Confidential Order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Ruhr Red Army

August Müller, Ruhr Red Army

A confidential order from the council communist August "Dudo" Müller, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ruhr Red Army [he was martyred on 1 April 1920 while fighting against the Reichswehr and Freikorps] after the Bielefeld Agreement, to the companies of the Red Army. This text also has the name of several unknown Council Communist Commanders of the Ruhr Red Army. The document can be found in "Abschnittsführer der rheinisch-westfälischen Roten Armee, Gottfried Karusseit, und der Roten Armee, Büro Kölpin, No. 148" in the "State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Department".

Submitted by Indo on March 27, 2025

Hamborn, March 26, 1920.

Headquarters of the Left Wing of the Red Army.

Secret Report! Confidential!

Commander: Dudo [real name: August Müller]
Deputies: Max Hausschild and Gustav Schäfers.

To all rear depots!

The food depot at the Evangelical School in Walsum, under Commander Gustav Brahm and Deputy H. Heidtkamp, is to receive all foodstuffs arriving from external sources for the provisioning of outside troops. These orders must be strictly enforced.

The ammunition depot at the Wirtschaft Vier Linden in Walsum, under Commander Dörr, is directed to accept all ammunition designated for the Red Army. Further distribution will be arranged later. Additionally, any weapons arriving from external sources that are placed at the commander’s disposal and do not belong to a specific troop unit must be received by him at this location.

Cities sending trucks or passenger cars to the front must include operational materials if supplies are available, or at minimum, sufficient fuel to reach the front.

The benzene and oil storage remains at the Hamborn slaughterhouse as before. I may later designate additional locations where fuel can be obtained.

All requisitions and identification documents require my confirmation. Instructions bearing any other signature will be rejected. The headquarters is located at the Wirtschaft Vier Linden in Walsum.

The orders of individual rear commanders must be followed without exception. All directives issued by me pertain to the combat front from Niederrhein to Peddenberg.

Each company is required to provide at least two cyclists, one of whom must be available to the headquarters.

The combat front is divided into three sections:

Section 1: Niederrhein observation tower on the Heide Friedrichsfeld
Section 2: Hünxe observation post
Section 3: Hünxe to Peddenberg

Section 1 Commander: Müller, Deputy: Hoffmann
Section 2 Commander: Berger, Deputy: Kauffeld
Section 3 Commander: Kuhn, Deputy: [Name omitted in original]

The cities of Mülheim, Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Barmen, Solingen, Remscheid, Oberhausen, and Hamborn are each to supply one transport vehicle to the headquarters. Troop transports to the Wirtschaft Waldschlösschen in Walsum are the responsibility of the individual cities.

Transport to and from the front up to Walsum falls under the authority of the combat section commander.

The aforementioned cities must provide either a courier with a car or a motorcycle for courier service between Vier Linden and the respective cities.

Starting March 27 at 12:00 noon, stragglers will be provisioned at the Evangelical School in Walsum, with details of their company and section affiliation required.

All personnel returning from the front must present identification from their company or platoon leader. The field gendarmerie, established by me, has been ordered to disarm any personnel withdrawing from the front without authorization and return them to their hometowns, with their weapons permits revoked.

The city commander of Dinslaken, [Hans] Fix, appointed by me, is to issue instructions countersigned by me.


The Military Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army.

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