Andy's interest in the campaign comes from his grandfather, Arthur, who served in Salonika as a sapper with the Royal Engineers from 1916-1918.
Opinions expressed in these posts are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society.
Readers may well be interested in the following webinars* from the Western Front Association. To join, please register using the links below. Start time for all webinars is 8pm (UK time).
1. Monday 15 May – Delayed in the Desert: The Gaza Stalemate and Beersheba Breakthrough
In this presentation, Robert Fleming will talk about how in 1917, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George ordered the Egyptian Expeditionary Force to capture Jerusalem by Christmas. This was – arguably – a diversion from the main focus of the war on the western front. He believed this would be a good ‘Christmas Present’ for the British people. However, the route to Jerusalem was across the Sinai desert and blocked by the Ottoman defences at Gaza and Beersheba. The eventual Allied victory at the Battle of Beersheba was a grave setback for the Ottoman Empire and led to the eventual defeat of the Central Powers in what was then Palestine.
2. Monday 22 May –Allenby’s Checkmate: Jerusalem to Victory in the Middle East, 1918
Robert Fleming will follow up from the previous week’s talk by picking up the story after the capture of Beersheba, and exploring how Allenby skilfully mustered and mastered his resources to defeat the Ottoman Army at the Battle of Megiddo and end the war in the Middle East.
3. Monday 5 June –The Road to 11 November: War and Politics in 1918
This presentation by Prof David Stevenson will reappraise the final stages of the First World War in Western Europe, analysing the factors that led Germany to seek an armistice and led the Allies and the United States to grant one. Particular attention will be given to the turn of the tide and to the sources of Allied superiority on the Western Front; and to the interaction of political and military considerations in shaping decision-making during the ceasefire negotiations of October-November 1918.
Members can expect a bumper issue of this Spring’s edition of ‘The New Mosquito’ to arrive on doormats within the next few days. Skillfully put together by former editor of this site, Robin Braysher, issue #47 has a focus on what the soldiers of the campaign wore in a climate infamous for its range of extreme conditions. If you haven’t received your copy by the end of April, do let us know and we’ll get your copy to you asap.
And, on the subject of ‘The New Mosquito’, here’s a reminder that, although Robin has stepped into the breach for this edition, we still have a vacancy for an editor. We look forward to hearing from you!
After the success of the 2022 Salonika Battlefield Tour, the SCS offers another chance to visit a number of key sites linked to the history of the British Salonika Force.
If you have not visited the ground once trodden by the BSF, we encourage you to come along as there is nothing like walking the ground to help get a better understanding of the campaign and the experiences of the men and women who served in the Balkans during the First World War.
The tour, starting on Sunday 24th September and finishing on Monday 2nd October, will be led by SCS Chair and co-author of Under the Devil’s Eye, Alan Wakefield. The plan is for the tour to cover Thessaloniki, The Birdcage Line, The Struma Valley, the Doiran battlefield, the Krusha Balkan Hills and the Roche Noire Salient. The tour group will also attend official ceremonies of Remembrance connected to the Salonika Campaign and visit a number of the CWGC cemeteries.
For further information, please contact SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield by email here.
Proposed Itinerary
Sunday 24th September Tour group meets at the airport in Thessaloniki at 11.10am Visit to Birdcage Line defences Overnight in Doiran Monday 25th September Visit to the Doiran Battlefield – Grand Couronne, The Hilt, Hill 340 Overnight in Doiran Tuesday 26th September Visit to Doiran Battlefield – La Tortue, Petit Couronne, Pip Ridge Overnight in Doiran Wednesday 27th September Visit to the Doiran Memorial & CWGC Cemetery A trip into the Krusha Balkan (‘Cushy Balkan’) Hills Overnight in Kilkis Thursday 28th September A drive through the Krusha Balkan Hills to the Struma Valley Visit to the village of Mavroplagia (formerly Karamudli) once sponsored by the Salonika Reunion Association. Paleokastro Bulgarian trench network Skotoussa (Prosenik) village – site of 4th Rifle Brigade ambush in 1918 Overnight in Serres Friday 29th September Visits to various locations in the Struma Valley including: Monokklisia and Provatas (The Karajakois and Yenikoi) BSF Outpost line river defence line positions CWGC Struma Cemetery CWGC Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Cemetery Overnight in Thessaloniki Saturday 30th September Visit to Lembet Road Allied Military Cemetery Visit to Monastir Road Indian Cemetery Visit to the site of the former BSF GHQ Overnight in Thessaloniki Sunday 1st October Attend ceremony of commemoration at the Allied Five Nations Memorial near Polykastro Visit to CWGC Karasouli Cemetery Visit to the Roche Noire Salient Overnight in Thessaloniki Monday 2nd October End of tour and return home
Q: What does a Swedish heavy metal group have in common with the Salonika Campaign Society ? A: A mission to increase awareness of the lesser known events in military history.
Sabaton, a five-piece heavy metal band from Sweden, has been playing its brand of very loud, fast, intense, military-style rock for nearly 20 years. They have built a sizable following of dedicated fans world-wide and have headlined rock festivals throughout Europe. They have released over a dozen albums and their most recent releases, ‘The War to End All Wars’, and ‘The Great War’, have concentrated entirely on recounting specific events and features of the world wars, on a mission to inform as well as entertain. Indeed, the band has its own YouTube channel (Sabaton History) that presents documentary-style shows using their music as the context.
I recently agreed to accompany my teenage son, a keen heavy metal fan, to an upcoming concert by Sabaton, in Cardiff. In addition to securing a good pair of ear plugs, I decided to read up on the band and subsequently ended up being thoroughly immersed in their website. Of particular interest from the SCS perspective is track no.9 on ‘The War to End All Wars’ album which is entitled ‘The Valley Of Death’. As I discovered, it is based on the Battles of Doiran and, interestingly, the story-through-song is told mainly from the perspective of the Bulgarian defenders. In particular it highlights their great skill, resourcefulness and bravery in what are considered great victories in Bulgarian military history against a stronger Allied force.
The detailed information on the Sabaton website is supplemented by a link to, and transcription of, a special edition of the Sabaton History Channel which focuses on the ‘The Valley of Death’ , and the events that it refers to. The fifteen-minute show is presented by an actor/historian called Indy Neidell who has an extensive repertoire in this field. His account seems to be well researched and he presents very enthusiastically with a number of interesting graphics and photos. Towards the end, he is joined by Sabaton’s bass guitarist, Par Sundstrom, and he explains that the song was written partly in response to the demands of their Bulgaria-based fans. Subsequently, the band performed the song live for the first time ever when they headlined the ‘Hills of Rock Festival’ in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 23 July 2022.
YouTube clips show that the song went down a storm with the partisan crowd, unsurprisingly. The closing lines of “The Valley of Death” summarise what is regarded as a triumph of defence:
For white, green and red, For the nation they’re fighting for, The British are done, Three times the defence of Doiran has been won.
In addition, the Sabaton website and the YouTube video make an appropriate reference to the poetry of Owen Rutter, “Tiadatha”, which was partly based on his experiences at Doiran. The extract used is as follows:
Had you been there when the dawn broke, Had you looked out from the trenches, You’d have seen that Serbian hillside, Seen the aftermath of battle, Seen the scattered picks and shovels, Seen the scraps of stray equipment, Here and there a lonely rifle, Or a Lewis gun all twisted. Seen the little heaps of khaki, Lying huddled on the hillside, Huddled by the Bulgar trenches, Very still and very silent.
Nick Palmer
Our thanks go to SCS member Nick Palmer for researching and writing this article. Thanks Nick!
YouTube video: ‘The Valley of Death – The Battles of Doiran – Sabaton History 115 [Official]’
The blurb accompanying the video: “The Bulgarian defences in the Lake Doiran region were pretty much the best defences any country had anywhere in the Great War, which the Entente forces discovered as they tried time and again and failed time and again – to break the front. “
Hills of Rock Festival, Plovdiv, 23 July 2022, with introduction from the singer about the song:
The ‘Ninth Annual Memorial Service for Women in Foreign Medical Missions in the Great War’ takes place on Saturday 18th February 2023.
The event takes from 11:00 -14:30 at the Serbian Orthodox Church of St Sava 89 Lancaster Rd, London W11 1QQ with speakers Colonel Nick Ilic, the former British Defence Attaché in the Embassy in Belgrade, and Zvezdana Popovic.
11.00 – Memorial Service in The Serbian Orthodox Church of St Sava
13.00 -14.30 – Refreshments and Talk in the Bishop Nikolaj Community Centre
The occasion will also feature a talk about the legacy of Dr Elsie Inglis, Scottish Women’s Hospitals and women in other foreign medical missions in Serbia, Corfu, Vido and the Salonika Front after the death of Dr Inglis.
If you would like to attend, RSVP via: info@serbiancouncil.org.uk
Many thanks to Society member Keith Roberts for the following reviews:
As a result of working on the SCS bibliography I have arguably parted with too much money purchasing books about the campaign for myself. Some, in fact most, of the books published in the aftermath of the Great War are now both rare and expensive. Only a limited number have been reprinted but quite a few are available to download free of charge from the ‘Internet Archive‘, and a few at modest cost, as Kindle ebooks, but I’m still happier with a real book in my hands. Not long ago I came upon a couple of closely related privately-published items…
1914-1919 Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division
The first item was 1914-1919 Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division by C, (Charles), Midwinter who was a sergeant in that unit. The booklet was published in 1933 and described his time in the unit from the outbreak of war to November 1918 by which time the unit was in Palestine. The only copies that I have been able to trace are in the libraries of The Imperial War Museum, and Leeds University.
The content is a well-written narrative describing the unit’s experiences, from formation, via Gallipoli and Macedonia to Palestine. After the introductory pages and the unit’s experience of the Gallipoli campaign, the author describes their part in the Salonika Campaign in pages 40-56.The text names some members of the unit, and draws frequently upon the recollections of Sgt Midwinter. 32 FA, a Territorial unit, landed in Salonika on 10 October 1915 and, after a short interval, deployed behind the positions held by part of the 10th Irish Division at Kosturino. Subsequently they occupied a number of locations during the remainder of their time in Salonika, before moving to Egypt and Palestine in late 1917. Written by a soldier rather than a medically qualified individual the narrative has little to say about the medical part of the unit’s work, describing rather their movements, and locations.
An extract from Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division December 1915/January 1916
The Badge of Honour
The second booklet, which I stumbled upon more recently, is The Badge of Honour edited by Godfrey A Gill, who published three other booklets on Cornish subjects. This is another privately published work, printed in 2015. It is well presented with a small number of photographs. This book is very different, and is built entirely around a transcription of the diary kept by a Plymouth man, Private Tom Wherly describing his personal experience of service in 32nd. Field Ambulance.
The style is quite different, being a record of his diary entries (with some gaps), from his enlistment until 11 September 1918. It records some of his experience at various locations, the weather, his ailments and his food, the things that he thought his family might like to know about as it is made clear that he wrote these comments for the benefit of his family. They were identified in this new century by a family member and after some time this volume emerged in 2015. There are few comments about military events as a result of which the editor inserted several appendices in which he addressed the background and current events of the time. The editor is not a military historian, but his comments are generally well founded, apart from referring to the ‘Field Ambulance Corps’ rather than to the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The descriptions of Tom Wherly’s life, especially while serving in the Salonika theatre of war give an interesting perspective of the thoughts and experience of a man serving in a non-combat role in a very human way, describing the aspects of his military life that he thought would give the best description of his experience. As such it is a very human document, and enables the reader to get a sense of the daily life of one of the many members of the BSF whose service was essential, but entirely behind the front lines.
An extract from Badge of Honour also December 1915-January 1916
The Badge of Honour is nicely printed with stiff card boards and glossy paper and a small number of photographs. There are 106 pages but the editor is responsible for a number with his explanatory appendices and notes. I have discovered that just 18 original copies of The Badge of Honour are still available at the original price of £7.95 plus postage. I plan to purchase a small number for friends I will be meeting either during our next tour in September, or at the AGM October 2023. The remainder can be purchased from The Mayflower Studio, Fore Street, East Looe PL13 1AE, email at mayflower.looe@btconnect.com
Two tales of two men
Both men received the 1915 Star, in addition to the Victory and the British War Medal. Beyond his medal record almost all we know about Charles Midwinter is that he started the war as a private, and ended a sergeant.
We know quite a lot more about Samuel Thomas Pawley Wherly, because this diary was in the hands of his descendants, and some of his army records survived the 1940 bombing of Arnside Street. Like Charles Midwinter, he joined up at the beginning of the war, and his service was continuous from 28 October 1914 until 13 May 1919 when he was discharged as no longer fit for war service. His attestation form states that he has four years previous experience as a volunteer with the Devon Royal Garrison Artillery. Like many others he was issued with the (Silver) War Badge and the few surviving pages of his service record show that he served for four years and 198 days before his discharge in 1919, and that he was discharged with a 50% degree of disability on the grounds of Melancholia with a pension of 13s 9d weekly to be reviewed after 52 weeks. His role in the RAMC is described as “Nursing Duty Orderly”.
Working with the Society, Swindon Borough Council intends to commemorate the role of Swindonians in the Salonika Campaign. We are grateful to the Swindon Advertiser for allowing us to reproduce this article which explains the Council’s plans.
“The men of Swindon and Wiltshire who fought in a long and bitter, if often forgotten, campaign in World War I will be remembered by a plaque or some other memorial.
Members of Swindon Borough Council voted unanimously to approve a motion brought by Conservative councillor Jake Chandler.
He said he had been set on the way of researching the Salonika campaign by his great-grandfather and he had learned of significant links to Swindon and Wiltshire and the fighting which took place in Greece and what is now North Macedonia in the southern Balkans between allied forces and The Bulgarian army with support from Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary.
Coun Chandler added: “I have been in contact with the Salonika Campaign Society and there are 41 pages of names about 900 military personnel from Swindon.”
The link with Swindon is so strong because the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, the 79th Infantry Brigade of the 26th Division, which had many men from Swindon in its ranks was one of the allied units, fighting on the front there for three years from 1915.
Also operating in the theatre were the Royal Engineers, and Swindon’s railway works and the skills of the men meant many of them fighting in that regiment and in the Salonika campaign were responsible for laying miles of new railway track.
The presence was such that landmarks in the area were given names such as Swindon Hill, Rickley Hill and the names of other villages around north Wiltshire.
Coun Chandler said: “There is a unique connection to this episode in history.”
The motion was seconded by the council’s Military Champion, Coun Lawrence Elliott.
He said: “Many from Swindon made the ultimate sacrifice out in the Balkans, far from home, and did not come back to a hero’s welcome.
“My grandfather came from Australia to do his bit and he lasted about three weeks in France. His sacrifice is marked on the Menin Gate, and my family can remember him.
“But many from Swindon and around have nowhere to remember those who fought and dies in this campaign.”
As Armed Forces Champion, Coun Elliott will “investigate the commissioning of a commemorative plaque or other memorial in partnership with the Salonika Campaign Society to be completed by 2025, in time for the 110-year anniversary of the start of the conflict”.
There will also be documents photographs and maps relating to the campaign put on display in the museum and art gallery when it puts on exhibitions and Swindon’s role in the First World War.”
The Western Front Association is offering two more of its popular webinars this December. To attend, please follow the link for each webinar to register.
From Plumstead to Palestine – Some Cockney War Stories, Clive Harris Monday 12 December, 8pm (UK time) The size and story of London’s contribution in the Great War fades into the pages of history somewhat. This presentation charts the story of London’s regiments, its people and the city’s sacrifices. To register for this event click here
The Russian Civil War and the Allied Intervention Force, Gordon Corrigan Monday 19 December, 8pm (UK time) In this presentation, Gordon will explain how the Russian civil war was supported by a British led Allied Intervention Force. This force included not only British but American, French, Czech and Japanese troops and the Royal Navy operating in the Baltic and the Black Sea and with gunboats on the rivers. To register for this event click here
My thanks go to Lucy London (of the excellent Forgotten Poets of the First World War site) for sending on this poem, and details of its author, written in 1915.
A Candid Opinion
Do we want to back to the trenches? To get biscuits and bully to eat To get caught by a sniper’s chance bullet Or crippled with frost bitten feet.
There are some say they’re anxious to get back There are others who say they are not. It is not that they care for the danger Or are frightened that they will get shot.
It’s the awful conditions you live in, Midst the rain and the mud and the dirt. Where you’d give a month’s pay for a square meal, And twice that amount for a shirt.
No, I’m not at all anxious to go back, But I’ll have to go that’s understood So I’m willing and ready to go there And if needs be to stop there for good.
The poem’s author was William Fox Ritchie, born on 15th June 1887 in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland. William joined Princess Louise’s Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in April 1909 and served in Malta and India. With the outbreak of war he served in Flanders where he suffered from frostbite and, in 1915, was invalided home.
Perhaps as his poem suggests, William felt compelled to return to active service. In 1917 he volunteered and joined 12th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Salonika. Serjeant William F. Ritchie was killed in action at the Grand Couronne, Salonika on 12th September 1918. He is buried at Doiran Military Cemetery where his inscription reads, Until the day break and the shadows flee away.
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 