The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1919-11-27
BRITISH IN RUSSIA
WERE NEAR MUT|NY
Returned Troops Tell of Revolt in
Far North.
OFrlLERS HURRY DISCHARGES
Discover Men Good Agents for the
Bolshevst ldea-Soldiers Quickly
Scattered to the Four Corners
of the Globe.

of the Globe.
London, Nov. PA Castle liner
with some 1000 British troops aboard
recently arrived in Plymouth. Other
transports bringing contingents from
the North Russia eXpeditionary force
are still on their way. Many English
and colonial homes have been made
happy by this withdrawal from Rus
sia, but the nation has discovered sud
denly that the returned warriors are
excellent agents for the bolshevist
idea.
Tommies you meet on the Strand,
in the restaurants, in the Y. Nj. {. A.
nuts. everywhere, do not hesitate to
tell you about the mutinies in the
frozen north, and they give you the
causes. Officers frown, but admit there
was no help for IT, And those who
fear that the bolsheviSt ideas which
the soldiers spread may bring about
serious troubles are Fastening to dis
band the regiments and scatter the
men ~ lllt lbul NbillclS VI Nlit SiNbN'
Had No Answer
"The real reason bOlsheviSm
spread among ice British, French, and
American troops i'm Russia was be-
cause the officers had no valid an
swer to the mems asking what they
were fighting for young Australian
soldier, "A bright chap who had been
through the public schools and had
worked in America several years, told
me. "The bOlshevists kept on send
ing over notes asking us why we were
on their soil. At first we ignored
them.
Then came a day when some of
our prisoners came back. They were
set free on condition that they asked
their officers the same question. An
other day some of our wounded of a
previous days encounter were re-
turned to us under white flag in
charge of a young Russian lieutenant
who spoke English perfectly.
"'Ask your officers why they are
fighting US the bolshevik advised us
and departed.
"We!i, that made us think. Up to
then we had sent one or two replies
just pulling the bolos' legs. This time
we asked our officers.
"'You are fighting the kings enc
mies-just rs you swore to when you
enlisted our officers replied.
$50 we sent that reply to the bolos
"A day later we got some more
notes from them. I do not remember
the wording, but the idea was that
they, the holos. were not the enemy of
King George and that the real reason
the allied troops were on Russian soil
was to restore the old cZariStic gov
eminent so that the millions of
pounds worth of Russian notes, held
chiefly by French and British interests
and Cancelled by the bolos, would be
honored and paid.
Kept Quiet.
THE Trenches got all upset by this
note and by similar notes from the
bOlOS processing the brotherhood of
man and similar sOcialistic stuff. We
kept quiet. one day we had another
fight with the bOlshevists and lost
some dead and wounded. The next
day came the usual notes from the
bOloS
"This time we answered: We are
fighting to save our skins
"The boos replied: so are we,
Let's all 90 home
"That sounded good. Conditions
were awful up there. We really had
no reason to be there, we figured, de-
spite the officers saying it was to
fight the kings enemies. He'll, | did
enough fighting of the kings enemies
] mean the Germans. | was wounded
at CrOiselles on the Bapaume-Cam-
brai road. fought in Gallipoli.
knew why | was fighting then. Bat
there was no sense in fighting the
Russians. who were treating us damn
white and only begin us to clear out
and let them settle their own pudding.
81 guess the lieutenants and cap
tains thought the same way about it,
although outwardly they kept up the
bluff of the bolos being worse than
the Germans. We thought so at first.
too, and say, the atrocities we com
mltted against them were worse than
any German atrocities against the
Australians and Canadians. Yes, we
killed bolshevik prisoners, we tortured
them. we bayoneted wounded and left
them to freeze to death. After they
replied by sending our wounded back
well cared for we changed our tactics.
We couldn't believe our officers then.
81 don't know much about the
Americans, but guess it was the same
with them-and likewise the French.
We all changed our minds. Now
about this mutiny: we don't call it n
mutiny. We just call it a cessation
of hostllities. We figured we had
fought the real war and won the real
war. and this was just bloody muir
der, pardon the word"