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Distinguished Service Cross for North Russia


Dave
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Today I was exceptionally lucky and honored to be trusted with this medal group, awarded to Charles Bell, by his direct family.

 

Charles was born in Louisville, Kentucky and joined the Army at his nation's call in 1917. He was assigned to Company B, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Division and was eventually sent to North Russia in 1918. By November, 1918, his unit was serving south of Archangel, well inside Russia. Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, came and went - and their fighting was only getting started.

 

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Courtesy of Wikipedia:

 

The Battle of Tulgas was part of the North Russia Intervention into the Russian Civil War and was fought between Allied and Bolshevik troops on the Northern Dvina River 200 miles south of Archangel. It took place on the day the armistice ending World War I was signed, November 11, 1918, and is sometimes referred to as "The Battle of Armistice Day." Shortly before the battle, the freezing of the local waterways resulted in the cutting off of the Tulgas Garrison from outside assistance, and the freezing of the ground let the Bolsheviks move troops to surround Tulgas. The Bolsheviks used this opportunity and their superior numbers to try to attack and conquer the isolated outpost, but were driven back with severe losses.

 

The Allied forces were deployed at the village of Tulgas on the west bank of the Dvina River. The southernmost Allied position was a single squad under Lieutenant Harry M. Dennis in a cluster of buildings called Upper Tulgas. To the north was a small but deep tributary of the Dvina, with a single wooden bridge across it. On the north bank of the river was an American log blockhouse, as well as the village church and the house of the priest. A couple hundred yards north of Upper Tulgas across the bridge was the main village of Tulgas, where most of the Allied troops were stationed under Captain Robert Boyd. Farther north was the Canadian field artillery battery, with two three-inch guns, as well as an American squad with a Lewis machine gun. Farthest north was another small village, Lower Tulgas; here the Allied field hospital was set up in a log hut, almost unguarded.

 

On the morning of November 11, Bolshevik infantry attacked the American position in Upper Tulgas. Lieutenant Dennis realized that the attackers were too numerous and retreated across the stream to Tulgas itself. At about the same time another Bolshevik force of around 600 men attacked Lower Tulgas to the north, to the surprise of the Allies who thought that the swampy pine forest to the west had not frozen enough to be passed through. This force quickly captured the Allied field hospital and threatened the lightly-guarded Canadian artillery to the south. The Bolsheviks, led by "a giant of a man" named Melochofski, spent several minutes ransacking Lower Tulgas, including the hospital. Melochofski ordered his soldiers to kill the wounded British and Americans in the hospital, but was stopped by two things: the British medical NCO, realizing that Melochofski and his men were probably tired, offered them rations and rum; and Melochofski's mistress, who had followed him to the battlefield, entered and said she would shoot the first soldier who tried to carry out the order. Melochofski countermanded the order; he would be mortally wounded hours later and die in his mistress's arms.

 

Melochofski's men left Lower Tulgas a few minutes later and charged south towards the Canadian artillery. But while the Bolsheviks were in Lower Tulgas, the Canadian gunners had swung their south-facing guns around, and fired two salvos at point blank range, killing many and driving the rest back. A company of Royal Scots came up from Tulgas to support the artillery; they traded rifle fire with the Bolsheviks and suffered severe casualties. Meanwhile, Captain Boyd's troops in Tulgas itself had been easily able to hold off the Bolsheviks approaching from the south, as the bridge that was the only route across the stream was defended by machine gun fire from the strong log blockhouse. Shortly before nightfall on the 11th Lieutenant Dennis led a group of men to dislodge Bolshevik snipers from the edge of the forest. At around the same time the Canadian gunners bombarded buildings in Lower Tulgas where Bolsheviks had taken refuge (except for the hospital), and then swung the guns around to fire two salvos into the woods to the south. As night fell the Allied forces were surrounded, with the telegraph line to Archangel cut by the Bolsheviks, and the prospect of reinforcement slim.

 

On the morning of November 12, Bolshevik gunboats appeared on the Dvina, and began lobbing six-inch shells at the Allied positions. They were joined by a battery of howitzers that had been landed in the woods near Upper Tulgas. The heavy bombardment targeted the American blockhouse by the bridge across the stream, and at noon a shell landed on the blockhouse, destroying it and killing two men. The Bolshevik soldiers charged the bridge, but were driven back by two Lewis guns, one of which was set up in the village church. The Bolsheviks attacked the bridge repeatedly, but were driven back by machine gun fire each time. Meanwhile, in the north, the Royal Scots retook Lower Tulgas, and found their wounded from the hospital still alive, under the care of Melochofski's mistress.

 

November 13 saw repeated Bolshevik attacks on the bridge, all unsuccessful. The Bolshevik forces continued their bombardment, averaging one shell every 15 seconds, a heavy bombardment even by the standards of the western front of World War I. The Allied commanders decided that their only hope for victory was a counterattack. In the early morning of November 14, the American forces, led by Lieutenant John Cudahy advanced stealthily to the woods near Upper Tulgas, where the Bolshevik troops were encamped. The Americans attacked, making as much noise as possible to make it seem like they had been reinforced. They drove the Bolsheviks back and captured a building full of small arms ammunition; when they set this on fire the sound of the exploding rifle ammunition seems to have convinced the Bolsheviks that they were outnumbered. When Cudahy's troops reached Upper Tulgas, the few Bolshevik snipers left surrendered.

 

That same day, temperatures dropped and the Dvina River began to freeze over, forcing the Bolshevik gunboats to retreat back up the river, and the Bolshevik infantry began to retreat. The troops in the north, near Lower Tulgas, had difficulty finding their way back; many were later captured or found dead.

 

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One of the two gunners on that bridge holding back the Bolshevik hoard was Private Bell. That day, in spite of being badly wounded, he was personally responsible for stopping the charge and saving his US, Canadian, and Scottish compatriots.

 

The citation for his Distinguished Service Cross reads:

 

For extraordinary heroism in action near Toulgas, Russia, Nov. 12, 1918. After the blockhouse in which he and several other comrades were stationed had been hit by a high explosive shell, killing two and wounding five, and himself had been so severely wounded as to be blinded in one eye, he continued to remain at his post and fired his Lewis gun until relieved. This continued under heavy shell fire.

 

Pretty darned amazing! He survived, returned to the United States and became an auto mechanic, passing away in Louisville in 1972.

 

As I've only had this group for a few hours, more research is pending, but until then, please enjoy the scans of the medals and citations of this brave, brave American:

BELL_DSC_WW1_sm.jpg

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Here is his original, 1919 dated, certificate. Unfortunately, it has seen better times and requires professional archival preservation...

 

 

bell_dsc_cert1_sm.jpg

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Here's a newspaper clipping announcing the awarding of the British Military Medal. He was the only member of the 339th Infantry to receive both the DSC and the British Military Medal.

 

 

bell_dsc_newspaper.jpg

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Finally, a photo of him, wearing both the DSC and MM, along with his Victory Medal. This is a copy of the photo; the family wanted to keep the original. At some point, I hope to obtain a high-resolution scan of the image.

 

That's all. Please take a moment to remember Pvt. Bell and his self-sacrificing heroism in a battle now nearly forgotten...

bell_pic.jpg

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I know it's going to be asked...his DSC is numbered 7723 and his Military Merit medal is unnamed, as issued and proper for a WW1 MM to a foreigner.

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Curious about a few things- if you know, why did he get two certificates for the award; what was the criteria for WWI DSC's to be officially engraved; and how many DSCs did the Army issue for the two expeditions to Northern Russia? I'm guessing not that many, and of those, scarce to enlisted men. Great group, paper and the photo scan of him wearing the medals. Right up your alley, you must be really pleased!

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If wounded in the action, you could help the family obtain his retroactive Purple Heart. I've helped a family receive one thanks to his one Silver Star citation noting he was gassed.

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Exceptional group!! You are very lucky to be able to own and research this. I, too, am curious as to why he would receive both the AEF DSC citation as well as the War Department DSC citation.

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Curious about a few things- if you know, why did he get two certificates for the award; what was the criteria for WWI DSC's to be officially engraved; and how many DSCs did the Army issue for the two expeditions to Northern Russia? I'm guessing not that many, and of those, scarce to enlisted men. Great group, paper and the photo scan of him wearing the medals. Right up your alley, you must be really pleased!

 

 

I'm not an expert on DSCs by any stretch, but my theory on the two certificates is that one was made in theater (it was printed in France) and awarded to him in 1919, and the other was sent to him when the "new" style of certificate was produced. I don't know if he had to request the new style of certificate or if everyone received them...I'm sure someone on here knows that answer.

 

As far as DSC awards for North Russia, there were 23. He was the only one to receive the DSC and the British MM - which was well deserved given the number of lives he was credited as saving.

 

There were 29 DSCs awarded for Siberia. That makes a grand total of 52 awarded for our "Russia adventure" in 1918 and 1919.

 

 

 

For all - thank you so much for the kind comments. I never thought I would own a group like this. I'm still surprised, to be honest!

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Curious about a few things- if you know, why did he get two certificates for the award; what was the criteria for WWI DSC's to be officially engraved; and how many DSCs did the Army issue for the two expeditions to Northern Russia? I'm guessing not that many, and of those, scarce to enlisted men. Great group, paper and the photo scan of him wearing the medals. Right up your alley, you must be really pleased!

 

 

Forgot your question about official engraving. As far as I'm aware, and from what I've seen, no WW1 DSCs were officially engraved, even though there's an obvious place on the reverse for the engraving. This includes WW1 posthumous DSCs. Some DSCs WERE engraved...but I've only seen private engraving (tarbridge posted an eye-popping one to a Marine a couple years ago...)

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Dave,

 

As the others have said, this is an amazing acquisition. Congratulations on your find. I know that you have a soft spot for Russia related medals, so this is a perfect grouping for you.

 

Allan

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Two thumbs way up Dave !! I would guess the DSC number matches to the recipient as well although this is not always the case. Somewhat up your alley too given the Russia connection !! A very historic grouping !!

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Thanks for answering my questions, Dave. The family chose wisely in picking you to preserve, research and share this rare group.

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