As a result of a remarkable piece of work researched and initiated by SCS Membership Secretary, Keith Edmonds, we are pleased to provide a new file to aid research and understanding of the Salonika Campaign.
The Trench Maps Indexis a .pdf file which lists approximately 8,500 place names from the Salonika theatre, in alphabetic sequence, together with their corresponding coordinates. The names, and their respective Easting/Northing, have been determined from the collection of maps available from the Society and show:
Place Name
The map from where the location reference (Easting/Northing) was taken
The map scale
The Easting and Northing and
The calculated, corresponding Latitude and Longitude.
Where a location reference has been provided on the respective map, the place’s location is shown in italicised blue text in the index, as in the following example.
An entry from the Trench Maps Place Names Index.
But here’s the thing… clicking on any name shown in blue text will load Google Maps at that locationas indicated by a red ‘pin’!
The location of Arthur´s Seat in Google Maps
This ability to locate campaign locations in Google Maps is a remarkable innovation made possible by the research begun by Keith leading to collaboration with Professors Clifford J Mugnier and Gábor Timár. As a result, Professor Timár presented a paper on the subject, Georeference of the Allied Trench Maps of the WW1 Salonika Front at the 16th ICA Conference, Digital Approaches to Cartographic Heritage at the Faculty of Geography, Babeş–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 22nd-24th September 2022. The co-authors of the paper are listed as Gábor Timár, Keith Edmonds, Clifford J. Mugnier.
Many thanks to Society member Keith Roberts for the following reviews:
As a result of working on the SCS bibliography I have arguably parted with too much money purchasing books about the campaign for myself. Some, in fact most, of the books published in the aftermath of the Great War are now both rare and expensive. Only a limited number have been reprinted but quite a few are available to download free of charge from the ‘Internet Archive‘, and a few at modest cost, as Kindle ebooks, but I’m still happier with a real book in my hands. Not long ago I came upon a couple of closely related privately-published items…
1914-1919 Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division
The first item was 1914-1919 Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division by C, (Charles), Midwinter who was a sergeant in that unit. The booklet was published in 1933 and described his time in the unit from the outbreak of war to November 1918 by which time the unit was in Palestine. The only copies that I have been able to trace are in the libraries of The Imperial War Museum, and Leeds University.
The content is a well-written narrative describing the unit’s experiences, from formation, via Gallipoli and Macedonia to Palestine. After the introductory pages and the unit’s experience of the Gallipoli campaign, the author describes their part in the Salonika Campaign in pages 40-56.The text names some members of the unit, and draws frequently upon the recollections of Sgt Midwinter. 32 FA, a Territorial unit, landed in Salonika on 10 October 1915 and, after a short interval, deployed behind the positions held by part of the 10th Irish Division at Kosturino. Subsequently they occupied a number of locations during the remainder of their time in Salonika, before moving to Egypt and Palestine in late 1917. Written by a soldier rather than a medically qualified individual the narrative has little to say about the medical part of the unit’s work, describing rather their movements, and locations.
An extract from Memoirs of the 32nd Field Ambulance, 10th Irish Division December 1915/January 1916
The Badge of Honour
The second booklet, which I stumbled upon more recently, is The Badge of Honour edited by Godfrey A Gill, who published three other booklets on Cornish subjects. This is another privately published work, printed in 2015. It is well presented with a small number of photographs. This book is very different, and is built entirely around a transcription of the diary kept by a Plymouth man, Private Tom Wherly describing his personal experience of service in 32nd. Field Ambulance.
The style is quite different, being a record of his diary entries (with some gaps), from his enlistment until 11 September 1918. It records some of his experience at various locations, the weather, his ailments and his food, the things that he thought his family might like to know about as it is made clear that he wrote these comments for the benefit of his family. They were identified in this new century by a family member and after some time this volume emerged in 2015. There are few comments about military events as a result of which the editor inserted several appendices in which he addressed the background and current events of the time. The editor is not a military historian, but his comments are generally well founded, apart from referring to the ‘Field Ambulance Corps’ rather than to the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The descriptions of Tom Wherly’s life, especially while serving in the Salonika theatre of war give an interesting perspective of the thoughts and experience of a man serving in a non-combat role in a very human way, describing the aspects of his military life that he thought would give the best description of his experience. As such it is a very human document, and enables the reader to get a sense of the daily life of one of the many members of the BSF whose service was essential, but entirely behind the front lines.
An extract from Badge of Honour also December 1915-January 1916
The Badge of Honour is nicely printed with stiff card boards and glossy paper and a small number of photographs. There are 106 pages but the editor is responsible for a number with his explanatory appendices and notes. I have discovered that just 18 original copies of The Badge of Honour are still available at the original price of £7.95 plus postage. I plan to purchase a small number for friends I will be meeting either during our next tour in September, or at the AGM October 2023. The remainder can be purchased from The Mayflower Studio, Fore Street, East Looe PL13 1AE, email at mayflower.looe@btconnect.com
Two tales of two men
Both men received the 1915 Star, in addition to the Victory and the British War Medal. Beyond his medal record almost all we know about Charles Midwinter is that he started the war as a private, and ended a sergeant.
We know quite a lot more about Samuel Thomas Pawley Wherly, because this diary was in the hands of his descendants, and some of his army records survived the 1940 bombing of Arnside Street. Like Charles Midwinter, he joined up at the beginning of the war, and his service was continuous from 28 October 1914 until 13 May 1919 when he was discharged as no longer fit for war service. His attestation form states that he has four years previous experience as a volunteer with the Devon Royal Garrison Artillery. Like many others he was issued with the (Silver) War Badge and the few surviving pages of his service record show that he served for four years and 198 days before his discharge in 1919, and that he was discharged with a 50% degree of disability on the grounds of Melancholia with a pension of 13s 9d weekly to be reviewed after 52 weeks. His role in the RAMC is described as “Nursing Duty Orderly”.
Taking advantage of a Eurostar ticket sale, Mrs B and I recently enjoyed a jaunt to Belgium, with a few days in Brussels and a few in Ieper (Ypres). Our last night found us in a hotel close to Bruxelles-Midi (Zuid) station, where we would be taking the Eurostar home the next day, and where we had ended our train journey from Ieper (train from Poperinge, changing at Gent-Sint-Pieters for Brussels).
You may recall that back in September I alerted you to the promised publication of a new book about the Macedonian campaign, written by Jon Lewis and published by Helion & Company. I am pleased to say that, since then, I have been in touch with Jon who is a member of the Society. Jon tells me that the book is being released today. We congratulate him on the culmination of many years of research and hard work and wish him well with the book.
Whilst looking through ‘The Mosquito’ – an excellent resource and good value, too! – I came across a recipe for a date and walnut cake from June 1939 (No. 46, page 49). I’m no baker, but I do like pottering in the kitchen. Admittedly it’s mainly to listen to history podcasts, but I can turn out a reasonable tea loaf, so thought this would be within my capabilities. The opportunity came when we were given a bag of fresh walnuts so, with just some stoned dates to buy, I was off!
I know the recipe says ‘Walnut and Date Cake’ but I think ‘Date and Walnut’ trips off the tongue more readily!
Ingredients
1 lb stoned dates;
2 ozs walnuts – I put in 3 ozs as I had them and 2 ozs didn’t look much next to a pound of dates!
2 teacups of boiling water (bare measure) – I have no idea what this means but two measures of one of our posh teacups did the trick!
1½ teacups of sugar – I don’t have a very sweet tooth and given that a pound of dates is rather sweet I put in a little under a teacup of Demerara, which was fine;
4 teacups of plain flour – I ended up shaking in a bit more because the mixture looked rather gloopy!
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda;
2 beaten eggs;
½ teaspoon of salt.
Method
Chop dates and walnuts – I went quite small; this was the most tedious part of the operation but, with a good podcast to listen to, the job was soon done;
place the dates and walnuts in a bowl and add salt, bicarbonate of soda, then boiling water;
allow to stand for two minutes;
add sugar, flour and the beaten eggs – stirring thoroughly;
‘Will make two cakes or loaves’ – not very precise guidance from the recipe so I got out a selection of baking tins and guessed how far the mixture would go – greasing them with butter and lining with greaseproof paper before pouring in the mixture; these are the sizes I ended up with …
Pip, Squeak and Wilfred!
‘Bake in moderate oven for 1 to 1½ hours’ – our fan oven did them in about 45 minutes at 180℃; I checked they were done by poking with a skewer to see if there was any uncooked mixture lurking (thanks for the tip, Mrs B!).
I have to say they were a great success and there is very little left after a week. I shall definitely be making this again.
So, thanks to the Salonika Reunion Association and, especially, Aileen H. Moore (late of QAIMNS (R)) for a super little recipe shared in the ‘Women’s Pages’ of ‘The Mosquito’ over 70 years ago!
Whilst browsing wistfully through the Helion & Company website – they have so many books on military history, some of which are intriguingly ‘left field’ – I came across a book on the Macedonian campaign to be published this autumn:
Many thanks to Society member Keith Roberts for information about this book, With the Serbs in Macedonia.
Its author, Douglas Walshe, was an officer in one of the British Army Service Corps Mechanical Transport Companies sent to drive small Ford trucks with equipment, food and ammunition to the Serbian army. The book can be found in digital format on the SCS map disk, and is also free of charge to download on the Internet Archive.
Keith recently took delivery of a printed edition complete with an intact dustjacket. Now rather ‘grubby’, the book is the original 1920 edition and amazingly, says Keith, the “book has never been read. How can I tell? The pages have not been cut.” Says Keith, “it is easy reading, and surely worth an hour or two of anybody’s time.”
I agree with that, having just started it myself. Something of the tone of the writing can be heard in the opening pages, “Here, as far as our men are concerned, there are no records of days and nights in waterlogged trenches under concentrated shell-fire, and no pulse-stirring descriptions of hand-to-hand encounters and bayonet charges. We never fired a shot at anything more exciting than a petrol tin for revolver practice, or a wild goose or duck for a dinner that usually remained in the air. But we did our job, and we saw a little of the Balkans. Mainly married and mostly of inferior physique, we ‘carried on’ – when there was any carrying on to be done.”
The online version of With the Serbs in Macedonia can be found here.
I am grateful to society member Harry Fecitt for bringing to members’ attention this MA dissertation, Triumph in the Balkans. Anglo-French Co-operation in Macedonia during the First World War.
The work has four chapters: Chapter I. The origins of the Salonika Expedition; Chapter II. In the shadow of Sarrail; Chapter III. Guillaumat’s groundwork for success; and Chapter IV. The year of victory. It has comprehensive notes and appendices, and many illustrations.
The dissertation is free to download but an email address is required to sign up to Academia.edu. It can be found here.
The Society is very pleased to have been given a collection of photographs which belonged to Private John Gilchrist of 244 Mechanical Transport Company, Army Service Corps. In the year ahead we hope to scan these – along with other donated collections – so they can be made available to members. As a teaser, here is a seasonal photograph showing pigs and turkeys at an ASC camp in Salonika being fattened up for Christmas.
I am currently reading a fascinating book: Frontline Cookbook: Battlefield Recipes from the Second World War, edited by Andrew Robertshaw in association with the Royal Logistics Corps Museum (Spellmount, 2012). In a section on the origins of the Army Catering Corps (p.26), I came across this:
One Development within the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) [note: the ASC did not become ‘Royal’ until 1918] was a new appointment for officers. Their responsibility was catering and by January 1916 there were fourteen Catering Instructors who were distributed throughout the UK. By 1918 the number of instructors had expanded to forty and although the main Army School of Cookery was at Aldershot there were schools of instruction in all the theatres of war. These included Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Salonika and, from 1918, Russia. After the Armistice, the Catering Section was gradually disbanded and by June 1923 there was a single Inspector of Catering at the War Office.
This sent me to the online catalogue of The National Archives at Kew to find the official war diary of this school of instruction in Salonika and here it is:
You will note that it is listed as ‘Army School of Cookery’ from August 1917, alongside some other interesting schools of instruction and lines of communication troops. Of course, war diaries from the Macedonian campaign have not been digitised so, unless you want to pay for this to be done, you will need to visit Kew to see it. It’s a neglected subject that probably warrants further investigation.
It’s worth mentioning that Andrew Robertshaw has also written a volume on the First World War – Feeding Tommy: Battlefield Recipes from the First World War (Spellmount, 2013). Perversely I am reading them in reverse order. The Society has been given some collections of photos belonging to ASC soldiers in the campaign, which include images of cooks at work, so I’m saving this book for when I start investigating these.
Finally, I found this comment (p.91) which I am sure would have applied equally to the soldiers of 1914-18:
… British servicemen do not respond to a diet that lacks tea. So great was the British need to furnish their troops with an adequate supply of tea throughout the war that during one season in 1942-43 the Ministry of Defence bought India’s entire crop of tea for use in the armed forces.
Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 