Stories from Salonika and Gallipoli

This is the story of Malachy Moore, grandfather of Patrick Moore. Malachy was born on 8 May 1893 in Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps early in the war. The year of enlistment was most likely 1914 as he had a 1914 Christmas box. However, he later wrote in a poem that he joined 1915. He was a stretcher bearer in the Medical Corps and his primary reason for signing up was for travel and adventure. He was stationed on Lemnos before being sent to Gallipoli, then evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt and from there to Salonika for the remainder of the war. While working in a hospital during the war, a Serbian soldier gave Malachy a Balkans War Medal, which he kept and is now part of the collection. The family suspect he was given this as a 'thank you' gift from the soldier. Towards the end of the war, my grandfather contracted Malaria and while he was a patient in hospital the war ended. He left the Army Medical Corps when the war ended and returned to his job as a tailor (and worked with his father who was also a tailor). While he rarely spoke about the war for many decades, he wrote a very extensive and detailed poem about his time in Europe which he titled 'Dog Biscuits and Bully'. This was the first account he provided. He died in 1973.