950 Anglo-Indians The Malleson mission or British intervention in Transcaspia was a military action by a small autonomous force of British Indian troops, led by General Wilfrid Malleson, operating against Bolshevik forces over large distances in Transcaspia (modern Turkmenistan) between August 1918 and April 1919, in the context of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.

[4] By June 1918, the British authorities in London and Delhi, and their Central Asian allies – particularly the Emirate of Afghanistan – still did not have a coherent or consistent vision for what they intended to do with the rapidly developing situation, and what their goals and methods would be if they were to attempt a political or military intervention in the region.

His mission was given as "to combat German and Turkish propaganda and attempts to organise men, railways and resources towards assisting hostile enterprises, aggression or active operations against us or our Allies.

"[6] Malleson instructed Reginald Teague-Jones to make preliminary contact with the Ashkhabad Committee, the group in control of the anti-Bolshevik Transcaspian Government which seized power in Ashgabat on 12 July 1918.

[7] The first military action occurred on 11 August, when two machine guns of the 19th Punjabis left the Persian town of Muhammabad and crossed the border to Artyk (Artik), where they boarded an armoured train and travelled along the Trans-Caspian railway towards Baýramaly (Bairam Ali, Bahram Ali) to assist local Transcaspian rebel forces in case of a Bolshevik attack.

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 Anglo-Indians and Transcaspians were compelled to march back without rest and little food and water for 3 days, retreating to Dushak along the railway line.

[citation needed] At this point, Malleson, against the wishes of the Indian Government, decided to push further into Transcaspia and attack the Bolsheviks.

[citation needed] However, with the end of World War I, one of the primary reasons for the mission, the threat from the Germans and the Turks, was no longer extant.

[citation needed] By late 1918 the Ashkhabad Committee was starting to lose grip on the capital and asked for British assistance.

On 1 January 1919 a new Committee of Public Safety was formed to govern Transcaspia, its composition of five people largely chosen by Reginald Teague-Jones.

[citation needed] On 12 January, the British force came under attack from the Bolsheviks at Annenkovo, but defended the settlement with the loss of 12 killed and 38-39 wounded.

[citation needed] Malleson had spent some time planning how to extricate the British forces, which was a complex task.