Battle of Skra-di-Legen

Battle of Skra di Legen
Part of World War I
Lieutenant General Emmanouil Zymvrakakis (right) with his Chief of Staff
Date May 29–31, 1918 Location Skra, Greece Result Franco-Greek victory
Belligerents
Greece  France	Bulgaria
Commanders and leaders
Emmanouil Zymvrakakis	Ivan Bonchev
Strength
: 5 regiments from 3 divisions, : 1 brigade	: 1 brigade
Casualties and losses
441 killed 164 missing 2,227 wounded[1]	600 killed, 2,313 taken prisoner (incl. wounded) 35 machine guns and other materiel captured

The Battle of Skra di Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two-day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north-west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I. The battle was the first large-scale employment of Greek troops of the newly established Army of National Defence on the front, and resulted in the capture of the heavily fortified Bulgarian position.

The Allied force comprised three Greek divisions of the National Defence Army Corps under Lieutenant General Emmanouil Zymvrakakis, plus one French brigade. The three Greek divisions included the Archipelago Division under Major General Dimitrios Ioannou, the Crete Division under Major General Panagiotis Spiliadis, and the Serres Division under Lieutenant Colonel Epameinondas Zymvrakakis. The 5th and 6th Regiments from the Archipelago Division were in the center, the 7th and 8th Regiments from the Crete Division were on the right flank and the 1st Regiment of the Serres Division was on the left flank.

Battle

A Bulgarian gun captured by the Allies at Skra

Bulgarian prisoners of war

Bulgarian soldiers during the battle

In the early morning of 29 May 1918, Greek artillery fired on Bulgarian positions in preparation for the next morning's assault.

On 06.30, 30 May 1918, Allied forces captured Skra from the heavily outnumbered Bulgarians. Starting from the evening of the same day until May 31, the Bulgarian army launched several counterattacks on positions held by the Crete Division. All attacks were repelled, cementing the Allied victory.

In the battle, 441 Allied soldiers were killed, 2,227 wounded and 164 missing in action. Bulgaria suffered 600 soldiers killed and 2045 taken prisoner. 32 machine guns and 12 artillery pieces were also captured.

References

Bibliography

• Source Records of the Great War, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923
• Grigorios Dafnis, Sofoklis Eleftheriou Venizelos (Athens: Ikaros, 1970) pp. 44–47.

External links

• The British Campaign in Salonika - list of British units involved, as well as an overview of the campaign
• The Great War: Battle of Skra-di-Legen - with links to photos of people of interest, as well as a description of the battle
• Μάχη του Σκρα (17/30 Μαΐου 1918) [Battle of Skra (17/30 May 1918)] , Hellenic Army, First World War 100th Anniversary portal (in Greek)

Coordinates: 41°05′20″N 22°23′40″E / 41.08889°N 22.39444°E / 41.08889; 22.39444