They continued on until the end of March 1917. By this time it had quieted down due to the Russian revolution and the Hucul Co. re- joined the main body.

With the 27 June 1917 Kerensky offensive, the Legio~ reorganized since March under their new commander 0taman Franz Kikal, moved near Kuropatnyky near Berezany. On 29 June, after 2 days of artillery fire~ the enemy moved against the 19m Slovak division, which were annihilated near Koniuchy. The entrenched Ukrainian, uninformed of the losses in the adjoining area due to the !oss of communications, did not expect the Russians. Most of the Legion so surprised were taken prisoner, with only 400 men and 9 officers surviving. These, however, pushed the Russians backward.

Three weeks after the battle of Koniuchy, the Central Powers began their general offensive ending in the complete rout of the revolution- ary armies of Kerensky. After several days, the XXV~ Corps reached the Zbrucz River with an advance guard of the 55~l division, 2 German com- panies of Totenkopf Hussars and 600 men and 24 officers of the U.SoSo An advance was made to the S.E., resulting in some skirmishes and severa! citations from the High Command of the Army of the South under Gen. Botmer. Several individuals in the U.S.S. were awarded Iron Cros- ses and other German Decorations.

The Ukrainians were supplied with new reserves and from the train- ing camps came a new battalion under 0taman Myron Tarnavskyj. Escaped Ukrainian P.0oW.’s brought news of the formation of the new Ukrainian State in Kiev and of the proclamation of 20 Nov. 1917 of the Ukrainian National Republic. Many Ukrainians wanted to join this army of the new state, but were refused by the Austrian command. Just prior to Christ- mas 1917, a new commander was named, Capt. 0syp Myktyka.

Meanwhile, the Central Counci! of the UoNoRo signed a separate treaty with the Central Powers in Berestia (Brest-Litovsk) on 9 Feb. 1918. The Ukrainians asked the Austrians and Germans for aid against the Bolsheviks invasion. The latter were pushed out by the end of April by the Austrian 2nd Eastern Army, composed of the 3rd, 12th, 17th and 25[h Corps. The U.S.S. were in the latter, but were allowed to join a special group whose commander was Archduke William Hapsburg. Under this command the U.S.S. went through the Right Bank Ukraine (W. part of Eastern Ukraine) until the dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian Monar- chy.

There were no major engagements, but. the Bolsheviks were cleared and Zmerynka, Odessa, Cherson and Alexandrivsk etc. were freed. On 17 March 1918 they were in Odessa. The Legion was supposed to foster pro- German sentiment among the Ukrainians in the U.N.R. to counter the anti- German feeling left over from the Russian occupation and the poor behav- ior of various individuals in the invading armies.

But, instead, the Legion started propagandizing the ideals of Ukrainian statehood, not always popular among the general population~ On 13 April 1918, the U.S.S. a!ong with the Free Cossacks of the UoNoRo were engaged in heavy fighting near Alexandrivsk and they were pushed back by the Bolsheviks. The ist German detachment and Zaporoshe divis- ion (under command of Col. Bolbochan) finally freed Alexandrivsk on 16 April and the UoSoS~ spent the next three months promoting Ukrainian statehood and culture among the population.

William Hapsburg was loved by his Ukrainian Legion and both made strenuous efforts to bolster the deteriorating situation between the German forces and the Ukrainian opoulation. At the same time, the re- serves (Kish) and training schools were moved also into the U.N.R. near Elizabeth. The peasantry more and more frequently became discontented with the presence of Germans and riots erupted due to this constant friction~ Because of the intervention of the Legion under Wilhelm, the Legion was moved to Bukovina by the Austrian command, where it remained until proclamation of the Western Ukrainian Republic in Nov. 1918.

The remnants of the U.S.S. entered the forces of the newly pro- claimed (i Nov° 1918) Western Ukrainian National Republic in Lviv. This was at the time of the Polish-Ukrainian War (see articles in the Feb. and March issues on the Galician Cross). Then about i~00 strong, they were ordered to Galicia and arrived at Lviv o~ the 3rd Nov. There they

became part of the Galician Army joining the fighting already in pro- gress, although they did keep their own identity. With reorganization of the Ukrainian Galician Army in Jan. 1919, they became "Brigade U.S.S." with 3 battalions of infantry. Their fate from thence forward has al- ready been covered in the last article.

Here we depart from the fortunes of the U.S.S. and turn to the Sich Riflemen as they developed in the Eastern Ukraine, where they can generally be referred to as the "Kievan Sich Riflemen" or "S.S." for short. At the time of the revolution in Russia on March 12, 1917, there were a large number of Galician Ukrainians in Prisoner of War Camps in Russia. Among them were many U.S.S. personnel. All tried to escape to Kiev, if possible, where already a Ukrainian Army was being organized.

In November of 1917, the initial formation of the S.S. started in a P.0.W. camp in Darnycia. After solving their early difficulties, a unit was formed called "The Galieian-Bukovinian Battalion of Sich Rifle- men". As additional volunteers joined this unit there was a tendency towards the revolutionary ideals currently in vogue in Russia. After January 1918 however, the men finally accepted the traditional forms of army organization and discipline.

At this time the best of the officers (former Austrian Imperial) joined this battalion, where it was reorganized along the lines of the U.S.S. and it was renamed the "lst Battalion of Sich Riflemen". Under the command of the former Austrian officer Eugene Konovalets in Kiev, they were incorporated into the armed forces of the U.N.R. on l0 March 1918, where they were used chiefly against the Bolsheviks.

In early 1918, there had ensued severe battles against the Bolshe- viks in the Kiev and Peltava regions. From 29 January to 7 February there was street fighting in Kiev and the government there moved to Sarny in Volhynia under cover of the S.S. However, in March the S.So won its way back to Kiev and was again reorganized, taking a new name, the "lst Regiment of Sich Riflemen". They then were composed of over 3000 well-disciplined troops.

On 9 April 1918, the Germans implemented a coup d’etat to dissolve the Central Council of the UoN.R. in Kiev and proclaimed General Parle Skoropedskyj (who had been decorated by Kaiser William II with the Grand Cross of the Red Eagle) Chief of State (Herman) under a monarchi- al government. The Regiment of S.S. was disarmed and disbanded. The entire situation added to the general discontent mentioned earlier as prevailing during this period throughout the Ukraine.

After being dissolved by the Hetmanate, the regiment reorganized on 23 August 1918 in Bila-Cerkva into a Special Detachment of Ukrain- ian Riflemen, providing the nucleus for the uprising of 16 Nov. 1918 as the prime movers in the cause of the overthrow of the Hetmanate. The Hetman used his elite units to counter the resistance and a severe bat- tle resulted near Moto~yliwka, where the forces of the Herman were de- feated. Then followed the Siege of Kiev from 16 Nov° to 3 Dec. During this siege, the Special Detachment of S.S. reorganized itself into a division within a corps, having a total strength of 20,000.

The city capitulated and the Germans were disarmed. Skoropedskyj finally abdicated on 14 Dec. 1918 after realizing that his cause was lesto After this restoration of the U.N.R., the Directory moved back to Kiev and there was a general reorganization of all troops. On 26 Feb. 1919 they were divided into 2 divisions within the Corps of Sich Rifle- men, under General Staff Colonel Marko Bezruehko as Corps Commander.

The Sich Riflemen (S.S.) were among the finest groups in the armies of the U.N.R. and they participated in all of the subsequent battles against the Bolsheviks and the forces of the Volunteer Army of General Denikin until the last phase in Dec° 1919 (see article on the Order of the Iron Cross in the Sept., 19~4 issue). Portions of them were in- terned by the Poles while others went on to fight in the battles of 1920 where they became the nucleus of the Sixth Riflemen Division (to be covered in a subsequent article).

This last mentioned unit, after the Warsaw Treaty of 1920, moved that same spring with the 3rd Polish Army to free Kiev from the Bolshe- viks. At this point they ceased to exist as a separate "S.S." unit. By the 12 October 1920 Treaty of Riga~ the Polish support ended and all formal fighting ceased. Some of the men from the SOS., however, were able to escape to Czechoslovakia and other neighboring countries.

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