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Thread: 100 Years Ago Today

  1. #701

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    August 16th 1915

    According to RFC and RAF records there were no deaths recorded today.


    In 1915 it was a Monday and not a great deal was reported from that day

    Eastern Front


    Russian army withdrawn to Brest-Osovyets-Kovna line.

    Byelostok (Grodno) partially evacuated.

    Kovna bombarded; breach made in defences.

    Austrians cross Krzna (Brest).

    Germans repulsed fro Mitau (Riga).

    Southern Front

    Montenegrin success on border against Austrians.

    Admiral de Robeck's despatch of 1 July 1915 on Dardanelles landing 25-26 April 1915 received.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Russians enter Van (Armenia).

    Russian communique announces defeat of Turks and occupation of Kep (Euphrates); Turks driven back near Olti (Transcaucasia).

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Cumberland coast towns shelled by German submarine U-24. Lowca and Harrington, near Whitehaven (Cumberland), shelled by German submarine.German attacks on coastal communities along the east coast of England during World War One have been well documented.
    But the west coast also suffered at the hands of U-boats. In the early hours of 16 August 1915, the Cumbrian settlements of Lowca and Parton, near Whitehaven, were bombarded by shells meant for a nearby chemical works. Families fled their homes as the submarine surfaced and fired 55 shells from its deck gun.

    SM U-24 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was engaged in commerce warfare during the First Battle of the Atlantic.

    In seven patrols, U-24 sank a total of 34 ships totalling 106,103 GRT, damaged three more for 14,318 tons, and took one prize of 1,925 tons.

    Her second kill was the most significant. The victim was HMS Formidable, torpedoed 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) south of Lyme Regis, at 50°13′N 03°04′W. She was hit in the number one boiler room on the port side. Out of a crew of approximately 711 men, 547 died as a result. This was one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats during the war.

    In 1915, U-24 claimed another noted victim, the passenger steamer Arabic, causing 44 deaths, including three Americans. Arabic sank in 10 minutes. This escalated the U-boat fear in the U.S. and caused a diplomatic incident which resulted in the suspension of torpedoing non-military ships without notice.

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    German fleet attacks at entrance of Gulf of Riga.

    LUNDY, Admiralty trawler, 188/1908, Hull-reg H993, Hull Steam Fishing & Ice, hired 5/15, 1‑3pdr, Admiralty No.1791, patrol vessel, Skipper Henry Charles Taylor RNR. In collision, sank in Suvla Bay; one ratings lost (+Lr/C/D/He/dk/hw; ADM.137/3135)


    Political, etc.


    Manifesto on National Service signed by notable men of all parties in England.

    Venizelist candidate elected President of Chamber; Greek Government resigns.

    Also in the news

    Destruction of 28th Infantry Camp, Fort Crockett, Texas (USA) by the Galveston hurricane of August 16-17, 1915

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  2. #702

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    August 17th 1915

    According to RFC and RAF records there were no deaths recorded today.

    Flight Commander C.H. Edmonds sinks a second Turkish vessel with an aerial torpedo. While a Short 184 seaplane flown by Flight Lieutenant G.B. Dacre of the Royal Navy, sinks a Turkish tug. However, the plane was not airborne at the time and needed to release the torpedo in order to be able to take-off from the water.

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    Western Front

    Zeppelin raid on east coast: A third four-Zeppelin raid tried to reach London on 17–18 August; two turned back with mechanical problems, one bombed Ashford, Kent in the belief it was Woolwich, but L 10 became the first Navy airship to reach London. L 10 was also mis navigated, mistaking the reservoirs of the Lea Valley for the Thames, and consequently dropped its bombs on Walthamstow and Leytonstone. 10 people were killed, 48 injured and property damage was estimated at £30,750. Guns were fired at L 10 and a few aircraft took off in pursuit, but the Zeppelin suffered no damage in the raid. L 10 was destroyed a little over two weeks later: it was struck by lightning and caught fire off Cuxhaven, and the entire crew was killed.

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    French gain footing on ridge in Vosges (Sondernach crest).

    Night attack on Sondernach by Germans.

    Eastern Front

    Novo-Georgievsk furiously attacked and outlying forts captured.

    Austrians approach Brest-Litovsk.

    Russians driven across Bug at Konstantinov.

    Fall of Kovna.

    Enemy approaches Byelostok-Byelsk railway and cuts Kholm-Brest-Litovsk railway.

    Southern Front[/B]

    Italian advance on Bacher valley (Dolomites), Vrsik crest, Sta Maria and Sta Lucia hills (Julian).

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    1,200 Bunerwal rebels attack camp at Rustam (Peshawar); one officer killed.

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    War at Sea: The German submarine U-38 sinks 10 vessels, 9 British and 1 Spanish, in a single day, on its voyage to become the third most successful U-boat of the first world war.

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    SM U-38 was a German Type U 31 U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the third most successful u-boat participating in the war sinking 138 ships sunk for a total of 299.985 tons.

    Its longest serving captain was Kptlt. Max Valentiner, who was awarded the Pour le Mérite while in command of U-38. Valentiner was in command of U-38 in November and December 1915 when she sank the passenger liners Ancona and Persia; both were controversial since the ships were sunk by torpedoes without warning, in defiance of the then-current Prize rules, which stated that merchant vessels carrying passengers be given an opportunity to evacuate their passengers before being sunk.

    Valentiner was succeeded as commander of U-38 by Kptlt. Wilhelm Canaris, who later went on to become an Admiral and head of the Abwehr from 1935 to 1944.

    Austrians attack Pelagosa Island (Centre Adriatic).

    Political, etc.

    Germans claim two million prisoners to date: 330,000 British, French and Belgian; rest Russian.

    Proposals of Entente examined by Serbian cabinet.

    Ain ed Douleh, Persian Prime Minister, resigns (see 18th and April 27th).

    Italian war loan totals 4 millions.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  3. #703

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    August 18th 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18TH 1915

    Bit of a short one today due to the lateness of the hour and the lack of available material - it happens sometimes

    Western Front

    French capture position on Ablain-Angres road (Vimy), and trench on Schratmannele crest (Vosges).

    Southern Front

    Italian progress towards Tolmino and in Upper Rienz (Julian).

    Naval and Overseas Operations



    HMS E13 ( Royal Navy): World War I: The E-class submarine ran aground on Saltholm, Denmark. She was subsequently attacked by SMS G 132 and another torpedo boat (both Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of fifteen of her 30 crew. The survivors were rescued by Royal Danish Navy torpedo boats. HMS E13 was later refloated but was declared beyond repair. She was scrapped in 1922.

    The German U-Boat SMU-27 sank four merchantmen today in various actions. Their success didn't last long (See tomorrow)

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    Russian naval success in Gulf of Riga. German Fleet retires losing two cruisers (including "Moltke") and eight torpedo boats. Russian gunboat "Sivuch" sunk.

    The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915. The operation's objective was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the Gulf and facilitate the fall of Riga to the German army in the later stages of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in 1915. The German fleet, however, failed to achieve its objective and was forced to return to its bases; Riga remained in Russian hands until it fell to the German Army on 1 September 1917.

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    In early August 1915, several powerful units of the German High Seas Fleet were transferred to the Baltic to participate in the foray into the Riga Gulf. The intention was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the area, including the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava, and to use the minelayer Deutschland to block the entrance to the Moon Sound with mines. The German naval forces, under the command of Vice Admiral Hipper, included the four Nassau-class and four Helgoland-class battleships, the battlecruisers SMS Moltke, Von der Tann, and Seydlitz, and a number of smaller craft.

    On 8 August, the first attempt to clear the gulf was made; the old battleships SMS Braunschweig and Elsass kept Slava at bay while minesweepers cleared a path through the inner belt of mines. During this period, the rest of the German fleet remained in the Baltic and provided protection against other units of the Russian fleet. However, the approach of nightfall meant that Deutschland would be unable to mine the entrance to the Suur Strait in time, and so the operation was broken off.

    The Moltke
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    In the meantime, the German armored cruisers SMS Roon and Prinz Heinrich were detached to shell the Russian positions at the Sõrve Peninsula in the Saaremaa island. Several Russian destroyers were anchored at Sõrve, and one was slightly damaged during the bombardment. The battlecruiser Von der Tann and the light cruiser SMS Kolberg were sent to shell the island of Utö.

    On 16 August, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf. The dreadnoughts SMS Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf. On the first day of the assault, the German minesweeper T46 was sunk, as was the destroyer V99. On 17 August, Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal. After three days, the Russian minefields had been cleared, and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August, but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day.

    Throughout the operation, the German battlecruisers remained in the Baltic and provided cover for the assault into the Gulf of Riga. On the morning of the 19th, Moltke was torpedoed by the British E-class submarine HMS E1; the torpedo was not spotted until it was approximately 200 yd (180 m) away. Without time to manoeuvre, the ship was struck in the bow torpedo room. The explosion damaged several torpedoes in the ship, but they did not detonate themselves. Eight men were killed, and 435 t (480 short tons) of water entered the ship. The ship was repaired at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, between 23 August and 20 September

    The Russian Battleship - Slava

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    Political, etc.

    Offices of "Labour Leader" raided.
    Mustaufi ul Mamalek again appointed Persian Prime Minister

    Armenia: The New York Times reports on the horrors of the Turkish treatment of Armenians:

    “Armenians are sent to perish in the desert. Turks accused of plan to exterminate Whole Population. People of Karahissar massacred”

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  4. #704

    Default

    August 19th 1915

    Wow - some big stories today, including the infamous Baralong Incident which changed the nature of the war at sea.....

    There was one reported pilot loss on this day: Flt Cdr RNAS(Capt, R.M.A.) Charles Herbert Collett DSO 3 (N) Wing, attached HMS 'Ark Royal', Eastern Mediterranean. Attached from Royal Marine Artillery.

    Died of injuries 19 August 1915 aged 27, received while he was flying a machine he was unfamiliar with.

    Charles Collett was born in India, the son of an engineer James Francis Herbert Collett and his wife Teresa Collett (née Pilley). For a time the family lived on Guernsey. At the time of his death, Charles Collet parents lived in Woodleigh, West End, Southampton.[He was educated at Dulwich College. Collet was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery on 1 September 1905, and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July 1906.[5] On 21 October 1913 Collet was awarded Aviator's' Certificate No. 666 after flying an Avro biplane at the Central Flying School at Upavon.

    At the outbreak of the war on 4 August 1914, Collet was based at RNAS Eastchurch. On 10 August he took part in the Daily Mail–sponsored "Circuit of Britain" race, which was not cancelled despite the declaration of war. He flew a German-built DFW Mars (No. 154), which the RNAS had bought in 1913, and refitted with a Beardmore 120 hp engine. Unfortunately mechanical problems forced him to make an emergency landing at Scarborough racecourse, where he was promptly arrested and questioned. After repairs where made, Collet completed the race, coming second.

    Collet's unit, under the command of Wing Commander Charles Rumney Samson, initially flew patrols along the North Sea coast, but on 27 August 1914 was moved to France. Renamed No. 3 Squadron RNAS, they were based at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer near Dunkirk, and operated a variety of aircraft and some improvised armoured car.

    On 22 September 1914 Collet, flying a Sopwith Tractor Biplane, led a raid by four aircraft, which flew two hundred miles to attack the Zeppelin sheds at Düsseldorf and Cologne, in the first British air raid of the war. Thick mist in the Rhine Valley meant that only Collet found his target, and he accurately dropped two 20-pound (9 kg) bombs from 400 feet (120 m) on the shed at Düsseldorf, which unfortunately failed to explode. Despite being hit by enemy fire, he returned safely,[8][9] as did the other three aircraft, who spent more than an hour flying over Cologne attempting to find their target, but failing to do so, returned to base without dropping their bombs.

    Collet's feat was described thusly:

    Flight Lieutenant Collet approached the Zeppelin shed at Düsseldorf at an altitude of 6,000 ft (1,800 m). There was a bank of mist below, which he encountered at 1,500 ft (460 m). He traversed the depth of this layer and emerged there from at a height of only 400 ft (120 m) above the ground. His objective was barely a quarter of a mile ahead. Travelling at high speed he launched his bombs with what proved to be deadly precision, and disappeared into cover almost before the enemy had grasped his intentions.
    Collet was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 21 October 1914.

    On 23 February 1915 he was granted the temporary rank of captain whilst serving as a flight commander,and was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant the following day. He was also twice mentioned in despatches.

    In March 1915 his unit was moved from France to the island of Tenedos to take part in the Gallipoli campaign, were they flew reconnaissance and bombing missions over the Turkish positions. On 22 June Collet was flying a Voisin aircraft, with Major R.E.T. Hogg as observer, when he intercepted a German aircraft near Achi Baba. Hogg shot at it with a rifle, hitting it in the engine, and forcing it down.

    On 19 August 1915, Collet took off from an airfield on Imbros, and had reached a height of 150–185 ft (46–56 m) when his engine failed. Collet turned to attempt a landing, but in the strong winds from the nearby cliffs he lost control, and his aircraft fell vertically to the ground, bursting into flames. His passenger, Chief Petty Officer Michael Sullivan Keogh of HMS Ark Royal, broke his thigh in the crash, but nevertheless dragged Collet from the wreckage, receiving severe burns. However, Collet was fatally injured and died 30 minutes later. Keogh was awarded the Albert Medal (2nd Class) for his attempt save Collet's life. Collet is buried at the Lancashire Landing Cemetery in Turkey.

    Incidentally Collett was the first ever Navy pilot to 'loop the loop'

    Attachment 173738

    On 19 August 1915 Short Admiralty Type 807 Seaplane No.922 had just taken off from Imbros Aerodrome and reached a height of 45m when the engine stopped.

    The Sopwith Admiralty Type 807 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company.

    In July 1914, Sopwith produced a two-bay tractor biplane powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine to compete in the 1914 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain race for seaplanes. It made its maiden flight as a landplane on 16 July 1914, before being fitted with its planned floatplane undercarriage. On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 the Circuit of Britain aircraft was bought by the RNAS .

    A version of the circuit of Britain aircraft was ordered by the Admiralty, becoming known as the Type 807. First delivered to the RNAS in July 1914 the Type 807 differed from the Circuit of Britain in several respects. The span of the upper wing was increased, the overhang being braced by king posts and the wings were adapted to fold, using the Short Brothers patented mechanism; to simplify this, the wings were not staggered. It had twin strut-mounted floats under the fuselage and a float mounted under the tail. It was powered by a nose-mounted 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape engine. It had two tandem open cockpits with the observer in the forward cockpit under the upper wing leading edge and the pilot in the rear cockpit under the upper wing trailing edge. It was sometimes referred to as the Sopwith Folder. Sopwith developed the Circuit of Britain aircraft into a landplane (the Sopwith Two-Seat Scout). The Circuit of Britain aircraft was given the serial number 896 when it was taken over by the Royal Navy. Its undercarriage was damaged in September, causing it to be refitted with a landplane undercarriage. It was used as a trainer until 22 June 1915.

    Attachment 173737

    Twelve Type 807s were ordered by the RNAS. Three of them formed part of the embarked air wing aboard the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal when it sailed for the Dardanelles in February 1915. They were used as reconnaissance aircraft, but proved to be underpowered, with fragile floats.

    Western Front

    Germans retake trenches on Ablain-Angres road.

    Eastern Front

    Fall of Novo Georgievsk. Russians driven back between Augustovo and Osovyets (Northern Centre). Germans progress beyond Niemen east of Tykocin.

    Mackensen reaches Piszcza and gains ground towards Brest-Litovsk.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Turks prevent Italians leaving Smyrna.

    Naval and Overseas Operations


    German battle cruiser "Moltke" torpedoed by British submarine "E.-1" in Gulf of Riga. (see yesterday)

    British submarine "E.-13" attacked by German warships while aground in Danish waters.

    H.M.S. "Baralong" (special service ship) destroys German submarine "U.-27" (see yesterday's note) and see below...

    War at Sea: The German submarine U-24 sinks the White Star Liner, “Arabic”, with the loss of 44 lives. In retaliation the British Royal Navy’s “HMS Baralong” tricks another U-boat, U-27 by flying a US flag and feigning the rescue of passengers from another British steamer, and then shelling and destroying the submarine. The 12 surviving crew of U-27 take refuge on the steamer they were about to destroy, but are summarily executed by a boarding party from the Baralong. (“the Baralong incident”).

    The Baralong Incident

    After the sinking of RMS Lusitania by a German submarine in May 1915, Lieutenant-Commander Godfrey Herbert, commanding officer of Baralong, was visited by two officers of the Admiralty's Secret Service branch at the naval base at Queenstown, Ireland. He was told, "This Lusitania business is shocking. Unofficially, we are telling you... take no prisoners from U-boats."

    Interviews with his subordinate officers have established Herbert's undisciplined manner of commanding his ship.[clarification needed] Herbert allowed his men to engage in drunken binges during shore leave. During one such incident, at Dartmouth, several members of Baralong* '​s crew were arrested after destroying a local saloon. Herbert paid their bail, then left port with the indicted crewmen aboard. Beginning in April 1915, Herbert ordered his subordinates to cease calling him "Sir", and to address him only by the pseudonym "Captain William McBride."

    Throughout the summer of 1915, Baralong continued routine patrol duties in the Irish Sea without encountering the enemy.

    On 19 August 1915, U-24 sank the White Star Liner SS Arabic with the loss of 44 lives - this included three Americans and led to a diplomatic incident between Germany and the U.S. Baralong had been about 20 mi (32 km) from the scene, and had received a distress call from the ship. Baralong* '​s crew was infuriated by the attack and by their inability to locate survivors.

    Meanwhile, about 100 mi (87 nmi; 160 km) south of Queenstown, U-27, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Bernd Wegener, stopped the British steamer Nicosian in accordance with the rules laid down by the London Declaration. A boarding party of six men from U-27 discovered that Nicosian was carrying munitions and 250 American mules earmarked for the British Army in France. The Germans allowed the freighter's crew and passengers to board lifeboats, and prepared to sink the freighter with the U-boat's deck gun.

    U-27 was lying off Nicosian* '​s port quarter and firing into it when Baralong appeared on the scene, flying the ensign of the United States as a false flag. When she was half a mile away, Baralong ran up a signal flag indicating that she was going to rescue Nicosian* '​s crew. Wegener acknowledged the signal, then ordered his men to cease firing, and took U-27 along the port side of Nicosian to intercept Baralong. As the submarine disappeared behind the steamship, Herbert steered Baralong on a parallel course along Nicosian '​s starboard side.


    The action of 19 August 1915

    Before U-27 came round Nicosian* '​s bow, Baralong hauled down the American flag, hoisted the Royal Navy's White Ensign, and unmasked her guns. As U-27 came into view from behind Nicosian, Baralong opened fire with her three 12-pounder guns at a range of 600 yd (550 m), firing 34 rounds for only a single shot from the submarine. U-27 rolled over and began to sink.

    According to Tony Bridgland;

    "Herbert screamed, 'Cease fire!' But his men's blood was up. They were avenging the Arabic and the Lusitania. For them this was no time to cease firing, even as the survivors of the crew appeared on the outer casing, struggling out of their clothes to swim away from her. There was a mighty hiss of compressed air from her tanks and the U-27 vanished from sight in a vortex of giant rumbling bubbles, leaving a pall of smoke over the spot where she had been. It had taken only a few minutes to fire the thirty-four shells into her."

    Meanwhile, Nicosian* '​s crew were cheering wildly from the lifeboats. Captain Manning was heard to yell, "If any of those bastard Huns come up, lads, hit 'em with an oar!"

    Twelve men survived the sinking of the submarine: the crews of her two deck guns and those who had been on the conning tower. They swam to Nicosian and attempted to join the six-man boarding party by climbing up her hanging lifeboat falls and pilot ladder. Herbert, worried that they might try to scuttle the steamer, ordered his men to open fire with small arms, killing all in the water. Wegener is described by some accounts as being shot while trying to swim to the Baralong.

    Herbert sent Baralong* '​s 12 Royal Marines, under the command of a Corporal Collins, to find the surviving German sailors aboard Nicosian. As they departed, Herbert told Collins, "Take no prisoners." The Germans were discovered in the engine room and shot on sight. According to Sub-Lieutenant Gordon Steele: "Wegener ran to a cabin on the upper deck -- I later found out it was Manning's bathroom. The marines broke down the door with the butts of their rifles, but Wegener squeezes through a scuttle and dropped into the sea. He still had his life-jacket on and put up his arms in surrender. Corporal Collins, however, took aim and shot him through the head." Corporal Collins later recalled that, after Wegener's death, Herbert threw a revolver in the German captain's face and screamed, "What about the Lusitania, you bastard!" An alternative account says that the Germans who boarded Nicosian were killed by the freighter's engine room staff; this report apparently came from the officer in command of the muleteers.

    Aftermath
    In Herbert's report to the Admiralty, he stated he feared the survivors from the U-boat's crew would board the freighter and scuttle her, so he ordered the Royal Marines on his ship to shoot the survivors. If they had scuttled the freighter, it could have been counted as negligence on the part of Herbert. Moments before Baralong began her attack, the submarine was firing on the freighter. It is not known if the escaping sailors actually intended to scuttle the freighter.

    The Admiralty, upon receiving Herbert's report, immediately ordered its suppression, but the strict censorship imposed on the event failed when Americans who had witnessed the incident from Nicosian* '​s lifeboats spoke to newspaper reporters after their return to the United States.

    German memorandum
    The German government delivered a memorandum on the incident via the American ambassador in Berlin, who received it on 6 December 1915. In it, they cited six US citizens as witnesses, stating they had made sworn depositions regarding the incident before public notaries in the US.

    The statements said that five survivors from U-27 managed to board Nicosian, while the rest were shot and killed on Herbert's orders while clinging to the merchant vessel's lifeboat falls. It was further stated that when Herbert ordered his Marines to board Nicosian, he gave the order "take no prisoners". Four German sailors were found in Nicosian* '​s engine room and propeller shaft tunnel, and were killed. According to the witness statements, U-27* '​s commander was shot while swimming towards Baralong.

    HMS Baralong
    Attachment 173740

    Considered by many to be a War Crime

    Attachment 173741

    The memorandum demanded that the captain and crew of Baralong be tried for the murder of unarmed German sailors, threatening to "take the serious decision of retribution for an unpunished crime". Sir Edward Grey replied through the American ambassador that the incident could be grouped together with the Germans' sinking of SS Arabic, their attack on a stranded British submarine on the neutral Dutch coast, and their attack on the steamship Ruel, and suggested that they be placed before a tribunal composed of US Navy officers.

    German reaction
    A debate took place in the Reichstag on 15 January 1916, where the incident was described as a "cowardly murder" and Grey's note as being "full of insolence and arrogance". It was announced that reprisals had been decided, but not what form they would take.

    The S.S. Arabic
    Attachment 173739

    Meanwhile, the Military Bureau for the Investigation of Violations of the Laws of War", (German: Militäruntersuchungstelle für Verletzungen des Kriegsrechts) added Baralong's commander, whose name was known only as "Captain William McBride", to the Prussian Ministry of War's "Black List of Englishmen who are Guilty of Violations of the Laws of War vis a vis Members of the German Armed Forces."

    HMS Baralong* '​s actions led the Kaiserliche Marine to cease adhering to the Prize Rules and to practice unrestricted submarine warfare. During the Second World War, it was cited as a reason for the Kriegsmarine to do the same. A German medal was issued commemorating the event.

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    As a precaution to protect the ships against any reprisals against their crews, HMS Wyandra was transferred to the Mediterranean, and took the name of sister ship Manica, while Baralong'​s name was deleted from Lloyd's Register. Nicosian was renamed Nevisian, and the crew was issued new Discharge Books, with the voyage omitted.

    Baralong* '​s crew were later awarded £185 prize bounty for sinking U-27.

    A Kriegsmarine submarine flotilla formed on 25 June 1938 was named "Wegener" in memory of U-27* '​s commander.

    Liner "Arabic" (White Star) torpedoed and sunk by German Submarine. Americans on board.

    German force landing at Pernau (Riga) destroyed by Russians.

    Norwegian mail steamer "Haakon VII" stopped by Germans and mails seized. Norwegian Government protests.

    British submarine "E.13" shelled when aground at Saltholm in neutral Danish waters.

    Political, etc.


    Reichstag opened; speech by Chancellor.

    Bulgarian Foreign Minister resigns.

    British forces total 3,825,000, including Colonial troops.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  5. #705

    Default

    Certainly was a big day Chris.
    You are setting the bar high.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  6. #706

    Default

    I know - trying to keep up with my own posts is getting more and more difficult, lol - some days are just so much easier than others

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  7. #707

    Default

    August 20th 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 20TH 1915

    Most of today's thread is dedicated to a very special individual - (we certainly would not be playing the game we are without him- and this time it's not you Rob !)

    Colonel Hugh 'Boom' Trenchard assumes command of the Royal Flying Corps in France in succession to Sir David Henderson. Trenchard was promoted to Brigadier General and quickly requested another squadron by the middle of September. He further suggested that one squadron be provided for each Army Corps for artillery work, photography and close reconnaissance, and one squadron for each Army headquarters, for Army reconnaissance. Trenchard also suggested that there should be a headquarters squadron for General Headquarters (GHQ) work and that a further squadron be provided for each Army for special work such as bombing raids.

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    Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard Bt GCB OM GCVO DSO (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the Father of the Royal Air Force.

    During his formative years Trenchard struggled academically, failing many examinations and only just succeeding in meeting the minimum standard for commissioned service in the British Army. As a young infantry officer, Trenchard served in India and with the outbreak of the Boer War, he volunteered for service in South Africa. While fighting the Boers, Trenchard was critically wounded and as a result of his injury, he lost a lung, was partially paralysed and returned to Great Britain. On medical advice Trenchard travelled to Switzerland to recuperate and boredom saw him taking up bobsleighing. After a heavy crash, Trenchard found that his paralysis was gone and that he could walk unaided. Following further recuperation, Trenchard returned to active service in South Africa.

    After the end of the Boer War, Trenchard saw service in Nigeria where he was involved in efforts to bring the interior under settled British rule and quell inter-tribal violence. During his time in West Africa, Trenchard commanded the Southern Nigeria Regiment for several years.

    In Summer 1912, Trenchard learned to fly and gained his aviator's certificate (No. 270) on 31 July flying a Henry Farman biplane of the Sopwith School of Flying at Brooklands. He was subsequently appointed as second in command of the Central Flying School. He held several senior positions in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, serving as the commander of the Royal Flying Corps in France from 1915 to 1917. In 1918, he briefly served as the first Chief of the Air Staff before taking up command of the Independent Air Force in France. Returning as Chief of the Air Staff under Winston Churchill in 1919, Trenchard spent the following decade securing the future of the Royal Air Force. He was Metropolitan Police Commissioner in the 1930s and a defender of the RAF in his later years. Trenchard is recognized today as one of the early advocates of strategic bombing.

    Officer Commanding the Military Wing
    With the outbreak of World War I, Trenchard was appointed Officer Commanding the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps, replacing Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes. This appointment put Trenchard in charge of the Royal Flying Corps in Great Britain, which retained one third of the Corps' total strength. Trenchard's headquarters were at Farnborough and being disappointed about remaining in England, he applied to rejoin his old regiment in France. However, the head of the RFC, General Sir David Henderson, refused to release him. Trenchard's new duties included providing replacements and raising new squadrons for service on the continent. Trenchard initially set himself a target of 12 squadrons. However, Sefton Brancker, the Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics, suggested that this should be raised to 30 and Lord Kitchener later set the target at 60. In order to begin the task of creating these squadrons, Trenchard commandeered his old civilian training school at Brooklands and then used its aircraft and equipment as a starting point for the establishment of new training schools elsewhere.

    In early October 1914, Kitchener sent for Trenchard and tasked him with providing a battle-worthy squadron forthwith. The squadron was to be used to support land and naval forces seeking to prevent the German flanking manoeuvres during the Race to the Sea. On 7 October, only 36 hours later, No. 6 Squadron flew to Belgium, the first of many additional squadrons to be provided.

    Later in October, detailed planning for a major reorganization of the Flying Corps' command structure took place. Henderson offered Trenchard command of the soon-to-be created First Wing. Trenchard accepted the offer on the basis that he would not be subordinated to Sykes, whom he distrusted. The next month, the Military Wing was abolished and its units based in Great Britain were re-grouped as the Administrative Wing. Command of the Administrative Wing was given to Lieutenant Colonel E B Ashmore.

    Commander of the First Wing
    Trenchard took up command of the First Wing in November 1914 and established his headquarters at Merville. On his arrival Trenchard discovered that Sykes was to replace Henderson as Commander of the Royal Flying Corps in the Field, making Sykes Trenchard's immediate superior. Trenchard bore Sykes some animosity and their working relationship was troubled. Trenchard appealed to Kitchener, by then the Secretary of State for War, threatening to resign. Trenchard's discomfort was relieved when in December 1914 Kitchener ordered that Henderson resume command of the Royal Flying Corps in the Field. Trenchard's First Wing consisted of Nos Two and Three Squadrons and flew in support of the IV Corps and the Indian Corps.After the First Army under General Haig came into being in December, the First Wing provided support to the First Army.

    In early January 1915, Haig summoned Trenchard to explain what might be achieved in the air. During the meeting Haig brought Trenchard into his confidence regarding his plans for a March attack in the Merville/Neuve Chapelle region. After aerial photographic reconnaissance had been gathered, the Allied plans were reworked in February. During the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March, the RFC and especially the First Wing supported the land offensive. This was the first time that aircraft were used as bombers with explosives strapped to the wings and fuselage as opposed to being released by hand which had happened earlier in the War. However, the bombing from the air had little effect and the artillery disregarded the information provided by the RFC's airmen. Prior to Haig's offensives at Ypres and Aubers Ridge in April and May, Trenchard's camera crews flew reconnaissance sorties over the German lines. Despite the detailed information this provided and the improved air-artillery cooperation during the battles, the offensives were inconclusive. At the end of this engagement Henderson offered Trenchard the position as his chief of staff. Trenchard declined the offer, citing his unsuitability for the role although his ambition for command may have been the real reason. In any case, this did not stop his promotion to full colonel in June 1915.

    Commander of the ROYAL FLYING CORPS
    On Henderson's return to the War Office in the summer of 1915, Trenchard was promoted to brigadier-general and appointed Officer Commanding the RFC in France. Trenchard was to serve as the head of the RFC in the field until the early days of 1918. In late 1915 when Haig was appointed as commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Haig and Trenchard re-established their partnership, this time at a higher level. In March the following year, with the RFC expanding, Trenchard was promoted to major-general.

    Trenchard's time in command was characterized by three priorities. First was his emphasis on support to and co-ordination with ground forces. This support started with reconnaissance and artillery co-ordination and later encompassed tactical low-level bombing of enemy ground forces. While Trenchard did not oppose the strategic bombing of Germany in principle, he rejected moves to divert his forces on to long-range bombing missions as he believed the strategic role to be less important and his resource to be too limited. Secondly, he stressed the importance of morale, not only of his own airmen, but more generally the detrimental effect that the presence of an aircraft had upon the morale of opposing ground troops. Finally, Trenchard had an unswerving belief in the importance of offensive action. Although this belief was widely held by senior British commanders, the RFC's offensive posture resulted in the loss of many men and machines and some doubted its effectiveness.

    Following the Gotha raids on London in the summer of 1917, the Government considered creating an air force by merging the RFC and the Royal Naval Air Service. Trenchard opposed this move believing that it would dilute the air support required by the ground forces in France. By October he realized that the creation of an air force was inevitable and, seeing that he was the obvious candidate to become the new Chief of the Air Staff, he attempted to bring about a scheme whereby he would retain control of the flying units on the Western Front. In this regard Trenchard was unsuccessful and he was succeeded in France by Major-General John Salmond.



    Eastern Front


    Russians evacuate Byelostok; enemy occupies Byelsk (north of Brest).

    Novo-Georgievsk (Poland) stormed by German forces.


    Southern Front


    Topkaneh (Arsenal at Constantinople) bombed by Russian aviators. (Try as I might I just can't find anything more about this)

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Naval battle of Riga continues.

    German Fleet penetrates Gulf.

    Meanwhile SMU-38 continues to cause havoc at sea....

    Bittern ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Bay of Biscay off Ouessant, Finistère, France 48°53′N 6°18′W by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Carterswell ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Bay of Biscay 65 nautical miles (120 km) north west of Ouessant by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Daghestan ( Belgium): World War I: The tanker was captured, shelled and sunk in the Bay of Biscay off Ouessant (48°35′N 6°25′W) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
    Martha Edwards ( United Kingdom): World War I: The three-masted schooner was shelled and sunk in the Bay of Biscay 62 nautical miles (115 km) north north west of Ouessant by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Silver Wings ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada and was abandoned.
    Sivutch ( Imperial Russian Navy): World War I: The gunboat was sunk in the Gulf of Riga in a battle with a Kaiserliche Marine cruiser and gunboat.

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    SM U-38, was a Type U 31 submarine launched in 1914 and that served in the First World War until surrendered on 23 February 1919. SM U-38 was a German Type U 31 U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the third most successful u-boat participating in the war sinking 138 ships sunk for a total of 299.985 tons. As mentioned previously this submarine was later commanded by Wilhelm Canaris (later Admiral Canaris)

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    Political, etc.

    Italy declares war on Turkey.

    Armenian expulsions: Harrowing stories continue to emerge about the forced mass expulsion of Armenians through and out of Anatolia.

    Second reading of War Loan Bill in Reichstag. 1,000,000,000 marks vot

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  8. #708

    Default

    August 21st 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 21st 1915

    Nothing to report from an aerial conflict perspective on this day - today all the action comes from Gallipoli...

    Southern Front

    Second British Suvla attack (Gallipoli) on Anafarta fails.

    The Battle of Scimitar Hill was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It was also the largest single-day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisions. The purpose of the attack was to remove the immediate Ottoman threat from the exposed Suvla landing and to link with the Anzac sectors to the south. Launched on August 21, 1915, to coincide with the simultaneous attack on Hill 60, it was a costly failure, in which the Turks were forced to use all their reserves in "severe and bloody fighting" far into the night, with some Turkish trenches lost and retaken twice.

    Prelude:

    Paralysis had set in to the British campaign in the Dardanelles after repeated failures to advance at Helles on the tip of the peninsula since the original 25 April landings. In August a new offensive, known as the Battle of Sari Bair, was opened at Suvla in an attempt to regain the initiative from the Ottomans. Two divisions of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford's IX Corps were landed at Suvla on the night of 6 August while a simultaneous breakout was made from the long-stagnant Anzac sector to the south of Suvla.

    Scimitar Hill, so named because of its curved summit, and the neighbouring W Hills to the south were part of the Anafarta Spur that marked the southern edge of the Suvla sector. Their capture had originally been first-day (7 August) objectives but General Stopford was exceedingly hesitant about making any major advances without artillery support. Consequently the troops of the British 11th (Northern) Division (which had made the initial landing on the night of 6 August) and the 10th (Irish) Division (which had landed the following morning) did not advance from the immediate environs of the beach until 8 August, by which time they were already exhausted from lack of water and being under constant shrapnel and sniper fire.

    On the morning of 9 August, the British made their first effort to advance towards the high ground to the east, a ridge called Tekke Tepe. Scimitar Hill, which guarded the approach to this ridge from the southwest along the Anafarta Spur, had been captured unopposed by the 6th Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment, on 8 August but was then abandoned. The British attempted to recapture the hill on 9 August and in the intense fighting it changed hands a number of times before the British were forced off around midday. Despite the arrival of reinforcements in the form of the 53rd (Welsh) Division on 9 August and the 54th (East Anglian) Division on 10 August, any hopes the British had of a swift victory at Suvla were now gone as the Ottomans consolidated their hold on the surrounding ridges.

    On 10 August the 53rd Division made another attack at Scimitar Hill, which was another massive failure for the British and effectively ruined the division as a fighting unit within two days of its landing.

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    The Battle

    On 15 August Stopford was sacked and Major-General Beauvoir De Lisle, commander of the 29th Division, was made temporary commander of IX Corps until Lieutenant-General Julian Byng could be sent from France. De Lisle abandoned any immediate thoughts of a major offensive — preparations for a major push by the 54th Division had been made at great cost but little effect on 12 August. Instead, he intended to secure the ground he held and make a strong link to Anzac to the south, where, as at Suvla, the original August objectives had proven unreachable. This required the capture of Scimitar Hill, the W Hills and Hill 60.

    To make the attack from Suvla, De Lisle had the dismounted yeomanry of the 2nd Mounted Division and the 29th Division, which had moved from Helles where it had borne the brunt of the fighting since the landings of 25 April. The plan for 21 August was to attack Scimitar Hill with the 29th Division and the W Hills with the 11th Division, keeping the yeomanry in reserve near the beach. As was so often the case at Gallipoli, the preliminary artillery barrage looked impressive but achieved little. The British had no sight of their targets, which were obscured by mist and smoke, whereas the Ottoman artillery had a clear view of the entire Suvla battlefield and ample opportunity to register their targets.

    The 11th Division attempt to capture the W Hills, collapsed in confusion when confronted by an Ottoman strong-point and artillery fire. As a consequence when the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers managed to capture the summit of Scimitar Hill, they found themselves under fire from the defenders higher up the Anafarta Spur to the east and from the W Hills to the south. The Irish retreated from the summit while the undergrowth around them was set ablaze by the shellfire, incinerating the wounded as they lay helpless.

    Around 5:00 p.m. the troops of the 2nd Mounted Division were ordered forward from their reserve position on Lala Baba, near the beach. They advanced, marching in formation, across the bed of a dry salt lake. By this time the air was clouded by mist and smoke so that they had little idea of where they were going. The 5,000 men of the five brigades formed in columns by regiment and, marching in extended order, were easy targets for the shrapnel. Most of them halted in the cover of Green Hill, west of Scimitar Hill but Brigadier-General Lord Longford, led his 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade in a charge over Green Hill and up to the summit of Scimitar Hill. Continuing on, Lord Longford was cut off and killed. The yeomanry too were driven from the summit. The attack at Scimitar Hill on 21 August was the last attempt by the British to advance at Suvla. The front line remained between Green Hill and Scimitar Hill for the remainder of the campaign until the evacuation on 20 December.

    Casualties
    In one day of fighting the British suffered 5,300 casualties out of the 14,300 soldiers who participated.

    Victoria Cross

    The only two Victoria Crosses awarded at Suvla were made for rescuing of wounded at Scimitar Hill, one on 9 August by Captain Percy Hansen and the other following the 21 August battle by Private Frederick Potts.

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    Meanwhile in the ANZAC area of the war zone....

    The Battle of Hill 60 was the last major assault of the Gallipoli Campaign. It was launched on 21 August 1915 to coincide with the attack on Scimitar Hill made from the Suvla front by General Frederick Stopford's British IX Corps. Hill 60 was a low knoll at the northern end of the Sari Bair range which dominated the Suvla landing. Capturing this hill along with Scimitar Hill would have allowed the Anzac and Suvla landings to be securely linked.

    Two major attacks were made by Allied forces, the first on 21 August and the second on 27 August. The first assault resulted in limited gains around the lower parts of the hill, but the Ottoman defenders managed to hold the heights even after the attack was continued by a fresh Australian battalion on 22 August. Reinforcements were committed, but nevertheless the second major assault on 27 August faired similarly, and although fighting around the summit continued over the course of three days, at the end of the battle the Ottoman forces remained in possession of the summit.

    On the morning of 21 August, it was decided that the New Zealand artillery support, that had been planned to pre-empt the attack, would be diverted to support the Suvla offensive. The start time for the advance on Hill 60 was put back by 30 minutes, by which time it was expected that the artillery would be available to support it. As a consequence Hill 60, and the area around it, received practically no bombardment and the attackers were guaranteed to face severe opposition because the Turks were alerted.


    Situation at nightfall, 21 August
    The NZMR moved out at 3:30 with a 400-metre (1,300 ft) approach march to the Ottoman positions. A number of Turks, on seeing the advancing lines abandoned their front trench, ran back to their rear trenches and, by 3:45, the New Zealanders began occupying the forward position. At 4 pm, the NZMR were in their first objective but neither the Indian Brigade on their left nor 4 Aust on their right were up with them though the Connaught Rangers had secured their first objective, the wells at Kabak. Brigadier-General Andrew Hamilton Russell, the NZMR commander, ordered the Australians to push forward and requested that the Connaughts assist on the left flank. Although only 'A' Company was ordered forward, the Connaughts had become very mixed and the charge was made up from a crowd of men from all the companies, "mad with the lust for battle". Passing the first line trench on the west of the hill, with Turks running before them, the Connaughts were stopped by heavy rifle and machine gun fire from the crest as well as accurate artillery fire.[10][11]

    The survivors consolidated their position in the first-line trench, and were relieved by the Gurkhas from 5:15, leaving the Connaughts to concentrate on securing and fortifying the wells. The right flank was still having difficulties. From Hill 100 down to Hill 60, the Turkish trenches and artillery commanded the Kaiajik Dere valley which 4 Aust and the Hampshires had to cross. Those that survived the crossing had dug in at 5 pm. An artillery shell had set undergrowth on fire, burning many of the wounded to death. The Connaughts joined up with the NZMR to their right by 7 pm, but there was still a gap between the NZMR and the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade.

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    On 22 August, the attack was reinforced by the Australian 18th Battalion which was part of the newly arrived Australian 2nd Division. The men were fresh and healthy, in stark contrast to the veteran troops, but were inexperienced and ill-equipped. Attacking only with the bayonet, they suffered 383 casualties, out of 750 men, in their dawn attack on Hill 60.


    Situation of Allied and Turkish forces at 29 August
    The assault resumed on 27 August and further progress was made up the slope, but the summit of the hill was still held by the Ottomans. On the evening of 27 August 1915, the 9th Light Horse Regiment, of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade, were sent in as reinforcements. One wave of 75 men led by the new commander, Lieutenant Colonel Carew Reynell, lost its way and was caught in the open by Ottoman machine guns. The 10th Light Horse Regiment was committed to the fighting, and on 28 August, some trenches at the summit were captured but the Ottomans clung to the vital northern face which overlooked Suvla. Attacking and counter-attacking continued until this final assault on Hill 60 ended on 29 August 1915

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    German Fleet retires from Riga, disembarkation having failed.

    First authenticated case of German submarine firing on a ship's crew in open boats (British S.S. "Ruel")

    Political, etc.

    British Government declares cotton absolute contraband.

    Italy declares war on Turkey.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  9. #709

    Default

    August 22nd 1915

    RAF and RFC records show that two men lost their lives on this day in 1915:

    2nd Lt. Charles Galliee - No. 2 Squadron RFC attached from The Royal Scots Fusiliers - he is buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, Pas de Calais, France .

    Lt. William M. Wallace - No. 2 Squadron RFC attached from 5th Battalion the Rifles Brigade

    Wallace is second from the left in this photo of the officers of No.2 squadron

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    Both men were Killed in Action 22 August 1915 whilst flying a B.E. 2c 2034 on photographic duty. The aircraft suffered a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire over Sainghem, east of lines and it 'fell like a stone'

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    Western Front

    French occupy Schratzmannele crest (Vosges).

    Eastern Front

    Russians fall back from the Bobr and Niemen; fall of Osovyets.

    Osovets (North Poland) stormed by German forces.

    The (Russian) Home Front: The Tsar takes over supreme command of the army, and leaves St Petersburg in the dangerous hands of the Tsarina and her trusted advisor, Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a peasant and mystical faith healer. With the Tsar at the Front, [The Tsarina] now became the real autocrat … She liked to boast that she was the first woman in Russia to receive government ministers since Catherine the Great, and in these delusions she was encouraged by Rasputin, who effectively used her as a mouthpiece for his own pretentions to power. …

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    Naval and Overseas Operations

    German destroyer sunk by two French torpedo boat destroyers near Ostend.

    Diomed and Palmgrove - two British coasters were sunk by U-38

    Political, etc.

    M. Venizelos accepts Premiership.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  10. #710

    Default

    August 23rd 1915

    Well I never thought that I would be posting stuff about Rasputin !!!! (see yesterday)

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR MONDAY AUGUST 23rd 1915

    However this day the award of another VICTORIA CROSS to the RFC

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    The VC was awarded to Capt. John Aiden Liddell VC. MC. No.7 Squadron RFC

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    Liddell was educated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took the Honours Course in Zoology.

    Like many men in World War I he volunteered for duty as war approached, 'not wishing to be a slacker' and when he was 26 years old, he became a captain in the 3rd Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's), British Army. He spent 43 consecutive days in the trenches in command of the machine gun section before being awarded the Military Cross at Le Maisnil, France before training as a pilot and joining No. 7 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 31 July 1915, while flying reconnaissance over Ostend-Bruges-Ghent, Belgium, Liddell's aircraft was raked by machine gun fire and Liddell was severely wounded in his right thigh. This caused momentary unconsciousness, but by great effort he recovered partial control of his machine when it had dropped nearly 3,000 feet and succeeded, although fired on, in completing the course and brought the plane back into the Allied lines. The control wheel and throttle control were smashed as was part of the undercarriage and cockpit, but the machine and life of the observer were saved. After having his leg removed and septic poisoning setting in, Liddell died of his wounds a month later at De Panne, Flanders, Belgium, on 31 August 1915, aged 27. He is buried in The Holy Ghost Cemetery in Basingstoke. A brass In Memoriam tablet was erected to Aidan Liddell in the Scottish Naval and Military Residence, Edinburgh. The inscription on the brass tablet runs as follows:

    IN MEMORY OF

    CAPTAIN J. AIDAN LIDDELL, V.C., M.C.
    3rd (RESERVE) BATTALION
    ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS
    MORTALLY WOUNDED WHEN SERVING WITH
    THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS
    NEAR OSTEND, BELGIUM
    AUGUST 1915

    PRESENTED BY HIS BROTHER OFFICERS OF THE 3rd (RESERVE) BATTALION.

    A memorial to him was also erected at Balliol College, on the west wall of the Chapel passage. His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.

    Cap. LIddell was flying a Royal Aircraft Factory RE.5

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    Western Front

    Week of air raid begins.

    French bomb Tergnier and Noyon (c).

    British bomb Lens, Henin Lietard and Loos and German camps in Belgium.

    Eastern Front

    Stubborn fighting round Kleszczeli (south of Byelsk); Russians hold their own.

    Southern Front

    Italians attack bridgehead at Tolmino (Julian).

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    British warships bombard Zeebrugge and Knocke.

    British submarine torpedoes Turkish supply ship "Isfahan" opposite Constantinople.

    SMS A15 ( Kaiserliche Marine): World War I: The A1-class torpedo boat was shelled and sunk in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium by Branlebas and Oriflamme (both French Navy).

    SMU-38 continues to cause havoc in the shipping lanes with two more sinkings...
    Silvia ( United Kingdom): World War I: The tanker was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 47 nautical miles (87 km) west of the Fastnet Rock (51°50′N 10°46′W) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Trafalgar ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 54 nautical miles (100 km) south west by west of the Fastnet Rock (50°53′N 10°48′W) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived

    Political, etc.

    Greek Cabinet formed.

    Serbian Parliament adopts order of the day.

    Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, publishes his thoughts on the Social Democratic idea of a “United States of Europe”, focussing in particular on the challenge of economic union in the context of political differences:

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  11. #711

    Default

    Thats all from me for a few days, our esteemed Wing Commander will be back in charge for a few days

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  12. #712

    Default

    Thanks for the work you have put into these posts Chris. I have enjoyed reading them over my breakfast.

  13. #713

    Default

    24th August 1915.


    Western Front.

    French air raid into south Baden (Lorrach).



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    Major Lanoe G. Hawker of No.6 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC) is awarded the Victoria Cross for shooting down three German Albatros biplanes while flying a Bristol Scout C biplane.


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    Born in Hampshire in 1890 Hawker enlisted with the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) before war broke out in 1914.
    Once war was underway however Hawker quickly distinguished himself, receiving the
    DSO in April 1915 for his overtly aggressive tactics with 6 Squadron in successfully attacking - with hand grenades - a German Zeppelin shed at Gontrode.
    The following year, on 25 July 1915 in the skies above Ypres, Hawker succeeded in bringing down two German aircraft by - unusually - deploying a variant of the
    Lewis Gun as a weapon on the starboard side of his Bristol Scout aircraft. This remarkable success (which included forcing a third aircraft to land) earned Hawker the Victoria Cross, the first for an airman.
    Promoted to Major Hawker, whose motto was simply "attack everything", was given command of 24 Squadron in February 1916 while flying the DH2 aircraft. Having established himself as the first Commonwealth
    air ace - he achieved seven victories in total - Hawker's remarkable run came to an end when, following a lengthy dogfight with Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron, he was downed and killed shot through the head on 23 November 1916 above Bapaume. He was aged 25.

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    Eastern Front.

    Enemy breaks through advanced position near Dobrynka (south-west of Brest).

    Southern Front.

    Austrians, reinforced, resume offensive along Italian front.

    Naval and overseas.


    The Russian naval victory in the Baltic continued to lead the news, but it appears that it wasn’t purely them who were involved, as the latest update, whilst sticking to the eleven German ships lost and admitting to one loss of the Russian’s own, a “plucky little” gunboat, revealed that it was a British vessel that had accounted for the biggest scalp of all, the Dreadnought Moltke. If that was the case, it is quite remarkable that this is only revealed in the text of the article and not in the headline, as you’d have thought the Telegraph would be delighted to show off a British contribution.

    Not that the Royal Navy was ignored in the news though, as on the same page a “great bombardment of the German positions on the Belgian coast is reported”.


    When Japanese battleship Fuso was completed in 1914, she was the largest and the most powerfully armed battleship in the world. She did not participate in any major action during WW1.



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    Battleship Fuso undergoing trials, 24 Aug 1915







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    U24 commanded by Rudolf Schneider took as a prize the Norwegian Steamer Sinsen in the North Sea, 58° 46'N, 1° 21'W.


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    UB 17 Captained by Ralph Wenninger took as a prize the Belgian Sailing vessel Leon Mathilde off Ostende.



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    HMS Lassoo was a Laforey-classdestroyer of the Royal Navy.

    She was built during the
    First World War as part of an emergency program of naval construction, to an Admiralty design by William Beardmore & Company, Dalmuir. She was originally to have been named Magic but she was renamed Lassoo on 15 February 1915 before being launched on 24 August 1915.
    She was sunk by the German U-boat
    SM UB-10 on 13 August 1916 off the Maas lightship in the North Sea.

    Political, etc.

    Naval despatch on Gallipoli published.

    Russian positions were broken near Dobrynka, southwest of Brest Litovsk.
    Duma President Rodzianko learned of a proposed change in the command of the army. He called on the President of the Council of Ministers, Goremykin, insisting that the Cabinet should intervene in the matter, but Goremykin refused.

    Germany expresses regret to Denmark for bombardment of British submarine in Danish waters.
    French and British Governments inform Greek Government that they are prepared to send troops requested.

    Rob. (sub editor.)
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  14. #714

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ned2 View Post
    Thanks for the work you have put into these posts Chris. I have enjoyed reading them over my breakfast.
    Its our pleasure. Thank you for reading them

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  15. #715

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    25th August 1915.



    Western Front.

    In the summer of 1915, General Sir David Henderson decided that, despite his personal preferences, a general officer with technical knowledge and recent war experience was required at the War Office to argue for the resources needed by the RFC. Being the only suitable candidate, Henderson arranged for his return to Great Britain and recommended that he be succeeded by Trenchard. Kitchener immediately approved the recommendation and on 25 August 1915, Trenchard was promoted to brigadier-general and appointed Officer Commanding the RFC in the Field.


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    As the Flying Corps' field commander, Trenchard was far more personally involved in the detail of his wing commanders' and squadrons commanders' tasks than Henderson had been. Trenchard instigated tighter controls on the Flying Corps' tactical training programme, dealt with the unending challenge of providing for material shortages and required his airmen to adopt a more aggressive posture During this time Trenchard was greatly helped by his aide-de-camp, Maurice Baring.

    Part of 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division landed in France.
    25 August 1915 : transferred to 2nd Guards Brigade, Guards Division.

    British line extended: French positions taken over.

    British, French, and Belgian aeroplanes set Houthulst Forest on fire , where German reinforcements reported.


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    French bomb Dillingen iron works; air raids in Woevre, Argonne and Artois.

    Eastern Front.

    Storming and fall of Brest-Litovsk.

    Southern Front.

    Austrian aeroplanes bombed Brescia.


    Fighting at Cattaro between Austrians and Montenegrins.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres.

    Coast of Asia Minor and Syria declared in state of blockade.

    Horrible Armenian massacres reported.

    Naval and overseas.

    British ships bombarded Belgian coast between Ostend-Zeebrugge.

    Allied blockade of Syria and Asia Minor.

    General Townsend left Basra for Amarah.


    U boats sink three allied and Neutral ships.



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    The U26 captained by
    Egewolf Freiherr von Berckheim sank
    Russian Steamer Petshora off Nargon, Gulf of Finland.


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    UB 12 captained by
    Hans Nieland . British Fishing Smack Young Frank was stopped and scuttled 38 miles NxE of Lowestoft.


    and UC 6,
    Matthias Graf von Schmettow sank Sweedish Steamer Disa 5 to 6 miles NxE of the Shipwash LV.


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    Political.

    Account published of operations in Gallipoli since 6 August.

    Kaiser decorated co-operating Austrian General von Arz with Pour Le Mérite Order.

    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  16. #716

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    Its pretty much all U-Boats at this time isn't it, have to confess I was quite well versed in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1939-1941 but never realised just how busy the subs were in the first war. Far to often when the first war comes up you never see anything beyond the trenches. With this thread every day has been an education whether researching or reading.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  17. #717

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    Not quite Chris see todays prognostications by our political masters!
    Rob
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  18. #718

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    26th August 1915.


    Western Front.


    French bomb poison gas factory Dornach.

    French consolidated at Sondernarch.

    Eastern Front.

    Germans occupy fort of Olita on Niemen and advance south-east and north-east of Brest-Litovsk.

    Bialystok (Poland) taken by 1st (Prussian) Army Corps. General von Eben. - See more at: http://www.westernfrontassociation.c....z2fWiVRA.dpuf

    Southern Front.

    Italian progress in Val Sugana (Trentino).

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres.

    Rustam (north-west India) column defeats Brunerwals at Surkhabi.

    Naval and Overseas Operations.

    First World War - Despatch to War Office by General Commanding Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Ian Hamilton, 26th August 1915 - describing the precarious position of Allied Forces held at bay by well prepared Turkish forces.
    http://www.lynsted-society.co.uk/Projects/WW1/Despatch_1915_08_26_Gallipoli.html



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    British aeroplane (Squad. com. Bigsworth, R.N.) destroyed U-boat off Ostend.

    UC13 commanded by Johannes Kirchner sank the Italian Sailing vessel Sahina Noriaoff Orak, Turkey


    Political, etc.

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    Count Bernstorff at Washington said U-boats ordered not to attack passenger ships without warning. - See more at: http://www.westernfrontassociation.c....z2fWiVRA.dpuf

    Letter published from Sir Edward Grey in answer to German Chancellor's speech.

    Speech by M. Viviani in French Chamber, followed by vote of confidence.

    Lord Selborne addresses agricultural representatives.

    Lord Selborne announced that Navy had submarine menace, "well in hand." Right!

    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  19. #719

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    Is it me or is that photograph a picture of Sid James playing Adolf Hitler?

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  20. #720

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    Caught me there Chris, but it id actually Adolph Hitler playing Sid James.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  21. #721

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    27th August 1915.

    Back over to you tomorrow then Chris.


    Western Front.

    German trenches captured between Sondernach and Landesbach (Alsace).


    French bomb Mulheim (Baden) and Chatel station (Argonne).

    Home Front.

    The hop growers of Worcestershire are facing a serious labour shortage because inceasing numbers of men are at war and women and girls are being attracted away to better pay in munitions factories

    Eastern Front.

    Russian line on Zlota Lipa broken near Brzezany (East Galicia).

    German troops massing on north-west frontier of Romania.

    Southern Front.



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    Italians storming Monte Rombon (Plezzo, Julian).

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    Austrians attack Montenegrins at Grahovo (Montenegro) and are repulsed.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres.

    Attack reported on British and Russian Consuls at Kengaver (Persia) by band of ruffians under German Vice-Consul.

    Naval and overseas.

    There were no losses to U boats on this day.




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    Renewed attempt to take Hill 60. Between 27 and 29 August, a mixed force of Australian, New Zealand and British units again attacked Hill 60, gained some ground, but failed to take and hold the main Turkish position.



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    More info:-
    http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/hill60.htm

    Political, etc.

    South Wales Miners' Federation refuse Mr. Runciman's award; Government refuses to meet them in further conference.

    Count Bernstorff notifies Mr. Lansing "full satisfaction" will be given U.S. for sinking "Arabic". German submarines now forbidden to attack merchantmen without warning.


    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  22. #722

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    Wilco Wing Commander - may end up doing a triple post as I am also off for a couple of days

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  23. #723

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    Fine Chris.
    Thanks.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  24. #724

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    August 28th 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 28th 1915

    Bit of a quiet one today folks - lot of the regular sources coming back blank.

    Western Front

    Air-raid on Compiegne.

    Naval Action

    HMT Dane ( Royal Navy): World War I: The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, Suffolk with the loss of five of her crew.
    HMY Dolores ( Royal Navy): The naval yacht was destroyed by fire at Douglas, Isle of Man

    Southern Front

    Italians carry and hold Monte Cista (Val Sugana, Trentino).

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres


    Bunerwals again defeated, Malandri Pass (north-west India).

    Political, etc.

    Messages from M. Sazonov and General Polivanov.

    Polivanov was born to an aristocratic family. He graduated from the Nikolaevsky Military Engineering Academy in Petersburg, present-day Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University (Nikolaevsky), from which he graduated in 1880. He served in the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War. He later became a member of the Russian General Staff (1899–1904), rising in 1905 to become its chief the following year.

    Following the disastrous defeat in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War, he was appointed assistant Minister of War and quickly recommended extensive political and military reforms. However, he was dismissed in 1912 because of his cooperation with liberal factions within the Duma.

    Polivanov was appointed to the State Council in 1912 and served until June 1915 when he replaced Vladimir Sukhomlinov as Minister of War; and at once started transforming the Russian army's training system and tried with limited success to improve its supply and communications systems.

    However in August 1915 he became aware of Tsar Nicholas II's plan to replace Grand Duke Nikolai as commander-in-chief of the army and personally lead the Russian armies at the front, and made strenuous efforts to persuade him not to.

    This helped alienate Polivanov from the Tsarina, who then conspired to have him sacked, and achieved this when Tsar Nicholas dismissed him March 1916.

    Following the Russian Revolution, Polivanov joined the Red Army in February 1920, participating in the Soviet-Polish peace talks in Riga later that year but died during the talks of typhus.

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    On the (Turkish) home front: In the town of Cizre, near the Syrian border, the authorities execute Philippe-Jacques Abraham, an ethnic Assyrian Bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church, and Flavianus Michael Malke, the Syrian Catholic eparch, before having their bodies dragged through the streets of Cizre.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  25. #725

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    August 29th 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR SUNDAY AUGUST 29th 1915

    Right - middle of no-where, internet patchy but here goes...


    Western Front

    Violent artillery duel in Argonne.

    Eastern Front

    Enemy nears Grodno and Vilna. Lipsk (Grodno) stormed, Sidra section evacuated.

    Germans attack bridgehead of Dvina at Friedrichstadt.

    Naval Theatre

    HMS C29 ( Royal Navy): World War I: The C-class submarine struck a mine and sank in the Humber Estuary with the loss of all sixteen crew.

    HMS C29 was one of 38 C-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century

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    The C-class boats of the 1907–08 and subsequent Naval Programmes were modified to improve their speed, both above and below the surface. The submarine had a length of 142 feet 3 inches (43.4 m) overall, a beam of 13 feet 7 inches (4.1 m) and a mean draft of 11 feet 6 inches (3.5 m). They displaced 290 long tons (290 t) on the surface and 320 long tons (330 t) submerged. The C-class submarines had a crew of two officers and fourteen ratings.

    For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 12-cylinder[2] 600-brake-horsepower (447 kW) Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 300-horsepower (224 kW) electric motor.[1] They could reach 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) on the surface and 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) underwater. On the surface, the C class had a range of 910 nautical miles (1,690 km; 1,050 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

    The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.

    Construction and career

    HMS C29 was built by Vickers, Barrow. She was laid down on 4 June 1908 and was commissioned on 17 September 1909. The boat sank a merchant ship while patrolling the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic.

    C29 was involved in the U-boat trap tactic. The tactic was to use a decoy trawler to tow a submarine. When a U-boat was sighted, the tow line and communication line was slipped and the submarine would attack the U-boat. The tactic was partly successful, but was abandoned after the loss of two C-class submarines. In both cases, all the crew were lost. C29 was one of the two C class submarines sunk because of the tactic. She was mined when her trawler Ariadne strayed into a minefield in the Humber Estuary on 29 August 1915.

    Sir William Stephenson ( United Kingdom): World War I: The passenger ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the Cockle Lightship with the loss of two lives


    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Swat natives repulsed at Sandaki (north-west India).

    And just for Tim and the other die hard Sails fans...

    On this day in 1782

    Aug 29 1782

    Sinking of HMS Royal George

    The first-rate ship HMS Royal George was laid down as the Royal Anne but renamed in honour of the reigning monarch George II before her launch in 1756.

    The first warship to exceed 2,000 tons burden, Royal George was commissioned at the start of the Seven Years' War with France and joined the Western Squadron in blockading the port of Brest and Quiberon Bay.

    On 29 August 1782 whilst undergoing minor repair work at Spithead, the Royal George began to take on water. She capsized and sank very quickly with the loss of about 900 lives. The dead included Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt and as many as 300 women and 60 children who were visiting the ship at the time, prior to their husbands and fathers departing Britain’s shores. It was reported that all of the children but one lost their lives; a single little boy surviving by clinging on to a sheep which had been on board.

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    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  26. #726

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hedeby View Post
    [SIZE=5]And just for Tim and the other die hard Sails fans...
    On this day in 1782
    Aug 29 1782
    Sinking of HMS Royal George

    ;a single little boy surviving by clinging on to a sheep which had been on board.
    "Don't give up the sheep!"
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

  27. #727

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    Its always the sheep that gets it! lol

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  28. #728

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    August 30th 1915

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR MONDAY AUGUST 30th 1915

    Naval Action

    Bretwalda ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship struck a mine and was damaged in the North Sea 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) east of the Longsand Lightship ( United Kingdom). She was beached but was later refloated, repaired and returned to service.
    Honiton ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship struck a mine and was damaged in the North Sea 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) east of the Longsand Lightship. She was beached at Shoeburyness, Essex but was declared a total loss.
    Zemlya ( Russia): World War I: The coaster was sunk in the Baltic Sea off Worms Island (59°02′N 23°02′E) by SM U-26 ( Kaiserliche Marine).


    Eastern Front

    Russian victory on Strypa (southern Galicia), taking 4,000 prisoners and 30 guns.

    Southern Front

    Italians eject Austrians from Monte Maronia (Julian).

    French aeroplanes bomb Akbachi Sliman and Chanak (Gallipoli).

    Brigadier General P.A.Kenna VC DSO, 21st Lancers

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    BRIGADIER General Paul Aloysius Kenna VC DSO (born 16 August 1862 in Everton, Liverpool - 30 August 1915) was an English born Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that could be awarded to British and British Empire forces.

    He was the son of Thomas Kenna, a wealthy stockbroker of Liverpool who was descended from a family of minor gentry from County Meath. Kenna was educated at Stonyhurst College and St. Francis Xavier College in Liverpool - he is honoured in a memorial which can be seen in the main hall of the current college site in Beaconsfield Road, Liverpool. Kenna married Lady Cecil Bertie, daughter of the 7th Earl of Abingdon.

    Kenna was 36 years old, and a captain in the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's), British Army during the Sudan Campaign when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC (currently on display in the The Queen's Royal Lancers Regimental Museum, Belvoir Castle).

    On 2 September 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, Sudan, when a major of the 21st Lancers was in danger, as his horse had been shot in the charge, Captain Kenna took the major up on his own horse, to a place of safety. After the charge Captain Kenna returned to help Lieutenant De Montmorency who was trying to recover the body of an officer who had been killed.

    He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics for Great Britain as a horse rider. He did not finish the Individual eventing (Military) competition, also the British team did not finish the team event. In the individual jumping event he finished 27th.

    He was killed in action at Suvla, Turkey during the Battle of Gallipoli on 30 August 1915, aged 53 and is buried in Lala Baba Cemetery.


    Political, etc.

    German Ambassador's account of his last interview with Sir Edward Grey republished from German press.

    Great Britain makes concessions to American trade with regard to blockade.

    Letter from Mr. Balfour gives total deaths from Zeppelin raids as 89 - all civilians

    British Foreign Minister (Sir E. Grey) informs M. Supilo that, provided Serbia agreed, the Allies could guarantee the eventual freedom and self-determination of Bosnia, Herzegovina, South Dalmatia, Slavonia and Croatia (see 15th and May 7th)

    Home Front

    On the Thames Estuary in Purfleet, Essex – 16 cadets and their training officer died on His Majesty’s Training Ship “Cornwall” when it is struck by a government tug.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  29. #729

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    August 31st 1915

    Back at home base and not having to compile on tablets or archaic laptops - so lets hope there is plenty to talk about this evening...

    RFC records report one death on this day:

    Capt. John Aiden Liddell VC. MC. No.7 Squadron RFC. Died of his wounds following the action that saw him win the VC (as detailed on 23rd August) It was on 31st July that Liddell received his terrible wounds whilst flying his RE-5. He is buried in The Holy Ghost Cemetery in Basingstoke.

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    Other Air Action involving the death of the man who arguably has the claim for being the FIRST EVER AIR ACE...

    Europe’s first ever parachutist (in 1913), Adolphe Celestin Pegoud – shot down by his former student, Unteroffizier Walther Kandulski.

    Adolphe Célestin Pégoud was born 13 June 1889 in Montferrat, France. Pégoud served in the French Army from 1907 to 1913. Discharged 13 February 1913, he immediately began flying, and earned his pilot's certificate 1 March 1913. Using a sacrifice aircraft, Pégoud was the first pilot to make a parachute jump from an airplane. During the first jump, observing the unexpected path of the plane and particularly a loop-like trajectory, he was convinced he could reproduce and control the same in flight. After landing, Pégoud addressed reporters: "I've seen him, alone, looping the loop. So you see that this is possible. Also, I will try ! "..

    As a test pilot for Louis Blériot, he devoted himself to this goal with a Blériot model XI monoplane in a series of test flights exploring the limits of airplane maneuvers. Having modified his airplane, and after a realistic "head down" ground training, he then flew the first inverted flight on 1 September 1913.

    Then on September 21 he flew a loop, believing it to be the world's first. Pégoud's feat was consequently widely publicized and believed by many to be the first loop, although Pyotr Nesterov, a Russian army pilot, had flown the first one on 9 September 1913, just 12 days earlier, in a Nieuport IV monoplane at an army airfield near Kiev. In fact, Pégoud was the first to have intentionally prepared and mastered the loop. Moreover, soon after his feat of September 21 , he was invited by the Czar of Russia to perform in Moscow a series of demonstrations followed by student training. He also became a popular instructor of French and other European fledgling pilots.

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    At the start of World War I, Pégoud volunteered for flying duty and was immediately accepted as an observation pilot. On 5 February 1915, he and his gunner were credited with shooting down two German aircraft and forcing another to land. Soon he was flying single-seat aircraft and in April claimed two further victories. His sixth success came in July.Pégoud being awarded with Croix de Guerre.

    It is not known how many of Pégoud's victories involved destruction of enemy aircraft, as early air combat was rare enough to warrant credit for a forced landing. However, it is certain that Pégoud, rather than Roland Garros (four documented victories), was the first pilot to achieve ace status of any sort.

    On 31 August 1915, Pégoud was shot down by one of his prewar German students, Unteroffizier Walter Kandulski, While intercepting a German reconnaissance aircraft. He was 26 years old. The same German crew later dropped a funeral wreath above the French lines. A false report states that two weeks later Kandulski was shot down by the French pilot Roger Ronserail. In fact Kandulski survived the war

    Western Front

    Germans claim successes in the Vosges.

    Eastern Front

    Russians beat Germans near Lutsk (Upper Styr River). 7,000 prisoners.

    Southern Front

    Serbian troops at Durazzo.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Rustam column again drives Bunerwals back.

    An update from Cairo: Intelligence officer T.E. Lawrence writes home to his family: he has heard that the weather in Britain has been terrible; he sends a request for a book search for him at Blackwell’s bookshop; and, today being his mother’s birthday, he speculates that “For the next one there will probably be peace”.

    Political, etc.

    Dispute in South Wales Coalfield officially ended.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  30. #730

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    1st September 1915.


    Home Front.

    22 Squadron was formed on 1 September 1915. It was equipped principally with RAF B.E.2c aircraft. These were replaced in 1916 by RAF F.E. 2b, which the Squadron took to France on 1 April that year.

    Eastern Front.

    Germans storm Grodno.
    Grodno outer forts were captured by 1st Prussian Landwehr Division.

    Austrians enter Brody, north-east of Lemberg (Galacia).
    Russians concentrate round Vilna.


    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres.

    Island of Ruad (between Latakia and Tripoli, Syria) occupied by French.

    . See more at: http://www.westernfrontassociation.c....RbLOz8Jo.dpuf

    Naval and overseas.


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    Eight Destroyers fitted for mine-sweeping swept waters westward of Pentland Firth. This was the first occasion on which Destroyers used for this purpose.

    Four British ships were lost to U boat action.
    one to U33 Captain Konrad Gansser. The Steamer Witefield 95 miles NxW Cape Wrath.

    Three to UC 7 Franz Wagner. HMT Malta, HMT Nadine, and the Steamer Savona all mined off the North Shipwash Buoy.


    Political, etc.

    General Alexieff was appointed Russia Chief of Staff.
    Serbia replies to communication of Entente Powers, re: settlement of Balkan question.
    German acceptance of American demands re: submarine warfare communicated by Count Bernstorff.
    President Wilson Wins Great Victory: Kaiser grants demands, all American demands were agreed to with reference to warning enemy merchant ships before attacking and requiring visit and search for the safety of passengers.

    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  31. #731

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    Thanks Rob - I have been doing a bit of digging trying to get lists of claimed kills vs, losses, this way we can track the course of the war in the air - the features on the pilots and planes are to me the most interesting pieces - although I have probably learned more from everything else, lol

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  32. #732

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    I was pretty thin on info for RFC info at the start and indeed through most of 14. Hopefully we
    can gradually insert more as the war in the air hots up, and phase down some of the PC, although I am aware that we have a following outside the U.K. Wing for whom it was initially intended.
    Our Allies, members of the Empire and even adversaries have been given some coverage as you know, and seem to appreciate it. However as the Editor in Chief, I bow to your judgement in this matter.
    Whatever you deem to be in the public interest we print sir.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  33. #733

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    To be honest, we'll read, with great interest, what ever you post. It's all been enlightening, and we eagerly await the next 3 years and 2 months.

    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

  34. #734

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jager View Post
    To be honest, we'll read, with great interest, what ever you post. It's all been enlightening, and we eagerly await the next 3 years and 2 months.

    Karl
    Thats a definite.

  35. #735

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    2nd September 1915.

    Eastern Front.

    Fall of Grodno; Boehm-Ermolli advances east of Brody; Russians retreat to the Sereth; fierce fighting near Vilna.

    Southern Front.

    Unsuccessful assault by Italians on bridgehead of Tolmino.

    Gallipoli.

    The first Nova Scotian to die in WW1.

    Malignant Cove native and First World War soldier John Angus McNeil became Antigonish County's first combat fatality of the Great War.
    John Angus was the second of six children born to Donald and Sarah McNeil. Sometime after 1901 he and two of his brothers travelled to British Columbia to work in lumber camps on Vancouver Island.
    Eventually, he headed a little further west to New Zealand with a new plan to become a sheep farmer.

    The McNeil family home in Malignant Cove. (Courtesy Bruce MacDonald )
    But the Great War had another fate for McNeil. In October 1914, he enlisted with one of New Zealand's four battalions: The Otago Reinforcements.
    The battalion trained in Egypt and became part of the Australia-New Zealand Army Corp. They were appointed as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and assigned to military action in Gallipoli, Turkey.

    McNeil fought and survived many battles over several months, but was shot in an attack in the third week of August 1915.
    He suffered a severe wound and fracture in his right leg. He was evacuated to hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, where he died on Sept. 2, 1915.


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    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres.

    German intrigues in Persia; Mr T.G. Graham, British Counsul-General at Ispahan, attacked and wounded.
    Final scattering of Bunerwals on N.W. Frontier (India).

    Naval and Overseas Operations.

    British transport "Southland" torpedoed in Aegean.




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    The transport ship Southland, carrying Australian and some British troops, was torpedoed by German submarine
    UB-14 captained by Heino von Heimburg on its way to Lemnos.


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    Thirty-two Australian soldiers lost their lives, most being drowned.
    The ship was beached, repaired, and returned to service in August 1916. While in service between the United Kingdom and Canada in April 1917, Southland was torpedoed a second time, this time by
    U-70; she was sunk off the coast of Ireland with the loss of four lives.
    Two other British ships were lost on this day.


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    U20 captained by Walther Schwieger sank the Steamer Roumanie 40 miles NNW of St Kilda.





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    U 39 captained by Walter Forstmann attacked sailing vessel William. T. Lewis


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    which was Stopped 90 miles WxN of Fastnet. An attempt to sink by gunnery was unsuccessful.

    British submarines sink four Turkish transports off Akbachi Sliman and Nagara (Gallipoli).

    Political, etc.

    General Polivanov appointed Prime Minister in Russia.

    American press publishes peace terms now being propagated by Germany.

    Scandinavian groups of Inter-parliamentary Union meet at Copenhagen.

    Rob.

    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  36. #736

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    I was pretty thin on info for RFC info at the start and indeed through most of 14. Hopefully we
    can gradually insert more as the war in the air hots up, and phase down some of the PC, although I am aware that we have a following outside the U.K. Wing for whom it was initially intended.
    Our Allies, members of the Empire and even adversaries have been given some coverage as you know, and seem to appreciate it. However as the Editor in Chief, I bow to your judgement in this matter.
    Whatever you deem to be in the public interest we print sir.
    Rob.
    Lol when did I become editor in chief?

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  37. #737

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    Erm! When you started this thread Chief.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  38. #738

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    3rd September 1915.


    Eastern Front.

    Germans force Russians at Friedrichstadt to east bank of Dvina; Russians re-enter Grodno and hold line between Dniester and Pripet marshes.

    Austrians reach right bank of Sereth.

    Southern Front.

    Italians win great battle and take Roverto. Roverto, the largest Austrian city, falls before the Italian armies and is being slowly occupied by the king's troops.

    Gallipoli.

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    Dugouts of the 10th Infantry Battalion, in Victoria Gully, just behind & to the left of
    the 7th Battery's guns, on the 3rd September 1915. A path runs down the gully (right)
    past the Regimental Aid Post in the foreground, with Artillery Road near the top of
    the hill in the background.
    [Courtesy of Australian War Memorial - P02321.024]



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    Friday 3rd September

    The weather nice & crisp with a cool breeze. Getting the store rebuilt a little in case of Winter protection – a quiet day. Went to Ordnance for clothing etc.
    [Courtesy of State Library of New South Wales - William Sparkes diary]


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    (Captain William Charles Waite, temporary O/C 7th Battery

    9.20 Observers reported gun firing from southern end of GUN RIDGE Sqs 68-V-3 to 6 – W-1 to 4. Reported to 9th Battery F.A.

    17.50 to 18.10 No. 4 gun fired 14 rds P.S. + 8rds H.E. at enemy’s parapets + overhead cover on slope of PLATEAU 400 N. end of SURPRISE GULLY in retaliation for enemy gun firing on our trenches at LONESOME PINE. Range 940x. Fire was drawn onto our Battery + ceased on LONESOME PINE.

    1800 Observers reported party of enemy working on what appeared to be a revolving turret emplacement on slope of GUN RIDGE Sq 68-V-5,6. Spot was kept under observation by an officer who saw embrasure of emplacement revolving as though on a pivot.

    14.00 2nd Lieuts. Moody, H.E., + Steward, C.G. attached to Battery + reported for duty.

    [Courtesy of Australian War Memorial - Official unit war diary, 7th Battery]





    The body of Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges, commander of the 1st Australian Division, who died of wounds received on Gallipoli on 15 May 1915, was buried in the grounds of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra. Bridges was the first commandant of Duntroon and he was the only Australian soldier who died overseas in the two world wars whose body was returned home during the course of the war.


    Naval and Overseas Operations.

    Only two ships were reported lost to U boats on this day.


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    U 20 captained by Walther Schwiegersank the Norwegian steamer Frode, 60 miles W of Shannon with two casualties.


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    Frode.

    UC 7 captained byFranz Wäger mined the British Steamer Churston 2.5 miles S of Orfordness, resulting in four casualties.

    British mounted infantry cause severe loss to enemy near Maktan (German East Africa).

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    Lt. William Darnell VC.
    William was born 6 April 1885 in Collingwood, Melbourne.
    On 15 April 1907 he married.
    He was in South Africa when the war was declared. He went to England on 12 February 1915 he joined the 25th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers, as a temporary lieutenant. By early May, he was in Mombasa. In June, the Fusiliers captured Bukoba, the German base for attacks on the Uganda frontier.
    On 3 September 1915, near Maktau, East Africa William was wounded in the leg during an ambush.
    Lt. Dartnell insisted on being left behind to allow other wounded companions to be carried away. Though he was twice asked to leave, he refused, ordered his men to leave him and began firing at the Germans around him. When his body was found, seven enemy dead were lying nearby.

    William Dartnell was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.


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    Dartnell was buried in Voi cemetery, East Africa.

    For full story:- http://www.hellfirecorner.co.uk/dartnell.htm

    Political, etc.

    Grand Duke Nicholas appointed Viceroy of Caucasus.

    General von Beseler appointed Governor General of Russian Poland.

    Romania forbids export of cereals.

    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  39. #739

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    4th September 1915.

    Western Front.

    Artillery actions round Arras, and north of Chalons.

    Eastern Front.

    Enemy offensive on Dubno-Kovna road developing; Russians retire slowly in centre.

    Southern Front.

    Successful Italian actions in Trentino and in Plezzo basin (Julian).

    Gallipoli.


    Worcs. Yeomanry move back into trenches south east of Chocolate Hill and remain here for three weeks.


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    Looking south towards the coast from artillery positions on the heights of Gallipoli, between
    Brown's Dip and Macay's Hill, towards Lone Pine, 2nd September 1915 - the same area
    systematically bombarded by the Turks, & defended by the 7th Battery (below).


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    William Percival Sparkes

    Saturday 4th September

    A cool breeze blowing but I am not feeling too well. Stomach trouble again.



    Sept. 4

    (Captain William Charles Waite, temporary O/C 7th Battery)
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    07.20 to 07.45 No. 4 gun fired 7 rds P.S. at slope + crest of PLATEAU 400, N. end of SURPRISE GULLY in retaliation of gun firing on our trenches at LONESOME PINE. Ranges 915x to 950. Effect – Parapets + overhead cover partially destroyed. Enemy’s fire at LONESOME PINE and at No. 4 gun ceased at 07.45 probably owing to our aeroplane appearing over Turkish lines. Observers reported considerable movement of troops on MAIDOS - KRITHIA road during the morning.


    Naval and Overseas Operations.



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    The Submarine E7 Which Was Sunk Off The Dardanelles 4th September 1915


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    Allan liner "Hesperian" torpedoed off Irish coast, west of Queenstown; sinks later with loss of 32 lives.
    The RMS Hesperian was a passenger ship of the Allan Line, which served the Liverpool – Québec – Montréal route from 1908 to 1915. On the night of 4 September 1915, the submarine SM
    U-20, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Walther Schwieger, who sank the Lusitania, torpedoed Hesperian. The Hesperian sank over a day after being torpedoed, on 6 September 1915, while being towed to Ireland. Thirty-two people were killed when a lifeboat upset while lowering. Hesperian was also carrying the body of Lusitania victim Frances Stephens on her last voyage, with Mrs. Stephens being sunk twice by the same submarine and commander.
    Schwieger was reprimanded for this action, as the previous week Count Bernstorff, the Imperial German Ambassador to the United States, had assured Washington that “passenger liners will not be sunk without warning” after the Lusitania disaster.


    In addition to Schwieger, Konrad Gansser and the U33 were also busy, sinking the
    British Tanker Cymberline 29 miles WxS of Fastnet with six casualties. Steamer Mimosa, 137 miles SWxS of Fastnet, and Norwegian Sailing vessles Glimt, 90 miles WxS of Fastnet.and Storesand also off Fastnet.



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    U 34 captained by Claus Rucker sank the British Steamer Natal Transport, 40 miles W of Gavdo Island (near Crete).

    None of these vessels sustained any casualties.


    Political.
    President Wilson Calls Congress Leasers To Conference On War Preparedness.


    Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Lincoln Branch, Flag day, Saturday, September 4th, 1915. LOC Summary:
    Poster showing a lifeboat at the scene of a foundering ship. LOC Notes: Text continues: 311 lives saved from H.M. warships, destroyers, seaplanes and other vessels since the outbreak of war.

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    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  40. #740

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    Thanks Rob - back to me for the coming week

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  41. #741

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    September 5th 1915

    According to RAF / RFC records, three airmen lost their lives on this day 100 years ago...

    Capt. William Campbell Anderson of No.6 Squadron and Lieutenant Edward Clarence Braddyl (also No. 6 squadron). Anderson and Braddyl were pilot and observer in the same aircraft (an FE 2b).

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    Lieutenant Edward Braddyl joined Number 6 squadron (based at the time at Abeele) in July 1915, only a month before one of Number 6’s flight commanders, Captain Lanoe Hawker, had been awarded his VC. According to “The Sky Their Battlefield”, lieutenant Braddyl’s FE2a No: 4227 was shot down by anti aircraft fire whilst on an Artillery Patrol on 5th September 1915. His pilot, (flight commander) captain W C Adamson was killed. Braddyl was taken prisoner of war but died of his injuries. On the same mission they had earlier driven off 3 enemy aircraft over Mount Sorrel, south east of Zillebeke. Alas there is little or no information I can uncover on Captain Anderson.

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    Lieutenant Edward Clarence BRADDYLL
    10th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers (Hodson's Horse)
    Killed in France on Sunday 5 September 1915
    Buried in Grave XVII.C.17 in Harlebeke New British Cemetery

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    The third man to lose his life today (not strictly an airman) was Surgeon Frederick James Humphrys of the RNAS, 11 Squadron Armoured Car Division. He died on this day of wound received the previous day. Frederick James Humphrys entered the Navy as a Temporary Surgeon directly the Great War broke out. He was appointed first to the depot ship ST GEORGE, and in January 1915 as surgeon attached to 11th [possibly 1st?] Squadron Armoured Cars, Royal Naval Air Service. In this capacity he served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli. He died, aged 27, on 5th September 1915, from wounds received the previous day at Suvla Bay during an attack on the Turkish forces. Son of William and Laura Humphrys of ‘Greenhill’, Rossmore Avenue, Parkstone, Dorset; native of Dulwich. Educated at Berkhamstead School and St Thomas's Hospital, where he held a series of posts. He took his MRCS and LRCP London in 1912, and graduated MB, BS at London University in the same year. His grave is in Hill 10 Cemetery, Suvla.

    The RNAS AC Squadrons deployed to Gallipoli were Nos.3 & 4 (armoured cars but most were re-embarked in June 1915) and Nos.9-12 (motor maxim squadrons with motor cycles but employed as dismounted machine gun detachments on all Gallipoli fronts). By the time of the Suvla operations only 10 and 11 Squadrons remained ashore, all others having returned to Egypt. 10 and 11 Squadrons were GHQ troops. They were still ashore in mid-October 1915. Surgeon Humphrys is one of two RNASACD casualties buried at Hill 10 Cemetery, Suvla...

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    The RNAS engaged in interservice rivalry on land as well as in the air, possessing for a time the UK's only mechanised land forces in the form of the RNAS Armoured Car Section made up of squadrons of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars. Commanded by Commander Charles Samson, the section was originally equipped with unarmoured touring cars and intended to provide line of communications security and to pick up aircrew who had been forced to land in hostile territory. Samson saw the possibilities when he armed one vehicle with a Maxim gun and ambushed a German car near Cassel on 4 September 1914. He then had a shipbuilders in Dunkirk add boilerplate to his Rolls Royce and Mercedes vehicles. The new armoured car squadrons were soon used to great effect forming part of Naval mechanised raiding columns against the Germans. By November 1914 the Section had become the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division (RNACD) eventually expanding to 20 squadrons. As trench warfare developed, the armoured cars could no longer operate on the Western Front and were redeployed to other theatres including the Middle East, Romania and Russia. In the summer of 1915 the RNACD was disbanded and the army took over control of armoured cars, with the units soon coming under the command of the Motor Branch of the Machine Gun Corps. However RNAS experience of the Western Front would not be lost, No. 20 Squadron RNAS was retained under Naval control to further develop armoured vehicles for land battle, these personnel later becoming the nucleus of the team working under the Landships Committee that developed the first tanks. The RAF would later inherit some ex-RNAS armoured cars left in the Middle East, and during World War II, the Number 1 Armoured Car Company RAF played an important role in the defence of RAF Habbaniya when the base was attacked by Iraqi nationalists.

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    Western Front

    Heavy bombardments continue along Belgium and French fronts, especially in Arras region.

    This completes 13th day of incessant artillery duel on Western Front.

    French aircraft bomb barracks at Dieuze and Morchingen. ( I wish I could could find more infor about the French bombing raids...)

    Naval Operations

    Dictator ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 135 nautical miles (250 km) south by west of the Fastnet Rock (49°09′N 8°58′W) by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Douro ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 79 nautical miles (146 km) south west by west of the Bishop's Rock (48°55′N 7°48′W) by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Rhea ( Russia): World War I: The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of the Fastnet Rock (48°24′N 7°24′W by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Nineteen crew were rescued by Velasquez ( Spain).

    Eastern Front

    Tsar takes supreme command, with General Alexeiev as Chief of Staff, General Russki succeeding latter as General Officer Commander-in-Chief Northern Army; fighting on Styr and Sereth.

    Southern Front

    Night attack at Dardanelles by Turks repulsed by Australians.

    Asiatic and Egyptians Theatres

    Defeat of Mohmands on Indian frontier by General Campbell at Hafiz Khor (Gundao Valley).

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Mine explosions on Uganda railway. Trains derailed, no casualties.

    Political etc)

    The Tsar supersedes the Grand Duke Nicholas in supreme command of the Russian Armies with General Alexeiev as Chief of Staff [Though nominally Chief of Staff, General Alexeiev was virtually Commander-in-Chief and performed the duties of that office till the Tsar's abdication on March 15th, 1917 and continued as Commander-in-Chief thereafter without further appointment.] (see 8th, August 3rd, 1914 and March 15th and June 4th, 1917).

    Protest: In Zimmerwald, Switzerland, delegates from international socialist parties in 11 countries hold a conference to advocate anti-militarist and pacifist policies and (for some) international socialist revolution, later making this small Swiss town a part of the foundation myth of the Soviet Union.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  42. #742

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    September 6th 1915

    After quite a lot of content yesterday - its a bit more tricky today, three of my normal sources are completely blank.

    According to RAF & RFC records there were NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 6th.

    However something happened that changed the face of warfare completely.......

    On this day in 1915, a prototype tank nicknamed Little Willie rolls off the assembly line in England. Little Willie was far from an overnight success. It weighed 14 tons, got stuck in trenches and crawled over rough terrain at only two miles per hour. However, improvements were made to the original prototype and tanks eventually transformed military battlefields.

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    The British developed the tank in response to the trench warfare of World War I. In 1914, a British army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey, secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence, championed the idea of an armored vehicle with conveyor-belt-like tracks over its wheels that could break through enemy lines and traverse difficult territory. The men appealed to British navy minister Winston Churchill, who believed in the concept of a “land boat” and organized a Landships Committee to begin developing a prototype. To keep the project secret from enemies, production workers were reportedly told the vehicles they were building would be used to carry water on the battlefield (alternate theories suggest the shells of the new vehicles resembled water tanks). Either way, the new vehicles were shipped in crates labeled “tank” and the name stuck.

    The first tank prototype, Little Willie, was unveiled in September 1915. Following its underwhelming performance–it was slow, became overheated and couldn’t cross trenches–a second prototype, known as “Big Willie,” was produced. By 1916, this armored vehicle was deemed ready for battle and made its debut at the First Battle of the Somme near Courcelette, France, on September 15 of that year. Known as the Mark I, this first batch of tanks was hot, noisy and unwieldy and suffered mechanical malfunctions on the battlefield; nevertheless, people realized the tank’s potential. Further design improvements were made and at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, 400 Mark IV’s proved much more successful than the Mark I, capturing 8,000 enemy troops and 100 guns.

    Though it never saw combat, Little Willie was a major step forward in military technology, being the first tank prototype to be finished.[note 1] During the remainder of World War I, some tank crews continued to informally refer to their vehicles as "Willies" or "buses". In 1922 the Royal Tank Regiment adopted a folk song called My Boy Willie as its regimental march.[5]

    Today
    Little Willie was preserved for posterity after the war, saved from being scrapped in 1940, and is today displayed at the The Tank Museum at Bovington. It is essentially an empty hull, without an engine, but still with some internal fittings. The rear steering wheels are not fitted and there is damage to the hull plating around the right–hand vision slit, possibly caused by an attempt at some point to tow the vehicle by passing a cable through the slit. This would have torn the tank's comparatively thin steel plating.

    For more information check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Willie

    Or read this fantastic book that covers the full history of the 'Heavy Machine Gun Section' and the band of scientists, engineers, soldiers and politicians that developed the world's first tanks. I have read this cover to cover and it is a cracking (and thought provoking read) - well recommended

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    Western Front

    French squadron of 40 aeroplanes bombs Saarbrucken. (Blimey wish I could find more out about this - but French sources seem very few and far between, either that or my French isn't as good as I thought it was)

    Eastern Front

    Russians pressed back in centre by Germans and over east Galician border by Austrians; heavy fighting near Brody.

    Southern Front

    Austrians active on Italian fronts.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Reports received of appalling condition of Armenians in Asia Minor; Germany and Austria refuse to interfere.

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Turkish destroyer "Yar Hissar" sunk by submarine in Sea of Marmora.

    Renwed activity in German East Africa.

    Fighting on Rhodesian frontier near Saisa, between Germans and Belgians.

    Russian destroyers in Black Sea damage Turkish cruiser "Hamidiya" and sink four coal transports.

    Political, etc.

    Turco-Bulgarian frontier convention signed at Dimotika.

    The Balkans: Bulgaria signs a military agreement with Germany agreeing to enter on the side of the Central Powers. In return for sending forces against Serbia and Montenegro (thereby re-opening the unresolved business of the recent Second Balkan War), Bulgaria is promised large parts of Macedonia, a sea port on the Adriatic and territorial concessions in European Turkey

    "Archibald" documents discovered in U.S.A., compromising Austrian Ambassador, Dr. Dumba.

    Konstantin Theodor Graf Von Dumba

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    On 4 March 1913, Dr. Dumba was appointed as the successor of Baron Hengelmüller von Hengervár, the long time ambassador to Washington D.C. and dean of the diplomatic corps. He presented his letter of credentials to President Wilson on 24 April 1913.Although the first months in office were calm, the outbreak of World War I would quickly put him in the spotlight. In early September 1915 the media reported that Dr. Dumba had been involved in schemes to sabotage the U.S. munitions industry. On 5 September, the news broke that he had admitted to giving James Francis Jewell Archibald, an American news correspondent, a letter for delivery to Foreign Minister Baron Burián von Rajecz in Vienna. In the letter, he proposed certain measures to hamper the manufacture of munitions for the Allies in the US. The so-called 'Dumba Affair' quickly became a scandal. On 9 September 1915, Secretary of State Lansing declared him no longer acceptable and requested the Austro-Hungarian government to recall its ambassador. In the note, Lansing charged the ambassador with espionage for having advocated that his government back 'plans to instigate strikes in American manufacturing plants engaged in the production of munitions of war'. On 27 September, the Austro-Hungarian government eventually agreed to recall Dr. Dumba. He left the United States on 5 October and was allowed to pass unhindered through the Entente blockade of the European continent and return to Vienna.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  43. #743

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    September 7th 1915

    Records show the loss of two airmen on this date 100 years ago...

    Flight Sergeant Frederick George Bateman No. 4 Squadron RFC and 2nd Lieutenant Geoffrey Bryan Hobbs of No.9 Squadron RFC.

    Alas I can't find much information on Flight Sergeant Bateman, but he was born in London June 1st 1884. Obtained Royal Aeronautical Society certificate number 712 at Netheravon on the 20/12/1919 flying a Maurice Farman. He earned a 1914 star and is buried in the Deptford Cemetery in London (row 1 grave 1852)

    Lt. Hobbs was from the 10th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers and was accidentally Killed while flying at Martin Hill 7 September 1915. The accident and his death were recorded in the Dover Express on the 10th of September...

    Dover Express - Friday 10 September 1915

    MILITARY AVIATOR KILLED AT DOVER. The first military fatal flying accident at Dover occurred early Tuesday morning, when we regret to report that Lieut. Geoffrey Brian Hobbs, of the Royal Flying Corps, aged 19 years, met his death owing to his machine falling to the ground at Martin Mill from a great height. An inquest was held at the Esplanade Hotel on Wednesday afternoon by the Borough Coroner (Mr. Sydenham Payn) as to the death. Mr. W. Wood was chosen foreman of the jury.

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    An officer attached to the Royal Flying Corps, said that the body at the Military Hospital was that of Geoffrey Brian Hobbs, who was a lieutenant in the 10th Northumberland Fusiliers, serving with the Royal Flying Corps. His age was 19 years. He had flown for a total of from 45 to 50 hours, and had had experience of many sorts of machines. At about a quarter to six on Tuesday morning the deceased ascended in a Martinside biplane for a flight. This machine was new him, but it was in good order and had been flown the evening before by two different pilots. His time for flying would be about half an hour. At the end of that time a telephone message arrived from the waterworks at Martin saying that the machine had fallen to the ground heavily. Witness ordered the break-down tender and a hospital orderly to go at once. Witness went with the tender, and in a field to the east of the waterworks he found the machine which had been used by the deceased smashed on the ground, with the engine in the ground and the back doubled up as if it had come down head first. The deceased was pinned beneath the machine. The machine was lifted, and the deceased was cut clear. He was dead. The deceased was removed on a stretcher and taken on the tender to the Duke of York's Hospital.

    Raymond Champion said that he was the engineer in charge of the Martin Waterworks. A few minutes to six o'clock the previous morning he was in the yard, and he was watching a flying machine. It was flying very high —at least 3,000 feet — and was going straight along, when it suddenly shot round two or three times, and then turned over several times and fell to the ground. Witness heard the machine strike the ground, and he sent the message to the last witness, and then went to the place where the machine had fallen. Another officer of the Royal Flying Corps said that he gave the deceased instructions to fly on Tuesday morning and what he was to do. The machine was in good order, and had only been in use four and a half hours. It was sent out the night before for the purpose of seeing if it was all right, and it was reported by the instructor that all was right.



    War from the Air:

    A German zeppelin air raid on east and south east London bombs residential areas, killing civilians, including women and children. German Army airships returned on the night of 7th September, when three – including one of the wooden-framed Schütte-Lanz airships - attempted to strike against London.

    Zeppelin LZ.77, commanded by Hauptmann Alfred Horn, came in over Clacton at about 10.40pm but failed to strike at the capital. Instead she meandered, apparently aimlessly, around Essex and Suffolk until 1.30am when she dropped an incendiary bomb on Monks Soham, west of Framlingham, which landed in a field at Church Farm but failed to ignite. About ten minutes later a high explosive (HE) bomb fell in a wheat stubble field at Pound Farm, Framlingham. The bomb buried itself three feet in the ground but failed to explode. The next bomb – an incendiary – landed at Great Glemham, amongst buildings on Home Farm owned by the Earl of Cranbrook, destroying a reaper/binding machine with a value of £7. The final three bombs – all incendiaries - landed in fields at the village of Benhall, south of Saxmundham, two at Old Lodge Farm and one at Green Farm. LZ.77 then continued up the Suffolk coast before finally departing over Lowestoft at about 2.20am.

    Schütte-Lanz 2 (SL.2) came inland at the mouth of the River Crouch at about 10.50pm. Tracing a path over Essex towards London, she reached Leytonstone at about 11.40pm where her commander, Hauptmann Richard von Wobeser, turned south. Following the River Lea to the docks on the Isle of Dogs, he dropped seven incendiary and one HE bomb there at about 11.45pm. The HE bomb completely destroyed 8, 9 and 10 Gaverick Street, off West Ferry Road, and injured 11 people. Moments later an incendiary fell on the John Evelyn, a sailing barge moored at Snowden’s Wharf, close to the entrance to Millwall Docks. The master and mate of the barge suffered horrific burns and both died in hospital a few days later.

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    Crossing the Thames, SL.2 dropped further bombs across south-east London. In Deptford, at 34 Hughes Fields, one of these tragically killed five members of the Beechey family; the surviving child was taken in by Dr. Barnado's. Further bombs fell in Greenwich but caused only minor damage, including one that fell close to the Royal Observatory. The final bomb dropped in Kingsman Street, Woolwich, where flying glass injured three people. At 11.54pm, a 6-pdr gun at Woolwich Arsenal fired three rounds at SL.2, and the 13-pdr across the Thames at Royal Albert Dock fired once, all without effect.

    Hauptmann Alfred Horn, commander of Army Zeppelin LZ.77
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    Official reports state that SL.2 then turned back west and, coming over Bermondsey, commenced a second bombing run. A close inspection of all the reports, however, suggests SL.2 departed and another Zeppelin, LZ.74, appeared over south-east London.

    Western Front

    Belgian coast (Westeinde and Ostend) bombarded by British and French fleets.

    French aeroplane squadron bombs Freiburg, Lens, Saarburg, etc.; Zeppelin raid on east coast of England, 50 casualties, 7 killed.

    Eastern Front

    Austrians enter Dubno; successful Russian-counter-offensive on Sereth at Tarnpol and Trembovia.

    Southern Front

    Serbians drive enemy from works on Danube and Drina fronts.

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Russians repulse Turks at River Arkhave and annhilate Turkish corps at Olti (Armenia).
    Russian counter-offensive in Galicia. Battle of Tarnopol begins. (see more on coming days)

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Destruction of submarine U27. (although other sources have this covered under the 'Baralong' incident back on August 19th)

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    Bordeaux ( France): World War I: The cargo ship was torpedoed, shelled and sunk in the Bay of Biscay 12 nautical miles (22 km) south west of the La Coubre Lighthouse by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Caroni ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay 15 nautical miles (28 km) south west of the Chassiron Lighthouse, Charente-Maritime, France by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

    Political, etc.

    German Note handed to U.S.A. Ambassador at Berlin justifying sinking of "Arabic".

    Exchange of cordial messages between Tsar and President Poincare.

    Italy declares cotton absolute contraband of war.

    Unrest among railway workers in South Wales.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  44. #744

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    What a News Hound you are Chris.
    Lots of good stuff here as usual.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  45. #745

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    Thanks Rob - some of it takes some finding...

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  46. #746

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    September 8th 1915

    Records show that there was one airman lost on this day 100 years ago:

    Flight sub Lieutenant Gerald William Hilliard RNAS Yarmouth Naval Air Station. Flt. Sub.Lt Hilliard was accidently killed in night landing after a German air-raid 8 September 1915.

    The Downing College Cambridge had this to say of his death:

    Gerald William Hilliard was born in Guernsey on 19th May 1885, the son of William and Lydia Hilliard. In 1901, he began a five year apprenticeship with Great Western Railway in Swindon, entering Downing College in 1906, although, according to the College magazine, The Griffin, Hilliard ‘remained for a short time only’. This, perhaps, may be explained by his appointment as Assistant to the Maintenance Engineer for the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway in 1908. He returned to the UK from Argentina on 10th November 1914 following the outbreak of the war.

    Hilliard joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant (probationary) on 4th January 1915 and qualified to fly a Grahame-White biplane at Hendon the following month.

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    Gerald William HILLIARD was accidentally killed during a night landing, in a field near Bacton, after an Anti-Zeppelin Patrol in a BE2c 990. The undercarriage collapsed on landing and the bombs exploded, blowing the aircraft to pieces. He had gained his Aeronautical Certificate no. 1079 on the 12th February 1915 in a Grahame- White Biplane at the Grahame-White School, Hendon. He was a Steward in his Masonic Lodge. He is buried in Yarmouth Cemetery

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    Couple of interesting facts linked to the BE2c: The B.E.2 was one of the first aircraft designed at what was then called the Royal Balloon Factory (renamed the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1912) under the direction of Mervyn O'Gorman. Its designation followed the system devised by O'Gorman which classified aircraft by their layout: B.E. stood for Blériot Experimental, and was used for aircraft of tractor configuration (although in the event all the B.E. types were biplanes rather than the monoplanes typical of the Bleriot company). The official agenda of the Balloon Factory was research into aircraft design, but the construction of actual aircraft was not officially sanctioned. O'Gorman got around this contradiction by using the factory's secondary responsibility to repair and maintain aircraft belonging to the Royal Flying Corps: existing aircraft needing major repairs were nominally reconstructed but actually transformed into new designs, generally retaining little except the engine.

    The B.E.2c was a major redesign, the result of research by E.T. Busk intended to provide an inherently stable aeroplane. This was considered desirable to allow the crew's full attention to be devoted to reconnaissance duties. The first example, a converted B.E.2b, flew on 30 May 1914 and the type went into squadron service just before the outbreak of war. Relatively large orders were placed for the new version, with deliveries of production aircraft starting in December 1914. During 1915 this model replaced the early B.E.2s in the squadrons in France. The B.E.2c used the same fuselage as the B.E.2b, but was otherwise really a new type, being fitted with new wings of different plan form, increased dihedral, and forward stagger, ailerons replacing the wing warping of the earlier models. The tailplane was also completely new, and a triangular fin was fitted to the rudder. On later machines this fin was enlarged, to reduce a tendency to swing on takeoff, and to improve spin recovery. After the first few aircraft, production machines were powered by a development of the Renault engine, the RAF 1a, and the twin skid undercarriage was replaced by a plain "V" undercarriage. A streamlined cowling to the sump was also fitted to later models, while a cut-out in the rear of the centre section marginally improved the observer's field of fire, as well as giving the pilot a better view forward over the wing.

    Western Front


    Renewed German offensive in Argonne; Allies bomb Ostend, Nesle, Metz, etc.;
    Zeppelin raid east counties and London, 20 killed, 86 wounded. (see notes of Flt. sub Lt Hilliard above) - this raid was also captured in a painting....

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    (1858-1927)

    This painting by the artist John Fraser shows the most damaging air raid on Britain during the First World War. While the airship was never a major threat militarily, the Zeppelin raids on Britain did, initially at least, have an enormous impact on civilian morale.

    Even though the airship as a military weapon turned out to be a technological cul-de-sac, for a short period in history it was perceived as one of the most feared weapons of the First World War.

    On the night of 8th September 1915 four Zeppelins of the German Naval Airship Division set out on a raid on England. One of the airships, the L 9, headed to the North of England and bombed a benzol and iron works at Skinningrove just south of Redcar. The targets were hit although minimal damage was sustained. Two other airships, the L 11 and L 14, had problems with their engines and had to turn back before reaching their targets, although the L 14 dropped its bombs on several villages in Norfolk before it turned for home. This left just the L 13 to make its attempt on London. The L 13 was captained by the most highly regarded of all German airship commanders, Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy, a former destroyer captain and a highly skilled navigator.

    Mathy made landfall over Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk and followed the River Ouse and Bedford Level Canal until he could see the glow from the lights of London on the horizon which guided him to his target. It seems that the city was lit up just as in peacetime which enabled Mathy to easily recognise features such as Regent’s Park. The L 13 dropped a total of 15 high-explosive and 55 incendiary bombs over the heart of London including a 300 kg (660 lb) bomb, the largest dropped on Britain up to that time. However, the bombs that did the most damage were smaller bombs that fell on to several textile warehouses north of St Paul’s Cathedral. The resultant fires could be seen from miles around and it required 22 fire engines to put out the blaze. Other bombs were aimed at Liverpool Street Station where two of them hit motor-buses, resulting in several many casualties.

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    The defences proved to be totally inadequate to protect London. There were only 26 anti-aircraft guns based in the capital at the time of the raid and several of these were too small to have any effect on the high-flying Zeppelins. However, some of the anti-aircraft shells did come close to hitting the airship so Mathy felt it prudent to take L 13 from its original bombing altitude of 8,500 feet to 11,200 feet where he could take advantage of a thin layer of cloud.

    From the German point of view this was the most successful air raid on Britain of the entire war. The economic loss amounted to £534,287, which would be equivalent to over £23 million today. In addition to the destruction of property, 22 men, women and children, all civilians, were killed and 87 injured during the raid. Perhaps greater than the material damage caused by the raid was the effect on morale of the civilian population. Although this was not the first airship raid on Britain, it was by far the most serious and, perhaps for the first time during the War, the British people at home began to realise that their island nation was no longer safe from the ravages of war.


    Eastern Front

    Great Russian victory at Tarnopol and Trembovia (Sereth), 8,000 prisoners.

    Battle of Vilna proceeding.

    Southern Front

    Italians assume offensive in Cadore (Dolom.), but are repulsed at Doberdo (Carso).

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Situation at Ispahan reported threatening.

    Naval and Overseas Operations


    French auxiliary cruiser "Indien" torpedoed off Rhodes.

    SMS G12 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The V1-class destroyer collided with SMS V1 ( Kaiserliche Marine and was sunk in the North Sea by the detonation of one of her torpedoes.

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    Political, etc.

    Secret Socialist Meeting at Berne; French socialists refused participation.
    The Grand Duke Nicholas appointed Viceroy of the Caucasus

    British Admiralty Air Department re-organised.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  47. #747

    Default

    September 9th 1915

    According to RAF and RFC records - NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH 1915

    Western Front

    Heavy indecisive fighting in the Vosges.

    Eastern Front

    Russians hold their own in north; return to their former positions on the Sereth (S.), 5,000 more prisoners; give way slowly in the centre.
    Battle of Dvinsk begins (part of the Russian - Great Retreat)

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    The Great Retreat was a strategic withdrawal from the Galicia-Poland salient conducted by the Imperial Russian Army during September 1915 in World War I. The Russians' critically under-manned and (at the points of engagement) outnumbered forces suffered great losses in the Central Powers' July-September summer offensive operations, this leading to STAVKA ordering a withdrawal to shorten the front lines and avoid the potential encirclement of large Russian forces in the salient. While the withdrawal itself was relatively well conducted, it was a severe blow to Russian morale.

    During this period, the buildup of forces generally favored the Central Powers. Four new German armies, the 11th, 12th, Army of the Niemen and Army of the Bug were formed. Given the steady erosion of the Russian armies' combat power due to a poorly administered system of reinforcement, particularly of officers, this dramatically shifted the balance of power in the eastern theatre to the Central powers as 13 Central Powers armies faced nine under-strength Russian armies. Under pressure from the Kaiser, Falkenhayn gave in to Hindenburg and Ludendorff's insistence on an offensive in the region. Although Ludendorff and Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf favoured an encirclement operation (attacking the extreme north-east and south-east of the salient), just as STAVKA feared, Falkehayn vetoed this on the grounds of the Central Powers' extremely poor logistical abilities which confined them to slow advances along the major railway lines.

    Commanders of the Russian Field Armies in Poland had already worked to persuade the Stavka to order a withdrawal from the salient, but STAVKA had felt unable to take such a bold move due to the political implications. STAVKA also did not permit tactical withdrawals within the salient such as the Second Army's proposal to withdraw behind the Vistula, forcing the field armies to hold tactically disadvantageous or even indefensible positions.

    Despite heavy initial resistance, the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of May-June 1915 eventually resulted in a series of tactical breakthroughs and Mackensen's armies crossed the San River and re-took the Austro-Hungarian fortress at Przemyśl, the Russians leaving the Galician capital of Lvov on the June 22. At this point STAVKA began planning a retreat from the Poland salient as the Russians's forces in southern Poland withdrew northward to a new defensive line anchored on the Vistula river and the fortress of Ivanovgrod. Between June 23 and 27 the Germans established bridgeheads across the Dniester to the south, but were halted by Russian counterattacks from the east in July.

    More worryingly for the STAVKA, the German Tenth and Niemen armies pressed through on the extreme north end of the line in Courland. Although there was nothing worth defending in the area, STAVKA felt pressured to defend it on principle and so created a new army to defend the region. When this army was defeated and pushed back from Courland, STAVKA's over-estimation of the Germans logistical capabilities led to them fearing that these advances could be used as a springboard for further advances. It was feared that further successful advances in the north, combined with a fresh offensive in the south, could lead to the encirclement of the entire Poland-salient. Over-estimation of German naval capabilities also led to fears of an offensive thrust through Pskov to St Petersburg with the aid of amphibious landings in the capital itself.

    Due to heavy losses in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive the Russian Army as a whole was a million combat troops, roughly 30%, short of its nominal strength of 1.8 million combat troops as well as being in an exposed position in the Poland Salient. But the fortresses of Novogeorgievsk, Ivanonvgorod, Grodno, Osowiec, and Dvinsk that were on or near the front lines at the time contained more artillery (5200 cannon, 3148 modern quick-firing guns, 880 modern heavy artillery pieces) than the entire Russian mobile artillery corps (6000 field guns). Given that the German army itself only had some 6000 field guns, it was expected that these fortresses and the mobile artillery could compensate for the temporary weakness of the infantry and render the Ivangorod-Lublin-Chełm line defensible.

    On 13 July, the Central Powers' armies opened a new offensive across the entire front. By the 17th of July the forces Gallwitz's forces in the center-north had taken 80% losses, and although they had only been forced back only some 8 km they had to retreat across the Narew to avoid total annihilation. German advances in the far north in Latvia and Lithuania took the fortress of Grodno in a matter of days, when STAVKA had assumed that it could hold for weeks at the least, and with the renewal of Austro-Hungarian attacks in the south STAVKA now believed that the encirclement of the Poland-salient was inevitable without an immediate withdrawal and so ordered the abandonment of the defensive lines along the Narew and Vistula, trusting that the fortresses could cover the retreat of its forces.


    German Cavalry entering Warsaw on August 5, 1915.
    By 13 July, the entire southern wing had been pushed back another 160 km (99 mi) to the Bug River, leaving only a small portion of Congress Poland in Russian hands, anchored on Warsaw and the Ivangorod fortress. On 22 July, armies of Central Powers crossed the Vistula river. In August, the Russian Fourth army left the Ivangorod fortress. With the continuing Russian retreat, Warsaw became isolated, and the German 12th Army (under Gallwitz) seized the opportunity and conquered it on 4–5 August.


    Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw after being blown up by the retreating Russian Army in 1915.
    New attacks by the German Eighth, Tenth and Twelfth armies moving south out of Prussia soon caused even this front to collapse, sending the entire northern end of the Russian lines streaming backward, eventually forming a line running north-south at about the pre-war eastern Prussian border.

    The Germans, after having received considerable reinforcements, took Brest-Litovsk on 25 August. On 19 September, Hindenburg's forces captured Vilna.

    Battle of Vilna begins (See above)

    Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

    Wounding and death of British Vice-Consul at Shiraz (Persia).
    Bushire (South Persia) again attacked by tribesmen (see August 8th)

    Naval and Overseas Operations

    Balakani ( United Kingdom): World War I: The tanker struck a mine and sank in the English Channel (51°31′N 1°22′E) with the loss of six of her crew.
    Cornubia ( United Kingdom): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 75 nautical miles (139 km) south east by south of Cartagena, Murcia, Spain (36°46′N 0°15′E) by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
    Devonian ( United Kingdom): World War I: The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 30 nautical miles (56 km) north east of the Spurn Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of nine of her crew.
    L'Aude ( France): World War I: The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 45 nautical miles (83 km) north north west of Oran, Algeria (36°23′N 0°59′W) by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
    Ville de Mostaganem ( France): World War I: The cargo ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 70 nautical miles (130 km) north east of Mostaganem, Algeria by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

    Montfalcone Dockyard shelled by Italians.

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    Van Rensburg and forty-two rebels sentenced at Pretoria.

    Political, etc.

    Turco-Bulgarian Convention confirmed.

    United States Government demand recall of Dr. Dumba. (see previous postings)

    Turco-Bulgarian Frontier Convention signed at Dimotika.

    Mr. Lloyd George stirs up Labour at Trade Unions Congress.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  48. #748

    Default

    Quite a lot going on here again Chris. You seem to get all the juicy bits.
    Can yo hold the fort until Monday as I'm away at the Last battle of the year this weekend.
    I will start my week on Monday and we can discuss how we are going to cover the Doncaster weekend sometime in the week.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  49. #749

    Default

    NO worries Rob - I had best cover Doncaster after all I will have access to my PC etc even though it may result in late (ish) postings

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  50. #750

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    Wilco that Chris.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

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