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[Guest]

Hi, my grandfather served with the RASC in Salonika from 19/10/16 until he returned home in March 1919.  I am planning a trip to Thessaloniki in a couple of weeks and would like to visit some of the places he would have stayed. He was a Ford engine fitter and infantryman, but other than that I don't know what campaigns he served in.  We have paintings he did of sunrise over Hortiack, Lake Lanpaza, Mount Olympus across Mikra Bay, Kalamaria and of course Salonika itself.  Of course I will be visiting these places but I don't know exactly where his camp was or where he would have worked, presumably in some transport depot.  Can anyone help with must-see places?  Many thanks. 

[keithmroberts]

The British troops in the campaign were all supplied through Salonika as it was then called, , and many ASC men would have been based around Thessaloniki but others such as motor transport drivers would have made many journeys up to the British troops in front line areas in what is now The Republic of Macedonia. I suggest that you read Alan Wakefield's book "under the Devil's Eye" on the campaign for an overview.

 

If you post your grandfather's name and service number someone might be able to give you some more precise information. It appears from your post  that you don't have any information  that would associate him with a particular ASC unit . Unfortunately that is all too often the case .but sometimes service records can be found via Ancestry or FindMyPast that will help

 

Keith

[Gardenerbill]

If your Grandfather was a Ford Motor Van Fitter, then it is quite likely that he served in one of the Motor Van Companies of the ASC attached to the Serbian Army, however Ford Motor Vans were used by other companies particularly Field Ambulances and Casual Clearing Stations so he may heve been attached to one of these. There is a book about one of the Ford Motor Van Companies, I wrote a brief review of it in the Salonika sub forum. Here's the link:

 

With the Serbs