DENIKIN'S MARCH

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 277, 19 August 1919, Page 7

DENIKIN'S MARCH

ANOTHER BOLSHEVIK DEFEAT

BRITISH AIRMEN AT THE FRONT Bj Teloiraph-PrtßS Atuooiatlon-CopyriElH London, August 18. Genera! Denikin has occupied Lemeskkino, across tho K&mishiu-Bnlashov railway, taking TOO prisoners. Ho occupied Ivroinoncinig, Znamauka, and Eliza'bet,7rad, from which the populace drovo out the- Bolshevist. The latter aro reported to have been expelled from Odessa, by the inha.bitn.nte ami peasants, and it is rumour-id that the are evacuating Iviefl and the whole ot' Ukrainia. According to a Bolshevik wireless message, a party ot' British airmen has landed at Novorrossisk.—AllS.-N.Z. Cablo Assn. EFFECTIVE BOMBING BY.vTIiE AIRMEN. Helsingfors, August 18. British aviators bombed Petrozavodsk, in the U'lonetz district, causing large fires. Tlier.* are only 500 of the Finnish Bctl Army on tho^outskirts of Petrcsavodsk. FiUy Finnish "Bed" women carry out the executions. The Russians refuse to shoot the prisoners.—Aus.-N.H. Cablo Assn. REPORTED EXECUTION OF MAXIM GORKY. London, August 18. Beii.in reports, state that tho Bolshevists havo executed Maxim Gorky, tho famous novelist, iu Petrograd.—Aus.-N.Z. Cablo Assn. RUSSIAN EX-AMBASSADOR DEAD. Paris, August 18. 'M. Isvolskv, ex-Russian Ambassador to France, is dead.-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE VOLUNTEER ARMY

General Denikin, tho head of tho Volunteer Army, has appealed to tho Allies to help him in the struggle against tho Bolsheviks, even if only 111 the form of equipment and ammunition. Here is a short history of ike Volunteer A;ni.v. After the Bolsnevik coup d'etat in November, 1917, it became obvious that tiio Russian Army had bccomo completely disorganised, aiifi. that the now authorities would not remain truo to tho Allies concerning the termination of the war. i'.e.oii General Alexeiev accepted tho hospitality of iho Don Cossacks, who had not beeu at oace overwhelmed by tho wave of Bolshevism, and began to form a Volunteer Anny. From all parts of Russia officers and military cadets began to Hock to him. There were no soldiers among these.

In November he wus joined by Generals Kornilov, Denikin, nnd Markov, who had escaped from tho prison "into which they had been thrown by order of the Provisional Government. It was very difficult for the newly-formed army at once to repel the Bolsheviks advancing 011 tho Don Territory.

Colonels as Privates. Communication with tho Don was very difficult, and thero was' a shortage of arms. In the beginning of February, 1918, tho Volunteer.Army was forccd to give, up the .Don Territory to the Bolsheviks and retreat to tho southeast. > i

General Kornilov, at the head of 3000 officers and cadets, almost unarmed, and with oiily six guns, retreated to EkaleriJiodar, the capital of Kuban Cossacks. The rank and .Hie were officers, mostly the younger ones, but even grey-haired colonels were to be found among the "privates." The story of the march of ihe Volunteer Army is wonderful.

Three thousand badly armed men wandered over the Steppes among a" half inimical population, without a base, without a rear or supplies. They wero hunted by an enemy at least twenty times greater in. numbers, with an enormous quantity of rrtillery. When tho Volunteer Army ran short of ammunition, it was forced to get it by main force from the enemy. . Tho wounded were either taken along or shot, prevent. their falling into the hands of tho Bolsheviks, who killed off the wounded most brutally. The greatest fortune for these volunteers was to fall in battle.

Kornilov's Death. Ekaterinodar was not taken at once. At first it was hold by the Bolsheviks, then it was retaken. In tho battles at Ekaterinodar Kornilov was killed. General Markov foil I'ome months after. This was a great blow to the army, but it still held together, and retreated eastward of the Stepper. And often at the. hardest tiirjes tho glad rumour would spread that the Allied English troops were coming up from somewhere to' help them. Of course, 110 one could explain whence or how they were advancing. This was incredible, but it was equally incredible that tho best officers of the Russian Aimy, who had distinguished themselves in action, who did not. want to be false to the Allies or submit to the Bolsheviks, should •wander, cold and hungry, over the vast Russian Steppes,' manfully repulsing tho attacks of the soldiers whom they had formerly commanded, and with wlionv thoy had several times saved tho situation for the Allies. By May the situation improved, and with enormous efforts the Kuban Cossacks began to free themselves from the Bolsheviks. The Volunteer Army played a great part, in thi-i struggle, and suffered heavy losses, but its . position was improved, as the territory it occupied ceased to be inimical and became friendly. In Aujust Ekaterinodar was taken from the Bolsheviks and an outlet was opened into the Black Sea. Rebuff for Germans, During this period the Germans, who were in tho neighbourhood of tho Volunteer Army, tried several times to seduce it'. But however hard it was to bc_without munitions, nnd however tempting it seemed to receive arms from tho Germans, General Alexeiev would have nothing to do with them, any more than his successor General Denikin, who took •tho post of commander-in-chief after General Aloxeiev's death. Tho victory of the Allies filled the Volunteer Army with hope. Now they would.be able to ummunicatc with the Allies, who would help them and give them munitions } liich Gormauy had taken from Russia, and which by right belonged to thosel Russian officers who led the troops against Germany to the end, and who, when at the time of tlio Provisional Government the soldiers refused to fight, advanced alone without them. Munitions Wanted, At present tho troops of the Volunteer Army aro with difficulty withstanding the pressure of the Bolsheviks in the South of Russia, the granary of Europe. Tho Volunteer Army numbers tens of thousands at preient. They include the Kubau Cossacks. 1 But, as before, they lack munitions. The enemy is superior both in numbers and the amount of ammunition and artillery. General Denikin not only wants munitions, but iiis troops aro also unshod nnd badly clotiTad, his doctors are without medicines and surgical instruments. Thus, the Volunteer-Army, tho Russian officers, look to those to whom they have always remained faithful and whom they wero saving, when leading I'liu once powerful Russian army, either, in Prussia or in Galicia, against tho common foe.

(jenerai Deuikin, ordinarily calm and re.-erved, now makes an alarming appeal. He has the greatest difficulty in checking tho pressure ot : tlio Bolshevist forces. Europe herself is now begimiiug to fear Bolshevism with vhich tho Volunteer Army is carrying en an unheard-of and heroic struggle these sixteen months.

And now tho Volunteer Army is asking for help, not in men, but only in munitions, of which there is a great storo in overy town of Western Europe. Tho sooner the Allies wi'l find it possible to transmit Ihese war supplies to the most enduring nnd experienced general—Denikin—the sooner real peace will