Dunsterforce was an Allied military force, established in December 1917 and named after its commander, Major-General Lionel Dunsterville. The force comprised fewer than 350 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian officers and NCOs, who were drawn from the Western and Mesopotamian fronts. The force was intended to organise local units in northern Iran (Persia) and South Caucasus, to replace the Tsarist army that had fought the Ottoman armies in Armenia. The Russians had also occupied northern Iran in co-operation with the British occupation of southern Iran, to create a cordon to prevent German and Ottoman agents from reaching Central Asia, Afghanistan and India.
Lionel Dunsterville (far left) with staff
Example of a Ford van (An Australian light car patrol)
Lake Urmia, showing roads and political boundaries, 1901
Martinsyde Elephant photographed in England, 1917
Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville, was a British Army officer, who led Dunsterforce across present-day Iraq and Iran towards the Caucasus and Baku during the First World War.
Lionel Dunsterville
Major-General L. C. Dunsterville, GOC Dunsterforce, with Commodore D. T. Norris of the Royal Navy on the Caspian, 1918.