Salonika 1915-18 Memorial

[HERITAGE PLUS]

From the MoD Site:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceN...InMacedonia.htm

Dave

[MartinWills]

Dave,

It's not quite true to say that it had been forgotten until "rediscovered" a year ago. The memorial has been visited several times over the last few years and in September last year the poppy cross placed there about 4 years ago by Huw Rodge was renewed during a Salonika Campaign Society battlefield tour (and this poppy cross is the one shown in the picture on the MOD website).

During that trip we talked with a rep from the embassy and as a result what had just been an idea came to fruition on Nov 12th this year. The area had been entirely overgrown and you had to clamber through the undergrowth and try not to slip on moss covered rocks to get near to it. The area is now cleared and the meorials - old and new - are easily accessible. Pals may also be interested to hear that the 10th Irish Division Memorial, restored a few years ago, can also be found a few miles to the north below the Kosturino Ridge.

Members of the Salonika Campaign Society were in attendance at the ceremony - at least two of them being forum members. I received a brief initial report yesterday - noting that it had been "a very moving, impressive and well-attended event." At least one of the pals attending has promised to provide a fuller report and photographs shortly.

If anyone is planning to visit the area you should be aware that it is very close to the EU frontier (Greece/FYROM(Macedonia) and is quite a sensitive area so liaison with the authorities prior to visiting is absolutely essential whether on the Macedonian (FYROM) or Greek side. Maps in any detail are not available and even period trench maps are today still regarded as being so accurate that to walk around clutching one raises suspicions with the authorities. On the Greek side at least one CWGC site is ofen used as an observation post to identify forest fires and/or illegal activites around the border.

If anyone is considering visiting there is now a local outfit offering guiding in the area and covering the cemeteries/memorials on the Greek side of the border immediately south of Doiran as well as covering the FYROM/Macedonia areas of the Grand Couronne/PiP Ridge/Jumeaux Ravine etc and also venturing a little further north to Dedeli and the areas around the Kosturino Ridge. Be warned that much of the Grand Couronne area is tough going and requires a fair level of physical fitness. It is, however, well worth the visit and the guiding team there do speak english and, from personal experience, I have found them most hospitable.

You can see some details of the area, some fine pics of what can be seen - such as wholly intact Bulgarian gun emplacements etc on their website at:

www.salonikabattlefieldtour.com

Martin

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Martin

Thanks for the informed follow up.

Dave

[daggers]

Well done to all concerned.

D

[apwright]

The new memorial plaque in situ above the original plaque.

More photos of yesterday's rededication service HERE

It was a memorable day!

There must have been 60 or 70 people who had hiked up to the memorial on the northern slope of Kale Tepe/Grand Couronne - about 45 minutes, some of it fairly steeply uphill. The route was marshalled by the men and women of the Yorkshire Regiment, currently serving with KFOR, and by children from the local school.

The British and Bulgarian ambassadors to FYROM addressed the congregation, as did the Mayor of Dojran. Alan "Devil's Eye" Wakefield provided the historical background. There were representatives of the police and armed forces of FYROM, and soldiers from Bulgaria, the US and Holland, as well as numerous local dignitaries and civilians. Not to mention virtually the entire staff of the British Embassy in Skopje! Wreaths were laid and the hills echoed with mournful sound of the Last Post played by a Royal Signals corporal. Two full minutes of silence were impeccably observed. We remembered them!

And although they didn't, strictly speaking, discover the memorial (the locals have known about it for decades), all credit must go to Simon Roberts and Reuben Thorpe of the Embassy, who were the driving force behind the renovation and rededication of the memorial over the last 12 months. They really have done a magnificent job. The site remains pretty difficult to reach (Google Earth 41.1946 22.6875 - the Yorkshires brought up 2 KFOR Landrovers loaded with tea and coffee - and stretchers, just in case - vehicles are normally prohibited). But there are now benches to sit on and information boards describing the battlefield.

On the way up and down we passed through an extensive area of hillside where the vegetation had been burnt off in a bush fire last year, revealing vague trench lines and shell craters in the ground surrounded by broken and blackened stumps. It was an eerie, lunar landscape, but a reminder that the whole battlefield must have looked like this 90 years ago. The forests that cover most of the battlefield today have only grown in the last 40 years or so.

And somewhere out there, the memorial to the 77th Brigade has still to be rediscovered.

Adrian

[MartinWills]

Adrian,

Thanks for getting these super pics posted so quickly.

I think we must all be wishing we had been there.

Now - where's that 77th Brigade Mem?

Martin

[awakefield]

As Adrian says, it was a very fitting ceremony of rededication. The turnout, both official and local was higher than expected.

I spent an interesting afternoon on 11 Nov with the Company of 1 Yorks sent down from KFOR in putting finishing touches to the site. We also managed to get them up to the Devil's Eye and, as seems to be a recurring theme when I visit Doiran, we came down from the hills in the pitch dark!

Full credit goes to Simon and Reuben for taking on this project and making it such a success. They put hell of a lot of time and effort in, despite having day jobs to go to.

Other hoped for developments at Doiran include the proposed establishment of an NGO to help the local council manage the site, the possible setting up of an historical display about the battlefield in the local town hall (in conjunction with Strumnica Museum) and the cutting and management of tracks between the 22nd Division memorial - Devil's Eye bunker - front face of Grand Couronne.

I'll post a fuller report when I return from Macedonia over the weekend. However, I will just say that we 'found' some smashed and neglected German memorials at Gradsko and a derelict Serbian cemetery in the hills below the Kajmakcalan mountain - Simon and I spent ca.3 hrs off roading in these mountains in an attempt to reach Kajmakcalan - in true British explorer mode we just failed! Once again we came down in the dark - an interesting experience.

It has been a great week over here and I'm itching to get back on the battlefields next September.

ALAN

[Charles Fair]

Nice to see the memorial back to its former glory. Well done to all concerned, esp Simon and Reuben.

[awakefield]

As promised a couple of weeks back here's one of the photos from my recent trip to Macedonia. This shows one of the German memorials/graves at Gradsko. According to the local chap we spoke to there are ca.80 of these in the field!

[awakefield]

Here's a Turkish memorial/grave also at Gradsko.

[awakefield]

Here are the remains of the WWI German memorial at Gradsko. According to an old local chap who has lived in the village since before WWII the statue was of two German soldiers supporting a wounded comrade. The old man told us the statue was smashed by Red Army troops near the end of WWII. In the foreground can be seen two of the stone memorial/grave markers.

[MartinWills]

Alan,

Will there be a full article on this in the next Salonika Campaign Society Magazine (The New Mosquito)?

[paul guthrie]

I've hiked this with Huw Rodge also, walked 15 miles that day on Grand Couronne.

[Kate Wills]

Did you get inside the Devil's Eye Paul?

[awakefield]

Martin

I will aim to write up an account of my trip and Simon has agreed to produce an article on the 22nd Division memorial project.

In the meantime, here's the Serbian cemetery on the track to Kajmakcalan. Oppinion now favours the damage having been done during the German occupation in WWII.

ALAN

[paul guthrie]

Did you get inside the Devil's Eye Paul?

Doesn't every one? We had a tractor carrying our packs, well mine fell off and had my plane ticket in it. It was a Delta flight but last part in, first out was Alitalia. The s.o.b.'s made me but a new one at the price of a last minute purchase! The worst airline stunt I have ever seen, after months of crap Delta did refund less a lost ticket charge.

[awakefield]

Here's one more photo of the Serbian cemetery. At least one Serbian group interested in WWI know of its location as there was a relatively fresh wreath with Serbian ribbons lying at the far end of the cemetery.

[matthew lucas]

well if i can get official interest, hope to see this on a tour!

matt

historical informaion officer WFA 4731

[Guest rxt]

Dave,

It's not quite true to say that it had been forgotten until "rediscovered" a year ago. The memorial has been visited several times over the last few years and in September last year the poppy cross placed there about 4 years ago by Huw Rodge was renewed during a Salonika Campaign Society battlefield tour (and this poppy cross is the one shown in the picture on the MOD website).

During that trip we talked with a rep from the embassy and as a result what had just been an idea came to fruition on Nov 12th this year. The area had been entirely overgrown and you had to clamber through the undergrowth and try not to slip on moss covered rocks to get near to it. The area is now cleared and the meorials - old and new - are easily accessible. Pals may also be interested to hear that the 10th Irish Division Memorial, restored a few years ago, can also be found a few miles to the north below the Kosturino Ridge.

Members of the Salonika Campaign Society were in attendance at the ceremony - at least two of them being forum members. I received a brief initial report yesterday - noting that it had been "a very moving, impressive and well-attended event." At least one of the pals attending has promised to provide a fuller report and photographs shortly.

If anyone is planning to visit the area you should be aware that it is very close to the EU frontier (Greece/FYROM(Macedonia) and is quite a sensitive area so liaison with the authorities prior to visiting is absolutely essential whether on the Macedonian (FYROM) or Greek side. Maps in any detail are not available and even period trench maps are today still regarded as being so accurate that to walk around clutching one raises suspicions with the authorities. On the Greek side at least one CWGC site is ofen used as an observation post to identify forest fires and/or illegal activites around the border.

If anyone is considering visiting there is now a local outfit offering guiding in the area and covering the cemeteries/memorials on the Greek side of the border immediately south of Doiran as well as covering the FYROM/Macedonia areas of the Grand Couronne/PiP Ridge/Jumeaux Ravine etc and also venturing a little further north to Dedeli and the areas around the Kosturino Ridge. Be warned that much of the Grand Couronne area is tough going and requires a fair level of physical fitness. It is, however, well worth the visit and the guiding team there do speak english and, from personal experience, I have found them most hospitable.

You can see some details of the area, some fine pics of what can be seen - such as wholly intact Bulgarian gun emplacements etc on their website at:

www.salonikabattlefieldtour.com

Martin

I have to take issue with some of this really. I am sorry. I can honestly, (having been there in Macedonia from 2007 - 2009) hand on heart, say that it was mine and Simons idea to go to the embassy for funds to re-furb the site and place a replica memorial at Doiran. It was we who suggested pitched it to the new Ambassador at the embassy and it was we who wrote the project design, put the bids in for the funds, garnered local support and got all this moving. Romeo Dobrov of salonicabattlefieldtour was immense, excellent project officer and exceptional local facilitator. Credit where credit due I think. If you did talk to a rep from the embassy it is unknown to us, certainly as we both had close personal contacts with it.

[MartinWills]

Reuben,

I do take exception to this.

As I am sure you know we (the SCS tour party) discussed this with Simon (who was with the Embassy at the time), Romeo and others (yourself included?) back in 2007. Simon, as you say, together with yourself was keen to pursue it formally with the embassy - which was done very effectively. Members of the SCS party offered support and some bits of background research were done by a number of people such as Alan Wakefield, Adrian Wright, Kate Wills and others. Without doubt the impetus came from Simon and yourself, but the support from the SCS and others offered at the time helped move it forward. I stand by what I said - the result of the discussions at the time was to generate support and move the project on. The SCS "New Mosquito" articles tell the fuller story and I would commend them to all who want the fuller story.

Romeo Drobarov (not Dobrov) as you say was a very effective local rep - and continues to be so. Romeo has also been involved in discussions around other potential projects in the area and he and his team (especially Geli & Binko) have done much work to make the area more accessible and continue to do so.

I have no desire to create yet another Balkan War and if we are to continue to support projects aimed at interpreting the battlefields, educating visitors and making them more accessible we all need to play our part. There is much more to be done building relationships between the UK and the various communities in the area and that should be the focus of further efforts.

[SALONIKA]

Hello my friends

First let’s think about "Gardeners of Salonika " they lived and maintained local houses , they planted vegetables in their yards. Tradition continued with Reuben and Simon in the mountain they restored placque and made Memorial site. I would like to tell: Reuben and Simon you restored the history, you started Doiran’s renessance. You were welcomed in Doiran llike every other foreign visitor.Even if we are not present in Doiran(Reuben Martin, Alan, Kate, Simon, Romeo etc) any more,the interest in Doiran’s war history will never fade.

Nobody will create another Balkan war. With this we will make stronger friendship and partnership.

Local authorities invite everybody who has a project about restoring the battlefield area.

French embassy run their big project in Monastir-battlefield area. Last month was the ceremony.Few years ago, Bulgarians restored military cemeteries in Novo selo.

Presence of foreign and domestic visitors and correct talking and sharing knowledge with various communities should be the one of further efforts, I I must say.