Louise Vernon Posted 20 March , 2010 Share Posted 20 March , 2010 Hi All, I am researching a great uncle of mine - Archie Lee and have been very fortunate to find 110 pages of his service record, in it, it states that Archie's Unit and Corps were D Bty 57 Bde R.F.A. He broke and left and then his right leg in two separate incidents and then became seriously ill in 1919 with influenza and was treated in a hospital in Taranto, Italy. Can anyone tell me a little bit more about what the 57 Brigade were doing in Salonika and what battles they fought? I have information on the Salonika war side but it does not talk about the 57 brigade specifically. Many thanks, Loulou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockdoc Posted 20 March , 2010 Share Posted 20 March , 2010 There are three War Diaries for the Brigade at Kew under WO 95/4295 (1915 in Gallipoli), WO 95/4831 (Feb 1916-Aug 1917) and WO 95/4864 (up to 1919) in Salonika. They were with 10th (Irish) Division so they would have been on the Struma Front up to August 1917. After the 10th Division left for Egypt, the Brigade joined 26th Division on the Doiran Front to the end of the War. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Vernon Posted 20 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 20 March , 2010 Hi Keith, Thank you very much for this information, I can now start having a look at the various places and what happened. I cannot work out yet how to look for the sections/brigades/batteries that I want, does this come with experience? Many thanks again, LouLou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 20 March , 2010 Share Posted 20 March , 2010 Loulou, Near the top of the page there is a link to The Long Long Trail (LLT) and if you look up the army formations there - starting with the 10th Division, you should find an ORBAT (Order of Battle - of the units in the division) which should help put some of this in context. You may also want to obtain via your local library "Under the Devil's Eye" by Wakefield & Moody. Out of print but a good recent starting point in reading about the campaign. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockdoc Posted 21 March , 2010 Share Posted 21 March , 2010 Sorry. LouLou. sometimes it's easy for forget that a newcomer isn't up to speed with all the resources available. Apologies for that. Most, if not all, surviving War Diaries for British units of all types are kept at The National Archives, at Kew. They appear in the series WO 95 and the Piece number (the numbers after the oblique) are related to the War Theatre the units served in so, in this case, there are separate Diaries for service in Gallipoli and Salonika but also two for the Salonika campaign because they served under both XVIth Corps (Struma Front) and XIIth Corps (Doiran Front) and their archives were separate. Martin's dead right that Under the Devil's Eye is a great book and well worth finding but another readable book on this Theatre - The Gardeners of Salonika - has recently been re-published. Where UtDE is quite focused, Gardeners paints a very broad picture of the War in Salonika so each compliments the other. To get the best picture of what the Brigade were doing you need its Diaries but they're likely to be many pages long so they'll be ferociously expensive to have copied by TNA. If you can get to Kew and take a digital camera with you, it's free to photograph the documents. You can't use flash, though. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Vernon Posted 21 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 21 March , 2010 Hi Keith, Thank you for your additional information, it is very helpful. Like most people (I would imagine) I had never heard Salonika's name mentioned when people talk about the first World War ... I will have to get a trip down to Kew and view the diaries but thanks to you at least I know which ones to be asking for and that I can take the camera. I'm also going to see if I can find the books you and Martin mention. Many thanks again for your help. Loulou Hi Martin, Thank you very much for your advice re: LLT and the book - I'm going to see if I can get hold of a copy. Thanks again, Loulou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 21 March , 2010 Share Posted 21 March , 2010 There is also some info available on the Salonika Campaign Society web pages - currently being re-vamped and now at SCS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corisande Posted 21 March , 2010 Share Posted 21 March , 2010 I have a write up on the 10th Division in Salokika here http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/salonika/salonica.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Vernon Posted 27 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 27 March , 2010 Thanks for this link Loulou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27thBN Posted 27 March , 2010 Share Posted 27 March , 2010 Thanks for this link Loulou You found 110 pages service record that would be a record by itself . Well done im happy to get 10 pages If i am lucky .MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Vernon Posted 27 March , 2010 Author Share Posted 27 March , 2010 Thanks for this info Martin There is also some info available on the Salonika Campaign Society web pages - currently being re-vamped and now at SCS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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