The British Salonika Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I. After the armistice in November 1918, it was disbanded, but component units became the newly formed Army of the Black Sea, and General Milne remained in command.
First World War
The Army was formed in Salonika under Lieutenant-General Sir Bryan Mahon to oppose Bulgarian advances in the region as part of the Macedonian front. The army arrived in Salonika (along with French troops) on 15 October 1915.Palmer Alan, The gardeners of Salonika, 1965, p. 11. In May 1916 Lieutenant-General George Milne replaced Mahon as commander of the Army. It eventually comprised two corps and as the Army of the Black Sea remained in place until 1921.Alan Wakefield & Simon Moody, Under the Devil's Eye: Britain's Forgotten Army at Salonika 1915–1918, Stroud: Sutton Publishing (2004).
The dead of the British Salonika Army are commemorated by the Doiran Memorial.
Component units British Salonika Force, March 1917
XII Corps 22nd Division 26th Division 60th (2/2nd London) Division 1/1st Lothians and Border Horse
XVI Corps 10th (Irish) Division 27th Division 28th Division 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry
GHQ Troops 7th Mounted Brigade 8th Mounted Brigade 16th Wing, Royal Flying Corps
Commanders-in-Chief Commanders: 4 November 1915 – 15 November 1915: General Charles C. MonroEncyclopedia Of World War I (concurrent with being Commander, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) 15 November 1915 – 9 May 1916: Lieutenant-General Bryan Mahon 9 May 1916 – 3 January 1917: Lieutenant-General George MilneHeathcote 1999, p. 210 3 January 1917 – 11 January 1917: Lieutenant-General Henry Wilson (temporary) 11 January 1917 – September 1918: General George Milne February 1919 – November 1920: Lieutenant-General Henry Wilson (concurrent with being Commander, Allied Forces in Constantinople)Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives November 1920: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Harington (continued after 1921 as GOC-in-C Allied Forces of Occupation, Turkey)
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