Yashka : $b My life as peasant, exile and soldierBochkareva, Mariia
History
Yashka : $b My life as peasant, exile and soldier
Bochkareva, Mariia
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Russian
The old Colonel returned, after taking Nadia aboard the transport,
with the news that I should have company on the way, as eight Russian
officers were to be passengers on the same vessel. Hundreds of Russian
officers had arrived in Vladivostok in the belief that they could join
the British army there and be transported to France. Unfortunately the
Allies would not accept their services and they found themselves in
difficult circumstances, without means to return to European Russia
and with no desire to do so, as long as Bolshevism was still rampant
there. Some of them succeeded by various means in making their way to
the United States or Canada.
The Colonel asked me if I wanted to meet my fellow-travellers. I
answered in the affirmative, and as they were at the moment at the
Consulate, he took me into the room in which they were waiting.
Scarcely had I crossed the threshold, when, glancing at the small group
of officers, my eyes suddenly fell on Leonid Grigorievitch Filippov,
my former battle adjutant, who had carried me unconscious under German
fire to safety in that unhappy advance of the Battalion.
“What are you doing here?” both of us asked each other simultaneously,
astonished at this unexpected meeting.
I had always felt that I owed my life to Lieutenant Filippov after I
had been stunned by a shell and injured while running from the enemy at
the end of the fruitless offensive launched by the Battalion. He had
taken charge of the Battalion after I had been sent to the Petrograd
hospital, and later left for Odessa to train as an aviator.
From a short private conversation I learned that Lieutenant Filippov
was in the same plight as all the other officers who had come to
Vladivostok under the impression that they would be accepted by the
Allies. I decided to ask the Consul to allow him to assume his former
post of adjutant to me and let him become a member of my party.
The Consul graciously consented, and I was happy at the thought of
journeying to foreign lands in the company of an educated friend, with
a knowledge of languages, peoples and geography, who was also devoted
to Russia with all his heart.
After another conference with the Consul, it was decided that I should
be dressed as an Englishwoman and as such make an effort to get to
the American transport. The necessary clothes were obtained, and in
fifteen minutes I appeared no longer as a soldier, but as a veiled
foreign lady who did not understand a word of Russian. Accompanied by
the Colonel, I left for the harbour, after having expressed my deepest
thanks to the Consul for his great sacrifices in my behalf.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account