Commonwealth forces fought in Greece during both world wars, leaving behind more than 18,000 dead. The commemorations to these casualties, cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, can now be visited chiefly in the Thessaloniki (Salonika) region, but also in and around Athens and throughout the Greek islands.

This guide outlines the actions that took place in Salonika, Lemnos and beyond and describes what visitors can see at the cemeteries and memorials across Greece.

The Salonika Front

The Salonika Front was opened in 1915 to support Serbiaagainst the Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary andBulgaria. The British Salonika Force was one element in anAllied Army which contained Greek, Serbian, Montenegrin, Yugoslav, French, Italian and Russian troops. After the landing in October 1915 Allied forces pushed along the Vardar valley into Serbia but were then compelled to retire to Salonika, which was held as a fortified camp for a year.

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An Allied offensive in the second half of 1916 established a line running from Monastir to the Gulf of Strimonikos, the British force holding the sector eastward from Doiran. This was to remain the Allied line until 15 September 1918, when the decisive break-out to the north led to the surrender of Bulgaria a fortnight later.

The Second World War campaign in Crete

Mikra British Cemetery

Bralo British CemeteryThe Salonika lines of communication were diverted through Bralo, Itea and Taranto towards the end of 1917 because of German submarine activity in the Mediterranean. The 49th Stationary Hospital was gradually transferred to Bralo and rest camps were established at Bralo and Itea.

The cemetery was created in October 1917 and used until April 1919. A large proportion of the burials occurred following the influenza epidemic of 1918. The cemetery contains 95 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and seven war graves of other nationalities.

Dedeagatch British CemeteryDedeagatch (now Alexandroupolis) was bombarded by an Allied squadron in October 1915 and occupied by Commonwealth forces in October 1918. A casualty clearing station (i.e. medical facility used to treat wounded soldiers) was posted in the town until the end of the year.

The cemetery was used from October to December 1918. After the Armistice, 18 graves were brought in from other cemeteries, 13 of

Doiran Military Cemetery Bralo British Cemetery

them from Kavalla Anglo-French Cemetery. Kavalla was a port of call for hospital ships in November 1918. The cemetery now contains 64 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. There are also two Second World War burials and 16 burials of other nationalities.

Doiran Military CemeteryThis cemetery (originally known as Colonial Hill Cemetery No.2) was formed at the end of 1916 for the Doiran front. After the Armistice, graves were brought into the cemetery from the battlefields and from some small burial grounds. The cemetery contains 1,338 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, of which 449 are unidentified. There is

Doiran MemorialThe Doiran Memorial stands near Doiran Military Cemetery in the north of Greece. The memorial serves the dual purpose of Battle Memorial of the British Salonika Force and place of commemoration for more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen whose graves are not known. The memorial was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, with sculpture by Walter Gilbert.

Doiran Memorial

also one French war grave and 45 Greek war graves.

Karasouli Military CemeteryThe cemetery was formed in September 1916 and used by casualty clearing stations on the Doiran front. At the time of the Armistice Karasouli contained about 500 burials but the total greatly increased once graves were brought in from other cemeteries. Karasouli Military Cemetery now contains 1,421 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.

Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Military CemeteryThe cemetery was very small until September 1917, when the 60th, 65th and 66th General Hospitals joined the area. In June, July and September 1918 other hospitals were brought in beside the Salonika-

Lahana Military Cemetery

Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Military Cemetery

Karasouli Military Cemetery

Hortakoi road. The influenza epidemic then began, which raged for three months and filled three-quarters of the cemetery. The cemetery now contains 588 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 58 Bulgarian war graves. There are also 17 burials from the Second World War.

Lahana Military CemeterySick and wounded men were brought from the Struma front to this area, which was formed in July 1916 for burials from the 27th Casualty Clearing Station. The cemetery was also used from June to August 1917 by the 18th Stationary Hospital. After the Armistice, graves were brought in from other small burial grounds. The cemetery now contains 279 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.

Mikra British Cemetery, KalamariaThe cemetery was established in April 1917 and remained in use until 1920. It 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, and 147 war graves of other nationalities.

Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria

Mikra MemorialWithin Mikra British Cemetery stands the Mikra Memorial. The memorial commemorates almost 500 nurses, officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died when troop transport and hospital ships were lost in the Mediterranean. Others who went down in the same vessels but were washed ashore and identified are now buried in Thessaloniki.

Monastir Road Indian CemeteryThis cemetery comprises two plots and was made between 1916 and 1920. The northern plot holds the remains of over 200 Indian servicemen – cremated in accordance with their faith – and their names are inscribed on the memorial panels. Within the cemetery stands the Monastir Road Indian Memorial, bearing the names of over 150 Indian servicemen who died during the First World War whose graves could not be marked or moved.

Monastir Road Indian Cemetery

Piraeus Naval And Consular CemeteryThe Commonwealth graves are mostly grouped around the monument to ten casualties from HM Ships ‘Exmouth’ and ‘Duncan’, who died in December 1916. The Commission cares for 23 First World War burials and 12 non-war naval graves within the cemetery.

Salonika (Lembet Road) Military CemeterySalonika (Thessaloniki) was the base of the British Salonika Force and at various stages was home to eighteen general and stationary hospitals. The cemetery, formerly known as the Anglo-French Military Cemetery, actually comprised Commonwealth, French, Serbian, Italian and Russian sections after opening in November 1915. After the Armistice, some graves were brought in from other cemeteries. There are now 1,648 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. The ‘Commonwealth plot’ also contains 45 Bulgarian war graves and one Serbian war grave.

Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery

Piraeus Naval and Consular Cemetery

Sarigol Military Cemetery, KristonFrom April to June 1917, a casualty clearing station was established at Sarigol. This was later replaced by the 21st Stationary Hospital, which remained until December 1918. 150 burials were made in the cemetery from these two hospitals. The Cemetery now contains 682 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 29 war graves of other nationalities.

Struma Military CemeteryThe majority of the cemetery, formerly known as the Kilo 71 Military Cemetery, consists almost entirely of graves brought in from churchyards, battlefields and small front-line cemeteries established by Field Ambulances or Battalions on this front. The Cemetery contains 947 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. There are also 15 war graves of other nationalities.

Syra New British CemeteryMore than half of the graves in the cemetery commemorate men who drowned following a torpedo strike on a transport vessel that was travelling through the Aegean Sea. There are now 111 First World War servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 45 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate 11 casualties known to be buried among them.

Struma Military Cemetery

Sarigol Military Cemetery, Kriston

Lemnos

The island of Lemnos played an important role in the First World War, particularly during the Gallipoli campaign. By early 1915, the fighting on the Western Front in France and Flanders had reached stalemate. The British government sanctioned a plan to attack the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting alongside the Central Powers, led by Germany. By sending Allied warships through the narrow straits of the Dardanelles to attack Constantinople (now Istanbul), it was hoped that the Ottomans could be forced out of the war.

In February and March 1915, British and French ships attempted to subdue the forts which guarded the Dardanelles, but minefields and powerful shore batteries proved insurmountable. A joint Mediterranean Expeditionary Force landed on the Gallipoli peninsula to take control of the straits. Fought between April 1915 and January 1916, the campaign ended in failure for the Allies.

Lemnos was occupied by a force of Royal Marines on 23 February 1915 in preparation for the attack on Gallipoli. It became a vital hub for men and supplies bound for the peninsula, and an important hospital centre for the treatment of the sick and wounded brought in from the battlefields.

East Mudros Military Cemetery Portianos Military Cemetery

East Mudros Military Cemetery,the largest of three CWGC cemeteries on Lemnos, is the final resting place, or place of commemoration, of over 900 service personnel. More than 100 remain unidentified. The cemetery contains the graves of men who hailed from across the former British Empire: Australia, Canada, Egypt, undivided India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Portianos Military Cemeterywas begun in August 1915 during a major Allied offensive on the Gallipoli peninsula. More than 60 servicemen were buried here that month. The cemetery continued to be used by the many hospitals based nearby, and over 320 servicemen had been laid to rest here by the time the Allies withdrew from Gallipoli in early 1916. In 1918, the crew of the cruiser HMS Endymion erected a memorial within the cemetery in memory of four of their shipmates who had died during the ship’s service off Gallipoli. The cemetery remained in use until 1920, particularly by the Royal Navy. Today it is the final resting place of over 350 servicemen and women, of whom two remain unidentified.

West Mudros Moslem Cemeterycommemorates some 170 members of the Egyptian Labour Corps. Some 56 Ottoman servicemen, brought to Lemnos for medical treatment as prisoners of war, were laid to rest in the area surrounding the memorial.

West Mudros Moslem Cemetery

The Poet’s Grave - Skyros (isolated grave)The First World War poet Rupert Brooke died of septicemia onboard a hospital ship in the Aegean that was en-route for Gallipoli. He is buried in an isolated grave on Skyros, one of the islands of the Sporades. The grave is situated in an olive grove on the east side of Tris Boukes Bay, in the south of the island, about one-and-a-half hour’s walk from Kalamitsa. It is signposted from the main road.

Corfu British CemeteryThe island of Corfu was used during the First World War as a naval base for the British and United States. A convalescent camp and military hospital were also stationed there. In 1916, the island was used as a rest camp for the Serbian army.

Corfu British Cemetery (locally referred to as the “English Cemetery”) was opened as a military cemetery around 1855 and contains 13 First World War burials. The 16 Second World War burials mostly represent casualties from destroyers mined in the Corfu channel.

Phaleron War Cemetery and the Athens Memorial

The Poet’s Grave - Skyros (isolated Grave)

The Second World War Campaign: Greece, Crete

Italian troops invaded Greece in October 1940 but were driven back by Greek forces within weeks. The Italian counter-attack of March 1941 also failed and Germany was forced to come to the aid of her ally. On 6 April 1941, German troops invaded Greece through Bulgaria. Although the combined Greek and Commonwealth force (which hadarrived from North Africa on 7 March) fought with great tenacity it was vastly outnumbered. Within 24 days Athens had fallen and the campaign was over, but not before some 50,000 Commonwealth troops were evacuated. More than 20,000 of them joined comrades that had been on Crete since November 1940.

On 20 May 1941 the Germans launched an airborne attack on Crete. Despite some early successes and stiff opposition, by 31 May the Commonwealth force was overcome. Of the total land force of 32,000 men, 18,000 were successfully evacuated, 12,000 were taken prisoner and 2,000 were killed.

Leros War CemeteryThis cemetery was made by the military authorities, who moved all graves found on the island here from isolated positions and from various civilian cemeteries. The number of burials totals 183, however local records suggests the identities of many of the graves were lost. Although they are known to be buried in the cemetery, their actual graves cannot be precisely located. These casualties are commemorated by special memorials which bear the inscription “Buried near this spot”.

Phaleron War CemeteryThe site was chosen originally as a burial ground for Commonwealth casualties of the Greek Civil War. It was later decided that it would be the most suitable site for a Second World War cemetery for the entire Greek mainland. There are now 2,029 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 596 of the burials are unidentified. Special memorials commemorate

casualties known to have been interred in certain groups of graves in the cemetery but whose individual graves cannot be precisely located. Other special memorials commemorate casualties reburied in the cemetery from original graves which, owing to the destruction of local records, could not be identified. Within the cemetery stands the Phaleron Cremation Memorial, commemorating 74 men of the army of undivided India who died during the campaigns in Greece and Crete during the Second World War and The Athens Memorial, commemorating nearly 3,000 members of the land forces of the Commonwealth.

Athens MemorialThe Athens Memorial stands within Phaleron War Cemetery. The Memorial commemorates nearly 3,000 members of the land forces of the Commonwealth with no known grave who lost their lives during the campaigns in Greece and Crete in 1941 and 1944-1945, in the Dodecanese Islands in 1943-1945, and in Yugoslavia in 1943-1945.

Rhodes War CemeteryThe burials here were brought in from various civil cemeteries and isolated graves of those who lost their lives during the operations in the Dodecanese. Special memorials are erected to those known to be buried in the cemetery which bear the inscription “ Buried near this Spot”. The cemetery contains 141 burials from the Second World War and 1 non-war grave.

Suda Bay War CemeteryThe site of Suda Bay War Cemetery was chosen after the war. Graves were primarily moved there by the 21st and 22nd Australian War Graves Units from four burial grounds that had been established by German occupying forces at Chania, Iraklion, Rethymnon and Galata.

Rhodes War Cemetery

Burials were also relocated from isolated sites and civilian cemeteries. There are now 1,500 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 776 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties believed to be buried among them. The cemetery also contains 19 First World War burials, seven burials of other nationalities and 37 non-war burials.

Suda Bay War Cemetery

CWGC Commitments in Municipal and Civil Cemeteries

Athens New Protestant CemeteryParamythia Civil CemeteryRomanos Church Cemetery

Agency graves maintained by CWGC

The CWGC also cares for 489 graves of Foreign nationals (479 First World War and 10 Second World War) on behalf of the respective governments and 132 Non-war graves on behalf of the UK MOD.

Full cemetery details, including visiting information and opening times of these cemeteries, can be found via the CWGC “Find a Cemetery” search facility on www.cwgc.org

Bralo British Cemetery Dedeagatch British CemeteryDoiran Military Cemeteryand MemorialKarasouli Military CemeteryKirechkoi-Hortakoi Military CemeteryLahana Military CemeteryMikra British Cemetery and Memorial, KalamariaMonastir Road Indian CemeteryPiraeus Naval and Consular CemeterySalonika (Lembet Road) Military CemeterySarigol Military Cemetery, KristonStruma Military CemeterySyra New British CemeteryEast Mudros Military CemeteryPortianos Military CemeteryWest Mudros Moslem CemeteryThe Poet’s Grave - Skyros (isolated grave)Corfu British CemeteryLeros War CemeteryPhaleron War Cemetery andAthens MemorialRhodes War CemeterySuda Bay War Cemetery

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for the commemoration of almost 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the two world wars. The graves and memorials of these men and women, who came from all par ts of the Commonwealth and who were of many faiths and of none, are found around the globe in 153 countries.

Enquiries on the location of individual burials or commemorations can be directed to the offices below or to the Commission’s website at www.cwgc.org where there is an online searchable database.

Commonwealth War Graves CommissionMikra British Cemetery, Vryoulon Street, Kalamaria, 55132 Thessaloniki, GreeceTel: +30 2310 452 597

Commonwealth War Graves CommissionMediterranean Area,PO Box 40970 - TT 6308, CyprusTel: +357 24819460 Email: maoffice@cwgc.org

Front cover: Doiran Memorial, Greece