and the 310th Engineers were
the only engineering troops with the expedition, the shortage of
officers was a very great handicap. It was necessary to put sergeants
first-class and sergeants in charge of sectors, with what engineers
personnel could be spared. The shortage of officers was not relieved
until April 17th, 1919, when six engineer officers reported.

All the engineering equipment went straight to France. We were
re-equipped in England with English Field Company tools. The English
table of organization does not include mapping or reconnaissance
supplies, which were purchased in small quantities in London.

Upon arrival, the battalion was placed under the direction of
Lieut.-Col. R. G. S. Stokes, C. R. E., Allied Forces, North Russia, for
Engineer operations and distributions of personnel. We remained under
command of Col. Stewart, 339th Infantry, senior American officer, for
all administrative matters.

There were very few engineers here at the time of our arrival and an
immense amount of work to be done at the base besides furnishing
engineer personnel for the forward forces in operation at the time. It
was decided to place one company at the front and the two companies at
the base until some of the important base work could be finished. "A"
Company was then ordered to the front and "B" and "C" Companies remained
at the Base. "B" Company at Bakaritza and "C" Company at Solombola.

On our arrival the forward forces consisted of three main columns or
forces known as "A" force, operating on the Archangel-Vologda Railroad,
with Obozerskaya as a base; "C" force, operating on the Dvina and Vaga
Rivers, with Beresnik as a base; and "D" force, with Seletskoe as a
base. It was necessary to attach engineers to each of these forces; so
one platoon of "A" Company, commanded by an officer, joined "A" force;
one sergeant and ten men joined "D" force, and the remainder of "A"
Company consisting of five officers and approximately one hundred eighty
men joined "C" force, where they were divided into small detachments
with each operating force.

The base work consisted mainly of construction of warehouses and billets
and operation of sawmills, street car systems, water works and power
plants. This work was divided among "B" and "C" Companies.

Later in the fall it became necessary to have two more columns in the
field, one on the Onega River with Onega as a base and one on the Pinega
River with Pinega as a base. By the ti