Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Papers of a soldier who served as a cook in the 310th Engineer Regiment, Company B during the American intervention in North Russia, 1918-1920.

This collection contains digital reproductions; the original papers and/or photographs are owned by the donor. The digital items in this collection were digitized from originals by the individual donors before being received by the Bentley Historical Library. Preservation copies of these files with their original file names and CD-ROM file structures intact have been submitted to Deep Blue. Access copies of these digital files can be viewed by clicking on the links next to the individual folders in the Content List below.

In this finding aid, the files have been arranged into one series, Postcards. Within this series, files are listed numerically according to the file arrangement they were given by the donor. The files in this collection are in JPG format.

Files include three digitized postcards sent by Cogswell while he was serving in Russia. All three postcards feature maritime scenes of Archangel. The messages on the postcard are dated October 3, October 7, and November 22, 1918.

Soldier from Fruitport, Mich., member of Co. I, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes a diary, article from The Literary Digest, and newspaper clipping describing his combat experiences in Russia.

The papers, all photocopies, include a typescript of Colburn's diary, Sept. 1918-April 1919, which contains very brief accounts of his experiences, including fighting on several fronts and the alleged mutiny of Co. I. Also included are a short reminiscence, a newspaper clipping containing a letter from Colburn describing fighting along the railroad in Sept. 1918, and an article from The Literary Digest describing the "mutiny" of Co. I. The originals of the papers are owned by Colburn.

Soldier from Detroit, Mich., member of Co. A, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes letters from home and diary concerning living conditions in the army and combat duty with the Polar Bear expedition.

The papers include a typescript, dated 1964, of a diary covering the period July 1918-July 1919, which describes his daily routine, fighting upriver from Shenkursk, Sept. 1918, and fighting at Ust Padenga, Jan. 1919. The correspondence is chiefly to him from his family, and gives little information about the campaign.

Reminiscence of Robert Dawson, a soldier in the Royal Scots who served in Archangel, Russia, 1918-1919, and later taken prisoner by the Bolsheviks.

The reminiscence (41 p., photocopy) details his capture, stays in hospital, observations of the Russian people, buildings, social customs, and his subsequent release.

Soldier from Holland, Mich., member of Co. D, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes description of army life and battles of the Polar Bear campaign; also includes a reminiscence of a tour of Russia, 1959, with a teachers group.

The diary, July 1918-July 1919, is a photostat of a typescript, and describes Douma's daily life and the weather as well as fighting at Seltso, Sept. 1918; Toulgas, Nov. 1918; Vistafka, Feb.-March 1919; and Kurgomen, April-May 1919. The collection also includes a reminiscence of a tour of Russia, 1959, with a teachers' group.

Papers of a soldier in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition."

Honorable discharge and enlistment record.

Papers of a soldier in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition."

Duink's papers include a typed compilation of his letters during his service, a roster and rules of the 167th Company Transportation Corps, and transportation drawings, along with a photograph album including scenes of ports, camps in England and France, the countryside of Russia, Murmansk, men on patrol and in camp, battle casualties, battle damage and construction on the railroad, Russian people, village scenes, fortifications, allied soldiers, airplanes, repair of railroad cars, and the voyage home.

Soldier from Frankfurt, Mich., member of Co. M, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes diary and reminiscences relating to his trip to Russia in 1929 to recover the bodies of members of the Archangel Expedition killed and buried in the Soviet Union.

The papers contain a diary, July-Oct. 1929, describing the search for bodies, memories of the Russian people about the American soldiers, living conditions, and his memories of the area; and a typescript reminiscence, 1969, describing his mission, problems with the Russian authorities, the return of the bodies, and the reinterment ceremony at White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery.

Maps created for the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1919, the "Polar Bear Expedition."

The collection contains maps (Scale 1:420,000 and [1:1,050,000] not "1/105,000") of the district of Archangel, Russia created in 1918 by engineers of the Allied intervention in North Russia. Individual sheets are by the Elope Mapping Section or the N.R.E.F. Mapping Section.

Papers of a soldier in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition."

Photograph of John W. Ferguson, a soldier in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, riding a horse in Russia, possibly in Murmansk.