Category: Researching Salonika

Notes and advice on researching the Salonika campaign (1915-1918), especially individuals who served with the British Salonika Force.

Salonika Study Day – A Resounding Success!

Both new and old visitors to Great War Huts enjoyed an inspirational day of presentations, chat and site tours on Saturday 31 August. The venue, at Brook Farm Camp, Bury St Edmunds is a unique site in which to learn about the personal, military and social history of the First World War – and it was ideal for a study day focusing on the Salonika Campaign.

Ably chaired by SCS member, Keith Roberts, the day began with a welcome from military historian and Great War Huts founder, Taff Gillingham. SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield then spoke of ‘The British Way in Warfare – How the BSF Conducted Military Operations in Macedonia 1915-1918’. Alan focused on different geographical areas in Salonika and how the British army adapted to the terrain of each area, whether in the Struma valley or on the Dorain front.

Second speaker of the day was Colonel Nick Ilić MBE QGM on ‘The British who defended Serbia during the Great War 1915-18 – The story of Admiral Ernest Troubridge and the wider British contribution to the Second Serbian Campaign through to the end of the War’. I had no previous knowledge of who Troubridge was or his role in the campaign but Nick’s fascinating presentation brought to life Troubridge’s enormous contribution in a story that we shall surely return to on this site.

Lunch, provided as part of the day, gave visitors the opportunity to view exhibitions, to tour the site and appreciate the truly ground-breaking nature of the Great War Huts project.

Trench reconstruction at Brook Farm Camp. Image source Great War Huts

Refreshed, we returned to hear Taff Gillingham’s engaging and expert talk on ‘Uniforms and Equipment of the British Salonika Force’. Taff based his session on photographs from the time, pointing out features of uniform and illustrating these with real items of clothing to highlight the practical uses and implications for the men of the campaign.



Wendy Moore then gave us a moving and uplifting talk: ‘With the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in Serbia, Russia and Romania: the story of Vera ‘Jack’ Holme and Evelina Haverfield in love and at war’. This provided a shift in focus from the campaign and the activities of men, to the contribution of women in the Scottish Women’s Hospitals and, in particular, the personal lives of the remarkable Jack and Eve.

There was time for some scrumptiouus cake and tea before the final presentation of the day from none other than fellow author of these blog posts, Robin Braysher. Inspired by his grandfather Fred Braysher’s service, Robin gave a fascinating talk: ‘On Patrol with the Pneumatic Cavalry: innovation and adaptability in the Army Cyclist Corps in northern Greece, 1915-18.’ Who knew that a Lewis Gun could be carried on a bicycle, ready for instant use through its quick release clips!


The day concluded with a Q&A session, chaired by Keith, where all the speakers of the day faced questions from the audience. My key memory of this was an impassioned answer from Taff Gillingham on what had inspired his interest in the Great War. I only wish that I had recorded it as my notes and memory can in no way do justice to his reponse!

This was a truly special day and a great collaboration between the Society and Great War Huts. My personal thanks go to all those organising, speaking and contributing to the success of the day – not least to the GWH hospitality heroes Jane and Alan for delicious lunches, cakes and refreshments, and to GWH volunteer Mark for guiding us through the trenches at lunchtime.

Links

Salonika Study Day – Book Now!

We are very pleased to announce a special day focusing on the the Salonika Campaign, at the Great War Huts site near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The date for your diary is Saturday 31 August. 


Together with our friends at Great War Huts, we have planned a special study day featuring five talks on aspects of the Salonika Campaign with expert speakers – including our own Alan Wakefield and Robin Braysher. The day also gives the chance to learn more about the work of Great War Huts and to visit the reconstructed First World War huts and trench network on site.

All this for just £25 – and that even includes lunch! Tickets MUST be booked in advance.

Full details of the day, the location, and how to buy tickets can be found here.

‘Salonika Secrets’ – a new podcast

In December of last year, we posted about a podcast series that featured an interview with Society member Chris Loader who had travelled with the Society on the September 2023 SCS Battlefield Tour to visit the grave of his great-great-grandfather, Henry Albert Obadiah Loader.

Inspired by a visit to Doiran Military Cemetery during the tour, Chris has now branched out to record his own podcast series: Salonika Secrets.

'Salonika Secrets' - a new podcast from Society member Chris Loader

‘Salonika Secrets’ – a new podcast from Society member Chris Loader

The podcast tells of Chris’s search to identify an unknown British officer commemorated at Doiran. Without giving too much away, Chris has so far managed to narrow down the identity to an officer who served in the 12th Hampshire Regiment. You can listen to the podcast free on Spotify, Amazon and Apple and, no doubt, other podcast providers. Chris also posts updates and extra information on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) here.

Good luck with the search Chris!

‘Awards and Honours of the Macedonian Campaign’ research project – an update.

We are very grateful to SCS Member, Rob Elliott for leading this project that attempts to compile a single record of the awards and honours given to those serving in the Macedonian Campaign. Full details of the aims of the project can be found here.

Rob, with some help from Society Chairman Alan Wakefield, and Members Harry Fecitt and Andy Siddall, has made remarkable progress in compiling this database of honours. A first release was made on 12th January, containing 1067 entries with 276 citations, and Rob has just published the second update , comprising 1960 names of which 283 have full citations. The database is available on the SCS Members’ Area here.

For a full explanation of the work and progress made so far, please read Rob’s report here.

If you are able to spare some time in helping Rob, please send him a message via the form below.

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The SCS Philip Barnes Bursary

The Salonika Campaign Society is delighted to announce The Philip Barnes Bursary. This new initiative is offered to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers undertaking research that will contribute to knowledge of the Salonika Campaign fought across Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria between 1915 and 1918.

The successful candidate will be awarded a subsidised place on the Society’s 2024 battlefield tour. The tour of 9 days (8 nights) will run from Sunday 22 until Monday 30 September and will start and finish in Thessaloniki.

The bursary, named after Philip Barnes, SCS founder and pioneer traveller to the First World War battlefields across Macedonia, will cover accommodation, food and travel within Greece and North Macedonia for the duration of the tour. Travel to and from Greece will be at the candidate’s own expense.

Members and visitors to this site, please forward to anyone you think might be interested or who could promote the Bursary to others. Thank you.

Further details of the Bursary and how to apply are here.

Innovative mapping tool now available!

The Trench Maps Place Names Index

As a result of a remarkable piece of work researched and initiated by SCS Membership Secretary, Keith Edmonds, we are pleased to provide a new file to aid research and understanding of the Salonika Campaign.

The Trench Maps Index is a .pdf file which lists approximately 8,500 place names from the Salonika theatre, in alphabetic sequence, together with their corresponding coordinates. The names, and their respective Easting/Northing, have been determined from the collection of maps available from the Society and show:

  • Place Name
  • The map from where the location reference (Easting/Northing) was taken
  • The map scale
  • The Easting and Northing and
  • The calculated, corresponding Latitude and Longitude.

Where a location reference has been provided on the respective map, the place’s location is shown in italicised blue text in the index, as in the following example.

An entry from the Trench Maps Place Names Index.

But here’s the thing… clicking on any name shown in blue text will load Google Maps at that location as indicated by a red ‘pin’!

The location of Arthur´s Seat in Google Maps

This ability to locate campaign locations in Google Maps is a remarkable innovation made possible by the research begun by Keith leading to collaboration with Professors Clifford J Mugnier and Gábor Timár.
As a result, Professor Timár presented a paper on the subject, Georeference of the Allied Trench Maps of the WW1 Salonika Front at the 16th ICA Conference, Digital Approaches to Cartographic Heritage at the Faculty of Geography, Babeş–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 22nd-24th September 2022. The co-authors of the paper are listed as Gábor Timár, Keith Edmonds, Clifford J. Mugnier.

This new file is available to all members at the SCS Members’ Area and on all future purchases of the SCS Digital Collection DVDs.

Tales from the Battlefields

Tales from the Battlefields is a free podcast from battlefield guide and researcher Terry Whenham. It focuses on “the unheard stories of men who served on the Western Front during World War 1.”

However, in Episode 68 of the podcast, Terry interviews Chris Loader who travelled with the Society on the SCS Battlefield Tour in September this year. Chris describes the background to the campaign and his visit to the location where his two-times grandfather on his father’s side, Private Henry Loader of the 10th Hampshire’s, was mortally wounded in September 1918. I listened with a lot of interest to the story of Henry – and Chris’s research and visit – and I’m sure you will find it a worthwhile use of your time too. In my humble opinion of course!

You can listen to the podcast for free on Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify and directly from this page.

Lembet Road Cemetery – final resting place of Henry Loader. Image from CWGC

Happy Saint Andrew’s Day!

Having marked the national days of England, Wales and Ireland over the past year, I could hardly ignore Scotland. Having done one of those family history DNA tests, I was very disappointed to find no trace of Scottish ancestry – 16% Welsh was something of a surprise – so my only claim to Scottish heritage is my great-grandfather from East London who served for 12 years with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in India and South Africa at the end of the 19th century. Was it the allure of the tartan trews? Anyway, I wish all our Scottish members, friends and visitors a very happy Saint Andrews day.

Continue reading “Happy Saint Andrew’s Day!”