22 September 1918

In The Gardeners of Salonika (1965), Alan Palmer describes the optimistic outlook for the allies on 22 September 1918:

… The Serbs had, on the right, reached the Vardar twenty miles north of the old battle-line; and, on the left, they had established themselves west of the Crna [river]. The Italian 35th Division had taken Hill 1050, which to them was what the Grand Couronné had been to the British. With the good news of the Bulgarian retreat confirmed by air reconnaissance, Franchet d’Espérey issued a general order to each of the Allied Armies of the Orient:

‘The enemy is in retreat on the whole Front between Monastir and Lake Doiran. We have now to rout him, to take prisoners and capture his material by an unceasing and resolute pursuit. Outflank resistance and push forward light detachments, which should establish themselves on his line of retreat. The cavalry, whose hour is come, should precede the infantry columns and open the way for them.’