Beginning on March 31, 1919, a force of British, American, Polish, and White Russian troops engaged several Red Army partisan regiments at the village of Bolshie Ozerki.

Bolshie Ozerki was a small village situated between the port city of Onega and an important Allied position at Obozerskaya Station, along the Arkhangelsk-Vologda railroad.

Armed with this information, Commander Petr A. Solodukhin's brigade of 600 to 800 men attacked and overwhelmed between 80 and 160 French and White Russian troops garrisoning the village, capturing the outpost intact.

Simultaneously, 300 White Russians and between 40 and 80 British soldiers assaulted the eastern approaches along the road, also foundering in the face of effective enemy withering fire.

Exhausted from already marching ten miles and hampered by awkward Shackleton boots (canvas and leather footwear with smooth soles and low heels designed by the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, they were extremely slippery on ice or packed snow and generally considered inferior to the natives' felt boots by the Allies), the Americans failed to traverse the forest in time and were ordered to return.

Combined with the added toll inflicted by Allied artillery, devastating fire from the forward blockhouse and front line positions drove back every Soviet attack until nightfall.

[1] The main Red Army assault began at about 3:30 AM on April 1, shortly after daybreak, with determined frontal attacks and a weaker demonstration at the Allies' rear.

Several Soviet deserters revealed demoralization within Red units, reporting that an entire company of the 97th Saratov Regiment had refused to advance.

A Company, Yorkshires, under Captain Bailey would advance along another trail blazed about a week earlier, protected on its right flank by a detachment moving along the main road leading into the village from the northwest.

Lieutenant Clifford F. Phillips[permanent dead link‍], leading a platoon from Company H, 339th Infantry, rushed up from the reserves to cover the British retreat.

Lt. Phillips was also mortally wounded in this subsequent delaying action, repelling enemy counterattacks for an hour with a few men and 2 Lewis guns until reinforcements arrived.

[5]Artillery and mortar exchanges ensued throughout the remainder of the day until a successful Allied counterattack occurred at 5:30 PM in response to Soviet pressure on both flanks.

Sunshine melted snow which soaked through the canvas tops of Allied Shackleton boots, causing more cases of frostbite than even the coldest days of winter and conditions below -40 °C (-40 °F).

A Soviet source acknowledged 500 frostbite casualties in the Kamyshin brigade alone, which was recklessly committed from the milder climate of the southern Volga region before receiving proper winter clothing, such as felt boots and sheepskin coats.

[6] In mid-April 17, Brigadier General Wilds P. Richardson arrived in Arkhangelsk after a personal briefing from President Woodrow Wilson to take charge of the evacuation of U.S. forces from North Russia.

As the phased withdrawal from fighting fronts to bases in and around Arkhangelsk continued through the following months, operational control of the theater shifted to the White Army under the command of Governor-General Yevgeny-Ludvug Karlovich Miller.