LtCdr Plawski in time of the Bolshevick revolution

[greendragon]

LtCdr Plawski memories from WW2 contains also in significant part of the book his memories from WW1 when he was a gunnery officer on the Tzar's navy destroyer and took part in actions against Kaisermarine Goeben and Breslau then deployed to the Black Sea.
He also on numerous pages describes how it was to be a destroyer skipper during revolution (initially democratic later overwhelmed by murderous Bolshevicks) in Russia when political situation was changing rapidly so he was commanded by the then Russian gvts in a breakfast and was under red flag in the dinner. He barely escaped of being killed by Bolshevicks and finally seeing the events (he like many Polish who due to forced Polish state partition in 1772-1792 became Russian citizens (Tzar times) and worked and served in Russia in all fields of the state) having a chance escaped to the emerging after WW1 Poland. So did many(most?) of the officers of all services of Polish origin.
An unexpected result of his service in Russian navy in 1918 and a bit later was that in the Polish navy he was blamed by some for his service for the Bolshevicks after 1918 , which as has been said above he he was not even aware of.
In 1918 the new emerging PL Navy consisted of personnel from the three states which took in possession Poland Kingdom (Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungary )in the end of the XVII Cent, majority of them from the former Tzar's Russian Navy.
Plawski became famous when his destroyer ORP Piorun being part of the ADM Vian Tribal flotilla took part in chasing Bismarck.

The Polish have never accepted Russians domination in period of non state existence and of course their worst form of Bolshevicks' rules.
In 1918 different groups of Polish who mercifully avoided being murdered by the Bolshevicks for refusing joining their bands reached the northern part of Russia at Murmansk where the Brits intervened against Bolshevick spread. They became part of the British forces there, under the name "Polish Legion". Couple of thousand of them and highly effective in literally wiping out (in full meaning of this word) Bolshevicks from the area.

There is picture when a dozen of the Polish officers and men were awarded with British medals by the Commanding General British Army for their bravery in fighting the Reds.

Anyway, the subject of the British intervention in Bolshevick Soviet revolution has been apparently pushed out of surface of interest though actions i.e. in the Baltic is really exiting reading.

gd