Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918
We will remember them all
The British XII Corps area of operations around Lake Doiran on the border between Greece and Serbia (now FYROM).
My thanks go to SCS member Harry Fecitt who provided an article about 1/12th Battalion (Pioneers) The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in Macedonia, which recently appeared here as part of our online commemorations of the First Battle of Doiran:
Continue reading “9th (Service) Battalion East Lancashire Regiment in Macedonia”
By Harry Fecitt MBE TD
We were fortunate also in getting during April the 1/12th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which came to us as our Pioneer Battalion, under a most capable officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beckett. They were a hard-bitten, thirsty lot of Lancashire miners, but what they could do with a spade was a perfect revelation. The Division owed a great deal to this fine Battalion for the splendid work they did on the Vimy Ridge, and I attribute our comparatively low casualty returns to the rapidity with which these pioneers, assisted by the various battalions, managed to lower the depth of the trenches eighteen inches in record time.
Major General E.S. Bulfin CB, Commander 60th Division, France 1916.
By Harry Fecitt MBE TD
We were fortunate also in getting during April the 1/12th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which came to us as our Pioneer Battalion, under a most capable officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beckett. They were a hard-bitten, thirsty lot of Lancashire miners, but what they could do with a spade was a perfect revelation. The Division owed a great deal to this fine Battalion for the splendid work they did on the Vimy Ridge, and I attribute our comparatively low casualty returns to the rapidity with which these pioneers, assisted by the various battalions, managed to lower the depth of the trenches eighteen inches in record time.
Major General E.S. Bulfin CB, Commander 60th Division, France 1916.
By Harry Fecitt MBE TD
We were fortunate also in getting during April the 1/12th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, which came to us as our Pioneer Battalion, under a most capable officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beckett. They were a hard-bitten, thirsty lot of Lancashire miners, but what they could do with a spade was a perfect revelation. The Division owed a great deal to this fine Battalion for the splendid work they did on the Vimy Ridge, and I attribute our comparatively low casualty returns to the rapidity with which these pioneers, assisted by the various battalions, managed to lower the depth of the trenches eighteen inches in record time.
Major General E.S. Bulfin CB, Commander 60th Division, France 1916.
The SCS Tour Team is pleased to announce details of the Society’s September 2017 battlefield tour. This will include visits to key sites associated with British Salonika Force operations: The ‘Birdcage’ defence line, Doiran, Kosturino, the Struma Valley, as well as attendance at official ceremonies of commemoration in Greece. Continue reading “Salonika Battlefield Tour : 19-25 September 2017”
This issue concludes the detailed unit history of 8th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry by Tony Richards – started in issue 6 – which continues with more on the Battalion’s role in the First Battle of Doiran to demobilisation in 1919.
From Alan Palmer’s The Gardeners of Salonika, published in 1965 by Andre Deutsch Limited, London (p. 125): Continue reading “First Battle of Doiran : the aftermath”
From Alan Palmer’s The Gardeners of Salonika, published in 1965 by Andre Deutsch Limited, London (p. 123-124): Continue reading “First Battle of Doiran : the second attempt”
From Alan Palmer’s The Gardeners of Salonika, published in 1965 by Andre Deutsch Limited, London (p. 122): Continue reading “First Battle of Doiran : taking stock”
From Alan Palmer’s The Gardeners of Salonika, published in 1965 by Andre Deutsch Limited, London (pp. 121-122): Continue reading “First Battle of Doiran : night attack of 24th April”