ll.'iil ill!!!!!nam lUIlWII. titiUMUi.wwt lIMHUIUHIi imuiiuimii tiiiUiuiUiuii l!!l!!!]J!H;!UU)JI!i JillilJJiiliiUHiJliiJJJJHJilH miiiiiiiiiiiiKiiiiiJiiiiniiii ilflllJIIIUlll!. JfiUIIJJIJIfin jiiiiiii: IIJIIIJ'JJIJIJIII jimimmuin iliIIIlJli;}ll!Hli(!iiIilliIl!i iiiriijOjijiiuijuuuiMMiii Ilium Jillill!IUii:lTU!II.'! ijiJiimiiiii! mill iimriiiifiiiiJiiimiiirimiiiiiiujiJUHiiiiiiim > i< raijn in. ii hi i iiini i ii mill! lll)tlUUlj|l(!lillUl"lJli"UJUtUlUlJl)UlU.IIII' nn'iitimiMiuHiiiiiiiiiiin; :-,-. 11111:1 IIIIIII! mini llllilll.! It'lllll IfltUJIIIIIlif CI!II!!!! "!!!!! :::::!::!'!:iii!:.'ili)iJfii!Jil THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA By Professor Pasquale Villari Translated by Linda Villaki Illustrated. Cloth, 8s. 6d. net THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NIGGOLO MACHIAVELLI By Professor Pasquale Villari Translated by Linda Villari Illustrated. Cloth, 8s. 6d. net T. FISHER UNWIN LTD LONDON GENERAL SIR G. F. MILNE. FrontUpiece. THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN By LUIGI VILLARI With Illustrations and Maps \ « T. FISHER UNWIN LTD LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE First published in English 1922 (All rights reserved) PREFATORY NOTE The operations of the Allied forces, and in particular those of the Italian contingent in Macedonia, are less well known than those of almost any other of the many campaigns into which the World War is subdivided. There have already been several published accounts of it in English and French, but these works have dealt almost exclusively with the action of the British or French contingent, and are mostly of a polemical or little has been written journalistic character ; very about the other Allied forces, or about the campaign as a whole. Owing to the position which I held for two years as Italian liaison officer with the various Allied Commands in the East, I have been able to collect a good deal of unpublished material on the subject, and I felt that it might be useful to give a consecutive account of these events, correcting many inaccuracies which have been spread about. The book was written origin- ally in Italian, and dealt in particular detail with the operations of the Italian expeditionary force. In the present English edition I have omitted certain details concerning the Italian force, which were of less interest for a non-Italian public, while I have added some further material of a general character, which I only obtained since the Italian edition was written. The published authoritative and reliable sources for the history of the Macedonian campaign are very few. A bibliography is appended. Besides my own notes 6 PREFATORY NOTE and recollections of the events, set down day by day, and the records of various conversations which I had with the chief actors in the Balkan war drama, I must acknowledge the valuable assistance afforded to me by various Italian and foreign officers and officials. My especial thanks are due to the following : General Petitti di Roreto, for information on the of the events of the early period campaign ; General Ernesto Mombelli, who supplied me with a great deal of useful information and advice on the latter period ; Colonel Vitale, under whom I worked for some time, and who first instructed me in the duties of a liaison officer ; Colonel Fenoglietto, who kindly provided a part of the the book photographs reproduced in ; Commendatore Fracassetti, director of the Museo del Risorgimento in Rome, who kindly placed a large number of photographs at my disposal, authorizing me to make use of them ; Captain Harold Goad, British liaison officer with the Italian force from soon after its landing at Salonica until it was broken up in the summer of 1919, who supplied me with many details concerning the topography of the Italian area of the Macedonian front, which he knew stone by stone, and his notes and recollections of many political and military episodes. Few men have done such admirable and disinterested work in favour of good relations between Britain and Italy, both during and after the war, as this officer, who was most deservedly decorated with the Italian silver medal for valour in the field. L. V. CONTENTS PAGE PREFATORY NOTE 5 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION REASONS FOR THE MACEDONIAN CAM- PAIGN AND FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF ITALY. POLITICAL INTRIGUES AND FIRST MILITARY OPERA- TIONS 11 II. OPERATIONS IN THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF 1916 . 36 III. THE COMMAND OF THE ALLIED ARMIES IN THE ORIENT. THE FRENCH TROOPS 56 IV. THE BRITISH SALONICA FORCE 68 V. THE SERBIANS 85 VI. THE ITALIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE .... 96 VII. OPERATIONS IN THE WINTER AND SPRING OF 1917 . 118 VIII. GREEK AFFAIRS 137 IX. SALONICA AND THE WAY THITHER 157 X. IRRITATION AGAINST GENERAL SARRAIL . .171 XI. FROM THE SALONICA FIRE TO THE RECALL OF SARRAIL 179 XII. GENERAL GUILLAUMAT 191 XIII. MARKING TIME. ARRIVAL OF GENERAL FRANCHET D'ESPFOREY 199 XIV. ON THE EVE OF THE OFFENSIVE 211 7 8 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XV. THE BATTLE OF THE BALKANS 225 XVI. FINAL OPERATIONS 255 APPENDIX A. LETTER FROM VOIVOD MICHICH TO GENERAL PETITTI DI RORETO CONCERNING THE FIGHTING ON HILL 1050 IN FEBRUARY 1917 271 APPENDIX B. LOSSES OF THE BELLIGERENTS DURING THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN 272 APPENDIX C. GENERAL FRANCHET d'eSPEREY'S TELEGRAM TO THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT CONCERNING THE ARMISTICE NEGOTIATIONS WITH BULGARIA 273 APPENDIX D. ARMISTICE BETWEEN THE ALLIES AND BULGARIA, SIGNED AT SALONICA ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1918 . 274 BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 INDEX 279 ILLUSTRATIONS general sir. g. f. milne Frontispiece TO FACE PAGE GENERAL ERNESTO MOMBELLI, COMMANDER OF THE ITALIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN MACEDONIA .... 10 ARCH OF GALERUS, SALONICA 20 GENERAL LEBLOIS BIDDING FAREWELL TO GENERAL PETITTI AT TEPAVCI 38 LANDING OF ITALIAN TROOPS AT SALONICA 38 CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE, SALONICA 58 TRANSPORT IN WINTER 62 THE ALLIED LIAISON OFFICERS AT G.H.Q., SALONICA. 62 THE AUTHOR 76 GENERAL MOMBELLI INAUGURATING A SCHOOL FOR SERB CHILDREN BUILT BY ITALIAN SOLDIERS AT BROD . 88 ITALIAN BRIDGE OVER THE CERNA AT BROD .... 88 THE BAND OF THE 35TII DIVISION PLAYING IN THE PLACE DE LA LIBERTE AT SALONICA 102 GENERAL GUILLAUMAT VISITS GENERAL MOMBELLI AT TEPAVCI . 102 CAMP NEAR THE PARALOVO MONASTERY 122 II. Q. OF AN INFANTRY REGIMENT ON HILL 1050 . 122 HELIOGRAPH IN A CAVERN ON HILL 1050 126 ROCK-PERFORATING MACHINE ON HILL 1050 .... 126 CAMP UNDER THE PITON BRULE 134 ITALIAN NATIONAL FESTIVAL (THE RTATUTO) AT SAKULEVO. HIGH MASS 134 HILL 1075 : ARTILLERY CAMP 140 ARTILLERY O.P. 140 THE GREEK NATIONAL FESTIVAL ON APRIL 7, 1917 : M. VENI- ZELOS LEAVING THE CHURCH OF S. SOPHIA, SALONICA . 158 9 10 ILLUSTRATIONS TO FACE PAGE KING ALEXANDER OF GREECE VISITS A FRENCH CAMP . .158 A FLOODED ROAD 172 LEAVE PARTY FROM MACEDONIA ON TIIE SANTI QUARANTA ROAD 172 {Photograph by Lieut. Landini.) BULGARIAN PRISONERS 180 IN THE " CASTELLETTO " TRENCHES 180 THE SALONICA FIRE, NIGHT FROM AUGUST 18 TO 19, 1917 . 192 CAMP OF THE lllTH FLIGHT : ITALIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE 192 CRASHED ITALIAN AEROPLANE 246 COMMUNICATION TRENCHES IN THE MEGLENTZI VALLEY . 246 CRASHED GERMAN AEROPLANE 250 GENERAL FRANCHET D'ESPEREY DECORATING GENERALS MILNE AND MOMBELLI 250 AFTER THE VICTORY : ENEMY PRISONERS 256 GERMAN PRISONERS CAPTURED BY THE ITALIANS ON HILL 1050 262 HILL 1050 I HOURS OF REST 262 MONUMENT TO THE FALLEN OF THE 161 ST ITALIAN REGIMENT ON VRATA HILL 264 MAPS AREA OF THE ITALIAN FORCE .... 104 AREA OF THE BRITISH XII CORPS . 129 AREA OF THE FRANCO-SERB GROUP 213 ENEMY ORDER OF BATTLE, SEPTEMBER 15, 1918 227 THE PRILEP-KRUSHEVO AREA i 236 GR-SICO-BULGARIAN FRONTIER • 242 GENERAL ERNESTO MOMBELLI, COMMANDER OF THE ITALIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN MACEDONIA. To face p. 10. The Macedonian Campaign CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION REASONS FOR THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN AND FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF ITALY. POLITICAL INTRIGUES AND FIRST MILITARY OPERATIONS. The great victory of our army on the Italian front with which the war came to an end made the Italian public almost forget the deeds achieved by Italian troops on other fronts, and particularly in Macedonia. This has happened not only in Italy ; even France and Britain, who had far larger contingents in Macedonia than ours, do not seem to have appreciated at their full value the operations in that area. There was a whole school of strategists, professional and amateur, competent and incompetent, known as the ' Westerners," who desired that everv effort should be concentrated exclusively on the French and Italian fronts, and that the operations on the various Eastern fronts should be neglected or even abandoned altogether. Until the Balkan offensive of September 1918, that front, in the opinion of the great majority of the public and even in that of many political and military circles, was of small " importance ; according to the pure Westerners," the Salonica expedition was an error in its very origin, and a useless dispersion of troops who might have been more usefully employed elsewhere. There were even those who maintained the necessity of withdrawing the troops already sent to the East, and others who, although they did not go quite so far, were opposed to any increase of the forces in Macedonia, and even objected to their being provided with the reinforcements and materials. necessary n 12 INTRODUCTION In support of this view it must be admitted that the Salonica expedition absorbed a vast quantity of tonnage, at a moment when tonnage in all the Entente countries was dangerously scarce, and when the voyage between England, France, Italy and Macedonia was extremely risky on account of submarines. It is also true that for about three years that expedition produced no tangible results ; so much so that the Germans called it with ironical satisfaction their largest concentration camp, " an enemy army, prisoner of itself." Yet it was with the victorious offensive of September, 1918, that the Entente struck the first knock-down blow at the Central Powers and produced the first real breach in the enemy barrier which helped the armies in France and Italy to achieve final victory.