Division 57

Slipping through time, imagine Paris in 1914. Division 57, a newly formed infantry division of the French Army, is preparing for the unimaginable horrors of the First World War. Here, at what would later become a stop on the 57 bus route, the soldiers of Division 57 bid farewell to their loved ones. They boarded trains, their faces a mixture of apprehension and bravado. Little did they know of the long journey ahead, a journey that would take them far from the familiar streets of Paris. Division 57’s initial deployment was close to home, amidst the turmoil of the Battle of Alsace, near Belfort. They faced the enemy in the shadow of the Vosges Mountains. For almost a year, they held their ground, enduring harsh conditions and relentless attacks. In late 1915, their orders changed. Division 57 was transported by rail to Toulon and Marseille, then embarked on a long sea voyage. Their destination: Salonika, Greece, a crucial point on the Allied front against the Central Powers. They became part of the Army of the Orient, fighting alongside British troops in a campaign far removed from the Western Front’s trenches. From the Vardar River valley to the entrenched camp of Salonika, Division 57 faced a new enemy and a new kind of warfare. They battled Bulgarian forces in the rugged terrain of the Balkans. They fought in the sweltering heat of the summer and the bitter cold of winter. They witnessed the horrors of trench warfare and the chaos of open battles. The division played a key role in the Allied counter-offensive on Monastir in 1916. They fought in the mountains of Albania and participated in the breakthrough of the Macedonian front in 1918. Their campaign culminated in the pursuit of the retreating enemy through Albania and into Serbia. The men of Division 57, once ordinary Parisians, had become seasoned veterans of a far-flung war. The 57 bus route, which includes a stop named after the division, serves as a poignant reminder of their sacrifice and the global reach of the First World War. Every time a bus stops here, it echoes the footsteps of those who left Paris to fight for their country.