File 861.00/2506
The British Chargé (Barclay) to the Secretary of State
[August 13, 1918]
[A copy of the following paraphrase of a telegram was handed by the
Chargé to the Secretary of State on August 13, 1918:]
The British Consul at Vladivostok
(Hodgson) to the British Foreign Office
Representations have been made by Dr. Girsa of the Czech National Council to the
effect that the Czechs in Siberia are daily being placed in a
more and more critical position. They have insufficient supplies
of clothing, boots, military material, arms and ammunition, and
their numbers are being reduced. The position of the troops
between Samara and Irkutsk is even worse. The forces at the
disposal of the enemy are constantly increasing; they are fully
supplied with aeroplanes, automobiles, and artillery, and their
organization is being perfected. There are now only two months
before the beginning of winter and the Czech troops in central
Siberia will be lost unless help can reach them by then. Dr.
Girsa urged that the
Allies should extend their plan of operations and send a
stronger force and also supplies, more especially aeroplanes and
artillery; the forces so far proposed to be sent by the Allies
are certainly inadequate.
The positive statement is made by the general in command of the
Czechs that not less than three Allied divisions are
imperatively necessary to deal with the situation on the
Manchuria-Irkutsk front. The prisoners of war have now obtained
control of the Trans-Baikal Province, where they are terrorizing
the inhabitants and forcing them to enlist in the Red
forces.
