Great Siberian Ice march

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Great Siberian Ice march - winter retreat of the White Russian Army in course of Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. As the White Russian Army moved eastward, they stopped near the town of Irkutsk, which is located on the western edge of lake Baikal, but with the Red Army in hot pursuit the White Army had to escape across the frozen lake in sub-zero temperatures. 30,000 White Army soldiers, their families and all their possessions as well as the Czar's gold, made their way across the lake. Lake Baikal was the scene of a great tragedy - the Arctic winds that blow unobstructed across the lake froze many in the army and their families to death. The bodies remained frozen on the lake in a kind of tableau throughout the winter of 1919 until the arrival of summer, when the frozen figures and all their possessions disappeared in 8,000 feet of water.

[edit] References

• Summer in Siberia. On The Shores Of Lake Baikal And Siberian Wildflowers. By Rowena Hilton
• Siberia by Nikolai V. Shokhirev