The occupation of Eastern Macedonia
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At the
beginning of August 1916, when the Bulgarian Army became its advance, the
Fortress of Kavala was not in good condition. The fortification works had not
been finished. Of the five forts covering Kavala, only three were completed,
of the 90 guns that had been planned for the fortified positions, there were
only 2 obsolete naval guns, and of the 2,000 gunners foreseen there were only
140. The infantry for the defence of the forts, which should have been five
regiments, was entirely missing. The machine guns only then had begun to be
placed in their positions. The Fortress Command was tasked largely with the
supervision of works under construction rather than the conduct of war. Its
force numbered 25 officers and 250 enlisted men. Since the
negotiations with the Allies were inconclusive, the Greek government decided
not to resist the German-Bulgarian invasion and on 15 August ordered Kavala
Fortress to withdraw the guns and machine guns from the fortified positions.
The 7th Artillery Regiment transported the armaments of the forts of Lisse,
Perithori and Tulunbar to Drama. On 18 August
the screening companies of 5th Division in the area of Drama were withdrawn.
A few outposts that remained were captured by the Bulgarians. The troops of 5th
Division assumed a defensive deployment, but on the evening of the same day,
Army Corps D received from the Minister of the Army, general Konstantinos
Kallares, the order to avoid any kind of friction with Bulgarian army: if 5th
Division was unable to remain in Drama, it had to withdraw to Kavala. On 19 August
in the are of 6th Division, the Bulgarians attacked the
Greek troops and after a brief negotiation two companies based in
Achladochori and Phaia Petra were disarmed. However the mobilization
equipment and the armament of 6th Division were not captured because it had
been sent to Old Greece. On 20 August
2nd Trakiska Infantry Division captured the forts of Lisse and Perithori. The
materiel of the forts was scattered by the Bulgarian cavalry while being
transported to Drama. Since one Bulgarian column was approaching the forts
round Kavala, 7th Division was ordered to defend them. The following day the
commander of Army Corps D, Colonel Ioannes Chatzopoulos, received the order
to avoid the use of force. In meantime, between 19 and 22 August the
advancing Bulgarian troops drove back the Greek forces inside
Eleutheroupolis, Siderokastro, Serres, Drama, and Kavala, cutting off all the
communications and capturing the whole of eastern On 23 August
Army Corps D ordered 5th Division to leave Drama and to relocate to Kavala,
but this movement was postponed since the provisioning of the Division would
be easier in Drama. The same day the Bulgarians demanded to occuoy fort “D”
(= Delta). While the commander of Army Corps D was waiting for instructions
from its government, the Bulgarian captured both forts “D” and “E” (=
Epsilon). On 24 August
10th Belomorska Infantry Division captured the heights around Eleutheroupolis,
and tightened the encirclement of Kavala with the capture of saddle of
Stauroupolis, and forts “I” (= Iota), “Z” (= Zeta), and “H” (= Heta). The
following day they captured the remaining forts. On 1
September, being not able to restore contact with Army Corps D and the
government, 6th Division, which was encamped in Nea Zichne, minus the 16th
Infantry Regiment, departed for Kavala, arriving there on 4 September after
passing through Eleutheroupolis and the forts captured by the Bulgarians. On 3 September 1916 the general
situation in eastern - 5th Division
in Drama, 16th Infantry Regiment of 6th Division in Serres and 20th Infantry Regiment
of 7th Division in Eleutheroupolis were encircled by the Bulgarians; - 6th Division,
minus the 16th Regiment, was moving towards Kavala; - the forts of
Kavala had been captured by 10th Belomorska Infantry Division; - the commander
of Army Corps D sent repeated telegrams requesting that the equipment be
transported to Old Greece; - fifteen rebel officers of the Kavala garrison, following an
order issued by the Committee of National Defense, went from Thessalonica to Faced with
this situation the Ministry of the Army ordered that 5th and 6th Division,
along with the non-divisional units of Army Corps D, assemble in Kavala, but
this was impossible, since those units were encircled by the Bulgarians. On 6 September
Colonel Hristo Burmov, the commander of 10th Belomorska Infantry Division,
and the German Lt. Schmidt requested the commander of Army Corps D to be
allowed to occupy the heights north of Kavala, in order to defend against a
possible landing by the Allies. The Corps commander, having no other choice
since the orders of the government called for the avoidance of any kind of
friction, was forced to succumb and to evacuate the heights. Thus, the
garrison of Kavala was confined to the city, with no possibility of defence.
In the meantime the commander of 6th Division was persuaded to move his
troops to On 9 September,
the British landed a Marine detachment in Kavala which destroyed the wireless
of the city. Army Corps D was now cut off from the government, and Kavala was
blockaded by land and sea. That night Allied transport vessels sailed into
the harbour secretly to transport the men of 6th Division to On 10
September On 11
September the corps commander met again major von Schweinitz, who delivered
to him the reply of Field Marshal von Hindenburg :
he accepted the transfer of the Army Corps D and its weapons to |
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The Bulgarian offensive in |
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