way, Savige met a man who had served as interpreter for Canadian officer Captain J.H. McLean, also stationed in Bijah. Savige wrote, “Mac was a typical Canadian, and besides teaching this young hopeful a few words such as roads, creek, house, horse, etc., had added to his vocabulary some choice Canadian swear words.”

20 July 1918: Warden wrote “The days go monotously (sic) bye & one wonders why one[‘]s days are to be spent this way away from ones dear ones at home. War is truly a cruel thing. I wonder what part in it the Almighty plays. Some say he orders it & some that He permits it. I wonder which?”

The Jungaliese under Kuchik Khan attacked Resht today. They were reported 1500 strong & succeeded in taking the city except the Bank Premiere where our men are still holding out. We had one officer of the 1/4 Hants killed & fifty wounded while we have counted over 125 dead of theirs laying about insight & there are many out of sight. Besides the number wounded so he paid well for it & we will make him pay a lot more for interest. The President of the Bolshevicks (sic) from Baku arrived here from Resht today. I wonder what is on now.

Had a row with a priest or mullah last night. He was praying for the people during this “Fast of Ramhadam” & I was trying to sleep. He was shouting & I did not know it was a very religious affair. & I took my interpretor (sic) & asked him what that damn fool was shouting about, & he said “He is praising & praying to his God”. I had my revolver in my hand & I said “well you tell him if he does not shut up & get out of here I’ll send him so close to his God he’ll only need to whisper”. I was very angry. So the mullah lelf (left) . I was sorry afterwards as I did not know it was a religious ceremony.

The Diary of Lieutenant Colonel John Weightman Warden

Sain Kala

Savige and his men arrived at Sain Kala July 23 but there was no sign of Petros. The disappointed group turned back Canadian casualties at Baku included Sergeant Ambrose James Mahar, who was wounded in the shoulder Aug. 31. Mahar, a telephone lineman from Charlottetown, PEI, was 22
at the time.

Dunsterforce Non commissioned Officers keeping a gun in action in the defences of Baku. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

The original mission of Dunsterforce had been to secure the Trans-Caucasian railway, which ran from Baku on the Caspian sea, west to the port of Batum (modern Batumi) on the Black Sea. Dunsterville had hoped to occupy Tiflis (modern Tbilisi), a town roughly halfway along the railway. There, he hoped to organize local troops to fight the Turks.

31 July 1918: “I handed over my duties to Mjr Darrell & warned to stand bye for Baku. It is a queer situation. The Turk is in precents (sic) (precincts?) of town & the Bolsheviks are now afraid of him & have asked us to come & help them.”

August

By August, it was clear this wasn’t going to happen. Dunsterforce—no longer the “hush hush” mission it once was—had a new mission: defending Baku, a city on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, in modern Azerbaijan. The city was considered important because it was a major oil producer; the British didn’t want this resource falling into Turkish hands.

Dunsterforce Non commissioned Officers at a signalling station on the highest point in Baku. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

On 1 August 1918, Warden wrote: “This is the most disorganized show I have ever been on. Gen. Dunsterville has not the vaguest idea of organization, & most of his Staff is worse. I am sure that unless G.H.Q. Baghdad takes hold of us, we shall be in a mess this winter. Supplies & food, transportation & etc. Then we shall require plenty of ammunition & medical stores & personell (sic). I am getting very worried. I do not mind fighting if I have a chance, but I object to being forced into committing suside (sic) (suicide). This is the biggest game of Bluff I ever saw played.

I fell ill with sandfly fever & got left behind. Have been ill now for two weeks. I feel very badly. I wish they would send me back to my unit in France.”

The rescue of the Assyrian and Armenian Christians

Whilst Dunsterville occupied with reinforcing Baku his men elsewhere in northern Persia were fighting Turks and their local allies. Fred Starnes had found a Turkish force at Sauj Bulaq that prevented him from contacting the Jelus at Lake Urmia. A temporary refuelling airfield was constructed at Mianeh that allowed Lieutenant K M Pennington to fly from Kasvin to Urmia where, on 8 July, he bravely landed unsure of who exactly was on the ground firing rifles into the air. The Assyrian ladies treated him with adoration as their saviour, and he arranged with the Jelu spiritual and military leader, Aga Petros, that a consignment of money, arms and ammunition would be available for collection from Dunsterforce at Sain Kaleh on 23 July. Kenneth Misson Pennington was to be awarded the Air Force Cross.

Portrait of Major Fred Starnes, one of the Dunsterforce leaders, previously of the New Zealand army (left) and Colonel ‘Pistol Pete’ Donuan (right) at Asphar Barracks at Basra.

On 3 August Aga Petros and 2,000 of his men met up with Savige, but news of a disaster at Urmia quickly followed. Without Aga Petros’ unifying presence many of the Armenians had suddenly deserted their positions facing the Turks and had fled with their families to British-occupied Mesopotamia. The 80,000 Assyrians had become demoralized by rumours of Aga Petros’ defeat and death, and they fled towards Sain Kaleh.

Captain Stanley George Savige MC

When Savige and Petros met up with the fleeing hordes most of the Assyrian soldiers dispersed to look after their own families and interests, leaving the Dunsterforce team to organise the fighting withdrawal against the Turks and Kurds, along with the few Assyrians prepared to soldier alongside them. Captain Stanley George Savige MC was to receive a Distinguished Service Order:

In his early years he wanted to become a priest, he had a heart of Gold and was known as the soldiers General.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the retirement of refugees from Sain Kaleh to Takan Tepeh, also at Chalkaman, 5 to 6 August. In command of a small party sent to protect the rear of the column of refugees, he by his resource and able dispositions kept off the enemy, who were in greatly superior numbers. He hung on to position after position until nearly surrounded, and on each occasion extricated his command most skilfully. His cool determination and fine example inspired his men, and put heart into the frightened refugees.

A typical Kurd. These people were occasionally of assistance in the Dunsterforce, in supplying men for service as irregulars, and acting as guides. Many of the Kurd Chiefs, on receipt of a consideration from the British, kept order in their districts.

Captain Eric George Scott-Olsen

Captain Eric George Scott-Olsen, 56th Battalion Australian Infantry, received a Military Cross:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Sain Kaleh, Persia, on 6 August 1918, while assisting in covering the retreat of a party of refugees when the rearguard was heavily attacked. He held on to position after position, checking the enemy’s advance. Heavy fighting lasted for six hours, during which he withdrew his party 15 miles while inflicting severe losses on the enemy. It was largely due to his courage and determination that the defenceless party were brought through safely.

Serjeant B F Murphy DCM

A Bar to the Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to 1764 Serjeant B F Murphy DCM, 28th Battalion Australian Infantry:

For marked gallantry and leadership at Sain Kaleh. He was one of a small party covering a retirement, and by his courage and initiative in using his Lewis gun beat back determined enemy attacks. When his party were practically surrounded be gave his horse to a wounded officer and got away successfully with his gun on another. He showed splendid courage throughout.

Serjeant A Nimmo

The Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to the New Zealander 34906 Serjeant A Nimmo, 3rd Battalion the Otago Regiment:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Sain Kaleh on 6 August, 1918. He was with a small party detailed to cover the retirement of a column, and was left behind to bring the transport out of a village. He and another N.C.O. beat off a determined enemy attempt to capture the mules. Throughout the fight for fifteen miles he worked Lewis gun and rifle continuously.

Savige’s team lost one man killed in action at Sain Kaleh, Captain Robert Kenneth Nicol MC, 2nd Battalion The Wellington Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Robert Nicol exposed himself to enemy fire whilst gallantly attempting to save the mules which enemy snipers were picking off. His body could not be retrieved from the battlefield.

Serjeant A Hallard

When the Dunsterforce team was being hard pressed at Sain Kaleh, Savige sent a messenger back to Bijar requesting support. The messenger was met by a patrol of 14th Hussars who immediately rode to assist. The patrol commander, H/47485 Serjeant A Hallard, 14th Hussars, received a Distinguished Conduct Medal:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty north of Sain Kaleh on 6 August 1918. While in command of a patrol he intercepted an urgent message from another party hard pressed by the enemy. After dispersing the enemy threatening his flank he led his patrol to this now exhausted party and relieved them. He displayed great promptitude and determination under trying circumstances.

Portrait of Nabi Khan and two others. Nabi Khan was the leader of a band of outlaws who terrorised the neighbourhood east of Bijar. Captain Francis Edgar William’s irregular cavalry as part of Dunsterforce group and the 14th Hussars tried to capture Nabi. Nabi later surrendered and became a good and powerful friend to the British.

Time passes slowly

Warden seemed oblivious to the events occurring outside his camp during August. Again, he mentions his splendid relationship with his Australian adjutant. One of less than a handful of officers he held in high praise in Mesopotamia.

28 August 1918: “Time drags on very slowly. I wander about aimlessly & ride out evenings with Capt McVilly my Adjt. He is a champion sport & good fellow, thoroughly efficient & resolute. I would place every confidence in him. Left Kasvin for Baku via Kazian. Beautiful ride of 105 miles through magnificent scenery, a mountain pass over 100 miles long with deep gorges & the Rd cut out of the sides of the rocks in places. Resht was very pretty with rich vegitation (sic) & crops. It is 50 ft below sea level & Caspian Sea is 86 ft below or 100 perhaps.”

Resht

Kazian & Enzalei are very nicely situated on the shore & quite pretty. Enzalie is still full of Kutcha Khan’s robbers & most unfriendly although I went over & walked all over the town unarmed. An arm of the sea 500 yds wide seperates (sic) Enzalie from Kazian. I walked along beach with Mjr Whitmarsh & we saw many men & women in bathing together without bathing suits on. Some sight I assure you left for Baku 8 pm. Had a delightful trip. Only I was feeling very ill. Arrived Baku 7 pm. 30th.

Baku

Warden was one of seven Canadian officers from Dunsterforce who wound up in Baku. After recovering from a bout of “sandfly fever” in Kazvin, he reached Baku on Aug. 30 and was assigned quarters at the Hotel Metropole. Baku, he wrote, “is a well built city of stone mostly & well lighted. Has some fine churches, clubs & public buildings & is a very rich town. Private houses are gorgeously furnished & everyone dresses with excellent taste & especially the women, who are mostly [Armenians].”

A group of Armenians fighting with the British Army’s Dunsterforce against Turkish forces eating and drinking at a trench position

Warden’s duties were to inspect the Russian and Armenian troops in Baku. Warden griped that the other senior officers in Baku all had touring cars—something he lacked. He bemoaned the task of supervising a front line 30 miles long on foot.

Major John William Henry Vanden Berg

Warden was also to supervise the placement of machine guns. Assisting him with this task was Amsterdam-born Major John William Henry Vanden Berg, of Toronto, who had listed his occupation as “gentleman” when he enlisted in 1914. In addition to speaking English, Vanden Berg, 33, was fluent in Dutch, French, German and Spanish. In his book, Dunsterville noted the challenges the pair of Canadian officers were faced with: “Before [Vanden Berg] took over his appointment the machine gun situation was hopeless, the weapons being placed anyhow: sometimes in trenches with parallel lines of fire, and no field of fire, followed by large gaps with no guns at all… in many cases soldiers regarded their armament as their own property and not the property of the army.

A six-inch Russian howitzer at the moment of full recoil during action in alliance with the British Army’s Dunsterforce against Turkish forces

“On one occasion Major Vanden Berg 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 crossfire. 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.”

Dunsterforce gunners helping the gun crew of the Armenian field guns

Canadian Officers at Baku

The other Canadian officers at Baku were Captain Harrison (placed in command of the 24th Armenian Battalion), Captain Hopkins (in charge of supplies—or, as Warden writes, “disembarkation and billeting”), Major Newcombe (as paymaster) and Captain Lewis. Captain Adam Harrison Gilmour was also briefly in Baku, but was ordered across the Caspian Sea to Turkestan, to hook up with another British force.

One of the first British Army guns to arrive in Baku is manhandled down a gangplank into the port.

The Turks attacked Baku Aug. 26 and Aug. 31. In the first week of September, Warden wrote in his diary, “The Turk made a very determined attack & drove us in. The Russians & Armanians (sic) ran away. The 39th [Brigade] made a frightful mess of things. No organization or any preparation though they saw the Turks massing for three days in front of them.”

A group of miscellaneous group of prisoners and deserters rounded up while the Dunsterforce was making its way back to Baghdad from Baku in dribs and drabs, after 14 September 1918.

31 August 1918

31 August 1918: “Reported to Gen Dunsterville & then went for a walk in city. Baku is a well built city of stone mostly & well lighted. Has some fine
churches, clubs & public buildings & is a very rich town. Private houses are gorgeously furnished & everyone dresses with excellent taste &
especially the women, who are mostly Armanians (sic) & they are rotters. The men I mean.

A British Dunsterforce soldier standing smoking next to a Peerless lorry with a group of refugees. A woman is kneeling, washing in a small stream, a bowl is on a rock in front of her and two young children are to the right and left of her.

I do not blame the Turks for killing them off. They are worse than the Jews or Bolsheviks. They will not fight nor defend their women folks or children (who are very pretty). All cowards but they will get controal (sic) & fleece one & all out of every cent one has even while the Turks are drawing their knives at the door to cut their throats. They have controal (sic) here are grafting on a large scale. They represent they have 45,000 men in the line & draw rations for 70,000 saying the balance are in town in reserve. When they only have about 3000 all told & pay is draw[n] accordingly also & clothing. The balance is easily disposed of to civilians for a consideration without a doubt.”

September

Inspector General of the Russian & Armenian Armies

On 5 September 1918: “I am appointed to be Inspector General of the Russian & Armanian (sic) armies. (Which is a Lt.Gen s grade). Some Job. I am responsible for the disposition, defences. M.[achine] Guns, equipment, discipline, clothing, moral, & anything else one might mention in the military line. I have no Staff of course. Capt Robinson the most useless man in the whole Force is attached to me as Staff Officer. My good gracious what am I to come to next.”

Turk Offensive

13 September 1918: “The Turk made a very determined attack & drove us in. The Russians & Armanians (sic) ran away. The 39 th Bde made a frightful mess of things. No organization or any preparation though they saw the Turks massing for 3 days in front of them. Now we are in a beautiful mess. Gen. Dunsterville on coming here should have taken charge & made all parties obey his order & they would have fall[en] into line without a word, but he has done nothing & is not I/C here & we are of all things, working under the Russian workman’s orders “the damned illerate (sic) (illiterate) peasant who has been the cause of Russia[‘s] downfall & the cause for keeping me & millions of others at war for over two years now.

Arab officer with Turks deserted & came to us. Gave a lot of first hand information. Said Turks were going to attack tomorrow morning about 4
am. near the Wolf’s Gate on our left flank.”

The Big Attack

The big attack came on Sept. 14—an attack a Turkish deserter had warned the British about one or two days previously. Warden estimated the enemy’s strength at around 7,000 Turks and 5,000 local Tartars, backed up by field guns and cavalry. The attack began at 4 a.m., but Warden didn’t learn of it until 6 a.m., when his orderly woke him. Warden was ordered to go to the firing line and help organize the Russian and Armenian troops. Upon arrival, he found the Russian brigade commander “tearing his hair & acting like a man who had lost his mind or sense.”

Six inch battery in action with a detachment of Dunsterforce gunners

Men Running Away Everywhere

The day just got worse. Two of the Russian battalions had abandoned their lines when the attack began. The Turks were occupying their abandoned trenches, no more than 2,000 yards from the city. Warden later wrote in his diary that the whole line was “falling back & men running away everywhere.” He commandeered a Ford van and drove it “right into the front line & tried to pull the men together.

I got them to form a line & take up a position but it was too hot a corner to keep a motorcar in & I did not want to loose (sic) it by getting my driver hit & also I wished to visit the other part of the battle line. So I jumped in and drove along behind the crest we were holding. [High explosive shells] & 18-[pounder] shrapnell (sic) was falling very thick about us. I found a hopeless situation. Everyone falling back & many running away on this part of the front.”

General scene of the battery position. (Q 24877)

Well we got away from Baku at 10 pm. & headed for Enzeli (Kazian). They left Mjr Suttor & the Russian Col who was I/C of our armoured cars & the French Col behind. We came away without any op[p]osition. The fighting by this time had got into the outskirts of the town.

Kazian

15 September 1918: “Arrived Kazian during evening. Remained aboard. The troops disembarked & went into sheds. Many ships loaded with refugees in the harbour. Our men had lost everything & they were turned out to let the refugees in & they will get ill.”

16 September 1918: “Warned 2 pm to be ready to proceed to Krasnovodsk to take over from Lt Col Battine. Left 8 pm. Capt Coousmaker came with me as intrepretor (sic) while in Enzeli. I could not gat any messing arrangements made & they treated me rotten.”

Caspian Sea

17 September 1918: “On the Caspian Sea. Delightful trip.”

The morning after the evacuation of Baku. Members of the Dunsterforce on board the President Paul Kruger en route from Baku to Enzeli on the Caspian Sea. Note the bales of raw cotton from Turkistan stored behind the bridge structure, which were used for protective purposes in case of an attack by the Bolshevik Fleet.

Krasnovodsk (Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan)

The following day, Arrived Krasnovodsk. Met by Govt Comt. Afterwards drove to H.Q. with Col Battine & went over the situation & took over. This is a very pretty town. High mountains around it, with a beautiful sandy beach & southern aspect. My stomach is beginning to go wrong again. Very ill during the evening. Mr. Cruys & wife (our interpretor (sic)) arrived from the island. He is extremely ill with fever.

Very ill with dessintry (sic) (dysentery). Dr. came to attend me. Received wire Gen. Ardnis was coming on 21 st . Still very ill. Gen. & Comd or Norris arrived midnight. Gen & Comd or call to see me. Went into details of situation, then met Presd Kunne of the Crises Com or Govt Com & discussed whole situation. Invited to dine tomorrow evening with them at club. Gen wired for permission to go up the line to look over situation there. Did not get permission. Ordered back to Enzeli Dined at 6 pm. Am feeling better.

Liberation of Lille

25 September 1918: “In company with Capt Gilmour, I went to top of mountain on E. side of city (it is about 1000 ft) & got a good idea of lay of the land & the whole situation. The city wharves, Ry & Harbour line. Also surrounding country lay like a large scale map below, or large area photo. I got an excellent idia (sic) of the whole situation. Wished I had had a shorgun as I saw a great many chakor ( a sort of hill parteridge (sic)) about 25 in one lot & a doz in another & many others of twos & threes & etc. They are delicious eating. Received wire from Askabad that British had taken over 18,000 Turks & German prisoners in Palestine also that Lille in France had been taken by British.”

Dunsterforce Disbanded

Also on 25 September 1918, Warden wrote: “Situation is improving. I hope I get back to France at an early date. They will surely release me now that Dunsterforce disbanded. I am too senior for their benefit (sic).” The next few days passed “very quiet. Nothing to do. Gave a dinner to Presd & members of the Govt Com. Here at club last evening. Very good affair with dancing. Mr. Cruys very low tonight. He is our interpretor (sic). Received wire Col. Fleming & Warricks are coming on 30th . I hope I shall get away home now.”

On Sunday, 29 September 1918 at 5 a.m., “Mr Cruys died. Buried this afternoon 5 pm. Mrs Nicoli Nicolivich made a flag for covering the coffin.”

Arrival of 9th Warricks

On 30 September 1918, “Lt. Col Fleming arrived on S.S. Kruger with his Batt (the 9 th Warricks) 266 strong & went into the military barracks here which are very good. He has no transport or machine guns with him. His officers are in my opinion not the first class type. Some are passable. His M.O. especially is a cheep fellow & a uncrupless (sic) women chasser (sic). The standard of the British regular officer has very much depreciated during this war. Of coarse (sic) as time passes manpower grows less & less & the officer to replace casualties is drawn from the ranks which is not improving with time.”

October

1 October 1918: “Left (5 pm) for the front line (at Khaaka) 500 miles east of Krasnovodsk. Lt. Col Fleming took over in my absence.”

On the train travelling (sic) through a country as flat as a table. Dry. No water. Never rains here or snows either. No springs or rivers. Only in widely seperated (sic) areas there are small streams flowing out of the Persian hills (along which the railway parallels & runs within two miles of). The soil very rich silt but must be irrigated before it will produce. It has been the bed of the Caspian in ages past.

Lt. Col Battine is with me & has his lady love along with him. The customs as practiced in this country (Russia) are most remarkable. When a man travells (sic) here, he takes a girl or woman along married or single does not matter with either sex. Free love seems to be the order of the day.

Khaaka

Arrived Askhabad 7 pm & military train for Khaaka was waiting, so my private coach was hooked on & we left in an hours time & arrived at front (Khaaka) at 3 am. 3rd. The enemy are about 20 miles from us & have 3 armoured trains with guns which out range ours. Personnel mostly ex Austrian prisoners all out for loot & Russian soldiers here are the very same as at Baku. N.G. They run away on hearing the first shot & the Turkomans (who by the way are in Comd. I met the Cin C, an old dirty chap & our force is under him) are far worse.

Askhabad

4 October 1918: “Arrived Askhabad noon. Will remain here till tomorrow noon. Car switched to siding. Carriages going to rack buildings falling into bad repair.”

I find Gen. Wilfrid Mallison who is in Comd here has never been here since placed in Comd. He has remained at Meshed (Persia) over 150 miles from his field of operation & knows nothing of the situation or people. Also an officer of the Indian Service & a political agent & does not seem to know anything of war or organization or administration or tactics. He is in my opinion mentally effected (sic) & should be releaved (sic) at once. He is half mad. Then Capt TeagueJones, his under study at this city is still worse. He is living with a Russian girl & speaks Russian fluently. Is a conceited fop. In most impertinent in in (sic) his conduct toward senior officers. That is serious enough to have him shot as a spy or cashiered at least for a consummate fool & demented ass. He is a conceited fool.

The Malleson Mission

The Malleson mission (British intervention in Transcaspia) a military action by a small autonomous force of British Indian troops, led by General Malleson against Bolshevik forces over large distances in Transcaspia (modern Turkmenistan) between August 1918 and April 1919.

Krasnovodsk

Arrived Krasnovodsk 9 am, 6 October 1918. Found situation normal. Mr. Lacey arrived from Chillakan Island & gave us some information about Turkomen & their poor opinion of the Russian Comts & gave us his opinion, which was very sound. His advice is well worth having. He is the manager of the Chillakan Island Oil Wells Corporation & speaks Russian fluently. I have sent in reports & my recommendations among which I have recommended Mr Lacey for a Com & to be imployed (sic) here as advisor & Staff Officer. He goes to Enzali tomorrow.

Spies

Presd Khun left for Askhabad with an agent from Bitcherackoff to interview H.Q. Committee there. We (one?) a working togeather (sic) agreament (sic). This agent is a Bolshevick (sic) spy or German spy. He is a Damn spy of sorts at least. & I will watch him.

On 9 October 1918, Presd Kuhn arrived by 1 pm train from Askhabad & left for Petrofsk at 5 pm. In company with some of the Askhabad Committee to interview Bitcherakoff. They had a German spy with them I am sure but they did not know it. The following day, Warden wrote, “”Just received a wire I am to hand over to Lt. Col Batteni & proceed to Kazain at once or as soon as the Col arrives. “HURRAH” now I am off for France I am sure, with my military career badly warped by this confounded Dunsterforce. It was an awful outfit.

Marshall accepted the surrender of the Turkish army at Mosul on 30 October 1918.

After Dunsterforce disbanded, most of the Canadians who had served with it returned to their original battalions in France and Belgium. A handful attached to British forces in the Middle East, either in Mesopotamia, or with Norperforce in North Persia. The only Canadian to die as a result of his service with Dunsterforce was Sergeant Donald John MacDonald 435026, a Scottish-born labourer from Calgary. MacDonald succumbed to smallpox while serving with Dunsterforce and evacuated to Bombay, India. He died just a few days before his 40th birthday, in December 1918.

KIRKEE 1914-1918 MEMORIAL

Kirkee, also known as Khadki, a Military Cantonment adjoining the large university town of Poona on the Plateau above Bombay. The 1914-1918 Memorial commemorates nearly two thousand soldiers who served and died in India during the Great War, buried in many civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan where their graves can no longer be properly maintained.

For several years now, the CWGC working to reinstate the original graves of a large number of individuals and to date, the official commemoration of over 1000 individuals have been reverted back to their original burial location. However, their names will remain on the KIRKEE 1914-1918 MEMORIAL for the foreseeable future.

Tehran War Cemetery

By Sept. 25, Warden’s diary mentions British victories in Palestine and in France. He wrote, “I hope I get back to France at an early date. They will surely release me now that Dunsterforce has been disbanded.” On Oct. 29, he wrote in his diary, “Just heard Turkey has surrendered unconditionally & Austria Hungary is all in & negociating (sic) for peace.” The Ottoman Empire (Turks) signed an armistice the next day. By Nov. 17, the British were back in Baku. Warden lingered on, in Baghdad.

Muslimie. The Baghdad Railway : ‘The vital point’, looking north. The line branches and the section to the left goes to Constantinople, and that to the right to Baghdad. (Art.IWM ART 1708) image: a view across a bomb damaged railway intersection. *The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce*.

The road to Resht and the Menjil Bridge

On 1 June Dunsterforce moved to Kasvin, leaving Brigadier John Byron in charge of the line of communication at Hamadan where Lieutenant Colonel W Donnan, a re-enlistment from the Indian Army Retired List, was commanding an efficient militia. Kasvin was an unhealthy location and the Dunsterforce Senior Medical Officer, Major John H Brunskill DSO, Royal Army Medical Corps, soon had too many patients. An important arrival from Baghdad was Lieutenant Colonel J C M Hoskyn DSO, 44th Merwara Infantry, Indian Army; John Hoskyn became the Dunsterforce principal staff officer (GSO1) for Military Operations.

Kuchik Khan

On 10 June, negotiations with Kuchik Khan to persuade him to become neutral having failed, Dunsterforce marched out to fight. Bicherakov’s column consisting of two squadrons of Cossack cavalry and a detachment of infantry, a section of Russian mountain artillery plus ‘C’ Squadron 14th (The King’s) Hussars, advanced towards Resht with the British squadron leading. In support were two British armoured cars and two British aeroplanes. At Menjil, half way to the Caspian, was a 200-metre long, 5-span girder bridge over the Kizil Uzun River that the Jangalis were defending with an estimated 2,000 men and several machine guns. However the Jangali defences were poorly sited and vital ground was not occupied despite the presence of Colonel von Passchen.

On 26 August, the Ottomans captured Mud Volcano and inflicted many casualties on the British battalion. The British repulsed the Ottomans four times but the local troops melted away; a Canadian captain commanding an Armenian battalion suddenly found himself alone and the fifth attack succeeded.

Casualties

One Canadian member of Dunsterforce wounded. Ottoman forces in Iran in 1918 lost about 500 men killed and 1,000 wounded and in Armenia and Azerbaijan lost about 1,500 men killed and 3,000 wounded.

Return

1919

On Jan. 2, Warden learned he was destined for yet another obscure theatre of the Great War. He wrote in his diary, “Notified I was to go to Vladivostock by next boat via India & Japan.” Together with four other Canadians from Dunsterforce, he was assigned to the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force, which fought the Bolsheviks in Siberia. Warden eventually returned to Vancouver in March 1920. After the war, he served as an alderman in West Vancouver. By 1930 he was living in Ontario.

Informal portrait of Captain Ernest William Latchford MC, an officer of the AIF in winter dress while serving in Siberia.

Latchford, formerly of the 38th Battalion, AIF was one of several Australian officers who had served with Dunsterforce in Persia and who were for a time attached to Russian forces fighting the Bolsheviks. As part of his duties, Captain Latchford superintended musketry instruction at Irkutsk.

Bolshevik Defeat

This painting marks the defeat of Bolshevik troops by the 11th North Russian Rifles, led by Colonel Kruglyakov. The scene recalls how the villagers welcomed the Imperial troops into the town after they drove out the Bolsheviks.

Defeat of Bolshevik troops by the 11th North Russian Rifles, led by Colonel Kruglyakov. Art.IWMART3063.jpg

Image: A lively scene with the peasants of a Russian town welcoming Imperial troops. In the centre a Colonel in uniform walks up to a figure who bows before him. Many of the people gathered around turned to watch this meeting, some waving, others simply standing by. In the foreground there are two women who look out in the opposite direction; they have their heads close together, and one holds her hand on her hip.

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Comments

One response to “The Dunsterforce the Dunsterfarce in the Great War”

Chris Woods

April 18, 2025

Thank you, a useful, interesting and well illustrated report on the Canadians in Dunsterforce. My uncle (Indian Army) served in both Dunsterforce and the less well known Norperforce for which he received the Persian clasp, and which appears briefly in this article (Kahzim). I’ve just subscribed and hope you may also publish an article about the Canadians in N’Force. Am a (very) amateur historian and because of lack of published works on N’force when I started researching I struggled but eventually accumulated enough notes for Fibiwiki to publish them under ‘Norperforce’, which might be of interest. Kind regards to all supporting your much appreciated web site