Chess in wartime armies

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I came across this example of chess in wartime armies the other day among the notices of sporting activities in what was known as the British Salonika Force (in what is now northern Greece and Macedonia).

Some context first (technically the date below is after the First World War had ended, but in the occupying period after the Armistices).

There is a bound book available to view at The National Archives which has most (some are missing) of the 4419 General Routine Orders issued for this army between 12 October 1915 and 31 December 1920. Appended to these GROs (they were issued on a sheet with several GROs per 'issue', which made for 597 issues by the end of 1920) are notices of non-military activities, cultural and sporting mostly.

In May 1919 the name of the army changed from the British Salonika Force to the British Army of the Black Sea (or to be more precise, the command structure changed and the C.I.C. General Milne's command was moved to Turkey as one of the Armies of Occupation and the GROs continued in the same numbered sequence to be issued from there).

So we find in issue 485 dated 19 September 1919, a single notice (appearing on the page after GRO 3277 about the exchange rate in Turkey):

"Y. M. C. A. Chess Club

A CHESS CLUB has been formed at the Red Triangle Club, Y. M. C. A., Pera.

All Chess players in His Majesty's Forces are invited to become Members.

Names can be handed in to Col.-Sgt. Marks, 27th Div. Cyclists Coy., Pte. Mottershead, Camp Commandant's Office, G.H.Q., or the Secretary of the Red Triangle Club.

(C.R. No. 11662. A.G.5.)."

Pera is a district of Istanbul (Constantinople).

Without the first names, it is not possible to do much more with the two names at the end. Marks and Mottershead were presumably chess players, but I have been unable to find out more about them.