When British forces invaded Russia to fight a campaign like no other

Conditions were so bad that Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton was called in to help, writes Yvonne Mcewen

In June 1919, the hospital ship Kalyan docked in Leith harbour. On board and returning from the North Russia campaign were 650 sick and wounded servicemen, among them a contingent from the Royal Scots.

Following the Treaty of Brestlitovsk, the peace pact between Germany and Russia in March 1918, the Allies had decided that it was essential to prevent Germany from dispatching Eastern Front troops to the Western Front.

And so the last British Expeditionary Force of the First World War – which included the Highland Light Infantry as well as the Royal Scots – was created.

However, after a long and bloody campaign with Germany and the cessation of hostilities, Russia was now fighting a civil war brought about by the Bolshevik seizure of power in November 1917. A brutal internecine conflict erupted between the Red Army and White Army forces which wrought havoc on an already war-torn, bankrupt country.

The British supported White Russian forces and supplied them with millions of pounds of aid enabling them to fight the Red Army. In North Russia, British forces fought the Red Army from the summer of 1918 until September 1919. It began when, just a month after the peace treaty, a small British force of 150 marines landed at Murmansk on Russia’s north coast. The following month they were reinforced by a further 370 marines and, in June, 600 infantry and machine-gunners arrived.

As the force become more and more embroiled in Russian affairs, it expanded and by July 1918, the North Russia Expeditionary Force consisted of two forces of allied British, French, America,

Italian Serbian and “loyal” Russian troops. The British were stationed at Murmansk (Syren Force) and Archangel (Elope Force) respectively. Many of the men and women serving in North Russia had served in other theatres of war and were war-worn by their experiences and the climatic conditions. In North Russia, not only were they fighting the enemy, they were battling with a brutal climate and harsh environment.

The land consisted of tundra, bogs, marshes, snowclad forests, and lakes frozen hard in the winter. Combat conditions were appalling, and for those who succumbed to illness, or were injured due to enemy engagement or accident, their care and transportation were highly complex. The weather and geography of the region did not allow for traditional forms of combat casualty care and evacuation to treatment facilities.

In order to deal with such a taxing environment, and prevent any deterioration in the physical and mental health of the troops, doctors from the Royal Army Medical Corps and trained nurses from the Queens Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and the Reserve were posted to North Russia.

Amongst the allied force, only Britain had an organised medical service. Two main base hospitals were established at Murmansk and Archangel, both of them on ships. The Braemar Castle, built by Barclay, Curle & Co of Glasgow arrived at Murmansk in March 1918.

The ship spent nearly a year there as a base hospital for British and French troops. The Kalyan, berthed at Archangel, was formerly a P & O liner, and was requisitioned by the War Office as a troop transporter between Britain, Egypt and Salonika then, in 1918, dispatched to