Battle of Artik

Following the start of the Malleson Mission, the British army in the area feared a Bolshevik attack on local forces. On the 11 August, two machine guns of the 19th Punjabis left Muhammadabad and crossed the border to Artik to assist local forces in case of a new Bolshevik attack.[1]

Battle of Artik
Part of Malleson Mission
Date 12th August 1918 Location Transcaspian Oblast (now Turkmenistan) Result Bolshevik victory, Withdrawal of the British force to Dushak.
Belligerents
Turkestan ASSR	British India Transcaspian Government
Strength
1,000 and 2,000 in reserve, 3,000 overall	1,000
Casualties and losses
At least 350	Unknown, but likely heavy

The attack came the next day on the 12th of August, with the Bolsheviks mustering a force around 3,000. The Transcaspian force however, numbered round 1,000 men. They were quickly overrun by the Bolshevik army and the entire British mission in the area was put at risk. However, the usage of machine guns by the Indian detachment prevented complete disaster, as per the official account.[2]

“These men fired their guns till they became too hot to handle and, according to the Transcaspian account, inflicted 350 casualties on the enemy. Two of the Indian detachment were wounded and one of its machine guns had to be abandoned after two men had been burnt in trying to carry it out of action.”

.

Despite avoiding disaster, the force was forced to retreat to Dushak, while the machine gun detachment returned home due to disease and casualties.