My thanks go to David Shillito for providing the transcript of a letter written by his father – Second Lieutenant John Ewart Shillito of 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment (83 Brigade, 28 Division) – to his family describing the fire of August 1917. Continue reading “The Great Fire of 1917 : an eyewitness account”
Category: Salonika Centenary
Items relating to the centenary of the Salonika Campaign of 1915-1918, other than specific centenary news from the Salonika Campaign Society.
Death of an airman 100 years ago
My thanks go to Keith Edmonds for bringing this article to my attention. I am pleased to be able to remember British pilot, Joe Bamford, who went missing from the skies over Salonika 100 years ago today: Continue reading “Death of an airman 100 years ago”
The Great Fire remembered by the SRA in 1929
In 1929 the Salonika Reunion Association remembered the great fire of August 1917 with a photograph on the front cover of its publication, The Mosquito.
Continue reading “The Great Fire remembered by the SRA in 1929”
Faces of Salonika : Bill Devereux and the Great Fire
My thanks go to Richard Devereux who provided this photo of his grandfather, Bill, enjoying a cigarette in the ruins of Salonika in the aftermath of the Great Fire, having done his bit to help.
Continue reading “Faces of Salonika : Bill Devereux and the Great Fire”
The Great Fire : I Saw Salonika Burn, 18 August 1917
The author … here gives a magnificently graphic description of the inexorable fire which swept over the city in August 1917. Mr Collinson Owen at this time was editor of the soldier’s newspaper “The Balkan News”, and with the characteristic resource of a keen journalist only missed two days’ publication through the ravage of his office and printing works.
Continue reading “The Great Fire : I Saw Salonika Burn, 18 August 1917”
George’s War Letters, 1914-1919
My thanks go to Richard Power who has sent me the link to his centenary blog – George’s War Letters – in which he is publishing, in real-time, the war-time letters of his Great Uncle, George Power. Continue reading “George’s War Letters, 1914-1919”
Minden Day and ‘The Old Dozen’
Fred, my grandfather, spent the First World War in the Army Cyclist Corps but, in truth, he was – at heart – a ‘Suffolk’. Before getting on his bike he spent nearly eight years as a regular soldier in the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, preceded by a short spell in the 4th (Militia) Battalion. So you will understand why the Suffolk Regiment – especially 1/Suffolk – is of particular interest to me.
Celebrating ‘Canada 150’
As Canada celebrates 150 years since confederation, it seems appropriate to remember the role played by Canadian medical services in the Macedonian campaign. I believe these were Nos. 4 and 5 General Hospitals and No. 1 Stationary Hospital, but please correct me if I am wrong. Continue reading “Celebrating ‘Canada 150’”
1/12th Battalion (Pioneers) The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in Macedonia : Part 3
By Harry Fecitt MBE TD
We were fortunate also in getting during April the 1/12th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which came to us as our Pioneer Battalion, under a most capable officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beckett. They were a hard-bitten, thirsty lot of Lancashire miners, but what they could do with a spade was a perfect revelation. The Division owed a great deal to this fine Battalion for the splendid work they did on the Vimy Ridge, and I attribute our comparatively low casualty returns to the rapidity with which these pioneers, assisted by the various battalions, managed to lower the depth of the trenches eighteen inches in record time.
Major General E.S. Bulfin CB, Commander 60th Division, France 1916.
Embarkation for Egypt
1/12th Battalion (Pioneers) The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in Macedonia : Part 2
By Harry Fecitt MBE TD
We were fortunate also in getting during April the 1/12th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which came to us as our Pioneer Battalion, under a most capable officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beckett. They were a hard-bitten, thirsty lot of Lancashire miners, but what they could do with a spade was a perfect revelation. The Division owed a great deal to this fine Battalion for the splendid work they did on the Vimy Ridge, and I attribute our comparatively low casualty returns to the rapidity with which these pioneers, assisted by the various battalions, managed to lower the depth of the trenches eighteen inches in record time.
Major General E.S. Bulfin CB, Commander 60th Division, France 1916.