Flight Towards Death

Serbian army on the run, 1915

Serbian soldiers on the run

About 23,000 Serbian boys found death during their flight out of Serbia in the terrible winter of 1915.
To prevent falling in the hands of the German/Austrian and Bulgarian enemies the Serbian leaders ordered their armies and 30,000 civilian boys to leave the country.
These boys, soldiers-to-be indeed, were between 12 and 18 years old and the majority of them could not stand the cold, the hunger and the hardship of the journey (and the enduring attacks by Albanese raiders).
Fifteen thousand boys died in the Prokletije, the Cursed Mountains of Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania. Those who finally made it to the Adriatic Sea did not look human anymore.
In Avalona the Italians had insufficient food and lodging for them. When ships arrived to bring the kids to the Greek island of Corfu there were only 9,000 boys left. Another 2,000 died during the 24 hours journey from Avalona to Corfu.
Once on Corfu, a hundred boys died each day of lack of food. The survivors of this incomprehensible saga were sent to England and France.



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