Australians in Russia during the Civil War (1918-1919)
Introduction
Many Australian military servicemen visited Russia during the Civil War (1918-1919). In some cases they were escapees from the German or Turkish captivity. But mainly they were servicemen in the ranks of British military missions. During the Civil War the Australian soldiers and officers remained a part of the armed forces of Great Britain which has always been able to throw into a battle her sons born far away from the shores of the historic Motherland. It has to be said that the soldiers from British dominions - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa fought bravely at the fronts of WW1 for "The King and The Country". It is enough to note that no less than a quarter of all British KIA were native of colonies.
The British intervention into the Civil War in Russia was not an exception - many Australians visited Russia in the ranks of the expeditionary force in the Russian North, in Transcaucasus and Turkmenistan, amongst military advisers in the Kolchak's army in Siberia, on board of an Australian naval ship "Swan" which had conducted a reconnaissance mission in Russia in december 1918.
The memoirs of Australians about the Civil War in Russia and publications about their role in the British intervention clearly show that the foreign interference had only delayed the collapse of the White cause and, finally, contributed to growth of patriotic feelings of the Russian people and popularity of the Bolsheviks.