Cossacks with British Armored Cars Arrive in Baku
An Austin armored car of the sort provided by the British to Bicherakov’s forces.
July 5 1918, Baku–Dunsterville’s mission to stop the Turkish advance east into the Caucasus and Persia had made little material progress so far, but he had made some unlikely allies in his time in Persia. Among these was a group of Cossacks under Lazar Bicherakov, essentially the last forces of what had once been a considerable Russian military presence in Persia. Dunsterville provided Bicherakov with money and with several armored cars. In early July, with Dunsterforce now having enough British troops to cover northwestern Persia, Bicherakov departed for Baku. On paper, at least, Bicherakov had embraced the Bolshevik revolution, and had even already been appointed as the overall commander of Bolshevik forces around Baku before his arrival there on July 5.
Bicherakov’s 1200 well-trained men and four armored cars were desperately needed in Baku. The Turks were advancing through the Republic of Armenia as per the terms of their treaty with that country, and were raising the new “Army of Islam” for an advance on Baku, which had already defeated local Armenian forces in a series of battles west of the city.
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Sources include: Roger Ford, Eden to Armageddon.
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