Serres Division


The Serres Division was an infantry division of Greece in World War I and the occupation of Western Thrace.

Establishment

The division began being raised in September 1916 by the Provisional Government of National Defence, as part of its efforts to raise its own army for service alongside the Allies on the Macedonian front. These efforts entailed the establishment of four infantry divisions to be recruited in the areas controlled by the government.
The Serres Division, under Colonel Nikolaos Christodoulou, was the first division to be formed, as it could draw on the limited forces already available to the Provisional Government: the remnants of the disbanded IV Army Corps who had fled the Bulgarian advance and the Corps' capitulation to Thasos. These were officers and men from the 6th Infantry Division's 17th and 18th infantry regiments and the 6th Mountain Artillery Battlion; 7th Infantry Division's 2/21 Cretan Regiment, and IV Corps' 7th Field Artillery Regiment. The division's manpower was completed by volunteers, both from within Greece and from Greek communities abroad, as well as recruits mobilized—sometimes by force—by the Provisional Government.

Macedonian front, 1916–1918

The 1st Serres Regiment under Major Georgios Mavroudis was formed from the 17th and 2/21 Regiment, as well as the depot of the 9th Infantry Division. On 24–28 November, it assembled under French command at Axioupoli. On 1 December, two of its battalions assumed a front sector at Fanos. The 2nd Serres Regiment under Major Charalambos Tseroulis formed two of its battalions from the 18th Regiment's men, as well as taking over the "National Defence Battalion" that had already been deployed on the front in the Strymon River sector. The rest of the regiment also went to the same sector, under British command. However, after an attack by its 1st Battalion in the Neos Skopos area resulted heavy casualties, the entire regiment was withdrawn from the front and sent to the Fanos area; numerous desertions occurred at that time. The 3rd Serres Regiment was formed by one battalion from the 2/21 Regiment, one battalion of Cretan volunteers, and one battalion of volunteers from Samos and Asia Minor. Its formation was delayed, and it was not until the end of the year that the entire division assembled to the south of Axioupoli.