# Serres Division

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Serres Division Μεραρχία Σερρῶν Regimental war flag presentation to the Serres Division, December 1916, in the presence of the "Triumvirate" of the National Defence government (Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, Lt. General Panagiotis Danglis, Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis). Active September 1916 – November 1920 Country Greece Allegiance Provisional Government of National Defence(1916-17) Kingdom of Greece (1917-20) Branch National Defence Army Corps (1916-17) Hellenic Army (1917-20) Type infantry Size Division Garrison/HQ Serres, Macedonia, Greece Engagements World War I Macedonian front Battle of Skra-di-Legen Battle of Doiran Operations in Western Thrace Commanders Commander Nikolaos Christodoulou Epameinondas Zymvrakakis

Military unit

The **Serres Division** ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): Μεραρχία Σερρῶν, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Greek): *Merarchia Serrōn*) was an [infantry division](/source/Infantry_division) of [Hellenic Army](/source/Hellenic_Army) in [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and the annexation of [Western Thrace](/source/Western_Thrace).

## Establishment

Further information: [Greece in World War I](/source/Greece_in_World_War_I) and [National Schism](/source/National_Schism)

The division began being raised in September 1916[1] by the [Provisional Government of National Defence](/source/Provisional_Government_of_National_Defence), as part of its efforts to [raise its own army](/source/Army_of_National_Defence) for service alongside the [Allies](/source/Allies_of_World_War_I) on the [Macedonian front](/source/Macedonian_front).[2] These efforts entailed the establishment of four [infantry divisions](/source/Infantry_division) to be recruited in the areas controlled by the government ([Crete](/source/Crete), the [Aegean islands](/source/Aegean_islands), and [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(Greece))).[3]

The Serres Division (Μεραρχία Σερρῶν), under Colonel [Nikolaos Christodoulou](/source/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](/source/IV_Army_Corps_(Greece)) who had fled the Bulgarian advance and the Corps' capitulation to [Thasos](/source/Thasos).[4] These were c. 2,500 officers and men from the [6th Infantry Division](/source/6th_Infantry_Division_(Greece))'s [17th](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=17th_Infantry_Regiment_(Greece)&action=edit&redlink=1) and [18th](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=18th_Infantry_Regiment_(Greece)&action=edit&redlink=1) infantry regiments and the 6th Mountain Artillery Battalion; [7th Infantry Division](/source/7th_Infantry_Division_(Greece))'s [2/21 Cretan Regiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2/21_Cretan_Regiment&action=edit&redlink=1), and IV Corps' [7th Field Artillery Regiment](/source/7th_Field_Artillery_Regiment). The division's manpower was completed by volunteers, both from within Greece and from Greek communities abroad ([Constantinople](/source/Istanbul), [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor), [Thrace](/source/Thrace), and the [Dodecanese](/source/Dodecanese)), as well as recruits mobilized—sometimes by force—by the Provisional Government.[5]

## Macedonian front, 1916–1918

Further information: [Macedonian front](/source/Macedonian_front)

The 1st Serres Regiment (1ο Σύνταγμα Σερρῶν) under Major [Georgios Mavroudis](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgios_Mavroudis&action=edit&redlink=1) was formed from the 17th and 2/21 Regiment, as well as the depot of the [9th Infantry Division](/source/9th_Infantry_Division_(Greece)). On 24–28 November, it assembled under French command at [Boymitsa](/source/Axioupoli). On 1 December, two of its battalions assumed a front sector at [Maya Dag](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fanos,_Kilkis&action=edit&redlink=1).[6] The 2nd Serres Regiment (2ο Σύνταγμα Σερρῶν) under Major [Charalambos Tseroulis](/source/Charalambos_Tseroulis) formed two of its battalions from the 18th Regiment's men, as well as taking over the "National Defence Battalion" (Τάγμα Ἐθνικῆς Ἀμύνης) that had already been deployed on the front in the [Strymon River](/source/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 [Kesislik](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neos_Skopos&action=edit&redlink=1) area resulted heavy casualties (13 dead, 104 wounded), the entire regiment was withdrawn from the front and sent to the Maya Dag area; numerous desertions occurred at that time.[7] The 3rd Serres Regiment (3ο Σύνταγμα Σερρῶν) was formed by one battalion from the 2/21 Regiment, one battalion of Cretan volunteers, and one battalion of volunteers from [Samos](/source/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 Boymitsa.[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Note: Greece officially [adopted](/source/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe) the [Gregorian calendar](/source/Gregorian_calendar) on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are [Old Style](/source/Old_Style).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.117–118_2-0)** [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), pp. 117–118.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.118_3-0)** [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), p. 118.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.91–105_4-0)** [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), pp. 91–105.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.118–119_5-0)** [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), pp. 118–119.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.119_6-0)** [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), p. 119.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.119–120_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.119–120_7-1) [Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.](#CITEREFΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.), pp. 119–120.

## Sources

- *Επίτομη ιστορία της συμμετοχής του Ελληνικού Στρατού στον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο 1914 - 1918* [*Concise History of the Hellenic Army's Participation in the First World War 1914–1918*] (in Greek). Athens: Hellenic Army History Directorate. 1993.

Divisions of the Hellenic Army Infantry 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 20th 98 ADTE Adrianople Archipelago Continental Greece Crete Independent Kydoniai Magnesia Peloponnese Serres Smyrna Xanthi Cyprus ('Menelaos') Other 3rd Special Forces 9th Armoured 19th Mechanized 20th Armoured Cavalry Support

v t e Provisional Government of National Defence Ideas & Policies Venizelism Megali Idea Pro-Entente Anti-German sentiment Greece in WWI People Triumvirate: Eleftherios Venizelos Panagiotis Danglis Pavlos Kountouriotis Officers: Georgios Kondylis Nikolaos Plastiras Theodoros Pangalos Leonidas Paraskevopoulos Emmanouil Zymvrakakis Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian Dimitrios Psarros Evripidis Bakirtzis Nikolaos Christodoulou Dimitrios Ioannou Konstantinos Manetas Theodoros Manetas Aristeidis Moraitinis Neokosmos Grigoriadis Napoleon Zervas Ptolemaios Sarigiannis Politicians: Themistoklis Sophoulis Nikolaos Politis Georgios Papandreou Leonidas Embirikos Andreas Michalakopoulos Konstantinos Angelakis Alexandros Zannas Military support Army of National Defence Serres Division Archipelago Division Crete Division Cretan Gendarmerie Allied Army of the Orient Armée d'Orient (1915–1919) Maurice Sarrail British Salonika Army Macedonian Mule Corps Democratic Battalions Events National Defence coup d'état National Schism Noemvriana Anathema to Venizelos French occupation of Thessaly Accession of Alexander of Greece

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Serres Division](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serres_Division) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serres_Division?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.