German pencil sketch of Lake Doiran, on the Greco-Serbian border, site of a battle in which the Bulgarians defeated the French, English, and Serbians in December, 1915, and of the Battle of Doiran in September 1918. Tents can be made out in the foreground. It looks to be dated March 30, 1916 (30 III 1916).
The lake is labeled Doiran-See — Lake DoiranGrenze SerbienGriechenlandStras[s]eFlussWeg zu Stellung30 III 1916Serbian BorderGreeceRoadRiverTowards positionMarch 30, 1916
"At dusk on May 8 [1917] the British artillery thundered out once again over Doiran Town. The Bulgarian batteries replied, and all the southern end of the lake was lit by a cascade of fire and flame . . . At ten minutes to ten, two companies of the Scottish Rifles moved forward on the right flank across the Patty Ravine, but soon they were enveloped by the fog and for four hours even the battalion commander had no news of them. As other companies crept toward the Bulgarian trenches, seeking for a gap where the wire had been cut, from each of the brigade headquarters senior officers peered out, trying to discover what was happening in the smoke."
Along the Salonica Front extending across northern Greece and into Serbia, an Allied French, British, Serbian, Russian, and Italian army under the command of French General Maurice Sarrail faced a Bulgarian army supported by German troops. The British attack at Lake Doiran on the eastern end of the Allied line was the opening of Sarrail's 1917 spring offensive, which would continue with the other nationalities attacking the next day.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, pp. 124–125, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
1917-05-08, 1917, May, Salonika, Salonica, Doiran, Lake Doiran, Salonica Front, Salonika Front
