nd a few moments later when the barrage had lifted they entered
Ignatavskaya, which had been in the hands of the enemy for more than a
month. Our attack took the enemy clearly by surprise, for in the village
itself we found great numbers of enemy dead and wounded, who had been
caught under our curtain of fire from the artillery, and for the next
several days we were busy in bringing in other wounded men and prisoners
from the surrounding woods, estimated at more than two hundred alone.

We quickly consolidated the new position with our old ones and patiently
sat tight, awaiting the coming of the new British reinforcements, which
had by this time landed in Archangel. From this time on our fighting was
practically at an end on the Vaga River.

Over on the Dvina during the months of March and April, "B" and "C"
Company were still holding forth at Toulgas and Kurgomin far up the
river. They were daily employed in patrol and defensive duty. The Bolo
had acquired a healthy respect for these positions after his terrible
repulses on this front during the winter.

In fact, so strong was this position here that by April we had gradually
begun relieving American troops at Toulgas and supplanting them, about
five to one, by fresh Russian troops from Archangel, who subsequently
fell before the most vicious and deadly of all the enemy
weapons--Bolshevik Propaganda.

During the night of April 25 and 26, these Russian troops who had been
secretly conniving with the Red spies and agents, suddenly revolted,
turned their guns on their own as well as the British officers there,
and allowed the enemy lurking in the woods to walk unmolested into the
positions that months of shelling and storm attacks had failed to shake.
True, some of the Russians, especially the artillery men, remained loyal
and by superhuman efforts succeeded in withdrawing with some equipment
and guns to Shushuga on the same side of the river. Yorkshire troops and
machine gunners were quickly rushed up to bolster up these loyal men and
a few days later retribution swift and terrible was visited upon the
deserters and their newly made comrades.

Shortly prior to the defection of the troops in Toulgas, and unknown to
them, a battery of large six-inch guns had been brought up to the
artillery position at Kurgomin on the opposite side of the river, which,
with the guns already in position there, made it one of our strongest
artillery positions. The enemy was given ample t