HRH The Duke of Kent visits Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The Duke of Kent visited Greece in September 2018 to participate in the Battle of Doiran centenary event, the culminating point, for Commonwealth forces, of the Salonika Campaign during the First World War. On 30 September His Royal Highness visited CWGC’s Doiran Memorial, which lies near Lake Doiran in northern Greece. On 1 October The Duke visited the Skopje British Cemetery in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to pay tribute to 124 Commonwealth servicemen who lost their lives during WWI.

On 30 September, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Doiran Memorial in northern Greece, further to an official invitation by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Embassy in Athens.

The Duke, who is President of CWGC, attended a remembrance ceremony at the memorial marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Doiran, the culminating point of the Salonika Campaign, for Commonwealth forces, during the First World War. His Royal Highness also visited two other CWGC sites; Sarigol, and Karasouli military cemeteries, which are both in northern Greece. The Duke was accompanied by CWGC Director of Mediterranean Area, Ian Hussein, and the Regional Supervisor for Greece and the Balkans, Eleni Kakkava.

The first British and French troops arrived in the Greek port of Thessaloniki in October 1915 and fighting continued in the region until the end of the war. The Doiran Memorial was designed by Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer and is constructed roughly in the centre of the line occupied for two years by the Allies in Macedonia, but close to the western end, which was held by Commonwealth forces. It contains commemorations to over 2,000 Commonwealth service personnel who lost their lives during fighting in the region of Macedonia who have no known grave.

The monument has a dual purpose as the place of commemoration for the Commonwealth missing, but also as the Battle Memorial for the British Salonika Force, who were deployed in the region between 1915 and 1921 and whose veterans partly funded its construction.

Ian Hussein, CWGC’s Mediterranean Area Director, said: “The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is delighted to welcome His Royal Highness at the Doiran Memorial to honour the 100th anniversary of the Second Battle of Doiran and the end of the Salonika Campaign. The memorial at Doiran is an everlasting symbol of sacrifice and we are very pleased to be commemorating this centenary, standing alongside – now as then – our friends from the Greek Army.”

On 1 October, His Royal Highness visited the British Cemetery in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, laid a wreath in the memory of 124 Commonwealth servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery.