Mill worker wrote of escape from Russia

JOHN Wolstencroft, from Oldham, lived in Russia in the early 1900s but returned during the Russian Revolution

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A DIARY written by an Oldham man chronicles a detailed account of his escape from Russia in the early 1900s back to his home in England.

John and Joan Cheetham, who live in Loughborough, were having a clear-out when they found a diary belonging to Joan's grandfather, John Wolstencroft.

John lived in Oldham and worked as a manager at a mill that used to sell machinery to Tsarist Russia. In 1913 John decided to move to Russia for work. He was part of a group of 12 British people who had gone over to manage five mills, firstly in St Petersburg and then Narva, in Estonia.

Revolutions

John took his wife May with him, but they left behind their son Joe. The couple had another child - Joan's father - who was born in Russia.

But things suddenly changed in 1917, when two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union.

In March, growing civil unrest erupted into open revolt, forcing the abdication of Nicholas II, the last Russian Tsar. Just months later, the newly installed provisional government was itself overthrown by the more radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin.

At the same time, German troops began marching across Ukraine unopposed. In February of that year, John decided he had to get out of Russia. Fortunately his wife and children had already returned shortly before. His diary is a fascinating account of how he and other British men tried desperately to return home. Mr Cheetham wants to know if there is anyone in Oldham who had a relative who travelled to Russia at the same time and if they want to share their stories, as he wants an insight into how the Russian Revolution impacted on ordinary people.

He has transcribed John's diary and given talks about it to different groups in Loughborough. The diary goes into detail about John's journey, which saw him move from the Arctic Circle and on to Western Europe, evading German submarines, and eventually back to England.

The men endured freezing temperatures in Russia as they tried to escape and managing on what little food supplies they managed to smuggle for their journey.

Railway

On February 25, 1918, John wrote: "The Russians had already torn up the railway beyond our town and would continue to destroy it to harass the enemy and there was the probability of our escape to Petersburg being cut off.

"We, therefore, decided that it was time to leave and that immediately.

"It was now 11.30pm and we returned from the meeting to our respective homes to make our preparations. We had been warned by the British Counsel that it would be suicide to attempt to leave the country with less than two weeks supply of food in our bags, so the first consideration was a supply of food.

"Our wives and children had been sent to England the previous year but we each had a capable servant who could bake bread and as we had a fair supply of flour we set them on baking while we rummaged the pantry for tinned goods and other foods. "Owing to the famine in the country all food was rationed and could only be obtained by ration card. Fortunately my servant's parents kept a farm some miles away and the girl kept our larder fairly well supplied and I was able to fill a suitcase with a ham, 3lbs of butter and a number of tins of meat and sardines.

"Another case was reserved for bread which came out of the oven about 3am and cool enough to pack by 4. A small handbag with a change of underclothes completed the preparations."

The final entry is dated March 30, 1918, when John is reunited with his family in Oldham.

"I think it's interesting," said Mr Cheetham. "It goes into extraordinary detail. It took them a month to get back. He sounded relatively in good spirits. I suppose you only record what you enjoy and not what you're not enjoying.

"It was a very hard journey in the freezing cold through the snow.

"But it was the not knowing if they were ever going to get back. It's an extraordinary story.

"When you got back you would think of it as an adventure."

Mr Cheetham is hoping to get the diary published later in the year.



* Anyone who had a relative who travelled to Russia at the same time as John Wolstencroft can contact Mr Cheetham by emailing john.cheetham57@ntlworld.com. Or alternatively contact the Chronicle newsdesk on 0161 633 2121.