Intervention in North Russia (1918 - 1919)
The 67th & 68th Batteries of the 16th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery
The 67th and 68th Batteries of the 16th Brigade served with distinction in North Russia. Read about them in the Canadian Army Historical Section's "Report No. 82, Operations in North Russia, 1918-1919" (pdf file, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader software). The 16th Brigade was formed from the Canadian Reserve Artillery and left Dundee for Archangel on 20 September 1918. Its strength was 18 officers and 469 other ranks; almost all had been on the Western Front, and all elected to serve in Russia. A section of the 68th Battery, led by Captain Oliver A. Mowat, fought in the Battle of Shenkursk in January 1919. More information about Captain Mowat's service during World War I on the Western Front and in North Russia (where he died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Shenkursk), can be found on this page (scroll down) and here. Also, Carrie Mowat has more information about her great-uncle's military service here and here on her Mowat family website.
War Diaries of the Canadian Field Artillery (CFA) in North Russia
Library and Archives Canada maintains the War Diaires of the First World War database which contains the digitized images of the War Diaries of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) units. From the start of the First World War, CEF units were required to maintain a daily account of their “Actions in the Field.” This log was called a War Diary. The War Diaries are not personal diaries, rather they are a historical record of a unit’s administration, operations and activities during the First World War. The North Russia CFA diaries are organized into five different collections: 16th Brigade, CFA, 21 Aug 1918 through 31 May 1919, 187 images | 67th Battery, 16th Brigade, CFA, 16 Oct 1918 through 31 May 1919, 40 images | 68th Battery, 16th Brigade, CFA, 09 Oct 1918 through 31 May 1919, 38 images | "D" Force, 16th Brigade, CFA, 01 Oct 1918 through 15 Oct 1918, 3 images | Seletskoe Detachment, 16th Brigade, CFA, 01 Jan 1919 through 28 Feb 1919, 17 images. The 16th Brigade collection dated 21 Aug 1918 through 31 May 1919 includes two sets of October diary pages. The first set (Items 13 through 29) covers the Dvina and Vaga River Front detachment actions for the month of October 1918 while the second set (Items 139 through 187) covers the actions of the Railroad Front detachment from 02 Oct through 30 Dec 1918 (despite being identified as October diaries).