‘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

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!

The SCS Philip Barnes Bursary

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

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 this page.

Lembet Road Cemetery – final resting place of Henry Loader. Image from CWGC

SCS Battlefield Tour 2023: September 24 – October 2

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.

SCS tour photo - a participant surveys one of the battlefields.

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

Rick Stein in Thessaloniki, tonight at 8pm on BBC4

So, nothing about the campaign, but a reminder of what a great city it is to visit and what great food you can get there!

Salonika Battlefield Tours 2022

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

April 10–14: Battle Honours – ‘Walking Salonika’

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

Salonika Campaign Society Battlefield Tour – September 2020

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

Continue reading “Salonika Campaign Society Battlefield Tour – September 2020”

Salonika Campaign Society Battlefield Tour – September 2020

It is with regret I have to announce that, due to uncertainties caused by COVID-19, the decision has been taken to reschedule the annual SCS Battlefield Tour, as advertised, to September 2021. The main reason for reaching this decision is the issue of the Greece – North Macedonia border. This border is currently closed, as are Greece’s borders with Albania and Turkey, due to those countries having higher rates of COVID-19. At present there are no dates projected for reopening the border and the potential exists for the border, if opened, to be closed again at short notice. Therefore, it is all but impossible to organise the cross-border leg of the tour with any certainty of it being possible to cross into North Macedonia or to guarantee the group would be able to return to Greece for homeward flights. In addition, with our usual ground handler and transport being based in North Macedonia the border situation causes major logistical problems. There are also different COVID-19 related administrative regulations in place in the two countries, which helps make a two-country tour overly complicated.

Therefore, the SCS is investigating the possibility of running a Greece only tour this coming September. However, given the close proximity to the Greece – North Macedonian border, visits to Kajmakcalan and Korona (Krastali) will not be included. The proposed tour would instead focus on the Birdcage Line, Struma Valley and parts of the Vardar sector of the front. Whilst a Greece only tour is viable, there are lots of COVID-19 related hoops to jump through from arrival in Greece onwards. These range from the need for each traveller to have a valid Passenger Locator Form to enter the country, through the possibility of members of the tour group being selected for a COVID-19 test and needing to quarantine for 14 days if found positive, to possible limitations on the number of people able to congregate in a group in a public space. These issues are being looked into at present by local SCS contacts and we hope to be in a position to make a final decision on the viability of this year’s tour by Sunday 2 August.

Alan Wakefield

Chairman, Salonika Campaign Society

NEWS : SCS Battlefield Tours in 2020

Salonika Campaign Society Battlefield Tour: 20-28 September 2020

The SCS Tour Team announces details of the Society’s September 2020 battlefield tour. This tour not only includes visits to key sites associated with the British Salonika Force but also takes the group to the key battlefield of Kajmakcalan, the mountain fought over by Serbian and Bulgarian forces between 12 and 30 September 1916. As usual, this September tour will coincide with the official ceremonies of commemoration in Greece. Continue reading “NEWS : SCS Battlefield Tours in 2020”

SCS Battlefields Tours in 2020

Next year there will be a single Society tour, running in September so as to coincide with the annual official commemorations. The reason for only running a single tour next year is due to the poor response to the spring
SCS tour run through Battle Honours last April. We hope to try running another tour with Battle Honours in 2021 but can only do so if it is supported by members.

Continue reading “SCS Battlefields Tours in 2020”