Скра-ди-Леген шайқасы: Бірінші дүниежүзілік соғыстағы грек әскерінің жеңісі

The Battle of Skra di Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I. The battle was the first large scale employment on the front of Greek troops of the National Defense Army Corps (Greece, united after the National Schism, had joined the war in summer 1917), and resulted in the elimination of a whole enemy regiment (the 49th) A simultaneous bombardment on the main Doiran front north of Salonika was designed to keep the Bulgarians guessing. rushed the enemy trenches, the 1st (Serres) and 5th and 6th (Archipelago) Regiment capturing the heights of Skra at 6.30 from the outnumbered Bulgarians, while the 7th (Cretan) seized them between the two branches of the Liumnitsa River. On a 12 km. front, to a depth of 2 km., a complex maze of fortifications and trenches was captured. To the Venizelist National Army of Zymvrakakis, he was able to add, mainly through diplomatic handling of King Alexander, 20,000 former royalist troops. The manner of the Greek army's victory at Skra boosted its confidence and won it the esteem of the Allies, drawing a telegram to Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos from Guillaumat telling him "This victory will fill all Greece with legitimate pride." Major General Ioannou, commanding the 5th and 6th Archipelago, distinguished himself for his courage. After years of doubt, belief in an eventual Allied victory in the war took hold in Greece after Skra. The personal prestige of Venizelos rose even in royalist areas such as the Peloponnese where he had been unpopular and where there had been difficulties in mobilization. The outcome of the battle removed these hesitations. Skra led to Guillaumat being recalled to France by Clemenceau to be at hand to take over on the Western Front should Foch or Pétain fail. The Greek success at Skra later helped Venizelos persuade the new Allied commander in Salonika, General Franchet d'Espèrey, to modify his plans so that the Greek army be allowed a greater role in the coming push. Consequentially, in the final offensive in September 1918, which breached the German coalition's defences, there were Greek divisions at five points in the broad Allied line of attack. The importance of the May battle, despite its comparatively small numbers, was appreciated by the Allies after the war. In the victory march in Paris in 1919, along with the names of Marne, Somme, Verdun, and many others, appeared the name of Skra di Legen. The nearest village to the battlefield was called Liumnitsa at the time. 'Skra di Legen' appeared on the Austrian wartime 1:200,000 staff map and gave its name to the battle. The village, northwest of Axioupoli and near the Greek border with North Macedonia, was later renamed just Skra.