Deerly Needed: Reindeer to the Rescue

During the Russian Civil War, the British Army deployed troops to Northern Russia in support of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, occupying the cities of Arkhangelsk* and Murmansk.

Among the many logistical challenges faced by the soldiers of the Royal Army Service Corps serving in Murmansk, which is located within the Arctic Circle, were the frozen winter conditions that either smothered supply routes or turned the unmade roads into impassable muddy quagmires that effectively halted the transportation of supplies and equipment.

With their horse drawn General Service Wagons and motorised lorries now rendered effectively useless outside of the cities, the RASC instead turned to a more novel method of moving materiel; sleighs pulled by Reindeer.

In 1919, Captain E M Squarey RASC formed a ‘Reindeer Transport Corps’. As well as the RASC drivers already under his command, Captain Squarey recruited 1000 experienced reindeer herders from Lapland, including members of the indigenous Sámi people. The Sámi, a traditionally semi-nomadic people, have worked with reindeer for millennia, and were specifically sought for their expertise in both reindeer handling and sled driving.

Each sleigh could carry 600-800 lbs of equipment, plus the driver, and was pulled by a team of three reindeer with a fourth at the rear to act as a brake.

In total the RTC had a fleet of 500 sleighs pulled by around 2,000 reindeer, who were described by one officer attached to the Corps as being “very kind creatures.”

The RASC also made use of other animals to pull sleds and sleighs, including huskies imported from Canada, and horses (although these were two horse teams, so no one horse open sleighs).

Elsewhere in Russia, reindeer teams were used in support of the Rolls-Royce Armour Car units being driven by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Tank Corps, carrying logs that could be placed under a stuck wheel to give it traction.

Reindeer were retired from British military service when the British Army withdrew from Russia in September 1919, but reindeer remain in Russian Military service where they are used for light reconnaissance.