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Cecil Deadman: a motor transport driver in Salonika

My thanks go to Rosemary Newton, granddaughter of Cecil Deadman who served in Salonika with the Army Service Corps. 175347 Private Deadman was in 706 MT Company, ASC, which was part of the supply column attached to the Serbian army.

Cecil Deadman in Salonika

Rosemary has published a book of her family history (1880-1950), which includes an account of Private Deadman’s time in Salonika. She has kindly made this part of her book available to us, which you can see below. This fascinating article is copiously illustrated with original photos, postcards and documents. Amazingly, he was one of the three brothers serving with the BSF – and they had the opportunity to meet up!

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A virtual battlefield tour – but not in Salonika!

My thanks go to James Stewart-Smith of Classic Battlefield Tours for sharing details of this forthcoming virtual battlefield tour by well known military historian, Patrick Mercer OBE. It is nothing whatsoever to do with Salonika, but during these days of seemingly endless lockdown, the chance to get out on any sort of virtual tour is very welcome.

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“The Sky-Sent Death” by Walter J. R. Turner

My thanks go to SCS member Lucy London for sharing this poem by Walter J. R. Turner (1889–1946), an Australian-born writer, critic and musician who lived in England. The poem is from “The Dark Wind” by W. J. R. Turner (E.P. Button & Co., New York,1920), which is available to view as a free download on Archive.

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Lieut. Harman Shanley, late 5th Connaught Rangers – an update

Nearly two years ago I published a post about an intriguing set of medals for sale on eBay, that had belonged to Lieut. Shanley of 5/Connaught Rangers. In addition to ‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’, there were also US and French Second World War medals. What was especially interesting for me, was that the British War Medal had a long list of unofficial bars, from the Battle of Kosturino onwards.

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Happy Lancashire Day!

Having a wife from the fine county of Lancashire, I could hardly ignore this special day – even though it took BBC Radio to tell me that such a day actually existed! Still, it’s a good opportunity to remind ourselves of the contribution of Lancashire’s many splendid regiments to the British Salonika Force.

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