[CZECH LEGION PUBLISHING IN SIBERIA] Návrh na kulometný cvičební řád Československého vojska na Rusi [Proposal for the machine gun training order of the Czechoslovak army in Russia].

Irkutsk: Tiskem Informačně-osvětového odbobu Ministerstva Vojenství, 1919. Octavo (23 × 15.3 cm). Publisher's printed wrappers; 83 pp. With three folded lithographic plates, loosely inserted, one smaller on regular paper and two larger plates on card stock. Very good. Item #54114

Scarce training manual for the Russian-made "Maksim" machine gun, published by Czechoslovak troops in Russia during the Czech and Slovak Legion's famous anabasis through the Russian Civil War. After the treaty of Brest-Litovsk effectively closed the Eastern Front, the Legion forces found themselves on the side of the imperiled Tsarist troops as they moved East to Vladivostok and to transport ships bound for home. At one time, the Czech Legion controlled the majority of the Trans-Siberian Railway and significantly aided the White Russian forces during combat. Their effort on behalf of the White army was seen as benefiting their goal of an independent Czech state as propagated by Masaryk, free from Austro-Hungarian rule. This book is among a range of works which were printed in transit, at the mobile printing shop of the Legion troops in their armored train, evidently somewhere between Irkutsk and points further east.

The lithographed plates show a) a special harness used for mounting the machine gun onto a horse, b) and c) the various formations of a machine gun platoon.

As of January 2024, KVK and OCLC show two copies, at UNC and British Library.

Price: €450.00

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