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Polar Bears
339th U.S. Infantry, Camp Devens, July 14, 1919 (The photo below is a close-up of the section outlined in red in the photo above.).
Above, we see an entire United States Army regiment. The original photo, taken in 1919, is 41.5 inches long and 13.75 inches wide. The digital scan shown above has thus been reduced in size – a necessary measure, as the image would otherwise not fit on this page. An enlarged section appears beneath this image, providing a closer view.
Such “long-view” photographs are commonly called “panoramic photos.” These were most popular from about 1900 to about 1935. For more information, click Library of Congress Panoramic Photograph Collection Site.
The men depicted in the photo are as remarkable as the photo itself. They were Polar Bears, and they began fighting a war before another had ended.
Battling the Bolsheviks
The North Russia Expeditionary Force – known as the “Polar Bears” – arrived in Archangel, Russia on September 4, 1918. A majority of the 5,000-troop contingent hailed from Michigan, with most of these being from Detroit. Upon arrival, they were ordered to join a British campaign against the Bolsheviks.
The Marxist Bolsheviks (with Vladimir Lenin as the nominal leader) came to power after the ousting of the Russian Czar in 1917. They soon sued for peace with Germany, ending Russia’s involvement in World War I. This concerned the Allies, who wished to keep Germany occupied in the East. They also wished to guard military ordnance that the Allies had previously given to the Russians.
President Woodrow Wilson initially directed that the American Polar Bears were only to guard military stores. However, the men soon found themselves actively fighting Bolshevik troops. On November 11, 1918, an armistice officially ended World War I. That same day, the Polar Bears found themselves engaged in their fiercest battle to that date!
Bringing the Troops Home
The Polar Bears remained in Russia as a new year began. Michigan citizens started to become restless. In Detroit, they held protest meetings and circulated petitions. In Lansing, the state senate called for immediate withdrawal from Russia.
Finally, in April, General Wilds P. Richardson arrived in Archangel, carrying orders to withdraw. Withdrawal couldn’t really begin until June, however, due to frozen waterways.
The first returning group of Polar Bears reached Detroit on July 3rd. The next day – July 4, 1919 – a formal ceremony on Belle Isle welcomed them home. The troops were transported to the Isle on a steamer. As they disembarked, rockets were fired, while women and young girls of the American Red Cross showered them with perfumed flower wreaths.
Altogether, the Polar Bears had spent over nine months in Russia, suffering 245 casualties. They battled the Bolsheviks through a harsh Russian winter and beyond, remaining at war while other Americans celebrated peace.
Sources and Links
A key source for this article was Roger Crownover’s “Stranded in Russia,” published in the January/February 1999 issue of Michigan History Magazine.
The University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library maintains a “Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections” site. Click Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections to access it.
The Joint Archives of Holland maintains a collection of oral history interviews with Polar Bears. Interview transcripts can be accessed online. To do so, click Joint Archives of Holland: Polar Bear Oral Histories.
Michigan’s Own Military and Space Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan maintains a large collection of Polar Bear artifacts. Click Michigan’s Own Military and Space Museum to visit their web site.
For a previous World War I-related story on Seeking Michigan, click Michigan World War I Soldiers Club (Article and Links to Name Index).
Thank you for this look at the Polar Bears. Having taught history in Battle Creek and being interested in Camp Custer, I appreciated this article and the sources and links at the end. I have connected with most of them but learned a new one with the museum at Frankenmuth. I was aware of the museum but did not know they had a collection on the Polar Bears. I will be traveling back there. My students were always interested in this story.
See also: A Michigan Polar Bear Confronts the Bolsheviks; A War Memoir by Godfrey L. Anderson. Edited and introduced by Gordon L. Olson. (Grand Rapids, Mi.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2010.187pp.illus. pbk. ISBN 978-0-8028-6520-5.
The Grand Rapids Public Library has Godfrey Anderson’s original manuscript that the new book, “A Michigan Polar Bear Confronts the Bolsheviks” is based on. Gordon Olson did a wonderful job editing the manuscript and writing a postscript.
Opportunity lost. The US and Britain fought to restore the elected government of Russia. Had we restored the democratic government, Communism would not have taken power. The Soviet Union would not have been a totalitarian dictatorship and China would not have ended up Communist. Hitler would not have negotiated a treaty with Russia allowing the invasion of Poland. Wilson ordered our troops out and Communism became the biggest threat to world peace in history.
I am the granddaughter of Polar Bear Guy Campus. My documentary film about the WWI Polar Bears has been seen throughout MI and nationally on PBS stations. It documents all these men went through and a good portion of the politics involved. Not enough men were sent to halt the spread of Communism in 1918. Yes, the world would have been a different place if more troops were sent, but the world was very “war weary” not to speak of the Spanish Influenza that hit just as the Polar Bears were arriving in N. Russia. Polar Bear Godfrey Anderson is featured in my film and I highly recommend the book by Gordon Olson. Learn more at http://www.PolarBearDocumentary.com and http://pbma.grobbel.org/
There are many lessons we can learn as a nation from this forgotten story in American History
I am the great granddaughter of Glenn Congdon and he was one of the Polar Bears and died in August 1966. I am interested in more information on this group of guys. Does anyone know if a book can be bought at a book store? I would love to have a photograph of him in his uniform. Is this posible to get?