7th January 1918 : Dear M …

I recently bought a set of five postcards sent from Salonika. This was not really for the images – although they are attractive – as I already own some of them. The attraction was that, after more than one hundred years, the group has stayed together and capture a brief correspondence between a member of the BSF and a young lady in England. They won’t add any particular insight into the campaign, but it’s nice to be able to remember them, even though the sender is only identified as ‘Jack’. Continue reading “7th January 1918 : Dear M …”

Exhibition and Event at Sandham Memorial Chapel: 16-27 October 2019

An exhibition of work by 2018 Sky Landscape Artist of the Year, Jen Gash, inspired by her journey through the countryside of Macedonia accompanying the 2018 SCS Centenary tour and following in Stanley Spencer’s footsteps.

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A picture of the Salonika campaign?

I was pleased to hear from Joel Garzoli an art dealer from San Francisco. We are truly global! Joel had a question about a picture in his collection, a First World War painting by American artist Gilbert Gaul, called ‘Directing Traffic’. Does the painting depict a scene from the Salonika campaign?

Continue reading “A picture of the Salonika campaign?”

Remembering František Štěrba who died in Hotesovo, 17 March 1917

A departure from our usual BSF focus this time. The Austro-Hungarian Army has not come up before although they were active in Macedonia, albeit at the other end of the line from the BSF. I am pleased though, to be able to remember František Štěrba, who lies in Northern Macedonia, a long way from home. Continue reading “Remembering František Štěrba who died in Hotesovo, 17 March 1917”

And another thing …

It is its marvellous collection of military vehicles that makes Muckleburgh well worth a visit – that and its location in glorious North Norfolk – but other delights are an historic military camp, the Suffolk and Norfolk Yeomanry Collection, previously mentioned, and an extensive display of scale models. Continue reading “And another thing …”

Hold yew hard, bor, tha’s Norfolk Day!

It’s that time of the year again when I try to find a tenuous link between the Salonika campaign and my adopted home, the fine county of Norfolk, even though, as I’ve only lived here 29 years, I’m still a ‘furriner’.

Continue reading “Hold yew hard, bor, tha’s Norfolk Day!”

Happy Lunar New Year!

This is a little late, but I wish you all the very best for the Year of the Pig. This year it’s an Earth Pig in the Vietnamese zodiac, so special for you if you were born in 1959. Are you ‘communicative, popular among their friends, with a strong sense of timekeeping’? Here are some appropriate photos from the IWM’s excellent online collection…

Continue reading “Happy Lunar New Year!”