Military Mail:United States Intervention in South Russia After the FIrst World War, 1919-1922 [Author: Alfred F. Kugel]. This exhibit was created to illustrate mail generated by U. S. military forces sent to intervene in South Russia following the official end of WWI.
This web page, published by the Military Postal History Society, contains text from the images of the exhibit pages created by Alfred F. Kugel, and are reproduced and distributed to the public with his permission.
In the southern part of the Russian Empire, a particularly vicious civil war between the Bolsheviks and their opponents raged for nearly three years, with significant British and French military involvement in support of the White forces. However, the U.S. small force was committed not to become involved in the civil war.
Postal Express Service No. 975 15 July 1919
V 4̂ KT
Without a combat role, the p resence of U . S . Army personnel was restricted to i n t e l l i g e n c e and l i a i son activity. APO 975 was established in Paris and used for mail brought in from locations throughout the disintegrating European empires by the U.S. Army Courier Service.
A M E R I C A N I N T E R V E N T I O N IN SOUTH RUSSIA Relief Agencies
Tiflis, Georgia August 1919
Gumru, Armenia December 1919
American Committee for Relief
in the Near East
Mailed via British APO (SX 22 at Batum or Y 1
at Constantinople).
American Relief Committee
Carried out of the mails to Malta for posting.
Numerous private organizations, some of which had been operating before the fall of the Czar, distributed food and medicine to the war refugees, especially in Armenia. Protecting American citizens in these groups gave the U.S. a further reason for concern about, and a naval presence near, the South Russian war zone.
A M E R I C A N INTERVENTION IN SOUTH RUSSIA Naval Mail
.311!
U.S.S. Hovey Destroyer serving in the Black Sea from late July to December 1920. Tiny card datelined Sevastopol.
U.S.S. Chattanooga Old cruiser that served as the flagship of the U.S. Naval Forces in Turkish waters after the end of World War I . This card datelined from Batum and postmarked 28 August 1920.
U.S.S. Noma Steam yach t w i t h complement of 80. Noma did not have an on board post office. Letter datelined Baku, 27 April 1919. Sent by naval pouch to Turkey where it was cancelled eight days later.
Ships of the U.S. Navy cruised the Black Sea carrying military observers, relief supplies and refugees. Mail from these ships is rarely seen, and there is a paucity of literature describing their activities. Ships without on board post offices generally turned their mail over to the USS Scorpion, dispatch vessel for the U.S. High Commissioner at Constantinople, for processing.
A M E R I C A N INTERVENTION IN SOUTH RUSSIA Naval Mail
e.
( C R O I X - R O U G E A M E R I C A I N E )
•
South Russian Commission
1
U.S.S. Overton Destroyer serving in the Black Sea from October 1920 to July 1922. Cover from the South Russian Red Cross Commission.
U.S.S. Smith Thompson Destroyer serving in the Black Sea from February 1920 to May 1921. Notations in cancels read "Sevastopol" and "Batoum."
On 20 October 1920. the Bolsheviks began the counter-offensive that drove the White forces out of the Crimea. At the time the Overton cover was mailed, she was transporting refugees from the Crimea to Turkey following the collapse of Wrangel's army.