Battle of Monastir (1917)

The battle of Monastir (Bulgarian: Битката за Червената стена, battle of the Red Wall) took place on the Macedonian Front between Bulgaria and France on 18 May 1917. It ended with a complete Bulgarian victory with only 261 French survivors.

Prelude

Between 1915 and 1918 the Macedonian front passed through the summit of the Baba Mountain overlooking the city of Bitola. Against the Bulgarian Sixth Vidin Infantry Division stood two French and one Serbian division. In 1916 the Entente managed to seize Bitola but it was impossible for them to use the city because it was within the range of the Bulgarian artillery on Baba Mountain. In the beginning of 1917 the French High command in Solun decided to make an operation to take the Baba Mountain from the Bulgarians, to seize the valley between Bitola and Prilep and to continue the blow towards the Vardar valley.

Initial battles

On 12 March hundreds of guns began to fire at the Bulgarian positions at the Red Wall and Height 1248. It continued for 24 hours and more than 200,000 shells were fired, destroying the fortifications. However, warned by their intelligence, the Bulgarians hid in the concrete bunkers on the opposite sides of the peaks and did not give a single killed or wounded soldier.

On 14 March five French divisions attacked the Red Wall, Height 1248 and the western slopes of the mountain defended by the Sixth Division. After six-days of fighting, the assault on height 1248 was repulsed with heavy casualties by the French. However, the main French blow was pointed against the Red Wall which was attacked by three divisions. The fortifications on the peak changed hands several times, attacks on bayonette alternated with heavy artillery fire. On 18 March the peak was called the "Macedonian Shipka" (referring to the famous battle of Shipka Pass) and like the defense of Shipka, when the Bulgarians ran out of munitions they began to throw rocks and tree trunks at the French troops. In the end, in the beginning of May the Red Wall fell and the Bulgarians retreated to the neighbouring peak.

The battle

From a strategic point of view the French success was useless - despite their efforts the enemy could not take any other Bulgarian position and Bitola remained within the range of Bulgarian artillery. But due to the symbolic meaning of the peak, Bulgarian commanders decided that it should not remain in the hands of the enemy.

The command of the Vidin Division concentrated its whole artillery on the Red Wall. The infantry regiments were equipped with brand new German flame-throwers. With great effort the Bulgarians managed to install by hand six gun batteries on a nearby hill from which the French positions were clearly visible.

On 18 May hurricane artillery fire poured over the two French regiments on the Red Wall (6,000 men). The new batteries were especially effective. After two hours the Bulgarian troops, covered by artillery, stormed the enemy with hand grenades and flame-throwers, annihilating any resistance. After that one Bulgarian regiment attacked the French position on bayonette .259 French soldiers and 2 officers are the only survivours left on the Red Wall surrendered.

Aftermath

The symbolic peak was regained and remained in Bulgarian hands until the end of the War. The five French divisions lost between 40% and 75% of their equipment and made no attempts to attack the Bulgarians again.