Another eBay purchase! Unfortunately this photo has few details, other than a note that it was taken in Salonika in 1917. The greeting on the back reads: Fondest love to Mary, Salonica. May 1st 1918, so this seems an appropriate time to publish it. It may have been taken at a hospital as it shows (seated) a captain and corporal of the RAMC. The man standing in the centre has the cap badge of the Worcestershire Regiment, so that would be the 11th Battalion (78th Brigade, 26th Division on the Doiran Front).
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.
Remembering William George Arscott, 10/Devonshire
William George Arscott was remembered in two moving ceremonies on the centenary of his death on 29 January 1918, one in his home village of Drewsteignton, Devon, the other at the Sarigol Military Cemetery in northern Greece, where he is buried. Continue reading “Remembering William George Arscott, 10/Devonshire”
Review : Daring All Things: The autobiography of George Kendall (1881-1961)
At the end of 2016 we announced the imminent publication of Daring All Things: The autobiography of George Kendall (1881-1961). George Kendall was a hugely experienced war chaplain who briefly served in Salonika with 22nd Division before succumbing to the inevitable malaria and dysentery. In the post-war years he was closely involved in the development of war cemeteries, which culminated in the process to select the body of the ‘Unknown Warrior’. This is a good opportunity to remind you that the book is for sale and to share with you this recent review from Church Times:
The book is published by Helion & Company Ltd and we can expect to hear more about it this year as we approach the centenary of the end of the conflict.
Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 7
Happy New Year! This is the final postcard from Sid to Elsie, simply dated ‘Salonica 1918’. My thanks, once again, go to Wendy Nicholson for sharing these touching cards with the SCS.
Continue reading “Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 7”
Salonika, Christmas, 1917
Fred Warburton, serving with an ammunition column on the Doiran Front, told this story of Christmas 1917 when he and his comrades were looking forward to the geese that they had raised – and guarded jealously – from goslings.
Compliments of the season. With love, George xxxx
1917 was clearly a good year for Christmas cards from Salonika as I have three in my collection. This one wasn’t produced specifically for the BSF, like that in my previous post, but is a commercially produced, seasonal postcard. It’s only that the sender wrote ‘Salonica 1917’ on the front that links it to the campaign.
I will echo the sentiments of George to his family or friends in Leeds, and wish you all ‘the compliments of the season’. I hope you will continue to visit the SCS website as we enter the final year of the centenary – The Year of Victory.
Continue reading “Compliments of the season. With love, George xxxx”
Christmas Greetings from Corps Cavalry and Cyclists
Amongst my modest collection of Salonika-campaign-related ephemera, my favourite item is this 1917 Christmas card produced by or for the Corps Cavalry and Cyclists of the BSF. Sadly not a family heirloom – my grandfather, a cyclist, was on his way home with malaria by Christmas 1917 – but a lucky purchase from eBay.
Continue reading “Christmas Greetings from Corps Cavalry and Cyclists”
Christmas 1917 : It’s panto time again!
In Christmas 1917 the indefatigable 85th Field Ambulance took to the stage again with their third and final pantomime of the campaign – Bluebeard. This is what 2nd Lt Frank Kenchington, RFA, had to say about it in his introduction to Music from Macedonia by Charles H B Jacques, published after the war.
Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 6
Another card from Sid to Elsie, dated 1917.
Continue reading “Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 6”
Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 5
Another card and poem sent by Sid in Salonika in 1917, to his wife Elsie. This mentions their first meeting ‘by the tower’ – could that have been Blackpool Tower?
Continue reading “Sid & Elsie : love across the miles and down the years 5”
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 