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!”Category: Salonika News
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
Directory of WW1 Websites
Canada’s contribution to the First World War cannot be underestimated. More than 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the war with 66,000 killed and over 172,000 wounded. Such was the contribution, Canada had its own signature on the Treaty of Versailles. In Salonika, Canadian medical services provided care at Nos. 4 and 5 General Hospitals, and Nos. 1 and 3 Stationary Hospitals (see this earlier post). It’s of no surprise therefore that Canadians continue to research this significant period of their history.
One such research group is the CEF Study Group – an Internet discussion forum for the study, sharing of information and discussion related to the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in the Great War.
The CEF Study Group has just published its 2022 ‘List of Recommended Great War Websites’. Our own site is included among a directory of 2000+ websites, grouped into 31 logical sections. We are described thus: “This very detailed and multi-layered Blog site has numerous theme ‘buttons’ which take the reader deeper into the topic. Site is mature and very well organized.” (A recognition of former editor Robin Braysher’s work, I should add).
Readers may well find this a useful resource for research. The directory can be downloaded here.
A new book on a forgotten front
Whilst browsing wistfully through the Helion & Company website – they have so many books on military history, some of which are intriguingly ‘left field’ – I came across a book on the Macedonian campaign to be published this autumn:
Continue reading “A new book on a forgotten front”
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 