The Adventures of Dunsterforce

by Lionel Charles Dunsterville

Dunsterforce was named after its intrepid commander, Major-General Lionel Charles Dunsterville. It was a small, secret expedition – known from its clandestine nature as “the Hush-Hush army” – sent to the Caucasus at the end of 1917 in a bid to thwart Turkish encroachment into the region, hinder Russia's Bolsheviks and forestall any Russian attempts to move south into Persia or export revolution to British-ruled India. Small and ill-supplied, Dunsterforce made up for its weakness with the personal dash of its commander, who had already been immortalised in literature as “Stalky” in Rudyard Kipling’s public school tales. Kipling and Dunsterville had been schoolmates at United Services College at Westward Ho! in Devon.

Dunsterville’s own book has plenty of derring-do as the general and his subordinate officers (who led sub-expeditions) dealt with the Kurdish, Persian and Cossack tribesmen throughout the vast mountainous area between the Black and Caspian Seas. In the end, Dunsterforce found itself battling in vain to save the oil rich town of Baku from the Turks until lack of resources and the fatal disunity among his allies compelled the force to withdraw with their mission unfulfilled. This colourful memoir, reflecting the charismatic character of its author, is an important source for anyone interested in the great power rivalry between Russia and Britain; in British intervention in Bolshevik Russia, and the unorthodox military campaigns of history.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Military History, Middle East, World War I

380 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Manray9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all of the Great War played out in France, Poland, the Dardanelles, and Italy. Operations took place in obscure backwaters with little obvious bearing on the war's ultimate outcome. Often these actions appear insignificant in the grand scheme of history, but to the participants, they were as meaningful as Tannenberg, Passchendaele, or Anzac Cove.

This was the case for Dunsterforce, the so-called “Hush-Hush Army” of British troops and their auxiliaries in Northern Persian and the Caucasus in 1917-18. This force, under Major-General Lionel Charles Dunsterville, was dispatched from Baghdad for Baku via Persia. The mission was to aid local forces -- mostly Armenian and Georgian nationalists allied with the anti-Bolshevik Socialist Revolutionaries – in opposing Turkish encroachment into the oil-rich Caspian basin and to thwart the export of revolution to British India. Dunsterville's dicey mission collected a string of peculiar bedfellows: a corps of Kuban and Terek Cossacks that had been fighting the Turks in Persian since 1915, ex-Tsarist Russians galore, activists of the Socialist Revolutionary Party of Russia, Persian levies, colonies of Russian Christians in the Caucasus, a detachment of French officers and a small group of Royal Navy sailors. Dunsterforce's opponents were a curious hodge-podge as well: Russian Bolsheviks, Mirza Kuchik Khan's Jagali revolutionary forces in Persia, the inept Persian central government, Persian Bolsheviks, bandits, Turks, German regular officers, Austrians, and Islamists of various stripes. It's difficult to keep track of the players without a scorecard.

Such a gaggle of actors in an isolated theater had comic opera elements. Dunsterville, as part of the long effort to get to Baku, took over the best steamship on the Caspian, the SS Paul Kruger, named, oddly, for the former leader of the South African Boers. The ship's dining saloon was adorned with a life-size portrait of Kruger. Dunsterville wrote:

Many of my officers were South Africans who wore the two medals for 1899-1902, and it was amusing to observe their startled expressions when they came into the saloon to report and were confronted with this striking portrait.

The confusion reigning throughout Northern Persia and the Caucasus carried over to the sea. The ship flew the Red Flag of the Revolution. The British removed it, only to face the strong objections of the Baku revolutionary committee. Dunsterville wouldn't fly it, since the British were not committed to the Revolution. The committee agreed he could fly the traditional Russian tricolor -- but only if upside-down. An unadorned Russian flag, upside-down, was identical to the flag of Serbia. Dunsterville summed up the ludicrous situation:

A British General on the Caspian, the only sea unploughed before by British keels, on board a ship named after a South African Dutch president and whilom enemy, sailing from a Persian port, under the Serbian flag, to relieve from the Turks a body of Armenians in a revolutionary Russian town.

The Adventures of Dunsterforce is well-written and insightful. It contributes to understanding British motives in the theater, as well as subsequent Soviet suspicion of British intentions regarding their regime. It's told by a participant with wit, a sharp pen, and an eye for detail. Dunsterville earned Four Stars from me.

[Robert Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unexpected treasure

This book deserves a longer review which I will undertake later. It covers a large and important WWI battlefield that is rarely discussed. The mind bending complexity of the political situation as well as the geographic harshness of the theater would faint the spirits of most men. That Dundersville met as much success with his small force as he did was remarkable. His efforts showed intelligence, enterprise, and great personal courage. Moreover, despite the weakness of his local allied troops,he is never condescending towards them. His insights on the disorganization caused by revolutions is worth studying. Read the book and ignore the typographic errors of the text. It's a small distraction.

[Paul Bakely · Rating 4 out of 5]

General Dunsterville’s account of his attempt to prevent the Baku oil fields from being captured by the Turks. Dunsterville was a friend of Rudyard Kipling and his book reads like Kipling except that it really happened.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in WWI history. It tells the story of an obscure WWI campaign in the northeast Persia / trans-Caucasus region that was conducted by the British in 1918. The campaign’s objective was to prevent the Turks / Germans from taking control of the Baku oil fields and also bringing Persia into the war as an ally of the Central Powers. The book consists of the report about the campaign by General Lionel Dunsterville, commander of the expedition. The content is good, concise and interesting. The book itself is a scanned copy of a published source and consequently has numerous typographical errors and other scan-related glitches. If you can ignore all of the errors and are interested in the subject then you’ll like it.

[Myles Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dunsterforce would now be called a special forces operation. Dunsterville was sent off to protect the exposed front caused by the Russian exit from the war.
The style is dry, entertaining and easy to read. It is also amazing how (initally at least) he managed with "a few officers, a couple of clerks and ~40 drivers that a force of several thousand were holding the front.
This does not seem like a book written over a hundred years ago, more like a great adventure

[Peter Benkendorff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book when I first read it. It liked the description of the general and how he went about fooling some of his opponents. I wanted to read it again and show it to friends but the book in My Books at Kobo is not the same as the original and it appears the file of another on Kobo is damaged.
I will see if there is paperback copy I can buy.

[gargamelscat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and important in the narrow sense of WW1 marginal campaigns, but not particularly exciting.

[Bill V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fair read. It's about the exploits of an obscure force in the third most important theater of the First World War. It doesn't really aid anyone but the keenest follower of the theater.

[F S · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding well-written historical book.

[Matthew Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite humorous and insightful!