Prince Regent Aleksandar I Karageorgevich with French General Sarrail at Monastir (Bitola) on November 21, 1916.
"It was the advance made by the Serbs on the 16th, 17th, and 18th [of November 1916], which finally settled the fate of Monastir [on the Macedonian (Salonika) Front.The capture of Hill 1212 to the east of Monastir soundedthe death-knell to the hopes of the enemy holding theBistritza line. They counter-attacked desperately toretake Hill 1212, but failed, and on the 18th the Serbscaptured Hill 1378. The Bulgarians retreated towardsPrilep in complete disorder, having abandoned artillery,stores, and losing many men taken prisoners.
"The Allies entered Monastir early on the 19th [of November 1916]unopposed, the French cavalry getting in on the heelsof the enemy's rearguard from the south, whilst aportion of a Serbian cavalry regiment, after fording ariver in flood, entered from the west.
"The French infantry went through the town and tookup lines to the north. The German reinforcements,including some of the Prussian Guards which were beinghurried up to save the town, were too late.
"Monastir had fallen.
"The brave French were the first to affirm that the capture of Monastir was primarily due to the gallantSerbs. It was the fighting Serbs who stormed dreadKajmaktcalan, one of the finest feats of the campaign;it was the Serbs who forced the passage of the Cherna,and carried successively the rocky heights of the Chuke Mountains. We may all admiringly re-echo the remarkof the French colonel, among the first to enter thetown, 'It is thanks to the Serbians that we have wonMonastir.'"
From:
At the Serbian Front in Macedonia
[1917]
by E.P. Stebbing
Pioneering British forester and forest entomologist in India
TO H.R.H. THE CROWN PRINCE OF SERBIA AND HIS SOLDIERS
A GALLANT BAND OF BROTHERS WHO ARE FIGHTING MAGNIFICENTLY AND DOGGEDLY AGAINST DESPERATE ODDS
THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED IN SYMPATHY AND ADMIRATION
Edward Percy Stebbing
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From "The Long Riders' Guild"
"Edward Percy Stebbing - Like many of his English generation, Edward Stebbing was deeply involved, and affected, by the First World War. Though he inspected the Serbian front, his most important war time experience occurred in Russia, which he visited in 1917 between the fall of the Czar and the rise of the Bolsheviks. A keen political observer, Stebbing correctly prophesized that Germany viewed Russia as a potential bread basket and that it was in England’s best interests to protect her ally. “The object is to save the Russians from the Germans, for if we fail now the war will have to be fought out again in the future,” Stebbing wrote. His warning proved to be all too true, as Hitler later invaded Russia so as to seize its vast resources.
"Stebbing was no mere political columnist. He spent many years living in India, where he served in Forestry Service. Once again his observational skills were employed, this time to write a book about the insect life of the Indian subcontinent. Upon returning to Great Britain, he became a professor at the University of Edinburgh. During his forty-year career, he led one of the earliest efforts to study the danger of desertification presented by the encroaching Sahara."
Edward Percy Stebbing
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at heroesofserbia@yahoo.com
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