The Navy was There!

For understandable reasons we tend to focus on the British Salonika Army but, on this Trafalgar Day, we should remember the important part the Royal Navy played in the campaign. In the very last issue of the Salonika Reunion Association’s publication – The Mosquito (May 1969) – there is a fine tribute from the Pongos of the BSF to the Senior Service. Here are some extracts.

First, an acknowledgement of their role in escorting vital transports through the submarine infested waters of the Aegean:

Most soldiers whose transport was double escorted through those dangerous waters saw how the Torpedo Boat Destroyers scouted at high speeds and dealt peremptorily with anything which looked like a periscope. What very few knew was that early each morning as the sun was rising and later each day as it was setting, the crews of those fighting escorts had their most harrowing times for the sun’s horizontal reflection on the waves at those times made a perfect cover for periscopes. It was difficult to realise from the placid behaviour of these crews when our destination was reached that a few hours earlier they had been alert, on edge and anxious for the safety, not of themselves, but the troops they were responsible for. Without such men and their ships we could not have reached our objective and there would have been no BSF.

But it wasn’t all Action Stations:

On the social side, many will remember that two of the larger ships could turn out fine soccer teams and that the Lord Nelson’s eleven, when in port, held the best army teams to a draw on three occasions.

And Jack didn’t always serve at sea:

On land, Naval personnel supplied relief signal ratings for the signal station on top of the White Tower and by manning some of the “X” lighters, which with their three pounder guns, patrolled rivers and lakes, and banged away at the enemy positions. Soldier comrades regarded the latter with some mixed feelings, jokingly pointing out that during the winter, if the Bulgars were left alone they would keep quiet, whereas an occasional bombardment inevitably stirred them into action, producing a reciprocal “strafe”, disturbing a welcome respite.

Royal Navy ratings tending their garden at their signal station on the White Tower, Salonika, 1916. © IWM Q 32115

Finally:

There is a saying ‘Brave actions need no trumpets’ but before the SRA fades away the remnants of the BSF who form its membership want to say “Thanks Royal Navy for the memory we still hold of your fine service to us without which our victory on September 30th, 1918 would not have been possible.”

British sailors sharing comradeship and hats with Greek soldiers (from ‘The Great War. The Standard History of the All-Europe Conflict’).