Britain's Support to Serbia During the First World War

Nick Ilić examines the lesser-known story of the Salonika Front, highlighting the heavy toll of the campaign and the front-line role of British nurses.

The campaign in the Balkans receives little attention in the wider story of the First World War. The Macedonian Front – also known as the Salonika Front – is often labelled as ‘The Forgotten Front’. Yet it was the invasion of Serbia in 1914 that led to a regional conflict becoming a global war, and the liberation of Serbia in 1918 played a significant role in bringing the war to an end.

Nearly 500,000 British soldiers became casualties of the campaign, killed, wounded, injured or afflicted with sickness. For many British women, the Balkans provided a rare opportunity to contribute on the front lines – a role denied to them on the Western Front and elsewhere.

In this talk, Nick Ilić will bring to life the little-known but truly heroic and inspirational story of the British contribution. Their efforts, as part of a coalition of nations, played a significant role in Serbia’s survival and liberation, and in the defeat of the Central Powers in 1918. More than a century later, their sacrifice is not forgotten within Serbia.

About the speaker

Nick Ilić served as an infantry and later general staff officer in the British Army for 34 years. During this career, he carried out numerous operational and non-operational deployments to the Balkans, starting during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and ultimately as the UK Defence Attaché to the Republic of Serbia and Head of the Western Balkans Regional Military Network.

Nick regularly gives talks on the history of the region, and leads battlefield tours to Serbia and Bosnia covering 20th-century conflicts. He is also a member of the Salonika Campaign Society, which is dedicated to the memory of all those who served in the Balkans during the First World War.