There were some notable arrangements in the Allied 
     
     forces in Siberia: Major-General Elmsley the Canadian 
     
     Commander was the first “colonial” to command British 
     
     troops. The 26th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and 
     
     the 1/9 Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment were 
     
     incorporated in to the Canadian Force. Also, the Japanese 
     
     Commander General Kikuso Otani was the overall 
     
     commander for all the Allied forces in Siberia which 
     
     included about 12000 American troops. 
     
    
   
   
    
     A third remarkable occurrence was the presence of a 
     
     Czech Legion numbering about 70,000 members under the 
     
     command of Thomas Masaryk later to become the first 
     
     president of the newly established Republic of 
     
     Czechoslovakia. The story of this Legion which was part of 
     
     the Austro—Hungarian Army and allied to Germany, before 
     
     becoming part of the Russian Army, is a fascinating tale of 
     
     intregue and heroism. 
     
    
   
   
    
     With the breakup ofthe Russian Army the Czech 
     
     Legion entrained from Kiev and fought its way all across 
     
     Russia along the Siberian Railway to be transported by the 
     
     Allies back to their homeland. The presence of this Army and 
     
     the dangers they endured was one of the reasons for the 
     
     Canadian intervention in Siberia. lf Vladivostok could be 
     
     held from Bolshevik control this army had a chance to reach 
     
     freedom.