Salonika: The Battle Against Boredom

Dr Jake Gasson examines the British Army’s involvement in Salonika during the First World War and the fight against their greatest foe, boredom.

The adage that war is 90 per cent boredom and 10 per cent terror is perhaps more applicable to the Salonika campaign than any other theatre of operations during the First World War. British soldiers found almost everything there dull, from the lack of fighting to the tedious manual labour and the desolate scenery at the front.

On a deeper level, British soldiers felt 'existentially' bored by serving on a front with little prospect of offensive operations and no clear connection to the broader conflict.

In this incisive talk, Dr Jake Gasson seeks to understand the endurance and morale of British soldiers serving in territory that today spans northern Greece and North Macedonia. While focusing on the psychological challenges presented by boredom, he will also explore the wider campaign and the nature of this often-forgotten front.

About the speaker

Jake Gasson

Dr Jake Gasson is a National Army Museum Fellow based at King’s College London, where he is a postdoctoral researcher. He obtained a DPhil from Pembroke College, Oxford, specialising in the Macedonian front of the First World War.