Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. These items all belonged to Corporal Roy W Martin (2021773), Company L, 339th Infantry Regiment. Who served in Russian in 1918-1919.

Few seem to know of the U.S. Army’s involvement in Russia at the end of World War I. Allied Forces served in both North Russia and Siberia with the brunt of the combat taking place in North Russia. These forces were there to recover and protect military supplies left at Russian ports for the anti-Bolshevik "White Russian" forces fighting both the Germans and the Bolshevik "Red" army in the Russian Civil War. They were also to rescue the Czech Legion stranded along the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

The US Army formed the American North Russia Expeditionary Force or ANREF to assist her Allies in this Military Intervention. A contingent of about 5,000 soldiers landed in Arkhangelsk and quickly became engaged in combat with the Red Army forces in a campaign that spanned September 1918 through July 1919, well after the end of the war in Europe.

On July 14, 1918, the U.S. Army's 85th Division left training at Camp Custer, Michigan bound for France. Three days later, President Wilson agreed to US participation in the Allied Intervention and General Pershing changed the orders for the 339th Infantry Regiment with support units to head to North Russia. Rearmed with Russian rifles, they arrived in Arkhangelsk on September 4, 1918 and were placed under British command.

The Northern Russia Expedition, unlike the larger U.S. Regular Army units that deployed to Siberia, were mainly draftees from the Midwest. The men of the 339th Infantry Regiment (known as "Detroit's Own") were delivered with the other units, to their Russian destination along with a small Italian army contingent and sadly… influenza. The influenza cost both groups dearly as many died from its effects. Awaiting the arrival of the American force, and spread thinly throughout northern Russia, were the British, Canadian, and French expeditionary detachments and their often reluctant allies, the White Russians.

While most of the combat duty in North Russia fell on the doughboys, command was primarily British staff officers. This understandably did not sit well with the American forces and the Americans were upset as well by unequal rations and medical services. The arrival of a new overall Commander, British Major General William Edmund Ironside, tensions lessened. US relations with the French and Canadian Allies never suffered these issues as those troops lent accurate fire support in combat operations. Canadian artillerymen turned the tide in the Battle of Toulgas when Canadian fire stopped a large Red force from over running the American position. In this action, a bayonet charge led by Lieutenant Cudahy against the “Bolo’s” (Bolsheviks) forced their retreat.

When the American troops arrived in September they had found that much of the stockpile of supplies had already been taken by the retreating Red Army. They then turned to the task of aiding the rescue of the Czech Legion. The First Battalion of the 339th Infantry moved up the Dvina River and the Third Battalion of the 339th up the Vologda Railroad where their operations met with success. However with supply lines difficult, lack of local support, and winter setting in; US actions soon became defensive in nature. Defending an area roughly the size of Texas and Oklahoma, in weather sometimes 30 below 0 where guns froze and treating wounded was difficult, the acclimated Bolshevik’s went on the offensive against the Allied Front. What had started as guarding military supplies changed focus to staying alive through the winter. In November of that year, the war in Europe was ended and the doughboys were ready to go home! In January 1919, after heavy combat at Shenkursk, the Bolsheviks drove the Allies back to toward Arkhangelsk. In April 1919, a new U.S. commander arrived with orders to evacuate the American force.

While preparing for their withdrawal from Russia, the Americans awarded themselves the nickname of the "Polar Bears" as a testament to surviving the arctic winter. During action in North Russia, the American forces suffered more than 210 casualties, including at least 110 deaths from battle, 30 missing in action, and 70 deaths from disease (mostly flu).

In June 1919, the cruiser USS Des Moines led a convoy to Arkhangelsk to bring out the U.S. forces. The ANREF sailed for the Port of Brest, then home to New York City. Officially deactivated on August 5, 1919 they had been authorized the Polar Bear shoulder sleeve insignia. Remaining behind after the Polar Bears' evacuation were two railroad companies and a graves registration detachment. They soon left as well, leaving behind more than American 120 bodies. The Veterans of Foreign Wars and later the Russian Government succeeded in returning the remains most of 98 of these in the 1920s and 1930s. The remains of 56 ANREF soldiers were eventually re-buried in plots surrounding the Polar Bear Monument in St. Chapel Memorial Cemetery, Troy, Michigan in a ceremony on May 30, 1930. The British forces remained behind, but they too soon departed. In February 1920, Arkhangelsk fell to the Red Russian Bolsheviks.

Included in this totally original set are the following items:
- U.S. WWI Water Repellant Poncho
- U.S. WWI Dog tags named to ROY W. MARTIN U.S.A. 2021773
- U.S. WWI Fur lined mittens.
- The 339th Infantry Regimental Crest Distinctive Unit Insignia manufactured by A.H. DONDERO, Washington Dc. The regimental insignia of the 339th Infantry insignia was designed soon after the close of World War I and has everything to do with the North Russia Expedition in 1918-19, in which this regiment took part. The central focus of the shield is a polar bear walking over a field of ice, representing the conditions in which the regiment served at Archangel in northern Russia. Few of the veterans of that expedition would ever forget the bitter cold, snow and freezing conditions where they fought Russian bolsheviks. The polar bear itself became the central symbol of the regiment; most of the returning doughboys had patches with the outline of a rearing polar bear sewn to their uniform sleeves when the 339th returned to the United States in 1919. In the left upper quarter of the shield are three birds- two over one- on a field of yellow. Some misidentify the birds as crows, but they are actually merletts, a bird that signifies royalty in France. This section represents the home city of the original Polar Bears and its founder, Le Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. In 1701, Cadillac persuaded King Louis XIV of France to allow him to establish the settlement of Detroit. Cadillac and his expedition reached the Detroit River on July 23, 1701, and the following day the group traveled north on the Detroit River where they chose a place to build the settlement. Cadillac named the settlement "Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit" in honor of King Louis's (XIV) Minister of Marine. The fort grew into a settlement, to a small town, and then large city, most noted today as the center of the American automobile industry and home to Cadillac Automobiles, which used to incorporate this same symbol in the company shield and cars. This section of the 339th's shield was lifted from the de la Mothe coat of arms to signify "Detroit's Own".The motto in the banner across the bottom of the shield is in Russian and means "The Bayonet Decides”.
- World War I Victory Medal with star and Russian campaign bar.
- Original 1918 Polar Bear Pin by the Detroit Badge & Button Company.
- Original 1918 ANREF decal
- Three Russian notes of currency (one dated 1909).
- “Say you Haven’t Sacrificed At All” 1918 sheet music.
- “Lets Knock the Bull out of Bolsheviki 1918 sheet music.
- General Pershing “One SteP sheet music.
- Original 1919 Citation named to Martin for “Courageous and Meritorious Service on the Vologda Railway Frontier in February and April 1919”.
- Over 100 original photos, some wartime, some loose and many pages of a photo script book.
- Original Michigan newspapers with articles about the 339th.

All in all an incredibly RARE grouping named to a member of the Polar Bear 339th Division who was awarded for his courage service during the Russian campaign of 1919.