Under the Devil’s Eye describes the thoughts of a British officer after the two failed attacks at Doiran:
Tag: Bulgarian Army
The Bulgarian Army during the Salonika campaign, 1915-1918.
“a stunned silence”
In the small hours of September 20 all German and Bulgarian troops from the Crna to Dojran were ordered to prepare to fall back to new positions.
17 September 1918
It was not until the early evening of 16 September that Serbian troops finally reached the summit of the Kozyak, having had attack after attack thrown back. Even then they came across a German battalion on the northern slopes, covering the withdrawal of the Bulgarian defenders, so keeping up momentum was difficult.
Why Dobropolje?
That the Bulgarians and Germans were not expecting an assault on the Dobropolje is hardly surprising, given the nature of the terrain. Alan Palmer describes it thus, in ‘Defeat of Bulgaria – The Central Powers Begin to Crack’ (published in History of the First World War No. 107 by Purnell for BPC Publishing Ltd, London, in cooperation with the Imperial War Museum):
‘… the success of the entire offensive depends upon rapid penetration …”
In his book Balkan Breakthrough – The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918 (Indiana University Press, 2010), Richard Hall writes that several days before the start of the offensive, Serbian soldiers were told by their high command: Continue reading “‘… the success of the entire offensive depends upon rapid penetration …””
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 