Battles, Arson, and Strawberry Jam: An Interview With Lloyd Charles Maynard Of Michigan’s WWI “Polar Bears” in Russia

In the summer of 1918, Lloyd Charles Maynard was expecting to be sent to France. He was all packed and prepared when he found out that he was about to become one of Michigan’s Polar Bears, stationed in Russia.

Lloyd was part of the 339th Infantry, “Michigan’s Own” (also known as the Polar Bears), due to being composed of people from Michigan. They trained at the newly opened Camp Custer in Michigan, and Lloyd was assigned as his company’s bugler.

Comic drawn by William Henkelman of Company B for Custer Life (Camp Custer’s newspaper).

They stopped briefly in England before moving on to Russia. They finally landed in Archangel, Russia in Summer, 1918. They stayed there for a few weeks, getting familiar with the geography before departing for Toulgas. They were placed in a coal barge, and sailed up the Dvina River.

In 1977, Maynard’s  daughter, Diane Baker, recorded an interview with him talking about his experiences.

“I remember when I woke up to hear the machine guns banging all the way and the bullets were flying around. That was my first time hearing machine guns – bullets flying around. It really gives you that feeling the first time you hear that “RRRRRRR”. You wonder ‘Am I going to get hit?’”

An example of many trenches used during World War I. From the “Detroit’s Own” Polar Bear Memorial Association.

Lloyd served in Russia for his entire time in World War 1. He experienced a lot of snow, but relatively few skirmishes. On November 11th, 1918, the armistice was announced. News had not yet reached Russia however, and a bloody battle was raging.

Lloyd was ordered to evacuate the houses of Toulgas, as they were being used as sniper nests.

“We set fire to the little places, they gave us stuff to throw in there [….] First, we had to drive out to make sure that there were no snipers in there, then they told all the people to get out. I remember we went through, checking the doors, we had our guns […] looking for the snipers all around. [We kept] hoping we’d never bump into anybody, but they’d gone out. You could see for miles when that thing burned – oh boy, all those log houses. It was probably early winter. The sight of that was something I’ll never forget: Setting fire to upper Toulgas.”

One of the many blockhouses in Toulgas, from “Detroit’s Own” Polar Bear Memorial Association.

Soon after, soldiers were told to retreat from Toulgas and return to Archangel. Many soldiers dropped their bags and rifles to lighten their load. Lloyd’s unit was one of the last to retreat.

“I was one of the last ones that was pretty healthy and young [and] was able to carry my pack out of there. There was one boy who had left earlier than [me] who wasn’t on my patrol. I […] caught up with him on the road the next day. He was struggling up along the road with a gunny sack […] and he had filled it with jam.

“They told us we could grab any supplies we could get if we wanted from the supply house.

“He was starved for jam, and he just couldn’t leave without taking that jam. Well he’d taken so much jam that he couldn’t carry it, and he had got to the point where he was either gonna have to throw away the jam or get some help. I happened along and he says “Well, if you give me a lift on your [pack] I’ll give you half of my jam in my gunny sack”, so I gave him a lift and we got back to Archangel.

“When we did, we split up the jam [with] the other guys. It was the best jam that I’d had. Normally, the most that we would get (each to us) was orange or some kind of marmalade that had a lot of rind in it, and the fancy jam like strawberry, plum, or cherry or anything like that was probably given out to the officers or some guys had pull or something. We didn’t get in on them but, boy, we had it there [and] we really had a feast. Every once in a while we’d stop and open up another can of jam, and then we’d come across another bunch of guys and we’d split another can of jam with them. That was one time I had all the jam I could eat! The only time – in all the time we were in Russia – that I ever got my fill of jam!”

Photo of Lloyd taken after Memorial Parade in his hometown, Pentwater, MI. Courtesy of his daughter, Dianne Baker.

After the war, Lloyd returned to his hometown of Pentwater, Michigan, where he worked for Chevrolet. He spent much of his spare time singing Army songs with his family and keeping the memory of the soldiers who didn’t survive the war alive. According to his daughter, he loved strawberry jam for the rest of his life, eating it for entire meals. He would pass away in 1983.

Inspired by her father’s love of music and nature, Dianne Baker decided to pursue a career in music. One of the songs she has written was inspired by her father’s love of his country and his songs from the war: “Red, White, And Blue: Fly ‘Em Proud, Fly ‘Em High!“. You can listen to it here.

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Check out the following links to learn more about Michigan’s  Polar Bear Division and the AEF in Russia during World War I:

Honoring “Detroit’s Own”: Polar Bear Memorial Association’s World War I Centennial Commemoration

AEF troops continued fighting in Russia after Armistice on Western Front

When the War Didn’t End

James Carl Nelson on America’s 339th ‘Polar Bear’ Regiment

Sideshow in Russia

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