Battle of Doiran
Part of World War I
1914-1918 British Military Cemetery in Policastron (formerly Karasouli) near Doiran
Date 1918 Location Lake Doiran, Macedonia Result Decisive Bulgarian victory
Combatants
Great Britain, Greece	Bulgaria
Commanders
George Milne	Vladimir Vazov
Strength
- English: 4 divisions, Greeks: 2 divisions	- 9-th Infantry division, with parts of 11-th Infantry division and the Mountain Division (Total: 34,500)
Casualties
English: 47,000 Greeks: 12,000	494

The Battle of Doiran was fought from the 18 September to the 19 September 1918, with the Greeks and the British assaulting Bulgarian positions near Lake Doiran. The battle was part of World War I and took place in the Balkan Theatre. The battle ended with Bulgarians repulsing all attacks, but then retreating. Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 687 KB) Lake Doiran region, Greece - Policastron (formerly Karasouli), Department of Pellis: British Military Cemetery 1914-1918 location: between the River Vardas and the south end of Lake Ardzan File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Sir George Milne lived between 1866 and 1948. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul... Combatants Central Powers Triple Entente, Serbia, Romania The Balkans Campaign of World War I was fought between Serbia and later Romania who sided with the Allied Powers against the Central Powers, mostly Austria-Hungary and Germany as well as Bulgaria. ...

Prelude

The Greeks and the British set off from their base at Thessaloniki at the same time and Serbians and the French. The Greeks and the British under George Milne set off the attack the Bulgarian positions at Doiran while the Serbians and the French under the command of Franchet d'Esperey went to penetrate the Bulgarian defences in the Vardar Valley. The Greeks and the British were aiming to capture the Bulgarian positions in the hills above Lake Doiran. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sir George Milne lived between 1866 and 1948. ... Louis Félix Marie François Franchet dEspèrey ( 25 May 1856 – 3 July 1942) was a French general during the First World War. ...

This wasn't the first time the allies had attacked Doiran, with the British failing to capture it twice the 1917. The fortifactions were well built with the Bulgarians spending the first months of 1916 and early 1917 strengthing the positions. The terrain around the area was rough, with the fortifactions being surrounded with 3 miles of scrub and rocks. Part of the defences were the dangerous 'Pip Ridge' and the 'Grand Couronné'. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Battle

The first assault on the hills was by the 22nd and the 26th Divisions of the British army with support from the a Cretan Division of the Greek army. As they were advancing up the hills they were caught in a crossfire coming from the slopes and were driven back with heavy losses. They then assaulted the 'Pip Ridge' with the 12th Cheshires leading the attack. The bunkers on the hills that machine guns in them opened fire and a horrific effect on the allies (only 20-30 % of their soldiers reached the trenches) but those that remained continued on and captured the first two Bulgarian trenches. But by this stage the attack had become a massacre and those that remained alive were going amost certain death. The British 22nd Division was a New Army division raised in September 1914. ...

While this was happening a Greek regiment was knocked back on the right. The South Wales Borders had reached 'Grand Couronné' which was the last line of defence. The bravery of the Welsh was extreme, they recharged up the hill trying to the get over the defences of the 'Grand Couronné' only to cut down. Of the whole battalion only one officer and eighteen men made it back to the camp. The Bulgarians showed great bravery against the enemy who had 6 times larger force than theirs.

Casualties

The Allies' losses were enormous: they lost around 59,000 soldiers, while the Bulgarians suffered only 494. The reason for this was: in the night of 16th September the allies bombarded the Bulgarian positions with heavy artillery fire (the total wieght of the bomb is estimated to 30, 000t). They supposed that there would be a few survivors but due to the perfect bunkers the Bulgarians lost only 9 killed and 40 injured. As the enemy general did not know that, the Allied attack proved to be a complete disaster, as the Greek and the English soldiers were easy targets for the hiding Bulgarians.

Retreat

After a day of fighting all the allies had accomplished was a small gain on the right by the Greek forces. The next day the 65th Brigade attacked the "Pip Ridge'. The assault was another defeat with only half of the men returning alive. But the assault gained the town of Doiran and a few hlls above it. All these meant nothing to the Bulgarian who only had a small garrison there. After a while the Bulgarian fortifaction went quiet and the Greek and British armies advance only to find the Bulgarian positions abandoned. The Serbian and French armies had defeated the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian army in the Vardar valley and were advancing towards Doiran. When the Bulgarians German advisors heard of this they ordered the Bulgarian army to retreat so that their retreat is not cut off from the rear.

Aftermath

The allies continued to advance deeper into Bulgarian territory and some the army had mutinied and were threatening Sofia. On the 30 September, the Bulgarians surrendered to the allies in Solun, but due to the victory there was a condition that the country should not be occupied by Allied troops. The war was costly for Bulgaria because the lost 87,500 soldiers and they also lost 275,000 civilians. The Bulgarians also lost all their land on the Aegean Sea to Greece and they also lost some territory in the north west to Serbia. Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Coordinates: Country Bulgaria Province Sofia-City Mayor Boyko Borisov Area    - City 1,310 km²  - Land (?) km²  - Water (?) km² Elevation 550 m Population    - City (15 September 2006) 1,246,791  - Density 907/km²  - Metro 1,377,761 Time zone EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC+3) Website... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal, the largest city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ... The Aegean Sea. ...

When General Vazov arrived in London in 1935 to meet veterans from the war he was welcome with great respect from his hosts, with the flags of all their regiments who participated in the battle bowed down in his honour in the Victoria Railway Station. London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ...

See Also

• Serbian Campaign (World War I)

Combatants Austria-Hungary German Empire Bulgaria Triple Entente Serbia Greece Italy Commanders Oskar Potiorek Radomir Putnik Maurice Sarrail Adolphe Guillaumat Franchet dEsperey George Milne Panagiotis Danglis The Serbian Campaign was fought from August 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, thus starting the First World War, until the end of...

Sources

AJP Taylor. History of World War I. ISBN 0 7064 0398 3 Атанас Пейчев, 1300 години на стража, Военно издателство София 1981

External links

• World War I history
• Salonika and Macedonia 1916-1918
• [1]Doiran