US Forces in Russia

A postcard from the series of Japanese published cards showing the US forces in Vladivostok. 




another a bit more close-up.

indeed, Alan's postcards give us some good insight in how the world looked these days.... thx for that 

This wikipedia article is a little more complete in listing the US Army units which fought in Eastern Russia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Force_Siberia
I don't know if the men pictured in these two card images are Marines or not (perhaps the 13th redneck recognizes something about their uniform), but the US Army definitely supplied the bulk of the US forces which served in Siberia from 1918 to 1920/1.

The first US units came from the Philippines--they were closest and cheapest to send.  Later, many of the men/units were from California, Oregon and Detroit.  There's a monument in Detroit to the 'Polar Bear' unit.

Man that is a bleak landscape

It's been a while since I've found any new postcards showing the Russian Civil War.  Well, the drought is over!  Pictured above is a view of Spasskoe (Spaskoi ?) Siberia, and US military forces.  The caption says it's a "view of the garrison from Copeck Hill."  I certainly don't really see much that is a military camp; I think the garrison refers to the 6-8 soldiers seen. 

when I try to find/locate anything related to Spasskoe I get directed towards the Ukraine....?

"Spasskoye" seems to be a placename with around 5 locations in different 'provinces' in the East / old USSR and 3 in Siberian provinces: Omsk, Kraj Primorski and Sacha

stumbled upon http://www.rossica.org/v_gallery/_pdf/Imperial_Military_Censorship/Military%20Censorship%20in%20Imperial%20Russia%20Frame%204.pdf

you see on cards that Spasskoe is Spasskoye

<a href="http://www.rossica.org/v_gallery/_pdf/Imperial_Military_Censorship/Military%20Censorship%20in%20Imperial%20Russia%20Frame%204.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.rossica.org/v_gallery/_pdf/Imperial_Military_Censorship/Military%20Censorship%20in%20Imperial%20Russia%20Frame%204.pdf</a>

And in this image, the cameraman has stepped forward and turned slightly to the right and is looking through the gate mentioned in the above picture.  Inside 'the compound' we see soldiers (again, I assume US troops) lined up.  Notice the people outside the fence on the right are numbered; unfortunately, there is nothing on the back of this postcard so without the letter or piece of paper, we cannot identify them.
The building appears to be the same as the one in the first two images above based on the detail work in the facade and the wooden fencing.  So, I can safely id this as US troops in Spaskoye Siberia.

Hi, Koen

I started to read the file and have saved it for later research.  It appears to me to be a paper on censor markings and the workings of POW mail in Russia during WWI.  I believe this Spasskoye is the one here https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&authuser=0 (based on Robert L. Willett's Russian Sideshow: America's Undeclared War, p.181, where Willett lists, by company, the locations of the 31st IR, US Army.  If this is correct, these men would be from Co. F or G.



These two images show the same US soldier in Siberia. In the top one, he stands in front of a sign that reads " supplies for sale".  It reminds me of the markets I saw in Russia in the 1990s!  It looks like a lot of what's for sale is food-related with the bottles on the counters and piles of bread(?) visible on the right.  The second image shows the soldier standing with two Russians. There's a sign above him but I can't make the first letters out at all.

This postcard shows US troops going onto a ship.  They're not carrying too much equipment so this isn't necessarily an embarkation, leaving the port.  This card came with the other five and has a number in the lower right corner like the other 2 shown above so I believe it shows US troops in Siberia. (there's no writing on the back but the wear/soiling pattern is the same on the back; notice the tape on the edge, too.)  If this is the 31st IR, the troop transport ship in the background could be the USAT(?) Sherman [Willett uses this name for the ship, but I can't find any internet info on it.]