Polar Bear Expedition

The Polar Bear Expedition was an expedition of Americans troops sent to Northern Russia to support the British. It primarily featured the 339th Infantry Regiment.

The Expedition
On July 17th Woodrow Wilson agreed to send troops to assist the British in their invasion of Northern Russia. When General John Joseph Pershing received the order on July 30th he sent the 339th to Russia along with the 1st Battalion of the 310th Engineers, the 337th Field Hospital, and the 337th Ambulance Company as the Murmansk Expedition. It was commanded by George Evans Steward and went from New Castle upon Tyne (August 27th) to Arkhangelsk (September 4th) two days after the Battle of Arkhangelsk. Until the end of October Americans advanced down the Dvina River and the Vologda Railroad.

Conclusion
With the armistice on November 11th morale dropped and many letters were sent to and from the front. These were circulated in newspapers and many were calling on a withdrawal. With a drop of morale along with a harsh winter many real and imagined mutinies occurred. On February 16th planning began for a withdrawal. In March 1919 a group of four Americans from Company B started a petition, but were threatened to get court-martialed. On the 9th of April Wilds Preston Richardson took control of the then renamed American Expeditionary Force, North Russia to coordinate a withdrawal. He would arrive on April 17th on the Icebreaker Canada. In 30 March Company A mutinied and refused to fight the Red Army. In June 1919 Americans forces were withdrawn back to the US. On the trip Spanish Flu outbreaks occurred on two of the three transports. In the end 109 were killed, 35 died of injuries, 81 from disease, 19 died of other causes, 305 were wounded and 4 were POWs (Later released). It was officially disbanded on August 5th finally ending the Polar Bear Expedition.

Afterwards
President Warren G. Harding later criticized the expedition calling it a failure. In 1920 the Polar Bears called on the government to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades. By then 112 remains were already transferred, but in August 1929 the US retrieved 86 more men. In 1934 another 14 were shipped from the Soviet Union the US. The last surviving veteran of the campaign Harold Gunnes died on March 11th 2003 aged 103 years old.