I’ve just come across this fascinating story related to 9/Border Regiment (Pioneers), although it pre-dates their time with the BSF (22nd Division):
Continue reading “RIP Harlequin”Tag: 22nd Division
22nd Division. An infantry division of the British Salonika Force.
World Poetry Day
My thanks go to Lucy London who has shared this poem by Trevor Allen from 1918, which she discovered in “The English Review” of 1920 (p199).
Continue reading “World Poetry Day”We Will Remember Them …
Photographs of the impressive war memorial at Clitheroe Castle in Lancashire. Clitheroe was in the recruiting area of the East Lancashire Regiment which provided a battalion – 9th (Service) Battalion – for the British Salonika Force (22nd Division, 65th Brigade), which was formed in Preston in September, 1914.
A DSO from Salonika, July 1918
My thanks go to Lucy London (again!) for bringing to my attention this fascinating set of medals which was offered for sale by Dix Noonan and Webb Ltd of Mayfair in July 2019.
Happy Lancashire Day!
Having a wife from the fine county of Lancashire, I could hardly ignore this special day – even though it took BBC Radio to tell me that such a day actually existed! Still, it’s a good opportunity to remind ourselves of the contribution of Lancashire’s many splendid regiments to the British Salonika Force.
Remembering
In June 1932 the front cover of The Mosquito had a photo of the striking memorial on Pip Ridge – now gone – to the dead of the 66th Infantry Brigade. The Brigade suffered 857 casualties in their attack on Pip Ridge on 18 September 1918, during the Second Battle of Doiran.
Something else for Black History Month …
Black soldiers in the BSF seem to be rather thin on the ground – in fact I only know of one: Charles Bailey of 9/King’s Own. I first gave Charlie a mention last year, but am happy to mention him again in case you missed the fascinating website in which he features: Charlie Bailey’s War – The story of WW1 soldier Charles Bailey a Welsh miner of West Indian origin plus some of the men he served with.
The New Mosquito #41 : April 2020
Members should have received this latest edition of The New Mosquito by now. Please contact the Society if you are expecting a copy, but haven’t received it.
The New Mosquito #40 : September 2019
Members should have received this latest edition of The New Mosquito by now. Please contact the Society if you are expecting a copy, but haven’t received it.
Faces of Salonika : John Henry Gibbon – Methodist army chaplain
The John Rylands Library recently accepted on deposit a collection of diaries written by a Methodist army chaplain John Henry Gibbon (1880-1933), who served in Salonika with the 67th Brigade of the 22nd Division between November 1916 and June 1917. Continue reading “Faces of Salonika : John Henry Gibbon – Methodist army chaplain”
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 