The Society’s 2025 tour (Sunday 21st to Tuesday 30th September) of the British Salonika Force battlefields is now well underway – with battlefield studies, cemetery visits and acts of commemoration. This year the tour has a special focus on artillery and small-scale operations.
The tour began with a Ceremony of Remembrance at Kirechkoi-Hortkoi cemetery, with a wreath laid by Patron of the Society, the Honourable Ann Straker, before moving on to Triada village for an introduction on the BSF in the Struma Valley and the role of artillery on that part of the front.
You can follow the progress of the tour on Facebook here.
Patron of the Society, the Honourable Ann Straker, lays a wreath at the Ceremony of Remembrance at Kirechkoi-Hortkoi cemetery
Programme for the Ceremony of Remembrance at Kirechkoi-Hortkoi cemeteryMemorial Wreaths at Kirechkoi-Hortkoi cemeteryTour members begin their site visits
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.
My thanks go to David Gallon for sharing a letter from today’s Daily Telegraph, alerting readers to the delights of visiting northern Greece and – in particular- sites associated with the Macedonian campaign.
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
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.
The Salonika Campaign Society is delighted to announce The Philip Barnes Bursary. This new initiative is offered to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers undertaking research that will contribute to knowledge of the Salonika Campaign fought across Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria between 1915 and 1918.
The successful candidate will be awarded a subsidised place on the Society’s 2024 battlefield tour. The tour of 9 days (8 nights) will run from Sunday 22 until Monday 30 September and will start and finish in Thessaloniki.
The bursary, named after Philip Barnes, SCS founder and pioneer traveller to the First World War battlefields across Macedonia, will cover accommodation, food and travel within Greece and North Macedonia for the duration of the tour. Travel to and from Greece will be at the candidate’s own expense.
Members and visitors to this site, please forward to anyone you think might be interested or who could promote the Bursary to others. Thank you.
Further details of the Bursary and how to apply are here.
Tales from the Battlefields is a free podcast from battlefield guide and researcher Terry Whenham. It focuses on “the unheard stories of men who served on the Western Front during World War 1.”
However, in Episode 68 of the podcast, Terry interviews Chris Loader who travelled with the Society on the SCS Battlefield Tour in September this year. Chris describes the background to the campaign and his visit to the location where his two-times grandfather on his father’s side, Private Henry Loader of the 10th Hampshire’s, was mortally wounded in September 1918. I listened with a lot of interest to the story of Henry – and Chris’s research and visit – and I’m sure you will find it a worthwhile use of your time too. In my humble opinion of course!
You can listen to the podcast for free on Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify and directly from thispage.
Lembet Road Cemetery – final resting place of Henry Loader. Image from CWGC
After the success of the 2022 Salonika Battlefield Tour, the SCS offers another chance to visit a number of key sites linked to the history of the British Salonika Force.
If you have not visited the ground once trodden by the BSF, we encourage you to come along as there is nothing like walking the ground to help get a better understanding of the campaign and the experiences of the men and women who served in the Balkans during the First World War.
The tour, starting on Sunday 24th September and finishing on Monday 2nd October, will be led by SCS Chair and co-author of Under the Devil’s Eye, Alan Wakefield. The plan is for the tour to cover Thessaloniki, The Birdcage Line, The Struma Valley, the Doiran battlefield, the Krusha Balkan Hills and the Roche Noire Salient. The tour group will also attend official ceremonies of Remembrance connected to the Salonika Campaign and visit a number of the CWGC cemeteries.
For further information, please contact SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield by email here.
Proposed Itinerary
Sunday 24th September Tour group meets at the airport in Thessaloniki at 11.10am Visit to Birdcage Line defences Overnight in Doiran Monday 25th September Visit to the Doiran Battlefield – Grand Couronne, The Hilt, Hill 340 Overnight in Doiran Tuesday 26th September Visit to Doiran Battlefield – La Tortue, Petit Couronne, Pip Ridge Overnight in Doiran Wednesday 27th September Visit to the Doiran Memorial & CWGC Cemetery A trip into the Krusha Balkan (‘Cushy Balkan’) Hills Overnight in Kilkis Thursday 28th September A drive through the Krusha Balkan Hills to the Struma Valley Visit to the village of Mavroplagia (formerly Karamudli) once sponsored by the Salonika Reunion Association. Paleokastro Bulgarian trench network Skotoussa (Prosenik) village – site of 4th Rifle Brigade ambush in 1918 Overnight in Serres Friday 29th September Visits to various locations in the Struma Valley including: Monokklisia and Provatas (The Karajakois and Yenikoi) BSF Outpost line river defence line positions CWGC Struma Cemetery CWGC Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Cemetery Overnight in Thessaloniki Saturday 30th September Visit to Lembet Road Allied Military Cemetery Visit to Monastir Road Indian Cemetery Visit to the site of the former BSF GHQ Overnight in Thessaloniki Sunday 1st October Attend ceremony of commemoration at the Allied Five Nations Memorial near Polykastro Visit to CWGC Karasouli Cemetery Visit to the Roche Noire Salient Overnight in Thessaloniki Monday 2nd October End of tour and return home
Some very good news from our Chair, Alan Wakefield: “With COVID-19 travel restrictions being eased, there are three planned tours to the Salonika battlefields. If you have not visited the ground once trodden by the BSF I’d encourage you to go as there is nothing like walking the ground to help get a better understanding of the campaign and the experiences of the men and women who served in the Balkans during the First World War.” Alan
Led by Alan Wakefield, this tour covers Thessaloniki, the Kosturino battlefield, the Birdcage Line, the Struma Valley and the Doiran battlefield. For details, please contact by phone, +44 (0)1438 989129 or by email, enquiries@battle-honours.co.uk
May 25–30: The Cultural Experience, ‘Salonika – War in the Birdcage’
Led by Alan Wakefield, this tour covers Thessaloniki, the Birdcage Line, the Struma Valley, Doiran and the Kosturino battlefields. For details, please see here.
September 18–26: The SCS Battlefield Tour
Led by Alan Wakefield, it is planned that this tour will cover Thessaloniki, the Birdcage Line, the Struma Valley, the Doiran and Kosturino battlefields and the Kajmakcalan battlefield. The group will also attend the official ceremonies of Remembrance connected to the Salonika Campaign.
If you have any questions or would like further details, please contact SCS Chair, Alan Wakefield via email at aj.wakefield@talktalk.net
Sadly, the continuing uncertainty surrounding foreign travel, including the potential for sudden mandatory quarantine periods being imposed by the British Government at short notice on travellers returning to the UK, makes even the idea of running a Greece-only tour in September too complicated for the Society to contemplate. Therefore, it is with regret that I have to announce there will be no SCS battlefield tour this year. Instead, we plan to deliver the tour, with the itinerary already advertised, in September 2021.
Provisional dates for the tour are 19 – 27 September 2021
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 