Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918

Adding colour to old photographs

Applying modern production techniques to material from the Imperial War Museums’ First World War film archive, director Peter Jackson transformed grainy black and white footage into vibrant, moving and startling colour images. The film, ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’, has received many positive reviews. The Guardian’s film critic, Peter Bradshaw said of it,
“The effect is electrifying. The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance. The faces are unforgettable.”
It is a remarkable film.

‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ – Trailer

While it is unlikely that any of us will have family film archives from that time, many have photographs. What if we could ‘colourise’ these in the way Peter Jackson has with film? Well, there are a few websites that provide this service. Image Colorizer is easy to use, has free and paid accounts, and says that, “All uploaded items will be cleared every 24 hours. No photos will be stored and used for other purposes without your permission.”

I tried the service with a couple of photographs from the family collection. The first is of my grandfather, Arthur Hutt, shortly before leaving for France in 1915 at the age of 17. The second shows him presenting the Histon homeguard for inspection during World War Two. To my eyes, there is some added vibrancy to the first photo but much more so with the second image. See what you think.

Arthur Hutt presenting the Histon homeguard for inspection in WW2

My grandchildren, aged seven and nine, were impressed with these and other colourised photos of their great-great-grandfather. For younger generations, colourising, like the Peter Jackson film, may be a way to bring the past more readily into the present. If you would like to try it, here’s that link again: Image Colorizer.

Farewell parade of the last British troops in Greece on 22 January …

… 1950!

I acquired this press photo (publication unknown) which shows the 1st Battalion, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, headed by their band, marching through the streets of Thessaloniki, following a ceremonial farewell parade.

Forthcoming Gallipoli Association Conference

Many members and visitors to this website will no doubt be interested in The Gallipoli Association and its invaluable work in keeping the memory alive of that tragic campaign. The Association is holding its Third Regional Conference at Chelmsford on Saturday 5th March 2022 at Chelmsford City Museum (home of the Essex Regiment Collection), Mousham Street, Oaklands Park, CM2 9AQ.

Conference Programme

9.15 Registration (tea and coffee on arrival)
10.00 Peter Hart: Rupert Brooke and the Glitterati of Gallipoli
11.15 Stephen Chambers: The Killing Fields: The Battle of Krithia
12.30 Lunch (not provided)
1.30 Dr. Martin Purdy: Contested Legacies and the Gallipoli Oak
2.45 Clive Harris: The Essex Regiment at Gallipoli
4.00 An opportunity to tour the Museum and view the collection of the Essex Regiment
5.00 Close

The cost is £25 payable in advance.

Further information, including details of how to register, are on the events section of the Association’s website: http://www.gallipoli-association.org

“It’s Panto time again” “Oh no it isn’t!”

For the first time in many years I am supposed to be going to a pantomime this Christmas but, as I write this on the 20th, it’s not looking especially hopeful for ‘Dick Whittington and His Cat’ at Norwich Theatre Royal. A pity as I was looking forward to it, particularly as ‘Dick Whittington’ was the first of the pantos put on for 28th Division by 85th Field Ambulance in 1915. The whole show was put together in just a fortnight, which was quite an achievement. However, 28th Division wasn’t the only BSF division to have multiple talented men in its ranks.

Grand International Charity Football Match, Boxing Day 1918

One of the amazing survivals from the collection of Herbert Price (ASC) – which has been donated to the Society – is this football programme from a ‘Grand International Charity Football Match’ played on Boxing Day, 1918.

Frohe Weinachten!

Remembering those from all nations who found themselves far from home and loved ones in those Macedonian Christmases from 1915 to 1919.

Seasons greetings to all our members, friends and visitors!

The Society is very pleased to have been given a collection of photographs which belonged to Private John Gilchrist of 244 Mechanical Transport Company, Army Service Corps. In the year ahead we hope to scan these – along with other donated collections – so they can be made available to members. As a teaser, here is a seasonal photograph showing pigs and turkeys at an ASC camp in Salonika being fattened up for Christmas.

It’s Hutvent Calendar time again!

I’m sorry for my tardiness in reminding you of this but, in truth, December has rather taken me by surprise this year. Anyway, I heartily recommend Great War Huts seasonal Hutvent Calendar. These are short but fascinating films on various aspects of the First World War, released daily on the Great War Huts YouTube channel. Although it’s already the 16th, you can easily catch-up with them and, unlike chocolate-filled advent calendars, they are non-fattening!

Expert talk on the 1914 Christmas Truce

The Christmas Truce by Steve Smith

This Zoom talk will take place at 6pm on Friday 17th December 2021.

Army School of Cookery, Salonika

I am currently reading a fascinating book: Frontline Cookbook: Battlefield Recipes from the Second World War, edited by Andrew Robertshaw in association with the Royal Logistics Corps Museum (Spellmount, 2012). In a section on the origins of the Army Catering Corps (p.26), I came across this:

One Development within the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) [note: the ASC did not become ‘Royal’ until 1918] was a new appointment for officers. Their responsibility was catering and by January 1916 there were fourteen Catering Instructors who were distributed throughout the UK. By 1918 the number of instructors had expanded to forty and although the main Army School of Cookery was at Aldershot there were schools of instruction in all the theatres of war. These included Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Salonika and, from 1918, Russia. After the Armistice, the Catering Section was gradually disbanded and by June 1923 there was a single Inspector of Catering at the War Office.

This sent me to the online catalogue of The National Archives at Kew to find the official war diary of this school of instruction in Salonika and here it is:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4558099

You will note that it is listed as ‘Army School of Cookery’ from August 1917, alongside some other interesting schools of instruction and lines of communication troops. Of course, war diaries from the Macedonian campaign have not been digitised so, unless you want to pay for this to be done, you will need to visit Kew to see it. It’s a neglected subject that probably warrants further investigation.

It’s worth mentioning that Andrew Robertshaw has also written a volume on the First World War – Feeding Tommy: Battlefield Recipes from the First World War (Spellmount, 2013). Perversely I am reading them in reverse order. The Society has been given some collections of photos belonging to ASC soldiers in the campaign, which include images of cooks at work, so I’m saving this book for when I start investigating these.

An Indian cook grinding pepper in a Turkish shell case. The shell was fired into their camp when stationed in Egypt. Salonika, March, 1917. [click on image to see full size] © IWM (Q 32818)

Finally, I found this comment (p.91) which I am sure would have applied equally to the soldiers of 1914-18:

… British servicemen do not respond to a diet that lacks tea. So great was the British need to furnish their troops with an adequate supply of tea throughout the war that during one season in 1942-43 the Ministry of Defence bought India’s entire crop of tea for use in the armed forces.

Anyone fancy a cuppa?