Category: Faces of Salonika

A series of images of those – from all sides – who took part in, or witnessed, the First World War campaign in Macedonia from 1915 to 1918.

Sir Harold Fairbank: Surgeon, Soldier and Pioneer of Orthopaedics

Searching recently through the Internet for information on the 85th Field Ambulance (famed for its pantomimes), I stumbled across an article about Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank. Today he is remembered as one of the great pioneers of British orthopaedic surgery, but his career was not confined to hospital wards and consulting rooms. For those of us studying the Salonika campaign, it is Fairbank’s Macedonian wartime service that is of interest.

Born in Windsor in 1876, Fairbank came from a family steeped in medicine. After training at Epsom College and Charing Cross Hospital, he qualified in medicine in 1898. Adventure seemed to appeal to him early on. During the Second Boer War he volunteered as a civilian surgeon, where he crossed paths with figures such as Arthur Conan Doyle.

Back in London, he quickly made a name for himself at Great Ormond Street Hospital. By the age of thirty he had become the first surgeon at a London teaching hospital to practise purely as an orthopaedic specialist — something rather unusual at the time, when most surgeons still divided their work with general surgery.

Then came 1914. Fairbank joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was posted to the 85th Field Ambulance of the 28th Division – donating both the family car and chauffeur for ambulance work. After serving in Ypres, he was posted to Salonika in early 1916.

Captain Harold Fairbank
Capt. Harold Fairbank, 1915
Image source: https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=12795

The Salonika setting hardly needs explaining: heat, dust, flies, endless sickness, and a constant battle against malaria that often seemed more dangerous than the enemy. Fairbank seemed to thrive in the middle of it. As well as handling surgery and casualty care, he was heavily involved in organisation and transport, and his abilities soon earned him promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and appointment as Consulting Surgeon to the Salonika Army in 1917.

In this role, he travelled widely in the Doiran and Struma areas, advising and helping younger surgeons and making a major contribution by establishing the first overseas convalescent centre for British troops. In the second world war such units became known as Rehabilitation Centres.

The world Fairbank worked in was later captured by Stanley Spencer, whose paintings of dressing stations and camp life remain some of the most vivid images of the Macedonian Front, especially those at Sandham Memorial Chapel. When looking at Spencer’s sketches and paintings, it’s not too difficult to imagine Fairbank moving through the chaos of a casualty station and helping other surgeons in their work.

Stretcher Bearers – Stanley Spencer. Source: IWM

Like so many in Salonika, Fairbank eventually became a casualty himself. On 20 August 1918, suffering from malaria and typhoid fever, Fairbank was admitted to the 43rd General Hospital where he stayed until his medical evacuation to Malta on 18 September. He remained in Malta until late December 1918.

Incidentally, it was while recovering in Malta that Fairbank developed a lifelong fascination with butterfly collecting — a surprisingly gentle legacy from such a harsh campaign.

His diaries from his time in Salonika are available at Cambridge University Library but not online, as far as I can tell. The library gives a synopsis of them:
“Fairbank frequently remarks on the cold temperatures endured and the treatment of those sick with malaria and diarrhoea. The diary carries reports of the autumn 1916 offensive from 10 September to 18 December when Fairbank returned to England for a period of leave; of Fairbank’s involvement in a serious railway accident involving a British troop train in France on 17 January 1918 which killed ten; the bombing of the 29th General Hospital in Salonika on 1 and 5 March 1917; and of the fire which destroyed two-thirds of Salonika from 18 to 20 August 1917. After 11 March 1917 entries become less frequent with only eight entries from 1 April to 6 December… There are no entries after 6 December 1917 until 4 August 1918. .. The diary ends with Fairbank’s arrival in England on 3 January 1919. There are only five extremely brief entries from 20 August 1918 to 3 January 1919.”

Fairbank’s wartime service earned him the Distinguished Service Order, an OBE, and three Mentions in Despatches. After the war he returned to civilian medicine, specialising in orthopaedic surgery at King’s College Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital where Uncle Tom, as he was known, was widely considered a superb clinician with an extraordinary gift for reassuring children and their families. His later achievements in orthopaedics are reported as considerable, particularly his landmark 1950 textbook An Atlas of General Affections of the Skeleton.

Sir Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank died February 26, 1961.

Sir Harold Fairbank
Image source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00264-025-06696-w/figures/6

Sources

5 May 1916 – A “momentous day”

If you read a timeline of the First World War you could be forgiven for thinking that the only event of note in any theatre that day was the bringing down near Salonika of Zeppelin LZ 85.  Several items on this have been published in The New Mosquito, the most recent being Andy Hutt’s account of the death of Doctor Norman Yellowlees (see Issue No 53, p 18-22). However, another event of major importance also took place on that day.

A day earlier, on 4 May, a message had been received at Salonika HQ from Egypt quoting a War Office telegram to Sir Archibald James Murray, Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. This telegram explained that General Bryan Mahon, then in command of British Forces in Salonika, was to be moved to command the Western Front in Egypt including the defence of the Nile Valley and the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria. His place in Salonika was to be taken by Lieutenant-General George Milne, then in command of XVI Corps (a post he had only held since January).

While he did not take up his new post until 10 May (Mahon departed on the 9th), the “momentous day” (as Milne described it) was 5 May – it was on this day that George Milne was promoted Major-General in preparation for his new appointment. He was not happy, since he recognised that the commander of XII Corps, General H M Wilson, was senior to him. As quoted by Graham Nicol in his book “Uncle George, Field Marshall Lord Milne of Salonika”, on page 88, Milne wrote in his diary:

A bitter blow as I hate the whole thing and am only too anxious to be out of it. Wilson is the senior. I spend an unhappy evening…Can’t say I feel any too happy. The difficulties ahead are great and there are too many rocks to be rounded.

Whatever General Wilson thought of the event, to his great credit their relationship was a good one, supplemented by the appointment of Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Briggs to the command of XVI Corps in Milne’s place.

The rest, as they say, is history.

With apologies to author Rob Elliott for posting this later than he had planned
Andy Hutt

The Sinking of the Rewa

Last year I resolved to share the story of the sinking of the hospital ship, Rewa. I decided to do this on the anniversary of the event in 2026. The trouble was, I failed to check the date and, convinced that it was in February, by the time I looked up the details I realised I had missed it – 4 January! I could have left it until 2027 but, instead, decided to post the story today, Fred Braysher’s birthday, as it was Fred (my grandfather) who told me the story 44 years ago.

Continue reading “The Sinking of the Rewa”

Happy Year of the Horse!

Once again it’s time to celebrate the Lunar New Year – or Spring Festival, if you prefer – and this time it’s the ‘Year of the Horse’, which makes finding a Salonika-related photo remarkably easy! Before we look at that, it’s worth noting that in 2026 it’s a ‘Fire Horse’, something we haven’t seen since 1966. Apparently, after an introspective ‘Year of the Snake’, we are now galloping forward with vibrant and fiery energy, which symbolises adventure, vitality, and momentum. So hold onto your hat!

Continue reading “Happy Year of the Horse!”

Mettle and Steel: the AANS in Salonika

Searching for information recently about nursing in Salonika, I stumbled across Mettle and Steel: the AANS in Salonika. It’s an account of the punishing nature of Australian military nursing in Salonika. From 1917, Australian nurses were sent into this difficult and unfamiliar theatre of war to relieve the British, French and Canadian nurses and to provide nursing care to British soldiers and prisoners of war. As nursing ‘our boys’ was a major motivation for overseas service, it was something of a disappointment for many that they could not nurse Australian soldiers.

Accession Number: H16005
A group of Australian Army nurses about to depart from Adelaide for Salonica, 14 June 1917. From the left: Miss Molly Wilson, Mrs J. Tyers, Miss Edith Horton, Miss Marion Geddes, Miss Laura Begley, Mrs Jessie McHardie White (Principal Matron), Mrs Forsyth (wife of General Forsyth), Miss Violet Mills (Matron of No 5 Australian General Hospital who was on a visit to Adelaide), Miss Alice Prichard and Miss Florence G. Gregson.

I hadn’t quite appreciated the scale and complexity of the Australian nursing presence: four contingents were dispatched via Egypt, under constant U-boat threat, and then distributed across a shifting network of British hospitals in Greece and the surrounding hills. Each unit was allocated one Matron, ten AANS Sisters and eighty Staff Nurses. The nurses were led by senior matrons such as Jessie McHardie White, who oversaw not only clinical standards but the welfare and morale of hundreds of nurses. Staff Nurse Lucy May’s personal account helps convey the experience of Salonika in winter:

[12 October 1917] Water racing thru wards & reached halfway up bedsteads, haversacks, boots, socks, pants floating down road…
[21 October] Lanterns blowing out & leaving you in dark…
[23 October] Still don weather attire, only wearing men’s pyjama pants, putties, gum boots, man’s shirt also. Had dress tucked around waist all night…
[2 November] Imagine me [on night duty] over my ankles in mud, dragging one foot out then other foot & standing on one leg in grim peril or sitting down hastily…feeling the rain oozing through my mack. This is the life?”

As winter ended, the nurses then faced oppressive summers dominated by malaria. The AANS uniform was adapted in an attempt to counter the mosquito risk. A ‘mosquito proof’ nurse would be clad in her working dress, huge gloves, rubber boots and thick veil which, according to Lucy Tydvil Armstrong:

“made it quite impossible to carry out our duties, when men were rigoring and vomiting all night long, we just had to do away with the precautions, & run the risk of being bitten with mosquitos.”

Accession Number: H15761
A group of Australian Army Nursing Service nurses at the 52nd British General Hospital at Kalamaria, Greece ready for night duty wearing headdress provided for protection against mosquitoes. C 1918.

Despite the precautions, Matron McHardie White later reported that, ‘most of the nurses were affected by it [malaria] one time or another…’ By August 1918 45 nurses had been sent back to Australia from Salonika and another 14 were waiting to go, mostly on grounds of ill health. The death of Sister Gertrude Evelyn Munro in 1918 underlines the very real cost of the AANS service.

Accession Number: H13100
Sisters Gertrude Evelyn Munro and Amy Christie of the AANS. The photograph was probably taken at the 60th British General Hospital, Salonica.

Despite deteriorating health and official doubts about the value of their continued presence, the nurses remained in Salonika until after the war ended, not returning home until early in 1919. Their courage and professionalism were acknowledged through praise and decorations from British, Serbian and Greek authorities. Matron McHardie White, as just one example, was awarded the Serbian decoration of the Order of St Sava and was made a Member of the British Empire.

Nurses’ Narratives

It’s always interesting to read first-hand accounts of experience and so it was good to see that some diary and retrospective narratives written by the AANS nurses have been, and are being, transcribed. Staff Nurse Vivian A Lee Shea, for example, recalled,

We arrived in the midst of summer & the height of the Malaria & Dysentry season, & work commenced right away. We had much to learn. We were all new to each others ways & the medical Staff & personnel had only just landed as we ourselves had.

The Hospital was rather well situated at an elevation of about 2000 ft above sea level & this gave us a cooler summer, but made it impossible to live there in the winter months. During the winter months we occupied the Prisoners of War Hospital in the Base area. Here we nursed British Troops, as well as prisoners of War, the latter were representatives from practically every one of the Baltic States. Germans Bulgars, Turks, Romanians, Greeks Albanians & Serbs, in fact any one found in enemy lines.

Annie E Major-West remembered,

We remained in Salonika till February 1919, during the whole time the work was very heavy at times the hours on duty were particularly long. these conditions were occasioned by the prevalence of Sickness amongst the Sisters and Medical Officers.
Frequently the Bulgars & Germans were over in Planes endeavouring to bomb
the Town but the Vicinity of the Hospital was never damaged, during the Month
of August 1917 the town was partially destroyed by fire, Supposed to have
been the work of Spies.

The Sinking of the Marquette, 1915

A little over 110 years ago, on Saturday 23 October 1915, the British transport ship Marquette was torpedoed by the German submarine U-35 as it entered the Gulf of Salonika. The ship sank within ten minutes. Of the 741 people on board, 167 died, including 32 New Zealanders – ten of whom were nurses.

Tram decorated with World War 1 propaganda, including unidentified tram conductor and passenger, Temperance and General Life Assurance Society building in background, Cathedral Square, Christchurch
A call to arms in response to deaths of nurses. Image source: https://natlib.govt.nz/records/29941985

The New Zealand Nurses

Most of the New Zealanders aboard were members of the 1st New Zealand Stationary Hospital. They had been serving in Egypt, treating casualties from Gallipoli, and were being transferred to support Allied operations in the Balkans. Among them was Staff Nurse Margaret Rogers, who had enlisted only months earlier in July. Indeed, The New Zealand Army Nursing Service was itself new and only established early in 1915.

Nurse Margaret Rogers.
Image source: Nurse Margaret Rogers, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/nurse-margaret-rogers, (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 28-May-2024

The Marquette, originally a cargo vessel, had been adapted for wartime transport.

SS Marquette of the Red Star Shipping Line, 1910
Image source: https://ww100.govt.nz/no-ordinary-transport-the-sinking-of-the-marquette

When it departed from Alexandria on 19 October, it carried medical personnel, British troops, over 500 mules, and ammunition. Although accompanied by a French destroyer during part of the journey, the escort departed the day before the attack.

Image source: https://www.cnmc.org.nz/resources/the-marquette/the-marquette-s-last-journey-vulnerable-to-atta/

At approximately 9:15 a.m., witnesses reported sighting a torpedo shortly before it struck the starboard side of the ship. The impact caused the vessel to list sharply. Despite the suddenness of the event, many accounts describe those on board as remaining orderly.

Efforts to launch lifeboats were largely unsuccessful. Inexperienced personnel, the angle of the sinking ship, and mechanical difficulties led to lifeboats capsizing or being damaged. Several nurses and soldiers were killed during these attempts. It is believed that Margaret Rogers lost her life in this phase of the evacuation.

Ten New Zealand nurses and 22 men from the New Zealand Medical Corps and No. 1 Stationary Hospital died.

Survivors spent several hours in the water, exposed to cold conditions and exhaustion. Some clung to wreckage; others assisted colleagues unable to swim. Rescue vessels, including British and French destroyers, arrived later in the day. Six days later,on the 29th October, all surviving nurses and some medical officers returned to Alexandria on the hospital ship, the Grantully Castle.

The surviving nurses.
Image source: https://ww100.govt.nz/no-ordinary-transport-the-sinking-of-the-marquette

Aftermath

The sinking of the Marquette led to outrage about the decision to transport medical personnel on a vessel carrying ammunition and troops rather than on a hospital ship. Marked with a red cross, hospital ships could sail with a much greater degree of safety with the protection of the Geneva Convention. The troopship was, for German submarines, a valid target.

One can only imagine the emotions of the survivors as they undertook the journey to Salonika again later in the year in order to establish a tented hospital at Lembet Camp. The hospital was in operation until March 1916, when it left for France.

1st New Zealand Stationary Hospital at Salonika
Image source: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/1st-new-zealand-stationary-hospital

In Memory

Margaret Rogers is buried at the Mikra British Cemetery at Kalamaria where there is a memorial to the loss of the Marquette.

Image source: https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/gre-mikra-memorial.html

Margaret is also listed on the war memorial at Akaroa where her father lived.

The unveiling of the Akaroa War Memorial, 1923
Image source: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/akaroa-war-memorial

Margaret and the other nine nurses lost in the Marquette sinking are remembered at the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital and at the Marquette Nurses’ Memorial at Waimate.

The events of 23 October 1915 are also dramatised in the Australian TV series, ANZAC Girls, which until December 31st, 2025 is freely available to view here.

The moment the Marquette is torpedoed, as depicted in ANZAC Girls.
Image Source: Episode 3, https://player.stv.tv/summary/all3-anzac

Footnote

Wreckage of the Marquette was found in May 2009 by a Greek dive team. It rests in 87 metres of water of the Thermaikos Gulf in the North Aegean Sea. A protection order for the wreck has been sought by The British Embassy in Greece.

Reference Links

Remembering Hori Tribe (1877-1917)

I’ve only recently discovered a fascinating and beautifully presented online exhibition commemorating the life of Hori Tribe (1877-1917), an employee of The Royal Parks who served in Salonika before transferring to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in June 1917.

©Sarah Gooch

The exhibition, co-curated by the Royal Parks and Hori’s great-granddaughter, Sarah Gooch, has a wonderful and moving collection of photos, drawings and extracts from Hori’s letters.

I certainly won’t attempt to retell Hori’s story here, instead I recommend a visit to the digital exhibition. It is definitely worth a visit and a few moments of your time.

A sketch Hori sent home depicting his life in Macedonia, surrounded by wildlife. ©Sarah Gooch

With the EEF since June and now, at the start of December 1917, Hori had two days’ rest at a monastery just outside of Jerusalem. In the final letter he sent home, Hori included some rosemary – associated with remembrance:

‘The pieces of rosemary included I picked from a hedge in the grounds of the monastery.’

Hori spent two days at the monastery just before his last battle.

Hori was killed in action on 8 December 1917. He is laid to rest at the Jerusalem War Cemetery.

Left: Hori Tribe’s grave in Jerusalem as it appeared shortly after the First World War ©Sarah Gooch Right: Hori’s grave as it appears today ©Nader Habash

Remembering Hori Tribe – A digital exhibiton celebrating the life of Hori Tribe (1877-1917), an employee of The Royal Parks who was killed in action during the First World War.


Pte George Excell of Wotton-under-Edge

One of the things I enjoy most about living in the county of Gloucestershire is its beautiful countryside and many wonderful walks. After a recent hike involving some strenous Cotswold climbs, I stopped for refreshments and recovery in Wotton-under-Edge. Of course, I had to take in the Wotton war memorial where I later discovered a Salonika connection…

Image source: https://www.wottonheritage.com/reminders-a11

According to the town’s heritage centre, the memorial was erected in 1920 and unveiled by a Mrs Cornock. Apparently, and tragically, eight of her sons served in WWI – three did not return*. Among the names on the memorial is that of George Edward Excell.

A photograph of George was published in the Gazette on 2nd November 1918.

George Edward Excell was born in 1896 in Wotton-under-Edge, one of six children of Edwin and Elizabeth Excell, who lived in the Sinwell area of the town. His father, Edwin, worked as a rural postman, while his mother, Elizabeth served as matron at the Perry & Dawes Almshouses on Church Street, Wotton. Edwin died while George was still young.

After finishing school, George began working for Mr. G. W. Palmer, a boot maker based on Long Street in Wotton. Mr. Palmer later served in the Royal Naval Division as an Able Seaman during the Great War.

At the outbreak of the war, George enlisted in Wotton, joining the 11th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment with the service number 18644. The battalion was formed on 14 September 1914 as part of the 78th Brigade in the 26th Division. They trained in Wiltshire, including at Sherrington and on Salisbury Plain, before landing in Boulogne on 21 September 1915. Over the next two years, George saw extensive action on the front lines and was wounded twice.

George Excell recovered from his wounds and resumed service with the Worcestershire Regiment. In September 1918, the 11th Battalion of the Worcesters, including George, was deployed to the Salonika front.

On 16th October 1918, George’s mother, Elizabeth Excell, received a telegram stating that her son was dangerously ill in a hospital in Salonika. Tragically, George had already died of pneumonia four days earlier. It wasn’t until Saturday, 19th October, that she received confirmation of his death. George Excell was 22 years old.

George is buried at Doiran Military Cemetery, in Plot 5, Row H, Grave 28.

Source: ‘First World War Heroes of Wotton-under-Edge’ by Bill Griffiths available online here.
*Bill Griffiths’ book also includes this picture of the Cornock family and the three sons that never returned to Wotton-under-Edge.

Now online – Nick Ilic’s lecture on Sir Thomas Lipton and Serbia during WW1

On 9th February Colonel (Retd) Nick Ilic gave an online talk about Sir Thomas Lipton (1848–1931), the Scottish businessman and philanthropist best known for founding the Lipton tea company. I wrote an introduction to the talk here.

I’ve just spotted, rather belatedly, that Nic’s talk is now available on YouTube.