Photographs of soldiers in Salonika for sale on eBay are not unusual, but to have one with the full name and date of the photo is. Continue reading “Faces of Salonika : Pte Harold Monkman, ASC, Salonika, 20 Oct 1916”
Tag: BSF
The British Salonika Force (or Army) during the Salonika campaign, 1915-1918.
Labour units of the BSF
A recent enquiry sent me into the uncharted waters of labour units that served with the British Salonika Force. Our orders of battle for the BSF – including on this website – tend to focus on the fighting units, so the Labour Corps and other supporting corps rarely get a look in. Continue reading “Labour units of the BSF”
Faces of Salonika : Somerset Miners
This rather small and tatty picture – another eBay purchase – shows a group of men sitting on a quayside, which may be Salonika. The mixture of service dress (as worn in the UK and on the Western Front) with a sun helmet would certainly be appropriate for men of the BSF after about mid-1916. The extremes of the Macedonian climate make all sorts of combinations of dress possible which, for me, is one of the fascinations of the campaign. Continue reading “Faces of Salonika : Somerset Miners”
Mule Lines : Cypriot Muleteers
My thanks go to Richard Devereux, once again, for alerting me to an article on Cypriot muleteers in the Macedonian campaign. This is a reminder – if one were needed – of what a multinational venture the campaign was (beyond the ‘official’ Allied Nations). Continue reading “Mule Lines : Cypriot Muleteers”
The Great Fire remembered by the SRA in 1929
In 1929 the Salonika Reunion Association remembered the great fire of August 1917 with a photograph on the front cover of its publication, The Mosquito.
Continue reading “The Great Fire remembered by the SRA in 1929”
The Great Fire : I Saw Salonika Burn, 18 August 1917
The author … here gives a magnificently graphic description of the inexorable fire which swept over the city in August 1917. Mr Collinson Owen at this time was editor of the soldier’s newspaper “The Balkan News”, and with the characteristic resource of a keen journalist only missed two days’ publication through the ravage of his office and printing works.
Continue reading “The Great Fire : I Saw Salonika Burn, 18 August 1917”
George’s War Letters, 1914-1919
My thanks go to Richard Power who has sent me the link to his centenary blog – George’s War Letters – in which he is publishing, in real-time, the war-time letters of his Great Uncle, George Power. Continue reading “George’s War Letters, 1914-1919”
Minden Day and ‘The Old Dozen’
Fred, my grandfather, spent the First World War in the Army Cyclist Corps but, in truth, he was – at heart – a ‘Suffolk’. Before getting on his bike he spent nearly eight years as a regular soldier in the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, preceded by a short spell in the 4th (Militia) Battalion. So you will understand why the Suffolk Regiment – especially 1/Suffolk – is of particular interest to me.
Back in print : Under the Devil’s Eye
I’m pleased to say that Under the Devil’s Eye – The British Military Experience in Macedonia 1915-1918 by Alan Wakefield (SCS Chairman) and Simon Moody (SCS founding Editor) is back in print. Continue reading “Back in print : Under the Devil’s Eye”
Not to be missed : Voices of the First World War
This series of fifteen minute programmes on BBC Radio Four is not to be missed. Continue reading “Not to be missed : Voices of the First World War”
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 