Thanks, George, for the note on the pronounciation. I learned in elementary school geography to pronounce it with the emphasis on the NI, as it was a shortening of the real name Thessal-o-NI-ka (as it was pronounced here in the States). I wondered if the difference in pronounciation was one of the frequent differences in pronouncing the same word from one country to the other: ie. LAB-bra-tory vs La-BOR-a-tree.

Thanks, also, for posting "Memories of Salonika." You can take well deserved pride in it! I wish I could hear it sung.

Declan, "Write away" and your explanation make sense to me, too. It would be good to know which spelling "write" or "right" was intended in the original.

GUEST Mick, I'd figured the "foxy head" was a reference to a red-haired young'un, but hadn't been aware that the expression also was a reference to questionable parentage. In the verse, the wife is wondering if her husband knows he's the father of a "boy with a foxy head" and I wouldn't think she would use that expression if it also implied questionable parentage.

Shimrod, your observations that the fighting around Salonika involved the Bulgarians rather than the Turks, is correct. There were British troops in and around Salonika for several years and most of the time little was happening there. The troops at various times included Welsh, Scottish and Irish regiments as well as English, but I can find no reference to the Munster Fusiliers among the Irish. In Sept. of 1918 there was a major battle with British, Greek and French troops fighting against Bulgarian troops with German advisors. This turned into a disaster for the British who sustained enormous casualties. However, after the battle the Bulgarians retreated leaving the field to the British -- those who survived the battle, that is. Soon after that the war ended. (see Wikipedia, "World War I, Battle of Salonika")

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