The John Rylands Library recently accepted on deposit a collection of diaries written by a Methodist army chaplain John Henry Gibbon (1880-1933), who served in Salonika with the 67th Brigade of the 22nd Division between November 1916 and June 1917. The units with which he had the strongest connection were the 7th and 8th South Wales Borderers, 11th Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the 67th Field Ambulance.
The diaries provide a detailed personal account of the Salonika campaign including the battle of Doiran (April-May 1917).
The diaries have now been published online together with an annotated transcript and can be accessed by following this link.
I am grateful to Dr Gareth Lloyd, curator in charge of Methodist manuscript and archival collections at the University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library, for sharing this with us.
Author: scswebeditor
Robin Braysher joined the SCS in 2003 and from 2008 has been the Society's web editor. His interest in the campaign comes from his grandfather, Fred, who served as a cyclist with the BSF from 1915 to 1917, mainly in the Struma valley.
Robin hands over the role in October 2021 to Andy Hutt.
Andy's interest in the campaign comes from his grandfather, Arthur, who served as a Royal Engineer from 1916-1918.
All posts prior to February 2021 are by Robin.
Opinions expressed in these posts are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society.
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