Author: Robin Braysher

Robin's 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 where he caught malaria and dysentery. Robin joined the SCS in 2003 and served on the committee for 18 years as journal and then web editor. Opinions expressed in these posts are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society.

Once Through The Alphabet

Whilst the BSF did not produce a poet of the stature of Wilfred Owen, it did have Rifleman T. B. Clark of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps whose poetry was published in a small volume – Rhymes of A Rifleman – by William Nicholson & Sons Ltd of London. Whilst this has not been perpetuated through exam syllabuses, from it we get an interesting view of the campaign from a thoughtful, pre-war private soldier. So, for National Poetry Day, here is Rifleman Clark’s poem, Once Through The Alphabet – Tommy’s Version, composed in the trenches in Macedonia, October 1917.

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South Asian troops in the BSF

South Asian Heritage Month seems as good a time as any to consider the, often overlooked, South Asian contribution to the Macedonian campaign. Indeed, had the campaign continued into 1919, this contribution would have been even greater as plans were well underway to “Indianize” the BSF as had already happened in Palestine, but on an even greater scale.

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“The League of Death” and the BSF

On this, the 110th anniversary of the Britain’s entry into the Great War, it seems appropriate to look at a connection between the British Salonika Force and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This is to be found in issue 45 of The Mosquito – ‘The Official Journal of the Salonika Re-Union Association’ – published in March 1939, not very long before Britain’s entry into the next world war!

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The Salonika campaign’s so boring!

No, this isn’t a sudden cri de couer after twenty years of reading about and studying the Salonika campaign, but rather an acknowledgment of the tedium experienced by many of those who served in Macedonia between 1915 and 1919. This was the subject of a fascinating podcast I recently came across.

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Tiny Takes Tea!

On International Tea Day, here’s a cute photograph of Tiny, the donkey mascot of the 26th Divisional Train, drinking tea.

“Tiny”, a small donkey, was found dying by the roadside by men of 26th Divisional Train. They took care of him and he became their mascot. “Tiny” would walk into any tent – including the officers’ mess – and help himself to any dainty lying about. As can be seen from the photo, he liked his tea from a mug, and was known to take as many as take nine mugs in succession! I hope they also treated him to ginger biscuits.

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Remembering Samuel Jenkins and 6/Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

My thanks go to David Jenkins who – rather longer ago than I am prepared to admit – shared the story of his grandfather, along with some fascinating photos.

Samuel Jenkins enlisted in the 6th (Service Battalion), Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 1 September 1914, the Battalion having been raised in Omagh during the previous month. Samuel’s service with The Skins is a little hazy, but we know he sailed from Liverpool in early July with the rest of 10th (Irish) Division, with his overseas service commencing with his disembarkation on 11 July 1915, probably on Lemnos. One (!) of his National Archive medal index cards give this date with the note ‘(2B) Balkans’, meaning ‘Balkan Theatre – Gallipoli and Aegean Islands’. This made him eligible for the 1914/15 Star. Four weeks later, the Division landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.

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