Russian soldiers resting in the field. Card postmarked November 28, 1916.
Reverse:Postmarked November 28, 1916.
"The night was very dark and the confusion great. Wheels creaked and scrunched; frightened horses slid forwards by leaps and bounds; cart grated against cart; whips twanged and swished; and agitated voices shouted and cursed in one and the same breath.. . . All around us were fires; even in front of us buildings were blazing. My driver said that some of the soldiers thought that they were already surrounded by the enemy. We reached the village of Gorodenka and orders were given to halt. On one side of the village the mansion of a large estate was in flames. Camp-beds and straw were brought and, by the side of a large lake, we wrapped ourselves in our plaids and tried to sleep. . . . In the half-light of dawn, we heard heavy gun carriages thunder by, followed by the tramping of foot soldiers. Behind them came bronirovanny [armoured motors]. . . . It was very cold and damp on the lake bank."
Florence Farmborough, an English nurse serving with the Russian Red Cross, describing some of the events of the night of July 26–27, 1917 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Kerensky Offensive and the piercing of the Russian line by German and Austro-Hungarian forces. Farmborough had served since March, 1915, and it was only in the last few days that she felt threatened as she and the other sisters were verbally attacked by the soldiers. She recognized, 'for the first time. . . that our soldiers might become our enemies and were capable of doing us harm.'
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 289, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
1917-07-27, July, 1917, retreat, Russian retreat, Russian soldiers resting
