ured along with six American soldiers. Bryant Ryall, who ran the "Y"
tent in the woods at Verst 18, next fell a victim to the Bolos, while on
the way to Obozerskaya for more supplies. Olmstead, who came from 455 to
help in this desperate place, remained, and as a result of his work at
this front, received the French Croix de Guerre and the Russian St.
George Cross.

"Other decorations were awarded to Ernest Rand on the Pinega sector and
to "Dad" Albertson on the Dvina front, both of them receiving the St.
George Cross. The British military medal was to have been given
Albertson, but technicalities made it impossible. Several other
secretaries were mentioned in despatches by the American and British
commands, all of them for service at the fighting front. It was the
policy of the "Y" from the start to send the best men to the front, rush
the best supplies to the front, give the men from the front the best
service while at the base camps, and do it without thought of payment.
It is a fact that the Archangel 'show' cost the "Y" more per capita
served than any other piece of front service rendered overseas. The
heavy cost was accentuated by the immense loss to supplies in the supply
ships, warehouses and cars or convoys, from theft and breakage and
freezing. The totals of the business done by the "Y" up in the Russian
Arctic area are astounding, when the difficulties of transport are
considered More than $1,000,000 worth of supplies were received and
distributed before the American troops left Archangel. This included
twenty-five motion picture outfits, everyone of which was in use by late
spring, a million and a half feet of film, fairly large shipments of
athletic goods, baseball equipment and phonographs, and thousands of
books and magazines, which filled a most important part in the program.
Until early spring the "Y" bought most of its canteen supplies from the
British N. A. C. B., through a credit established in London. These
stocks were sold to the "Y" virtually at the British retail prices and
were resold at the same figures, with a resulting loss to the "Y," as
the loss and damage mounted up to forty per cent at times. In May,
several shipments of American canteen stocks arrived at Archangel, which
enabled the secretaries to cut loose the strings on 'ration plans'
before the troops started home.

"A hut was opened at the embarkation point, Economia, in the early
spring, and troops quartered there had a complete re