Category: Salonika News

New Balkan News – July 2025

The Society’s occasional email-newsletter, The New Balkan News* has recently been sent out to subscribers. The July issue contains news about the SCS Annual Meeting in October and also includes a number of interesting articles:

  • Archaeology in the Struma Valley
  • Botany & Salonika 
  • Request for Information
  • Help needed in identifying a Salonika combatant
  • Mule Musings.

One article (Archaeology in the Struma Valley) reports on archaelogical research on the site of the ancient city of Amphipolis, at the mouth of the River Strimon/Struma.

Officers of the 2nd King’s Shropshire Light Infantry with skulls excavated during the construction of trenches and dugouts at the ancient Greek site of Amphipolis, 1916.
Image Source: Imperial War Museum Q 32521

It was here at Amphipolis in 1916 that British troops discovered human remains and artefacts while digging trenches. To read the article, and the rest of the email newsletter, please click here.

And, if you haven’t, please consider subscribing to the NBN here.

*The New Balkan News is available to Society members and non-members alike. The name was inspired by the newspaper of the British Salonika Force – The Balkan News, published 1915-1919 – and was the idea of founding editor, Martin Wills, when it was launched in 2013. All previous newsletters are freely available here.

Two videos that might be of interest…

Awarded the first SCS Philip Barnes Bursary in 2024, Dr Jake Gasson* recently spoke on ‘The Battle Against Boredom‘ at the National Army Museum. The topic was explored in August this year in this YouTube video for Redcoat History.

And earlier in the year, Jake also explained the background to the Salonika Campaign for Redcoat History.

*Dr Jake Gasson is a National Army Museum Fellow based at King’s College London, where he is a postdoctoral researcher. He obtained a DPhil from Pembroke College, Oxford, specialising in the Macedonian front of the First World War.

Join the 2025 Tour of the British Salonika Force Battlefields

The ‘Artillery & Small Operations’ Tour – Sunday 21 to Tuesday 30 September 2025

Explore the key locations of the British Salonika Force during the 2025 battlefield tour, with a special focus on artillery and the small-scale but intense operations that defined the campaign—raids, ambushes, and offensive patrols.

At Doiran, we’ll examine the crucial role of both British and Bulgarian artillery during the First and Second Battles of Doiran. On the Kosturino battlefield, we’ll revisit the desperate December 1915 fighting of the 10th (Irish) Division. In the Struma Valley, we’ll explore the sites of XVI Corps’ limited offensives between 1916 and 1918, as well as the defensive positions held by British forces.

Exploring sites during the 2024 tour

Our journey continues to Bowls Barrow and Smol (now Micro Dassos) in the Vardar sector, where we’ll see firsthand how operations were often designed to divert Bulgarian attention from Doiran. We’ll also visit sections of the Birdcage Line defences and the village of Mavroplagia (formerly Karamudli) in the Krusha Balkan Hills.

The tour will include visits to several Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, including Doiran (with the Memorial to the Missing), Karasouli, Kirechkoi-Hortakoi, Lembet Road, and Struma.

Running from Sunday 21 to Tuesday 30 September 2025, the tour is timed to coincide with the official commemorations marking the end of the Salonika Campaign, held over the last full weekend of September.

Led by SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield, this is a great opportunity to walk in the footsteps of BSF history.

To register your interest and receive further details, contact Alan Wakefield via email.

Special exhibition on November 12th at the Hellenic Residence

To mark Remembrance Day, the Embassy of Greece in London is hosting a special (free) exhibition on November 12th at the Hellenic Residence, 51 Upper Brook Street, London .

“There, among the rotted sandbags, a flower had grown…” is an exhibition to remember those who served in Greece during WWI. It is also a tribute to the enduring friendship and long-standing alliance between Greece and the UK.

The exhibition will present a compelling narrative of the shared histories and sacrifice between Greek, British and Commonwealth personnel in WWI Greece. The exhibition takes its title from a line in “Life in the Tomb” by Stratis Myrivilis -a landmark war novel, and by far the most famous work written in Greece on the First World War.

Visitors will have the opportunity to explore an array of artifacts and objects, some never seen before in the UK such as parts from the wreckage of Zeppelin LZ.85 which was shot down over Thessaloniki by the British battleship HMS Agamemnon on 5 May 1916.

Other artefacts on display include:

  • Personal items and military paraphernalia from British troops stationed in Greece during WWI shedding light into everyday life and daily routines at the war front, but also speaking of the resilience and spirit of those who served.
  • Photographs and Maps: Visual documentation that captures the landscapes and faces of the era.
  • Medals and Decorations: Honours awarded to servicemen who fought at the Macedonian Front during WWI.

Visiting hours and Additional Information

The exhibition will be open to the public with free admission on November 12th from 12pm.-3pm. and from 5pm.-8pm., with guided tours available to provide further context and insight into the displayed items. Slots are bookable on the hour. Last entry is at 7.30 p.m. Click here for details and tickets.

‘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!

Remembrance Service – Sandham Memorial Chapel

On Saturday 11th November, members of the SCS, including the Society’s Patron, The Hon. Ann Straker, SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield, Secretary, John Taylor and Treasurer, Ray Brownson, gathered with National Trust staff and volunteers and representatives from the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, including Trustee, Brigadier David Innes to remember those who have died for their country in war and conflict, particularly the men and women of the British Salonika Force. Thanks to Alison Lazarus of the National Trust for organising the service, The Reverend Mark Christian for officiating and Darren Rolfe for the photographs.

SCS Patron, The Hon. Ann Straker after laying the wreath on behalf of the SCS.
SCS Secretary, John Taylor, planting crosses in remembrance of 38218 Acting Bombardier James Thornley and 38368 Bombardier John Edwards.
The Sandham Memorial Chapel with the well dressed and ready for the Remembrance service.

New Book Out Today!

You may recall that back in September I alerted you to the promised publication of a new book about the Macedonian campaign, written by Jon Lewis and published by Helion & Company. I am pleased to say that, since then, I have been in touch with Jon who is a member of the Society. Jon tells me that the book is being released today. We congratulate him on the culmination of many years of research and hard work and wish him well with the book.

Continue reading “New Book Out Today!”

Swindon soldiers from Salonika Campaign set to be remembered

Working with the Society, Swindon Borough Council intends to commemorate the role of Swindonians in the Salonika Campaign. We are grateful to the Swindon Advertiser for allowing us to reproduce this article which explains the Council’s plans.

“The men of Swindon and Wiltshire who fought in a long and bitter, if often forgotten, campaign in World War I will be remembered by a plaque or some other memorial.

Members of Swindon Borough Council voted unanimously to approve a motion brought by Conservative councillor Jake Chandler.

He said he had been set on the way of researching the Salonika campaign by his great-grandfather and he had learned of significant links to Swindon and Wiltshire and the fighting which took place in Greece and what is now North Macedonia in the southern Balkans between allied forces and The Bulgarian army with support from Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary.

Coun Chandler added: “I have been in contact with the Salonika Campaign Society and there are 41 pages of names about 900 military personnel from Swindon.”

The link with Swindon is so strong because the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, the 79th Infantry Brigade of the 26th Division, which had many men from Swindon in its ranks was one of the allied units, fighting on the front there for three years from 1915.

Also operating in the theatre were the Royal Engineers, and Swindon’s railway works and the skills of the men meant many of them fighting in that regiment and in the Salonika campaign were responsible for laying miles of new railway track.

The presence was such that landmarks in the area were given names such as Swindon Hill, Rickley Hill and the names of other villages around north Wiltshire.

Coun Chandler said: “There is a unique connection to this episode in history.”

The motion was seconded by the council’s Military Champion, Coun Lawrence Elliott.

He said: “Many from Swindon made the ultimate sacrifice out in the Balkans, far from home, and did not come back to a hero’s welcome.

“My grandfather came from Australia to do his bit and he lasted about three weeks in France. His sacrifice is marked on the Menin Gate, and my family can remember him.

“But many from Swindon and around have nowhere to remember those who fought and dies in this campaign.”

As Armed Forces Champion, Coun Elliott will “investigate the commissioning of a commemorative plaque or other memorial in partnership with the Salonika Campaign Society to be completed by 2025, in time for the 110-year anniversary of the start of the conflict”.

There will also be documents photographs and maps relating to the campaign put on display in the museum and art gallery when it puts on exhibitions and Swindon’s role in the First World War.”

Featured image, Swindon Hill. Source: Imperial War Museum