12th November 1918 Tuesday
News of the Armistice Trickles Through and Turner Teased
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“We didn’t get news of the Armistice being signed till Tuesday 12th. The news came per the R.A.F. wireless, and I helped the R.A.F. mess to celebrate the occasion at night. Almost every officer at Obozerskaya was in the R.A.F. Mess that night. Major Turner* came in for a lot of teasing! He had his beard pulled, pins stuck into him, and water emptied down his neck! He was finally bundled out into the snow!”
News of the Armistice had yet to be confirmed with all ranks. On the 11th an American soldier Charles Brady** reported that a patrol from Obozerskaya had three men killed and several injured. Northern Russia would remain a very dangerous place for Allied troops to be in, for the foreseeable future. Brady states that they finally got a notice of Armistice on the 14th.
* Major Turner was the Roger Casement lookalike that requires further investigation by us. If anyone can help please let us know in the comments. From the way he was treated we wonder if he really was a major or whether this was a nickname.
** Diary, July 1918-March 1919 from the Charles Brady Ryan papers, 1916-1919 [Folder 2, Item 1]
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