Ancient town "Stoby"

  The old city of Stobi “…Stobis, vetus urbs…”, as the Roman historian Livy named it, at the confluence of rivers Crna and Vardar, was the largest city in the northern part of the Roman province Macedonia, later capital city of the Roman province Macedonia Secunda, an important urban, military, administrative, trade and religious center of two large empires: Roman and Early Byzantine. Located in the heart of Macedonia, on the crossroads between the Aegean World and the Central Balkan, during the whole period of its existence it was a place where cultural achievements of the ancient world gathered in a unique way.

Thetown of Stobi was built in the Hellenic period, some time before the rule of the Macedonian king Philip theFifth. It was situated 160 km from Thessalonica on the main road Via Egnatia that led from the Danube to theAegean Sea. Because of its location, Stobi was an important army, strategic, economic and cultural center atthe time. Owing to the numerous historical and literary documents and archeological findings fromthorough research done in the area, there is a complete urban picture of Ancient Stobi, its architecturalstructure and organization of life, which speaks of a highly developed urban society with a high level ofcultural development. Considering these facts and according to some additional sources, the beginnings ofStobi were much earlier, in the 7th and 6th Century BC. Some bronze objects discovered here and datingfrom ancient times include ceramic findings, which point to life in it as early as the Neolith and the IronAge.The town was rather developed in the early andmiddle Roman period, partly owes this status of a“municipium” to its mint, where coins with the sign“Municipium Stobensium” were made. The “denar” coinswere produced here, too. Numerous monuments withsigns and buildings that are unique for their beauty have also beenfound.

Among these are the great sanctuaries and, certainly, thefamous Theatre. The town wasn't any less significant later, at the timeof the establishment of the Christianity. Stobi was quite influential asthe Archbishop's Seat and later as an Archbishopric. A lot of churchesand basilicas with rich interior decoration, luxurious private palacesand other significant buildings come from this period. There was also aJewish community in Stobi in the 3rd Century. The Synagogue thatproved this was torn down at the end the 4th Century and a Christianbasilica was built on its remains. In the late 5th and early 6th Century,the town was ravaged in the great Avaro-Slavonic invasions and wasdestroyed in an earthquake in the year 518. The discovered Justin II coins from the second half of the 6thCentury and the necropolis with 23 Slavonic crests from the 9th to the 12th Century confirm that there waslife in Stobi after the earthquake. The town was renovated, but never reached its previous level of prosperity.

Today, the remains of this famous archaeological site are equally easily approachable from the E-75 corridor of the international highway, thus making it very popular tourist destination in Macedonia. The nocturnal illumination of the city walls and preserved monuments, additionally emphasize its beauty and attractiveness.

http://www.exploringmacedonia.com/stobi.nspx

British 22nd Division Memorial Doiran

The history of 22nd Division

This Division was established in September 1914 as part of Army Order 388 authorising Kitchener's Third New Army, K3. The units began to assemble in the area of Eastbourne and Seaford, with the artillery at Lewes, from September 1914. The Division remained in these areas, other than when the infantry moved for two weeks entrenchment training to Maidstone in April 1915, as it was trained and equipped.
The Division crossed to France in early September 1915, all units being concentrated near Flesselles by 9th of the month. But the stay in France was to be very short.
On 27 October 1915, the Division, having been moved by train to Marseilles, began to embark for Salonika. It completed concentration there in November, although the final artillery units were still coming in as late as 13 December 1915. The 22nd Division remained in the theatre for the rest of the war, taking part in the following operations:
1915
8-13 December: the Retreat from Serbia (Advanced Divisional HQ, 6th Brigade, 9th Border and 68th Field Ambulance only)
1916
10-18 August 1916: the Battle of Horseshoe Hill
13-14 September 1916: the Battle of Machukovo
1917
24-25 April and 8-9 May 1917: the Battles of Doiran
1918The Division lost a number of units in mid 1918; they were transferred to France 
18-19 September 1918: the Battle of Doiran

An Armistice with Bulgaria was signed on 30 September 1918. 

By 18-20 October, units of the Division had marched back to Stavros. Here they embarked on destroyers with the intention of a landing at Dede Agach to continue the fight against Turkey. After one attempt was called off due to rough weather, the infantry finally landed on 28 October 1918. On reaching Makri, the Division learned that an Armistice with Turkey was imminent. Demobilisation began at Chugunsi and the Division ceased to exist by 31 March 1919.

The 22nd Division had suffered casualties of 7,728 killed, wounded and missing during the war but vastly larger numbers sick with malaria, dysentery and other diseases rife in the Salonika theatre.

http://www.1914-1918.net/22div.htm

Doiran Memorial

The DOIRAN MEMORIAL stands roughly in the centre of the line occupied for two years by the Allies in Macedonia, but close to the western end, which was held by Commonwealth forces. It marks the scene of the fierce fighting of 1917-1918, which caused the majority of the Commonwealth battle casualties.

From October 1915 to the end of November 1918, the British Salonika Force suffered some 2,800 deaths in action, 1,400 from wounds and 4,200 from sickness. The campaign afforded few successes for the Allies, and none of any importance until the last two months. The action of the Commonwealth force was hampered throughout by widespread and unavoidable sickness and by continual diplomatic and personal differences with neutrals or Allies. On one front there was a wide malarial river valley and on the other, difficult mountain ranges, and many of the roads and railways it required had to be specially constructed.

The memorial serves the dual purpose of Battle Memorial of the British Salonika Force (for which a large sum of money was subscribed by the officers and men of that force), and place of commemoration for more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen who died in Macedonia and whose graves are not known.

The memorial was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer with sculpture by Walter Gilbert. It was unveiled by Sir George Macdonogh on 25 September 1926.

The memorial stands near DOIRAN MILITARY CEMETERY. The cemetery (originally known as Colonial Hill Cemetery No.2) was formed at the end of 1916 as a cemetery for the Doiran front. The graves are almost entirely those of officers and men of the 22nd and 26th Divisions and largely reflect the fighting of April and May 1917 (the attacks on the Petit-Couronne), and 18-19 September 1918 (the attacks on Pip Ridge and the Grand-Couronne). In October and November 1918, after the final advance, a few burials were added by the 25th Casualty Clearing Station.

After the Armistice, graves were brought into the cemetery from the battlefields and from some small burial grounds, the most important of which was Strumnitza British Military Cemetery, north-west of Doiran, made by the 40th Casualty Clearing Station in October and November 1918.

The cemetery now contains 1,338 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 449 of them unidentified. There are also 45 Greek and one French war graves.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/160000/DOIRAN%20MEMORIAL

Mikra British Cemetery Kalamaria Greece

At the invitation of the Greek Prime Minister, M.Venizelos, Salonika (now Thessalonika) was occupied by three French Divisions and the 10th (Irish) Division from Gallipoli in October 1915. Other French and Commonwealth forces landed during the year and in the summer of 1916, they were joined by Russian and Italian troops. In August 1916, a Greek revolution broke out at Salonika, with the result that the Greek national army came into the war on the Allied side. 

The town was the base of the British Salonika Force and it contained, from time to time, eighteen general and stationary hospitals. Three of these hospitals were Canadian, although there were no other Canadian units in the force. 

The earliest Commonwealth burials took place in the local Protestant and Roman Catholic cemeteries, and the Anglo-French (now Lembet Road) Military Cemetery was used from November 1915 to October 1918. The British cemetery at Mikra was opened in April 1917, remaining in use until 1920. The cemetery was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from a number of burial grounds in the area.

MIKRA BRITISH CEMETERY now contains 1,810 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, as well as 147 war graves of other nationalities.

Within the cemetery will be found the MIKRA MEMORIAL, commemorating almost 500 nurses, officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died when troop transports and hospital ships were lost in the Mediterranean, and who have no grave but the sea. They are commemorated here because others who went down in the same vessels were washed ashore and identified, and are now buried at Thessalonika.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/35900/MIKRA%20BRITISH%20CEMETERY,%20KALAMARIA

The 10th (Irish) Division Memorial

The 10th (Irish) Division Memorial is dedicated to 10th (Irish) Division troops who were amongst the first Allied forces to arrive in Greece and went north alongside the French in support of the Serbian Army. Attacked by overwhelming numbers of Bulgarian troops on 7 December 1915 at Kosturino, the 10th (Irish) Division fell back on Salonika. Here they took part in the construction of the ‘Birdcage’ defence line before going on to serve in the Struma Valley. The division left the Balkans for Palestine during summer 1917.

Struma Military Cemetery, Greece

In the autumn of 1916, the 40th Casualty Clearing Station was established not far from the road near the 71 Kilometre stone and the cemetery made for it was originally called Kilo 71 Military Cemetery. The original plot, Plot I, was set too close to a ravine and the graves in it were moved after the Armistice to the present plots VIII and IX. The remainder of the cemetery consists almost entirely of graves brought in from the battlefields, from the churchyards at Homondos, Haznatar and Kalendra, and from small front line cemeteries established by field ambulances or fighting units. The most significant of these were Ormanli, Dolab Wood and Big Tree Well. Struma Military Cemetery contains 947 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 51 of them unidentified. There are also 15 war graves of other nationalities.
http://www.remembering.org.uk/glosregtofficers/glos_regt_offrs_cemeteries_struma.htm

Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery

This cemetery (then known as the Anglo-French Military Cemetery) was opened in November 1915 and had British, French, Serbian, Italian and Russian sections. The British section remained in use until October 1918, although from the beginning of 1917 burials were also made at Mikra (see below under Additional Cemeteries). The front line was 40 miles away and most of the burials are of soldiers who died in hospitals established locally. In February and March 1917 Salonika received two heavy air raids and many of the graves just north of the Cross of Sacrifice are of those killed in the bombing. The cemetery contains 1,650 British burials (of whom 15 were in the Malta Labour Corps) and three Canadian; 45 Bulgarians who died as prisoners of war are also buried here.

One of the more remarkable graves is that of Mrs Katharine Mary Harley, Croix de Guerre (France), age 62, who died on 7th March 1917. She was a sister of Field Marshal Sir John French, C-in-C of the BEF in France and Flanders in 1914-1915. Mrs Harley led a group of British nurses serving with the Serbian Army and she was killed in the bombing. Her grave bears a private memorial (as well as a recumbent Commission headstone) erected in 1917 by the Serbian Army and inscribed in two languages:

THE GENEROUS ENGLISH LADY AND GREAT BENEFACTRESS OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE MADAME HARLEY A GREAT LADY ON YOUR TOMB INSTEAD OF FLOWERS THE GRATITUDE OF THE SERBS SHALL BLOSSOM THERE FOR YOUR WONDERFUL ACTS YOUR NAME SHALL BE KNOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

Though Mrs. Harley, at an age when few men were serving, died nursing in the Serbian Army, she was typical of the many women who served with the nursing and similar forces of the Commonwealth forces and whose graves lie wherever those forces served.
http://www.mta.ca/library/courage/greekcemeteries.html