Patrolling the Struma Valley on bicycles, 1917

Photograph, World War One, Salonika (1914-1918), 1917.

During the Salonika campaign British troops used cyclists and cavalry to patrol and fortify villages in the Struma Valley. This was done in order to deny them to the Bulgars and Turks. This was a highly mobile style of warfare. Both sides usually evacuated the valley in the summer, owing to the prevalence of disease.

One of 69 photographs possibly collected by Lieutenant E C Corke, 11th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.