Parted red curtains; in the center, in a trench, a German soldier, eyes closed, hands in overcoat pockets, leans against one side of a trench, smoking a pipe, his rifle resting on the other side of the trench. To the right, a Red soldier, red from red fur hat to red boots, holds two rifles. To the left, a Russian soldier casts away his his hat, backpack, and rifle. Across the bottom of the stage it reads, 1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky. A watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.

1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky

Other views: Larger, Back, LargerBack

Thursday, July 12, 1917

"We heard that many soldiers of the 91st Regiment had refused to return to the trenches; some of them had left their regiment and were making their way eastwards towards Russia. Motors with maxim-guns were being sent after them, with orders to force them to return, or to fire at them on the road. It was said that certain regiments had refused to take runaways back into their ranks, and one regiment, in reserve and awaiting reinforcements, had refused point blank to accept any new recruits."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the entry for Thursday, July 12, 1917 (June 29 Old Style) from the diary of Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross. The initial success of the Kerensky Offensive launched on July 1, Russia's last offensive of World War I, was coming to a end as German troops strengthened the Austro-Hungarian line, and as Russian troops deserted or failed to advance.

Source

Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 280, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974

Tags

1917-07-12, 1917, July, Kerensky offensive, Russian deserter, Operetta Trotsky