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1 August 1918
You are quite welcome, DB. Lot of stuff today, for the beginning of the month:
Western Front Second Battle of the Marne: Allies advance on Ourcq, on north, reaching line Cramoiselle-Cramaille (north-west of Fere-en-Tardenois), on south take Cierges (south-east of Fere-en-Tardenois), claim 600 PoWs, with another 100 PoWs taken at Cierges. French capture Romigny (south-west of Reims). German retreat to Vesle begins in rain (night August 1-2). Somme: British Fourth Army in Amiens sector secretly doubled by August 8; 290 special trains bring up 6 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions including Canadian Corps from Arras, 8 tank battalions and huge ammo stock piles. Small Canadian force sent north to Flanders (Mt Kemmel), part of deception plan including first land use of radio traffic deception. Germany: During August OHL reduces 400-strong battalions from 4 coys to 3. American troops in the forest near Fresnes: © IWM (Q 85383): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...288601394372608 French civilians and soldiers bid farewell to British troops departing the front after the Battle of Tardenois: © IWM (Q 9173): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...564154076684290 French troops in a shell-hole near Soissons: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...594355846361088 American troops attacking German trenches at Choloy: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...654757363900416 Column of Scottish soldiers marching near Mareuil-sur-Ay: © IWM (Q 78112): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...684959716524032 Western Front, Air: During August Jastas equipped with Fokker D-VII fighters claim 565 victories but serious fuel shortages beginning to affect all German flying units (150 or 250 litres per day and aircraft from mid-August). French have 2,970 aircraft. Three Fokker D-VII of Jasta 2 of Jagdgeschwader 3 next to an Albatros D-Va of Jasta 36: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...ii-01.jpg?ssl=1 Allied air forces mount concerted attacks on enemy airfields, especially those occupied by the German Schlachtstaffeln (Close Air Support Squadrons). The Royal Air Force (RAF) suffers heavy casualties (approaching 25%) amongst low flying aircraft. There was also intense air-to-air combat with the Royal Air Force losing 150 aircraft in the second week of August and claiming 177 German aircraft shot down. Fighter sweeps are instituted over the Western Front. These were usually composed of Sopwith Camel squadrons at 10,000 feet, Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 squadrons at 14,000 feet and Bristol Fighter squadrons at 18,000 feet. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the Russian army that had previously blocked Turkish forces in the south Caucasus collapses and a British force under the command of Major-General L. Dunsterville 'Dunsterforce' is deployed to the Caspian Sea port off Baku to stiffen the remaining White Russian forces in the region. Headquarters of the Aviation Services Ireland, previously under the Army's Irish Command, is renamed Royal Air Force Ireland and placed under direct Air Ministry control. Later in the same month Royal Air Force Ireland is renamed No.11 (Irish) Group. (Listed for yesterday): George McElroy, one of the leading British flying aces and the top Irish ace with 47 victories, is killed in action over France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...258398601273345 Germany: Army Air Service has 318 front-line units with establishment of 2,569 aircraft (excluding depot reserve) including 1,053 fighters and c.253 bombers. Eastern Front Allied Expeditionary Force attack and capture the defenses of Archangel (see 2nd). Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: Ashkabad Whites appeal to Major-General Malleson; he sends Punjabi MG detachment which covers 1,800 Whiles’ defeat by 3,000 Reds at Bairam Ali (August 13); Reds take Merv Oasis (c. August 18). Naval and Overseas Operations American diver putting on diving gear to salvage sunken ships and freight: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...228191873974272 (Listed for yesterday): A British Sopwith Camel, piloted by Stewart Culley, successfully takes off from a small barge being pulled behind a destroyer: © IWM (Q 27511): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...318795425431553 Political, etc Germany: During August 1920 conscript class reaches field depots but not used in front line for political reasons. Ludendorff raises soldiers’ pay 1 Reichsmark per day. Russia: New German Ambassador Helfferich’s memo urges Reds’ overthrow, Kaiser agrees. Lenin via Chicherin asks for German help vs counterrevolutionaries. France: Chamber votes for 1920 class call up. United Kingdom: Speech of Mr. Balfour on League of Nations. RFP up 8% to record 118%. Commons passes record £700m credit. Postwar rationing of raw materials and scheme of pay compensation for torpedoed seamen announced. Turkey: In August political exiles allowed to return. Belgium: King George V of Britain arrives in Belgium and inspects American troops: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...624556110241793 United States: 1 million women now working in factories. |
2 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Marne: Battle of Soissons or Battle of Soissonais and of the Ourcq formally ends (see July 23rd), although it had trickled down to practically nothing already.Soissons retaken by Allied forces (see May 29th), (300 of 15.000 population left) and advance up to 6 miles; 50 villages retaken. Soissons in August 1918: The old residence of the Frankish kings changed hands several times during the war: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...-1918.jpg?ssl=1 Germans retreating to River Vesle. Criss-cross shaded areas represent today’s gains, shaded black represent the area captured by the Allied counteroffensive: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...926539870359552 Germany: Hindenburg and Ludendorff Press Conference at OHL, latter claims ‘limited tactical success’ on Marne. Both slight AEF, comparing it with France’s Black African ‘auxiliaries’. Hindenburg insists his goal is ‘a peace of honor’. US ‘Liberty Planes’ (D.H. 4s) first in action. Eastern Front On 2 August 1918, anti-Bolshevik forces, led by Tsarist Captain Georgi Chaplin, staged a coup against the local Soviet government at Archangelsk. British diplomats had travelled to in preparation of the invasion, and General Poole had coordinated the coup with Chaplin. Royal Air Force aircraft help elements of the North Russian Expeditionary Force to occupy the port of Archangel. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: Petrov’s 1200 Reds and 2 guns (from Astrakhan) land in Baku and secure Bolshevik leaders’ release. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Persia: Turks occupy Urmia, north-west Persia. all 80,000 Jilus (also spelled Jelu) flee, only, 59,000 reach Bijar. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: British minelayer destroyers Vehement and Ariel mined and sunk (97 lives lost) by German mines close to Dutch neutral zone. During August Royal Navy lays 9,000 mines off Yorkshire and Durham coasts (until September). Political, etc Russia: Lenin tells at five meetings ‘The Soviet Republic is in Danger’ Japan: Japanese Government decide to land troops at Vladivostok (see 11th and April 5th). United States: US War Secretary Baker tells Major-General William S Graves, Commander designate for Siberia ‘Watch your step, you will be walking on eggs loaded with dynamite’. US Vice-Consul at Petrograd notifies state of war between US and Russia. American sailors in Chicago drape a U.S. flag over a seal of the Prussian Eagle that was displayed over Vogelsang Café: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...715213592031238 |
3 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Marne: Allies reach Fismes (on River Vesle), and retake 50 villages. Somme: Germans retreat behind River Ancre from Hamel (north of Albert) to Dernancourt (south of Albert). German soldiers captured by French troops during the fighting are waiting to be transported backwards: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...Aug18.jpg?ssl=1 A sunken road near Arras shortly after the Allies captured it from the Germans: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...018620617916416 Wounded American soldier in the military hospital at Neuilly, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...048972342304769 Eastern Front Volga: White Samara Government invites Allied intervention. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: British (25th Middlesex Regiment, 521 men) and Japanese 12th Division troops (12,000 by August 21) land at Vladivostok. (see 2nd and April 5th). Naval and Overseas Operations Channel: Australian ambulance transport Warilda sunk by submarine UC-49, 123 lost. HMAT Warilda: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...331716666343426 Adriatic: Coastal submarine UB-53 scuttles after fouling Otranto Barrage and exploding 2 mines. Political, etc Canada: Anti-Greek riots break out in Toronto over rumours that a Canadian veteran was mistreated in a Greek café. Thousands of Canadians destroy Greek businesses in the city and clash with police and militia. Turkey: Samsam es Sultaneh, Persian Prime Minister, resigns (see 7th, and June 20th). |
4 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Marne: Americans take Fismes; Allies on right bank of Vesle. Allies have taken 35,000 PoWs and 700 guns. End of Second Battle of the Marne. Somme: Germans withdraw on 10-mile front (Montdidier-Moreuil) on east bank of the Avre. Corporal Hitler awarded Iron Cross 1st Class for ‘personal bravery and general merit’. Adolf Hitler as a volunteer on the Western Front 1914-1918 with the Iron Cross: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...px800.jpg?ssl=1 Hugo Gutmann, the Jewish Lieutenant who recommended Hitler for the award: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...709196845740033 Ludendorff order of the day tries to raise morale, says Second Army ready for an 18 July-style tank offensive. Ruined buildings in the Somme department, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...392118003650560 French and American troops at a captured German heavy gun emplacement near Sarcy: © IWM (Q 108339): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...422317067923456 German shells hitting a wrecked building in Ypres, Belgium: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...648799690240001 Indian troops at a war anniversary service in Kasauli, British India: © IWM (Q 52693): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...679001241759744 British troops at a religious service at Terdeghem, France to commemorate the 4th anniversary since Britain entered the war: © IWM (Q 11121): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...739401278771201 German A7V tank “Mephisto” being tested by the British after it was captured last month: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...769605615296518 Eastern Front General Günther von Kirchbach takes command at Kiev. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: British force arrives at Baku (Caspian Sea) (see 26th, and July 19th). Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Persia: Bolshevik Committee at Enzeli arrested by British military authorities. Political, etc United Kingdom: Prime Minister’s 4th anniversary war message in 4,000-5,000 theatres and cinemas etc. Bishop of London consecrates war shrine in Hyde Park. Japan: Toyama fishing families riot vs high rice prices, unrest spreads to Kyoto, Kobe and other cities. Government requisitions all stocks for sale at fair prices (August 17). |
5 August 1918
Western Front
German airships raid the United Kingdom for the last time, when five Zeppelins of the German Navy are despatched to attack targets in the Midlands, but the raid is a failure. One airship, Zeppelin L-70, captained by Kapitanleutnant Johann von Lossnitzer and carrying the commander of the German Naval Airship Division, Fregattenkapitan Peter Strasser, is attacked by two de Havilland D.H.4s from Yarmouth. It falls into the sea in flames, 8 miles from Wells-next-the-Sea, killing all of the crew. Subsequently, a de havilland D.H.4 flown by Major Egbert Cadbury and Captain Robert Leckie is credited with destroying L-70. Royal Air Force aircraft also damage a second airship, the L-65 and the surviving airships drop their bombs into the sea and return to base. 35 defence sorties (2 lost) including USN Air Service F2A (Lieutenant E Lawrence, Ensign A Hawkins) from Killingholme south of Humber. The newly completed X-class L-70 was considered an outstanding airship and the final version of the ‘Super-Zeppelin’. It should climb to an altitude where it might be immune from interception and remaining in the air for several days: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...n-L70.jpg?ssl=1 There were altogether 51 airship raids against the British Isles during which bombs were dropped. There were also 8 attempted raids which either did not reach the coast, or which, for some other reason, failed in action. There were also 59 aeroplane attacks in which bombs were dropped (see July 20th), and 11 aeroplane reconnaissances. Total number of air raids in which bombs were dropped was 110. France: 4th and final Paris Gun bombardment (66 shells until August 9). Allied advances at the 2nd Battle of the Marne slows as German troops strengthen their defenses on the Vesle River. However, Germany’s gains in its most recent offensive have been reversed, and German troops retreat at other points on the Western Front: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...012444416794624 A British 8-inch howitzer and its crew near Warloy, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...043901721890816 King George V landing at Calais to visit the front: © IWM (Q 9823): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...074100572336128 U.S. General Peyton C. March announces that over a million U.S. troops are now on the frontlines, taking over trenches previously manned by French troops. Eastern Front Volga: 2,500 Czechs and Whites land at Kazan but are driven back. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: First Turkish attack on Baku repulsed by 8,000 defenders (620 casualties); 2 Duncars and 200 British troops reach city and help (2 more Duncars and 150 British soldiers land on August 7). Georgia: Kress radios Berlin ‘I have hampered every shipment of munitions [for Turks] from Batumi via Tiflis up to the present’. US interception station, picks up and solves in 1 hours (another signal decoded on August 8). Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: 1,150 French colonial troops land at Vladivostok (arrive at front under shell fire August 11-12), Marines land on August 9. Political, etc Russia: Anglo-French nationals arrested in Moscow. United Kingdom: Message of Mr. Lloyd George to British Empire to "Hold Fast". United States: U.S.A. Man-power Bill introduced into Congress; military age from 18 to 45. Hog’s I, Philadelphia, launches first pre-fabricated ship SS Ouistconck and 7 completed by January 8, 1919, yard having been built from scratch since September 20, 1917 (16 ships launched). |
6 August 1918
Western Front
Marne and Aisne: Franco-American troops reach river Vesle and straighten out Salient (Soissons-Reims). Adolph von Carlowitz takes over German Ninth Army from Fritz von Below. Army Group Boehn, commanded by Max von Boehn, formed. Somme: German division counter-attack at Morlancourt (south of Albert) regains much ground and 250 PoWs (British 18th and 58th Divisions replacing Australians). Barbed wire lines the streets of the ruined town of Albert, France: © IWM (Q 6895): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...436494628741120 Peter Strasser, the commander of Germany’s airship division, killed in the loss of L-70 in last night’s raid: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...225099966480384 A daylight British patrol in the town of Albert, France: © IWM (Q 6905): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...376094474297344 Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US Assistant Secretary of the Navy, in France during his inspection of Allied naval facilities and administrations: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...406293421142016 King George V inspects officers of the 2nd Brigade RAF near St. Omer: © IWM (Q 12101): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...466690035593217 Naval and Overseas Operations Mediterranean: U-boat sinks destroyer HMS Comet. Allied mining conference at Malta (until August 9), US Navy to lay second Otranto mine barrage and a South Aegean one. Political, etc Austria-Hungary: Czech's, Yugo-Slavs, some Poles vote against Austro-Hungarian Budget. Vienna newspaper Arbeiter-Zeitung praises Marshal Foch: ‘…the Allies now possess a leader whose name arouses confidence and … they believe that, unlike his predecessors, he will not fall far short of the mature skill … possessed by Hindenburg and Ludendorff’. Germany: Retirement of Herren Ballin and Holtzendorff from Council of Central Europe. Russia: SOVNARKOM authorizes unions to send armed men to get bread from villages. Recalled German Ambassador leaves Moscow (arrives Pskov on August 11). France: General Ferdinand Foch created Marshal of France. Marshal Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) is a deliberate organizer and diplomat and can overcome the national self-interests of the Allied nations: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...-Foch.jpg?ssl=1 M. Malvy sentenced to five years' banishment. United Kingdom: British Government issue Declaration to Russian peoples, stating that they have no intention of interfering in Russian politics (see July 26th). (ed note: curious disclaimer, considering the already-ocurring and continued interference). Speech of Mr. Montagu on Indian Constitutional Reform. |
7 August 1918
Western Front
Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...481791769739266 Eastern Front Volga: Czechs and Whites capture Kazan from Red First Army whose Colonel Vatsetis just escapes. Red gold reserve moves to Samara. Largest workers rebellion vs Red rule at Izhevsk (arms factory town 150 miles northeast of Kazan, until November 7). Leon Trotsky leaves Moscow in armored train for Volga. Kuban: Anton Denikin breaks Reds before Ekaterinodar after week’s fighting. Czech soldiers in an armored train: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...train.jpg?ssl=1 Naval and Overseas Operations Atlantic: French cruiser Dupetit Thouars (13 lost) sunk by U-62 (Ernst Hashagen). Political, etc United Kingdom: Mr. Lloyd George on War position; says German high water mark reached, their economic position desperate. Turkey: Vossuq ed Douleh appointed Persian Prime Minister (see 3rd and May 29th, 1917). |
8 August 1918
Western Front
95 days until the Armistice. The Western Allies “Hundred Days Offensive” begins with the commencement of the Battles of Amiens and Montdidier. Battle of Amiens begins (see 11th): Great Franco-British advance (British 4th and French 1st Armies) on Amiens front from Morlancourt to Montdidier. BEF Fourth Army, with French First Army (Moreuil captured with 3,150 PoWs and 161 guns), and 430 tanks (96 Whippets) attacks at 0420 hours on 15-mile front east of city. 5 German divisions routed (27,700 casualties including 15,565 PoWs from 11 divisions and 400 guns). Newly arrived Canadian Corps (3,868 casualties) advances 6 miles taking 12 villages; 5,033 PoWs and 161 guns; Australians (3,000 casualties) take 7 villages; 7,920 PoWs and 173 guns. Battle of Montdidier begins (see 15th): General line advanced to Plessier-Rozainvillers, Beaucourt, Caix, Framerville, Chipilly, and west of Morlancourt. The ‘BLACK DAY OF THE GERMAN ARMY’ IN THIS WAR (Ludendorff War Memoirs). From a German headquarters BEF obtain map of all Siegfriedstellung (‘Hindenburg Line’) dug-outs, emplacements, HQs, OPs, dumps, railheads, billets, balloon sheds and landing grounds between river Oise and Bellicourt. BEF loss under 9,000 soldiers and 109 tanks (8 to 1 anti-tank gun). German soldiers taken PoWs on the ‘Black Day of the German Army’: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...ngene.jpg?ssl=1 Australian troops with a tank on the Western Front: © IWM (E(AUS) 3883): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...841667586928640 British Mark V tank at Lamotte-en-Santerre at the Battle of Amiens: © IWM (Q 106497): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...110935331262464 British troops with a large group of German prisoners at the Battle of Amiens: © IWM (Q 9195): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...141132122292225 German prisoners captured by the French at the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...201546608685057 The opening day of the Battle of Amiens sees the Royal Air Force and French Air Forces with approximately 1,900 aircraft available and opposed by only 365 German aircraft in this sector. Record losses of aircraft in 1914-18 air combat– 83 Allied plus another 52 RAF planes written off (90 casualties), 49 German during Battle of Amiens. Some German pilots (including Goering) 10 hours in air successfully defending Somme bridges (14 permanent) from 205 RAF sorties (12t bombs dropped). 9 RAF fighter squadrons drop 1,563 bombs and fire 122,150 MG rounds at ground targets (until August 9). RAF shoot down 9 German balloons, ace Beauchamp-Proctor shares in all these kills. The Victoria Cross is awarded to Captain A.F.W. Beauchamp-Proctor, a South African of No.84 Squadron, Royal Air Force. His work was described as "almost unsurpassed in its brilliancy, and as such has made an impression on those serving in his squadron and those around him that will not be easily forgotten." Remains of a German zeppelin brought down over England: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...171336278425600 Southern Front Four No 139 Squadron Bristol Fighters destroy 2 of 3 Austrian Albatroses over Pergine airfield (east of Trent) during Emperor Charles’ visit. Naval and Overseas Operations Channel: Destroyer HMS Opossum and minelayers depth charge and sink UC-49 off Start Point near Plymouth. 6 Royal Navy destroyers lay first 234 magnetic mines off Dunkirk. Officially designated Sinker Mk1(M) they are prone to explode prematurely, but Germans never discover them. Political, etc United Kingdom: British Government inform Finnish Government that they are in no way hostile to Finnish aspirations on the Murman Coast and in Karelia. Education Act receives Royal Assent. Reply of Mr. Balfour in House of Commons to Pacifists. United States: Women members of the New York Police Reserves practice targeting at airplanes with a Lewis machine gun: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...871874641424384 |
9 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Amiens (see 11th): Germans momentarily reoccupy Chipilly north of the river Somme, British with 145 tanks (39 knocked out) and joined US 167th Regiment, capture Morlancourt and Rosieres-Lihons; advance up to 3 miles despite facing 6 German divisions, 3,884 Canadian soldiers capture 8 villages and Australian casualties. British reach Lihons (2 miles from Chaulnes). Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): French 3rd Army advances on Montdidier from north and south, capturing Assainvillers (on south) and Pierrepont (on north). Allies air losses again heavy, while attacking Somme bridges, RAF loses c.35 of 45 aircraft lost for 3 German planes. British Mark V tanks, which had their debut in July 1918, on the way to the front line: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...tanks.jpg?ssl=1 A camouflaged Mark V tank near Albert during the Battle of Amiens: © IWM (Q 9248): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...474585615249408 Southern Front Italian air raid on Vienna dropping leaflets, not bombs: Gabriele D’Annunzio organizes daylight leaflet drop; 7 SVA5s and 1 two-seater SVA9 (Palli and D’Annunzio) fly 625 miles San Pelagio-Vienna and back, loitering 30 minutes over city, drop 200,000 manifestos calling on the Viennese to throw off ‘Prussian servitude’. Political, etc Russia: News of arrest of Messrs. Lockhart (British Consul-General at Moscow) and Wardrop (British Consul) by Bolsheviks. United Kingdom: Declaration (dated 6 August) of British Government to Peoples of Russia published. Appeal of Executive of Miners' Federation of Great Britain to miners to increase output of coal by avoiding unnecessary absenteeism. |
10 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Amiens (see 11th): Rawlinson asks Haig ‘Are you commanding the British Army or is Marshal Foch?’ and gets Amiens thrust ended; he has 85 tanks (30 knocked out) in action (38 on August 11, 6 on August 12). RAF Amiens offensive bombing switches to railways as well, 90 extra fighters bring strength to 480, but Peronne station raid costs 6 of 52 aircraft involved (Peronne attacked 3 times, August 11). Oblt Erich Lowenhardt (53 victories) killed in mid-air collision (Germany’s third ranking ace), one of 15 aircraft lost (38 Allied planes claimed). Captain A Yuille (Sopwith Camel, No 151 Squadron) shoots down first Giant bomber behind British lines near Talmas (night August 10-11). British tanks going through the town of Hourges at the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...534986851835904 Canadian armored car in action at the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...611777008316416 The ruins of Chipilly a day after it was taken by the Americans during the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...872356050640897 Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): Montdidier retaken by French forces (see 8th, and March 27th). Montdidier garrison surrounded and captured by French First Army in 7-mile-advance. 7 new German divisions arrive, drunken Bavarians shout at 38th Division ‘What do you war-prolongers want ?’. The Victoria Cross is awarded to Captain F.M.F. West of No.8 Squadron, Royal Air Force, for gallantry displayed during a low-level attack on German troops far over enemy lines north east of Roye in France, with the co-operation of the Tank Corps. Second Battle of Lassigny: French Third Army (7 divisions) drives 3-4 miles northeast into German Eighteenth Army flank below Montdidier in (until August 22). France: Total Allied PoW haul since August 8: 24,000, plus over 400 guns. US First Army operational under Pershing; Colonel Hugh A Drum CoS. AEF combat strength 822,358. Churchill (flew to France on August 8) at BEF GHQ Shell conference. A carrier pigeon is released from a tank near Albert, France: © IWM (Q 9247): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...580289122488326 British cavalry passing through Beaucourt-en-Santerre, as they pursue retreating German troops: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...595393222234113 Australian soldiers at Crepy Wood during their attack against Lihons: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...902596147830784 Eastern Front Russia: Lenin orders anti-German screen troops to Volga despite Trotsky’s doubts (still 37 German divisions in east). Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Czechs and 400 Cossacks repulse 5,000 Reds in Stepanovka-Kraevsk area. Naval and Overseas Operations Western Atlantic: U-boat gas attack on US Coast Guard station and lighthouse, Smith Island, NC. As reported in the US Press at the time: August 13, 1918: "German submarine terrorism on a more intensive scale was disclosed tonight when the Navy Department announced that one of the U-boats operating on this coast had made a mustard gas attack off North Carolina. It is probably the same submarine that sank the Cape Hatteras lightship. This attack was made about 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon. Mustard gas oil was released on the tides which swept in past Smith Island. The gas generated by the floating oil, which is vary volatile in the hot sunshine, temporarily put the coast guard station and lighthouse personnel on Smith Island out of commission. Six men were gassed, but no deaths resulted. Information from the Coast Guard Station on Smith Island, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, tonight, is that none of the victims of the gas there on Saturday afternoon suffered serious injury. Those who suffered at the lighthouse were the keeper, Captain Charles Swann, his wife and one other, composing the entire crew of the lighthouse, while three of the Coast Guards suffered. A brood of chickens on the reservation was killed, and other animals on the place showed signs of the gas." (New York Times) North Sea: Harwich Force (4 cruisers and 13 destroyers) off Western Frisian Islands launches 6 CMBs to attack German minesweepers across minefields, but all lost to German seaplane attacks (1 lost), other aim of trapping Zeppelin achieved. Mediterranean: French troopship SS Polynesien is sunk by the German submarine SM UC-22, resulting in 19 deaths. The ship was carrying Serbian soldier Milunka Savić, one of the most decorated female soldiers in history, who survived the sinking: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...842031962521600 Political, etc Turkey: Mushaver ul Mamalek, Persian Foreign Minister, resigns (see 11th and January 19th). |
11 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Amiens: Battle comes to a close, as the initial Allied gains have slowed, and Haig finally recognizes the futility of throwing men against fortified positions. Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): Allied advance between River Avre and and River Oise reaches line Armancourt (south-west of Roye), Tilloy, Cambronne (between Metz and Oise). British air-raid on Karlsruhe. France: 9 German bombers raid Calais, cause 47 military and 13 civilian casualties, 100 vehicles destroyed and fire spreads to spare parts worth £ 1 1/4 million for 19,566 BEF motor vehicles. Western Front, Air: Germans claim 38 Allied planes for loss of 15. 9,074 Canadian casualties since August 8. Germany: Although counter-attack now stabilizing Amiens-Montdidier line, Ludendorff offers resignation to Kaiser who refuses but replies ‘… we must strike a balance. We have nearly reached the limit of our powers of resistance. The war must be ended.’ The Last Attack: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...nsive.jpg?ssl=1 German prisoners and British soldiers at a dressing station near Chipilly: © IWM (Q 6943): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...932781941350400 Erich Löwenhardt, killed in mid-air collision yesterday over France at the age of 21: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...947813626363904 King George V inspects a tank demonstration at Sautricourt: © IWM (Q 11144): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...963000819523584 Canadian Field Ambulance Men putting on their gas masks during the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...205647979012096 Wounded British soldiers waiting to be evacuated at Le Quesnel: © IWM (Q 7297): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...237104617345024 Canadian soldiers returning on a tank at Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...267316209954817 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: First Japanese contingents arrive at Vladivostok (see 2nd and 24th and September 5th). Grigory Semenov’s forces defeat Bolsheviks north of Manchuria Station. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: German airship L-53 destroyed off Frisian coast. (Last German airship to be destroyed in the war); this is in connection with the overnight raid of British coastal motor boats on German minesweeping forces. L-53 was shot down by by Stuart Culley in Sopwith Camel launched to 19,000ft from a lighter towed by British destroyer Redoubt. The L-53: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...297507913310208 Germany: Reinhard Scheer replaces Henning von Holtzendorff as CNS. Franz von Hipper to command High Seas Fleet. Hindenburg and Ludendorff tell Scheer on August 12 that only U-boats can win the war. Political, etc Russia: Arrival of German Embassy (Helfferich) from Moscow at Pskov. United Kingdom: American soldiers arriving at Liverpool on the Chinese troopship Elpenor: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...174238623182848 Turkey: Mushaver ul Mamalek reappointed Persian Foreign Minister (see 10th). |
12 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): Lull in operations (until August 20), Australians take Proyart. King George decorates US 33rd Division Doughboys. Allied advances continue with the “Hundred Days Offensive,” as mobile warfare resumes on the Western Front: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...661151591227393 Germany: Kaiser relieves Crown Princes William and Rupprecht of Ninth, Eighteenth and Second Armies, all heavily engaged at Amiens and formed into Boehn’s new Army Group (until October 31) whose Seventh Army goes to Magnus von Eberhardt. British soldiers extinguishing a fire caused by German air raid against Calais: © IWM (Q 11222): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...569299689136128 French troops accepting a cigarette from a Canadian soldier at the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...599493263065089 Canadian medics passing by a tank during the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...629693795319809 Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Georgia: Bicherakov (c.2,200 men) captures Derbent; Red warship foils Dunsterville’s bid to recall him. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Palestine: British 10th and 60th divisions’ raids on Gharabe Ridge (164 casualties) and east of Nablus road cause 570 casualties and take 14 MGs (over 239 Turkish PoWs). Lawrence and Lieutenant-Colonel Joyce meet Buxton’s force at El Jefir east of Hejaz Railway, reach Azrak in armored car on August 14. Naval and Overseas Operations Eastern Mediterranean: U-boat sinks British transport Anhui (4 die) off Cyprus. Political, etc United Kingdom: 30,000 see British Scientific Products Exhibition (250 firms) in London (until September 7). Italy: Speech of Sr. Giovanni Giolitti on reconstruction after War. United States: Liquor sale ban on railways. |
13 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): French capture Belval (1.5 miles south from Lassigny). Fifty Sopwith Camel fighters (including No 17 US Aero Squadron) mount a surprise raid on Varssenaere airfield west of Bruges, destroy 28-38 aircraft. German guns captured by the Australians at the Battle of Amiens: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...920360362823680 American troops forming up as they prepare to advance following an artillery barrage against German positions near St. Barbe: © IWM (Q 69956): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...950553668280320 Soldiers from the British Army Service Corps help French women with the harvest at Cayeux: © IWM (Q 11229): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...980756830466050 Lothar von Richthofen, brother of Manfred von Richthofen (Red Baron) and German ace with 40 victories, is shot down and wounded for the third time. Lothar survives, but he is seriously injured and does not fly for the duration of the war. https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...012265314467840 Eastern Front Volga: Stalin declares state of siege at Tsaritsyn, bourgeoisie to dig trenches. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: Convoy escort armed trawlers depth charge and sink coastal submarine UB-30 off Whitby. Mediterranean: 17 destroyer-escorted fast storeships from USA have docked at French ports, via Spanish waters, since July 1, 4000t per day discharged by autumn. Italy: Italian Navy deliberately sinks the outdated cruiser Etruria to make it seem Austro-Hungarian agents (turned double agents by Italy) were successful in their sabotage: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...997168877772800 Political, etc Among Allied Powers: The Czechoslovaks declare War on Germany. [October 28th is officially accepted as the date of entry into the war of Czechoslovakia as a belligerent nation. This was the date of the declaration of independence at Prague. On August 13th the declaration was made in the name of the Czechoslovaks as a people.] Germany: Admiral Eduard von Capelle, German Minister of Marine, resigns (see 15th and March 15th, 1916). [note: there is confusion over the exact date: although his resignation was engineered by Erich von Ludendorff, and seems to have been requested in August, other sources state that he didn’t retire until October. It is possible that he tendered his resignation in August, but didn’t make it effective until his October retirement. Whatever the actual date of his retirement, his successor was Paul Behncke.] At Spa Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, Prince Max von Baden, Chancellor and Foreign Minister, agree war cannot be ended militarily. Russia: Release of Messrs. Lockhart and Wardrop. Appeal of General Mikhail Dieterichs to Allied Naval and Military Commanders at Vladivostok for help. United Kingdom: British Government recognize the Czechoslovaks as an Allied nation (see June 3rd and September 3rd). |
14 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): German retreat from River Ancre begins; evacuation of Beaumont-Hamel, Serre, Puisieux, Bucquoy. North of Oise French capture Ribecourt. Lys salient British establish posts south and east of Vieux Berquin (60 miles east-south-east of Hazelbrouck). French soldiers in their trenches: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...raben.jpg?ssl=1 RAF has flown 700 sorties and dropped 571 bombs on bridges (mainly 112lb) since August 8 without inflicting serious damage. Rene Fonck destroys 3 German aircraft (8 admitted losses for 29 Allied). Armenian refugees at an American military hospital in Paris: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...027378293612545 A French sailor and a British soldier with two women on a beach at Cayeux: © IWM (Q 11480): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...042481290203137 British cavalry near Demuin: © IWM (Q 78691): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...284030561366016 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Palestine: Nos 144 and 45 Squadrons reinforce RAF. Naval and Overseas Operations Mozambique: Germans 60 miles inland from coast at Angoche. Political, etc Germany: Ludendorff recommends immediate peace negotiations. Emperor Charles and Kaiser meet for last time at Spa, Arz warns ‘Austria-Hungary could only continue the war until December’; Austrians plead for peace. Kaiser instructs Hintze to seek Queen of Holland’s mediation but only to aid German recovery. United Kingdom: Allied Propaganda Conference, at Crewe House, London (until August 17) opened by Northcliffe. |
15 August 1918
Western Front
Battle of Montdidier (see 15th): French complete capture of Lassigny Massif by capture of Alliche farm. British cross Ancre to Thiepval Wood and make progress between Beaucourt (north of Albert) and Puisieux (north-east of Beaucourt). Battle of Montdidier ends (see 8th). Haig refuses to obey Foch’s order from August 11 for attack on Roye-Chaulnes, but will attack north of Somme (c. August 21). Last bombardment of Paris by German long-range gun (see March 23rd). Rupprecht warns Prince Max of Baden ‘Our military situation has deteriorated so rapidly that I no longer believe we can hold out over the winter; it is even possible that a catastrophe will come earlier.’ A Canadian 60-pounder battery in action, August 1918: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...under.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: German fighters break up Allied formations, claim 25 Allied aircraft for 4 lost. British troops in the damaged neighborhoods of Caix: © IWM (Q 61209): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...315461731835904 British Royal Engineers constructing a railway in the destroyed town of Villers-Bretonneux: © IWM (Q 56897): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...345668790472704 Australian soldiers digging a trench at Proyart: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...375865627529216 Ruins of Morlancourt after its capture by the Allies: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...677850473975808 British soldiers of the Directorate of Agricultural Production tending to cabbages near Vimy Ridge: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...754615976407046 Phosphorous bombs go off at night at Gondrecourt-le-Château: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...845202813562880 Eastern Front Kuban: White “Volunteer” Army captures capital Ekaterinodar (Denikin enters on August 16). Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: Action of Bairam Ali (Trans-Caspia): Trans-Caspian Government defeated by Bolshevik forces. Georgia: Announcement of British troops at Baku (on west of Caspian Sea) and at Krasnovodsk (on east of Caspian, terminus of Central Asiatic Railway). Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Heavy shelling exchanged between Red field batteries (until August 17) on August 16 and HMS Suffolk 12-pounder in armored train. Siberian Regional Duma meets in Tomsk. First American troops land in Vladivostok, joining Japanese, British, and French troops in the intervention against the Bolsheviks. Bactrian camels used to pull sleds in Siberia for the British troops participating in the intervention against the Bolsheviks: ©IWM (Q 114808): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...406076217819136 Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: Harwich Force destroyers Ullswater and Scott sunk (torpedo and mine respectively) escorting Dutch convoy. A painting of HMS Ulleswater sinking by Charles Pears: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...739516192546817 Political, etc Germany: Vice-Admiral Paul von Behnke appointed German Minister of Marine (see 13th). Meeting of Kaiser Wilhelm and Emperor Charles at Main Headquarters. United Kingdom: Portuguese and British soldiers at a sports meet at Horsham, England: © IWM (Q 28083): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...709309440086018 United States: Relations between U.S.A. and Bolshevist Government in Russia severed. Spain: Spanish Note to Germany re: shipping losses. |
16 August 1918
Western Front
The first massed low level attack by the Royal Flying Corps on an enemy airfield is carried out, when 65 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5s, Sopwith Camels, Bristol Fighters and de Havilland D.H.4s attack the German aerodrome at Haubourdin. No British aircraft are lost. Anglo-French advance on Roye progresses. German counter-attack at Damery (north-west of Roye) repulsed. New German Fokker D-VIII (originally designated the E-V) parasol monoplane fighter (Jasta 6) scores first victory out of 18 claimed. Fokker D-VIII: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...dviii.jpg?ssl=1 Germany: First RAF raid on Darmstadt by No 55 Squadron, 3 D.H.4s lost to fighters. Pershing requests return of 3 out of 5 US divisions training with BEF. Eastern Front Northern Russia: Whites occupy Shenkursk, 175 miles south-south-east of Archangel. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Japanese General Otani commanding Allied expedition, arrives at Vladivostok. Sir Charles Eliot appointed British High Commissioner in Siberia. Czechs foil Red landing attempt on Lake Khanka. Regnault (ex-French Tokyo Ambassador) made Allied representative at Vladivostok (August 21). Political, etc Russia: Vladimir Lenin tells Moscow Party that young people must be won over. Slovenia: National Yugoslav Council Meeting at Laibach. |
17 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon begins: French capture Caesar's Camp trenches (west of Roye) and Canny-sur-Matz (north-west of Lassigny). New advance of French in angle between Oise and Lower Aisne, with c.2000 yards gained, and over 2,000 PoWs (until August 18). British gunners watch a French battery firing their 75-mm mle 1897 field guns: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...ttery.jpg?ssl=1 French advance 1 mile north of Autreches. Patients at a convalescent depot playing in the sea at Trouville: © IWM (Q 11194): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...119515332464640 British soldiers watch a performance by a concert party on a stage set next to a ruined building: © IWM (Q 11503): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...134612457078790 Women workers making cloth to be used for sandbags at a factory in Dundee: © IWM (Q 110010): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...149728137355270 American troops on a rifle range: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...164818282598404 Wounded New Zealand soldiers at hospital in Wisques France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...422765311074309 American, French, and British sailors with a performing dog: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...452975062446087 American troops riding on a donkey cart in Lucy, France: © IWM (Q 80261): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...483177419231237 Eastern Front Reported defeat of Bolsheviks on Ussuri front by Czechoslovaks. Northern Russia: 2/10th Royal Scots march through Archangel behind US Marine band, reach Bereznik on river Dvina by barge on August 31. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: Dunsterville arrives at Baku in SS President Kruger, 2 battalions follow, inspects defenses on August 18 while defenders lose Fatmai village on northern flank. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Arrival of U.S. troops at Vladivostok. Announcement of re-capture of Irkutsk by Czechoslovaks and Siberian troops. Naval and Overseas Operations US cargo ship USS West Bridge is hit by 2 torpedoes from the German submarine U-107, killing 4. However, the crew save the ship from sinking, and it is later towed to port and repaired: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...179910189559809 Political, etc United States: The Martin MB-1 biplane, the first purpose-built bomber by the U.S., makes its first flight: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...392562975162368 |
18 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: French advance between Oise and Lower Aisne, capturing plateau about Nampeel and village of Nouvron-Vingre. British advance in Flanders begins: Action of Outtersteene Ridge. British British Second Army (671 casualties) advances between Vieux Berquin and Bailleul, capturing Oultersteene and 697 PoWs. British 13-pounder Horse Artillery moves forward; it shows how robust horse-towed field guns had to be: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...e-art.jpg?ssl=1 A British creeping barrage: © IWM (Q 6990): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...724747284426752 Lorraine: AEF gas attack at Mervillor near Baccarat: 800 US projectors fire 12t phosgene (250 gassed, 30 killed). Current leading US ace (94th Squadron) David Putnam (12 victories) shot down and killed. British troops at a convalescent depot in Trouville watching a boxing match: © IWM (Q 11197): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...513361639940097 American troops conversing with old French women at Lucy, France: © IWM (80260): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...754947195969536 Wounded British troops in a trench at the Action at Outtersteene Ridge: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...785144452521984 Eastern Front Volga: Over 30,000 Red troops transferred from West since July 25. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: Merv (Trans-Caspia) taken by Bolshevik forces (see November 1st). [Approximate date.] Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Cossack machine-guns repulse Red River Ussuri crossing south of Runovka. 2 more Suffolk 12-pounders back defence though Japanese refuse gun battery (August 17), but c.3,000 Allies retreat 6 miles to Syvagino by train after Cossack lines stormed on August 20. Political, etc United Kingdom: British Government announcement re: representation of Dominions in Imperial War Cabinet. |
19 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: North of Oise French capture Le Hamel; between Oise and Aisne French capture Morsain. Merville retaken by British forces (Lys sector) (see April 11th). Total German prisoners taken by the Allies today number over 3000. Somme: French First Army takes over Canadian Corps line; latter transferred to British First Army (night August 19-20). Direct artillery hit on a German military hospital place: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...platz.jpg?ssl=1 German prisoners, guarded by a British soldier, duck for cover as a shell explodes behind them: © IWM (Q 6952): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...815350668046336 German prisoners, including a child, captured by the British: © IWM (Q 6958): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...875742140342272 French soldiers inspect a crashed Sopwith Camel aircraft of the RAF: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...108524393291776 A cathedral at Noyon, France damaged by fighting: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...138724418138112 A temporary open-air kitchen used by German prisoners at a POW camp in Marseilles, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...168925785047043 Eastern Front Successful Bolshevist attack on Ussuri front. Allied line withdrawn 6 miles. Naval and Overseas Operations Channel: British Folkestone shore-controlled minefield sinks coastal submarine UB-109. Political, etc Russia: People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs decreed. Italy: Italian newspapers begin discussion re: difference in foreign policy between S'ri. Vittorio Orlando (Premier) and Sidney Sonnino (Foreign Secretary). United States: American Girl Scouts working on their war garden near Cincinnati, Ohio: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...845551246536704 |
20 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: Charles Mangin’s 12 divisions and 220 tanks advance 3 miles between rivers Oise and Aisne, taking 8,000 PoWs (‘another black day’, Ludendorff), reaches Oise on August 21, but repulsed north of Soissons on August 22. Foch letter to Clemenceau says victory in 1919. Somme: Since August 8, Canadian Corps (11,822 casualties) has advanced up to 14 miles on a 6-mile front, liberating 65 square miles and 27 villages, capturing over 9,000 PoWs, nearly 200 guns and over 1,000 MGs and mortars. French troops in the ruins of a church at Corcy: © IWM (Q 78898): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...199127932207105 American soldier wearing a rubber suit to protect against gas attacks: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...440726880673794 British troops wrestling on horseback at the 1st Corps Horse Show at Bruay, France: © IWM (Q 11181): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...470915782107136 A group of New Zealand, Australian, and South African soldiers and a woman member of the New Zealand Volunteer Service on leave in Paris: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...501134245101572 A column of French Renault FT-17 tanks at the village of Nampcel: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...532568900976640 Southern Front Albania: Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive (until August 26): Colonel-General Karl von Pflanzer-Baltin flown in to command XIX Corps including fresh 45th Division and Bulgarian 12th Division (43 battalions) vs Giacinto Ferrero’s 23 Italian battalions (13,000 sick ion August). Albanian volunteers of the Austro-Hungarian Army: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...teers.jpg?ssl=1 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Arabia: British and Arab attacks continued against Hejaz Railway. Siberia: British War Office announces Japanese to be advancing beyond Nikolaievsk (at mouth of Amur). Political, etc Germany: Speech of Dr. Wilhelm Solf (German Colonial Secretary) in reply to Mr. Balfour's speech of 8 August 1918. Russia: Central Executive Committee abolishes right of individuals to own land. Lenin’s letter to Armenian workers. France: Committee of Representatives established by Inter-Allied Food Council. |
21 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: French capture Lassigny. Second Battle of the Somme 1918 Phase 2 begins with the Battle of Albert 1918 (21st/23rd) (see September 3rd): BEF Third Army’s 9 divisions with 1,294 guns (486 heavy), 500 tanks, c.120 aircraft in intensely hot weather. Prelim fog and smoke-aided advance of 2-3 miles, gains 2,000 PoWs and reaches Arras-Albert railway as planned. German Seventeenth Army counter-attack held on August 22. Second Battle of Bapaume 1918 begins (see March 24th and September 3rd): British 4th Army attack north of River Ancre on 10-mile front between Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and Moyenneville. British troops advancing towards Achiet: © IWM (Q 11504): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...806879226310656 British heavy 12-inch howitzer is firing: https:..i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/brit-12in-how.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, air: All 80 parasol-wing Fokker D V-III withdrawn due to structural failures (reinstated after modifications October 24). Fog hampers RAF support of tank-led BEF Albert Offensive, but No 73 Squadron does attack German anti-tank guns (and on August 23). Germans claim 37 Allied aircraft for loss of 7. Night bombing including 12t bombs on Cambrai rail junction (repeated August 22-23). First flight of French Nieuport-Delage NiD 29 fighter. American troops with a 47 mm one-pounder gun at Abele, Belgium: © IWM (Q 79424): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...562781026394113 British machine gunners at night training as a mine is set off in front of them in Rombly, France: © IWM (Q 6972): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...625688623792129 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Reported Bolshevist advance towards Grodekoro (on Kharbin-Vladivostok Railway). Political, etc France: Announcement of appointment of M. Eugène Regnault (ex-French Ambassador at Tokyo) to be French representative at Vladivostok. United Kingdom: Speech of Lord Reading re: U.S.A. and War. |
22 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: French advance on Noyon, to Quierzy (south of Oise) and to River Divette from Evricourt to mouth (north of Oise). Second Battle of the Somme: Albert and Bray-Albert road recaptured by British forces (see 21st, and March 26th). 1st Australian Division shatters 2 German counter-attacking divisions. Haig tells army commanders ‘It is no longer necessary to advance … step by step’. 32 Allied divisions have beaten 42 German divisions on 47-mile front since August 8. Haig diary ‘Foch’s strategy is a simple straight forward advance by all troops … to keep the enemy on the move’. Germany: No 104 Squadron loses 7 D.H.9s over Karlsruhe and Mannheim. British troops duck as a German shell bursts near them: © IWM (Q 6963): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...837076608696320 A Scots Guardsman giving water to a wounded German prisoner: © IWM (Q 6983): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...867280513216512 French Renault FT-17 tanks advancing in the Aisne area: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...912585963204608 A New Zealand soldier reading a newspaper in a captured German trench near Puisieux: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...942790832431105 German prisoners being led through Bucquoy: © IWM (Q 11219): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...957888913350656 British Whippet tanks advancing towards the town of Achiet-le-Petit: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...174299325583360 Funeral ceremony for an American soldier in France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...204500243808256 British Mark V (armed with machine guns or “female”) tanks advancing through Meaulte, France after its capture: © IWM (Q 7302): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...234701052891137 New Zealand troops in shell holes as German artillery lands in the distance at Achiet-le-Petit: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...256092158480386 Southern Front Albania: Last Central Powers’ military success in full swing, regaining Devoli and Semeni river lines. Austro-Hungarian Army stormtroopers on the Balkan Fronts in 1918: https//i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/oesterr-sturmtruppen.jpg?ssl=1 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Japanese detachment joins Grigori Semyonov at Manchuria Station. Naval and Overseas Operations Britain: Battlecruiser Hood launched by John Brown yard on Clyde, completed May 1920. North Sea: U-boat sinks US Belgian Relief Commission ship Gasconier off Haugusemb in Norwegian waters, kills 6 and wounds others firing on lifeboats. Political, etc Russia: Statement of Allies at Archangel of aims. United Kingdom: British Prime Minister Lloyd George states that without women’s help in the war effort, “Great Britain, and, I believe, all the Allies, would have been unable to withstand the enemy attacks of the past few months.” |
23 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: British attack on front of 33 miles from Mercatel (5 miles south of Arras) to Lihons (north-west of Chaulnes). Second Battle of the Somme: Main attack by BEF Third and Fourth Armies now on 33-mile front supported by 100 tanks, former advances 2 miles, across Arras-Bapaume road (5,000 PoWs taken), advancing on Bapaume from north and north-west. Australians capture 2,000 PoWs and 23 guns, Bray and Chuignes (including one 15-inch gun, disabled 9, used from July to shell Amiens 15 miles to West); 4 Fourth Army divisions continue advance by moonlight. Around Albert British capture high ground to east. South of Somme British capture Chuignolles (on Peronne road). British private wearing shirtsleeves, shorts, cap and puttees escorts German PoWs to the rear during Second Battle of Albert: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...s-KGs.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: 2 German Jasta 34b fighters disable 2 British tanks with armor-piercing ammo, one is Bavarian Oblt Ritter von Greim’s 23rd (of 26) victories (last Luftwaffe C-in-C in 1945). Wireless Central Info Bureau co-ordinates RAF ground attacks. A British Royal Engineer fish by throwing a bomb into a canal at Le Sart, France: © IWM (Q 6991): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...295106290888704 British troops recapture the town of Albert, France: © IWM (Q 11206): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...317747676545024 The destroyed cathedral of Albert, France after its capture by the British: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...514034711572481 Two British soldiers take cover as a German shell lands in front of them at Meaulte, France: © IWM (Q 7089): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...544239245295616 Eastern Front Volga: Red First Army defeats Czechs, retakes 3 villages south of Kazan. Southern Front Albania: Austro-Hungarians renew attacks on Italian positions. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Battle of Dukhovskaya (until August 24): Allies win first real action vs Reds, regain Krevsk position, take 2 MGs and destroy 2 armored trains but little Japanese co-operation. Grigori Semyonov advances from Manchuria Station and defeats Bolsheviks. Political, etc Russia: Vladimir Lenin tells Moscow Polytechnic Museum meeting that world revolution will come, time not predictable. United Kingdom: Lord Robert Cecil (Assistant Foreign Secretary) on Dr. Solf's speech of 20 August 1918. |
24 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: Comparative lull, although the French advance slowly. Second Battle of the Somme: British advance on Bapaume, capture Bray (south of Albert), Thiepval Ridge (north-east of Albert), Miraumont (west of Bapaume), Biefvillers (north of Albert) and reach Avesnes les Bapaume (western outskirts of Bapaume). Flanders: British 55th Division captures Givenchy Craters. British officer holds a Webley revolver when leading his men: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...olver.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: Both sides’ night bombers active, RAF vs 4 rail junctions, Boulogne hit by 37 bombs; but 2 German aircraft downed by No 151 Squadron Sopwith Camel. No 48 Squadron loses 10 Bristol Fighters on ground to 5 German raiders (night August 24-25). A downed RAF pilot is captured by the Germans and led to a dressing station: © Q 108871: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...574438171205633 British soldiers engage with German troops outside of Albert, France: © IWM (Q 11256): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...604640947396614 British troops advance on a 25-mile line south of Arras, forcing the Germans back up to 2.5 miles. Shaded areas represent Allied gains since July: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...634847280484353 A Whippet tank on the way to aid New Zealand soldiers capture Biefvillers: © IWM (Q 7016): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...891532066664448 New Zealand troops use captured German 4.2” (105mm) guns against German positions near Grévillers, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...921731789410304 American and Japanese Red Cross Commissioners in Paris, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...953241942876165 Sandbags line the columns and walls of Amiens Cathedral to protect it from German attacks: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...983453367762946 Eastern Front Successful attack of Allies on Bolsheviks, who retreat to Kraevsk, (Ussuri front). Southern Front Albania: Austrians recapture Fieri and Berat as Italians withdraw to Malakastra heights north of river Voyusa (until August 26). French conform. Salonika: Tank Corps Captain D Mackay arrives to investigate possible use of tanks, rules it out on September 14. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Battle of Dukhovskaya: Bolsheviki decisively defeated by Allied forces. [Japanese, with one British battalion.] Announcement of tunnel, 39 miles east of Lake Baikal, blown up by Bolsheviks. Coup d'état by General Horvat at Vladivostok (see July 10th). General Horvath topples Colonel Tolstov from White command in Vladivostok (Allies disarm 400 Horvath men on August 26). Clemenceau appoints General Janin (still in France) C-in-C Allied Forces, Major-General Knox to head British Military Mission. Naval and Overseas Operations Mozambique: von Lettow crosses river Likungo and storms Numarroe from 2 KAR coys and 6 MGs (44 killed and 43 PoWs plus 2 MGs lost). Political, etc United States: U.S. House of Representatives pass Man-Power Bill (336 votes to 2). |
25 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: Lull continues. Second Battle of the Somme: British troops now again hold Albert-Bapaume road, Mametz Wood, 2nd Division recaptures Behagnies and Sapignies, north of Bapaume. Western Front, Air: RAF attack two German airfields, loses 2 D.H.9s but shoots down 3 German fighters. Germans claim 19 Allied aircraft for loss of 10. Germany: 2 Handley Page bombers (Lawson and Purvis) “devastatingly” dive-bomb Mannheim Badische Anilin Works from 200ft and 500ft (night August 25-26). German soldiers captured by New Zealanders in the battle for the village of Grévillers: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...013709956898817 A destroyed German lorry near Grévillers. Due to the German shortage of rubber, the wheels are ironshod: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...028793164869632 New Zealand troops launch an assault on the city of Bapaume. New Zealand and British infantry moving out with a Mark V tank near Grévillers: © IWM (Q 11262): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...257684416507904 Armored cars on reconnaissance near Biefvillers: © IWM (Q 7036): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...287882021199872 American troops, led by a band, on the way to the front: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...319347081621504 A RAF pilot and a Red Cross nurse participate in a blindfold race in the Royal Air Force Sports Day at Rang-du-Fliers: © IWM (Q 9266): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...349541549027330 Eastern Front Volga: Czechoslovaks occupy Kazan. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Palestine: Germans unable to fly any recon over British lines (until September 14) after loss of 2 aircraft from Jasta 301 between August 25 and 31. Political, etc Austria-Hungary: Hungary: Government expels Jews and confiscates their assets. Germany: Berlin rioters smash pictures of the Kaiser. The Kaiser visits the Krupp works in 1918 to keep the workers on their toes. Fearing unrest, several divisions are stationed around Berlin: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...Krupp.jpg?ssl=1 Germany accepts Spanish terms re: Spanish losses caused by submarines. |
Continues to be a fascinating account of a fascinating war. Thanks! And, to think, here we are just a few months away from the end of the war.
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Smack deep in the middle of the "100 Days Offensive" which pretty much ended the war, in fact. And we can see, the garbage Nazi propaganda that the German Army was not defeated in the field is part of the "Big LIe" strategy.
Western Front Second Battle of Noyon: Lull continues. Second Battle of the Somme: German 10-mile retirement on 55-mile line south to north of Noyon-east of Peronne-Bapaume-Lens (night August 26-27). Ludendorff overrules army group commanders urging major retirement (up to 70 miles) to Antwerp-Meuse position (Verdun-Sedan-Charleroi-West of Brussels-Antwerp). Second Battles of Arras 1918 begin with Battle of the Scarpe 1918 (see 30th, March 28th and September 3rd): British 1st Army attack Germans on River Scarpe, capture Monchy-le-Preux (south of Scarpe) and reach outskirts of Roeux (north of Scarpe). Tank Mk V and New Zealand infantry after the capture of Grevillers: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...Z-Inf.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: Somme: A No 59 Squadron R.E.8 calls down artillery fire on 3 bodies totalling 1,500 German infantry. Fokker D-VII fighters (1 lost) destroy 6 of 9 US No 17 Squadron Sopwith Camel fighters over Bapaume-Cambrai road. Artois: 5 RAF fighter squadrons support BEF First Army with 553 bombs and 26,000 MG rounds for loss of 5 aircraft (646 bombs and 47,570 MG rounds, 6 aircraft lost on August 27). Canadian troops launch an offensive east of Arras, capturing Monchy-le-Preux. Canadian doctor attending to a wounded German prisoner near Arras: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...622591649538048 New Zealand troops attempt to encircle the city of Bapaume. A New Zealand artillery gun being towed by horses past an abandoned tank: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...682992722526208 A captured German officer talking in French with a Canadian officer near Arras: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...713189710704640 Two canaries perch on top of a cigar held by a British officer: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...743387885805568 Eastern Front Kuban: Volunteer Army captures Black Sea port of Novorossiisk (ex-Imperial officers from Crimea able to join); Denikin forms civil admin on August 28. Southern Front Albania: Italian retreat over, causes concern for Otranto Barrage’s east end to Commander British Adriatic Force who cables Valona endangered. Comando Supremo sends Puglia Brigade and later 13th Division, plus shifting division to Brindisi as reserve. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Azerbaijan: 1,000 Turks overrun British position (82 casualties) on Mud Volcano, near Baku, at fifth attempt; another company repels 2 attacks on Binagadi Hill, but later (August 31) Turks force unsupported British (36 casualties) off it back 2-3 miles to inner line. The Ottoman Islamic Army of the Caucasus launches an attack against the city of Baku (it is the last Ottoman offensive of the war). Armenian defenders near the city: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...652791296843777 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Trans-Jordan: Buxton’s force back at Bair; Lawrence leaves for Abu-el-Nissal by armored car to patch up Feisal-Hussein row (until August 30). Siberia: Allied and Czech patrols disarm 400 Russian volunteers supporting Horvath. Political, etc France: Manifesto of Ukrainian National Council in Paris appealing for moral support against Germany. United Kingdom: Letter of Lord Hugh Cecil on Lord Lansdowne's policy. United States: War Industries Board exempts movie industry employees from draft. Finland: Finnish Government repudiates alleged intention of supporting German Murman expedition. Announcement that Duke Adolf-Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin no longer candidate for Finnish throne. |
27 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: French occupy Roye. Second Battle of the Somme: Severe fighting north and south of Bapaume. British take Trones Wood (east of Albert). South of Somme, British advance towards Peronne, reaching line Fontaine-les-Coppy-Vermandovillers. Battle of the Scarpe 1918: British capture Cherisy, Bois du Sart (south of Scarpe), Roeux, etc (north of Scarpe). A Vickers machine-gun is hidden in farm building during this period of relatively fluid warfare: https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...-Farm.jpg?ssl=1 A British soldier posing with a shell with the message “A Present for Jerry”: © IWM (Q 11261): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...984980467232770 New Zealand Army transports passing through a recaptured French village: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...015181796519936 A mass of German prisoners taken by the British held near Abbeville: © IWM (Q 9272): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...046639206477825 American soldiers and YMCA women sing around a piano at Aix-le-Bains, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...076838589607937 Southern Front Turkey: Constantinople bombed by British airmen. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Turkestan: British force occupies Krasnovodsk on Caspian Sea. Political, etc Between warring powers: German and Russian Bolshevik Governments conclude complementary treaty of peace (see March 3rd). Russia promises to fight Allies in North Russia and can free troops to move East; Germany to prevent Finland attacking; Russia to pay £300 million in more reparations and allow Germans’ secret use of Black Sea Fleet remnants. Russia to export to Germany 1/3 of her oil once Turks return Baku. Red negotiator Joffe regards terms as ‘… worse than Brest-Litovsk’. United States: First 2 cases of American ‘Spanish flu’ recognized as such: 2 sailors at Boston, USN Receiving Ship has 106 by August 31. All over East Coast by mid-September. Fuel Administrator bans Sunday driving east of Mississippi. |
28 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: General German retreat from the Scarpe to above river Aisne. Second Battle of the Somme: Chaulnes reoccupied by French. Crown Prince William Special Order claims ‘There is no reason for depression. Even 24 enemy states [actually 23] will not overcome the German nation.’ Battle of the Scarpe 1918: Canadian 2nd and 3rd Divisions (5,801 casualties) have fought more than 5 miles forward astride Arras-Cambrai road since August 26, capturing over 3,300 PoWs, 53 guns and 519 MGs, but II Bavarian Corps clings to part of Fresnes-Rouvroy line. Western Front, Air: England: August-September No.5 (Operations) Group (Headquarters, Dover) is removed from South-Eastern Area and granted the status of an independent command. The Group is responsible for units in the Kent and Dunkirk area. A Gun Carrier Tank, with its intended transportable gun removed, is being used as a supply tank near Arras in August 1918: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...-Tank.jpg?ssl=1 Inside a destroyed church near Bethune, France: © IWM (Q 11259): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...107052396883973 American Tank Corps men practicing a charge on the historic battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...137249984724992 A Royal Engineer inserts a message into a cylinder attached to a messenger dog, Etaples: © IWM (Q 9276): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...342342575226883 Eastern Front Volga: Colonel Kappel’s 2,000 Whites just fail to seize Romanov railbridge (Moscow-Kazan line) and Trotsky’s HQ train in Red Fifth Army rear. On August 29 Trotsky shoots 20 men from Red regiment that fled on. Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Turkestan: Affair near Kaakhka. 500 Punjabis (32 casualties) and Whites repel Reds from Merv near Kaakhka. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Japanese report retreat of Bolsheviks to Ussuri. General Grigori Semenov capture Borzia Station; Bolsheviks retreat towards Onon River. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: Destroyer HMS Ouse with help of Blackburn Kangaroo seaplane depth charges and sinks UC-70 off Yorkshire coast. Political, etc Russia: Mr. Miliukov leaves Cadets and forms Constitutional Monarchist Party. United Kingdom: Announcement of retirement of Mr. Page, U.S. Ambassador in London. |
29 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of Noyon: Second Battle of Noyon ends (see 17th) with Noyon being retaken by French forces (see March 25th). French also cross River Ailette. Second Battle of the Somme: Bapaume retaken by New Zealand forces (see March 24th). New Zealand troops capture the commune of Bapaume, France from the Germans: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...766396637564928 Battle of the Scarpe 1918: Canadians advance nearly 1,000 yards, taking 2 villages on river Sensee. A British tank stuck in the Scarpe marshes near Fampoux: © IWM (Q 7037): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...796586042310656 Sniper kills British war poet Lt H L Simpson at Hazebrouck. CIGS telegram warns Haig ‘the War Cabinet would become anxious if we received heavy punishment in attacking the Hindenburg Line without success’. German cemetery of honor for soldiers killed in the Flanders battles of 1914, at which the marching back soldiers said ‘It seems they are well lying there, because they have overcome it’: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...-1914.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: 16 RAF D.H.9s cause fires at Cambrai and Valenciennes stations, but 20 German fighters (4 lost) thwart 12 D.H.9s (2 lost) from bombing Somain station and their 15 escorting Sopwith Camel fighters lose 5. Germans claim 40 aircraft for loss of 4. A Senegalese veteran writes a letter with his prosthetic arm, Paris: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...372556197908480 Canadian troops on the advance east of Arras as a shell bursts near them: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...402774262448130 A French soldier looking at German signposts at the newly recaptured village of Tilloloy: © IWM (Q 78991): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...433013852061696 An American wounded soldier learns to operate a typewriter at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC. A special device attached on his arm shifts the keys: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...463212383682563 A tractor pulls a RAF Handley Page O/400 bomber into position before a mission near Ligescourt, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...705981031292928 French FT-17 tanks move up to support French troops near Juvigny: © IWM (Q 69945): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...736179541958657 Naval and Overseas Operations Spanish S.S Casara torpedoed and sunk by German submarine. Political, etc Russia: British Embassy at Petrograd attacked by Bolshevist troops; Captain Cromie, Naval Attache, killed. Bulgaria: Visit of Kaiser Wilhelm to Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria at Nauheim. United States: Mr. John Ryan to be Assistant Secretary of War, with title and functions of Director of Air Service. |
30 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Somme: British advance on Peronne, crossing Somme at Feuilleres (west of Peronne) and taking Clery (north-west of Peronne). British advance towards Cambrai, attacking between Haucourt and Hendecourt (north and south of Arras-Cambrai road). Violent fighting at Bullecourt (south of Hendecourt). Battle of the Scarpe 1918: Battle of the Scarpe, 1918, ends (see 26th). Germans retreat on Lys front; Bailleul retaken by British forces (see April 15th). Meuse: US First Army now has 16 divisions. John Pershing concentrates 3 AEF (I, IV and V) Corps and 1 French (II Colonial) with 3,020 (1,329 French) guns; 267 tanks; 1,500 aircraft (609 US-piloted) round St Mihiel Salient (until September 11). Aisne: US 32nd Division (over 2,600 casualties) storms Juvigny in 2 1/2 mile penetration (until September 1) as Charles Mangin crosses the Ailette and turns east behind Chemin des Dames with 300 tanks in support. AEF now holds 90 miles of front (68 miles on July 30), BEF holds 87 miles. Wounded French soldiers with their pet peacock at a hospital in Pau, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...826798608121856 Stretcher bearers of the Seaforth Highlanders resting near Rœux during the Battle of Scarpe: © IWM (Q 7014): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...856987471822850 Bapaume, France, after its capture by New Zealand troops from the Germans: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...068368443858946 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Trans-Jordan: First 600 supply camels begin 300-mile march to Azrak. A camel supply column used by British forces during the campaign in Palestine: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...amele.jpg?ssl=1 Mesopotamia: Publication of General Marshall's first dispatch re: Mesopotamia. Naval and Overseas Operations Mozambique: Action at Lioma (until August 31): Paul von Lettow attacks camp from 3 sides but is repulsed as Kartucol arrives, losing 95 casualties (including 29 Europeans), 200 carriers, ammo, baggage and medical stores. Kartucol just fails to trap Lettow, having pursued 435 miles in month. Political, etc Austria-Hungary: Count Stephan Burian notifies Berlin of Austrian intention to take independent peace action. Russia: Attempt on Vladimir Lenin's life in Moscow. Lenin wounded (pistol bullet through hip, another in shoulder) by Socialist Revolutionary Dora Kaplan (executed on September 4). United Kingdom: Lieut.-General Sir C.F.N. Macready, Adjutant-General, Home Forces, Great Britain, resigns (see February 22nd, 1916, and September 11th, 1918). Government welcome to Mr. Samuel Gompers (President of American Federation of Labor). London Police strike. |
31 August 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Somme: Second Battle of Bapaume (until September 3): British Third Army with tanks and armored cars. Australians capture Peronne: After crossing the river 5 miles south of Peronne 1,320 men of 2nd Australian Division drive German 2nd Guard Division (over 700 PoWs) off Mont St Quentin, 1 mile north of Peronne (until September 2). Rawlinson calls it ‘The finest single feat of the whole war’ (8 Victoria Crosses won). Pershing letter to Foch insists on integral US First Army. Cambrai: 3 German tanks attack British lines near Bapaume but repulsed by artillery fire; 2 captured. Flanders: Germans evacuate Mt Kemmel. Battle of the Scarpe 1918: Battle ends. Germany: During August Germans disband 10 divisions to stiffen remainder. Britain: BEF (108,712 casualties including some to September 3) has taken 63,579 PoWs and 870 guns among total German August loss of 228,000, only 130,000 German replacements available. France: French troops (c. 100,000 casualties) take 31,000 PoWs and 890 guns during August. AEF: Tank Corps receives 144 Renault FT-17 light tanks. Western Front, Air: No. 110 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF reaches France, equipped with Liberty-engined D.H.4s. RAF August aircraft losses a record so far with 215 planes (French 55) but record 948t bombs dropped (French drop 550t). During August Germans claim record 655 Allied aircraft for record loss of 174. Britain: All London Air Defence Area squadrons fitted with radio telephone linked to central operations room (September 12). Refugee French women making straw hats for the French Army. The work provides them with their livelihoods: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...143873188773889 Scottish pipe band playing in the ruins of La Petite Place (Place des Héros) in Arras, France: © IWM (Q 78700): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...174074329296897 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, takes a break from his tour of naval facilities in Europe by fishing in Black Water River, Scotland: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...204281761181697 A British soldier inspecting a German war grave: © IWM (Q 9284): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...462219369250821 A Royal Engineer with a gas-proof homing pigeon box, which allows him to attach messages to the pigeon without exposing it to the outside air. Roye, France: © IWM (Q 9288): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...492420325199872 Two German A7V tanks in Frémicourt: © IWM (Q 37344): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...522637949227008 Eastern Front Bolshevik position 75 miles south of Archangel on Vologda Railway carried by Allies. Southern Front Aegean: RAF Aegean Group has 116 aircraft (38 seaplanes). Italian Front: 3 No. 45 Squadron Sopwith Camel fighters claim all 6 Austrian fighters encountered over Allied lines. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: The 3 Czech Legion groups link up to control whole Trans-Siberian railway. Naval and Overseas Operations In August Allied and neutral shipping lost to U-boats: 104 ships (41 British with 217 lives), 278,876t (British 145,7211); U-boat figure 154 ships worth 310,180t including 38 ships of 71,490t in Mediterranean (1 ship with 2,209t to Austrians); 7 U-boats sunk (2 to unknown causes). Mozambique: Action at Lioma (until August 31): British attack Germans successfully near Lioma, un Lurio valley, and drive them south. Political, etc Russia: Volga: Josef Stalin letter to Lenin says Cossacks breaking up, asks for Caspian naval force including 2 submarines. Fanya Kaplan is arrested for the attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...098563871744002 Moisei Uritsky, head of the Cheka (Soviet secret police), is assassinated by Leonid Kannegisser. This assassination, along with the assassination attempt on Lenin, provokes the Red Terror. Moisei Uritsky: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...113668818677760 United Kingdom: London Police strike settled; men return to work. |
1 September 1918
72 Days until the Armistice
Western Front Second Battle of the Somme: Second Battle of Bapaume (until September 3): Capture of Peronne completed; British take Bouchavesnes and Rancourt. British 52nd and 57th Divisions finally secure Bullecourt and Hendecourt after fighting since August 28; BEF Third Army clears eight more villages east and southeast of Bapaume (until September 2), has gained 8-13 miles with 11,000 PoWs from 23 German divisions since August 21. 5th Australian Division reoccupies Peronne (until September 2) after 2nd Australian Division captures Mt St Quentin. 3 British divisions capture 4 villages and farm to north. Amiens salient eliminated. Australian troops successfully capture the strategic Mont Saint-Quentin, which overlooks Péronne and the Somme River. Painting of the battle by Fred Leist: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...583023834652672 Flanders: British 30th Division (Second Army) recaptures Neuve Eglise and Wulverghem (September 2). and make general progress south of Scarpe. French advance continues north of Noyon; above Soissons they capture Leury, Juvigny, Coucy and other places. BEF peak 1918 estimated strength of 1,916,464 soldiers (record 163,635 Canadians). Western Front, Air: Germans claim 27 Allied aircraft for loss of 8. RAF F.E.2b night bombers attack 3 defended villages in front of BEF First Army with 300 bombs (night September 1/2/3, tactic repeated on September 18). Britain: 16,224 American mechanics have arrived to work and train with RAF (3,931 by March 1). Germany: During September the number of RAF raids peaks, with 62. A crashed plane burns as Canadian troops advance on the Arras front: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...820825016979456 A British soldier poses with the bombs of a downed German Gotha bomber: © IWM (Q 11914): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...851021732470785 A platoon of Australian infantry in the morning mist: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...l-inf.jpg?ssl=1 Field Marshal Douglas Haig reviews Canadian troops near Drocourt and Quéant, France, where the Germans had set up a defensive line: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...570449730727937 Troops of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers advance in Flanders: © IWM (Q 7022): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...881222789054464 Eastern Front Germany: During September 3 German divisions and Austrian 106th Division leave for Western Front. Urals: In September Future Soviet Marshal V K Bliukher leads the 10,000-strong South Urals Partisan Army, having marched 1,500 km in 40 days of continuous fighting to attack the White forces from the rear. Becomes the first Order of the Red Banner winner (instituted September 16). South Russia: By now White Volunteer Army 35,000-40,000 strong (Lieutenant-General Wrangel joins from Crimea on September 7). Russia: In September Aviadarm formed with 315 planes (mainly Anglo-French made) to support Red Army. Southern Front Italian soldiers in the trenches along the Piave River: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...552826892734465 Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater Georgia: Turks begin attack on Baku. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: By now White Siberian Army has 38,000 men and 70 guns. Naval and Overseas Operations USA: Shipping Board has 331 Allied and neutral ships on charter worth 1,084,986t. Mediterranean: Only 8 of 979 ships sailed in convoy lost (during September). Allied Otranto Barrage Force: 280 ships including 31 destroyers; 8 submarines; 10 sloops and torpedo boats; 36 US subchasers; 153 trawlers. Eastern Atlantic: 3 US battleships stationed at Berehaven (Southwest Ireland) to cover Atlantic convoys from surface attack, sail for that purpose in October. |
Western Front
Second Battle of the Somme: Second Battle of Bapaume (until September 3): Battle on 23-mile front; Canadian Forces of First Army, supported by tanks, break through Drocourt-Queant "Switch" line, (Wotan sector of Siegfried (Hindenburg Line)) in 4 hours from 0500 hours: 1st and 4th Divisions (7 Victoria Crosses won) break through and reach open country except on extreme left, 57 tanks in support. Advance defeats 11 German divisions south of Scarpe, capture Cagnicourt and Villers, encircle and take Queant by nightfall; 10,000 prisoners. In Lys sector British also gain ground, and north of Peronne, where Sailly-Sallisel and whole of St. Pierre-Vaast Wood re-taken. General Mangin continues advance north of Soissons, captures Neuilly and Terny Sorny. Ludendorff issues order for second phased retirement to 4 armies shortly after 1400 hours – in south to main 10-mile deep Hindenburg position, in north behind and along Canal du Nord (average fall back of 13 miles). BEF has advanced average of 14 miles on 26-mile front since August 21, taken 46,241 PoWs for c.89,000 casualties, defeated 66 German divisions (c.115,600 casualties in total). Foch, Petain and Pershing meet. Canadian troops march forward to attack the Hindenburg Line: https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...linie.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: JG3 destroys 26 Allied aircraft without loss, but up to 90 RAF single-seaters strafe ahead of Canadian Corps. British lose 36 aircraft (including 4 Sopwith Camel fighters of US No 148 Squadron) and 13 balloons, claim 8 German. Germans claim 50 Allied aircraft for loss of 6. Germany: 5 Handley Page bombers inflict damage of 400,000 Reichsmark on Saarbrücken’s Burbach works (night September 2-3). A chaplain conducts service in the nacelle of a F.E.2b night bomber: © IWM (Q 12109): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...911422511915014 The ruins of Bailleul after it was recaptured by the Allies: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...941629771886593 German workers, including women and children, inside an airplane factory: © IWM (Q 110343): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...153010282536960 British soldiers shave inside a shell hole near Kemmelberg, Belgium: © IWM (Q 72619): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...183212261879809 American artillery in action at Beaumont, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...243608918220800 Canadians on the advance as German artillery lands nearby: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...273811111505920 Eastern Front Russia: Red Terror declared (Petrograd Cheka announce 512 executed). Red Revolutionary Military Council formed with Trotsky Chairman. SOVNARKOM accuse anglo-french representatives of plotting. North Russia: Italian battalion lands at Murmansk. North Caucasus: Bicherakov occupies Petrovsk. Muslim Chechen overthrow Shura Soviet on September 3. Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Siberia: Czechs from Lake Baikal join Semyonov at Manchuria Station. US Major-General Graves lands at Vladivostok. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: Kurt Beilzen ‘the man who killed Lord Kitchener’ killed when his U-102 is sunk by mines off Northern Barrage. Britain: Weymss indicates to Beatty that new German naval cipher broken. |
3 September 1918
Western Front
Second Battle of the Somme: Numerous battles representing differing aspects or sectors come to an end, including: Second Battles of Arras, 1918 (see August 26th); Second Battle of Bapaume (see August 31st); Battle of the Scarpe. British advance rapidly beyond Drocourt-Queant line towards Canal du Nord, capture Lecluse, Rumancourt and Baralle. Lens occupied by British forces (see October 4th, 1914) after German evacuation and retreat rapidly between Queant and Peronne. In the Lys sector, Allies capture Richebourg-St. Vaast. South of Peronne, French cross Somme at Epenancourt. East of Noyon, French reach outskirts of Salency. France: Foch issues general order specifying unremitting attacks all along the line. Germany: Ludendorff secret order deplores defeatist talk by men on leave. Two well-laden British soldiers in action: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...fecht.jpg?ssl=1 Western Front, Air: Allies claim 55 German aircraft (Germans admit loss of 8 for 30 Allied). A British soldier holds up a magpie at a captured German machine-gun post near Péronne: © IWM (Q 11269): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...8770688/photo/1 Mounted Australian troops of the 13th Light Horse Regiment near Péronne: © IWM (Q 11325): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...4301057/photo/1 Wounded American soldiers and a nurse at a military hospital in Neuilly, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...8022786/photo/1 German troops coming back from the Battle of the Bapaume after losing it to New Zealand troops: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...1710208/photo/1 Ruins of Lens, France after its capture by the Allies: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...3436161/photo/1 Southern Front Austro-Hungarians re-take two observation posts from Italians between Mt. Mantello and South Matteo. Salonika: 6 RAF S.E.5a and Sopwith Camel fighters destroy 4 of 6 German aircraft encountered after lone Bristol photo recon monoplane shot down into Lake Doiran. Naval and Overseas Operations North Sea: 6 Royal Navy monitors fire 550 shells (including 52 x 18-inch shells from General Wolfe at 36,000 yards) at Snaeskerke rail junction and bridge 4 miles south of Ostend despite German aircraft bombing (repeated September 29, October 2 and 3). Neutrals, Chile: 7 of 32 interned German steamers partially sabotaged by crews, but Chilean troops board. Political, etc Russia: Fanya Kaplan is executed by the Soviets for attempting to assassinate Vladimir Lenin. The Soviets had abolished executions in 1917, but quickly reversed their decision: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...3279745/photo/1 United States: United States Government recognizes the Czechoslovaks as possessing a de facto Government (see August 13th and October 21st). |
4 September 1918
Western Front
Germans retreat on wider front; Canal du Nord forced by British and villages of Manancourt and Etricourt carried. Ruyaulcourt also taken and outskirts of Havrincourt Wood reached. British reach Moeuvres. Lys sector Ploegsteert and Hill 63 carried. Prisoners since 2nd number 15,000. Germans retreat before French in Noyon pocket, between Canal du Nord and Oise. French line now passes through Guiscard and Apilly. Western Front, Air: RAF day bombers raid Valenciennes, Douai and Cambrai, air combat costs 15 RAF and 11 German aircraft. The damaged town hall of Montdidier, Somme: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...915548112728064 American soldiers occupying a trench near Bazoches, France: © IWM (Q 70707): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...945748376596485 Two British soldiers release propaganda leaflets attached to balloons near Béthune: © IWM (Q 12193): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...975951823994880 Wounded soldiers enjoying the sun and playing checkers at a hospital in France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...006160421953537 Eastern Front Obozerskaya (North Russia) occupied by Allied forces (see August 2nd). The Royal Air Force contingent in North Russia assists Allied forces in the capture of Obozerskaya. United States contingent (Colonel Stewart’s 339th Regiment, embarked Newcastle August 26) lands at Murmansk to join Allied Expeditionary Force (see 2nd). Southern Front Britain: Lloyd George approves Macedonia offensive after Adolphe Guillaumat visits London, latter then visits Rome who approve on September 10. Soldiers of the ‘Armee l’Orient’ in Macedonia (back row, left ro right): an Italian artilleryman, Greek private, Serb private, British cavalryman, Russian private, French private: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...rient.jpg?ssl=1 Political, etc Russia: R H Bruce Lockhart again arrested. British War Cabinet cable threatens reprisals if British lives not guaranteed. United States: A bomb explodes at the Chicago Federal Building, killing 4 and injuring 75. 16-year-old Walt Disney was working in the building as a mail carrier, but was uninjured (later writing: “I missed that darn thing by about three minutes”): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...055250560155650 This bombing was used as an excuse by the US Federal Government to raid the offices of the IWW, and widespread suppression of that organization, mass arrests, and convictions of IWW leaders followed. China: Hsu-Shih-Chang elected President of China (see October 11th). |
5 September 1918
Western Front
Somme sector: British still advance north and south of Peronne; approach high ground on Athies-Nurlu front; local fighting about Moeuvres and Neuville-Bourjonval. Steady advance of General Humbert's Army from Noyon towards St. Quentin; crosses Somme canal and approaches within three miles of Ham. Vesle sector (east of Soissons) Franco-American troops drive Germans north towards the Aisne, reaching the river in Conde sector. The french Foreign Legion’s 3rd Battalion storms MG-studded Terny-Sorny, then held at Allemant (September 6). Meuse: AEF St Mihiel attack set for September 12. Western Front, Air: RAF reduces low-flying fighter ops to recuperate, losses fall dramatically until September. Canada: Royal Canadian Naval Air Service founded. French Schneider Modele 1912 railway gun, dismounted from its carriage onto a turntable and extensively camouflaged for heavy long-range fire support: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...y-gun.jpg?ssl=1 A British soldier demonstrates a German bicycle frame used to generate electricity in the trenches: © IWM (Q 7046): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...281712944947202 British soldier with an overturned German 10cm gun at Moislains, Somme: © IWM (Q 7043): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...343382618734592 Eastern Front Ukraine: Hetman Skoropadski in Berlin; 1918-19 Economic agreement signed at Kiev on September 11 Southern Front Italian and British officers compete at a horse jumping competition at Trissino, Italy: © IWM (Q 25800): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...313168131993601 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Arabia: The Hejez Arabs continue to harry the Turks in frequent raids round Medina. Persia: Up to 2,000 Turks with 2 guns (11th Caucasian Division) advance along Tabriz road vs 660 British and irregulars, occupy Turkmanchai (September 7) and Mianeh (September 9), patrols reach Zenjan after British Kullan Kuh mountain position outflanked on September 12, but by September 21 recalled to Constantinople. Siberia: Khabarovsk taken by Japanese forces (see 18th, and August 11th). Naval and Overseas Operations American troopship USS Mount Vernon is attacked by the German submarine U-82, killing 36 sailors, but the ship remains afloat: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...251503138983937 Political, etc United Kingdom: Arrest in London of M. Litvinov and other Bolsheviks, in a tit-for-tat guarantee for the safety of British subjects in Russia. |
6 September 1918
Western Front
Flanders: German evacuation of Lys salient complete. On the Amiens-St. Quentin road British press forward. Germans in full retreat from the Somme. Ham and Chauny re-taken by French. In north English troops advance north-west of Armentieres and re-take Bailleul. Americans reach south bank of Aisne river. At OHL Conference Hindenburg stresses gravity of situation; Boehn recommends 45-mile retirement to Antwerp-Meuse position, instead decision taken to halt (if necessary) on Hermann-Hunding-Brunhild position, 20 miles back. BEF field guns and 6-inch howitzers have fired 8,382,200 rounds since August 8. Parked 6-inch 26-cwt howitzers of the Royal Garrison Artillery: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...itzer.jpg?ssl=1 Journalists from the British Dominions tour the ruins of Arras Cathedral: © IWM (Q 11291): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...373584535154691 A journalist with some of the messenger dogs of the British Army at Etaples: © IWM (Q 11312): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...630256709025793 Eastern Front Volga: Stalin reports Cossack retreat over Don from Tsaritsyn. Naval and Overseas Operations Mozambique: In East Africa von Lettow's forces are overtaken on Upper Lurio river near Anguros and attacked by two British columns from south and south-east. Germans retreat west after severe losses in killed and captured (90 casualties plus 30 porters). British force suffers 132 KAR casualties (53 PoWs). Political, etc Russia: Colonel Jukums Vācietis (western spelling Vatsetis) made first Main C-in-C of Red Army, Colonel S S Kamenev takes over East Front. New Zealand: Elizabeth Yates, former mayor of Onehunga, New Zealand and the first female mayor anywhere in the British Empire, passed away: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...600068105396224 United States: The 1918 World Series begins. Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 in game 1, with Red Sox's Babe Ruth pitching the shutout. |
7 September 1918
Western Front
Rapid British and French pursuit of Germans, who retreat towards the Siegfriedstellung "Hindenburg Line". Flanders: Skirmishing in Armentieres-Lens sector. Somme: BEF Fourth Army retakes Roisel rail junction (Cambrai-St Quentin line), and greater part of Havrincourt Wood. French capture Pithon, Dury and Ollezy, east of Ham, cross Crozat canal at Pont de Tugny and St. Simon after heavy fighting. Lys sector Germans display strong resistance, for a pause in the Allied advance. https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...972506999701504 The point where British troops breached the defensive German “Hindenburg Line” at Quéant, France: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...002705967591425 Western Front, Air: Germany: No 104 Squadron loses 5 D.H.9s in Ludwigshafen raid. British cavalry pass by a captured German artillery gun in the Arras and Cambrai area: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...675565380251649 French President Poincare, General Pétain, and U.S. General Pershing reviewing American troops: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...705774229798913 American soldiers gather in front of the statue of Marquis de Lafayette in New York City to honor his birthday: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...735994034991106 Political, etc Germany: Kaiser Wilhelm II conversing with Pavlo Skoropadskyi, the leader of German-backed Ukraine, (background of picture) at Wilhelmshöhe castle in Kassel, Germany: © IWM (Q 23891): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...660462471675904 Russia: First instalment of Russian War Indemnity to Germany, consisting of £12,500,000 in gold and bank notes is sent from Moscow to the frontier. The arrival of Russian gold as reparations: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...erlin.jpg?ssl=1 Lenin cables Trotsky ‘Recovery proceeding excellently’. United Kingdom: Publication by Admiralty of names of commanders of 151 U-boats disposed of by Navy. |
8 September 1918
Hunh, weird, I wonder why yesterday's post didn't show properly. Ah, well, I still have it, so I'll try again.
Western Front Germans show increased resistance. Violent fighting north and east of St. Simon. Avesnes lost and re-taken by French, who also take Artemps, Happencourt, Fluquieres, Vaux and gain ground both sides of Oise river. Meuse: Ludendorff orders St Mihiel salient evacuation. Aisne: US III Corps transferred from the Vesle (crossed September 4) to Souilly. Over 19,000 prisoners taken by British in past week. Over 150,000 PoWs, 2,000 guns and 13,000 MGs. taken by Allies since 18 July. German PoW in an Allied camp: https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...Lager.jpg?ssl=1 France: Foch visits King Albert and Haig (who tells Churchill ‘the Allies should aim at getting a decision as soon as possible’), decides to add Flanders offensive. Germany: OHL orders signals concerning tanks be given priority. German writer and poet Lieutenant Bernhard von der Marwitz (relative of army commander) dies of wounds aged 28 at Valenciennes Lazarett. Western Front, Air: German soldier next to a downed British Handley Page O/400 bomber: © IWM (Q 23916): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...032902762770432 Australian Army band rehearses in the ruins of a farmyard at Cappy, France: © IWM (E(AUS) 3325): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...063111314526209 British troops on trucks and horseback travel through the ruins of Écoust-St. Mein: © IWM (Q 7294): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...093319107235843 British cavalry passing through the ruins of Notre-Dame de Brebières in Albert, France: © IWM (Q 11314): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...365090364436480 French children holding gas masks at Marbache: © IWM (Q 60964): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...381585555513347 Australian troops unloading 18-pounder artillery shells: © IWM (E(AUS) 3323): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...411895588495361 German A7V tank captured by New Zealand troops: https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...442081482670080 Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters Palestine: Turkish ration strength 103,500 soldiers. Siberia: Junction of the Czechoslovaks at Olovyanna in Siberia with other Czech forces from the east. Naval and Overseas Operations Mozambique: Captain Koehl’s rearguard skirmishes with Shortcol at Milweberg. Political, etc Russia: Representatives of neutral countries make strong protest against the wholesale arrests and executions carried out in Russia. Soviet-Allied agreement on diplomat exchange. White “state” conference of 170 delegates at Ufa in Western Urals (until September23), welcomes Allied Vladivostok landings on September 12. United Kingdom: A woman welder at an aircraft factory in Midlands: © IWM (Q 28182): https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...334890796875776 |
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