Worry not Chris, these electronic mishaps are as nothing to what yopu are including in the report. Keep up the good work the pair of you. This post is a 'must read' for me and a lott of others.
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Worry not Chris, these electronic mishaps are as nothing to what yopu are including in the report. Keep up the good work the pair of you. This post is a 'must read' for me and a lott of others.
Thanks Reg
Attachment 194320
On this day of St. George a big English welcome to all our loyal readers - thank you
23rd April 1916
The Easter Rising : Build up part three...
In early April, Pearse issued orders to the Irish Volunteers for three days of "parades and manoeuvres" beginning on Easter Sunday. He had the authority to do this, as the Volunteers' Director of Organisation. The idea was that IRB members within the organisation would know these were orders to begin the rising, while men such as MacNeill and the British authorities would take it at face value. On 9 April, the German Navy dispatched a ship for County Kerry. Disguised as a Norwegian ship called the Aud, it was loaded with 20,000 rifles, one million rounds of ammunition, and explosives. Casement also left for Ireland aboard the German submarine U-19. He was disappointed with the level of support offered by the Germans and he intended to stop or at least postpone the rising.
On Wednesday 19 April, Alderman Tom Kelly, a Sinn Féin member of Dublin Corporation, read out at a meeting of the Corporation a document supposedly leaked from Dublin Castle, revealing that the British authorities planned to shortly arrest leaders of the Irish Volunteers, Sinn Féin and the Gaelic League, and occupy their premises.[39] Although the British authorities said the "Castle Document" was fake, MacNeill ordered the Volunteers to prepare to resist.Unbeknownst to MacNeill, the document had been forged by the Military Council to persuade moderates of the need for their planned uprising. It was an edited version of a real document outlining British plans in the event of conscription.That same day, the Military Council informed senior Volunteer officers that the rising would begin on Easter Sunday. However, it chose not to inform the rank-and-file, or moderates such as MacNeill, until the last minute. The following day, MacNeill got wind that a rising was about to be launched and threatened to do everything he could to prevent it, short of informing the British. MacNeill was briefly persuaded to go along with some sort of action when Mac Diarmada revealed to him that a German arms shipment was about to land in County Kerry. MacNeill believed that when the British learned of the shipment they would immediately suppress the Volunteers, thus the Volunteers would be justified in taking defensive action, including the planned manoeuvres. The Aud and the U-19 reached the coast of Kerry on Good Friday, 21 April. This was earlier than the Volunteers expected and so none were there to meet the vessels. The Royal Navy had known about the arms shipment and intercepted the Aud, prompting the captain to scuttle the ship. Furthermore, Casement was captured shortly after he landed at Banna Strand.
When MacNeill learned that the arms shipment had been lost, he reverted to his original position. With the support of other leaders of like mind, notably Bulmer Hobson and The O'Rahilly, he issued a countermand to all Volunteers, cancelling all actions for Sunday. This countermanding order was relayed to Volunteer officers and printed in the Sunday morning newspapers. It succeeded in putting the rising off for only a day, although it greatly reduced the number of Volunteers who turned out.
Attachment 194321
Roger Casement
British Naval Intelligence had been aware of the arms shipment, Casement's return, and the Easter date for the rising through radio messages between Germany and its embassy in the United States that were intercepted by the Royal Navy and deciphered in Room 40 of the Admiralty. The information was passed to the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, on 17 April, but without revealing its source, and Nathan was doubtful about its accuracy.When news reached Dublin of the capture of the Aud and the arrest of Casement, Nathan conferred with the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne. Nathan proposed to raid Liberty Hall, headquarters of the Citizen Army, and Volunteer properties at Father Matthew Park and at Kimmage, but Wimborne insisted on wholesale arrests of the leaders. It was decided to postpone action until after Easter Monday, and in the meantime Nathan telegraphed the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, in London seeking his approval.[48] By the time Birrell cabled his reply authorising the action, at noon on Monday 24 April 1916, the Rising had already begun.On the morning of Easter Sunday, 23 April, the Military Council met at Liberty Hall to discuss what to do in light of MacNeill's countermanding order. They decided that the Rising would go ahead the following day, Easter Monday, and that the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army would go into action as the 'Army of the Irish Republic'. They elected Pearse as Commander-in-Chief and Connolly as Commandant of the Dublin Brigade. Messengers were then sent to all units informing them of the new orders.
Two airman lost their lives on this day...
Air Mechanic 2nd. Class Geoffrey Foster Atwell 25 Squadron RFC Killed in Action 23 April 1916 (alas I can find no more)
Lieutenant Alan Wilmot Davies 17 Reserve Squadron killed in a flying accident aged 20. He was flying a BE2c (no 2594) over Croydon when he descended onto Avro 504A no.4063 flown by Lt Oliver Cyril Godfrey who was injured but survived.
On a day we lost 397 men here are today's notable casualties...
Today’s losses include:
Lord Elcho
Viscount Quenington
The son of the 11th Earl of Wemyss
The son of the 1st Earl St Aldwyn
The son-in-law of the 18th Baron Willoughby de Broke
A Member of Parliament
A bronze medal winning artist
An England Polo International
A member of the Worcestershire County Police
A Gloucestershire cricket player
Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Captain Hugo Francis Charteris (Gloucester Hussars) ‘Lord Elcho’ is killed at age 32. He played cricket for Gloucestershire is the son of the 11th Earl of Wemyss and his brother has been killed in action six months earlier.
Captain Michael Granville Lloyd-Baker (Gloucester Hussars) is killed at age 43. He is the son-in-law of the 18th Baron Willoughby de Broke.
Captain Leslie St Clair Cheape (Dragoon Guards) is killed at age 33. He was a member of the England Polo Team that visited Meadowbrook in 1911 and 1913 and his teammate Arthur Edwards was killed in May 1915.
Lieutenant and Adjutant Michael Hugh Hicks-Beach (Viscount Quenington) (Gloucester Hussars), a Member of Parliament for Tewksburty dies of wounds at age 38. He is the son of the 1st Earl and Countess St Aldwyn. His wife died at Cairo on 5th March and is buried by his side.
Second Lieutenant Brian Hatton (Queen’s Worcestershire Hussars) is killed at age 28. He is an artist who won a bronze medal from the Royal Drawing Society at age 8 and later has “The Turnip Cutters” displayed at the British Museum. He was also a member of the Chelsea Arts Club.
Second Lieutenant George Herbert Fox (Royal Field Artillery attached GHQ Intelligence Branch) is killed at age 35. He is a Judge of the Native Courts at Tanta Egypt.
There were two claims of aerial victories on this day in 1916. Up first with his 14th victory (a Vickers FB.5 (no. 5079) we have Oberleutnant Max Immelmann
Attachment 194322
We also have a second victory in quick succession for Leutnant Max Ritter von Mulzer who shot down an FE2b (no.5210) over Estaire
Attachment 194326
Eastern Front
Aerodrome at Mariakerke bombed by naval aeroplanes.
British bombard Belgian coast.
Battle of Verdun: German attacks at Mort Homme repulsed.
Attachment 194324
Captured German 120cm Mortar
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres
S.S. "Julnar" fails to break blockade at Kut.
The voyage of the Julnar was never anything more than a forlorn hope. She was a twin-screw steamer and faster than most of the river craft, and if any vessel at all could slip through the blockade she was that vessel. In order to gauge her chances we must appreciate the nature of the task in front of her. First of all, she had to face the ordinary difficulties of navigation - a winding river with hairpins and occasional shoals, which even in the flood season were capable of pulling up a heavily-laden vessel. Secondly, she had to face these difficulties in the dark, for to make the attempt by daylight was, of course, out of the question. Thirdly, she had to run the gauntlet of the Turkish guns on both banks from Annaiyat to Kut - a distance of over twenty miles by river - to say nothing of a possible fusillade by rifles and machine guns. Fourthly, there was the possibility that the Turks might have sown a minefield, or, what was more probable, have stretched a wire hawser or some obstruction across the river, in anticipation of the attempt being made.
Aeroplane reconnaissance was made, and the airmen reported that they could see no signs of minefields or obstructions, but the waters of the Tigris are muddy and it was more than possible that objects beneath the surface would escape detection. Turkish prisoners, however, were unanimous in declaring that no obstructions had been prepared. This information, however, if it could be relied on, only served to emphasise the first two difficulties - the negotiation of the sharp bends in the river and the ticklish job of navigating in the dark. The Admiral himself said that he had very little hope of the success of the undertaking, for the odds against it were too great.
A journey to Kut by a naval vessel had been suggested some weeks previously by a member of the Army Commander's Staff and debated at the highest level of the Army and Navy in Mesopotamia and was at first considered to be out of the question. But the beleaguered garrison was, by now, nearing the end of its tether. The fate of some 900 officers and men as in the balance and the Army had appealed to the Navy for help. The appeal was not made in vain. The Admiral sent out private letters to the officers of the Mesopotamia squadron asking for volunteers for the command of the Julnar. There was no need to point out to them the dangers of the enterprise, or the slender hopes upon which the mission finally had been sanctioned.
Attachment 194325
Most of the officers went in their names and the Admiral's next problem was that if making the selection. His choice fell upon Lieutenant Humphrey O B Firman, RN and to support him, Lieutenant Commander Charles H Cowley, RNVR was chosen; his intimate knowledge of the river gained in the service of Messrs Lynch Brothers who ran the steamer tours that attracted thousands to the region in times of peace. Mr Reed, another of their employees, volunteered to accompany the expedition and was given a temporary commission as an Engineer Sub-Lieutenant. The crew consisted of one engine-room artificer, one leading stoker, three stokers, one leading seaman and six able seamen - all were volunteers drawn from the gunboat flotilla.. The Admiral said of them: "They are under no misapprehension as to the dangers they will run."
At eight o'clock on the evening of April 24, the Julnar started from Falahiyah on her perilous voyage, and, as though to give her an enthusiastic send-off, our artillery at once opened a terrific bombardment of the enemy's lines. The object of this was, of course, to keep the Turks in their trenches, and so reduced their chances of detecting the blockade-runner; and at first, it really looked as if f the ruse had been successful, for there was no indication that she had been detected. We began to make calculations as to her probable progress; but in so-doing we were obliged to guess her speed, for there had been no opportunity for testing it after she had been armour-plated and loaded. The moon was due to rise at 1.15 am, which gave her just over five hours to cover the twenty odd miles; and taking into account a strong adverse current of about four knots, the allowance was not excessive. After Sanna-i-yat, her course would be fairly straight for the first tow miles or so, as far as Beit Aieese, but after that there would be several nasty bends, including a specially difficult one at the end of the Nakhaila reach. Then came the Ess Sinn position, where it was reasonable to suppose that the Turks would be on the look-out, and some four miles further on was the hairpin bend of Magus's Ferry (sic), which is eight and a half miles from Kut by river, but only four miles as the crow flies. Our only hope lay in the darkness of the night, which was intensified by the high banks of the river; if she had really managed to pass through the front enemy position at Sanna-i-yat without being seen, it was just conceivable that the Turks in the back positions might be caught napping. While we were in the midst of these anxious speculations, a report came from HMS Mantis that a red light had been seen at some distance up the river, and we were told that this was a recognised Turkish signal that a vessel was passing up the river. The futility of further speculation became painfully obvious; there was nothing for it but to sit down and wait patiently for the issue, whatever it might be.
Great excitement prevailed in Kut when it was heard that the relieving force would attempt to send the steamboat Julnar through with rations. It was decided that if the boat got through and was not disabled, it was to come up to Kut itself and be unloaded, but that if it was hit, it was to be beached at the fort. The artillery made special preparations to cover its arrival, and everyone was on edge with expectation. Shortly after midnight, heavy rifle fire was heard down-river, and we knew that the attempt had begun. For fifteen minutes the firing was very rapid; then it died down and our spirits with it. Another burst of firing came, and our spirits rose accordingly; but this also died away into silence and we knew that the attempt had failed. Afterwards, we heard that every member of the crew was killed by rifle fire. The navigator, Captain Cowley had dropped at the wheel with a bullet through his groin, just as he was steering the ship through the most critical place in the whole river, a hairpin bend. While consciousness lasted, he hung on, but the boat was swept into the bank and grounded. When the Turkish officers boarded the boat, they reported that they found him unconscious with his hands still gripping the steering-wheel and that he had he died without regaining consciousness.
Tomorrow we will look in more detail at the two Victoria Crosses that were awarded in this action.
Turks raid Katiya (Sinai) and destroy two British posts: 5th Midland Brigade loses 3.5 sq. ns. Yeomanry.
Aerodrome at Mariakerke bombed by naval aeroplanes.
British bombard Belgian coast.
Battle of Verdun: German attacks at Mort Homme repulsed.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres
Turks raid Katiya (Sinai) and destroy two British posts: 5th Midland Brigade loses 3.5 sq. ns. Yeomanry.
Just how big is this glass Chris?
Well the first one was not as large as the second - Chante Clair 2014 - smooth as silk, a really nice wine to go with few olives and nibbles..
Attachment 194327
Attachment 194379
Right then, though I had better start early today as lots to get through, The Easter Rising and Zeppelin raids to start with, so without further ado.....
24th April 1916
The Easter Rising
I have no affiliation as far to the politics on either side of this event and don't know enough to have an opinion either way. I have tried to just present the facts (as recorded by others) and hope that no one is offended by anything that may represent a biased account - that is not my intention.
Summary: On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a group of Irish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and, along with some 1,600 followers, staged a rebellion against the British government in Ireland. The rebels seized prominent buildings in Dublin and clashed with British troops. Within a week, the insurrection had been suppressed and more than 2,000 people were dead or injured. The leaders of the rebellion soon were executed. Initially, there was little support from the Irish people for the Easter Rising; however, public opinion later shifted and the executed leaders were hailed as martyrs. In 1921, a treaty was signed that in 1922 established the Irish Free State, which eventually became the modern-day Republic of Ireland.
Attachment 194380
On the morning of Monday 24 April, about 1,200 members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army mustered at several locations in central Dublin. Among them were members of the all-female Cumann na mBan. Some wore Irish Volunteer and Citizen Army uniforms, while others wore civilian clothes with a yellow Irish Volunteer armband, military hats, and bandoliers. They were armed mostly with rifles (especially 1871 Mausers), but also with shotguns, revolvers, a few Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols, and grenades.The number of Volunteers who mobilized was much smaller than expected. This was due to MacNeill's countermanding order, and the fact that the new orders had been sent so soon beforehand. However, several hundred Volunteers joined the Rising after it began.
Attachment 194381
Shortly before midday, the rebels began to seize important sites in central Dublin. The rebels' plan was to hold Dublin city centre. This was a large, oval-shaped area bounded by two canals: the Grand to the south and the Royal to the north, with the River Liffey running through the middle. On the southern and western edges of this district were five British Army barracks. Most of the rebel's positions had been chosen to defend against counter-attacks from these barracks. The rebels took the positions with ease. Civilians were evacuated and policemen were ejected or taken prisoner. Windows and doors were barricaded, food and supplies were secured, and first aid posts were set up. Barricades were erected on the streets to hinder British Army movement. A joint force of about 400 Volunteers and Citizen Army gathered at Liberty Hall under the command of Commandant James Connolly. This was the headquarters battalion, and it also included Commander-in-Chief Patrick Pearse, as well as Tom Clarke, Seán MacDermott and Joseph Plunkett. They marched to the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, occupied the building and hoisted two republican flags. Pearse stood outside and read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Copies of the Proclamation were also pasted on walls and handed out to bystanders by Volunteers and newsboys.[60] The GPO would be the rebels' headquarters for most of the Rising. Volunteers from the GPO also occupied other buildings on the street, including buildings overlooking O'Connell Bridge. They took over a wireless telegraph station and sent out a radio broadcast in Morse code, announcing that an Irish Republic had been declared. This was the first radio broadcast in Ireland.
Attachment 194382
Elsewhere, some of the headquarters battalion under Michael Mallin occupied St Stephen's Green, where they dug trenches and barricaded the surrounding roads. The 1st battalion, under Edward 'Ned' Daly, occupied the Four Courts and surrounding buildings, while a company under Seán Heuston occupied the Mendicity Institution, across the River Liffey from the Four Courts. The 2nd battalion, under Thomas MacDonagh, occupied Jacob's biscuit factory. The 3rd battalion, under Éamon de Valera, occupied Boland's Mill and surrounding buildings. The 4th battalion, under Éamonn Ceannt, occupied the South Dublin Union and the distillery on Marrowbone Lane. From each of these 'garrisons', small units of rebels established outposts in the surrounding area. The rebels also attempted to cut transport and communication links. As well as erecting roadblocks, they took control of various bridges and cut telephone and telegraph wires. Westland Row and Harcourt Street railway stations were occupied, though the latter only briefly. The railway line was cut at Fairview and the line was damaged by bombs at Amiens Street, Broadstone, Kingsbridge and Lansdowne Road. Around midday, a small team of Volunteers and Fianna Éireann members swiftly captured the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park and disarmed the guards. The goal was to seize weapons and blow up the ammunition store to signal that the Rising had begun. They seized weapons and planted explosives, but the blast was not big enough to be heard across the city. The 23-year-old son of the fort's commander was fatally shot when he ran to raise the alarm.
Attachment 194383
A contingent under Seán Connolly occupied Dublin City Hall and adjacent buildings.[66] They attempted to seize neighbouring Dublin Castle, the heart of British rule in Ireland. As they approached the gate a lone police sentry, James O'Brien, attempted to stop them and was shot dead by Connolly. According to some accounts, he was the first casualty of the Rising. The rebels overpowered the soldiers in the guardroom, but failed to press further. The British Army's chief intelligence officer, Major Ivon Price, fired on the rebels while the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, helped shut the castle gates. Unbeknownst to the rebels, the Castle was lightly guarded and could have been taken with ease. The rebels instead laid siege to the Castle from City Hall. Fierce fighting erupted there after British reinforcements arrived. The rebels on the roof exchanged fire with soldiers on the street. Seán Connolly was shot dead by a sniper, becoming the first rebel casualty. By the following morning, British forces had re-captured City Hall and taken the rebels prisoner. The rebels did not attempt to take some other key locations, notably Trinity College, in the heart of the city centre and defended by only a handful of armed unionist students. The failure to occupy strategic locations was attributed to lack of manpower. In at least two incidents, at Jacob's and Stephen's Green, the Volunteers and Citizen Army shot dead civilians trying to attack them or dismantle their barricades. Elsewhere, they hit civilians with their rifle butts to drive them off.
The British military were caught totally unprepared by the rebellion and their response of the first day was generally un-coordinated. Two troops of British cavalry were sent to investigate what was happening. They took fire and casualties from rebel forces at the GPO and at the Four Courts. As one troop passed Nelson's Pillar, the rebels opened fire from the GPO, killing three cavalrymen and two horses and fatally wounding a fourth man. The cavalrymen retreated and were withdrawn to barracks. On Mount Street, a group of Volunteer Training Corps men stumbled upon the rebel position and four were killed before they reached Beggars Bush barracks.
The only substantial combat of the first day of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union where a piquet from the Royal Irish Regiment encountered an outpost of Éamonn Ceannt's force at the northwestern corner of the South Dublin Union. The British troops, after taking some casualties, managed to regroup and launch several assaults on the position before they forced their way inside and the small rebel force in the tin huts at the eastern end of the Union surrendered. However, the Union complex as a whole remained in rebel hands. A nurse in uniform, Margaret Keogh, was shot dead by British soldiers at the Union. She is believed to have been the first civilian killed in the Rising. Three unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead on the first day of the Rising and their Commissioner pulled them off the streets. Partly as a result of the police withdrawal, a wave of looting broke out in the city centre, especially in the O'Connell Street area. A total of 425 people were arrested after the Rising for looting.
... more tomorrow
3 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON MONDAY APRIL 24TH 1916
2nd. Lieutenant James Edward Hutton Freeman 29 Squadron RFC - Killed while flying 24 April 1916 aged 19.
Lt Warren Colclough Pemberton 40 Squadron (Canadian) Whilst flying Avro 504A 4067 near Gosport he stalled in a sharp turn, crashed and caught fire near Gosport. He was 20 when he died.
2Lt Edward William Wise Rebbeck 16th Reserve Squadron RFC Whilst flying B.E.2c 4511 near Beaulieu he sideslipped off a low turn and nose dived into the ground at Talbot Village, near Bournemouth, he was just 19.
There were two aerial victories claimed on this day....
With his 9th kill (a LVG 'C' over Vaquois) Sous Lieutenant Jean Marie Dominique Navarre
"Adjudant pilot of Escadrille MS12, remarkably adroit and devoted, he has had several aerial combats, one of which permitted the capture of two enemy officers and an enemy plane. He volunteers for all the delicate missions, and has executed special and particularly perilous missions with complete success." Légion d'Honneur citation
Attachment 194384
Claiming his second kill we have Hauptmann Hans Schüz - by shooting down an (unidentified) seaplane on this day. Unfortunately I can't find any English language sites with more information - so if any of our German speaking readers are able to translate and add a few notes it would be most appreciated)
Zeppelin Raids
This was a large raid involving six Navy Zeppelins planned to strike against London in advance of the German naval bombardment of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. However, strong winds from the south and south-west forced them to seek alternative targets in East Anglia.
L.16 (Oberleutnant zur See Werner Peterson) came inland over Trimingham on the coast of north-east Norfolk at 10.15pm. Following a course to the south-west via Attleborough, L.16 reached Thetford at about 11.30pm. After circling for 20 minutes Peterson resumed a south-west course and arrived over Newmarket Heath at 12.30am from where two machine guns opened fire. Stung into action, Peterson dropped 18 high-explosive (HE) bombs on a line from Newmarket Heath right across the town of Newmarket, to Warren Hill Station. Several houses on St. Mary’s Square were damaged as was a racing stable on Bury Road where a prize racehorse, Coup-de-Main, was killed. A bomb on a house near Warren Hill Station seriously injured its owner. On the eastern outskirts of Newmarket L.16 dropped an incendiary close to the junction of the Bury and Norwich roads, followed by an HE and an incendiary on the ‘Limekilns’, a training ground near Snailwell. Peterson then headed back towards the coast, dropping five incendiary bombs at Honingham, between Norwich and East Dereham at about 1.15am, which fell in wheat fields setting fire to a large haystack which spread to farm sheds. L.16 went back out to sea near Mundesley at about 1.35am.
L.13 (Kapitänleutnant Eduard Prölss) came inland about five minutes after L.16, near Cromer. Her course after passing Hanworth is unclear. It would appear that shell splinters from an AA gun struck the command gondola and although they did not cause any significant damage it was enough to persuade Prölss to turn for home. L.13 went back out to sea a little after 11.00pm near Sheringham without dropping any of her bombs.
Attachment 194386
L.21 (Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Max Dietrich, with Peter Strasser commander of the Naval Airship Division on board) came inland just south of Lowestoft at 11.10pm and took a course leading to Stowmarket where there was an important munitions works. As he approached the town, AA guns at Badley Park and Stowupland engaged, then two 6-pdrs at Stowmarket opened fire. Dietrich released water ballast at 12.16am to climb quickly out of danger and also dropped nine HE bombs, which landed on Ward Green Farm at Old Newton owned by F. Stearn, two miles north of Stowmarket. They caused no significant damage, merely breaking windows and gouging craters in a ploughed field. Dietrich then followed a north-east course across Norfolk, passing to the west of Norwich and dropping a final HE bomb at Witton, which fell harmlessly, before going out to sea near Bacton at 1.35am. At about 2.00am she joined the German fleet approaching the coast.
More tomorrow....
Southern Fronts
Salonika: General Mahon authorized to move British troops right up to Greek frontier, French already pushing north and west along Monastir railway.
Middle East
Mesopotamia: 15-volunteer* crewed paddle steamer Julnar gets within 8 1/2 river miles of Kut with 270t of food before being snared in Turk steel wires (2 Victoria Cross won). In Kut now 15 dysentery deaths per day. (see yesterday)
Attachment 194387
Lieutenant-Commander Charles Henry Cowley VC (21 February 1872 – 25 April 1916) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was 44 years old, and a lieutenant-commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On the night of 24 April/25 April 1916 in Mesopotamia, an attempt was made to reprovision the force besieged at Kut-el-Amara. Lieutenant-Commander Cowley, with a lieutenant (Humphrey Osbaldston Brooke Firman) (commanding SS Julnar), a sub-lieutenant and 12 ratings, started off with 210 tons of stores up the River Tigris. Unfortunately Julnar was attacked almost at once by Turkish machine-guns and artillery. At Magasis, steel hawsers stretched across the river halted the expedition, the enemy opened fire at point-blank range and Julnar's bridge was smashed. Julnar's commander was killed, also several of his crew; Lieutenant-Commander Cowley was taken prisoner with the other survivors and almost certainly executed by the Turks.
Attachment 194388
Humphrey Osbaldston Brooke Firman VC (24 November 1886 – 24 April 1916) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Firman was born in 1886 to H. B. Firman, J.P., of New Malden, Surrey. When he was 29 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the First World War, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his deeds on the night of 24 April 1916 in Mesopotamia in an attempt to resupply the forces trapped in the Siege of Kut. He was killed in action.
His Citation: The General Officer Commanding, Indian Expeditionary Force "D", reported on this attempt in the following words:- " At 8 p.m. on April 24th, 1916, with a crew from the Royal Navy under Lieut. Firman, R.N., assisted by Lieut. Comdr. Cowley, R.N.V.R., the " Julnar ", carrying 270 tons of supplies, left Falahiyah in an attempt to reach Kut. Her departure was covered by all artillery and machine gun fire that could be brought to bear, in the hope of distracting the enemy's attention. She was, however, discovered and shelled on her passage up the river. At 1 a.m. on the 25th, Gen. Townshend reported that she had not arrived, and that at midnight a burst of heavy firing had been heard at Magasis, some 9 miles from Kut by river, which had suddenly ceased. There could be but little doubt that the enterprise had failed, and the next day the Air Service reported the " Julnar " in the hands of the Turks at Magasis. The leaders of this brave attempt, Lieut. H.O.B. Firman, R.N., and his assistant, Lieut. Comdr. C.H. Cowley, R.N.V.R. - the latter of whom throughout the campaign in Mesopotamia performed magnificent service in command of the "Mejidieh", - have been reported by the Turks to have been killed; the remainder of the gallant crew, including five wounded, are prisoners of war. Knowing well the chances against them, all the gallant officers and men who manned the 'Julnar' for the occasion were volunteers. I trust that the services in this connection of Lieut. H.O.B. Firman, R.N., and Lieut. Comdr. C.H. Cowley, R.N.V.R., his assistant, both of whom were unfortunately killed, may be recognised by the posthumous grant of some suitable honour." The account of the award is preceded by the following paragraph:- "The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the posthumous grant of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned officers in recognition of their conspicuous gallantry in an attempt to re-provision the force besieged in Kut-el-Amara.
Sea War
North Sea: After US protests Germany decides to adhere to prize law in U-boat operations (Scheer told during sortie and radio recalls all U-boats to base, but U20 and U45, unaware, sink 8 ships of 26,751t until May 8).
Dover Patrol begins laying 13*-15-mile ‘Belgian coast barrage’ of moored nets with mines and two lines of deep mines (10 minelayers), 4,862 mines in 16 fields (12 miles from shore). Despite attacks by seaplanes, 3 destroyers and shore guns (which hit destroyer Melpomene and 3 others) barrage completed by May 7, which destroys coastal submarine UB13 (May 24).
Air War
Western Front: French aircraft bomb rail stations at Longuyon, Stenay and Nautillois with bivouacs near Dun and Monfaucon. 15 Anglo-German air combats (2 German aircraft lost).
Neutrals
Switzerland: Second International Socialist conference (until April 30) in Kienthal; 43 delegates (10 parties including German and French). Lenin fails to convince majority.
Politics
Britain: Government replies to US note from October 21, 1915.
Attachment 194452
Good evening one and all and especially welcome back to the (hopefully) safely returned BEF, fresh from their foray to Prague - photo's and AARs please chaps......
April 25th 1916
The Easter Rising cont.
Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, declared martial law on Tuesday evening and handed over civil power to Brigadier-General William Lowe. British forces initially put their efforts into securing the approaches to Dublin Castle and isolating the rebel headquarters, which they believed was in Liberty Hall. The British commander, Lowe, worked slowly, unsure of the size of the force he was up against, and with only 1,269 troops in the city when he arrived from the Curragh Camp in the early hours of Tuesday 25 April. City Hall was taken from the rebel unit that had attacked Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning. In the early hours of Tuesday, 120 British soldiers, with machine-guns, occupied two buildings overlooking St Stephen's Green: the Shelbourne Hotel and United Services Club.At dawn they opened fire on the Citizen Army occupying the green. The rebels returned fire, but were forced to retreat to the Royal College of Surgeons building. They remained there for the rest of the week, exchanging fire with British forces. Fighting erupted along the northern edge of the city centre on Tuesday afternoon. In the northeast, British troops left Amiens St station in an armoured train, to secure and repair a section of damaged tracks. They were attacked by rebels who had taken up position at Annesley Bridge. After a two-hour battle, the British were forced to retreat and several soldiers were captured. At Phibsborough, in the northwest, rebels had occupied buildings and erected barricades at junctions on the North Circular Road. The British summoned 18-pounder field artillery from Athlone and shelled the rebel positions, destroying the barricades. After a fierce firefight, the rebels withdrew. They later made an unsuccessful attack on troops at Broadstone railway station.
That afternoon, Pearse, walked out into O'Connell Street with a small escort and stood in front of Nelson's Pillar. As a large crowd gathered, he read out a 'manifesto to the citizens of Dublin', calling on them to support the Rising. The rebels had failed to take either of Dublin's two main train stations or either of its ports, at Dublin Port and Kingstown. As a result, during the following week, the British were able to bring in thousands of reinforcements from England and from their garrisons at the Curragh and Belfast. By the end of the week, British strength stood at over 16,000 men. Their firepower was provided by field artillery which they positioned on the north side of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel Helga, which sailed up the River Liffey, having been summoned from the port at Kingstown. On Wednesday, 26 April, the guns at Trinity College and Helga shelled Liberty Hall, and the Trinity College guns then began firing at rebel positions, first at Boland's Mill and then in O'Connell Street. Some rebel commanders, particularly James Connolly, did not believe that the British would shell the 'second city' of the British Empire.
Attachment 194453
A British armoured truck, hastily built from the smoke boxes of several steam locomotives at Inchicore railway works.
The principal rebel positions at the GPO, the Four Courts, Jacob's Factory and Boland's Mill saw little combat. The British surrounded and bombarded them rather than assault them directly. One Volunteer in the GPO recalled, "we did practically no shooting as there was no target". However, where the insurgents dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting. On Wednesday morning, hundreds of British troops encircled the Mendicity Institute, which was occupied by 26 Volunteers under Seán Heuston. British troops advanced on the building, supported by snipers and machine gun fire, but the Volunteers put up stiff resistance. Eventually, the troops got close enough to hurl grenades into the building, some of which the rebels threw back. Exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Heuston's men became the first rebel position to surrender. Heuston had been ordered to hold his position for a few hours, to delay the British, but had held on for three days. Reinforcements were sent to Dublin from England, and disembarked at Kingstown on the morning of Wednesday 26 April. Heavy fighting occurred at the rebel-held positions around the Grand Canal as these troops advanced towards Dublin. More than 1,000 Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a cross-fire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street Bridge. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men.[89] Despite there being alternative routes across the canal nearby, General Lowe ordered repeated frontal assaults on the Mount Street position. The British eventually took the position, which had not been reinforced by the nearby rebel garrison at Boland's Mills, on Thursday,but the fighting there inflicted up to two thirds of their casualties for the entire week for a cost of just four dead Volunteers. It had taken nearly nine hours for the British to advance 300 yd (270 m).
Attachment 194454
To be continued...
There were two airmen lost on this day in 1916:
Lieutenant Edmund Douglas Marrable 42 Training Squadron RFC: He was Killed while flying 25 April 1918 aged 25. He was a passenger in Avro 504 (no. D4394) flown by Lieut C Whelan, which collided with a Sopwith Pup flown by 2nd Lieut A G Levy. He was the Son of the late Douglas Hiron Marrable and Laura Maria Marrable.
Lieutenant Warren Colclough Pemberton 40 Squadron RFC - Accidentally Killed while flying (crashed) at Gosport 25 Apr 1916 aged 20. Lieutenant Warren Colclough Pemberton, R.F.C., was born on the 1st of December 1895 at Mountjoy, Victoria, British Columbia. He enlisted for service with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on the 18th August 1915, taking his oath of allegiance at Lydd, Kent. On the 31st of that month, he joined the 32nd Reserve Battalion as a Lieutenant, carrying his rank from his service with the Canadian 50th Gordon Highlanders. Lieutenant Pemberton was drafted to No. 40 Squadron RAF, Fort Grange Aerodrome for instruction in flying. On the 25th of April 1916, Lieutenant Pemberton took off from the aerodrome at 12.45 p.m. in an Avro 504A, service no. 4067. The weather on the day was turbulent, with strong gusting winds. The machine rose rapidly to a height of between 100 and 150 feet where it made a sharp left hand turn downwind, upon doing so the aeroplane dipped its nose and crashed onto the airfield.
Lieutenant Pemberton was taken from the wreckage of the aeroplane which had caught fire. He was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar where he was treated for a fractured thigh and extensive burns to his arms, legs, face, back and severe shock. He survived the night, but passed away during the following morning. At the inquest the suspected cause of the accident was attributed to the fact that the aeroplane 'got out of the eye of the wind', obtained a certain amount of drift and it was surmised that Lieutenant Pemberton attempted to turn the aircraft too sharply which caused the machine to side slip and nose-dive into the ground. A verdict of accidental death was recorded, the Coroner gave strong recommendation to the Commanding Officer at Fort Grange aerodrome that a suitably qualified medical officer be available at the airfield during times of flying was conducted. Lieutenant Warren Colclough Pemberton, R.F.C., was buried on Wednesday 26th April 1916. He is laid to rest, Plot 50 Space 91 and is commemorated by a CWG headstone. Prior military service with 50th Regiment, Gordon Highlanders of Canada. Son of Mr. F. B. and Mrs. M. A. Pemberton of Mountjoy, Victoria, British Columbia. His brother, Captain Frederick Despard Pemberton, RAF, was killed in action August 21, 1917.
Zeppelin Raids Continued from yesterday:
Kapitänleutnant Otto von Schubert brought L.23 inland at Caister at 11.50pm where he dropped three HE bombs but only one detonated, smashing windows and damaging a wall. He then followed a course to the north-west until he reached the village of Ridlington. Here von Schubert dropped nine HE bombs partially wrecking a cottage, breaking windows and extensively damaging the chancel end of the church of St. Peter. At Church Farm, besides breaking windows, the bombs also killed a bullock. Before passing out to sea, L.23 dropped six HE bombs near the coast that damaged two houses, ‘Beech Bough’ and ‘The Croft’, close to the RNAS airfield at Bacton.
The last Zeppelin to come inland over Norfolk was L.11 commanded by Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze, which crossed near Bacton at about 12.30am. She made very slow progress south then, between the villages of Honing and Dilham, Schütze released 19 HE and 26 incendiary bombs at around 1.00am. At Dairy House Farm, Dilham, the blast ripped roof tiles from a number of farm buildings, doing the same to four cottages nearby, also smashing windows in another four cottages. Not far away, at Hall Farm, the shock of the raid caused a 79-year-old widow, Fanny Gaze, to die from a heart attack. L.11 crossed the coast near Sea Palling at 1.18am but instead of going out to sea at once, she followed the coast towards Bacton. At 1.25am 3-pdr AA guns of the RNAS Eastern Mobile Section opened fire on L.11 and it appears they had some success, one gas cell was later reported as punctured by a piece of shell, after which L.11 finally went out to sea. The final Zeppelin to come inland did so further north, L.17 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Ehrlich) crossing the Lincolnshire coast at Chapel St. Leonards, just before 1.20am. She only came inland as far as Alford (about 6 miles) where she dropped three HE bombs from a height of about 10,000 ft, the damage amounting to one broken window. A single incendiary also fell in a field at Anderby. Ehrlich crossed back over the coastline sea near Sutton-on-Sea at 2.05am. Four aircraft from RNAS Yarmouth, one from RNAS Bacton and one from No. 35 Squadron RFC based at Thetford, went up to oppose these raiders but only Flt sub-Lieutenant Edward Pulling caught sight of one, L.23, before losing it again.
Attachment 194455
This raid by Army airships targeted London but none reached their goal. Five set out, one, the veteran Z.XII, turned back early and survived an encounter with a French aircraft on its return journey. Of the others, LZ.87 never came inland, her commander, Oberleutnant Barth, contenting himself with attacking a steamer, the Argus, in Deal harbour by dropping eight high-explosive (HE) bombs. The bombs, dropped at 9.55pm, all missed their target. Attacked by AA guns at Walmer, LZ.87 turned out to sea and then appeared off Ramsgate at 10.24pm after which she turned for home. The three raiders that came inland were LZ.97, LZ.93 and LZ.88.
More tomorrow...
There was just the one aerial victory claim today : Lieutenant Charles Eugene Jules Marie Nungesser claiming his sixth victory by downing an LVG over Verdun
Attachment 194456
Western Front
Aisne: After 8-hours barrage 3 French battalions fail to regain ground lost on March 10 until following day, General Mazel suspends operation.
Southern Fronts
Balkans: Joffre writes to CIGS (Chief of Imperial General Staff) Robertson suggesting Salonika offensive as soon as Serb Army arrives, argues Rumania will come in as a result, but British only acknowledge on May 3.
African Fronts
East Africa: 1st British division through train from Voi reaches Moshi thus joining the German Usambara or Tanga Railway.
Sea War
North Sea: 4 battlecruisers (under Boe****er, because Hipper is ill) shell Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft (20 civilian and 3 military casualties, c.200 houses destroyed) for 20 minutes.
Cruiser Penelope torpedoed by German coastal-submarine UB29 on way home but towed into Chatham.
Yarmouth’s shelling shortened by Harwich Force intervention (flagship cruiser Conquest sustains 5 hits, 25 killed).
The Harwich Force:
The Harwich Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war...
After the outbreak of the First World War, a priority for the Royal Navy was to secure the approaches to the English Channel, to prevent elements of the German High Seas Fleet from breaking out into the Atlantic, or from interfering with British maritime trade and convoys to the continent. Most of the major fleet units of the Grand Fleet had dispersed to the navy's anchorage at Scapa Flow or to other North Eastern ports to monitor the northern route from the North Sea into the Atlantic. Consequently, a number of patrol flotillas were organised along the south and east coasts of England, with commands established at several of the major ports in the region. The Dover Patrol was based at Dover, consisting mostly of destroyers, while a number of pre-dreadnoughts and cruisers were based at Portland Harbour. A large number of destroyers, flotilla leaders and light cruisers were centred at Harwich, under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt.
Attachment 194457
The Harwich Force consisted of between four and eight light cruisers, several flotilla leaders and usually between 30 and 40 destroyers, with numbers fluctuating throughout the war, and organised into flotillas. Also stationed at Harwich was a submarine force under Commodore Roger Keyes. In early 1917, the Harwich Force consisted of eight light cruisers, two flotilla leaders and 45 destroyers. By the end of the year, there were nine light cruisers, four flotilla leaders and 24 destroyers. The combination of light, fast ships was intended to provide effective scouting and reconnaissance, whilst still being able to engage German light forces, and to frustrate attempts at minelaying in the Channel.
It was intended that the Harwich Force would operate when possible in conjunction with the Dover Patrol, and the Admiralty intended that the Harwich force would also be able to support the Grand Fleet if it moved into the area. Tyrwhitt was also expected to carry out reconnaissance of German naval activities in the southern parts of the North Sea, and to escort ships sailing between the Thames and the Netherlands. Tyrwhitt's objectives were often complicated by the need to provide reinforcements for the Dover Patrol. The force fired the first shots of the war when a flotilla led by HMS Amphion sank the minelayer Königin Luise on 5 August 1914. During the war, the Force captured or sank 24 enemy merchants, and it escorted 520 eastbound and 511 westbound ships between Dutch and British ports. Their ships also took part in the Cuxhaven Raid on Christmas Day, 1914. The force was also active in a number of clashes with the Kaiserliche Marine (German Navy). Their ships were present at the Battles of Heligoland Bight, Texel, and Dogger Bank, and were mobilised after the German raids on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914, and on Yarmouth and Lowestoft in 1916. They were called out during the lead up to the Battle of Jutland, but did not take part in the battle. After the end of the war, Harwich was designated the port at which the remaining German U-boats would be surrendered, and Tyrwhitt's Harwich Force oversaw the operation
Air War
Western Front: 16 Anglo-German air combats. Royal Flying Corps aircraft and balloons range 72 artillery targets (65 on April 28, 49 on April 29).
Neutrals
Coal for Scandinavia not to sail in neutral ships unless with Allied return cargoes.
Attachment 194676
April 26th 1916
The Easter Rising: We have an hour by hour narrative of the day when some of the fiercest fighting took place...
06.20hrs - British reinforcements arrive by ship. Two British troop-ships, the SS Tynwald and SS Patriotic have begun disembarking several thousand troops from the 59th Midland division in Kingstown Harbour. Despite the early hour the beautifully sunny morning has brought hundreds of civilians to the area to view the unexpected spectacle. There seems to be a great sense of urgency among some companies, while others are sitting around in groups, apparently confused as to why they are in Ireland - and not France. More troopships are due to land during the coming hours.
09.00hrs - Jacob’s biscuit factory is being saturated with machine gun fire. As dawn broke machine guns in Portobello opened up on its huge towers, sending half-dozing snipers scurrying for cover. Shooters in Dublin Castle have now opened up on the factory with automatic fire. Hundreds of bullets are flying wildly astray in the city when they miss hitting the towers. Many reports are coming in of civilians being killed as they venture out to seek food or to check on friends and relatives. Others have been killed in their homes. Hunger has gripped the city. Meanwhile artillery fire has begun as Liberty Hall is shelled by the British.
09.36hrs - Both British troops in the Gresham Hotel in Sackville Street and Volunteers in the GPO have been engaged in a ferocious sniper battle for several hours. Shouts claiming kills have been heard from the windows of both buildings. The huge walls of the majestic buildings lining Dublin’s main street resound continuously to rifle-cracks. Gun smoke hangs in the morning air. The crash of artillery is almost constant and echoes thunderously through the streets.
10.30hrs - The Sherwood Foresters are on the way. The Notts and Derby regiments have just begun their march into Dublin City. The exhausted infantrymen appear to have had little sleep but seem very cheerful and optimistic. Shouts and waves of encouragement have no doubt blown some wind into their sails as their sergeants blow whistles and bark orders. Their forces appear to have split up, with two Battalions marching to the city along the coast road and another two heading inland. Their confidence is high.
11.06hrs - Stephen’s Green - A most peculiar ceasefire - incredible scenes! In the midst of an escalating firefight the most bizarre thing has happened. The park’s caretaker left his lodge close to its Earlsfort Terrace corner and has walked calmly to the duck-pond and begun feeding the green’s huge population of hungry ducks. Incredibly, both sides have ceased firing at each other as they are transfixed by such a gesture.
11.23hrs - Sackville Street a fully-fledged war zone! Stephen’s Green may be peaceful right now, but Sackville Street is anything but tranquil. It is now a war-zone like any other. From the south side of the river machine guns are raking the street. Incendiary bullets are setting fire to the few remaining unburnt shop canopies while concrete is gouged from walls. Glass is shattering everywhere. Casualties are mounting on both sides from unrelenting sniper fire. The battle is escalating.
11.48hrs - Jameson’s Distillery has received reinforcements as rebels stole through the nearby streets just before dawn to reinforce the garrison. Perhaps an assault is expected on the position.
12.00hrs - The building that spawned this insurrection, Liberty Hall, has been pulverised by artillery fire. A gunboat has been shelling the building for several hours.
12.15hrs - Madness at the Mendicity - grenade battles! Earlier this morning a vicious battle took place around the Mendicity Institute on Usher’s Island. It descended into complete pandemonium. Unable to overcome the rebel fire the Dublin Fusiliers began throwing hand grenades, but were shocked as the rebels picked the bombs up and threw them back. They are fighting with almost suicidal bravery. The assaulting troops have called off the attack - for now, completely bewildered.
Attachment 194678
12.40hrs - Terrible scenes on Northumberland Road. At least one officer and ten men are lying on the road at Northumberland Road’s junction with Haddington Road. Their company walked straight into an ambush. Unsure as to the source of the enemy fire, soldiers are frantically trying to find positions of cover. It appears that number 25 Northumberland Road is held by rebels - their number unknown. Screams from wounded men fill the air.
12.45hrs - British counter attack repulsed. An assault has been launched at the corner house at 25 Northumberland Road but has been driven back in disarray. Rapid fire is coming from the building’s upper floors. Men are falling everywhere.
12.50hrs - Indescribable carnage in Dublin’s suburbs! At least two platoons of British infantry tried to outflank the corner house on Northumberland Road. They rushed the junction under ferocious fire. Several Fell. As they turned they were shot down in droves. Forward elements have just seized Baggot Street Bridge, which appears undefended. Men are thrashing around on the ground in what can only be described as hellish scenes. Some are kicking at the ground in agony and frustration, blood is everywhere. Dreadful wounds have been inflicted. Young and vacant eyes now stare from tortured lifeless faces at the nearby crossroads.
12.55hrs - No let up at the Mendicity Institute. Following a brief lull both sides are fighting like cornered animals. Hate-filled shouts accompany the repeated gunshots and grenade blasts. Casualties are mounting among the assailants.
13.08hrs - The carnage continues in Ballsbridge. Just moments ago units from the 2/7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters succeeded in outflanking the corner house and made their way on to Percy Place. They are now under murderous fire from all around them, particularly to their front and left. Men are huddling for cover along the Canal’s coping stones. They are terrified and appear helpless.
13.20hrs - Hundreds of traumatised young infantrymen and their NCO’s and officers are seeking refuge behind the garden steps along the length of Northumberland Road. The Sherwood Foresters appear to be re-grouping.
13.22hrs - The Schoolhouse building on Northumberland Road appears to be the target for the Sherwood Foresters. They appear to be preparing an attack on the position.
13.37hrs - Carnage that defies description on Northumberland Road. Dreadful casualties have been inflicted in a ghastly attack on the Schoolhouse. Roughly 60 infantrymen attacked along the length of the road, only to be mown down by fire from their left flank from two positions and from their front, where Clanwilliam House is now hidden behind huge plumes of rifle-smoke. The young infantrymen have ventured into a trap. They are cornered. Shots are ringing out constantly - men are screaming in panic. The road is littered with wounded and dying men. Only a dozen or so made their objective - the Schoolhouse - but they are being fired on from across the canal. This is a slaughter.
13.35hrs - The firing from 25 Northumberland is incessant. It is still unclear to the British as to enemy strength in the building.
13.45hrs - Ugly scenes at Mendicity - prisoner shot dead. The Mendicity Institute has fallen to the Dublin Fusiliers. Captain Seán Heuston has just led his exhausted Volunteers from D Company 1st Battalion, and the Swords Volunteers, outside through its Island Street exit, but one of his men was shot dead shortly afterwards. It is unclear what precisely happened.
14.17hrs - With the Mendicity Institute out of their way, increasing numbers of British Army riflemen are filtering along the southern quays, and combined with snipers shooting from Merchant’s Quay, are laying down volley after volley at the Four Courts. The 1st Battalion Irish Volunteers are replying in kind. Shots ring out constantly - accompanied by the distant booms of artillery from the east.
14.19hrs - Attempt to outflank Northumberland Road fails. Just moments ago British units attempted to outflank Mount Street Bridge and Northumberland Road by advancing along Shelbourne Road to their east - only do be driven back by Volunteers along the railway line and from positions in and around Horan’s Shop nearby. One British platoon has been assigned to bolster Beggar’s Bush Barracks. An unrelenting rifle battle is under way between the British infantry and the rebels - who appear unwilling to concede ground that would leave their comrades eastern flank exposed. Reports are coming in of numerous civilian casualties as the fighting escalates.
14.40hrs - Sackville Street now resembles Western Front! Sackville Street is under artillery fire from D’Olier Street. Kelly’s Fishing Tackle Shop on Batchelor’s walk is being pummelled with shrapnel shells and Vickers machine gun bullets. The British have set up a heavy machine gun position in Purcell’s Shop at the tip of Westmoreland Street’s junction with D’Olier Street. Sackville Street is being saturated with bullets. It appears that Sackville Street is being softened up for an assault.
14.45hrs - Reports are coming in of several British casualties in Portobello. Houses are being ransacked in the area seeking out snipers. It appears, however, that the fire is coming from Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, where, according to one source, snipers are aiming at glinting bayonets and belt buckles, using the reflecting sunlight to help seek out the enemy. Man will, it seems, always find ingenious ways of improvising when it comes to warfare.
14.58hrs - Northumberland Road has been relatively calm for the last few minutes. Cracks still ring out from various positions but compared to earlier things seem disturbingly tranquil. The British seem to be re-grouping again. Dispatches have sent back and forth to their headquarters in Ballsbridge Town Hall.
15.10hrs - The slaughter escalates on Northumberland Road. A report has just come in that is truly ghastly and grotesque. From close to Clanwilliam House an eyewitness described seeing a mass of khaki to his south along the southern section of Northumberland Road. It was pulsing like a caterpillar. Along the road’s gutters and pavements it was as if a snake-like beast was inching forward, as troops crawled towards the enemy. The rebels fired like they were trying to slay the beast. It was impossible to miss. They fired, reloaded, fired, non-stop. Their shots were accompanied with shouts of encouragement to each other. Clanwilliam House is again hidden behind gun-smoke. Then a whistle blew again and again and companies of troops jumped to their feet. As they did, a torrent of fire erupted from the corner house at 25 Northumberland Road which cut many of them down. As the troops ran headlong they passed the Parochial Hall, also occupied by Volunteers. Again they were mown down in a merciless barrage. But then it got much worse. Clanwilliam House opened up again. Killing and wounding more of them. The troops went to ground, until a whistle blew, and they jumped to their feet again to be cut down again under another murderous hail. The Sherwood Foresters are being slaughtered.
15.20hrs - Lower Sackville Street is still under unrelenting fire from both artillery and machine gun. The sniper fire from the southern quays and Trinity College is lethal. Sparks are flying from the O’Connell monument. It appears that sharpshooters may be using the monument to range their guns. The Hibernian Bank at Lower Abbey Street’s junction is under vicious fire from the Ballast Office on Aston Quay.
15.26hrs - Skirmishes have broken out in Stephen’s Green between Citizen Army snipers and a platoon-sized outfit who were dispatched from the Shelbourne Hotel to flush them out. The rebels have been confined to their trenches since dawn yesterday, but their determination to fight appears undiminished.
15.35hrs - The firing from Clanwilliam House appears ceaseless. To its rear on Lower Mount Street clusters of onlookers stare in awe at the carnage, apparently detached from the danger they are placing themselves in. They appear completely transfixed.
15.45hrs - Petrified young British infantrymen are huddling for shelter behind the canal’s coping stones. Clanwilliam House is to their front and left, Robert’s Yard - another rebel held position - is to their front and left roughly 250 yards away, and Boland’s Mills is roughly 450 yards distant. The latter position boasts an unobstructed view along the length of this small roadway and the rebels there are taking full advantage of their elevated position. The troops here are doomed if they stay put. They are equally doomed if they take to their feet. The entire area is littered with dead and wounded men.
15.51hrs - Marrowbone Lane Distillery is under constant sniper from the Rialto direction.
16.00hrs - The entire southern bank of the River Liffey is infested with riflemen who are still pouring fire upon the Four Courts, as well as a nearby rebel barricade on Church Street. Perhaps an assault across the bridge is planned. To the north the Linenhall barracks has been set on fire and the air in the entire Four Courts area is thick with filthy smoke.
17.00hrs - Ceasefire on Northumberland Road. Incredibly, doctors and nurses from the nearby Sir Patrick Dunne’s hospital have ventured into the kill-zone that is Northumberland Road and begun tending to scores of horrifically-wounded troops. A ceasefire has been called to allow them to bring relief and mercy to the stricken. As British reinforcements arrive in the area the rebels are being spoken of with unbridled hatred. They are being accused of using ‘dum-dum’ rounds, such are the appalling injuries sustained by many of their victims. Shots have just rung out again from Mount Street Bridge - it appears that the British have been seeking to make manoeuvres forward under the ceasefire and have been detected. People are running for cover.
17.11hrs - The British artillery and machine gun fire has died down for a while across O’Connell Bridge. Infantry patrols appear to be preparing a probing attack across the bridge. They are now on the bridge - pressing forward - a platoon in four sections. Shots are ringing out from Sackville Street. Bullets are whizzing back towards the bridge. Sparks are flying from cobblestones and tramlines. The fire is increasing. It is impossible to cross the bridge. Bullets are ricocheting wildly from its ornamental balustrades.
17.18hrs - The corner house on Northumberland Road is under a sustained assault of rifle and pistol fire. Meanwhile a machine gun has been hoisted up to the bell-tower of the church on Haddington Road. Hand grenades are being used against the house. How its occupants are still managing to hold out against such odds is simply staggering. Perhaps they cannot escape. Perhaps they fear that capture will mean certain death. In any event their condition at this stage must be one of desperate exhaustion and sheer terror.
17.29hrs - Armoured car in Sackville Street. An armoured car has been used in an attempt to advance on the GPO from its north. It has halted outside the Gresham. It is thought that its driver has been hit by one of the many huge rounds that struck its huge hull as its overstressed gears propelled it forward. Sparks are flying from its sheet metal skin. Those inside must be suffering terribly. Ferocious supporting fire is being shot from the roof and windows of the Gresham Hotel nearby, but a rescue mission may be impossible until after dark.
17.35hrs - The machine gun in St Mary’s Church has barked to life. It is firing belt after belt of .303 rounds at Clanwilliam House. Geysers of fine grey powdery masonry are being sent flying as rebel rounds from numerous positions attempt to knock it out. Incendiary bullets are being used. They leave tiny grey wisps of smoke in their trail as they fly through the air at hundreds of metres per second. Snipers in the church are trying to silence any threat to the gunners by scanning the horizon for the puffs of smoke that betray the enemy positions.
17.50hrs - Word has come from inside Jacob’s factory that an attack is expected. All of its barricades are manned and the 2nd Battalion headquarters is on a high state of alert.
18.00hrs - The writing appears to be on the wall for the stubborn rebel-held position at 25 Northumberland Road. Its front door has just been blown in with explosives. Troops rushed inside but were met with a deluge of fire which wounded several. The road to the building’s front is being raked with fire.
18.05hrs - Clanwilliam House’s façade is being pulverised by machine gun fire. Plumes of gun-smoke can be seen once again from its upper windows and at the houses side. Whistles of bullets can be heard constantly in the area.
18.20hrs - Troops storming in to corner house. 25 Northumberland Road has fallen to the military. Troops rushed inside minutes ago from both the front and rear of the building. It appears that only two enemy Volunteers have been fending off the British battalions. One has been killed in a hail of fire while the other is missing and presumed dead. Troops stormed inside baying for revenge on the enemy, but many now appear even more terrified. If two men were prepared to hold such a position for so long many fear that a similarly determined enemy awaits them further into the city. They fear the remaining rebel positions are held by unyielding fanatics. Nothing could have prepared these soldiers for this dreadful baptism of fire.
18.14hrs - Desperation leads to almost suicidal bravery near Four Courts. As if to prove the worst fears of the Sherwood Foresters regarding the insurgents’ determination, an act of almost suicidal bravery has been carried out by a pair of Volunteers at Church Street Bridge. Both men rushed across the bridge under a deluge of fire and set fire to the nearest buildings with petrol cans filled with fuel. They then scattered back across under equally ferocious fire while the buildings began to burn intensely. Their mission appears to have been accomplished. Troops are retreating from the buildings along the southern quays away from the burning houses, and away from where they appear to have been preparing an attack. Many have spoken with contempt regarding the motivation of the rebels, but one cannot argue that they are displaying tremendous bravery - as are their enemies. This fight appears to have only begun in Dublin.
18.30hrs - Battered Sherwood Foresters gain further ground. The Sherwood Foresters have just taken their second position on Northumberland Road. Four rebels have been captured at the rear of the Parochial Hall. For a time their captors looked as if they were about to tear them to pieces. One officer attempted to shoot a surrendered Volunteer in the head, until his senior officer put a stop to it and insisted the men were taken prisoner.
18.32hrs - Percy Place is full of British troops who are still crouched behind the low wall. They are still taking casualties. Several nearby houses have been stormed as the infantrymen desperately seek cover.
18.35hrs - The decimated remnants of the 2/7th, backed up by the 2/8th Sherwood Foresters are assaulting the Schoolhouse from its front and rear. They are taking dreadful casualties from Clanwilliam House to their left as they attack and from other positions to their front.
18.43hrs - To their amazement, the British have found the Schoolhouse unoccupied, save for the bullet-riddled bodies of its caretaker and his wife, presumably shot dead in the deluge of lead that was directed at the building minutes ago. They are now taking position behind the Canal wall next to the building. Its shelter is deceptive, however, as fire is being poured on the men from rebel positions to the attackers’ right flank - Boland’s Mills has these men in its sights and the rebels there are firing frantically, as are Volunteers from 3rd Battalion positioned around the railway line to the east. Once again the fighting in the area is escalating exponentially with every coarse crack of shot.
18.47hrs - Liberty Hall has been blown to pieces, and stormed by infantry, only to find the building unoccupied. It appeared fortified, prompting a bayonet charge by the Ulster Composite Battalion positioned around Amiens Street. The sound of gunfire remains incessant.
18.55hrs - Mount St Bridge is a scene of unbridled slaughter. At this stage the killing in this area can only be described as obscene. Every yard gained by the British is measured in bodies. They are literally piling up, one on top of the other. Troops are now attempting to cross Mount Street Bridge, but are paying dearly. The doctors and nurses are standing by. They are not the only spectators however. Scores of civilians remain in the streets on Lower Mount Street, drawn to the carnage like Icarus to the flame. But like the story - one step too close and it will be all over for them. Death is stalking south Dublin as the shadows lengthen.
19.05hrs - Further fighting around Four Courts. The Medical Mission in Chancery Place has been shot up by rebels inside the Four Courts. They have just attempted an assault on the beleaguered building, which has been a refuge for the Lancers driven there on Monday. The assault has failed and one Volunteer has been wounded. Meanwhile, at least two artillery shells have struck the east wing of the courts building. Throughout the area the noxious smoke from burning buildings is making life impossible for the civilians huddling together in their draughty tenements. Pantries are running dry and the overall situation is rapidly reaching desperation.
19.20 hrs - Clanwilliam House under enormous pressure. Clanwilliam House is now being shot to pieces by the machine gunners in Haddington Road. How the men inside are able to cope with this is beyond the comprehension of their assailants, who are still unsure of their number. Any movement on the bridge draws immediate fire from the position, and from the builder’s yard to its right, as well as the railway line, and the mills. The incandescent Foresters seem hell-bent however on crossing this bridge regardless of the cost. Their troops, however, have performed with astounding courage. Only moments ago their reserve was ordered forward from the shelter of St Mary’s Road. The faces of its men paled when they saw the dreadful wounds inflicted on hundreds of their countrymen, yet they haven’t flinched. Like their comrades, they will no doubt go where they are ordered, and die at one another’s side. The fighting prowess of the cluster of men holding these positions today is without parallel. When these infantrymen landed in Kingstown this morning they expected to be met with a rabble. They are anything but. The British here today may hate them, but they would do well to learn from them.
19.35hrs - There has been no let-up in Sackville Street. Its walls echo constantly to shots, booms and ricochets as the third evening of the rebellion sets in.
19.43hrs - The railway line, and the nearby water towers, are infested with rebel riflemen. Their sights are trained on Mount Street Bridge. The mill’s building is occupied by a large squad of men with similar intentions. At this point the Sherwood Foresters have decided that whatever it takes, they will take the bridge and the fortress that overlooks it. The entire area has fallen momentarily silent, but is not expected to stay that way.
19.55hrs - Progress is being measured in bodies per-yard gained. It seems that the final showdown is in play. The battered and decimated remnants of two Sherwood Forester Battalions are gearing up to assault the Republican bastion.
A whistle has just blown. Men are charging. They are being cut down. The air is thick with the cracks of fire from behind the charging men to cover them, but it is useless. The house seems to be occupied by demons, with no regard for their own lives. Vicious fire is cutting into the charging men from their front and their right. Men are again falling in piles. The ground is so wet with blood that the charging men are slipping and falling. They rise again only to fall again, crumpling like sacks under the weight of lead that tears at their bodies. Volley after volley is ripping into the hapless infantrymen. Their officers are being mown down. They attack has failed. They retreat.
20.10hrs - The Vickers Machine Gun is firing non-stop at Clanwilliam House from St Mary’s Church. Incendiary bullets are smashing into the building on several floors. Surely the position cannot hold out for much longer.
20.10hrs - Mount Street Bridge in British hands. The British are across. One of their few unwounded officers has succeeded in reaching Clanwilliam House’s outer walls.
The noise is shattering. Bullets are whining through the air by the hundred. Men are still falling. Smoke is coming from the house’s windows. Scores of sparks are flying from the granite bridge walls and the wrought iron railings of the house.
Volley after volley is being sent at the troops from the railway line and water towers close to Boland’s Bakery, but the tide of khaki streaming across the bridge will not now be stopped. Grenades are being hurled at the windows from which the rebels have been driven from.
20.17hrs - The killing continues. A British NCO has just been killed by his own hand grenade. Having assailed the railings of Clanwilliam House, he hurled the bomb at the second floor window, only for it to bounce back and explode next to his head.
Nevertheless infantrymen appear to be gaining entry into the building. The fire is incessant. Smoke is now beginning to bellow from its windows - this has to end soon.
20.25hrs - Troops screaming for revenge are streaming across Mount Street Bridge. Clanwilliam House is in flames.
20.32hrs - Clanwilliam House has fallen. The building that has for several dreadful hours, helped to heap unimaginable carnage upon two British infantry battalions is in flames. It is unclear as to whether or not anyone has escaped. A number of dead men are inside but their precise number is unknown. The area is beginning to quieten. Only sporadic shots fly through the air as evening draws in. It appears that the insurgents on the railway line and in nearby Robert’s Yard are aware of the position’s capitulation. They may wish to conserve their ammunition, as it now seems that an imminent attack may be coming their way.
21.25hrs - Clanwilliam House an inferno - British taking stock. Clanwilliam House is now a raging inferno. Meanwhile the 300-yard stretch of road between the canal and just beyond Northumberland Road’s junction with Haddington Road is like a scene from Dante’s Inferno.
As the many local residents dare to venture from their homes they are beyond shock at what has unfolded in their normally idyllic suburban streets.
Their shock however, pales in comparison to that of the British Army, now picking up the pieces from what has unfolded here today.
As the wounded are treated and the dead are removed from the streets the shattered men still standing seem to be wondering what other unimaginable horrors await them in this unfamiliar city. The continuous cracks of small arms in the distance suggest that similarly horrific experiences await them. If all of the rebels they have been summoned to kill or capture fight like this then what will become of them?
Just who are these rebels? What makes them fight the way they do?
We’ve got our hands on a photograph of the man who held the vanguard of C Company, 3rd Battalion Irish Volunteers, and died after defending a position against unimaginable odds for six hours. His name was Michael Malone and he was twenty-seven years old. He is currently being buried in the garden of the house he fought so hard to defend; number 25 Northumberland Road.
This man looks quite normal, respectable even. His is the face of a skilled carpenter, not a cold-blooded killer, and yet the carnage he has unleashed on the ranks of raw recruits will not be forgotten for a long time.
The defence of the positions adopted by this man’s comrades was tactically brilliant, and their determination and tenacity unprecedented. If the British Army could boast of having men such as this filling its ranks then surely the trenches in France and Belgium would now be empty, and the men at the front long since returned to their families.
The area is far from secure however, and despite the joyous praise being heaped upon Colonel Machonchy by the locals for saving them from the insurgents, these men will have to fight again, and very soon.
Approx. 234 men from two Battalions, numbering approximately 1,600 between them, have become casualties at the hands a mere handful of rebels.
22.03hrs - As darkness descends on Sackville Street snipers wait at the ready.
22.05hrs - As they do elsewhere in the city. Boland’s is under constant attack.
Zeppelin Raids
LZ.97, commanded by Hauptmann Erich Linnarz, came inland over West Mersea at about 10.00pm and followed a westward course as far as Fyfield where she turned south. At 10.50pm she began dropping the first of 47 incendiary bombs between there and Onger (11 around Fyfield, 15 at Shelley, 17 at High Ongar and 4 at Chipping Ongar). Five of them failed to ignite and the only damage recorded was to a shed at Ongar. From there Linnarz continued towards east London. At Barkingside he dropped a line of 12 HE bombs: six at Fairlop, three at Barkingside and three at Aldborough Hatch (only one of these three detonated, destroying a well). Near Fairlop station six railway cottages had their windows smashed and doors blown in. Three other cottages nearby were also damaged. It is possible Linnarz released these bombs to climb rapidly as he was now coming under increasing AA fire. LZ.97 then dropped another HE bomb harmlessly at Newbury Park, but as he approached Seven Kings, the AA fire became heavier and two aircraft attempted to engage at long range; at least one used the new Brock incendiary/explosive bullets. With the odds increasing against her, LZ.97 turned away from London and headed north-east, dropping two HE bombs at Chadwell Heath. One landed in a field smashing some cottage windows but the other destroyed a house in Farm Terrace. The owner, Mr. Chapman, and his family were outside watching the raid! LZ.97, under fire from guns at Brentwood, Kelvedon Hatch and Billericay, now set course for home, going out to sea at Clacton at 12.34am. Shells fired by the AA guns caused slight damage to 16 houses and Fred Berris of Pelham Road, Ilford, suffered a shoulder injury caused by dislodged debris after an unexploded shell struck his roof.
The second Zeppelin to come inland, LZ.93 commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Schramm, appeared at the mouth of the River Orwell at about 10.30pm. She dropped what a report describes as two ‘water flares’ in the sea which may have been incendiary bombs, then a HE landed without causing damage on the common to the north of Landguard Fort at Felixstowe. Three more incendiaries quickly followed, all falling in the mud of the estuary with one landing close to the RNAS aircraft hangers. Six AA guns now opened on LZ.93 from Felixstowe and Harwich as she crossed the estuary to Harwich and dropped two HE bombs within 20-30 yards of Government House, St. Helen’s Green. Both failed to detonate. Schramm then steered north over the mouth of the River Stour to Shotley, dropping three HE and four incendiary bombs close to the Royal Navy training base barracks (known as HMS Ganges), but only a little broken glass resulted. Another incendiary dropped in mud west of the barracks then LZ.93 turned back and retraced its route. Over Parkeston Quay a single HE bomb fell on reclaimed land between the station and the village, disappearing beneath the earth and mud. Flying over Harwich another four of the ‘water flares’ fell in the river as LZ.93 approached the Landguard Fort again before she passed back out to sea at about 10.45pm having caused no casualties and been unaffected by the 195 rounds fired by the guns.
Attachment 194679
Hauptmann Erich Linnarz
Hauptmann Falck brought the last raider, LZ.88, inland at about 12.30am, crossing the coast near Whitstable, Kent. He switched her engines off at about 12.45 and drifted with the wind to Sturry, north-east of Canterbury, which he reached at 12.53am. Turning the motors back on Falck passed over Canterbury, then turned south-east towards Bridge before changing direction north-east towards Wingham, which he reached at 1.15am. LZ.88 released the first of her bombs five minutes later as she now followed a northerly course towards the village of Preston, dropping nine incendiaries that landed on open ground known as Preston Marshes that merely burnt some turf. Bearing to the north-east now and following the main Canterbury-Margate road, LZ.88 dropped 13 incendiary bombs at about 1.25am, of which two failed to ignite. Most fell harmlessly on Chislet Marshes with one at Sarre, all without causing any damage. Five minutes later, at St. Nicholas at Wade, Falck dropped a singe HE bomb which exploded in the garden of the vicarage. It destroyed duck and hen coops and uprooted two trees, one of which fell against the house smashing windows. Falck then continued on a course towards the coast at Birchington. He dropped four HE bombs on marshy ground between the vicarage and Shuart’s Farm, then another five between there and the railway line running to Margate. The last two bombs dropped on land by LZ.88 were incendiaries, one fell close to the railway and the other on the sea wall at Minnis Bay – neither caused damage – then she dropped three final HE bombs in the sea after crossing the coast at about 1.35am before heading home.
There were five airmen lost on this day....
Air Mechanic Charles Nailard Burstow No.2 Training Centre RFC - died of pneumonia aged just 19
Lieutenant John Milner 10 Squadron RFC - Killed in action on this day
2nd Lieutenant James Mitchell 18 Squadron RFC - killed in action on this day
Sub Lieutenant Cecil Roy Terreneau RNAS Killed in aeroplane reconnaissance 26 April 1916
2nd Lieutenant Archibald Cecil Thouless RFC Killed in aerial combat while flying food to Kut 26 April 1916 aged 19
There were four pilots claiming aerial victories on this day:
Charles Eugene Jules Marie Nungesser claims his seventh kill and second in consecutive days
Hans Shuz grabs a brace on this day flying out in the Middle East one of which is probably 2nd Lieutenant Archibald Cecil Thouless (see above) doubling his overall tally to 4.
We also have two first timers....
Major Joseph Cruess Callaghan MC - who claimed his first kill by downing an Eindecker.
The son of Joseph Patrick and Croasdella Cruess-Callaghan, Joseph Cruess Callaghan served with the 7th Royal Munster Fusiliers before he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. 2nd Lieutenant Callaghan received Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 1829 on a Maurice Farman biplane at military school, Norwich on 4 October 1915. In 1916 he scored his first victory with an F.E.2b but was wounded in action on 31 July 1916. In January 1917, he became an aerial gunnery instructor at Turnberry where his aerial stunts earned him the nickname "Mad Major." In April 1918, he returned to combat as a Sopwith Dolphin pilot and commanding officer of 87 Squadron. By the end of June, he'd scored four more victories to become an ace. On 2 July 1918, Callaghan single-handedly attacked a group of as many as 25 German fighters. He was killed when his Dolphin was shot down in flames by Franz Büchner of Jasta 13.
Attachment 194680
Major William John Charles Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick DSO MC claims his first by shooting down an LVG over Hazebrouck
The son of Sir Neil James Kennedy and Eleanora Agnes Cochran-Patrick, William John Charles Kennedy's name was legally changed to William John Charles Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick in 1900. He was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire; Tinity College, Cambridge; and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps on 11 June 1915. In December 1915, he was posted to No. 1 Aircraft Depot in France. Here he claimed his first victory flying a Nieuport scout. Flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter with 70 Squadron in September 1916, he scored his second and third victories but, on each occasion, his observer was killed. Promoted to Captain and posted to 23 Squadron in early 1917, he became his squadron's highest scoring ace and the highest scoring SPAD ace of the war, shooting down eighteen enemy aircraft in four months flying the SPAD VII. On 22 July 1917, he was promoted to Major and assumed command of 60 Squadron. Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick left the Royal Air Force in 1919.
Post-war he was an aerial surveyor in South America, Burma, Africa and Iraq. Flying a DH.84 Dragon, Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick, founder of The Aircraft Operating Company of South Africa, took off from Baragwanath Airport near Johannesburg on 26 September 1933. Following a steep turn after takeoff, the plane stalled and fell to the ground from a height of 250 feet. Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick and his passenger, Sir Michael Oppenheimer, were killed.
Attachment 194681
Sea War
Irish Sea: British gunboat Helga destroys Liberty Hall, Dublin during Easter Rising.
Attachment 194682
O’Connell Street with the destroyed Liberty Hall in Dublin after the British bombardment. The Irish rebels imagined first the British would not shell their own property. They were wrong....
Middle East
Mesopotamia, Kut: After Kitchener cable authorizes talks, Townshend letter asks for 6-day armistice and 10 days food while surrender agreed. Garrison starts destroying anything of value.
Air War
Eastern Front: Zeppelin SL7 raids Dünamunde (Wenden on April 28) and German planes Dvinsk (Zeppelin LZ86 raids its railways on April 28 and Rieshiza on April 27).
Politics
Sykes-Picot Agreements for Franco-Russian partition of Asia Minor
Germany: Anglo-German PoW exchange via Switzerland signed in Berlin (signed in London on May 13).
Apologies for the size of today's bumper edition but the Easter Rising piece was too good to abbreviate or omit.
No apologies needed, Chris. I have not studied anything about the uprising before, and this makes for thoughtful reading.
On the continued subject of the Zeppelin raids: did the Germans ever train their captains and crews on how to bomb targets?
They don't seem to have managed any real hits on anything most of the time. I know it wasn't easy, esp. at night, but really now. :hmm:
Karl
I think that from the height they were flying it was hard to target anything, even when they found the correct town/city.
In Ian Castles book is a plan of what was actually hit in London. Mostly Civilian areas.
Rob.
Thanks Rob and welcome back
Another lengthy one today as the Easter Rising fighting continues unabated, we also see the loss of several airmen and the sinking of a battleship - read on
Attachment 194713
April 27th 1916
The Easter Rising: Another hour by hour account of the day....
08.40hrs - The sound of overnight digging in Fairbrother’s Field at the back of the South Dublin Union has revealed scores of slit trenches. British soldiers from mixed battalions have now opened fire on the Marrowbone Lane Distillery from its west. The Republican sharpshooters are returning fire. An attack in force to clear the rebels from this thorn in the British side seems to be building.
10.00hrs - Apparently Commandant McDonagh has received word that the Volunteers of the 3rd Battalion holding Westland Row train station are hard pressed. Accordingly it appears that a sortie by bicycle from Jacob’s factory has been organised to relieve the pressure and deliver much needed ammunition. Twenty men have just sped away towards Stephen’s Green on bicycles; each man carrying a rifle and revolver.
10.35 hrs - Marrowbone Lane Distillery under infantry attack. An attack in force has just been repulsed from the western flank of Marrowbone Lane Distillery. Earlier this morning several platoons assaulted the position from its west. There was heavy firing as covering fire was laid down to cover the assault. The covering fire seemed to serve its purpose, as the rebels struggled to reply in kind. When the troops reached the outer wall of the distillery, however, they were met with a barrage of home-made bombs which were hurled over the wall. Forced to retreat momentarily they then came under fire from the distillery windows, eventually being forced back. The attack has since been called off.
10.30hrs - The bicycle patrol from Jacob’s to Westland Row has been met with a hail of lead from the Staffordshire battalions positioned around Merrion Square. They are retreating under fire. Westland Row’s detachment of rebels will have to seek support from elsewhere.
10.45hrs - The bicycle patrol has made Stephen’s Green on their way back to Jacob’s. A machine gun has opened up. One man has been hit – his comrades have come to a halt, firing back at the source of fire. Their comrades from the Citizen Army in the Royal College of Surgeons are also firing in support. The noise in the green once again is deafening.
11.35hrs - British artillery blasting Sackville Street. British 18-pound field artillery is blasting the block of buildings between Lower Abbey Street and Eden Quay with both high explosive and shrapnel shells. The noise is deafening. Machine gun and rifle fire is constant. To set foot on open ground is to invite a bullet.
11.45hrs - A report just in from the Boland’s Bakery / Mills area. Several British probing attacks have been repulsed along the railway line by Volunteers under the command of Captain Joe O’Connor. The South Staffordshire Regiment has relieved the Sherwood Foresters and their snipers are making the Volunteers’ lives very difficult. An assault on the railway workshops was repulsed when rebels launched a desperate bayonet charge. Artillery has also been used in the area.
13.15hrs - Unrelenting sniper fire is being aimed at the Four Courts. A Vickers gun has been placed on the roof of Jervis Street Hospital. Its sights are being trained on the huge dome on the roof to the deafening background noise of increasingly intense shellfire. The British appear to be planning something big, but for now information is scant.
15.02hrs - Assault repulsed in Sackville Street – huge casualties. A short time ago, an assault was attempted from Lower Abbey Street into Sackville Street by the Ulster Composite Battalion. It has ended in failure. The entire block between Lower Abbey Street and Eden Quay is ablaze. The infantrymen emerged from the burning street, and attempted to cross Sackville Street through a burning section of barricade. It appears that their enemies allowed them to traverse the barricade, holding their fire until they were within full view before unleashing a torrent of fire, which then drove the infantrymen back to the narrow point at the barricade, desperate to seek cover. At this point the rebels might as well have been shooting fish in a barrel. The Ulstermen were desperate to escape, but were decimated.
16.35hrs - Close quarter combat in the South Dublin Union. Just a short time ago the headquarters of 4th Battalion Irish Volunteers came under a sustained attack by elements from the Sherwood Foresters’ and Royal Irish Regiment. The claustrophobic courtyards surrounding the Nurses’ Home, where the rebels have set up their HQ, are in complete chaos. The attacking troops have gone to ground, unable to penetrate their enemies’ fortified building. Machine gun fire is belching from the Royal Hospital in support of the attack, but it looks like it might not be enough to dislodge the tenacious Volunteers.
16.42hrs - Capel St Bridge stormed by Sherwood Foresters – rebel forces cut in two. For the Sherwood Foresters in Dublin city, necessity has become the mother of invention. It appears that the lessons learned from the slaughter at Mount Street Bridge yesterday have not been wasted on their sister battalion, the 2/6th. Sensing a deluge of enemy fire from the Four Courts two armoured cars were brought forward. Having been assembled in Inchicore Railway Works by coach-building teams, these improvised armoured vehicles can each fit 19 men and transport them in relative safety. As the assault across the bridge progressed each vehicle was loaded with infantry. They then leapfrogged from position to position, clearing buildings which stood in their way, before they were followed by infantrymen on foot, who then came under ferocious fire from the Courts. Machine guns now fire incessantly in the area. Many civilians have been turfed out of their homes by the infantrymen, who are taking no chances when securing the buildings they seek to occupy.
18.40hrs - The destruction of Sackville Street is under way. Buildings are being blown to pieces. The destruction seems almost systematic. The brief shrieks of incoming shells are followed by ear-shattering bursts, flying metal, concrete and glass.
Attachment 194708
20.06hrs - Capel Street has been secured. It is under British control. A wedge has been driven between the Volunteer Headquarters in the GPO, and their 1st Battalion in the Four Courts.
20.25hrs - Rebel leader James Connolly now a casualty. The Commandant General of the Republican forces has been wounded, possibly more than once, but details are sketchy. Buildings in imminent danger of collapse. Alerted by a runner to the recent British capture of Capel Street, the rebel commander was supervising the positioning of some Volunteer sections in Abbey Street and Princes Street. It is here, in the latter, that he was wounded. As he crawled towards the sanctuary of his HQ, some men rushed to his aid and carried him inside the building. According to a source inside he is being treated by a captured British Army doctor, and appears to be in good spirits. Meanwhile Sackville Street is being pulverised. Rebels will soon need to evacuate the Imperial Hotel and Clery’s Department Store as the entire block appears in imminent danger of collapsing.
21.10hrs - Dramatic rescue of trapped lancers. As soon as the Sherwood Foresters had secured Capel Street a mission was launched to rescue the beleaguered lancers who had been trapped in the Medical Mission next to the Four Courts since Easter Monday. An armoured truck, fresh from having transported troops across Capel Street Bridge under fierce fire, lumbered its way through Charles Street backed up by supporting fire from an accompanying platoon. The truck came under a deluge of fire, but succeeded in its mission. Surrounding rebels subjected the vehicle to a hailstorm of bullets.
21.50hrs - Dublin’s heart is being torn out in Sackville Street. Hoytes Oil Works opposite the GPO has caught fire. It now resembles a blast furnace. Oil drums are exploding, sending many others flying through the air. These in turn are blowing up as they land or while still airborne, spraying the surrounding buildings with more of the scorching fluid. The seemingly insatiable fires on Lower Sackville Street have now begun to spread as far as North Earl Street and are threatening to completely engulf the Imperial Hotel. The back of the building is burning fiercely and its hard-pressed rebel occupants will soon be forced to evacuate.
22.30hrs - The net is closing in. As midnight approaches the Volunteers from Kelly’s Fort have retreated from the ruins of their vantage point overlooking O’Connell Bridge, and together with rebels from some of the surrounding smaller outposts, including those on Henry Street, are filtering into the GPO. As they hurry inside, they are being greeted with scenes of panic and chaos.
Their headquarters is under a sustained artillery assault and is now in serious peril. Volunteers all around them are rushing to its huge basement carrying home-made canister bombs, seeking shelter from the rain of sparks and oily flames now cascading through the numerous holes in its roof. Luckily for all inside the wind recently picked up and changed direction, averting a potential disaster and allowing a brief collective sigh of relief from the torrential shower of burning embers. This relief has been short-lived, however, as just across the road the end beckons for their positions in Clery’s and the Imperial Hotel. The interiors of both buildings are burning with such intense heat that the pavement outside is being showered with molten glass. This will be a long and exhausting night, no respite will be allowed as the machine guns blaze relentlessly away and the artillery lends its deafening support. The net is closing in.
On a bad day for the RFC/RNAS there were SIX airmen lost:
Five of the six were all associated with the Killingholme air station and HMS Killingholme
Flight Sub Lieutenant Andre John Boddy RNAS Killingholme Naval Air Station. Killed in Action 27 April 1916 aged 24, with Flt. Sub Lieut. D G Broad in Sopwith Baby 8147, action against submarine in North Sea. Machine Wrecked
Flight Sub Lieutenant Dennis Gurney Broad RNAS Killingholme Naval Air Station. Killed in Action 27 April 1916 with Flt. Sub Lieut. A. J. Boddy in Sopwith Baby 8147, action against submarine in North Sea. Machine Wrecked, he was aged 32
Attachment 194709
Petty Officer Mechanic Herbert Arthur Cheston H.M.S. 'Killingholme' Killed in Action 27 April 1916 aged 27, when H.M.S. 'Killingholme' struck a mine in the North Sea.
LM Frank Day H.M.S. 'Killingholme' Killed in Action 27 April 1916 aged 27, when H.M.S. 'Killingholme' struck a mine in the North Sea.
Signaller Henry Alfred English H.M.S. 'Killingholme' Killed in Action 27 April 1916 aged 27, when H.M.S. 'Killingholme' struck a mine in the North Sea.
HMS Killingholme (1916)
This the only ship to carry the name HMS Killingholme was a seaplane carrying paddle steamer. Originally a double-ended paddle steamer built for the Great Central Railway's Humber River ferry service. Requisitioned for the Royal Navy 21-Feb-1916 to carry two or three floatplanes for coastal anti-airship patrols and based at Killingholme. Displaced 508 tons, 195 ft x 31ft 6in x 8ft 7in, powered 2 x compound engines through 2 x paddlewheels. The attempts at intercepting airships were not successful and she was returned to her owners 21-Apr-1917.
Corporal Edmund Wilson RFC Reserve Aircraft Park Died of accidental injuries 27 April 1916 aged 19
There were two first time claimants for aerial victories on this day:
Major Reginald Stuart "George" Maxwell MC DFC: Who shot down an Aviatik over Herlies
Reginald Stuart Maxwell was the son of John A. Maxwell (from Penzance, Cornwall) and Nellie Maxwell (from Plymouth, Devon). The family residence, in 1901, was Willesden. His DFC citation reads as follows...Maj. Reginald Stuart Maxwell, M.C. (FRANCE) On 16th November, on a low bombing raid against a railway station, this officer led his whole squadron to within 100 feet over the objective, thus enabling them to drop their bombs with the greatest possible effect on the trains, transport, etc., in the station. After dropping these bombs he led the formation against troops, etc., crowded on a main road, causing great confusion and inflicting heavy casualties. His magnificent example inspires all who serve in his squadron.
On 22 September 1914 Maxwell was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the 8th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, but on 25 January 1915 he was seconded as a lieutenant for service with the 21st Divisional Cyclist Company. On 10 June his unit became part of the Army Cyclist Corps, Maxwell transferred the Royal Flying Corps. He was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 1375 after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military School at Farnborough Aerodrome on 30 June 1915, and was appointed a flying officer on 11 September.[6] He was then assigned to No. 25 Squadron flying the "pusher" FE.2b.
Attachment 194710
He scored his first aerial victory on 27 April 1916, forcing a German Aviatik two-seater reconnaissance aircraft to land at Herlies. He then transferred to No. 20 Squadron, and still using a FE.2b, scored three more times; for two of those wins, he had future aces riding as his observers, in Herbert Hamilton and David Stewart. He was also appointed a flight commander, effective 11 May 1916, with a concomitant temporary promotion to captain. On 18 December 1916 Maxwell was appointed a squadron commander with the temporary rank of major, and on 1 January 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross in the New Years Honours. Maxwell would return to aerial combat when he was assigned to No. 54 Squadron, flying the Sopwith Camel. On 18 January 1918, he used this single-seat fighter aircraft to destroy an Albatros D.V and finally become an ace. He flew a Camel for four more wins scattered throughout 1918, with his ninth and final victory coming just two days before war's end. His final tally for the war was five enemy aircraft destroyed, three driven down out of control, and one forced to land.
Sous Lieutenant Marcel P. Viallet shot down an Eindecker over Bois de Caures.
Wounded in action while serving in the cavalry, Viallet requested a transfer to aviation in 1915. Receiving a Pilot's Brevet later that year, he was posted to Escadrille C53 as a two-seater pilot. After downing one aircraft and accumulating 376 hours of flight time, he was reassigned to Escadrille N67 in June 1916. Flying single-seat fighters, Viallet scored 8 more victories by the end of the year.
Attachment 194711
Western Front
Artois: German gas attacks (until April 29) south of Hulluch against British 15th and 16th Divisions of First Army. British trench raid near Double Crassier (Loos) following day.
The Battle of Hulluch begins lasting three days, involving the 16th (Irish) Division of the British Army’s 19th Corps. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on this night suffer a heavily-concentrated German chlorine gas attack near the German-held village of Hulluch, a mile north of Loos. The Germans begin the attack by first releasing smoke, followed by the gas 1½ hours later. This subterfuge causes the British Army troops to dispense with their Phenate-Hexamine Goggle helmets after the smoke is released, resulting in heavy casualties during the actual attack. Other units of the 16th Division, including the Royal Irish Rifles, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and The Royal Dublin Fusiliers are called on to stem the German attack.
Attachment 194714
The Gas Attacks at Hulluch were two German cloud gas attacks on British troops during World War I, from 27–29 April 1916, near the village of Hulluch, 1-mile (1.6 km) north of Loos in northern France. The gas attacks were part of an engagement between divisions of the II Bavarian Corps and divisions of the British I Corps.
Just before dawn on 27 April, the 16th Division and part of the 15th Division were subjected to a cloud gas attack near Hulluch. The gas cloud and artillery bombardment were followed by raiding parties, which made temporary lodgements in the British lines. Two days later the Germans began another gas attack but the wind turned and blew the gas back over the German lines. A large number of German casualties were caused by the change in the wind direction and the decision to go ahead against protests by local officers, which were increased by British troops, who fired on German soldiers as they fled in the open.
The gas used by the German troops at Hulluch was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, which had first been used against British troops on 19 December 1915 at Wieltje, near Ypres. The German gas was of sufficient concentration to penetrate the British PH gas helmets and the 16th Division was unjustly blamed for poor gas discipline. It was put out that the gas helmets of the division were of inferior manufacture, to allay doubts as to the effectiveness of the helmet. Production of the Small Box Respirator, which had worked well during the attack, was accelerated.
First attack: 27 April
The German attack near Hulluch began on 27 April, with the release of smoke, followed by a mixture of chlorine and phosgene gas 1 1⁄2 hours later, from 3,800 cylinders, on the fronts of Bavarian Infantry Regiment 5 and Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 5.The discharge on the front of Bavarian Infantry Regiment 9 was cancelled, as the direction of the wind risked enveloping the 3rd Bavarian Division on the right flank, in the Hohenzollern Redoubt sector. At 5:00 a.m., German artillery began a high-explosive, shrapnel and trench-mortar bombardment, on the front of the 16th Division and the right flank of the 15th Division to the north, laid a barrage on communication trenches and fired lachrymatory shells into villages and British rear positions. At 5:10 a.m., gas and smoke clouds rose from the German trenches and moved towards the British trenches, blown by a south-easterly wind. The gas cloud was so thick at the beginning, that visibility was reduced to 2–3 yards (1.8–2.7 m); wearing gas helmets was necessary 3.5 miles (5.6 km) behind the front line and the smell was noticed 15 miles (24 km) away.
Three German mines were exploded at 5:55 a.m., another artillery bombardment was fired and a second gas cloud was discharged. Several raiding parties of about 20 men each, followed the gas and three managed to get into the British trenches. One party entered the British front line at Chalk Pit Wood for about fifteen minutes, the second was quickly expelled from the lines north of Posen Alley, then caught by Lewis-gun fire in no man's land. The third party got into the trenches on the right flank of the 15th Division, just north of the Vermelles–Hulluch road and was promptly bombed out; by 7:30 a.m. the raiding parties had withdrawn. At 5:10 a.m. on 27 April, a gas alert was raised in the 16th Division area and the divisional and corps artillery began a bombardment on the rear of the German lines, from whence the gas was being discharged. After thirty minutes, groups of German infantry about 20–30 strong, equipped with pistols and hand grenades, were seen heading for gaps in the British wire and were repulsed by rifle and machine-gun fire. At about 6:00 a.m., the three mines were sprung and another bombardment was fired, before sending another gas cloud, which caused many casualties to a Black Watch company, whose commander had ordered them to remove their gas helmets after the first gas cloud, under the impression that the helmets were useless after one exposure to gas. Behind the second gas cloud, larger parties of German infantry advanced and managed to get into the British trenches for brief periods at three points. At Chalk Pit Wood the British had a howitzer, which had been brought up in September 1915, to fire in support of an attack on Hulluch. Since the "Lone How" was only 40 yards (37 m) behind the British front line, orders had been given to destroy it, in the event of a German raid and a demolition charge had been left on the gun with a lit fuze.
Middle East
Mesopotamia, Kut: *Townshend – together with Lawrence and Aubrey Herbert – meets Khalil Pasha aboard launch. Former suggests £1 million gold ransom, latter says ‘Your gallant troops will be our most sincere and precious guests’.
African Fronts
Uganda: British frontier and Lake Victoria demonstrations to cover Belgian advance, which starts on April 29.
Sea War
Mediterranean: British battleship Russell (124 crew lost) sunk by German new U73 mine off Malta, field of 22 also sinks a sloop, armed yacht (April 28) and a trawler.
HMS Russell was a Duncan-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.
Attachment 194712
HMS Russell was laid down by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Jarrow on 11 March 1899 and launched on 19 February 1902. She arrived at Sheerness later the same month and went to Chatham Dockyard for steam and gun-mounting trials. Construction of Russell was completed in February 1903. Russell and her five sisters of the Duncan class were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes, including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme; they were designed as smaller, more lightly armoured, and faster versions of the preceding Formidable class. As it turned out, the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared, and the Duncans proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed, firepower, and protection.Armour layout was similar to that of London, with reduced thickness in the barbettes and belt
The Duncans had machinery of 3,000 indicated horsepower (2,200 kW) more than the Formidables and London's and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. They also had a modified hull form to improve speed. The ships had a reputation as good steamers, with a designed speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) and an operational speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), good steering at all speeds, and an easy roll. They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed, and the fastest pre dreadnoughts ever built other than the Swiftsure class Swiftsure and Triumph. They had the same armament as and a smaller displacement than the Formidables and London's. Like all pre dreadnoughts, Russell was outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906, but she nonetheless continued to perform front-line duties up through the early part of World War I.
When World War I began in August 1914, plans originally called for Russell and battleships Agamemnon, Albemarle, Cornwallis, Duncan, Exmouth, and Vengeance to combine in the 6th Battle Squadron and serve in the Channel Fleet, where the squadron was to patrol the English Channel and cover the movement of the British Expeditionary Force to France. However, plans also existed for the 6th Battle Squadron to be assigned to the Grand Fleet, and, when the war began, the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, requested that Russell and her four surviving sister ships of the Duncan class (Albemarle, Cornwallis, Duncan, and Exmouth) be assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet for patrol duties to make up for the Grand Fleet's shortage of cruisers. Accordingly, the 6th Battle Squadron was abolished temporarily, and Russell joined the 3rd Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow on 8 August 1914. She worked with Grand Fleet cruisers on the Northern Patrol. Russell and her four Duncan-class sisters, as well as the battleships of the King Edward VII class, temporarily were transferred to the Channel Fleet on 2 November 1914 to reinforce that fleet in the face of German Navy activity in the Channel Fleet's area. On 13 November 1914, the King Edward VII-class ships returned to the Grand Fleet, but Albemarle and the other Duncans stayed in the Channel Fleet, where they reconstituted the 6th Battle Squadron on 14 November 1914, with Russell serving as the squadron's flagship. This squadron was given a mission of bombarding German submarine bases on the coast of Belgium, and was based at Portland, although it transferred to Dover immediately on 14 November 1914. However, due a lack of antisubmarine defences at Dover, the squadron returned to Portland on 19 November 1914. Russell participated in the bombardment of German submarine facilities at Zeebrugge on 23 November 1914.The 6th Battle Squadron returned to Dover in December 1914, then transferred to Sheerness on 30 December 1914 to relieve the 5th Battle Squadron there in guarding against a German invasion of the United Kingdom.
Between January and May 1915, the 6th Battle Squadron was dispersed. Russell left the squadron in April 1915 and rejoined the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet at Rosyth. She underwent a refit at Belfast in October–November 1915. On 6 November 1915, a division of the 3rd Battle Squadron consisting of battleships Hibernia (the flagship), Zealandia, Albemarle, and Russell was detached from the Grand Fleet to reinforce the British Dardanelles Squadron in the Dardanelles Campaign at the Gallipoli Peninsula. Albemarle had to turn back almost immediately due to heavy weather damage, but the other ships continued to the Mediterranean, where Russell took up her duties at the Dardanelles in December 1915, based at Mudros with Hibernia and held back in support. Her only action in the campaign was her participation in the evacuation of Cape Helles from 7 January 1916 to 9 January 1916, and she was the last battleship of the British Dardanelles Squadron to leave the area. She relieved Hibernia as Divisional Flagship, Rear Admiral, in January 1916. After the conclusion of the Dardanelles campaign, Russell stayed on in the eastern Mediterranean.
Russell was steaming off Malta early on the morning of 27 April 1916 when she struck two naval mines that had been laid by the German submarine U-73. A fire broke out in the after part of the ship and the order to abandon ship was passed; after an explosion near the after 12-inch (305 mm) turret, she took on a dangerous list. However, she sank slowly, allowing most of her crew to escape. A total of 27 officers and 98 ratings were lost. John H. D. Cunningham served aboard her at the time and survived her sinking; he would one day become First Sea Lord.
North Sea: UC5 (Mohrbutter) captured by destroyer Firedrake while stranded on Shipwash Shoal, towed into Harwich.
Air War
Western Front: 16 Anglo-German air combats. Royal Flying Corps aircraft and balloons range 72 artillery targets (65 on April 28, 49 on April 29).
Politics
Turkey: War Minister announces Turkey replaces Italy in Triple Alliance.
France: Allied Paris Commer*cial conference.
And yet another duplication?
I think it has something to do with the post auto saving - as it can take 45 mins to an hour to pull everything together I think it autosaves at some point, so when you actually do save it you end up with a repeat posting... maybe I should type faster
Attachment 194788
April 28th 1916
The Easter Rising Cont. - another hour by hour account of the struggle...
07.55hrs - Sackville Street being blown to pieces. The centre of Dublin is unrecognisable this morning. Rubble is strewn everywhere. Burnt-out cars, trams, dead horses, human bodies, all matter of carnage fills the capital’s streets. British 18-pounders are booming once again. The rebel HQ is completely surrounded.
09.05hrs - As soon as the sun rose this morning the machine guns and sniper rifles returned to work. Throughout the night, armoured cars have been scouting around Jacob’s factory’s positions. With the sound of heavy fighting and artillery, and word coming down from the factory’s towers of huge fires on the north side of the city, the men of Jacob’s garrison must fear that it will not be long before their own position is assaulted by the enemy.
10.12hrs - South Staffordshires are on the march. Huge numbers of troops from the regiment have crossed the Liffey at Butt Bridge, before marching on to Gardiner Street, and making their way towards Bolton Street. The college there is thronged with hungry and increasingly desperate refugees from the growing chaos. All along Talbot Street and Lower Gardiner Street, a cordon of snipers is covering their march from the rooftops. The length of this narrow street is under fire from the GPO. The troops are dashing across its junction of Gardiner Street in small rushes, with their comrades shooting at the rebel HQ to cover them. Earlier this morning a massacre of a dozen or so insurgents who had been captured, along with another dozen civilians, was prevented at the last minute by a British major. The men are now detained in the Custom House. The tension throughout the entire area is terrifying.
11.05hrs - The 4th Battalion Volunteers in Marrowbone Lane Distillery strained their eyes earlier as their gun-sights fell upon numerous khaki uniforms in the distance at the far end of Fairbrothers Field in Rialto.
Their fingers released their grips on their triggers, however, when they realised what they were doing. Dead enemy soldiers are being placed in shallow graves by burial parties. Rialto is deathly quiet. The snipers seem to be momentarily paying their respects.
11.12hrs - In Stephen’s Green meanwhile the Citizen Army is famished. They wait, and wait. Snipers and machine gunners wait nearby for an opportunity. Any movement in the open is met with the crack of a rifle or a burst of automatic fire.The Shelbourne Hotel is a mess. Its facade now displays bizarre patterns of bullet holes painting an uncharacteristic picture next to its many broken windows. Inside its walls and floors are splattered with blood, and littered with spent shell-casings. The park keeper has returned several times. The ducks will not go hungry in this battle. That particular displeasure seems reserved for its combatants.
11.18hrs - Boland’s Bakery is still holding out, along with the College of Surgeons, Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, South Dublin Union and the Four Courts. The GPO is under enormous pressure, however. The British artillery is unrelenting in its destruction.
In the bakery nerves are also strained. One man, Volunteer Peadar Macken, fell victim to friendly fire during the night, as shattered men fell victim to their over-strained senses. As with elsewhere in the city, snipers wait to pounce at every opportunity.
12.15hrs - Ambush in Henry Street. A detachment from the 2/6th Sherwood Foresters Regiment has been ambushed as they approached the GPO from its rear. The rebels manning buildings on Henry Street waited until they were at point-blank range before opening fire. The infantrymen have retreated in disarray.
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13.29hrs - Morale very high among Volunteers 4th Battalion. Commandant Eamonn Ceannt’s men have regrouped since yesterday’s ferocious battle. The nurse’s home, bake-house and boardroom are being reinforced. Vice-Commandant Cathal Brugha was seriously wounded yesterday, and is not expected to survive. 4th Battalion’s morale however appears very high.
14.10hrs - North King Street the scene of vicious fighting. A short time ago, the 2/6th South Staffordshire’s, operating from their headquarters in Bolton Street, took up forward positions on the corner of North King Street and Bolton Street. From here they launched a probing attack in North King Street. As the infantrymen marched to their west a terrific barrage was opened up on them from Langan’s Pub. This was then quickly followed by a frontal barrage from the Volunteers in their position further back in Reilly’s Pub, situated on Upper Church Street’s junction. The soldiers reeled into the side streets seeking cover, but appear to have run straight into an ambush. The survivors are now scrambling back to Bolton Street.
14.35hrs - Sackville Street is an inferno of fire and destruction. The Metropole Hotel is under constant artillery fire, as is the GPO. The entire length of Sackville Street from North Earl Street to the River Liffey is in flames. The Republican Headquarters cannot absorb much more of the incessant shelling. There has been no word of Commandant Connolly’s condition since last night.
14.45hrs - The Volunteer positions in Moore’s Coachworks and Clarke’s Diary situated at the junction of North Brunswick Street and Upper Church Street are involved in a heavy sniper battle with the British soldiers positioned in Broadstone Railway Terminus and the King’s Inn buildings. Casualties have been suffered by both sides.
15.00hrs - Another attack repulsed in North King Street. Another charge has just been launched by two platoons of the South Staffordshires along North King Street under the cover of Machine guns. Langan’s pub came under heavy attack, but the rebel position appears to have held. Reilly’s Pub and Volunteer positions in the Malthouse tower in Beresford Street took up the fight, as did Monk’s Bakery. The attack began to falter, but bolstered by reinforcements, the South Staffordshires were determined to press home the assault against Langan’s. The concentrated fire, however, forced them to retreat. There was no let-up in rifle fire from the Volunteers as the soldiers retreated. It appears that every inch of ground in North King Street will be fought for. Wounded men are strewn along the road and pavements, and throughout the warrens of nearby side streets.
15.15hrs - Relentless fighting in North King Street. Reilly’s Pub has come under ferocious machine gun fire after apparently having been singled out as the main threat to another British attack along North King Street. But the volunteers are returning fire and the British are falling back again. They regroup and charge again, but are unable to get past the barricade straddling the road at Langan’s. Rifle fire is coming from every direction and is causing many additional casualties. Once again the British troops are falling back to their jump off point.
15.40hrs - British military barricading city positions. The British, in the form of the Royal Irish Rifles and Sherwood Foresters, are building a large barricade across the width of Moore Street. Several machine guns are being deployed in the area.
Intense gunfire was heard earlier just to the west of here for a time, but it has now been replaced with the titanic death knell of the artillery once again in Sackville Street and now in Henry Street. Several other barricades are under construction. It seems the military have learned a great deal about street combat from the rebels, and are now putting that knowledge to use.
15.45hrs - The South Staffordshires have moved forward again, but in an attempt to outflank the Langan’s Pub position a section have taken to the rooftops and are working their way towards the Volunteer position. In doing this, however, they have not only exposed themselves to the Volunteers in Monk’s Bakery to their west and the malt-house tower to their south west, but also to rebels positioned on the Bridewell roof at the rear of the Four Courts. They are pressing forward under very heavy fire. They are throwing grenades at the barricade outside Langan’s, but the damage appears minimal. The barricade is holding. Now the soldiers begin their retreat from the rooftops. Nothing is working for the South Staffordshires on North King Street. The frustration is beginning to show. The faces of the attackers are now twisted with hatred.
16.15hrs - Volunteer reinforcements from the Four Courts are rapidly filtering into Reilly’s Fort, as it has been named recently, and the North Brunswick Street positions.
16.25hrs - The Rebellion Weather is holding, as is 1st Battalion around the Four Courts, but the pressure on the garrison is enormous, and incessant. Their number, however, has increased significantly since Easter Monday, and they are well armed and supplied.
16.46hrs - The unbridled ferocity of what was meted out to the South Staffordshires earlier can be measured by the screams and groans of their wounded men being treated by rebel nurses in Father Matthew Hall.
Young men from both sides in this struggle are now dying in adjoining beds, their differences long forgotten. The stench in the building is appalling.
17.04hrs - Two British Artillery pieces are blasting the Metropole and GPO without let up. They have been firing over open sights from D’Olier Street. Buildings are burning and collapsing. The block of buildings along Eden Quay is completely destroyed.
18.01hrs - Armoured car in North King Street. An armoured truck has been ferrying infantry into North King Street. The rebels in Langan’s Pub are firing with a level of intensity that matches that on Wednesday at Mount Street Bridge. It is as if the truck is a ferocious beast that must be slayed. It must be dreadful for the men inside. Its gears are grinding as it lunges forward, its driver doing his best to avoid the wounded and dead who lie on the street.
18.12hrs - Several patrols were launched earlier into Lisburn and Lurgan Street in an attempt to outflank Langan’s Pub, but proved fruitless. The civilians are huddled in their homes, starving and utterly traumatised. The noise is terrifying.
18.17hrs - Just yards from the junction of Lurgan Street and North King Street the armoured truck had its sheet metal door kicked open from the inside. As the first infantryman jumped out he was shot before his feet even touched the ground. This is vicious.
18.24hrs - Huge section of GPO roof now collapsed on its southern side. Roughly 15 minutes ago a huge crash was followed by an avalanche of debris which spewed from the building’s windows. However, shooting is still coming from the northern section of the same building.
19.25hrs - Just minutes ago the armoured truck returned to North King Street, where it deposited another 19 terrified but hate-filled infantrymen. They are currently occupying the terraces of houses on the left hand side of the road facing Reilly’s Fort, at the centre of this picture. Shots are flying through the air as I write. The truck is scrambling away. Something seems to be wrong.
19.31hrs - The armoured truck has come to a halt in the middle of the junction Bolton Street and North King Street. Both its driver and co-driver have been shot and appear badly wounded.
19.39hrs - The GPO is in complete turmoil. Plans are being made for its evacuation. It would make sense militarily to postpone such a move until after dark, but the luxury of time is the last thing this position appears to possess. A patrol of roughly 30 men has just left. They appear to be heading for Moore Street. A man with a moustache in his early forties appears to be leading the forward section.
19.45hrs - The Four Courts’ west wing is under intense machine gun fire from the Smithfield area. A Volunteer officer has been shot in the chest inside the building, the bullet having ricocheted after it struck the elbow of his comrade. Witnesses reported that a priest attempted to give aid but it was hopeless for the man. It is impossible to even stand up in any of the west-facing rooms; such is the ferocity of the fire.
20.09hrs - Just inside the GPO, scores of utterly shattered men and women are awaiting news of the success of the patrol sent out roughly 20 minutes ago. The sound of intense machine gun and rifle fire coming from Moore Street doesn’t bode well for its success. A young captain has just appeared at the scene. As bullets struck the ground like hailstones at his feet he has made a dash to Henry Street’s junction with Moore Street. Looking beyond the shattered remains of the barricade he looks disturbed at the sight. He is now returning at speed, hugging the wall on the opposite side of the road for cover. He has returned with terrible news. He has just witnessed the last of the recent patrol’s men falling victim to the machine gunners. Whatever survivors there are have been forced back into Henry Place. The young captain’s name is Sean McLoughlin.
20.22hrs - The Metropole Hotel has collapsed into ruins. Lieutenant Oscar Traynor has just rushed into the GPO, having evacuated his men from the Metropole Hotel.
As he rushes inside his men are being given frantic orders. The entire building is in a state of total chaos. Men are charging about carrying canister bombs, others are praying as they run here and there. Some of the leaders look shell-shocked. Captain Sean McLoughlin has also returned to his men. Having been promoted by James Connolly yesterday he is clearly justifying his commandant’s decision to do so. He has ordered his men to positions covering the windows to the building’s north. At this point its walls are unbearably hot. Hoytes Oil Works just opposite is an inferno. The heat from there has rendered the walls here too hot to touch. Hoses perforated with bullet-holes are being used to douse them but the water is turning to steam.
Another huge crash has just sounded. Another cloud of dust and debris. The entire Metropole Hotel has collapsed.
20.37hrs - Desperation in Henry Street. The scene is barely describable. Following a rousing speech by Commandant Pearse, an exodus took place from the Post Office onto the fire-swept street. They sprinted in groups of two and three. As they left, the British gunners let loose on them. Firing came from east and west, shattering what few unbroken bricks remain in the buildings still standing. Men ran in panic for the shelter of Henry Place, while others ran further into Henry Street.
More Volunteers are leaving the GPO now, and making a mad dash for the laneway. It is becoming crowded, but apparently its far side is barred by machine gunners. Something will have to be done – and fast – but for now are caught like rats in a trap.
20.50hrs - Dramatic scenes. We are now in Henry Place with the Volunteers. Captain McLoughlin appears to have assumed full control of the GPO Volunteers. The situation here is drastic. More and more battered men are arriving in the laneway. The White House, a building facing Moore Lane, was minutes ago under such ferocious machine gun fire from its right along the length of Moore Lane, that the half-stupefied Volunteers assumed the building itself was an enemy machine gun nest. Captain McLoughlin then led a section inside to neutralise and secure the position but has since re-emerged. He and his men have now traversed the stream of fire still being directed at the building and appear to be seizing a truck of some kind. Captain Michael Collins meanwhile has entered the same building and his men are setting up firing positions, hoping to neutralise or at least reduce the threat from the Rotunda at the opposite end of the laneway.
20.50hrs - Beresford Street, where the wounded from earlier are still being brought to Father Matthew Hall. Rebel fire completely dominates this street. Any movement is lethal. Commandant Edward Daly has moved his Irish Volunteers 1st Battalion headquarters to the Four Courts. Things have quietened down somewhat in North King Street, for now.
21.00hrs - Captain McLoughlin’s Volunteers have managed to place a truck alongside the remainder of a barricade at this point, greatly diminishing the effect of the machine gunners firing from the Rotunda at the opposite end of the lane. Hundreds are passing this point, and entering Moore Street from its southern end at Henry Street. They have begun breaking into buildings. The civilians in the area are suffering terribly in the midst of this battle.
21.00hrs - Tension in Jacob’s Biscuit Factory. Inside a general alarm has been raised, all men rush to their positions, the attack is expected to come through the main gate. The barricade inside the gate teems with Volunteers, all with rifles pointed towards the gate. Some men pray. Others just stare at the gate with fingers on triggers, a sense of relief now that their time has come – the gate will be blown and the khaki will pour in, but they are ready. But now it appears to be a false alarm. Major John MacBride orders the men to stand down. Their frustration begins to grow again.
21.20hrs - Henry Place is thronged with men. They are tunnelling into the buildings on both sides at the end. Yet more are arriving from the GPO, which is in flames.
21.22hrs - Sackville Street; Britain’s second city is engulfed in flames.
21.25hrs - The growing darkness will be of little help to the Volunteers now moving en masse towards Moore Street. The street is lit up by the surrounding flames.
21.28hrs - Bullets are whipping the bricks from Moore Street’s walls, while behind the walls, rebels ‘mouse-hole’ from room to room, and from building to building. The pace of this is relentless. Explosions are thundering out from Henry Street. It appears the British are aware that hundreds of their enemy are exposed and they are zeroing in.
21.33hrs - The exhausted insurgents are making their way ever closer through the terraces of houses and flats. Three of their leaders have set up their temporary HQ in Cogan’s Shop, at the junction of Henry Place and Moore Street.
A barricade is being built across the laneway outside Cogan’s. With the flames from the burning GPO behind them however, casualties are inevitable, and are mounting. The British gunners are making the most of this.
21.40hrs - Moore Street is a fully-fledged battlefield. It is impossible to move on the street. Several wounded men from the earlier attack on the barricade are pinned down in doorways. The dead in the road are being shot again and again, while the dying are groaning and twitching in their efforts to save themselves. It appears that the Volunteers plan to tunnel as far as Hanlon’s Fish Shop at number 25 Moore Street. The pace of the rebels here is frenetic. They may be desperate, but they appear to have saved themselves from certain destruction and are now doing their best to regain the initiative.
21.50 hrs - THE GPO HAS COLLAPSED! Commandant Pearse was the last to leave the burning Post Office, accompanied by a section of men. Commandant Connolly was stretchered out earlier, flanked by a bodyguard of Volunteers. Machine gun and rifle bullets zipped through the air around Pearse’s section as they glanced back momentarily, to witness the terrible roar that heralded its interior collapsing into complete ruins. Only the external shell now remains of the landmark building. The flag pole on its roof which had proudly flown their tricolour is now on fire, while at the far end their other flag still flies its golden letters defiantly. The siege of the GPO has come to an end. The fight will continue on Moore Street.
21.55 hours - Several men are wounded nearby and the man who led the charge against the barricade appears to be in a bad way just inside Sackville Lane. Help is unavailable as any movement will draw the gun-sights of the enemy. Back in Cogan’s an emergency council of war has been held. Connolly is terribly wounded, Pearse and Plunkett are utterly exhausted. Neither Tom Clarke nor Sean McDermott are of military mind, so. a new Commandant has been appointed – 20-year-old Seán McLoughlin.
22.00hrs - The utter futility of war. The centre of Dublin now resembles the type of hell only previously witnessed by its inhabitants in black and white cinema newsreels of the fighting in faraway France and Belgium. Joseph Plunkett remarked earlier, with apparent pride, that Dublin was the first European city to burn since Moscow in 1812, a comment that would have probably been met with derision from the thousands of civilians being made homeless, and the hundreds of innocents being killed. His brief and apparently self-indulgent history lesson was wasted on those around him, however. They are too busy trying desperately to survive, as machine guns clatter incessantly, sending belt after belt of incendiary bullets whizzing through the half-darkness. Increasingly frequent shell-bursts continue to smash metal and concrete all around the half-panicked Volunteers and petrified civilians trapped in the battle zone, sending countless razor-like shards of molten hot shrapnel flying at flesh. Buildings are collapsing, filling the air with thick choking dust, while countless stray bullets ricochet through the smoky streets. The noxious fumes from the oil works on Sackville Street that now resemble a blast furnace fill the tortured evening air with a horrific stench, matched only in its power to repulse by the nauseating smell of burning human waste, and decaying flesh. At one point earlier in Moore Street, a three-legged dog, having been driven mad with the repeated cracks of gunfire and explosions, scampered across the street, and was unceremoniously mown down by the machine gun. It yelped in agony, its pointless death displaying to all the utter futility of war.
22.38hrs - The artillery has ceased. The machine gun fire has tapered away. Only sporadic shots now ring out. As the city burns, the Volunteer leaders have set up Headquarters in number 16 Moore Street. The rebels have dug themselves in and are posting sentries. Rest periods will be arranged in two-hour shifts. The men and women are beyond stupification, but not without hope. Elsewhere in the city the stalemate continues. Neither side seems able to gain any ground, but a showdown is building. The Volunteers in Moore Street seem set to make a breakout for either the Williams and Woods factory on Great Britain Street, or the Four Courts. Whatever option they select, the result will be bloody. The British seem content to contain each garrison, but really it is all they can hope to do with limited artillery support. They can’t seem to make any real ground against these Volunteers and Citizen Army without their field guns. Several have commented that the fighting here in Dublin has been worse at times than the trenches of the Western Front. It appears that tomorrow will be decisive in this fight.
After several days with multiple losses, NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR FRIDAY APRIL 28TH 1916.
There were three aerial victory claims on this day:
Chalking up his 14th victory was Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke - who shot down a Caudron near Vaux
Attachment 194790
Claiming is second kill was Sous Lieutenant Marcel P. Viallet - who shot down an Aviatik over Avocourt
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And notching his first aerial victory we have Adjudant Chef Marie Gaston Fulerand Leon Vitalis who shot down an Eindecker north of Cote 304
Attachment 194792
I can find nothing in English about Vitalis but he did fly for Escadrille 67, so instead lets have a closer look at that unit....
Escadrille 67 of the French Air Force was founded at Lyon-Bron Airport during the First World War, on 17 September 1915. On 24 September, they were assigned to the IV Armee of the French Army. By late October, the escadrille was assigned to the defense of Verdun. Dubbed Escadrille N67 for the Nieuport two-seaters they operated, the new unit performed numerous reconnaissance, photographic, artillery direction, and bombing missions. For their efforts, they were cited on 25 January 1916. In July, they were cited a second time, for engaging in 257 combats and downing 11 enemy aircraft. The second citation entitled the unit to wear a fourragere denoting a unit award of the Croix de guerre; Escadrille N 67 was the first aerial unit to win this award. During that Summer of 1916, the escadrille traded its two-seaters for Nieuport single-seater fighters. On 1 November 1916, the unit would be incorporated into Groupe de Combat 13, joining Escadrille 65, Escadrille 112, and Escadrille N.124. After service with GC 13, the escadrille was detached from the groupe on 1 June 1917. It was assigned to an ad hoc Groupe Provisoire de Bonneuil subordinated to III Armee. After 1 August 1917, the escadrille re-equipped with SPAD fighters, becoming Escadrille SPA.67. On 18 January 1918, it was posted to replace Escadrille 73 in Groupe de Combat 12. Escadrille SPA 67 remained with GC 12 until war's end. The escadrille was credited with 42 victories during the war.
Attachment 194793
Escadrille SPA 67 remains an active part of the French Air Force.
On a day we lose 406 men here are today's highlighted casualties....
Today’s losses include:
A Naval Chaplain
Multiple sons of members of the clergy
A family that will lose four sons in the Great War
Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Chaplain Reverend George Anthony Greig (HMS Russell) dies one day after his ship sank off Malta at age 28.
Second Lieutenant Hugh Farrar Northcote (Indian Army Reserve of Officers attached Dogras) is killed at age 32. His brother will be killed in September and they are sons of Prebendary the Honorable John Stafford Northcote.
Second Lieutenant Reginald John Carey Leader (Durham Light Infantry) is killed in action at age 20. He is the son of the Reverend G C Leader.
Second Lieutenant Leslie Kelham Sands (Lancashire Fusiliers) is killed at age 24. He is the son of the Reverend Hubert Sands Vicar of Vurbage Canon of Birmingham.
Private Archibald Thorne (Bedfordshire Regiment) dies of wounds received in action at age 24. His brother will be killed in April 1917.
Private Alexander Joseph McCheyne (Cameron Highlanders) is killed at age 19. He is one of four brothers who will be killed in the Great War.
Private Cecil Hewitt (Worcestershire Regiment) is killed in action at Vimy Ridge at age 22. His twin brother was serving with him at the time and attempts to pull him from underneath the earth and debris from a large German mine explosion. His twin brother will be killed himself next January in Mesopotamia.
Sea War
Italy: Navy commissions its first of 10 wartime monitors (mainly converted captured Austrian barges or lighters).
Attachment 194794
A busy day for the U-Boats also...
HMY Aegusa Royal Navy The Royal Navy naval yacht struck a mine and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Malta with the loss of six of her crew.
Anzhelika Russia The sailing vessel was sunk in the Black Sea off Adler by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Blessing United Kingdom The fishing vessel was sunk in the Tyne Estuary by SM UB-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Christian Denmark The schooner was damaged in the North Sea 16 nautical miles (30 km) east north east of the Souter Point Lighthouse, Northumberland, United Kingdom by SM UB-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine). She was beached but was later refloated.
Lyusya Russia The sailing vessel was sunk in the Black Sea 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) south of Pitsunda by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine)
Middle East
Mesopotamia, Kut: *Townshend offers £2 millions (increase prompted by T.E. Lawrence), his 50 guns and promise not to fight Turks for duration of war for his men’s freedom. Khalil prepared to accept but Enver Pasha wants absolute surrender.
Neutrals
USA: Scheele and other Germans indicted for conspiracy to destroy munition ships.
British agreement with Chicago International Harvester Corp.
Duplicated again, but at least I beat Reg to the punch, lol.
Thank you for reading Reg.
If you are anything like me when typing speeding up is not an option. If you don't want to increase the error ratio by a factor of ten that is.
I still have to look at the keys while typing and still make mistakes. Thank the lucky stars for the good old spellchecker!
Attachment 194923
29th April 1916
The Easter Rising continued:
Attachment 194925
06.36hrs - Complete carnage on North King Street. Shortly after dawn this morning roughly 50 South Staffordshires made a charge at Reilly’s Fort. The Langan’s position had been abandoned by rebels a couple of hours earlier. Many were mown down as they ran at the building. Fire erupted from several directions. The road is littered with bodies. Reilly’s is still holding out but the position is under increasing pressure. Snipers dominate every piece of open ground in the area.
06.40hrs - Moore Street is quiet but movement on the street means certain death. Earlier on, Commandant McLoughlin’s plan was outlined to the Headquarters staff. They are now preparing a diversionary attack against the enemy barricade sealing the exit to Great Britain Street. As this attack progresses, their main body is set to make a break for the Four Courts. The rebels are securely placed along the eastern terrace of houses as far as Sackville Lane, and their expanded front line will render any British counter-attack costly. Should they move into Moore Street against the Republicans they will have to deal with fire from their front and side. Time is running out for the insurgents, however. Just minutes ago McLoughlin asked for volunteers for a do or die assault on the barricade. His request highlighted just how polarised his men’s morale has become. Some are barely able to stand, such is their exhaustion, and are in no condition to mount such an attack. Others, however, still seem to want to take the fight to the enemy. Their dusty and worn faces show few illusions about surviving the morning.
06.52hrs - Plans are being prepared by 3rd Battalion in Boland’s Bakery for a breakout - the destination unknown as yet.
06.53hrs - In The South Dublin Union the Volunteers are re-supplied, rested and regrouped. News from the city is scarce. The position waits.
06.55hrs - As does the nearby distillery. Morale here is at its zenith. A ceilidh is being planned for tomorrow night to celebrate the garrison’s success.
06.57hrs - The Four Courts is holding firm.
06.58hrs - As is the College of Surgeons, but its garrison is starving.
06.58hrs - Sniper fire has just cracked out inside Stephen’s Green.
07.00hrs - Boland’s Mills is under sniper fire. There is no love lost here between both sides. Yesterday the Volunteers buried Patrick Whelan. The 23-year-old from Ringsend was shot in the eye on Wednesday. Unable to get a direct shot at the burial party British snipers tried to kill them instead with ricochets, aiming their guns at the surrounding walls.
08.00hrs - Horrific scenes in Moore Street. A family has been machine gunned. Just moments after they fled from the burning building that threatened to engulf them, they fell victim to the rapacious gunner. They had moved out into the street slowly and apprehensively. Their heads were crouched as the father’s arm stretched out in front, waving a home-made white flag. Their petrified eyes darted frantically between the rubble in their way, the source of the shooting, and the buildings facing them which offered sanctuary. As they reached half way across a burst caught them. It is a dreadful scene. Anyone who witnessed it turned away in utter disgust. It happened close to the building being used by the rebels as their Headquarters. Increasing reports are coming in of numerous civilian casualties in the area, one of whom was a teenage girl shot accidentally by a rebel kicking in the door of a nearby cottage.
09.06hrs - A short time ago a broadside of rifle fire flew from Reilly’s Fort into North King Street, and cut into another infantry attack on the junction to its front. The attack was driven back. Father Matthew Hall is thronged with wounded. The building stinks and echoes to their many groans. Medics are struggling to cope. They move among the wounded, their feet slipping on the festering blood on its floors.
09.36hrs - North King Street is a death zone. It has been impossible to tend to the wounded men on these streets. Even the shadows are being fired at. The air is thick with smoke, and desolation.
09.40hrs - Scenes of extraordinary bravery are being witnessed in Dublin’s shattered streets. The fire brigade have been out all week, often working under fire from both sides. Scores, if not hundreds, of civilians have been saved by these unsung heroes. As Sackville Street smoulders they have their work cut out. Many of the men who form its ranks have brothers, sisters, friends and cousins fighting in both British and Republican uniforms. Unexploded shells present a terrible threat, as do clusters of the rebels’ home-made canister bombs.
09.50hrs - Terrible tragedy in Dublin’s Docks. A woman has been shot on Ringsend Drawbridge in front of her three children. It is unclear where the shot came from but Beggars Bush Barracks is the most likely source at present. The nearby rebels in the mills building are helpless to render aid. Any movement will draw fire from the same source. Her children are crying and pulling at her, clearly unable to take this in.
10.00hrs - ‘Reilly’s Fort’ fell under constant attack since the South Staffordshires gained ground on North King Street. The decision was made to evacuate the position. The front door was opened and the British soldiers trained the sights of their guns in its direction expecting an outpouring of Volunteers. An order to charge was heard. Unexpectedly then, Volunteers started jumping from the side windows and racing towards Church Street. The enemy had been duped. A machine gun quickly traversed and let rip, but it was too late - the Volunteers had made it. The soldiers then gave chase, but when they reached the top of Church Street; the Volunteers on the roof of the Bridewell fired with everything they had, forcing the pursuers to rush for shelter. A section of the South Staffordshires raced to occupy the vacant Reilly’s Fort, but once inside they found themselves trapped. The Bridewell and Monk’s Bakery positions had them in their gun-sights - any attempt to leave was met with a heavy barrage of rifle fire.
12.00hrs - In Jacob’s factory word has come down from the towers that British soldiers are moving into Saint Patrick’s park in force; and that civilians are being evacuated from the homes in the surrounding neighbourhood. Rumours have spread that the area is to be flattened so that the artillery can get a direct shot at the 2nd Battalion headquarters.
Attachment 194924
12.00hrs - White flag in Moore Street. A short time ago a nurse was seen leaving the rebel HQ of 16 Moore Street. She was fired at initially until it became visible to the gunners that she was carrying a white flag. She has since approached the British barricade.
13.00hrs - Rebels preparing their last stand. The South Staffordshires have launched another attack against the barricade at the junction of North Brunswick Street and Upper Church Street, but were forced back yet again. The wounded and dead are strewn across the junction. In nearby Church Street the battle has ebbed and flowed with ever increasing ferocity. At least two Volunteers have just been killed in Church Street as they counter-attacked with their comrades. The machine gun and rifle fire seems never ending. The Volunteers are now turning Moore’s Coachworks into a fortress. It may be the last line of the defence.
14.10hrs - The Shelbourne Hotel, where carnage was unleashed from the fourth floor as dawn broke last Tuesday, now looks over a deathly quiet Stephen’s Green. Foraging parties have been sent out again from the College of Surgeons into the nearby streets to search for food. They are returning with meagre supplies and with rumours of capitulation. The entire city seems strangely silent, after the week-long cacophony of violence.
14.30hrs - Surrender negotiations in Moore Street. Just moments ago Nurse Elizabeth Farrell (it is believed at present that she hails from City Quay in Dublin) approached the barricade with Commandant Pearse. Pearse appears to be involved in an acrimonious discussion with Brigadier General Lowe, who is accompanied by a young officer, possibly his son John. They’ve just moved in the direction of Sackville Street, presumably for better cover, and appear to be negotiating terms of surrender.
15.30hrs - It’s officially a Republican surrender. Commandant Pearse has been driven away to an unknown location. Meanwhile Nurse Farrell has returned to Moore Street with instructions. Commandant James Connolly, as per instructions, has been carried on a stretcher by four of his men. As he is handed over the barricade there is silence. His leg is strapped up but he appears to be in agony. Everywhere there is silence. Infantrymen sit about, their bayonets still fixed to their weapons, smoking and resting. At the barricade both sets of enemies eye one another up, but say nothing. Connolly has been manhandled over the barrier with great respect from his new captors. Courage is a thing respected by fighting men regardless of uniform, and the steadfast bravery displayed by this man is undeniable. On Moore Street things are deathly still.
19.00hrs - 1st Battalion surrenders at Four Courts. Nurse O’Farrell has delivered the surrender document to Commandant Daly at the Four Courts. Daly ordered all men manning positions and barricades to return to the Four Courts, but appears unable to contact his men on North Brunswick Street. Addressing those in the courts he informed them of the order to surrender. They were stunned - surrender has never crossed their minds. They argued that they could hold out for a month. Daly, however, was adamant that they obey their orders. Word was then sent to the men on the Bridewell roof to return to the Four Courts and prepare to surrender, but the men refused and continued to fire at the British soldiers in the North King Street area. Another order was then dispatched to them. They reluctantly complied. The men of 1st Battalion then marched out of the Four Courts building and began handing their weapons through the railings to the waiting Dublin Fusiliers, who looked exhausted but tremendously relieved.
19.10hrs - Ceasefire in North Brunswick Street. A short time ago a pair of priests managed to arrange a ceasefire. Apparently the Volunteers there wish for official confirmation of surrender from their headquarters. Lines of demarcation have been set up. Recently, two British officers wandered across the line, and were met with several dozen gun-barrels. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?
19.45 - Rebels form up to surrender in Sackville Street. A report from the area a short time ago. “The filthy, exhausted, but intensely proud Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army men finally formed into two lines on the eastern side of the tramlines between Findlater Place and Cathedral Street. Behind them was the block of buildings that housed the Gresham Hotel. To both their front and rear stood a cordon of British infantrymen. Another command rang out from Commandant McLoughlin: ‘Front line five paces forward, rear line two paces back, and deposit arms!’ The subsequent clatter of the last rifle hitting the ground signalled to the hundreds now gathering in the area that the battle for Dublin City was all but over. The rear rank then stepped back. Many among them still attempted to goad their adversaries at this point, by pushing their backs up until they were touching the bayonets of the troops standing behind them. As they approached closer and closer with every step the pointing bayonets of the men now eyeing them with malevolence, they advanced until their chests began to place pressure on the sharp steel. The tension mounted while in the distance, rifle fire continued to echo sporadically. General Lowe suddenly ran angrily towards McLoughlin as he bellowed, ‘Who the hell gave you the authority to give orders here? I told you to leave your bloody arms in Moore Street. I’ll have you damn well shot!’ McLoughlin looked back with contempt. He then drew his sword from his scabbard, before thrusting it to the ground next to the general’s immaculately polished boots. Lowe glared back at him.”
Attachment 194926
20.00hrs - In Jacob’s its garrison has been on high alert all day. Due to the noticeable lull in firing from further in to the city the men were called to man their defensive positions. An imminent attack was expected. Many inside feel their time is at hand.
20.40hrs - The surrendered GPO/Moore Street garrison is now being detained in the grounds of the Rotunda Hospital. They are exhausted, hungry and cold. Their treatment at the hands of their captors varies from rough to indifferent, with occasional kindness. The odd crack of gunshot still reports from the city as it waits on the next moves of these momentous events to be played out. Tomorrow will tell.
Airmen Losses
There were seven airmen lost on this day...
30 Squadron bore the brunt of the losses losing 4 airmen
Attachment 194927
Formed officially at Ismailia, Egypt on 24 March 1915 from an RFC detachment in the region, No. 30 Squadron spent several months in a state of flux before achieving full squadron status by the end of the year. With its predecessor having defended the Suez Canal against Turkish attacks during 1914, No. 30 Squadron then formed several detachments to protect key installations in Mesopotamia, including the oil pipeline at Basra. In April 1916, the Squadron carried out the world's first air supply operation, when food and ammunition was dropped to the besieged British forces attempting to defend Kut-el-Amara against the Turks. Despite the two-week operation, in which 13 tons of supplies were dropped using BE2s, Longhorns and Shorthorns, the garrison had surrendered by the end of the month. Reconnaissance and bombing then occupied the Squadron until the end of the war, when it was reduced to a cadre in April 1919.
Air Mechanic 1st Class William Thomas Vincent 30 Squadron RFC - Captured when British Garrison at Kut el Amara surrendered 29 April 1916. Died as a Prisoner of War in Turkish Hands 29 April 1916
Air Mechanic Roger Edgar George 30 Squadron RFC - Captured when British Garrison at Kut el Amara surrendered 29 April 1916. Died as a Prisoner of War in Turkish Hands 29 April 1916 aged 20
Air Mechanic Victor Dagger 30 Squadron RFC - Captured when British Garrison at Kut el Amara surrendered 29 April 1916. Died as a Prisoner of War in Turkish Hands 29 April 1916
Air Mechanic 1st Class Lionel Victor Claridge 30 Squadron RFC - Captured when British Garrison at Kut-el-Amara surrendered 29 April 1916. Died between 1-31 May 1916 at Mosul, while a Prisoner of War in Turkish Hands, aged 23
Air Mechanic 2nd Class Samuel Cotton 20 Squadron RFC - Killed in Action 29 April 1916
Captain Carlo Bruno 26 (South African) Squadron attached 7 (N) Sqdn, Royal Naval Air Service - Killed in Action 29 April 1916 by German Askari Troops after Flight Sub-Lieut C R Terreneau, 7 (N) Sqdn, R.N.A.S. made a forced landing in Voisin LA.S 8706
Lieutenant Alfred Boag RFC Killed while flying 29 April 1916 aged 31. RFC School of Instruction, Reading. Lt. Boag Crashed, near Eton Wick, Bucks and was killed.
There were three aerial victories claimed on this day, two for the first time...
Oberleutnant Benno Fiala Ritter von Fernbrugg of the Austro-Hungarian Empire who shot down an EA over San Danielle.
Attachment 194928
Fiala volunteered for service in 1910. After serving with an artillery regiment, he joined Fliegerkompanie 1 on 28 July 1914. On 30 March 1918, Fiala scored his 14th confirmed victory near Gorgo del Molino, forcing down a Sopwith Camel flown by English ace Alan Jerrard. Hauptmann (Captain) Benno Fiala von Fernbrugg (16 June 1890 – 29 October 1964), Order of the Iron Crown, Order of Leopold, Military Merit Cross, Military Merit Medal, Gold Medal for Bravery, Iron Cross was an Austro-Hungarian fighter ace with 28 victories to his credit during World War I. He was the third ranking ace of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was also a technical innovator who pioneered the use of machine guns, radios, and cameras in airplanes. His forty-year aviation career also included aircraft manufacture, airport management, and the establishment of commercial airlines. Being assigned to the artillery didn't quash his interest in aviation; his brother was a naval aviator, and Fiala visited airports. While at one, he met Emil Uzelac, Commander of the fledgling air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Uzelac arranged Fiala's transfer to Fliegerkompagnie 1 of the Luftfahrtruppen as a technical officer. Fiala completed training as a flying observer on 28 July 1914, the very day Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In November 1914, Fiala took charge of the locomotive of a supply train and drove it to safety even though it was under attack by Russian troops and he was wounded in the action. He was awarded the Silver Military Merit Medal for this. On 10 November, he was also received a most unusual promotion to leutnant (Second Lieutenant) ahead of his sequence in seniority. Although trained as an observer, Fiala's duties in this beginning of the war consisted mainly of arming planes with machine guns, and experimenting with aerial cameras. He also rigged a 30 kilogram (66 pound) radio transmitter in an unarmed plane. It was used in May 1915 at the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow on the Russian Front; by sending corrections to a receiver on the ground, it successfully adjusted mortar fire. Fiala was briefly attached to the testing section of the air arsenal before being reassigned to a flying unit. Fiala had had a couple of unconfirmed victories on the Russian Front. Now he was transferred to Fliegerkompany 19 on the Italian Front in January 1916. There he flew a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I two seated reconnaissance plane, scoring his first confirmed triumph on 29 April 1916.
On 4 May 1916, he was flying as an observer in a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I flown by Adolf Heyrowsky when they teamed with a second C.I to shoot down the Italian airship M-4. The semi-rigid dirigible had been returning from a bombing raid when Fiala shot it down above Gorizia, Italy, killing the entire crew of six. Fiala was wounded by anti-aircraft fire in the beginning of 1917. It was during this recuperation that he decided to apply for pilot's training. After he recovered, he moved into Fliegerkorps 41J, then into a Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter in Fliegerkorps 12D. Beginning 9 August 1917, he ran off a string of five confirmed and two confirmed wins for the month. He scored once more, in October, before changing squadrons once again in November, to move into an Albatros D.III with Fliegerkorps 56J. He notched win number nine with 56J, but didn't spend long with them; he transferred into command of Fliegerkorps 51J in January, 1918. His steady accretion of victories helped shape Flik 51J into the premier squadron of the Austro-Hungarians. Especially notable was his 14th win; on 30 May 1918, he downed British ace Alan Jerrard in an action that was so fierce, it won the loser the Victoria Cross. Fiala racked up number 28 on 20 August 1918. He continued to fly until October, but then was posted to nonflying staff duties until war's end. The engineer turned fighter pilot had flown on two fronts which had more hazardous flying conditions and less opportunity for air combat than the Western Front in France. His victory roll included a dirigible, three observation balloons, and a predominance of enemy fighters among the planes he had felled. He claimed at least five unconfirmed victories. He had won the Order of the Iron Crown, Order of Leopold, Military Merit Cross, Military Merit Medal, Gold Medal for Bravery, and the Iron Cross
Hauptmann Johann Frint Austro-Hungarian Empire - Shot down a Farman West of Monte Tomba
Attachment 194929
Frint was an Oberleutnant in Infantry Regiment No. 65 when the war began. While stationed on the Russian front, he was very badly wounded on 14 November 1914. Despite injuries that prevented him from returning to service with the infantry, he succeeded in transferring to the air service and was posted to Flik 23 after completing his training as an observer. Having scored six victories with this unit, Frint was killed during a test flight when the Albatros D.III (53.46) in which he was flying crashed in an orchard.
Oberleutnant Ludwig Hautzmayer Austro-Hungarian Empire claimed his second kill shooting down 'a bomber' near St.
Attachment 194930
Middle East
Mesopotamia – FALL OF KUT: 13,309 surrender including 3,248 non-combatants after 146-day siege (with 3,776 casualties). 1,136 badly wounded and 1,450 sick exchanged as agreed with Arab Bureau negotiators. Tigris Corps relief attempt losses total 23,000 men. British leaders attempted to buy their troops out. Aubrey Herbert and T. E. Lawrence were part of a team of officers sent to negotiate a secret deal with the Ottomans. The British offered £2 million (UK£ 122,300,000 in 2016) and promised they would not fight the Ottomans again, in exchange for Townshend's troops. Enver Pasha ordered that this offer be rejected.
Attachment 194931
The British also asked for help from the Russians. General Baratov, with his largely Cossack force of 20,000 was in Persia at the time. Following the request he advanced towards Baghdad in April 1916, but he turned back when news reached him of the surrender.General Townshend arranged a ceasefire on the 26th and, after failed negotiations, he simply surrendered on 29 April 1916 after a siege of 147 days. Around 13,000 Allied soldiers survived to be made prisoners. Historian İlber Ortaylı states that ″Halil Pasha acted like a gentleman to the surrendering British officers″ and offered ″to take the PoWs up towards the north in river boats in case fuel could be provided from British bases nearby.″ The offer was rejected by the British. 70% of the British and 50% of the Indian troops died of disease or at the hands of their Ottoman guards during captivity.[citation needed] Townshend himself was taken to the island of Heybeliada on the Sea of Marmara, to sit out the war in relative luxury. The author Norman Dixon, in his book On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, described Townshend as being 'amused' by the plight of the men he had deserted, as if he had pulled off some clever trick. Dixon says Townshend was unable to understand why his friends and comrades were ultimately censorious over his behaviour.
In British Army battle honours, the siege of Kut is named as "Defence of Kut Al Amara".
Persia: Baratov with 5,000 men expels Sevket Bey from Karind after 9-day march (since April 20) to aid Kut.
Home Fronts
Ireland, Easter Rising: IRB leader Pearse surrenders to Brigade-General Lowe and tells others to do likewise. Martial law in Ireland is lifted and the rebellion is officially over with the surrender of Irish nationalists to British authorities in Dublin. Second Lieutenant Algernon Lucas (King Edward’s Horse) is found at the Guinness brewery by Sergeant Robert Flood (Dublin Fusiliers). After a brief interrogation he is discovered to be wearing civilian clothing under his British officers tunic and his ‘strong American accent aroused further suspicions. He and a civilian employee of Guinness discovered with Lucas are executed by Sergeant Flood who is convinced his position is about to be attacked. Flood is court-martialed and cleared murder charges. Sergeant Flood will be killed on active service in Salonika in May 1917.
James Morris, a British historian, described the loss of Kut as "the most abject capitulation in Britain’s military history." After this humiliating loss, General Lake and General Gorringe were removed from command. The new commander was General Maude, who trained and organized his army and then launched a successful campaign which captured Baghdad on 11 March 1917. With Baghdad captured, the British administration undertook vital reconstruction of the war-torn country and Kut was slowly rebuilt. Some of the Indian prisoners of war from Kut later came to join the Ottoman Indian Volunteer Corps under the influence of Deobandis of Tehrek e Reshmi Rumal and with the encouragement of the German High Command. These soldiers, along with those recruited from the prisoners from the European Battlefields fought alongside Ottoman forces on a number of fronts. The Indians were led by Amba Prasad Sufi, who during the war was joined by Kedar Nath Sondhi, Rishikesh Letha and Amin Chaudhry. These Indian troops were involved in the capture of the frontier city of Karman and the detention of the British consul there, and they also successfully harassed Sir Percy Sykes' Persian campaign against the Baluchi and Persian tribal chiefs who were aided by the Germans
Western Front
Verdun, West bank: French gains north of Mort Homme and Cumieres.
On the last day of the Battle of Hulluch the Germans attack with gas again, but this time the wind blows the gas back upon their own troops, crippling a great number. Hulluch is one of the most heavily-concentrated gas attacks of the war. In the three days of the battle British losses are 538 dead and 1,590 wounded.
At Hulloch Private John Naylor (Dublin Fusiliers) is killed in action at age 36. His wife Margaret Naylor will be shot today during the Easter Rebellion while crossing the Ringsend Drawbridge in Dublin with her three children. She will die of her wounds on 1 May.
Sea War
North Sea: Royal Navy 3rd Battle Squadron (7 ships) transferred from Grand Fleet to Thames (Sheerness) as stronger coast guard.
Politics
Allied Havre Declaration guarantees Belgian Congo’s integrity.
Neutrals
Mexico: *US and Mexican generals agree withdrawal conditions (until May 3).
More on the surrender at Kut -al - Amara
In the single largest surrender of troops in British history to that time, some 13,000 soldiers under the command of Sir Charles Townshend give in on April 29, 1916, after withstanding nearly five months under siege by Turkish and German forces at the town of Kut-al-Amara, on the Tigris River in the Basra province of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).
Under the command of Sir John Nixon, British troops had enjoyed early success in their invasion of Mesopotamia. Forces led by Nixon’s forward divisional commander, Sir Charles Townshend, reached and occupied the Mesopotamian province of Basra, including the town of Kut al-Amara, by late September 1915. From there, they attempted to move up the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers toward Baghdad, but were rebuffed by Turkish troops at Ctesiphon (or Selman Pak) in late November. Despite outnumbering the Turks two-to-one, Townshend’s troops, made up partially of soldiers dispatched from India, were forced to retreat to Kut, where on December 5 Turkish and German troops began to lay siege to the city.
Problems with illness plagued Townshend’s forces, as morale sank precipitously along with dwindling supplies and a lack of relief due to the heavy winter rains, which had swollen the Tigris River and made it difficult to maneuver troops along its banks. The British attempted four times over the course of the winter to confront and surround their Turkish opponents only to suffer 23,000 casualties, almost twice the strength of the entire remaining Kut regiment, without success. Kut finally fell on April 29, 1916, and Townshend and his 13,000 men were taken prisoner.
Here is an interesting news article from Weds. November 20th 2002...
Military headstones have started arriving in Iraq from Britain. Not in preparation for an invasion but to commemorate allied soldiers who died in a previous attempt at 'regime change'.
The 500 military headstones that have just arrived in Baghdad from England already bear the names of soldiers killed in action in Iraq. But these troops died in an ill-fated, little-remembered attempt at "regime change" nearly a century ago. In the winter of 1915, towards the end of the first full year of the first world war, an Anglo-Indian force was sent to capture Baghdad. To the historian and veteran CRMF Cruttwell the attack was "a capital sin": the advance on Baghdad was "perhaps the most remarkable example of an enormous military risk being taken, after full deliberation, for no definite or concrete military purpose."
Officials from the Commonwealth war graves commission have just arrived in Iraq to assess the damage done by 20 years of upheaval - and many more years of decay - to the 13 war cemeteries the commission tends there. The new headstones are the first phase of a major programme: a total of 51,830 British and Commonwealth servicemen died during the war in what was then Mesopotamia, and there are 22,400 graves (more than two-thirds of the troops who fought in Mesopotamia were Indians whose faith requires cremation rather than burial). Many of these deaths were the result of the decision to attack Baghdad, and in particular of what happened in a loop of the Tigris river at Kut-al-Amara.
On November 22 1915, General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend and his force of about 9,000 men of the 6th Indian division were advancing on Baghdad by boat along the Tigris, the land being roadless - an "arid billiard table". At Ctesiphon, about 20 miles short of the capital, the Indian and British troops came up against a larger, better armed and better supplied Turkish force which had had months to dig in on both sides of the river. Townshend's force drove out the defenders, but at the cost of 40% casualties. Unable to withstand a counter-attack, let alone continue the advance, Townshend retreated back down the Tigris, with 1,600 Turkish prisoners and more than 4,500 wounded from both sides. The long, slow journey was nightmarish for the wounded, for Townshend had been kept short of boats and medical supplies by a stingy government in India. An over-optimistic superior, Sir John Nixon, had ordained that the men would find all they needed - in Baghdad. Collecting other troops as he inched along, Townshend made his stand at Kut, a strategic river junction he had captured a month previously. It had been one of a number of cheap and brilliant victories by a clever and resourceful soldier who knew the value of morale, and until the end kept the respect of his men. He had argued all along against going on to Baghdad; he lacked sufficient men, food and artillery as well as river transport and medical back-up. But the general and his men were to be the victims of their own success.
The invasion of Mesopotamia itself was about oil, but that required only a landing on the Gulf coast to secure the southern part of the country around Basra. This would keep the Turks away from the nearby Persian port of Abadan, terminus of the Anglo-Persian pipe-line which was the source of the Royal Navy's oil supply. Basra was taken and held with little cost at the end of 1914 by a small invasion force launched from India. By late 1915, however, the war cabinet needed a success story to round off a year of military disaster, most recently at Gallipoli, where the British were preparing to pull out, having failed to break out and take Constantinople. Why not push beyond Basra province and take Baghdad?
The Gallipoli campaign ended on January 8 1916 with a re-embarkation of Dunkirk proportions. By then, Kut, a collection of flyblown hovels, with Townshend and his men inside, had been surrounded for more than a month: included in the 13,500 penned inside were some 3,500 Indian non-combatants and 2,000 sick and wounded. There were also 6,000 Arabs to be fed. They held out in freezing cold and then torrential rain against infantry assault, sniper fire, shelling, and bombing, until a relief force could get near enough for the defenders to risk breaking out. It never happened. Three attempts were made to relieve Kut. Each failed, at a total cost of 23,000 casualties. Food began to run out, and many of the Indian troops could or would not eat what meat there was. The defenders' draught animals, the oxen, were the first to go, followed by their horses, camels, and finally, starlings, cats, dogs and even hedgehogs.
Kut was the first siege in which aircraft dropped supplies: these ranged from money to millstones to keep the garrison's flour mill going (and thus the Indians' supply of chapatis). But the Turks and their German officers were able to send up more and better aircraft, and too few friendly planes could get through to avert starvation. Repeated attempts to supply Kut by river were also repulsed. Desperate to keep his men alive, Townshend suggested - and the government endorsed - a ransom of £2m (about £67m today) for the defenders to go free. The Turks, elated by Gallipoli and able to switch troops from there to Kut, refused.
Finally, on April 29, when vegetarian Indians were down to seven ounces of grain a day, Kut capitulated. Townshend was given permission to surrender, and obtained promises of humane treatment for his men from the Turks. It was then, after five months of siege, that the troubles of the defenders of Kut really began. The Turks had a different notion of what constitutes "humane treatment" and, as they treated their own soldiers with extreme brutality, saw no reason to pamper their captives. About 1,750 men had died from wounds or disease during the siege. Some 2,600 British and 9,300 Indian other ranks were rounded up and marched away. Two-thirds of the British and about a seventh of the Indians never saw their homes again. Relative to the numbers of men involved, the British losses at Kut dwarfs those of the far bigger battles on the Western Front.
The historian and war poet Geoffrey Elton was a junior officer at Kut and saw the rank-and-file being marched away, officerless, "none of them fit to march five miles ... full of dysentery, beri-beri, scurvy, malaria and enteritis; they had no doctors, no medical stores and no transport; the hot weather, just beginning, would have meant much sickness and many deaths, even among troops who were fit, well-cared for and well supplied." Some were marched to captivity elsewhere in Mesopotamia, others all the way to Turkey. Elton spoke of the Arab guards stealing the mens' boots, helmets and water bottles, and of dead and dying stragglers left where they fell. Cruttwell said: "The men were herded like animals across the desert, flogged, kicked, raped, tortured, and murdered."
The Turks abandoned Kut in February 1917, and Baghdad fell in March. That June a royal commission reported on who was to blame for ordering Townshend to advance so far forward. The answer was everybody but Townshend. His commanding officer, Sir John Nixon, was censured. So too was the viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge, the commander-in-chief in India, Sir Beauchamp Duff, the secretary of state for India, Austen Chamberlain, and the war cabinet in London, which had disregarded the advice of its own secretary of state for war, Earl Kitchener. As the horrors of the death marches and prison camps became known after the war, so the sufferings of the men were contrasted with more favourable treatment given to their officers - Townshend, in comfortable captivity near Constantinople, was knighted in 1917. From being the hero of his country's longest siege, "Townshend of Kut" became its villain. In the end, however, people forgot the deadbeats and chancers who paved the way to Kut. The CWGC now hopes to see that other names from Kut are remembered in its Iraqi war cemeteries. "We have always found the Iraqis willing to take us for what we are," says director-general Richard Kellaway, "a non-governmental organisation, whose duty is to commemorate, by name, the people who died in the two world wars."
Sometimes you just never learn from past mistakes....
Attachment 195024
April 30th 1916
The last day of the fighting in the Easter Rising
07.30hrs - Needs must. Local youngsters help themselves to firewood in the rubble.
07.31hrs - Captain Michael O’Rahilly’s burnt-out De Dion Bouton touring car in North Prince’s Street.
07.32hrs - Are these British officers’ celebrations premature? The cracks of small arms in the city’s background suggest the fighting isn’t yet done. At least four Republican garrisons are holding out on the south side of the city.
07.36hrs - A solitary rebel prisoner is taken across O’Connell Bridge under guard.
07.38hrs - Irish Volunteers 3rd Battalion still control southeast Dublin. To venture beyond the barricade in Great Brunswick Street is still to invite a bullet.
07.40hrs - Civilians have been flocking in their droves to view the devastation since first light this morning.
09.00hrs - At Dublin Castle two Capuchin priests have requested permission from General Lowe to see Padraig Pearse, so that they can convey a signed surrender order to the Volunteers still fighting on North Brunswick Street. General Lowe granted permission before requesting that the priests proceed to Jacob’s to inform its garrison of the surrender. The general has been unable to make any contact with the garrison.
09.45hrs - Rebels in North Brunswick Street surrender. It has transpired that another priest has managed to convey a genuine surrender order to the Volunteers there. One Volunteer named Patrick Holohan has taken command of the units there. Their commanding officer had been shot in the head during the fighting. Holohan has ordered the Volunteers to fall in. He has just addressed his exhausted men with the words: “I know you would, like myself, prefer to be with our comrades who have already fallen in the fight – we, too, should rather die in this glorious struggle than submit to the enemy. The treatment you may expect in the future you may judge from the past.”Roughly 50 of them march eastward along North King Street the road is lined with the battalion they kept at bay. Soldiers are craning their necks from doors and windows to see who caused them such horrific carnage. Several taunts are being exchanged.
10.15hrs - Nurse O’Farrell approached Boland’s Bakery about 15 minutes ago with Pearse’s surrender order. She was met just outside its dispensary by Commandant de Valera. He emerged outside with a towel around his neck, appearing to have been washing. After studying the order he has dispatched her with instructions that the order carries no weight. With Pearse a prisoner he is now under the command of Commandant MacDonagh, who is still in the field and holding firm.
11.00hrs - The two Capuchin priests have approached Jacob’s factory with news of the surrender. The news has been dismissed by Commandant MacDonagh, stating that he cannot take orders from prisoners. He has conceded, however, that he is prepared to meet with General Lowe to parley.
11.10hrs - Nurse O’Farrell has been greeted by Countess Markievicz at the College of Surgeons. Commandant Mallin, its garrison commander, is resting in one of its back rooms, and is being summoned. There is an overwhelming aura of subdued shock among the Citizen Army garrison as the news spreads.
Attachment 195025
12.11hrs - Irish Citizen Army surrenders. The surrender of the Stephen’s Green garrison of the Irish Citizen Army has been agreed upon. Minutes ago Commandant Mallin and Countess Markievicz held talks at the College of Surgeons’ York Street entrance with Major De Courcey Wheeler of the Dublin Fusiliers. He was accompanied by Nurse O’Farrell. This came after many heated deliberations from those inside the fortress, who seemed adamant on fighting on, or breaking out to the mountains. They are defiant.
12.45hrs - Surrender of Irish Volunteers 2nd Battalion agreed upon. Commandant-General MacDonagh and General Lowe have met in Saint Patrick’s Park. The parley began on the footpath before both retired to General Lowe’s staff car to continue negotiations. After a while MacDonagh stepped out of the car and informed the two priests of his intention to surrender, adding that there will be a truce until 3 p.m.
13.00hrs - Commandant MacDonagh has now informed the Officers of 2nd Battalion of the surrender. It was followed by a stunned silence. The men have called to the ground floor to be told of the news. Shouts and screams followed of: “Fight it out - we will fight it out!” Order was restored and MacDonagh has since told the garrison that anyone without uniform has his permission to escape. Some are availing of the opportunity. MacDonagh will soon leave Jacob’s and go to the South Dublin Union to convey the news.
14.08hrs - An utterly exhausted and emotionally drained Elizabeth O’Farrell has just returned to Boland’s Bakery with Commandant MacDonagh’s verification of the surrender. For the 3rd Battalion, the fighting is finished. De Valera has just dispatched recently promoted Vice Commandant Joe O’Connor to their nearby outposts with the news. It has been met with aghast faces. Anger is building quickly. Some of the men have begun smashing their weapons off the ground. Ironically, snipers are still at work in the area. Occasionally shots ring out. The rooftops of Lower Mount Street are infested with sharpshooters.
14.15hrs - Word has been received at the nearby mills Building. Lieutenant O’Byrne has orders to rally his men at the bakery.
15.00hrs - Commandant-General MacDonagh has returned to Saint Patrick’s Park where General Lowe was waiting for him. The two soldiers stood face to face; MacDonagh then unbuckled his belt and holster and handed them to General Lowe along with his revolver. General Lowe accepted them and asked MacDonagh to return to his men and arrange for the surrender of Jacob’s. MacDonagh accepted the General’s request.
14.50hrs - Commandant Mallin’s garrison is marching into captivity along York St. A short time ago roughly 120 Citizen Army members put down their arms and began their march. As they set off, however, shots rang out from the Green. Some refuse to give in. Their captors are displaying differing attitudes as they march. Some of the rebels have been threatened with bayonets, others have been told to cheer up and have been offered cigarettes. Commandant Mallin appeared to take some comfort from the words of the British Army officer, when he expressed his disbelief that the garrison had held them off with so few men. Now however, he marches to an uncertain fate, albeit proudly.
15.30hrs - Jacob’s Garrison is marching into the custody of the enemy.
15.40hrs - Intense deliberations are under way at South Dublin Union. The garrison has received the surrender order. It looks like Ceannt’s men will comply. They are disconsolate and are unable to believe the news.
16.30hrs - The battle-weary GPO and Four Courts garrisons are exiting the Rotunda grounds en route to Richmond Barracks in Inchicore. The city is in shock. Thousands of Dubliners are in the streets. Reaction to events is one of disbelief mixed with anger. Abuse is being heaped on the exhausted and starving marching men. But there are whisperings also of subdued admiration.
17.27hrs - The 4th Battalion has formed up to exit South Dublin Union. Their arms are shouldered. Commandant Ceannt has delivered them a rousing speech. Their heads are held high as they prepare to march to Marrowbone Lane to link up with Captain Colbert and the remainder of the Battalion.
17.40hrs - Commandant McLoughlin is marching with his men into captivity in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore under a cordon whose bayonets stand at the ready. They are filthy, dishevelled, exhausted, starving – yet many are singing.
17.56hrs - Roughly 150 Irish Volunteers from 4th Battalion have just entered the gates into St Patrick’s Park. They have been spat at, jeered and praised, while many onlookers on their route stared blankly, no doubt tremendously relieved, but shocked at what has come to pass on their streets.
18.03hrs - Incredible scenes as 3rd Battalion marches towards surrender. As Vice-Commandant O’Connor led the 3rd Battalion from Boland’s Bakery, they were met by a cordon of infantrymen who looked like they were baying for blood. But as soon as the 80 or so men turned on to Grand Canal Street a crowd of locals began cheering and applauding the rebels. Their heads lifted as weeping onlookers offered to hide their weapons. They are now turning left on to Grattan Street where they have been ordered to muster.
18.20hrs - All is changed, changed utterly. It has been a week since the clock struck in Dublin but the 3rd Battalion has laid down its arms in Grattan Street. It is done, the fighting men from both sides are done, but count themselves lucky. Hundreds have fallen this week, never to rise again. The city is shattered. Time will tell how it recovers. It inevitably will. Dubliners are a stoic lot. But now it is time to count the cost, in lives, in homes, in businesses, and in hearts. At the top of the street stands Commandant De Valera – the battalion commander. He has just been saluted by his Vice-Commandant. The men are lined up. As the last of their unloaded weapons clatters off the pavement, O’Connor has just placed a sword at the top. The sword was given to him as a mark of his men’s respect on Good Friday. He has placed it here no doubt as a mark of respect for them.
There was one non RFC airman lost on this day... Count Carl Friedrich Erich Graf von Holck He was a friend of Manfred Von Richthofen and indeed flew with him in the early part of the war.
“In late April 1916, he was flying an Albatros two-seater in which he had a gun fitted to the upper wing. He came across a French Nieuport 11, but the French plane turned tail and fled from the conflict. Manfred overhauled the aircraft and got close before opening fire and the Nieuport fell near Fort de Douaumont on the allied side of the lines. Like his previous "victory", this was not accredited to von Richthofen, but the communiqué for April 26th acknowledged the aircraft had been shot down by a German aircraft. The 1st of May saw him witness the death of his friend Count von Holck.”
Attachment 195026
We have Von Richthofen's own account of the fateful last flight of the Count...
“I love my new occupation as a pilot. I don't think anything else can attract me in this war. I fly a Fokker monoplane, a plane which Boelcke and Immelmann have had great success. I was very much grieved about Holck's death. Three days before he was killed, he visited me and we had much fun together. He told me of his imprisonment in Montenegro. One cannot imagine that this fine fellow doesn't exist anymore. I witnessed his last air fight. First he shot down a Frenchman in the midst of a hostile squadron. Then he evidently had a jam in his machine gun and wanted to return to the air above our lines. A whole swarm of Frenchmen were on him. With a bullet through the head, he fell from an altitude of 9000 ft - a beautiful death. Today I am going to fly at his funeral.”
There were two RFC/RNAS airmen lost on this day:
Lieutenant Thomas Robson Liddle RNAS He was killed in an air accident flying Curtiss JN-4 3431 (RNAS Chingford) and crashed whilst attempting a loop near Edmonton, He was just 20
Attachment 195027
Captain Erik Harrison Mitchell 24 SQuadron RFC - Killed in Action 30 April 1916 Crashed. Capt E H Mitchell MC of No 24 Sqn RFC (formerly Royal Field Artillery) was killed in an accident on 30 April 1916 while flying DH 2 No 5988. No 24 Sqn was then based at Bertangles.
There were seven aerial victory claims on this day... and another good day for the French with 4 of their pilots chalking up victories...
Lieutenant Jean Chaput - (France) flying a Caudron shot down an Eindecker over Combles-Herbueville - This may well have been Von Rochthofen's friend Count Holck. This would be his third kill.
Sous Lieutenant Noel Hugues Anne Louis de Rochefort (France) claims his second victory by shooting down an EA over Middlekerke whilst flying a Nieuport.
Capitaine Albert Louis Deullin (France)claims his 4th victory flying a Nieuport by shooting down an EA over Douaumont.
Sous Lieutenant Georges Charles Marie François Flachaire flying a Nieuport for N67 Squadron claims his first victory by shooting down a two seater over Viennes-le-Chateau.
Attachment 195028
Having served with an artillery unit, Georges Flachaire transferred to aviation in 1915. He scored eight victories flying Nieuport scouts with Escadrille 67. In 1918, he was posted to the United States to assist with the development of aviation plans by the Allies.
Flachaire joined the artillery in 1914. He soon volunteered for aviation. He was posted to Escadrille 67 on 1 September 1915. He piloted two-seater Nieuports until the new single-seated fighters showed up. He then scored his first triumph on 30 April 1916, earning the Médaille militaire by his actions. His next victory, on 28 July 1916, was shared with Georges Lachmann and Jean Matton. He scored once in September, three times in October, and notched his seventh on 23 November 1916.He was awarded the British Military Cross in early 1917. He scored one last win on 17 August 1917.
Médaille militaire
"On 30 April 1916, he attacked an enemy plane that was bombing our positions. After a serious combat during which he ran out of ammunition and fuel, he manoeuvred so adroitly that he forced his adversary to land in our lines where the pilot and observer were made prisoners. Already cited in Orders."
Légion d'honneur
"Remarkable pilot of skill, courage and audacity, which he displayed during recent operations, during the course of which he provided the most highly conspicuous services. On 20 and 21 October 1916, he downed, in the most brilliant fashion, his fourth and fifth enemy planes. The first in our lines and the second in the German Lines. Médaille militaire and cited in orders three times.
Oberleutnant der Reserve Ernst Freiherr von Althaus (Germany) claimed his 5th victory by shooting down a Farman over Caillette Wood.
Leutnant Friedrich Mallinckrodt (German) had an unconfirmed kill when shooting down an EA over Verdun, this would have been his first.
Lieutenant David Mary Tidmarsh (no I have not got that wrong) 24 Squadron RFC. Flying D.H.2 (5965) he shot down and destroyed an Eindecker over Bapaume. This was his second victory.
The Easter Rising continues to take the lives of members of the British Military.
Second Lieutenant Montague Bernard Browne (Sherwood Foresters) dies of wounds received two days earlier at age 39. He is the son of the late Reverend S B Browne Rector of Plumtree Notts. His brother was killed on Gallipoli last August.
Corporal Henry Meyrick Hewett (King Edward’s Horse) dies of wounds received in the Easter Rising in Ireland at age 42. He is the son of Lieutenant General E O Hewett CMG.
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Second Lieutenant Bernard Pitt (Border Regiment attached Trench Mortar Battery) is killed in action at age 34. He is a Great War poet whose poems include February in the Firing Line which ends with line “Oh! How can I be out of England when Spring is Here?”
Attachment 195029
Second Lieutenant Bernard Pitt attended Borough Road College for two years. His college record is described as ‘not very satisfactory…there are handwritten criticisms of his attitude to his studies”, despite this he graduated with a Class 1 Teachers Certificate. Despite this he excelled in chemistry, physiology, and agriculture, and graduated the college with a BA Hons in Languages and later an MA Literature in 1911, both from the University of London. He started teaching as a master as the Kew Schools, later becoming a master at Sir. J. Williamson’s Mathematical School in Rochester, before finally holding a post at Coopers’ Company School, Bow. From 1912 he also conducted an English Literature class at the Working Men’s College at St. Pancras, where there is a room named after him. He joined a volunteer corps before gaining commission into the B order Regiment in April 1915. In February 1916 he was given command of a battery. He was 34 when he was killed on 30th April 1916 by a mine whilst observing and correcting mortar fire at Arras, leaving behind his wife Florence and four children. In a letter to his wife about his death from his Brigadier-General he is described as being the “embodiment of dash and pluck” and that “whenever the Germans appeared to be getting particularly annoyed, the men would say “oh, it’s that little trench mortar officer at them with his guns”. The Brigadier-General goes on to say Pitt was about to be made Starr Officer before his death. He is remembered for the prolific letter writer and poet he became during the war. His letters and poems were collated after the war, and whilst Pitt may not have the fame of other war poets his poetry (often reflecting on life back in London) offers another perspective of trench life.
“Do you wonder that, reading Wordsworth this afternoon in a clearing of the unpolluted woodlands, and marking the lovely faded colours on the wings of hibernating butterflies, and their soft motions,I felt a disgust, even to sickness, of the appalling wickedness of war.”
Brothers Cyril, 19, and Horace Hill, 22, are killed with the 24th Canadian Infantry when they take shelter from a German artillery barrage in the garden of a local estaminet in the village of ****ebusch. A shell lands outside the entrance of the dugout and twelve soldiers die, while only one gets away unscathed. The brothers are among the dead. They are now buried side by side in ****ebusch New Military Cemetery.
Lieutenant Robert Lepper Valentine (Dublin Fusiliers) dies of wounds at age 26. He is the inventory of a quick-firing improvement to the Lewis Machine Gun and assistant surveyor to the Geological Survey of Ireland.
Western Front
Flanders: British artillery defeat German gas attack from Messines Ridge.
Attachment 195030
The Gas attacks at Wulverghem in the municipality of Heuvelland were two German cloud gas attacks during World War I on British troops near Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The first gas discharge took place on 30 April 1916 and was followed by another attack on 17 June. The gas attacks at Wulverghem were part of the sporadic fighting, which took place between battles in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. The British Second Army held the ground from Messines Ridge north to Steenstraat. British divisions opposite the German XXIII Reserve Corps, had received warnings of a gas attack in the ten days beforehand. From 21–23 April, British artillery-fire exploded several gas cylinders in the German lines around Spanbroekmolen, which released greenish-yellow clouds of gas. A gas alert was given on 25 April, when the wind began to blow from the north-east and routine work was suspended; on 29 April, two German soldiers deserted and warned that an attack was imminent. Just after midnight on 30 April, the German attack began and a gas cloud moved on the wind through no man's land, into the British defences and then south-west towards Bailleul.
The gas used by the German troops at Wulverghem was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, which had been used against British troops on 19 December 1915 in the First German phosgene attack on British troops at Wieltje, north-east of Ypres. This and earlier gas attacks, beginning at the Second Battle of Ypres (21 April – 25 May 1915), had given the British time to replace improvised gas masks, with effective mass-produced masks and other anti-gas equipment and to establish anti-gas procedures. Helmets impregnated with chemicals to neutralise chlorine had been issued in several variants, each more effective than the last. By April 1916, British troops had PH helmets and some specialist troops like machine-gunners, were equipped with box respirators. The first German gas attack at Wulverghem on 30 April, caused the defenders 562 gas casualties and 89 gas fatalities but German raiding parties intended to find and destroy mine entrances, were repulsed with small-arms and artillery fire. A second attempt by the Germans on 17 June, caused about the same number of gas casualties and the British easily repulsed German patrols.
Just after midnight, German small-arms fire began along the fronts of the 73rd and 72nd brigades, in the centre and left of the 24th Division and the 76th Brigade on the right flank of the 3rd Division. Soon after, a gas discharge began on a 2-mile (3.2 km) from La Petite Douve Farm to Spanbroekmolen. (In German reports of the operation, the gas rose above head-height and was illuminated by British flares. British return-fire began and after five minutes, artillery-fire commenced.) Along most of the line, German rifle and machine-gun fire blanketed the hiss of gas and smothered the sound of alarm gongs and klaxons. The first warning for many British soldiers was the smell, since with the wind speed and no man's land being only 40 yards (37 m) wide in places, the gas arrived without warning. The British donned their helmets and a volley of Very lights revealed the gas cloud. German artillery began a bombardment behind the British front, on artillery positions, observation posts, support trenches and strong points. The gas signal reached the divisional HQs at 12:47 a.m. and three minutes later, the artillery of the 24th and 50th divisions, behind Hill 63 and the Vierstraat spur and the corps heavy artillery, began to bombard their night lines.[11]
The gas discharge lasted from 15–40 minutes and varied in density, being of shortest duration in areas where German raiding parties operated, most of whom did not wear gas masks. When the British saw that the Germans were unmasked, they removed theirs too. The gas cloud travelled quickly and reached Bailleul 6 miles (9.7 km) away, at 1:12 a.m., a speed of 300 yards (270 m) per minute. After about five minutes, German parties advanced to the British wire but were then repulsed by the British in their advanced listening posts. No more attempts were made during the discharge and raiding groups of 30–40 men each, advanced after the discharge against the 72nd and 76th brigade fronts. One party got into an empty trench at the brigade boundary and was then bombed out; the rest were forced back by small-arms fire and by 1:30 a.m., quiet returned and the British artillery ceased fire.
Attachment 195031
Soon afterwards, two larger raiding parties attacked against the centre of the 72nd Brigade and the other to the north beyond the area of the gas attack, against the junction of the 9th and 8th brigades, where the British were defending mine shafts. (The German records relate the advance of officer patrols, which returned with news that the British were alert and unaffected by the gas, making the mine sabotage operation impossible.) A barrage fell 50 yards (46 m) back from the attack fronts and fire was opened by heavy trench mortars. Covered by snipers in no man's land, hiding in long grass the raiders tried to cut through the British wire. On the 3rd Division front, the attackers were repulsed by flanking fire from Lewis-guns and hand grenades, as four heavy howitzers quickly silenced the German heavy trench mortars. On the 24th Division front the riding party, armed with bombs, daggers and pistols got into three bays of the front line trench and was then forced out twenty minutes later by a counter-attack. A 40 pounds (18 kg) explosive charge was later found in a defunct mine shaft. Other raiding parties were prevented from leaving the German front line by small-arms fire. By 4:30 a.m. quiet had returned, with the British having had no need for the support and reserve battalions in the area.
Verdun: *German April losses 39,000; French 44,000.
From April to June French tank pioneer Colonel Estienne in command of French artillery in key Vaux*-Douaumont sector.
Southern Fronts
Trentino, west of Lake Garda: Alpini cadets capture Crozzon di Fargorida. Crozzon and Passo del Diavolo taken later and Austrians forced to evacuate Fargorida and Topete Passes. This sector secure for Italy for duration.
Middle East
Mesopotamia: Kut garrison begins march into captivity (4,818 do not return). Turks kill 250 Kut civilians. Chief of British Imperial general staff cable orders defensive strategy.
African Fronts
East Africa: Belgian Northern Brigade occupies Kasibu. 3rd South African Infantry Brigade (less 1,000 of them sick) arrives at Kondoa Irangi (until May 1). 2nd Rhodesian Regiment has only left 50 men out of 600 fit.
Sea War
Aegean: 2 Royal Navy mInesweep*ers tow 14 caiques to land opposite Samos (150 irregulars involved, 2 killed), capture 1,870 cattle (night April 30 to May 1).
In April British merchant shipping losses: 43 ships with 141,193t plus 131 lives (total Allied and neutral shipping loss 187,307t incl 56,000t or 20 ships in Mediterranean).
Well that's it for April - in May we have The Battle of Vimy Ridge, some more from Capt. Tunstill's men (who have been sitting around in and behind their trenches being mostly bored these past few days) more Zeppelin raids and at the end of May we have The Battle of Jutland.
I have been especially paying attention to the details on the Irish Easter Uprising. Thank you for those posts, especially.
Another epic piece of reportage Chris.
Well done sir.
Rob.
Attachment 195079
May 1st 1916
Dublin counts the cost of the Easter Rising
Attachment 195080
The Easter Rising has shocked Dublin, with the city and its people scarred by the fighting. The area around Sackville Street in ruins. Compared to the fighting on the Western Front the loss in life has been relatively slight, with less than 500 people dying in the week of fighting. But Dublin is not the Western Front; people thought they were safe here from the war and are shocked by the blood-letting that descended onto the city’s streets. The fighting cost the rebels some 64 men killed. With 132 of its soldiers killed, the British army has had a worse time of it, but civilian deaths outnumber the combined deaths of the combatants. More than 250 civilians died in the fighting. Larger numbers of people in all categories have been injured by the fighting.
Attachment 195081
Civilian casualties are inevitable when fighting takes place in a densely populated urban centre. Most of the civilians killed or wounded were the unlucky recipients of stray bullets. But there are some more unsavoury incidents. In house-to-house fighting in the North King Street area it appears that British troops were shooting men without distinguishing between rebels and bystanders. The perpetrators of the North King Street killings can at least claim to have been acting in the heat of battle. The actions of Captain Bowen-Colthurst in the Portobello area are harder to fathom. During the week he arrested a small number of men, held them overnight, before ordering them executed by firing squad without any semblance of trial. Bowen-Colthurst himself also shot some people he met on the street and suspected of involvement in the Rising or of having disloyal thoughts, including a city councillor who is now fighting for his life in hospital. The dead include two barmen, two journalists from pro-British newspapers and the pacifist socialist Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (arrested as he returned from a quixotic attempt to stop looting in the city centre). In the barracks the five bodies of Bowen-Colthurst’s victims are buried in quicklime to obscure his crimes.
Dubliners may think that with the rebellion over things can begin to return to normal. General Maxwell, Britain’s military governor, has other ideas. He still has his extraordinary martial law powers. He is determined to use them to pacify the country and prevent any future rebellion. The leaders of the Rising will be tried by military courts empowered to hand out death sentences. Maxwell also intends a general crackdown on disloyal elements, with mass arrests of suspicious characters planned.
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Captain Christopher Wilkinson Brown (Royal Scots Fusiliers) is killed in action at age 23. He is the son of the Reverend C V Brown and he had been wounded twice in 1915.
Captain Neville Wallach MC (Australian Infantry) is killed in action at age 21 when a shell burst sends a splinter through his head as his officers are sitting down to eat. He is a member of the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football club and his brother will be killed in April 1918.
Lieutenant Harry Morton Ellis Adie (Central Ontario Regiment attached Royal Flying Corps) dies of wounds at age 29. His three cousins will be killed in the Great War.
Private Patrick Pender (Munster Fusiliers) dies at home in Dover. His brother was killed in July 1915.
Private Victor Herbert Nicholas (Machine Gun Corps) dies of wounds at age 23. His brother was killed in March 1915.
Private James Potts (Lancaster Regiment) dies on service in Mesopotamia at age 17. He is the first of three brothers who will lose their lives in the war.
Private W Bussell (Quebec Regiment) is killed at age 30. His brother was killed in April 1915.
There was just the one aerial victory claim today - Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke claims his 15th kill by shooting down a French Biplane somewhere over the French lines...
Attachment 195082
There was one airman lost today Lieutenant Harry Morton Ellis Adie No. 8 Squadron RFC - Accidentally Killed while flying 1 May 1916 aged 29.
Western Front
German reverses east of Ypres and north of Albert (Somme). British trench newspaper parodies ‘How to Win the War’ ideas.
Verdun: Nivelle succeeds Petain in command, boasts ‘We have the formula’. Latter to head French Centre Army Group. French take trenches southeast of Fort Douaumont. 40 French divisions have fought since start of battle against 26 German divisions (no relief of formations, only replacements of men). At the side of the French a crisis situation occurred in the army Command. Joffre blamed Pétain a too careful and too defensive attitude. Furthermore, when Pétain demanded a longer period of rest for his divisions, Joffre concluded that the planned offensive of the Somme would be in danger. Pétain was kicked upstairs and received the function of Commander-in-chief of the Central Army Group, to which division Verdun belonged as well. His replacement from Monday 1 May was General Robert Nivelle, who was known for being a ruthless fighter that favoured the frontal attack [l’ attaque à outrance]. One of his subordinates, his right hand man, is General Charles Mangin. This is a rock-hard front General, who had already been in command at Verdun, of the Vth Division, and who was nicknamed the 'slaughterer' because of his ruthless attacks. Mangin made it his aim to recapture Fort Douaumont.
Verdun
The attack of Fort Vaux is begun. The army command wants to clear the French lines in the Bois de la Caillette first before the fort is actually attacked. The position of these French lines is a severe obstacle for the attacker when storming the fort. However, German Headquarters decides differently: fort Vaux has to be attacked first. On Sunday 7 May it becomes clear that the German attack has failed again. The French artillery fire, lead by observation balloons and aircraft is too severe. The Germans are forced back. The attack of the Thiaumont- fortification, which was started on the same day, fails as well, due to the severe French artillery fire. There is no German air-raid protection that day. The German planes had not taken off, in order to throw of the French, and not give away the surprise attack.
Attachment 195086
In the meantime Fort Douaumont has become the basis for all German activities in the frontline, against the Bois de la Caillette, the Thiaumont-line and later against Fleury. The munitions depots are situated here, wounded can receive medical attention and the provisioning of all front troops are initiated from Fort Douaumont. The fort is attacked by the French, night and day. All German activities take place at night in order for the movement of troops not to be visible from barrage balloons and aircraft. The French artillery keeps firing at the supply routes and the Germans move in between attacks. On Monday - 8 May 4:00 a.m. there is an huge explosion in the fort. There is a large number of deaths. (see later posts) Because of the severe French resistance at Fort Vaux, Bois de la Caillette and the Thiaumont-fortification, combined with the catastrophe in Fort Douaumont, the German operation "May bowl" is a failure right from the start.
During May French Captain Andre Laffargue publishes pamphlet on revolutionary infiltration tactics for infantry (Germans apparently capture a copy).
Southern Fronts
Italian Front: During May French begin sending 250 MGs per month to Italy.
African Fronts
Rhodesia: 1st Native Regiment formed, leaves for East Africa on July 18.
Sea War
Channel: Vice-Admiral Ronarc’h becomes French C*-in-C for duration of War.
Adriatic: During May first Italian MAS motor launches (299 built) enter service (ordered April 1915). 47 Japanese fishing boats bought in 1916 for escort role. 4 Italian battleships now based at Valona, Albania.
Mediterranean: In May Admiral Haus promoted Austria’s first and only Grand Admiral (c. May 28). U-boats sink 37 ships or 72,072t in Mediterranean out of grand total of 119,381t.
Germany*: First of 24 All-type coastal torpedo-boat/minesweepers commissioned for Flanders operations (6 finished at Antwerp).
The American Submarine - USS L-5 (SS-44) is launched on this day
Attachment 195087
L-5's keel was laid down on 14 May 1914 by Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, launched on 1 May 1916, sponsored by Mrs. Rosalind Robinson, and commissioned on 17 February 1918 with Lieutenant J. M. Deem in command. After exercises along the Atlantic coast, L-5 departed Charleston, South Carolina, on 15 October 1918 with Submarine Division 6 and reached the Azores on 7 November. Following the Armistice with Germany on 11 November, L-5 headed west, arriving Bermuda on 1 December. She participated in exercises in the Caribbean Sea before steaming on to San Pedro, California, where she arrived 13 February 1919. From 1919 to 1922, she remained on the West Coast experimenting with new torpedoes and underseas detection equipment. L-5 departed San Pedro on 25 July 1922, and, after visits in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Panama Canal Zone, she arrived Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 28 September. The submarine remained there until she decommissioned on 5 December 1922. She was sold on 21 December 1925 to Passaic Salvage and Reclamation Company in Newark, New Jersey, and scrapped.
Air War
France: First flight of French Spad S7 fighter (140-hp Hispano-Suiza V8 engine).
The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rugged aircraft with good climbing and diving characteristics. It was also a stable gun platform, although pilots used to the more manoeuvrable Nieuport fighters found it heavy on the controls. It was flown by a number of the famous aces, such as France's Georges Guynemer, Italy's Francesco Baracca and Australia's Alexander Pentland.
Attachment 195083
Performance in early aircraft designs was largely dependent on engines. In February 1915, Swiss designer Marc Birkigt had created an overhead cam aviation powerplant based on his Hispano-Suiza V8 automobile engine, resulting in a 330 lb engine capable of producing 140 hp at 1,400 rpm. Further refinement of the engine brought the power to 150 hp by July 1915. Given the engine's potential, French officials ordered that production be set up as soon as possible and called upon aircraft designers to create a new high-performance fighter around the engine, called the Hispano-Suiza 8A. Louis Béchereau, chief designer of the SPAD company, quickly produced drawings for a prototype fighter equipped with the new engine. The SPAD V was basically a smaller version of the SPAD S.A two-seat "pulpit fighter", although as a single seater it dispensed with the so-called "pulpit" which carried the observer in front of the propeller. One of many common design feature between the new SPAD V and the S.A-2 was the use of a single-bay biplane wing with additional light struts mounted mid bay at the point of junction of the flying and landing wires. This design simplified rigging and reduced flying wire vibration, reducing drag. The fuselage was of the standard construction for the time, consisting of a wooden frame covered with fabric, while the forward part was covered with metal sheeting. A .303 Vickers machine gun was installed above the engine, synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. The prototype was also fitted with a large spinner, to be abandoned later.
SPAD test pilot Bequet flew the SPAD V for the first time in April 1916. Flight testing revealed excellent maximum speed (192 km/h, 119 mph) and climb rate (4.5 min to 2,000 m or 6,500 ft). The air frame's sound construction also enabled remarkable diving performance. In comparison, the Nieuport sesquiplane fighters that equipped a large part of the fighter units could occasionally shed its lower wings in a steep power-on dive, a result of the single-spar lower wing design. The combination of high speed and good diving ability promised to give Allied pilots the initiative to engage or leave combat. If the new fighter was a rugged and stable shooting platform, some pilots regretted its lack of maneuverability, especially when compared to lighter types such as the Nieuport 17.
In the face of such performance, an initial production contract was made on 10 May 1916, calling for 268 machines, to be designated SPAD VII C.1 (C.1, from avion de chasse in French, indicating the aircraft was a fighter, while the 1 indicated it was a single seater).
Early production aircraft suffered from a number of defects which took some time to solve and limited the delivery rate to units. While a few SPADs arrived to frontline units as early as August 1916, large numbers would only begin to appear in the first months of 1917. Among the problems encountered were problems with the Hispano-Suiza engine. In hot weather, the engine was prone to overheating. In cold weather, the engine would not warm up. Various field modifications were used to counter the problem, including cutting extra holes in the metal sheeting to provide more air flow over the engine. On the production lines, the cowling opening was first enlarged and eventually redesigned with vertical shutters to solve both problems. The engine mount also proved too weak and reinforcements were designed to counter that. Early production aircraft also had two ammunition drums: one for normal rounds and the other for empty ones. This system was prone to jamming and was only solved when Prideaux disintegrating ammo links were introduced. With the initial teething problems solved, several subcontractors began producing the SPAD VII under license in order to supply frontline units with the fighter. The subcontractors were the firms Grémont, Janoir, Kellner et Fils, de Marçay, Société d'Etudes Aéronautiques, Régy and Sommer. It was not, however, until February 1917 that the initial batch of 268 aircraft was delivered.[4] In early 1917, an improved version of the engine developing 180 hp, the Hispano-Suiza 8Ab, was made available. This new powerplant provided the SPAD VII with even better performance, the top speed increasing from 192 km/h (119 mph) to 208 km/h (129 mph). The new engine gradually became the standard powerplant for the SPAD VII and by April 1917, all newly produced aircraft were equipped with it.
The French Aviation Militaire had been sufficiently impressed by the performance of the SPAD V prototype to order a batch of 268 aircraft on 10 May 1916. However, teething problems soon appeared and it would be several months before the SPAD VII would serve in significant numbers on the front, the last aircraft of the initial batch only being delivered in February 1917.
In spite of these delays, some aircraft were delivered to frontline units as early as August 1916, complementing the Nieuport fighters. By this date, the Nieuport 11 that had ended the infamous "Fokker scourge" episode had been largely replaced by later types such as the Nieuport 17 but these were now being bested by a new generation of German fighters by the second half of 1916 that threatened to give Germany mastery of the skies again. At the same time, the rotary engines that had powered most Allied fighters until then were proving difficult to scale further, while the heavier inline engines were steadily getting more powerful. In this context, it was hoped the new Hispano-Suiza 8-powered SPAD VII would be able to fight the latest German fighters on better terms. The first aircraft delivered to a frontline unit was S.112 flown by Lt Sauvage of N.65, followed by S.113, assigned to Georges Guynemer of N.3. Guynemer was already credited with 15 victories at the time, but it was Armand Pinsard of N.26 who was the first to score an aerial victory on 26 August.The introduction of the SPAD VII was not enough to change the balance of the air war but it allowed both pilots and mechanics to familiarize themselves with the new fighter. Many pilots found the SPAD lacked maneuverability and some even returned to the nimbler Nieuports. New tactics based on speed were developed to take advantage of the SPAD's power, and to compensate for its lack of maneuverability. The aircraft's capacity to dive safely up to 400 km/h (249 mph) permitted the pilot to break from combat when the situation demanded it. With early problems solved and production shared between several manufacturers, the SPAD VII was finally available in large numbers at the front in early 1917. By mid 1917, some 500 were in front-line service, having largely replaced the Nieuport. It gained a reputation for being stronger than its predecessors. Its principal shortcoming was its one machine gun armament at a time when the opposing Albatros D.III fighters were equipped with two. The SPAD VII was gradually replaced by the improved SPAD XIII in front line units but remained in use as a trainer aircraft with Aviation Militaire throughout the war and it remained as the standard pilot certification test aircraft until 1928.
Anyone who knows me knows how much I like this plane and one version in particular...
Attachment 195084
Caquot (French) introduces the classic kite (observation) barrage balloon.
Attachment 195085
Britain: A MG synchronized to fire through the propeller arc is introduced into Royal Flying Corps squadron service for the first time (1 1/2-Strutters’ of No 70 Squadron). The Vickers-Challenger synchronisation gear was put into production for the Royal Flying Corps in December 1915, and in a few weeks, a similar order for the Scarff-Dibovski gear was placed for the RNAS. Early production 1½ Strutters were fitted with one or the other of these gears for the pilot's fixed .303-in Vickers machine gun; due to a shortage of the new gears some early aircraft were built with only the observer's gun. Later aircraft were either fitted with the Ross or the Sopwith-Kauper gears. None of these early mechanical synchronisation gears were very reliable and it was not uncommon for propellers to be damaged, or even entirely shot away.
Politics
Britain: During May British Grave Registration units formed in Egypt, Salonika, Mesopotamia and East Africa.
Attachment 195276
May 2nd 1916
I wonder if 100 years from now someone will be sitting there typing - this was the year Leicester City won the Premier League, as a Chelsea fan I'm glad we could help Leicester over the line and ruins Spurs season at the same time.....
100 years ago we would have been wishing a very happy birthday to the one and only Manfred Von Richthofen
After many losses over the past week or so NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR TUESDAY MAY 2ND 1916
As far as aerial victories are concerned there were just the two on this day (blimey if this was 1917 there were 34 - think I need to be on holiday in 12 months time....)
Claiming his second victory by downing a Morane over Lysskowcy we have Hauptmann Godwin Brumowski
Attachment 195277
Also claiming his second victory, and also by shooting down a Morane over Lyssowcy we have Offizierstellvertreter Kurt Gruber
Attachment 195278
Its been a while but we have reports of yet more Zeppelin raids...
Planned as a big Navy Zeppelin raid on the Rosyth docks near Edinburgh, the weather disrupted the attack. In addition the Army sent out one Zeppelin intending to bomb Manchester. Neither target was reached.
It seems the Army’s LZ.98 (Hauptman Erich Linnarz) appeared off the Lincolnshire coast around 7.00pm. In worsening weather and keeping out to sea she flew southwards from Spurn Head as far Mablethorpe, then turned back. Returning to a position off Spurn Head, but never coming inland, Linnarz set course for home at about 8.15pm.
Two of the Navy’s Zeppelins did actually reach Scotland but without any serious effect. L.14 (Kapitänleutnant Böcker) had reached Edinburgh in April but did not manage to repeat the feat. She struck the coast north of Berwick at about 8.25pm and hoped to follow it up the Firth of Forth, but strong winds carried her north. She struck the coast again at Lunan Bay, north of Arbroath. Turning south she reached Arbroath at about 10.50pm where she circled for some time in low rain clouds. Then, just to the west of the village of Arbirlot, Böcker dropped three high-explosive (HE) bombs at about 11.40pm, which fell in a grass field on Bonhard Farm. A horse took fright and injured itself jumping a fence. Three miles further south, L.14 dropped two more HE bombs. These fell in a potato field at Penlathy Farm near Muirdrum, breaking a single pane of glass. L.14 went back out to sea over Carnoustie and headed back to Germany.
Attachment 195279
The other Zeppelin to reach Scotland, L.20 (Kapitänleutnant Franz Stabbert), made an unexpected tour of the Highlands. She came inland over Lunan Bay at about 9.55pm and followed a north-west course, but bad weather and blanket mist made it impossible to determine where she was, until the skies cleared at about 12.30am - over Loch Ness! With the general lack of visible landmarks over the Highlands, Stabbert decided to turn back. From a position about 30 miles west of Aberdeen, Stabbert saw a light below. Believing this might be a coalmine pithead he released six HE bombs at about 1.45am (one failed to explode). The bombs, in fact, fell in the grounds of Craig Castle, between Rhynie and Lumsden. One fell within 40 feet of the castle; no injuries occurred but the roof and windows were damaged. L.20 then followed a north-east course for about 10 miles towards Insch, where it released four HE bombs that landed in a field at Knockenbaird, and an incendiary which came down in a field at Scotston. No significant damage occurred. Stabbert then dropped three final HE bombs just north of Old Rayne where they landed harmlessly in a field at Freefield House. He then continued to the coast, which he crossed south of Peterhead at about 2.40am. But now L.20 had a problem. Having flown further north than any other Zeppelin before or after, and facing strong winds across his course, Stabbert realised he did not have enough fuel to get back to Germany. He eventually made a crash landing in Norway on the morning of 3 May. Some of the crew jumped overboard before they crossed the coastline and, rescued by fishing boats, were men returned to Germany as shipwrecked mariners. Stabbert and the rest, who came down with L.20 in a fjord, were interned. The Norwegian authorities destroyed the wreckage of L.20. Perhaps the most unspectacular raid carried out by the six Navy Zeppelins that appeared over England was carried out by L.11 (Korvettenkapitän Victor Schütze). While still about ten miles east of St. Abb’s Head, a headland north of Berwick, the armed trawler Semiramis and armed yacht Portia engaged her at about 8.40pm firing 13 rounds. They failed to damage L.11 but she turned away and only reappeared at about 10.20pm, coming inland just north of Holy Island. She dropped two incendiary bombs, one fell near Goswick and the other on the sands between Holy Island and the coast. The weather in the area was bad with low rain clouds and mist and L.11 may have been unsure of her position after the encounter with the two ships. She followed the coast on a southerly course until she reached Amble then went back out to sea. (more tomorrow...)
Attachment 195280
Upper Prince St. York
George and Sarah Avison of York are killed instantly in a Zeppelin raid by a direct hit on their home in Upper Price Street. Seven other people die and 28 were injured but due to wartime censorship full details will not be released until 2nd May 1945 – exactly 40 years after the raid.
While a German 21-cm shell in which several holes have been bored is being steamed in a laboratory for study purposes the box of shaving in which it is packed catches fire. The officer in charge of the laboratory at once sends for help to the nearest Army Service Corps fire station, orders all persons to leave the building and warns the inhabitants of the neighboring houses that a serious explosion is imminent. On receipt of the request for help Lieutenant Sidney Albert Rowlandson, Mechanic Staff Sergeant Thomas Michael Walton and Privates Alexander Anderson and Joseph Thomas Lawrence at once collect fire extinguishers and proceed by motor to the laboratory. They enter the building, and after about two minutes are able to reach the burning shell which they drag into the yard and extinguish. For their actions all four men will be awarded the Albert Medal.
An update from Capt. Tunstill's men who aren't having that bad a time of it...
The weather has remained fine and settled; it was hot during the day, and pleasant during the evening. The Battalion was primarily engaged in training exercises and also in providing large working parties (the Brigade as a whole provided up to 1,100 men per day) . The evening saw an increase in artillery activity from both sides, lasting between two and three hours.
The war at sea
There was plenty of U-Boat activity with eight ships being reported lost on this day...
Fridland Sweden The cargo ship struck a mine and was damaged in the North Sea off the Longsand Lightship ( United Kingdom) (51°51′N 1°56′E) and was beached at Blyth, Northumberland without loss of life. She was later refloated, repaired and returned to service.
Le Pilier France The barque was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay (47°50′N 5°50′W) by SM U-45 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Maud United Kingdom The schooner was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 50 nautical miles (93 km) south west of Ouessant, Finistère, France (47°50′N 7°30′W) by SM U-45 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Mars Norway The barge was scuttled in the North Sea by SM UB-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Memento Norway The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea (56°15′N 2°46′E) by SM UB-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Rochester City United Kingdom The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) off Southwold, Suffolk (52°10′N 1°47′E) with the loss of a crew member.
Ruabon United Kingdom The cargo ship was captured, torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 160 nautical miles (300 km) west by south of Ouessant by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived. Her crew were rescued by Misurata ( Italy).
Superb Norway The lighter, a converted barque, was scuttled in the North Sea (56°16′N 3°55′E) by SM UB-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survive
Western Front
Somme: French in planned offensive to be led by Micheler, Petain obvious choice but jealous Joffre will not consider him.
Southern Fronts
Macedonia: French troops occupy Florina 23 miles south of Monastir.
Middle East
Mesopotamia: King’s mes*sage to Tigris Corps (new 14th Division formed on May 12), cholera out*break (shade temperature 115° F).
Secret War
Stotzingen leaves Jerusalem for Arabia, heads for Wejh but only reaches Yanbo (late May) due to Royal Navy blockade.
Attachment 195370
May 3rd 1916
There was one airman lost on this day - Lance Corporal George Walter Palgrave RFC attached from the 2nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. Lance Corporal GEORGE WALTER PALGRAVE 8444, Royal Flying Corps and 2nd Bn, Norfolk Regiment who died on 3 May 1916 Born Wilby, Norfolk Enlisted: East Dereham. KUT WAR CEMETERY From this I assume he was one of the chaps taken when Kut was surrendered to the Turkish forces.
The only aerial victory claim today was Oberleutnant der Reserve Ernst Freiherr von Althaus who claimed his sixth victory by shooting down a French two seater.
Attachment 195380
More Zeppelin raids (continued from yesterday)
The remaining five Zeppelins raided over Yorkshire where the weather conditions appear to have been slightly more favourable. By far the most deadly attack was that made by L.21 (Kapitänleutnant Max Dietrich). L.21 came inland near Scarborough at about 9.40pm and followed a south-east course to the south of York where she changed course to follow the railway leading into the city. Between Copmanthorpe and Dringhouses on the south-west edge she released five HE and 13 incendiary bombs. Damage was limited to broken windows but two soldiers received minor injuries. At least 16 bombs dropped on York city. An incendiary on Knavesmire caused no damage, but three HE and two incendiaries landing at Nunthorpe Hall - serving as a VAD Hospital - destroyed the roof, but none of the nursing staff or patients were injured. The next HE bomb fell in Nunthorpe Avenue, killing 28-year-old Emily Chapman and seriously injuring her sister and mother. In Upper Price Street another HE bomb made a direct hit on number 13, destroying it and seriously damaged other houses. It also killed an elderly married couple in their bed: George and Sarah Avison. Further HE bombs fell in Nunthorpe Road, Victoria Street and Price’s Lane, smashing doors and windows and damaging roofs. In Newton Terrace an HE bomb injured three people and wrecked four houses. A woman was injured in Kyme Street where an HE bomb blasted doors and windows. The last HE bomb landed in St. Saviourgate where it seems a number of people were in the street watching the raid. The explosion ripped out the fronts of a number of houses. Two soldiers, Sergeant Edward Beckett and Private Leslie Hinson, were helping an elderly lady, Susannah Waudby, to reach her house in St. Saviourgate when the bomb exploded; all three died. Others killed were William Chappelow, Ernest Coultish and Benjamin Sharpe. On her way back to the coast L.21 dropped one more bomb, an incendiary, which fell harmlessly at Kirkby Grindalythe.
The raids by the remaining four Zeppelins did not quite live up to expectations. L.23 (Kapitänleutnant Otto von Schubert) came inland over Robin Hood’s Bay at about 9.15pm and headed west over the North Yorkshire Moors. Over Denby High Moor von Schubert released an incendiary bomb, presumably to check his ground speed and drift; it was to have enormous consequences. He then followed a course to the north, to the ever-popular target of the Skinningrove Iron Works. Von Schubert released seven HE bombs and four incendiaries at about 10.05pm, but the only damage was a partly wrecked and burnt storehouse. A 6-in gun at Brotton opened fire on L.23, getting off three rounds. Von Schubert turned away to the east and five minutes later released six incendiary bombs over Easington, which caused injury to a child and damaged a house. L.23 then began her homeward journey.
Following on behind L.23, Oberleutnant-zur-See Werner Peterson brought L.16 inland at some time prior to 10.00pm, but her movements do not become clear until she appears over Rosedale Abbey on the North York Moors at 10.30pm. Peterson saw a large fire to the north and steered towards it. The incendiary bomb dropped earlier by L.23 had caused a heather fire on the moor. Peterson believed the blaze was the town of Stockton-on-Tees and commenced to drop an undisclosed number of his own bombs on to the fire. From Danby High Moor L.16 followed the Esk valley eastwards and at around 10.50pm dropped five HE bombs on the village of Lealholm. The bombs caused slight damage to a farm building and smashed some windows but no one was injured. At about 11.15pm Peterson dropped five incendiaries harmlessly over the village of Moorsholm before commencing his homeward journey.
Kapitänleutnant Herbert Ehrlich brought L.17 inland at about 10.50pm near Saltburn, between Middlesbrough and Skinningrove. She made straight for the latter place and dropped 13 HE and four incendiary bombs, which all fell on the neighbouring village of Carlin How. The bombs wrecked six houses and blasted roof tiles off and smashed windows in many others but there were no casualties. The glow of a huge fire to the south-west then attracted Ehrlich’s attention and he set a course towards it. He reported it as ‘a coastal city…apparently Saltburn’ but it was Danby High Moor, and at about 11.30pm, L.17 added a number of her bombs to the immense fire below. Ehrlich then headed for the coast and went back out to sea just to the north of Whitby.
The last Zeppelin involved in the raid this night, L.13 (Kapitänleutnant Eduard Prölss), came in near Whitby at about 10.30pm. After taking a south-west course she was seen at the North Yorkshire Moor’s village of Goathland, and then the trace of her is lost until she reappears about 35 miles to the south near Market Weighton at about 11.40pm. It seems highly likely, however, that L.13 contributed a significant number of her bombs to the raging conflagration now engulfing Danby High Moor before reaching Market Weighton, as she only dropped two other bombs during the raid. Presumably unsure of his whereabouts, Prölss released two parachute flares over Pocklington before heading north. He dropped a single incendiary at Fridaythorpe a little before midnight, falling harmlessly in a grass field. At Rillington she turned east and at about 12.40am dropped a second incendiary at Seamer, south of Scarborough, again without damage. Then about 10 minutes later, Prölss took L.13 out to sea just to the north of Scarborough.
It is impossible to determine exactly how many bombs fell on Danby High Moor. The local police recorded 39 large craters made by explosive bombs and 7 smaller ones from incendiaries. They also reported that any which failed to explode were likely to have sunk below the boggy ground and were untraceable.
Seaplane attack
Attachment 195386
The details of this air raid appear a little confused as regards to the number of bombs - some official sources say seven and others nine high-explosive bombs. Also the exact locations of some bombs are missing in official and newspaper accounts written at the time.
At about 3.30pm on Wednesday 3rd May a single Hansa-Brandenburg NW floatplane of SFA 1, based at Zeebrugge, appeared over Deal, approaching the town from the direction of Ramsgate. Although it was bright day there were banks of cloud, making observation and identification difficult. As it circled over the town for a couple of minutes it did not raise any undue concern, those who saw it presuming it was a British aircraft.
Reports state that six bombs fell in the locality of the railway station, but none actually on it. One of these bombs exploded on what some reports describe as an outhouse and others as a lodge, by a tarred path leading to the station. The bomb destroyed the roof and smashed windows in about 20 houses. Considering where those bombs we do know fell, this may be Church Path. A railway ticket inspector, Mr Potnell, walking along the path to the station received severe injuries to his arms and legs and later had a leg amputated. Not far away near Sutherland Road, a milkman, Charles Hutchins, also suffered a leg injury from a flying bomb fragment. Another bomb fell in a road nearby making a crater and smashing numerous windows in the area. A third bomb destroyed the roof and the upper storey of a house, severely injuring an invalid woman who lived there. A large part of the roof landed in the road and stopped the traffic. Details of the other three bombs near the station are not recorded, it is unlikely therefore that they caused any significant damage.
The last identifiable bomb landed on the roof of Admiral Keppel pub in Manor Road, near the western end of Church Path, and directly opposite St. Leonard’s Church. It appears not to have detonated. Damage amounted to ‘dislodging the tiles, and damaging the top part of the structure’. Flying debris appears to have caused minor damage to the church.
Attachment 195388
St. Leonards church & the Admiral Kepple pub
The official report then adds that ‘Two further bombs dropped did no damage’. The surprise appearance of the raider meant defence aircraft only got airborne after it had started its return journey. With a head start and low cloud they had no chance to engage the raider.
On a day we lost 284 men:
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Captain Gilbert Meade Gerard (Highland Light Infantry) is killed in action at age 27 in Mesopotamia. He is the son of the late General ‘Sir’ Montague Gerard Gilbert.
Private Frederick Thomas Bolland (Staffordshire Yeomanry) is killed in action at age 24 in Egypt. His brother will be killed in June 1918.
Private Mervyn Boyson (Northamptonshire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 22. He is the first of three brothers who will be killed in the Great War.
Private William Gregson Blackledge (Gloucestershire Regiment) dies at Bristol of enteric fever at age 19. He is the son of the Reverend Robert Thomas Blackledge Christ Church Rectory, Denton.
Western Front
Verdun: French storm positions northwest of Mort Homme, but 500 German guns on a mile front shell Hill 304 (until May 5); one French battalion reduced to 3 men.
Middle East
Persia: Russian general Baratov occupies Kasr-i-Shirin on border (110 miles from Baghdad) and learns Kut’s surrender by radio, takes Khanikin (on May 15).
African Fronts
East Africa: Belgian troops occupy Shanzugu (Lake Kivu) and Kigali on May 6.
Sea War
North Sea: Weather thwarts British carrier raid with Vindex and Engadine on Tondern Zeppelin sheds (until May 4), but cruisers Galatea and Phaeton force Zeppelin L7 down.
Submarine E31 finishes it off and rescues 7 survivors, also survives 5.9-inch shell hit and ramming attempt by cruiser Rostock.
Main rival fleets briefly sortie in support (May 4-5).
Attachment 195404
The story from a man in Eccles.....
The remarkably successful exploit of the British Submarine E31 in recently bringing down the German Zeppelin L7 on the Schleswig coast acquires an added interest in Eccles from the fact that an Eccles man had a share in it, and has written an interesting description. Stoker William McKnight, whose sisters live at 89 Trafford Rd, writes: “ Last week was the most exciting week I have ever had in my life. We had the luck of the devil with us. Our boat, a submarine, brought down and destroyed a Zeppelin and brought seven of the crew back with us. The map will show how far exactly we were from Germany when it happened. When you look at it, it does seem rather a hot-headed thing to do, but you know the old saying that there is nothing impossible to the British Navy. After we had polished off the Zeppelin we made for our base so that we could get rid of the prisoners, and were sailing merrily along in the middle of the night when we espied a fast German cruiser, not a hundred yards away, making to cut us in halves. Owing to our officers giving the correct order at the correct second they were spoiled in their attempt to ram us. Our boat altered course, our bows swung round and the two boats stopped side by side with not twenty yards between us. The next thing we had to do was to jump down the conning tower, close the hatch and dive the boat. During the couple of minutes it took to do that, the cruiser was blazing shells at us, but owing to their rotten gunnery we managed to get down, and only one of the shells hit us, and that wasn’t in a vital place. The people who understand the thing properly cannot make out how we managed to get clear away. But there it is. The job’s a good one. Britain still rules the waves, so its not a bit of use worrying is it?....
The Zeppelin men may be brave men when they are sailing over dear old England on a dark night dropping bombs on women and children, but after we had blown them out of their old sausage machine they were glad to beg and plead with us to save their lives. We killed 11 during the ‘argument’ and brought seven back for ‘curios’.”
Stoker McKnight, who will be 25 at the end of the month, is married. He joined the Navy seven years ago, and has experienced some of the perils and excitements encountered by our senior service. He has been on the E31, one of the newest of the submarines, since November, but in the early days of the war he took part in the battle of the Chilian coast whilst on H.M.S. Suffolk, whose sister ship, the Good Hope, was sunk with the Monmouth. He has also seen service in various submarines. One of his exploits, and he has escaped very narrowly from several, was in action on the Suffolk against the famous German cruiser Karlsruhe.
Air War
Eastern Front: Zeppelin ZX11 raids Luninetz and LZ86 Minsk railways.
Home Fronts
Russia: Ex-War Minister General Sukhomlinov arrested on treason charges.
Britain: *10% lighting reduction requested to save coal.
Attachment 195526
May 4th 1916
May the fourth be with you !
There were 4 airmen lost on this day...
Lieutenant John Romeyn Dennistoun 7 Squadron RFC attached from the 1st Canadian Division Cyclist Corps - Killed in Action 4 May 1916 aged 21, during an aerial combat over Warneton. Son of Mr. Justice R. M. Dennistoun (Court of Appeal), of 216, Cockburn St., Winnipeg, Canada. John Romeyn Dennistoun, from Winnipeg, was an observer in No 7 Sqn RFC (formerly Fort Garry Horse and the Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion). He was killed in action on 4 May 1916 when flying in BE 2c 4109, piloted by 2Lt Edward Gurney Ryckman from Toronto. They were carrying out an Artillery registration mission east of Ploegsteert Wood when shot down by Vizefeldwebel Wilhelm Frankl of Kampfeinsitzerkommando Vaux who was flying a Fokker monoplane; it was the 4th of [eventual] Ltn Frankl's 20 victories before his death in action on 8 April 1917.
Both crew members from 4109 are buried at Hailluin, France. From the data available , it appears that Lt J R Dennistoun was temporarily attached to the RFC from the CCCB, probably as a probationary observer. This was a common arrangement for those wishing to transfer to the RFC; they were attached while they had 'on the job' observer training and it was determined that they and aerial activities were compatible.
2nd Lieutenant Edward Gurney Ryckman 7 Squadron RFC Killed in Action 4 May 1916 aged 21, during an aerial combat over Warneton (see above)
Lieutenant Kenneth Marsden Van Allen 5th Wing RNAS - Killed in bombing attack on Marchiakirke Airfield 4 May 1916 aged 27 - some reports say he was missing in action only to have his death confirmed later in July 1916 he was most likely brought down by Flugmeister Benno Schulter (see below)
Attachment 195527
Flight Lieutenant Oswald Noel Walmesley RNAS - Drowned in wreck of seaplane 4 May 1916 aged 21
In addition we have the record of a German pilot lost on this day...
Flugmeister Benno Schluter: On the 4th of may 1916, a number of enemy planes were sighted above Oostende and they reacted at the unit with a number of planes to attack them. Schlüter was the first one in the air, and at 1500 meters he saw an enemy biplane, flying seawards at high speed. Schlüter dived upon him with his Fokker and opened fire. The Caudron IV - 9118 was not able to loose him and firing continued until he was only 30 meters away from the enemy plane, both planes still flying at only 150 meters ! All of a sudden the plane dived and crashed near the beach of Middelkerke. Schlüter landed in the immediate surroundings and ran towards the plane and pilot. Just before he reached him he collapsed and fell dead to the ground. The 22 year old Schlüter had in his hurry, touched a high tension cable, resulting to his death. His adversary, the British Flight Sub Lieutenant Kenneth Marsden van Allen of 5th Wing RNAS was also dead. They were buried side by side with full military honours on the cemetery of Westende. A black ribboned biplane flew over also during the ceremony. The grave of Benno Schlüter can now also be found at Vladslo German Military Cemetery. van Allen was from Chatham, Ontario and is buried at Ingoyghem Military Cemetery at Anzegem.
Attachment 195528
There were four aerial victory claims on this day:
Oberleutnant Benno Fiala Ritter von Fernbrugg(Austro Hungarian Air Service) flying his Hansa-Brandenburg C.I (61.55) who claimed his second kill by shooting down the Italian Airship M4 over Merna. The plane was actually flown by Oberst Adolf Heyrowsky, another Austro Hungarian Ace
Attachment 195529
Claiming his first kill today was Lieutenant Louis Fernand Coudouret of the French Air Service: I cannot find any translated information about this pilot
Attachment 195530
Finally we have Leutnant Wilhelm Frankl who claimed his 5th kill by shooting down the BE2c of Dennistoun and Ryckman
Attachment 195531
On a day we lost 275 men...
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Captain Thomas Henderson Campbell (Cameronians) is killed in action at age 26. His brother will be killed in January 1917.
Lieutenant John Romeyn Dennistoun (Canadian Divisional Cyclist Company attached Royal Flying Corps) is killed when his plane is shot down in flames and he and his pilot both jump to their deaths. The son of Mr. Justice R M Dennistoun of the Court of Appeal dies at age 21. (See above)
Lance Sergeant William Ashton (Cheshire Regiment) is killed by a sniper at age 27. His brother will be killed next month.
Western Front
Lieutenant Walter Howden Lyell (Gordon Highlanders) is in command of a party under instruction in throwing hand grenades when one of the men throws a grenade on to the parapet directly in front of the party placing the entire group in danger. Lieutenant Lyell at once runs up and picks up the bomb and throws it over the parapet. For his actions Lyell will be awarded the Albert Medal.
Still quiet for Tunstill's men: Condition were again quiet and more training continued, alongside the provision of working parties. In the evening orders were received that the Battalion would move next day, by train, back to Pernes. The orders stated that the Battalion would march either to the station at Hersin or Barlin “according to whether the former is being shelled or otherwise
Air War
Eastern Front: IM heavy bomber Ilya Murmometz II (Pankratiev) flies first of 5 successful armed reconnaissance missions during May over Yazlovetch-Bugatch and Yazlovetch-Rusilov sectors and helps capture of Yazlovetch.
Attachment 195532
Middle East
Mesopotamia: Kut garrison’s 420 officers taken away by paddle steamer to Baghdad.
Sea War
Germany: Rules of cruiser warfare to be observed by U-boat commanders if ships do not try and escape or resist.
Adriatic: French submarine Bernouilli blows stern off Austrian destroyer Csepel at Cattaro entrance.
This week saw the commissioning of a ship whose name would long become associated with the events of December 7th 1941... USS Oklahoma
Attachment 195533
USS Oklahoma (BB-37) was a Nevada-class battleship built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Nevada class were the first super-dreadnoughts and oil-burning ships in the United States Navy. Oklahoma was the only US warship ever named for the 46th state.
Oklahoma, commissioned in 1916, served in World War I as a member of Battleship Division 6, protecting Allied convoys on their way across the Atlantic. After the war, she served in both the United States Battle Fleet and Scouting Fleet. Oklahoma was modernized between 1927 and 1929. In 1936, she rescued American citizens and refugees from the Spanish Civil War. On returning to the West coast in August of the same year, Oklahoma spent the rest of her service in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941, Oklahoma was sunk by several torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized in Battleship Row. In 1943 Oklahoma was righted and salvaged. However, unlike most of the other battleships that were recovered following Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma was too damaged to return to duty. She was eventually stripped of her remaining armaments and superstructure before being sold for scrap in 1946. She sank in a storm while being towed from Oahu in Hawaii to a breakers yard in San Francisco Bay in 1947.
Following commissioning, the ship remained along the East Coast of the United States primarily visiting various Navy yards. She was initially not able to join the Battleship Division Nine task force sent to support the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during World War I due to a lack of oil available there. In 1917, she underwent a refit and two 3-inch/50 caliber guns were installed forward of the mainmast for anti aircraft defense, and nine of the 5"/51 caliber guns were removed or repositioned. While conditions on the ship were cramped, the sailors on the ship had many advantages for education available to them. They also spend their time on athletic competitions, including boxing, wrestling and rowing competitions with the crews of the battleship Texas and the tug Ontario. The camaraderie built from these small competitions led to fleet-wide establishment of many athletic teams pitting crews against one another for morale by the 1930s.
On 13 August 1918, Oklahoma was assigned to Battleship Division Six under the command of Rear Admiral Thomas S. Rodgers, and departed for Europe alongside Nevada. On 23 August they rendezvoused with destroyers Balch, Conyngham, Downes, Kimberly, Allen, and Sampson, 275 miles (443 km) west of Ireland, before steaming for Berehaven Harbor, where they waited for 18 days before battleship Utah arrived. The division remained at anchor, tasked to protect American convoys coming into the area, but was only called out of the harbor once in 80 days. On 14 October 1918, while under command of Charles B. McVay, Jr., she escorted troop ships into port at the United Kingdom, returning on 16 October. For the rest of the time, the ship conducted drills at anchor or in nearby Bantry Bay. To pass the time, the crews played football, and competitive sailing. Oklahoma suffered six casualties between 21 October and 2 November to the 1918 flu pandemic. Oklahoma remained off Berehaven until the end of the war on 11 November 1918. Shortly thereafter, several Oklahoma crewmembers were involved in a series of fights with members of the Sinn Féin group, forcing the ship's commander to apologize and financially compensate two town mayors.
Politics
Germany: Government Sussex ‘pledge’ reply to US note, will not sink vessels without warning, US accepts on May 8.
Neutrals
USA: *Congress doubles West Point cadets. US Marines land in Santo Domingo to restore order.
The auto save beat me by a matter of seconds...
Attachment 195635
May 5th 1916
Just spotted four more posts after this and I hit 2000 - better look for something worthwhile and not have the moment wasted by a duplicate posting....
anyway...
There were 4 airmen who lost their lives on this day:
Corporal Thomas Newsome Giddings 28 Squadron RFC - Killed while flying 5 May 1916 aged 28, with Lt Browning, who was injured. His plane stalled in a turn and crashed near to Gosport.
Sub Lieutenant Cyril John Ashley Mullins RNAS Drowned in loss of seaplane 5 May 1916 aged 18. He is shot down and killed in air combat at sea at age 18. He is the only son of ‘Sir’ John A Mullins and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Corporal Alfred Reid RFC 1 Reserve Aircraft Squadron. died 5 May 1916 aged 23 in Basra Iraq. Son of Edward and Elizabeth Reid, of 38, Canal St., Castleton, Manchester.
Flight Sub Lieutenant Herbert Rutter Simms RNAS Killed in aerial combat 5 May 1916 aged 25
Herbert Rutter Simms was born in Chipping Norton in August 1891 and was the eldest son of Daniel Rutter and Ellen Simms of 13 High Street Chipping Norton. He is father was a watchmaker and jeweller and also an Alderman of the town as was his Grandfather Charles Rice Simms, whose portrait hangs in the town hall. He was expected to join the family business but was caught up in the new flying craze being a keen modeller and reader of "Flight" magazine.
Attachment 195639
In 1908-1909 Herbert Simms constructed a high wing monoplane described as a 'Bedstead type', presumably for being mounted on four wheels. The rear wheels were arranged to drive a tractor propeller, the intention being to roll down a slope and to gain assistance from the rotating propeller. The machine was made of bamboo and the heavily cambered wing and tail were covered with linen. In 1910 Simms made a biplane cycleplane, with staggered wings and triangular front elevator flaps and a high mounted tail. Outriggers, fitted with wheels, were fitted to stabilize the machine, but it was wrecked on the first trial, on the Over Norton Road, when apparently it was just beginning to lift. Herbert Simms left home in 1909 to become an apprentice with A. V. Roe at Manchester, helping build some of the early Avro aircraft. In June 1912 he began a flying course at Roe's Flying school at Brooklands, taking lessons in lieu of wages. He was awarded his certificate aged 21 after only 3 hours 10 minutes initial flying time. Soon after he was sent to assist at military trials on Salisbury Plain of the worlds first cabin biplane, the Avro G type. In the autumn of that year the Avro flying school moved to Shoreham. Simms was appointed Chief Flying Instructor and he also test flew new models as they arrived from Avro. On one occasion he flew one to Worthing landing on the beach opposite Warne's Hotel where he lunched with friends. He left Shoreham after an accident with a plane that he claimed was unairworthy due to age and joined Sopwith at Kingston-upon-Thames. He became engaged to Violet, the sister of one of his pupils at Shoreham. In 1913 Herbert Simms joined the Royal Hellenic Navy under the command of Rear Admiral Mark Kerr and was responsible for servicing 2 seat trainers, seaplanes and flying boats of the Greek Navy Flying Corps. After the outbreak of war in 1914 Simms felt he should be doing more for war effort and in July 1915 applied and was accepted for a commission in the Royal Naval Air Service. In the "London Gazette" dated 28th July 1915 the following appeared:
The undermentioned Gentleman has been entered as flight Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, for temporary service:
In August 1915 he was posted to Chingford Naval Station which was a training ground for aviators and in November 1915 sent to Dunkirk on active service, flying two patrols a day. His first effort at flying a twin engined bomber ended disastrously, however, crashing on take-off. Herbert Simms had at least two kills. In Nieuport Type 11 Serial no. 3981 he shot down a LVG C11 at Dixmude on 29th February 1916, witnessed by Belgian troops in the trenches. In the Nieuport in which he was later killed, he shot down a FF33E seaplane attacking British ships near Zeebrugge on 24th April 1916, the record showing: " ...dived into water, pilot slumped forward, passenger jumped out from 3,000 feet rolling horizontally, its bombs blew up on hitting water." He also bombed a submarine off Ostend which he narrowly missed and flew fighting patrols to Ostend and Ypres. On 15th May 1916 whilst flying Nieuport Type 12 serial no. 8904 his aircraft was shot down by a German torpedo boat whilst engaging a German seaplane off Ostend. The pilot of the seaplane went down to 150 feet to try and rescue Herbert Simms but was driven off by an approaching Royal Navy vessel. His body was recovered from the sea by a British ship and buried with full military honours in the cemetery at Chipping Norton. He was aged 24.
Attachment 195640
There were three aerial victory claims on this day - all first timers...
Oberleutnant Otto Jager (Austro Hungarian Air Service) who shot down an unidentified plane whilst flying his Albatross B.I over Koryto
Attachment 195636
Jäger served on the Russian front with Infantry Regiment No. 67. Wounded for the first time on 30 August 1914, he recovered and returned to duty only to be wounded in the chest on 21 March 1915. Again he returned to duty and again he was wounded. This time he was shot through the lung on 17 May 1915. When he recovered he served as a training officer in Hungary and by the following year he applied for and was accepted into the air service. In the spring of 1916, Jäger was posted to the Russian front with Flik 10 as an observer. Having scored five victories, he trained to become a pilot during the last three months of 1916 and was posted to Flik 17 in March 1917. On 2 May 1917, Jäger was injured when a revolving propeller struck his legs. He recovered and served briefly with Flik 3 on the Russian front before being reassigned to Flik 27 in July 1917. During the Kerensky Offensive that month, he scored his sixth victory and was reassigned to Flik 42J in August 1917. Shortly after scoring his last victory on the morning of 19 August 1917, Jäger was killed in action when his Albatros D.III (153.14) was shot down by an Italian Nieport. He was buried with full military honors and posthumously awarded the Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd class, with swords.
Offizierstellvertreter Karl Urban Austro Hungarian Air Service - who shot down a Sikorsky whilst again flying an Albatross B.I
Attachment 195637
Karl Urban was born in Graz, Austria on 29 December 1894, when it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When World War I began, he was one of many who rushed into military service. He completed basic training, then volunteered for aviation duty. He was sent to pilot's training with Fliegerersatzkompanie 6 in Fischamend. In mid-July 1915, the newly trained pilot received his first flying assignment. He reported to Fliegerkompanie 10 on the Russian Front; it was commanded by Hauptmann (Captain) Erich Kahlen. Flik 10 was not a specialized unit; it operated predominantly two-seater aircraft, such as Hansa-Brandenburg C.Is and Knoller-Albatros B.Is. Their flights were for reconnaissance, artillery direction, and aerial photography. Urban's development of his natural abilities as a pilot soon had him acknowledged as the squadron's most skillful flier.
On 1 September 1915, was dubbed a "Field Pilot". On 28 September, he and his observer had gathered military intelligence of great value while a flying reconnaissance mission. When the machine's engine quit north of Klevan, Urban managed to glide back to a deadstick landing with friendly forces near Torczyn. On 22 December, while flying over Rowno, he suffered another engine stoppage. While still in flight, he climbed forward, unstuck the engine's valve train, and restarted the motor for the trip home. A week later, he received Austrian Pilot Certificate number 306. Urban was awarded his Field Pilot's Badge on 22 February 1916. During March 1916, he was also awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery First Class. On the 26th, he once again pulled off a daring raid on Klewan's railroad depot. He and his aerial observer, Oberleutnant Grunne, bombed the depot after penetrating heavy cloud cover and extensive anti-aircraft fire; on the way home, they spotted a previously unknown Russian airfield. On the morning of 5 May 1916, Urban and Otto Jäger, his aerial observer, engaged a Russian aircraft with a crew of three. During a prolonged battle of more than 25 minutes, Jäger fired 300 shots at the Russians before his machine gun jammed. Urban then fired with a carbine while his gunner cleared the jam. Jäger then reopened fire, and drove the Russian plane down just within its own lines. When friendly infantry verified the downing, Urban had his first aerial victory. On 7 June 1916, Urban and Jäger scored a second victory together. The two of them cooperated with another Austro-Hungarian aircrew in driving down a pair of Russian Farman biplanes; each Austro-Hungarian crew was credited with a victory. On 2 August, Jäger and Urban scored again, when the gunner used 100 rounds of ammunition to shoot down a Farman two-seater behind Russian lines; the fatal victory was later confirmed through interrogation of Russian prisoners of war. On 28 August 1916, flying with a new observer, Urban engaged four Russian planes–three Farman two-seaters and a single-seater Nieuport fighter. The efforts to fight them off took the Austro-Hungarians down into range of enemy antiaircraft fire. As the Austro-Hungarians bucked a headwind from the north, their craft was rocked by a near-miss. Shrapnel slashed into Urban's back, knocking him out. Observer Bastyr restarted the engine, then roused Urban. The latter managed to struggle back to base and was sent to hospital. His heroism was rewarded with a personal written commendation. In September, he was awarded his empire's highest honor, the Gold Medal for Bravery.
In December 1916, Urban switched to Fliegerkompanie 27. On 22 February 1917, he was granted the rare distinction of being permanently awarded the Field Pilot's Badge. Halfway through October 1917, he was reassigned again, this time to an artillery direction unit that later developed into Fliegerkompanie 66D. He would serve with them until the following Spring. Then he would be posted to a fighter unit, Fliegerkompanie 14. His Phönix D.I fighter was marked with his initial 'U' in white on a red background band wrapped around the fuselage aft of the cockpit. He used this plane for his final victory; during a general engagement on 19 May 1918, he downed an Italian fighter, probably a Hanriot HD.1.Relieved from combat duty during July 1918, Urban became a test pilot. A session for evaluating new aircraft was scheduled for 9–13 July at Aspern Airfield near Vienna. On 12 July 1918, while looping a new model Phönix D.I at 1500 meters, it lost its wings. Karl Urban died in the crash. A week later, he was posthumously promoted to Austria-Hungary's highest noncommissioned officer rank, Offiziersstellvertreter (Deputy Officer).
Leutnant zur See Erich Bonisch 1 Seaplane Station (German Imperial Air Service) who shot down a Nieuport 12 over the sea.
Attachment 195638
Alas I can find not English language site with any more details
Tunstill's Men: The Battalion’s move to Pernes began in the morning with the transport, under the supervision of Lt. Leonard Hammond (see 26th April), assisted by Lt. **** Bolton (see 4th April), departing by road, via Barlin, Houdain and Divion to Pernes. Meanwhile, 2Lt. Hugh Lester (see 26th March) was despatched to Hersin station to supervise arrangements there. At 3.50pm the Battalion formed up and marched to Hersin station and from there travelled by train, via Bruay and Bryas, back to Pernes, arriving at 7pm. They then marched to billets which were found to be, “not in a good condition. A complaint has been lodged at Brigade HQ”.
Western Front
Verdun: German gain at Hill 304. French 135th Infantry Regiment sergeant writes ‘… how could anyone cross the zone of extermination around us ?’
Attachment 195641
Southern Fronts
Salonika: Milne told he will succeed General Mahon (to Egypt) as British C-in-C.
Air War
Occupied Belgium: 19 Royal Navy Air Service aircraft (1 FTR) bomb Mariakerke airfield (night May 5-6, repeated on May 21); Ghistelles airfield bombed on May 19.
Politics
Russia: Tsar receives Serb Prime Minister Pasic.
Neutrals
USA: Mexican Villalistas loot two Texas settlements.
Attachment 195696
Well its my 1997th post, my gold coin is in the post and I eagerly await the opportunity for number 2000
Its also very late in the day and its been a very long week and the beer is nice - also most of my usual links have come back blank so might be a shorter edition tonight...
6th May 1916
According to RFC/RAF records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR SATURDAY MAY 6TH 1916
There was one claim of an aerial victory today - and its one of our Wings of War series one pilots - Vizefeldwebel Karl Friedrich Kurt Jentsch who shot down a Voisin over lake Artzan. His second confirmed kill (4th overall)
Attachment 195697
Western Front
As a working party under Lieutenant William Leslie Coutts Rathbone (London Regiment) is proceeding down a communications trench, they are fired upon from close quarters. Upon asking Lieutenant Rathbone determines that the shots have come from a soldier who has run amok and has posted himself with a loaded rifle and fixed bayonet further down the trench. Lieutenant Rathbone borrows a rifle and accompanied by Corporal Arthur Fenwick advances along the trench until in view of the mentally deranged man. They then advance with rifles ready the officer calling for the man to surrender. Receiving no reply they then drop their rifles and rush him and after disarming him take him to the nearest dressing station. Both men will be awarded the Albert Medal for their efforts.
Attachment 195700
1167 Sdt.2.Cl. Elie Léon Bonnefous, 151e Régiment d’Infanterie - See more at: http://www.westernfrontassociation.c....deisAdOW.dpuf
Elie was born on 2t January 1886. He was a glove-maker and came from Millau, Aveyron. After completing his compulsory military service at Mende in 1909, he was recalled as a reservist on 1 August 1914. He saw his first action with the 151e R.I. at Pierrepont, Moselle on 22 August 1914 where his regiment suffered some 800 casualties. Following a brief respite near Reims, he was once again in action during the Battle of the Marne after his regiment received a number of reinforcements (they would, however, suffer a further 600 casualties at Les Culots on 6th – 8th September). The final months of the year saw Elie taking part in the 1st Battle of Ypres and actions on the Yser front. During 1915, he fought in the Argonne until the autumn, when a move was made to the Champagne front in time for the 2nd Battle of Champagne. Remaining in this sector until the February 1916, Elie’s regiment was moved to the Verdun battle in March 1916 where he initially fought near the Haudromont Quarries and the Bois Nawé before moving to the Mort-Homme sector. Elie was killed in action on the Mort-Homme on 6th May 1916. He is buried in the nécropole nationale of 'Glorieux' in Verdun, Meuse.
Attachment 195698
On a day we lose 286 men here are today's highlighted casualties...
Private Harry George Biswell (Essex Regiment) dies of wounds after being hit by a sniper when returning to his trench at Ypres at age 20. His brother will be killed in six weeks.
Private Herbert Brocklehurst Sr. (Sherwood Foresters) is killed in action. His son will be killed in July 1917.
Tunstill's men - looks like someone has been landing themselves in trouble...
John Henry Hitchin (see 27th April) appeared at Tower Bridge Magistrate’s Court, having surrendered himself to the authorities at some point in the previous few days, charged with presenting forged cheques at the Waterloo Hotel, York Road, Lambeth, and obtaining board and lodging by false pretences. Evidence was given that Hitchin, who had been reported absent without leave from the Army on 29th December 1915, had stayed at the hotel from January 27th until February 7th. He had worn the uniform of a lieutenant and had told hotel staff that he had been promoted captain. He was alleged to have cashed a cheque for £10, and borrowed £5 on an I.O.U., which he repaid by giving a cheque for £12 12s. 10d. when he left, the balance of £7 12s. 10d. being the amount of his bill. The cheques were subsequently dishonoured; Hitchin had signed them in the surname of a fellow officer, but the signature was found to be quite different. Hitchin’s own account at Cox's Bank was overdrawn.
Hitchin was defended by Mr. Percy Robinson, who suggested that in view of the sad and peculiar circumstances of the case, the Magistrate might see his way to allow it to be withdrawn. Hitchin’s family, he said, were highly respectable. He told the Court that prior to the war Hitchin had been employed at a bank in Settle, and bore the highest character. At the outbreak of hostilities he had joined the Army, and his conduct was so satisfactory that he had been granted a commission. The obtaining of that commission, however, had been his downfall. He had mixed with people “of a higher class and extravagant habits, and for some time he undoubtedly led a fast life”. He further told the Court that a few days after leaving his hotel Hitchin had been suddenly taken ill in the Strand, had collapsed, and had been to Charing Cross Hospital, and afterwards to the military hospital at Millbank, where he had been operated on for appendicitis. Mr. Robinson then assured the Magistrate that, whatever happened, full restitution would be made to the proprietor of the hotel. The Magistrate, Mr. Cecil Chapman, having read a letter from Hitchin’s mother, said he felt very sympathetic and touched by the circumstances of the case. However, he reminded everyone that “the matter was a grave one”, and he remanded Hitchin in custody for another week.
Middle East
Mesopotamia – Death march from Kut begins: 2,592 British soldier PoWs (Kurd cavalry regiment escort) start 1,200-mile forced march to Anatolia; reach Ctesiphon on May 14.
Syria*: Djemal Pasha hangs 21 ‘Autonomous Syria’ Arab leaders without trial including a Ottoman senator.
Air War
Western Front: Unfavourable weather reduces flying until May 10 and on May 25.
The Allied blockade makes itself noticeable in Germany: on this poster, the population is asked for delivering of all kinds of metal objects for war production.
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The war at sea
There were 4 ships reported as lost on this day...
Galgate United Kingdom The four-masted full-rigged ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 190 nautical miles (350 km) south west by west of The Lizard, Cornwall by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
James W. Fischer United Kingdom The schooner was driven ashore at Bull Bay, Anglesey and was wrecked with the loss of all but one of her crew.
Rosa Sweden The barquentine was driven ashore at North Sunderland, County Durham, United Kingdom and was wrecked. Her eight crew were rescued by the Seahouses Lifeboat.
St. Catherine United Kingdom The cargo ship was driven ashore at Genoa, Italy. Her crew were rescued
Attachment 195768
May 7th 1916.
Well after a month off and missing the whole Easter rebellion, it is my turn to take up the baton nobly wielded by our Editor in Chief Chris.
Let us see what new events crowd our horizon as we rapidly move towards the second anniversary of this war to end all wars. Starting with a bit of a dull day action wise.
2 airmen have fallen on Sunday May 7th 1916.
A Mech 1 Joseph Richard Eaves 30 Squadron Royal Flying Corps Kut garrison.
Captured when British Garrison at Kut el Amara surrendered 29 April 1916. Died of Enteritis whilst a Prisoner of War in Turkish Hands 7 May 1916 aged 19.
Also A Mech 2 William Keefe of the same Squadron. Died of enteritis 7 May 1916 aged 26
Claims.
Two claims was made today. Hauptmann Hans Schüz claimed both his fifth and sixth victim. a Be 2c 4558 FTL over the Euphrates river and later that day a second BE in the same area.
He eventually made ten claims in Palestine, and was killed in a flying accident in 1941.
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Attachment 195769
Deputy Surgeon General Cyril James Mansfield MVO (Royal Navy) dies of blood poisoning. He is the son of the Reverend Edward Mansfield.
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Captain Herbert Charles Bruce Cummins (Seaforth Highlanders) dies of wounds received in action at age 39. He is the son of the Reverend William Henry Bruce Cummins.
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Lieutenant Edmund Oswald Griffith Williams-Meyrick (Welsh Fusiliers) dies at age 39 at Gibraltar. He is the son of the Reverend John Meyrick Williams Rector of Beaumaris.
Edmund Williams-Meyrick was born in 1878, the son of Reverend John and Clara Meyrick, of Beaumaris, Anglesey. They later moved to 2 Menai View Terrace, Bangor. Edmund was taught at Ysgol Friars before moving to St. David's College, Lampeter in January 1899, and became a member of the Inner Temple. After becoming ordained as a Clerk in Holy Orders, he married Gwendoline Kate Dew, of Rhyl, in 1902, and the couple resided prior to the war at Withy Cott, Abbotsbrook, Bourne. Edmund was commissioned into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was posted to Gibraltar, with the 1st Garrison Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Whilst on active duty, he succumbed to sun-stroke and died suddenly in Gibraltar on 7 May 1916, aged 39. Edmund’s grave at Gibraltar (North Front) Cemetery is pictured below. Servicemen buried here died either on passing ships or at the nearby Military Hospital.
Attachment 195772
Private William Henry Heaphy (Irish Guards) dies of wounds received at Ypres at age 33. He is one of three brothers who made the supreme sacrifice.
Private Walter Jeffs (Bedfordshire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 22. His brother was killed in action last May.
Private Richard F Arthur Westphal (Royal Fusiliers) is killed at age 19. His brother will be killed in April 1917 and they are sons of Bishop Westphal.
Private Roderick Morgan Smith (Durham Light Infantry) is killed at age 20. His brother will be killed in December.
Western Front.
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Battle of Verdun: Germans make progress on Hill 304 and between Haudromont Wood and Douaumont Fort.
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French Defences.
Extract for 7th May taken from the wartime diaries of Thomas Fredrick Littler.
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The battalion marched away from Grand-Rullecourt, joined the 56th Division, marching towards the line on the Somme, we passed through Sombrin, Bavincourt, Saulty, Gaudiempre, Humbercamps, St Amand, and arrived at Souastre 9-45 after a tedious march of 18 kilos, on the way we passed old disused trenches, also the roads and countryside showed wear and tear of the 1914 offensive.
May 7th 1916
I had a look round the village which had cement telegraph poles, which had been erected by the Germans previous to the war, many young girls here are mothers through the Huns, I had a look at some battered trenches in front of the village, also barbed wire entanglements and old dugouts, also a noticeable fact was that the Germans had used bottle necks in tree trunks for improvised telegraphy.
Tunstill's men.
Billets at Pernes.
The weather remained good and the day was generally quiet. At Pernes, “there was a football ground and a platoon competition was held which was won by No.14, captained by 2Lt. G.S. Hulburd”.
2Lt. George Stuart Hulburd (see 27th August 1915) was born 3rd July 1896, the eldest of the four children of George Richard Hulburd and his wife Lucy; his father owned a grocer and draper’s business in Sittingbourne, Kent. George was educated at Faversham Grammar School and on the outbreak of war he was already a member of the Territorial Forces, having enlisted in the Kent Cyclist’ Battalion on 15th May 1914. He joined his unit on 5th August and remained with them until 5th December 1914, when he was discharged to a commission with 10DWR.
Pte. Harry Hartley was admitted to 70th Field Ambulance, having been taken ill (details unknown). He had been one of the contingent raised in Keighley who had been added to Tunstill’s original volunteers in September 1914. He was nineteen when he enlisted, originally from Earby and was one of twelve children (two of whom died in infancy) of John and Ellen Hartley. His father had died in 1908 and three years later all ten children were still living at home, in Langroyd Road, Earby, and all those of working age, including Harry, employed in the local cotton mills.
Messopotamia.
Qasr-i-Shirin (Western Persia) occupied by Russian forces (see December 15th, 1915, June 20th, 1916 and March 25th, 1917).
Political.
Serbian Government set up at Salonika.
Easter Rising Aftermath.
Attachment 195776
On the night of May 7th, just hours before his execution, Michael Mallin, who had commanded the Citizen Army at Stephen's Green, wrote to his wife of how he had passed their house, a few hundred yards from Kilmainham gaol, as he was being led from Richmond Barracks to his final destination. He hoped to catch sight of his "darling Wife Pulse of my heart" or their four young children. "The only one of my household that I could cast my longing Eyes on was poor Prinnie the dog she looked so faithfull (sic) there at the door . . . I am so cold this has been a such a cruel week." Mallin tried to keep up a brave front, but the reality of impending death, and of his departure from his wife and children shattered him: "My heartstrings are torn to pieces when I think of you and them of our manly James happy go lucky John shy warm Una dadys (sic) Girl and oh little Joseph my little man my little man Wife dear Wife I cannot keep the tears back when I think of him he will rest in my arms no more . . . my little man my little man my little man, his name unnerves me again all your dear faces arise before me God bless you God bless you my darlings . . ."
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The last written letter of Cornelius ('Con') Colbert (1888 - 1916).
This letter was sent to Colbert's sister Elizabeth, 'Lila' (1888 - 1974). After the Rising Elizabeth served on the committee of the Irish Volunteers Dependents’ Fund. In this letter, Colbert explains that he did not want his sister to visit him before his execution as 'it would grieve us both too much'. Colbert asks his sister to pray for him and hopes that he can 'die well'.
Cornelius ('Con') Colbert (1888 - 1916) was a member of the Irish Volunteers. On 24 April 1916 Colbert fought for the duration of the Rising until his open surrender on 30 April. He was designated for severe treatment owing to his pre-rising activities and for his connection with Pearse. He was shot by firing squad in Kilmainham jail on 8 May and buried in the common grave in Arbour Hill jail.
Rob.
Welcome back to the Editor's chair Rob, we have some pretty awesome events heading our way in the rest of May - in particular I am looking forward to Vimy Ridge and of course the Battle of Jutland.