Visit to Thessaloniki

[paul guthrie]

There is an article index somewhere but I can't find it on the web site, could save a lot of looking, it was 4 years ago or so.

[SimonM]

The New Zealand nurses and orderlies were part of the 1st NZ Stationary Hospital who were lost when the transport 'Marquette' was torpedoed by a U boat in 1915. They are on the Mikra memorial.

See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~s...ursestitle.html for more info.

there are some interesting graves at Mikra, some belonging to White Russian officers and men who died in the S. Russian civil war.

At the Struma Military cemetery is the grave of Capt charles Gimmingham, CO of 17 Kite Balloon Section who died as he fell from his balloon whilst attacked by the German ace Eschwege in 1917. The German

was later killed in a booby trap balloon trick by the Section and buried there too (tho later removed).

More info on what to see in Salonika can be found in an article in the Battlefields Review issue 11 published some years ago to which I contributed.

Cheers

Simon Moody

[bobpike]

Simon,

Thank you for your suggestions & the link. Can you suggest why there seems to be a dearth of 'notable graves,' or am I mistaken?

Bob

[Kate Wills]

It was a much smaller campaign, with barely more than half a dozen British divisions participating. Warfare could not really commence until roads had been built, and the real enemy was the malaria-carrying mosquito. Notable people were there, but were more likely to succumb to malaria than be killed outright by enemy fire.

[SimonM]

Hi Bob,

I think Kate is right. I myself am always a little unesy with 'celeb' graves. Strolling around the cemeteries does give one the sense that the majority of these people were ordinary, sent to Salonika by chance and with little say in the matter. That is what Alan Wakefield and I wanted to bring out in 'Under the Devil's Eye' (still available online and in all good bookshops!) also remember that Bulgar and Turkish graves can also be found, as well as exotic units such as the Macedonian and Maltese Mule and Labour Corps, which adds colour.

Broadly speaking the cemeteries can be classified as follows (which also explains the lack of 'celebs':

Lembet Road: site of camp and hospitals, mostly died of wounds, disease, air raids

Karasouli: Vardar front losses and hospital cases.

Sarigol: Hospital site, died of wounds, disease.

Doiran: front line losses, recovered from the field afteer battles in 1917 and 1918 with a few 1915.

Struma: Losses from small actions in Struma valley and disease.

Lahana: 27 CCS, the cemetery is the original CCS one.

Mikra: a mixture of hospital deaths, washed up drowned and miscellaneous.

Indian Cemetery: as above with some IASC and Imperial Service drivers.

The latter is well worth a visit, though in a slightly dodgy bit of town to the west of the centre. There is quite an interesting private memorial to an officer from Pakistan there. Incidentally, at Lembet, the aalied cemeteries are most interesting. The Serb chapel dominates everything. Nearby, against a fence in the long grass are the fragment of private Serb headstones put there by Serb families and removed by Tito's regime

who wanted everything to be uniformly and depressingly so. the uniformed gardener didn't like us looking at those though. The French cemetery containing many 1000s of graves is scanselous by CWGC standards. Many crosses have fallen and weeds proliferate. The Italian section is also weedy but not through neglect. There a re some interesting statues and memorials in there too. For political reasons (remember Kosovo?) the russians now have a memorial, placed there by their buddies the Serbs. In short the cemetery sums up the Balkan campaign muddle well perhaps there is also a memorial to French airmen too.

Hope this helps

Simon Moody

[RHLV]

Don't know exactly where you are going, but if you are heading to Athens, there is a ferry connection to Skyros where you can visit the grave of Rupert Brooke. My wife and I were there about 4 years ago and it was fairly well maintained, but difficult to get to as the bus didn't go near and taxis were expensive. If you don't mind a walk from the nearest bus stop it's interesting in a morbid sort of way (bring a copy of some of his poems and read them standing there) and there's a pretty good view from nearby. It's tough to get to Skyros from Thessaloniki (or it least it was 4 summers ago).

Rich

[bobpike]

Simon,

Thank you for your comments and advice. I totally agree with you, it's just that if I was visiting Ors, for instance, & did not know who Owen was or that he was buried there, & missed him, I'd be most disappointed. By the way I have your book & can thoroughly recommend it,

Bob

Rich,

Many thanks, but I had toyed with the idea of visiting Skyros, but it seems well nigh impossible from Thessaloniki,

Bob

[Owen D]

Bob

Thank You for the photos of the Wiltshire lads graves.Amor & Hobbs.

Cheers

O

[bobpike]

Owen,

Glad to be of use, my Dad's a Wiltshire boy!

Bob

[Nikolay]

At the Struma Military cemetery is the grave of Capt charles Gimmingham, CO of 17 Kite Balloon Section who died as he fell from his balloon whilst attacked by the German ace Eschwege in 1917. The German

was later killed in a booby trap balloon trick by the Section and buried there too (tho later removed).

Simon Moody

The eagle of the Aegean.

Rudolf von Eschwege was an almost legendary figure between the Bulgarian soldiers on the Salonika front. Soldiers from his Second Bulgarian army used to say when saw him flying on his Fokker over the positions - "Look! "Rusijat" (The blond one) is patrolling! The Entanteans will not be flying today". The soldiers from 10th Belomorska division called him the "Orela na Bjalo more" (The eagle of the Aegean). Jolly and always jocking he sometimes used to "walk" on his hands down from his plane while returning from mission. His death on 21 November 1917 was mourned by Bulgarian soldiers and officers alike who used to regard him as "Our von Richthoffen".