Northern Russia Expedition Document Grouping

[Capt.Confederacy]

At a flea market, I found a fellow selling several pieces of military-related items. Most of it was common stuff (patches, etc.) However, a document grouping for sell immediately got my attention. I went through it, saw the price, and promptly snapped it up. The documents come from a soldier who was in World War One and in the Northern Russia Expedition. Here are the ones I thought were the most interesting.

 

First, his induction letter

[Capt.Confederacy]

A summary of cash he had there.

[Capt.Confederacy]

The government shafting him out of his "Russia" clasp.

[Capt.Confederacy]

And the piece de resistance, an award document with ribbon still attached given to him by the Russians.

[Dave]

And the piece de resistance, an award document with ribbon still attached given to him by the Russians.

 

The rest was...interesting...but this piece is EYE POPPING! WOW!

[River Patrol]

That last document is really special!

[Capt.Confederacy]

Thanks, guys.

 

When I saw the money document with the location of arkangel, my first thought was, "Wow, this guy was involved with the Northern Russia Expedition. That's something I don't see every day in my scrounging." When I saw the award document, my jaw about hit the floor. I'd never seen any award certificates from the Russians to U.S. soldiers for that time period.

[trenchbuff]

Very nice group! Good eye.

[Sparty On]

Nice indeed! Speaking of North Russia Expedition, I just had a NR tunic arrive today.

[atb]

The government shafting him out of his "Russia" clasp.

Why "shafted?" The battle clasp DEFENSIVE SECTOR is the right one and denotes actual combat, unlike the RUSSIA country clasp. If a soldier earned a battle clasp, than he could also have the country clasp for that service. WW1 country and battle clasps served two different purposes. The DEFENSIVE SECTOR battle clasp was created to show combat not covered by other specific named battles or actions.

[Will]

What a VERY cool group !!!

Thanks for posting this!

[tarbridge]

Congrats.A nice group.Robert

[Major Z]

Coming to the party late, but I'll just say that grouping is awesome! I'm glad you purchased it and are keeping this relatively unknown period of history alive. Good work!

[Tennessee]

I really am enjoying the opportunity to delve into the past postings of the Forum for items just like this!! I've never seen the document from the Russian CO.himself! Does anyone else have any idea about the medal which went with the ribbon attached to the award citation? Did you frame it yet, Capt. Confederacy? It would be great to see a photo of the display! This would be a great addition to any North Russia collection!! What a neat find! Thanks for sharing it!

 

David

[Shenkursk]

Edited-

 

Why "shafted?" The battle clasp DEFENSIVE SECTOR is the right one and denotes actual combat, unlike the RUSSIA country clasp. If a soldier earned a battle clasp, than he could not also have the country clasp for that service. WW1 country and battle clasps served two different purposes. The DEFENSIVE SECTOR battle clasp was created to show combat not covered by other specific named battles or actions. Country clasps showed presence in that locale, but no battle participation.

 

A few years ago, a friend stumbled upon the Victory Medal application cards in a Michigan archive. It was very interesting to see how the clasps were awarded - basically depended on what the soldier wrote on the card. If he listed specific engagements under "Defensive sector service", he got a Victory Medal with "DEFENSIVE SECTOR". If he didn't bother trying to remember the dates (and spelling!) of the individual battles, and simply checked "Russia" on the country list or wrote "North Russia" in the Defensive Sector area, he got a Victory Medal with "RUSSIA."

 

The interesting thing was that by their company assignments, and a knowledge of what those individual companies did or did not do during the campaign, it is quite clear that the battle history of the unit was NOT the deciding factor in which clasp was issued; rather, it simply came down to what the individual soldier wrote or didn't write on his application card.

 

The OP referred to this as being "shafted" out of a Russia clasp, and atb correctly points out that the Defensive Sector clasp denoted actual combat. As collectors we put much more value on a "RUSSIA" Victory Medal, and given the ANREF's understanding of their unique situation, their fraternal bond, and tendency to paint or inscribe "RUSSIA" on anything that wasn't moving too fast to catch, I strongly suspect that many of them would have preferred the Russia bar. Given the large number of identified groupings from combat veterans who got "Russia" instead of "Defensive Sector", I think they knew how this worked and filled out the card to get the bar that they wanted. The document in this collection would seem to indicate that this soldier wanted both. I have seen a few groupings with both on the medal, but given the way that these were assigned, I suspect that is a privately arranged modification, much like adding some of the non-official bars that were available for sale at the time.

[Tennessee]

This is a great follow up on the Victory Medal issue! We really are on the threshold of a great many discoveries as the Great War centennial approaches which can help preserve for future generations the story of those individual Doughboys, Sailors , and Marines who really definitively established the beginning of the US experience as a world power!! This document group highlights the cool opportunity to share the stuff and the stories forever!