Swedes fighting alongside Royal Tank Corps

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Nick Balmer
Hello Stellan,

Seeing your interesting post about the Swedes who fought alongside the Allies in World War II made me recall a book I had read several years ago which mentions an earlier occasion when Swedes fought alongside the Royal Tank Corps in Estonia during September & October 1919.

Do you, or anybody else on the list know any thing about this period, or have any photographs?

Hi Nick;

I don't know if this helps or not, but the following is taken from:

" The Tanks, The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and its predecessors Heavy Branch Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps & Royal Tank Corps 1914-1945, Volume One 1914-1919"; by Captain B.H. Liddell Hart.

(pages 211 to 213)

"In 1919 three small tank detachments were despatched to aid the 'White' Russian forces that were trying, very ineffectually, to overthrow the Bolshevik regime. Machines were available, but the difficulty was to find men for them, as the call was confined to those who volunteered. The first detachment was sent to join General Denikin's forces in South Russia. Major N. McMicking with ten other officers and fifty-five other ranks sailed from France in March and disembarked at Batum, on the Black Sea, on April 13. A shipment of six Mark V and six Whippet tanks followed, under Captain R.W. Walsh. The combined detachment, under Major E.M. Bruce, was then moved to Ekaterinodar, in the Kuban peninsula, where it established a school and started to train Russian personnel - a heart-breaking attempt, as the latter showed little mechanical sense and even less will to fight. Their opponents were not much better, however, and the advent of a handful of tanks had a terrific effect. When a few of them first went into action, on May 8 and 10, 'the mere sight of the tanks threw the enemy's ranks into confusion and he fled, panic-stricken, abandoning rifles, ammunition, and clothing'.

Towards the end of May, Denikin placed a force of thirty cavalry regiments under General Wrangel for an advance on Tsaritsin, the Soviet base on the Volga - a city now more famous under the name of Stalingrad. After being twice repulsed, Wrangel decided to wait for reinforcements. An infantry division was sent up, and also six tanks - three Mark Vs and three Whippets. One of the Mark Vs was manned by a British crew, under Captain Walsh - this was done on Bruce's initiative, contrary to War Office instructions that the British personnel were only to train Russians, and not to take part in fighting.

On June 29 the third advance on Tsaritsin was launched. It opened with the advance of the tanks - now reduced to four by the breakdown of two of the Russian-manned ones. The remaining two Mark Vs burst through the wire entanglements and crossed the outer trenchline, whereupon the defenders bolted. Walsh's Mark V, after sweeping a wide strech of the line, drove north to the edge of the inner trenchline - while three Russian-manned machines cruised in the offing, and the Russian cavalry came forward to occupy the conquered ground. As no petrol had come up, there was now a pause. Two days later, suffcient petrol was collected to fill the one British-manned tank. Bruce took command of it himself, and drove into Tsaritsin, the defenders surrendering or fleeing northward. The Russian cavalry were useful in rounding up the prisoners - of whom, according to Wrangel, a total of 40,000 were taken. But the fall of that now historic city was due to the determined advance of seven Britons in one tank. It may well rank as one of the most remarkable feats in the whole story of the Tank Corps. The date was July 1, the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, but by the Russian calender June 18, the aniversary of Waterloo.

In July, more tanks arrived rom England, bringing the total to fifty-seven Mark Vs and seventeen Whippets. But their value was vitiated by the defeiciencies of the Russians who manned them, and they also came too late. For Denikin was so exhilarated by the capture of Tsaritsin that he had at once issued order for a general advance on Moscow. At first this made some progress, but the troops put no heart in the effort, while the various commanders wrangled among themselves. Meantime the Bolsheviks had been raising fresh and larger forces that were better organized than before. The tide turned, and Denikin's 'armies' began to flow back, while also melting away through desertion. Small handfuls of tanks, however, helped to keep the Bolsheviks at bay at a number of places - among them, Kharkov, Taganrog, and Ekaterinodar - during the withdrawal. Finally, two British-manned Mark Vs covered the evacuation of the British Military Mission from Novorossisk. The 'South Russian Tank Detachment' was then moved to the Crimea, along with what remained of Denikin's forces. But the British Government then decided to withdraw its help, and on June 28, 1920, the detachment sailed for home, from Sevastopol.

Another tank detachment of volunteers had been formed in July 1919 for service with General Yudenitch's forces in north-west Russia. It consisted of twenty-two officers and twenty-six other ranks, with six tanks, under Lieut-Colonel E. Hope-Carson. Disembarking on August 5 at Reval, in Estonia, it was thence moved to Narva - another place that became famous in World War II. After Russian crews had been given training, three of the tanks were used in an attempted advance on Petrograd (later Leningrad) in October. They were not backed up by infantry, however, while the clamour for their help led to them being over-used. In November, the British training detachment returned home.

A third detachment went to north Russia - in August 1919. It consisted of nine officers and sixty other ranks, with six tanks, under Major J.N. Lewis Bryan. It was sent out to cover the withdrawal of the British forces fron Archangel. When that was accomplished, the detachment returned to Wareham, in October."

Hope this helps.

Cheers