Battle of Artik
The Battle of Artik took place on 12 August 1918 during the Russian Civil War between a British Indian expeditionary force of mostly Punjabi soldiers and a Bolshevik revolutionary force. The location of the combat was in Transcaspia near modern Artyk, Turkmenistan, close to the border between the former Russian Empire and the former Imperial State of Persia.
Following the start of the Malleson mission, the British Indian force in the area feared a Bolshevik attack on local forces. On 11 August, two machine guns of the 19th Punjabis left the Persian town of Muhammabad and crossed the border to Artik (Artik) to assist local forces in case of a new Bolshevik attack.[1]
The next day, on 12 August, the Bolsheviks indeed attacked with about 3,000 troops. The Transcaspian force, however, numbered around 1,000 men (largely Turkmen troops). They were quickly overrun by the Bolshevik army and the entire British mission in the area was put at risk. However, the use of machine guns by the Indian detachment prevented complete disaster, as per the official account.[2]
“These men fired their guns till they became too hot to handle and, according to the Transcaspian account, inflicted 350 casualties on the enemy. Two of the Indian detachment were wounded and one of its machine guns had to be abandoned after two men had been burnt in trying to carry it out of action.”
Despite avoiding disaster, the force was forced to retreat to Dushak, while the machine gun detachment returned to Muhammadabad in Persia due to disease and casualties.[2]
References
- ↑ Sargent 2004, p. 11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sargent 2004, p. 12.
Bibliography
- Sargent, Michael. British Military Involvement in Transcaspia: 1918–1919. The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Camberley, UK. April 2004
- Wright, Damien. Churchill's Secret War With Lenin: British and Commonwealth Military Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918–20 (2017), p. 431. Solihull: Helion and Company. ISBN 9781913118112.
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