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Battle of Kajmakčalan
Part of the Serbian Campaign of the Balkans Theatre of World War I
Battlefield of Kaymachatlan after the battle
Date 12–30 September 1916 Location Kajmakčalan Result Serbian victory
Belligerents
Serbia	Bulgaria
Commanders and leaders
Živojin Mišić	Kliment Boyadzhiev
Strength
1st Army with main effort by Drina Division	1st brigade of 3rd "Balkan" Infantry Division with the main effort by 11th "Sliven" Regiment
Casualties and losses
4,643 casualties of which 3⁄4 belonging to the Drina Division	Soldiers: 1,876 dead 5,941 wounded Officers: 51 dead 126 wounded

The Battle of Kaymakchalan was fought between Serbian and Bulgarian troops on the Macedonian front during World War I.

The battle was fought between 12 and 30 September 1916, when the Serbian army managed to capture the peak of Prophet Elijah while pushing the Bulgarians towards the town of Mariovo, where the latter formed new defensive lines. Between 26 and 30 September, the peak changed hands several times until the Serbian army decisively captured it on the 30th.

The battle proved to be very costly for both sides. Serbian losses had reached around 10,000 killed and wounded by 23 September. The Bulgarian companies had been reduced to 90 men each, and one regiment, the 11th Sliven Regiment, had 73 officers and 3,000 men hors de combat.

From a strategic standpoint, the battle was not a significant success for the Allies due to the upcoming winter that rendered further military engagements almost impossible.

Today, there is a small church on the peak of Prophet Elijah where the skulls of dead Serbian soldiers are stored, and it is regarded as a cultural site and is a tourist attraction. There is confusion about the name of the church, but it is called Saint Peter's (Sveti Petar in Serbian), which stands on the peak called Prophet Elijah.

Gallery

• A commemorative Serbian chapel at Kajmakčalan
• Oton Iveković: Battle of Kaymakchalan
• Observation Post of the Serbian Army High Command on Kajmakčalan, moved to Pioneers Park, Belgrade
• Commemoration post stamp of Serbia for 100th anniversary (2016)
• Kajmakčalan in 1930. (trenches can be easily seen even today)
• Bell at the St. Peters chapel on the top
• Urn with heart of Archibald Reiss, original was destroyed by Bulgarians in Second World War
• Remains of Bulgarian bunker
• Ossuary of Serbian soldiers (many bones were found later around the mountain)
• Ossuary of Serbian soldiers
• Ossuary of Serbian soldiers
• Stjepan Kolesnikov - After Kaymakchalan, 1925

Notes

1. Allcock, John B.; Young, Antonia (2000). Black Lambs and Grey Falcons. Berghahn Books. p. 82. ISBN 9781571818072.
2. Bataković 2005, p. 259.
3. Mitrović, Andrej (2007). Serbia's great war, 1914-1918. Purdue University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9781557534767.
4. Hall 2010, p. 75.
5. Gordon-Smith 1920, p. 280.
6. Gordon-Smith 1920, p. 279.
7. "You are being redirected..." www.serbia.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.

Sources

• Bataković, Dušan T (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe. Translated by Mihailović, Ljubomir. L'age D'homme. ISBN 9782825119587.
• Palmer, Alan (1965). The Gardeners of Salonika. Deutsch.
• Gordon-Smith, Gordon (1920). From Serbia To Yugoslavia: Serbia's Victories, Reverses And Final Triumph, 1914-1918. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9785519466608.
• Hall, Richard C (2010). Balkan breakthrough: the battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana Univ. Press. ISBN 9780253004116.

40°56′32″N 21°48′17″E / 40.94222°N 21.80472°E / 40.94222; 21.80472

External links

• , The battle of Kajmakchalan, Η μάχη του Καϊμακτσαλάν

• Battles of the Balkans Theatre (World War I)
• Battles of World War I involving Bulgaria
• Battles of World War I involving Serbia
• 1916 in Bulgaria
• 1916 in Serbia
• Macedonian front
• September 1916 events