The Cotton Spies

CHAPTER 2

  The War Office London

  ‘General Rixon, sorry to disturb you, can I come in for a minute?’ General McColl, the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), said standing at the office door of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) of the British army.

  ‘Yes, George, come in and sit down,’ replied his boss. ‘No doubt it is something serious - the German attack?’

  ‘No, sir, no change since this morning - we are holding on. No, it’s the current Persian and Russian situations.’

  Rixon scowled, ‘that damn treaty at Brest-Litovsk which our so-called allies, the Russians, have signed with the enemy – appalling- still we have to soldier on, no pun intended. And?’

  Britain and its remaining allies had been struggling to achieve a coherent approach to Russia since the Bolshevik revolution in November 1917. Soon after the Bolsheviks seized power Russia had signed a truce with the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Ottoman Turkey) and this truce was turned into a permanent peace by their signing of the Treaty of Brest-Livorsk in March 1918. The Allies felt Russia had betrayed them by signing this treaty unilaterally because it broke an agreement the Allies had concluded in 1914. Following the armistice and treaty first class soldiers were transferred by Germany from the Eastern to the Western Front leaving about half a million Central Powers soldiers still in Russia. Since the Bolsheviks had assumed power the Allies main aim was to get Russia back into the war on their side in the belief that Germany would then have to move first class troops back to the Eastern Front.

  Rixon looked at the clock on the wall, ’I have a meeting with the Prime Minister shortly so perhaps we can discuss just one thing now and the other afterwards? Let me finish this,’ he indicated a note on his desk.

  As McColl sat and watched Rixon resume writing he reflected on Britain’s involvement with Persia. When war had broken out in 1914 Russia’s army in North Persia began a see saw series of battles against the Turks. Initially these battles occurred in Persia but a series of Russian successes had resulted in recent battles being fought in Turkey. After seizing power in 1917 the Bolshevik Government ordered all Russian troops to return to Russia and to cease fighting. A Tsarist General, Baratov, who had commanded the Russian troops fighting the Turks, had agreed with the British that he would ignore the Bolshevik’s instructions and would fight the Turks with volunteers from his old Imperial Command. British sources reported that Baratov’s army was small, less than a fifth of the size of his original Imperial command, and whilst it was currently holding a Turkish attempt to advance eastwards towards the Caucuses and Persia it would be unable to do so for long.

  Britain in southern Persia since 1914 had not had to contend with a Turkish army but with German and Turkish agents. These agents had some early successes in raising Persian tribesmen to revolt against British control. By the beginning of 1917 British troops and their Persian levies had captured or killed all the foreign agents and pacified the tribesmen and achieved peace.

  Meanwhile Germany was taking advantage of the Bolshevik unilateral order to stop fighting by invading Russian territory. This invasion moved both east and south through Russia and could take the Germans first to the Black Sea, then the Caucuses and then Persia and finally India. Likewise a Turkish army was also moving east towards the Caucuses, the Caspian and Persia. If a Turkish or German invasion of Persia occurred it would almost certainly lead to either country seizing Persia’s oil fields.

  Now that the Royal Navy used oil rather than coal the loss of control of Persian oil to Britain would be serious. To prevent that possibility occurring, the Foreign Office adopted a recommendation from Marling, the British ambassador to Persia. The proposal was that British troops occupy North Persia and concessions must be made to the Persian nationalists enabling them to manage their own affairs in their own interests not Britain’s. Britain had to make concessions to stop the nationalists looking to Germany and possibly their traditional enemy, Turkey, for support.

  The War Office opposed the Foreign Office’s proposal for one reason – the lack of soldiers. The crisis that Britain faced in all the theatres of war was the shortage of replacements for the huge casualties suffered by her armies in 1917. The War Office knew that Britain did not have enough soldiers to create a new North Persian army nor, did it want to fight in a minor ‘side show’ but concentrate all its resources on the Western Front. The War Office however, did recognise that any potential invasion of North Persia from a Turkish or German army would outflank the British Indian Army fighting the Turks in neighbouring Mesopotamia.

  The War Office therefore made its own proposal at the end of 1917 for the creation of a force of about twelve hundred men to perform a specific role. The force was to be called Muncerforce, after its commander General Muncerville, and was made up of soldiers whose backgrounds were in soldier training, intelligence gathering, communications and organisation not in fighting. It was to go first to Northwest Persia and then the Caucuses if its government agreed. Muncerforce’s role was to raise and train Persian and Caucasian levies. All interested government departments accepted the creation of Muncerforce as the best solution given Britain’s current circumstances. It was also accepted that Muncerforce’s direct management was to be by the War Office rather than by the Indian Army. Muncerville was a serving officer of the Indian Army not the British Army.

  The Persian levies were intended to replace the departed Russians, thus protecting Britain’s Mesopotamian army’s flank. The levies would be seen to be defending their homeland with minimum British involvement and that the British government hoped would placate Persian nationalist fears. The Caspian Sea port of Enzeli was selected, as Muncerforce’s initial base in Persia because it was an ideal place to control North Persia and a jumping off point for entry to the Caucuses. When and if Muncerforce entered the Caucuses its intended destination was Tiflis, in Georgia and its intention was to train levies to oppose the invading Turks or Germans. Crucial to the War Office’s scheme to stop any Turkish advance in the Caucuses was Armenia. The Christian Armenians had been massacred many times by the Turks, most recently in 1915, and they were expected to fight in order to avoid more of the same. Tiflis was chosen as Muncerforce’s final destination because if the Turks or Germans could be stopped there then neither would get their hands on the oil resources found further east, around the town of Baku in Azerbaijan. Many Armenians lived in Baku but the vast majority of Azerbaijan’s population were Moslem of various tribes of whom the Azeris were the largest.

  Rixon holding out a document to him interrupted McColl’s thoughts. ‘George, I am sorry this had just arrived.’

  From: General Dexter, Commander of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force (MEF)

  Reference: The role of Muncerforce and General Muncerville.

  There are concerns held by the MEF over the makeup, aims and role of Muncerforce and of General Muncerville that need to be brought to your attention.

  That the role of Muncerforce is intelligence and not military and yet it is commanded by an experienced fighting officer yet who has no experience of intelligence functions nor of the politics of the area in which his command is to operate. An area fraught with ethnic, political and religious difficulties.

  I believe that General Muncerville should have received his orders directly from me as Persia is within my sphere of command. General Muncerville instead is to operate outside my command and report directly to the War Office in London yet I am to provide him with logistical support.

  It seems that the exact purpose of Muncerforce is unclear to me even after General Muncerville and I have discussed what they are, or appear to be. General Muncerville seemed happy to accept the lack of clarity for his role but to me this is a worrying state of affairs. I appreciate that the mission’s role is ‘most secret’ but its objectives must be more clearly defined if it is to succeed and avoid going off at a tangent.

  It seems that whoever devised this plan must have had a very small-scale map
indeed. Muncerforce must travel some 700 miles over mountainous tracks, hardly suited to motor traffic, to the town of Kirkuk before having to go a further 200 miles of unmetalled road to the Caspian Sea. Once the mission reaches the Caspian it then has to find ships to cross to Baku and points further on! Already my command has supply lines that run from Basra to Baghdad they are inordinately long and this Muncerforce venture will stretch them to breaking point. To illustrate the latter I give the following example. I understand that one of the tasks that Muncerforce may have to carry out is the blowing up of the oil wells in Baku, of which there are 2000. These wells can be up to 500 feet deep and are lined in concrete. The amount of explosives to perform the above task exceeds what we have available here, which is already earmarked for our own requirements. Whilst Muncerforce carries out the sabotage of the wells I doubt that the locals will be standing idly by allowing this to happen. Turkish and German agents are currently appearing in Persia and it is more than likely that some of the local Persian tribes will be stirred up by the former to physically oppose the Muncerforce mission.

  The makeup of the officers and men for Muncerforce with its mixture of troops from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England under the command of Indian Army Officers seems a recipe for disaster. A disaster because of the known antagonism of our colonial allies for British, in particular Indian Army, officers.

  The whole group of men plucked from the Western Front, Salonika, Palestine, and some from my own command have not had the time that they need to develop teamwork. Teamwork being so necessary for what they have before them. In addition there appears to be a mismatch of background and skills to such an extent that they appear to be a bunch of men who will remain independent of each other rather than be important cogs of a cohesive team.

  On the nature of the men in Muncerforce. It has been reported, by a senior officer in my command that the troops serving in Muncerforce appear to be the most undisciplined and unmilitary group of officers and men he has yet come across in this war. The latter fact may result in a loss of morale of the troops here in Mesopotamia.

  Finally Muncerforce because of its lack of objectives and the strange structure of its makeup could damage the MEF and the achievement of its objectives.

  Rixon blotted the document he had been writing before he sat back and looked at McColl. ‘Well?’

  McColl raised his eyebrows as he handed the report back to Rixon before he spoke. ‘Dexter does not grasp that the whole point of our sending Muncerforce into Persia without clear aims is because we do not know what the true situation is. We will clarify Muncerville’s objectives when he clears away the fog that surrounds the Caucuses and North Persia. As to questioning Muncerville’s ability to command, General Dexter perhaps has forgotten that Muncerville has been a successful fighter on India’s Northwest frontier and one reason for that success was his excellence in gathering intelligence on Pathan movements and threats. Finally as to Muncerforce’s mission being top secret, well that was what was agreed between us at the War Office, the Foreign Office and India. We all need our fingers in this pie because of its strategic implications. I do not understand why he thinks Muncerforce could damage the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force’s credibility. However, because we are expecting Dexter to supply the mission I was just wondering whether we ought to increase Dexter’s budget to pay for Muncerforce’s costs?’

  ‘There is no spare money,’ Rixon shrugged.

  ‘We could try and get more boats and trucks to help with his supply problem.’

  ‘Can you dig any up?’ Rixon looked at McColl who shook his head, ‘I will reply to Dexter today. Now it must be two weeks since we heard that Muncerville was setting off for Enzeli I assume he has arrived?’

  McColl grimaced as he glanced at Muncerville’s latest communication. ‘Yes and no. General Dexter obviously had a crystal ball. Muncerville arrived at Enzeli to find that Russian Bolsheviks control the town despite it being Persian territory. These Bolsheviks, who everyone calls Bolos, refused him entry to Enzeli and told him that British troops were unwelcome there and would also be unwelcome anywhere in the Caucuses. The newly created Caucasian State has a Bolshevik government. This state though now ostensibly independent from Russia is however, according to Muncerville’s reports, still controlled from Moscow by the Bolsheviks.’

  Rixon interrupted, ‘I was talking to the Foreign Secretary on the train back from Paris yesterday and he said that when the Turks get close to Baku the local Bolos, who are all Armenians, will not be listening to Moscow but to us.’

  ‘It might be too late by then. What about General Muncerville going into the Caucuses without the Bolsheviks’ blessing, sir?’

  Rixon thought for a moment before replying. ‘We have to remember this scallywag of a Bolo leader, Lenin, was sent into Russia by the Germans. It seems as though he is trying to be independent from German influence. Therefore, what we do not want to do is push him and his crew back into Germany’s arms and the Russians switching sides. Anyway,’ he said indicating Muncerville’s communication, ‘Muncerville is clearly in no position to enter the Caucuses yet.’

  ‘No and it gets worse. The Persian pro-nationalist Jangali tribe, whose land runs along the Persian Russian border round Enzeli, told Muncerville that unless he withdrew they would attack him. As the Persian Government has no control over this tribe and Muncerville has only a handful of men with him, he has withdrawn to Hamadan over a hundred miles away, where he’ll wait whilst the rest of his force to arrive from Baghdad.’

  Rixon murmured, ‘so, Muncerville may have to fight his way through to Enzeli if he does then he may arrive too late to do anything in Caucuses. Can Baratov help?’

  McColl made a face and then said. ‘It seems that despite General Baratov’s best efforts and statement to us, the Russian volunteers are wavering. They want to go home as Lenin ordered them too - but as royalists they oppose him.’

  ‘Go home, George, go home!’ Rixon exploded, ‘where would we be if our lot said, “we’ve been in France since 1914 it’s now March 1918 we think we’ll go home”. I know what would happen, the bloody Huns would be in Piccadilly after about ten minutes and then you and I would have to learn the goose-step. Goose stepping for us? Both of us are too bloody old. So will Baratov manage to continue to fight?’

  ‘Yes, according to our source, for the moment. It depends on who succeeds the Bolsheviks as Russia’s government in the near future.’ McColl paused, ‘the Frocks,’ McColl used the word the military disdainfully called politicians, ‘are still trying to get these Bolsheviks to honour the Russian commitment to fight the Germans but that does not appear likely.’

  ‘I know George.’ Rixon shook his head in exasperation, ‘these Bolos have reneged on their obligations for good and all by arranging first the armistice, and then signing this peace treaty with the Germans and Turks at Brest-Livorsk. Unless the Bolos are themselves overthrown by other Russians, who are willing to re-enter the fight against our enemies, the Frocks are wasting their time thinking otherwise.’ Rixon pursed his lips before adding, ‘what I find so deplorable is that these Bolos are giving the Germans the green flag to continue their invasion of Russia – their own country. They are not even throwing snowballs at the blighters.’

  ‘Obviously not, sir, because according to our sources in Tiflis, the Germans are advancing steadily through the Ukraine. The Turks meanwhile are advancing albeit slowly towards the Caucuses. Which means?’ McColl stopped to look at Rixon.

  ‘They get their hands on Baku oil they beat our blockade and that could win the war for them.’

  ‘If the Turks and Germans are racing each other to get their hands on the oil then this may cause problems between them.’

  ‘Hope springs eternal,’ said Rixon doubtfully and rubbed his chin with the fingers of both hands as he thought. ‘It also means that we need General Muncerville across into the Caucuses, not back in Hamadan as soon as possible. Now, who do we think will get to Baku first, Germans or,
Turks, and how many men will they have?’

  ‘The Turks are much closer than the Germans. Our sources say they have eight to ten thousand men, equally made up of regulars and levies. As for the Germans we have no reliable figures because they are too far away. Baratov says he’s got four or five thousand men but that is questionable - it’s probably one to two.’

  ‘Either way we need to provide Muncerville with some fighting men first to get him to the Caspian and then the Caucuses. Get them from Dexter.’

  ‘I doubt if Dexter could spare more than a few hundred men and he will not like doing that.’

  ‘Has to be done, George, and quickly. You will inform Simla why we need them,’ Rixon said using the name of the Indian town where the Indian Army headquarters were based, ‘any other news from Persia?’

  ‘Foreign Office sources say that the Persian Nationalists in Tehran want an invitation from their government for the re-instatement of the Ottoman Turkish and German representatives there.’

  ‘Surely not, I thought we had the Persian Government in our pocket – they cost us enough gold!’ Rixon replied slumping back in his chair frowning.

  ‘Following the Russian withdrawal the Persian nationalists are getting bolder, stronger and they may even take over the government despite our bribes. In addition the Bolsheviks have sent a chap called Bravin to Tehran and he has been making announcements to the Persians,’ McColl said locking stares with Rixon.

  ‘About what?’ Rixon interrupted tentatively.

  ‘He has announced the details of our 1907 secret agreement with the Russians and our division of Persia. Bolshevik Russia says it wants to secure good neighbourly relations with Persia. To do that, Bravin is expected to rescind all agreements made by previous Russian Governments to Persia and to waive all Russian responsibilities in northern Persia,’ McColl shrugged.

  ‘So now our secret’s out, that’s excellent propaganda news for the Persian Nationalists.’

  ‘Yes, then there is a nasty bit? The Bolsheviks are asking Persia to join Russia in fighting the most rapacious and imperialist power in the world. No prizes who they mean by that.’

  Rixon picked up a pencil and twirled it through his fingers before saying. ‘Us, perfidious Albion, we are to blame for the world’s ills yet again, George,’ he paused, ‘you are right though it bodes ill for us if the Russians succeed in stirring up the local Persians. God, as if we were not stretched enough.’ Rixon rubbed his face with the palms of his hands then elbows on his table he looked at McColl through his fingers and asked, ‘so what has the Persian government been doing about this chap?’

  ‘The Persian government does not recognise the Bolos as the legitimate Russian government because they seized power by coup d’état. Bravin has thus so far only been received informally. But, if these Bolos do all that Bravin says that they intend then, despite the Persian Government being in our pocket, they may recognise these Bolsheviks as the legitimate government of Russia.’

  ‘Imagine having a revolutionary government officially accepted by the world,’ Rixon exhaled slowly and noisily. ‘So to sum up the situation as I see it. We have no reliable allies in the area other than Baratov and his small army. The Baku Bolsheviks probably want our help but the Moscow Bolsheviks won’t let them accept it. We cannot enter the Caucuses against Bolshevik wishes in case we drive the Moscow Bolos into a pact with Germany. We cannot get to Enzeli. The Persian Government cannot control these Jangalis who are anti-British. Muncerforce is not a fighting force and if we have to use it for that purpose they are not the right types of soldiers and we are short of soldiers anyway. The Bolos are now trying to raise the Persians against us. That it?’

  ‘You forgot Dexter,’ interjected McColl.

  ‘Him we can control. Taking all those points and the fact that Muncerville is held up, for how long we do not know; his chances of preventing the Turks or Germans seizing Baku are slim. So if our enemies get to Baku and the Caspian will they stop there? If not where will they go?’

  McColl cleared his throat, ‘I doubt they will stop. Turkish troops would be unwelcome in Persia because they and the Persians have fought one another for centuries and hate each other. So if the Turks reach the Caspian oilfield before the Germans they may not stop but go east across the Caspian into Turkestan. Russian Turkestan’s population is ethnically Turkic so it is the same as Turkey’s. Russian Turkestan border with India, in one place, is only a few miles which means it is a good a springboard for an Indian invasion by the Turks.’

  McColl paused to see whether Rixon had any questions. After a moment’s silence, McColl went on, ‘there is no history good or bad between Persia and Germany. Germany has also ensured that she has allies amongst some of the so-called Persian Nationalists through bribery and promising them political power. The Germans if they reach Baku first could go south into Persia or, east into Turkestan or possibly if they have enough troops both directions simultaneously. Whatever they route they choose, India will be their eventual target.’

  ‘So Turkestan is important to both of them.’

  ‘Absolutely, I have some ideas as to what we can do in Turkestan perhaps to stymie any invasion by either Turks or Germans.’

  ‘I like a man who gives me a solution before he tells me a problem. I have to go to my meeting with the Prime Minister now. Let us meet again this afternoon.’

  Generals Rixon and McColl were standing looking at a map of Central Asia whilst they drank their afternoon tea. McColl put his cup down and began to talk.

  ‘This morning we mentioned the withdrawal of the Russian troops in Northwest Persia and how that left our Mesopotamian army open to a flank attack and how we are rectifying that through Muncerforce. First, this afternoon I want to discuss the invasion of India by a different route than the one we discussed earlier. The best route for an invasion of India is not from Northwest but Northeast Persia. My reasons are that now Russian troops have completely withdrawn from that part of Persia, the place is empty. Then in addition,’ McColl traced a line on the map, ‘the Russian railway runs very close to the north-eastern Persian border which brings it close to India,’ McColl’s finger stopped and hammered it on the map before turning, ‘the railway gives the Germans or Turks a reliable and quick means of providing logistical support to their invasion troops. Something we know from when we expected the Russians to threaten an invasion of India back in 1905.’

  Rixon recalled, ‘I remember that invasion scare well being in Simla at the time. You and I both know Persian and particularly Eastern Persian roads are bad to non-existent that makes it difficult for them – Thank God.’ Grim-faced he nodded at the map, ‘go on.’

  ‘It is only recently that we captured the last German agents in Persia some of whom had been active against us for three years. Before any invasion Turkey and German are bound to send agents into Persia. We are already seeing anti-British propaganda in Tehran. Now, if and when the Persian tribesmen - whether they are Baluchis, Jangalis, Lurs or any of the others - realise that the Russians are gone and the country is wide open they may go back to banditry or go on the warpath. We could lose even the support of tribes allied to us who supply the levies we use in our policing of Southern Persia and protecting the oil fields. Obviously as the Royal Navy relies on Persia for its oil we cannot afford to lose control there.’

  ‘So, said Rixon, ‘we have the same position in the east as that which we face in west Persia. We need troops in East Persia and we have not got any.’

  ‘I have a recommendation that we put a mission of three to five hundred men, in Meshed, the main town in North-east Persia.’ McColl pointed at the town on the map, ‘just the presence of our troops there, I’m sure, will be enough to prevent any trouble before it starts. If we do not send troops immediately and trouble was to start then we would need even more troops to quash it. In other words, sir a stitch in time saves nine.’

  ‘Good point. India will complain again that we are treading on their area of responsibility a
nd because it’s them who will have to find the men.’

  ‘Tell them that military strategy is the responsibility of the War Office hence that is why we are treading on their toes. By giving them responsibility for raising the troops and managing the operations of the mission should sweeten the pill. Also if we tell them that they could soon be fighting the Germans and, or the Turks, I am sure they’ll accept our reasons for the soldiers.’

  Rixon grunted and looked beyond McColl as he thought out loud, ‘Lord Surridge at the India Office can be so prickly.’

  ‘I’m sure you can manage him, sir.’

  ‘I hope I can George. Now, I have been thinking about what you said this morning about the German and Turkish advances into the Caucuses. Let me present a different scenario. What happens if Muncerforce gets to Baku or even Tiflis in Georgia before the German or Turks get there, and they are held on that line, is India safe?’

  McColl grunted ‘Not necessarily,’ he pointed on the map at the Northern Caspian seaport of Astrakhan, ‘the Germans may also be advancing directly east towards the northern shores of the Caspian. If they get to Astrakhan they could sail to Krasnovodsk the main East Coast Caspian Sea port. Krasnovodsk is the terminus of the railway line that we have just been talking about, the one that runs along the Persian border.’

  ‘Well we have no chance of stopping a German advance on Astrakhan but can we do something about them in Krasnovodsk or Turkestan?’ Rixon drew his finger along the railway line from Krasnovodsk to Tashkent in eastern Turkestan.

  ‘Well there is another problem for us in Turkestan. There are enemy prisoners–of war who now this peace treaty has been signed will get released by the Russians. These could become part of an army to invade India.’

  ‘How many prisoners do we think there are?’

  ‘I don’t actually know. Thirty thousand to three hundred thousand is our best guess.’

  Rixon whistled ‘Your guesses tend to be on the mark, George but that’s a bit wide ranging. Mind you we will not have enough troops to stop that lot whether your guess is at the higher end or the lower.’

  McColl smiled, ‘I have a plan which means we don’t need many troops.’ McColl pulled out a document and handed it to Rixon.