Well that was longer than anticipated
Well that was longer than anticipated
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Certainly a Big Issue this time Chris.
I just noticed we passed the 80,000 mark for readers.
Rob.
Last edited by Flying Officer Kyte; 09-10-2016 at 07:02.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Thanks for the read, nice.
10th September 1916
Well the typing pool are all exhausted after yesterday's edition - so here's hoping for something a little more compact and bijou this evening.....
There was only one airman lost on this day in 1916
Air Mechanic 2nd. Class Thomas J. Warner 14th Kite Balloon Section, alas I can find scant information about Thomas Warner, but it does give me the opportunity to do a piece on observation balloons.....
By the beginning of the 20th Century, all modern armies had balloon aerial observation units and hydrogen, or illumination gas (coal gas), was being used as the lighter-than-air inflation agent for these tethered, or captive, gas-filled balloons. In 1911 the British Balloon Detachment became the Air Balloon Battalion of the Royal Engineers and then fell under the jurisdiction of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), soon to be absorbed itself into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and then, in 1918, the Royal Air Force (RAF). However, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) did not have a single observation balloon on its strength when it arrived on the Western Front.Once the war on the Western Front became static and degenerated into trench warfare: everything went underground. The need for finding the dispositions of the now largely hidden enemy troops became the sine qua non.
From the outset of warfare on the Western Front, the Germans had observation balloons, but they also had the advantage of being the occupying power and thus they usually ensured that they occupied the higher ground: even if this meant, initially, they had to cede some ground to the Allies. The German dominance of the Ypres Salient in Flanders, Belgium, being an example how they were able to control territory from the advantage of over-seeing, from the surrounding hills, the terrain below. From these vantage points the Germans were able to inflict nearly four years of virtually constant directed bombardment on the hapless British troops in the Salient. The only way the British could even try to equalise the situation was to use captive observation balloons.
The kite balloons were usually located 5.5-km metres (3 miles) behind the front line trenches at a distance apart of 20 to 25km (12 to 15 miles). At these bases they would await suitable wind and weather conditions so the observation balloons could ascend bearing a tethering cable and a telephone line. The optimal operating altitude varied between 1,000 and 1,500 metres (3,000 and 4,000 feet). Sometimes a group of three or four balloons were sent aloft simultaneously. In view of the distance that the balloon sections were located behind the front-line trenches, this normally took the tethered balloons clear of effective small arms and artillery fire.
When it comes to describing these military balloons there is an immediate confusion about names and terms. And the construction of the various types of balloon is amazingly complex. Often they are recorded as kite balloons. The 'kite' referred to here should not be confused with the Box Kite; a contraption, invented by Samuel F. Cody in 1901 and made of fabric supported by wood or metal poles to make a semi-rigid (when filled out by the wind) box-like structure. From this large man-sized box kite - or often a series of box kites in tandem - was tethered a harness into which the observer would be strapped and hoisted aloft. And, indeed, during the Great War, box kites were used from German submarines - U-boats - for observation and reconnaissance purposes in the open sea. Just how hazardous this must have been can only be imagined from our own experience of the unpredictability of flying even the best of kites in the park.
The kite balloon used on the Western Front at the beginning of the war was basically a large cylindrical gas-filled bag with hemispherical ends from which, at the rear-end, was suspended a rope. Along this rope were attached a series of umbrella shaped fabric parachute-like wind-catchers, somewhat analogous to tails fitted on children's kites; hence one source of the name 'kite balloon'. The second source of the name kite balloon is said to come from the angle (30 to 40 degrees) at which the balloon was flown respective to the ground - approximately the same angle as a kite is flown on a string. (For simplicity sake we shall use the term 'balloon' for all the gas-filled observation balloons deployed on the Western Front). Other balloon types used different types of fabric stabilisers - called steering bags - integrally attached to the tail end of the balloon.
These steering bags hung limply in still air until filled by the wind when they inflated and gave a stabilising effect to the whole balloon. Many of the early military balloons used on the Western Front were sausage shaped being cylindrical and rounded at both ends; indeed the British troops nick-named them 'Sausages' (or Ruperts) and the French, Saucisse. However, some were more of an elongated teardrop shape, horizontally orientated, with tail stabilisers located at the tapered rump end. The French used their rather ancient spherical observation balloons in the early days of the War, whilst the Russians also employed them on the Eastern Front. These ball-like balloons had the unfortunate characteristic of rotating on their vertical axis, making the continuous observation of a fixed location very difficult indeed.
The sausage shaped balloon of both sides on the Western Front was around 200 feet (60m) in length, 50 feet (15m) feet in diameter, and contained about 30,000 cubic feet of highly inflammable hydrogen gas. Some of the larger balloons were filled with coal gas, also then known as illumination gas. Most observation balloons had an external envelope made of sheets of rubberised (gutta percha = latex rubber + naphtha) diagonal cotton cloth, sewn together as gores and segments. The rubberised cloth was then vulcanised. Inside the envelope so formed, were located cylindrical hydrogen gas-bag(s) and a balloonet, which was filled with a constant supply of air from the wind further tautening and stabilising the envelope. A valve attached to a fixed chain inside the balloon would be activated when the balloon expanded an was in danger over-inflating as it ascended, or warmed in the sun, releasing gas so the balloon would not burst under its own pressure. Due to paucity of suitable dyes, the balloons were usually coloured yellow or grey with chrome or aniline dyes.
Helium, an inert gas, and, therefore, potentially a much safer balloon inflation agent, was not available in large quantities until just before the Armistice and was never put into operational use on the Western Front in the Great War. The shape of the stabiliser at the rear end of the balloon often gave the nickname to the balloon. A typical example of the sausage-type was the not very successful German balloon designed by Major John Parseval and Hauptman von Siegsfeld almost thirty years before the Great War. It had a single stabiliser (or balloonet) that was tube-like, located low and centrally and curved over the tail of the balloon. It was officially called the Drachen - German for Dragon or, also, a Kite (more confusion!) - and unofficially as the Nulle or the 'Testicle' due to the suggestive shape of the air-filled steering bag. The size of this balloon was 65 feet long and 27 feet in diameter (20m x 8m).
The strength of a British Field Balloon Company was usually 5 or 6 officers (four of whom served as observers in addition to their regimental duties on the ground) and between 150 and 200 other ranks. Each balloon had 48 men to handle it. These men required a high level of training, strict co-ordination and a high level of discipline, since the balloon on the ground could be an exceedingly dangerous object if not kept under full control at all times. Other responsibilities included moving the balloon between operational sites and guarding it. Each Balloon Section was expected to be militarily self-sufficient in its routine daily duties. Due the paucity of the number of Balloon Sections, and the constant need for the vital function they performed, the troops manning them routinely spent long periods in the War Zone without the benefit of the relief patterns of the infantry. hat the jobs of the balloon commander and observer were hazardous in the extreme is self evident, and casualties were correspondingly high. Until 1915, the British did not have parachutes. That year the Spencer Static Line (Automatic) Parachute was introduced on the Western Front. It was attached to the outside of the balloon basket and operated using a static line as the balloonist leapt clear of the basket and rigging. But even these were considered of dubious reliability and only resorted to in extremis as there was a huge risk that the parachute would snag on the rigging of the balloon, or be set on fire by burning pieces of the balloon envelope.
Indications of the reservations with which the reliability of these parachutes was regarded, can be appreciated when it is known that when a new model was tested in 1916, its designers named it optimistically as 'The Guardian Angel'. Many balloon crews died when their highly inflammable hydrogen-filled balloon was set on fire, and fell precipitously to earth, leaving little chance for the crew, even if their parachutes did open. The Germans alone are said to have lost around 250 observation balloons on the Western Front: an average of five a month for the duration of the War.
The tasks of a balloon observer
The tasks of the balloon crew when aloft required skill, a cool head, patience, fortitude and not a little courage. It involved mapping and counting (or estimating) troop concentrations, locating artillery pieces and gun-sites and the gathering of any information that might be relevant or useful to the army commanders on the ground.
Overall, the most important activity concerned shell spotting. This was achieved by spotting the muzzle flashes of the enemy's guns, or observing the trajectory of the larger shells in flight, and by recording the accuracy of 'friendly fire'. Later in the war, sophisticated techniques enhanced the observers' ability to spot gun-flashes and even locate the enemy's guns by their sound. The crew in the balloon would be in constant touch with the artillery, and would range their shots so that the salvos could be accurately placed on key military features. They could also inform the artillery of active enemy guns, or batteries, so counter-strikes could be mounted. Presumably, the balloon crew could even see their own possible fate hurtling towards them when the observation balloon was targeted by artillery or tracer small arms fire.
As the war progressed, the development of more technically sophisticated aircraft allowed them to take over much of the day-to-day reconnaissance and photography work, leaving the balloon observers to concentrate on the monitoring of the Allied and German artillery. This latter task was difficult to carry out from aircraft over extended periods. So the observation balloon retained its usefulness even in the last year of the war, as the introduction of more sophisticated ranging techniques allowed mathematical predicting of the ranging of the guns and their more efficacious deployment. At the end of the war the British had 44 operational Balloon Sections plus 37 Sections in reserve whilst the French and Belgians had 72 and 6 compagnies respectively. The Germans had 177 Baloonzug but only about half of these were fully operational. The relatively new arrivals - the Americans - had six Balloon Companies in France by the end of November 1918, with another 70 en route.
The only claimed kill on this day was an unconfirmed one by Luigi Olivari of the Italian Air Force.
Luigi Olivari was born in La Spezia, the Kingdom of Italy, on 29 December 1891. He earned an Aero Club pilot's license on 27 November 1914, prior to Italy's entry into World War I. On 19 May 1915, the week before Italy entered the war, Olivari applied for military pilot's training. On 15 June, he qualified on 50 horsepower Blériots; on 26 August 1915, it was on the 80 horsepower version. On 28 January 1916, he was assigned to fly in the 1a Squadriglia (later redesignated as 70a Squadriglia), ranked as an aspirant. On 7 April, he scored his first aerial victory; it was only the second one for Italy. It was the second of Olivari's 18 victory claims, the first having gone unconfirmed. On 1 September 1916, Olivari was commissioned as a Sottotenente. By April 1917, he was specifically assigned two aircraft—a Spad VII, as well as Nieuport 17 ser. no. 3127. The following month, he was transferred to the newly formed fighter squadron 91a Squadriglia; however, he was also loaned to 77a Squadriglia for about a month, beginning 7 May. He was subsequently promoted to Tenente and assigned as an Ansaldo SVA.5 test pilot for the Technical Directorate. As part of these duties, on 21 August 1917, he ferried an SVA to 91a Squadriglia for their testing. At 0957 hours on 13 October 1917, Luigi Olivari's Spad VII stalled during takeoff. He died in the crash. At the time of his death, he had won two Bronze and three Silver awards of the Medal for Military Valor; a fourth Silver would be awarded posthumously. He had also won a French Croix de guerre and a Serbian Order of the Star of Karađorđe. Twelve of his 19 victory claims had been confirmed
On this day we lost 920 men...
A company of the Grenadier Guards is sent forward to to support the Welsh Guards as they are under heavy enemy attack.
Major Harry Hickman Bromfield DSO (Welsh Guards) is killed at age 47. He is the son-in-law of ‘Sir’ Charles and Lady Philipps of Pictor Castle and he was the Chief Constable of Radnorshire in 1909. His brother died of wounds near Boshof 1901 as a Captain in the Imperial Yeomanry.
Second Lieutenant Edward Luke Henry Bagot (Welsh Guards) is killed at age 19. He is the son of Major ‘the Honorable’ Walter Bagot DSO and a nephew of the 4th Baron Bagot and grandson of the 3rd Baron Bagot of Bagot’s Bromley.
Second Lieutenant Edward Gazalet (Welsh Guards) is killed at age 22. His brother is a Member of Parliament, amateur squash champion and Oxford Blue for Tennis, Lawn Tennis and Racquets and will die while serving in the Royal Artillery at Gibraltar in 1943.
Second Lieutenant Alexander Piggott Wernher (Welsh Guards) is killed in action at age 19. He is the son of ‘Sir’ Julius Wenher, the 1st
The Cap Badge of The Welsh Guards
Harry Bromfield's Death as reported in the local paper...
The Brecon Radnor Express - 21st September 1916
Radnor Chief-Constable Falls in Action.
COUNTY'S GENERAL REGRET.
We exceedingly regret having to announce this week that Major Harry Hickman Bromfield, D.S.O., chief constable of Radnorshire, has been killed in action in France, probably on September 10th. Major Bromfield was the eldest son of Henry Bromfield, of Newnham Hall, and his mother, the eldest daughter of the late Mr John Colthurst, Chew Court, Somersetshire. He was born on January 29th, 1869, and married the eldest daughter of Sir Charles Philipps, of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire, in 1906. He was educated at Malvern College And Hertford College, Oxford, and was a captain and hon. major of the 3rd Batt., S.W.B. He served in the South African campaign, 1900-1901, with the 2nd Batt., being mentioned in dispatches. He subsequently served with the 3rd Batt., S.W.B., from October, 1901, to March, 1902. He was a member of the Junior Carlton Club, and was appointed chief constable of Radnorshire in August, 1909, and very ably filled the office. He was exceedingly popular with his subordinate officers and men, and his services were highly valued by the County Council and the Standing Joint Committee, He re-joined his regiment in February, 1915, and was, for some time, stationed at Pembroke Dock. On the formation of the Welsh Guards he was transferred to that regiment, retaining his rank, and assisted in the training of the officers and men at the Tower, London, and in the vicinity of the Metropolis. After a short leave of absence, which he spent in the county, where his numerous friends were exceedingly pleased to see him, he left for France about six weeks ago. He leaves a widow and one son to mourn his early death, and the warm sympathy of the whole county goes out to them, and also to his aged mother, who resides at Rhayader. The former home of the family was Penlanole, Rhayader. but, soon after his appointment as chief constable, Major and Mrs Bromfield took up their residence at the Leas, Knighton.
Our Knighton correspondent adds :—The sad news reached Knighton, by telegram. on Sunday morning that Major H. H. Bromfield, D.S.O., was killed in action in France about the 10th inst. It appears that Major Bromfield left this country with a draft of officers about five to six weeks ago, being at that time unattached to any regiment. The sad news of his death cast gloom over the neighbourhood of Knighton, where he was so well-known and respected, and the deepest sympathy is everywhere expressed for Mrs Bromfield and her son, who, we understand, are staying at Llandrindod Wells for a short time.
Second Lieutenant Francis Wollocombe (Devonshire Regiment) dies of wounds received four days earlier at age 24. He is the son of the Reverend John Henry Bidlake Wollocombe, Rector of Stowford, Devon.
Second Lieutenant Wollocombe received a Commission in the Devonshire Regiment in December, 1914. He volunteered for service in both the West and East African Campaigns, but was not allowed to transfer. He went to France in October 1915, and served with his Regiment near Fricourt and Mametz until April 1916, when he was wounded in the shoulder and invalided home. He returned to France in August, having asked for a Medical Board before his leave expired. On 6th September he took part in an attack on Ginchy and was shot in both legs, and being unable to get out of a shell hole is left behind. Picked up two days later he dies in the 21st Casualty Clearing Station at Corbie.
Western Front
Battle of the Somme: German counter*-attack fails at Ginchy, British advance east of Guillemont, Rawlinson discusses tanks’ role in forthcoming attack.
24 hours of ‘penny pinching’ on the Somme with attacks between Delville Wood and Combles
Various efforts to gain ground through the remains of Leuze Wood were made by the 1/16th London (XIV Corps, 56th Division) but they were held back by machine-guns. 8 hours later the 1/2nd London tried to advance after a Stokes mortar bombardment but were stopped. During the night, the London Scottish tried to link up between the Quadrilateral and Ginchy but lost their way.
The Guards, and 164 Bde (55th Division, XV Corps) tried and failed to make advances.
A German counter attack between Ginchy and Mouquet Farm failed.
The road to Guillemont
Eastern Front
Brusilov Offensive ,Carpathians: Pflanzer-Baltin sacked from Austrian Seventh Army, Kirchbach replaces. Austrians retreat west of the Gyergyo and Czik valley.
Southern Fronts
Salonika: 6 British detachments demonstrate (161 casualties) along river Struma, further cross-river raids on September 15 and 23.
African Fronts
East Africa: British 2nd Division occupies Kidodi and halts with 1,946 of 6,696 men unfit. Belgian Southern Brigade fights at Lulanguru (until September 12) in railway advance on Tabora.
Political, etc.
Mr. Lloyd George at Verdun, with General Dubois and M. Albert Thomas; Lloyd George's speech praising Verdun.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Trailer for 15th September....
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Late one tonight - so lets see how much I can get through before everything ticks over to tomorrow... and on the 15th anniversary of 9/11 our thoughts go out to all those that lost friends and family on the day the towers came down (not forgetting flight 93 and the Pentagon as well)... on a happier note my grand daughter was a whole six today...
11th September 1916
2 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11TH 1916 - both from 23 Squadron RFC
2nd Lieutenant Godfrey Benjamin Joseph Firbank 23 Squadron RFC Killed in action on this day flying FE2b 4851 on an observation patrol over Peronne. He has no Known Grave and is listed on Arras Memorial, France
2nd Lieutenant Leslie Godfrey Harcourt Vernon 23 Squadron RFC Killed in action on this day flying FE2b 4851 on an observation patrol over Peronne. He has no Known Grave and is listed on Arras Memorial, France
There was one aerial victory claim on this day...
Oberleutnant Fritz Otto Bernert claims his third victory by shooting down a Nieuport over Allennes
On a day we lose 635 men there were some noteworthy casualties...
Today’s losses include:
A General
The son of a Victoria Cross winner
A man whose nephew was previously killed
A former battalion commander who committed suicide
Multiple sons of members of the clergy
An actor
A medical student
A man whose brother died on service in South Africa in 1901
Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
A family that will lose three sons in the Great War
Brigadier General Henry Frederick Hugh Clifford DSO General Officer Commanding 149th Brigade 50th Division is killed by a sniper at Delville Wood while inspecting advanced assembly trenches at age 49. He is the son of a Victoria Cross winner, Major General the Honorable ‘Sir’ Henry Hugh Clifford VC, KCMG, CB. His nephew was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Thomas Falkiner Sandys DSO (former commanding officer 2nd Middlesex Regiment) dies as a result of placing a gun to his head one week earlier in the Cavendish Hotel. He is distraught over the casualties suffered by his battalion on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Major Augustus Oliver Lash (Irish Rifles) dies of wounds at age 46. He is the son of the Reverend Augustus Henry Lash Rector of Framlingham.
Captain Arthur John Powles-Curtis (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) dies of wounds at Queen Mary’s Hospital received eight days earlier at Beaumont Hamel at age 36. He is an actor active in both England and the United States.
Lieutenant Edward Percival Harpur (Irish Fusiliers) is killed in action at age 25. He is the son of the Reverend William Harpur.
Lieutenant Archibald William Robertson Dun (Black Watch) is killed on Salonika at age 25. He was a medical student at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
Second Lieutenant George Thomson (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) is killed at age 38. His brother died of yellow fever serving in the South African War in 1901.
Second Lieutenant Frederick Tetheslay Noel Holles (East Lancashire Regiment) is killed in Mesopotamia at age 31. He is the son of the Reverend Frederick Edward Richard Holles.
Second Lieutenant George Francis Hermitage Day (Royal Field Artillery attached Royal Garrison Artillery) is killed at age 20. He is the son of the Reverend Dr. E Hermitage Day.
Private Frank Mallinson (Alberta Regiment) is killed at age 25. His brother will be killed in September 1917
Rifleman Stephen John West (London Regiment) dies of wounds received in action at age 22. He becomes the first of three brothers who will lose their lives in the Great War.
Gunner Percy Richard William Rockall (Royal Field Artillery) is killed at age 24. His brother will be killed in August 1918.
Brig.-Gen. Henry Frederick Hugh Clifford was born on 13 August 1867. He was the son of Maj.-Gen. Sir Henry Hugh Clifford, V.C. and Josephine Elizabeth Anstice. He died on 11 September 1916 at age 49, killed in action. He fought in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet Colonel in the service of the Suffolk Regiment. He fought in the First World War, where he was wounded and mentioned in despatches. He was Brigadier-General of the British Expeditionary Force. He was decorated with the award of the Order of St. Stanislaus of Russia (3rd Class). He was decorated with the award of the Companion, Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.)
Tunstill's Men: its been a few days so lets see what happening to the Wharfedale Lads...
The train finally arrived at Longeau at 6.30am and the Battalion was formed up for an eight mile march to billets at Coisy, north of Amiens. During this march, at some point between the station at Longueau and the billets at Coisy, Capt. Gilbert Tunstill was thrown from his horse, injuring his right knee and foot. He was treated locally at first but then despatched to 24th General Hospital at Etaples, suffering from “synovitis (inflammation) and abrasions to right knee”. The remainder of the Battalion arrived at Coisy and orders were received that the Battalion would move again, next day, to Henencourt, west of Albert.
The man himself - Capt. Gilbert Tunstill
Eastern Front
Russia: General Averyanov to STAVKA: ‘… we are close to complete exhaustion of the manpower reserve’.
Brusilov Offensive – Carpathians*: Lechitski takes Mt Capel Kapul (5,000 ft) and links with Rumanian Fourth Army on September 12.
Rumania*: Averescu given Third Army.
Even in czarist Russia this poster calls on women, to make their contribution in the war industry.
Western Front
Battle of the Somme: British guns detonate German munition dump near Grandcourt. Rawlin*son issues orders for third great British assault.
10 German observation balloons went up in support of intense artillery fire. Overnight British trenches between Mouquet Farm and Delville Wood were heavily shelled.
Southern Fronts
Salonika: Turk 50th Division (11,979 men with 16 guns and 12 MGs) begins taking over Drama seaward sector of Bulgar line.
Middle East
Mesopotamia: Brooking’s 1,900 British soldiers (196 casualties) with 14 guns beat c.5,000 Arabs (est 1,200 casualties) at As Sahilan northeast of Nasiriya (Euphrates).
Southern Persia: Sykes reaches Isfahan.
Sea War
Black Sea: Two Bulgar torpedo boats hit Russian mines of Varna (1 sunk).
Neutrals
Greece: PM Zaimis resigns; Kalogeroulos succeeds on September 16.
Thats all for today chaps - lots more tomorrow including news of a new battleship...
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Another good one Chris.
In passing, may I ask what has happened to Tunstall's men?
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Invisible man?
OK Rob what are you drinking? And can I have some?Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte
There is even a picture of the great man himself (Tunstall).
Too right Reg.
I missed that totally when I read the thread.
Where exactly is the picture situated?
Kyte.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
This one Rob
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Right. Got it now thanks Chris.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
12th September 1916
2 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH 1916
Captain Frank Edward Goodrich 60 Squadron RFC - Killed while flying 12 September 1916 aged 27, as a result of an engine failure. He was flying a Morane (N A166)
Captain Oliver Hugh Ormrod 41 Squadron RFC flying F.E.8 6395, he stalled on take-off,crashed and was killed near Gosport
Oliver Hugh Ormrod was born in 1885 in Pickhill Hall near Wrexham. The 1891 census places him there with his family.This large household was headed by Oliver Ormrod who was 35 and ‘Living on his own means’. His wife was Emily W.H. who was 34. Their listed children were Lionel 8, Beatrice 7, Hugh 5, and Lawrence was 2. There were six visitors listed , one governess and four servants. So far it has proved impossible to locate Hugh in the 1901 census when he was about 15, although we know that he attended school at Eton. In the 1911 census when he was 25 Hugh was at Pickhill Hall and lived on ‘private means’. His father Oliver was 55 and a widower. Beatrice was 27 and Maurice was 19. There were four visitors, one visitor's maid and twelve servants. UK Soldiers who Died in the Great war 1914 -19 accessible on www,ancestry.co.uk confirms the military details above . It adds that he was ‘killed’ on 12th September 1916. His medal card also accessible on ‘ancestry’ details his medals and adds that his first Theatre of War was France and he entered it on the 29th October 1915. Oliver Hugh Ormrod’s brother Lawrence Moreland Ormrod was also killed in the war and is named on the Bangor on Dee Memorial. He has his own page on this website. A third brother Lionel James Ormrod was also killed in the war but he is not named on the Bangor on Dee Memorial. We have, however given him a page on the website. Follow the link.
There were no claims of any aerial victories on this day (according to reliable sources)
On this day we lose 516 men...
The Grenadier Guards attack Ginchy Telegraph and The Quadrilaterial unsuccessfully suffering heavy casualties.
Lieutenant Armar Valentine Lowry-Corry MC is killed at age 20. He is the son of Brigadier General Noel L Lowry-Corry.
Lance Corporal Arthur Hosking is killed at age 25. He is the second of three brothers who will all be killed in 1916, the third, his twin, will be killed in less than one month.
Divisional GHQ moves to Dar es Salaam, which becomes the chief sea base for movement of supplies and for the evacuation of the sick and wounded from East Africa.
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Major Kenneth Churchill Craige Taylor (British Columbia Regiment) is killed at age 28. He is a partner with Duncan Peter Bell-Irving in the firm of “Taylor and Bell-Irving” Land Surveyors of Vancouver. His partner Lieutenant Duncan Peter Bell-Irving was killed in February 1915.
Captain Oliver Hugh Ormrod (Royal Flying Corps) is accidentally killed at age 30. He is the middle of three sons of Major Oliver Ormrod JP the High Sheriff for County Denbigh.
Captain Joseph Walton Hedley (Lancashire Fusiliers) is killed at age 35. He is the son of the Reverend Matthew Hedley and he is the assistant master at Copthorne School Crawley Sussex.
Lieutenant Geoffrey Lancelot Railton (Royal Naval Air Service) is accidentally killed. He is the son of the Reverend William Railton Vicar of Plumpton.
Lieutenant John Ure Garrow (Canadian Mounted Rifles) is gassed to death at age 28. He is the son of the late Honorable Mr. Justice Garrow.
Assistant Paymaster James MacArthur Philips (Royal Naval Reserve) dies in Glasgow at age 23. He is the son of the Reverend G M Philips.
Second Lieutenant Stanley Kentfield Edwards Hildersley (Yorkshire Regiment) is killed in action at age 24. His brother will be killed in October 1917.
Corporal John Dockerill (Warwickshire Regiment) is killed at age 21. His brother will be killed in August 1917.
Private John Milton (Sussex Regiment) dies of wounds at age 20. His brother died of wounds in June 1915.
Tunstill's Men : The Battalion remained just one night at Coisy and at 8.20am they began a 12 mile march, via Rainneville, Molliens au Bois, Montigny, Behencourt and Baizeux, to Henencourt Wood. An advance party of five NCOs, led by 2Lt. Henry Kelly (see 21st August), had departed by bicycle twenty minutes ahead of the main body in order to secure their new billets and by 3pm the whole Battalion had joined them; it was reported that “the Battalion marched well, only a few cases of men falling out on the line of march”. The new billets comprised of huts for the men, with the officers accommodated in bell tents.
Southern Fronts
Macedonia: Allied offensive begins on west flank at 0600 hours. Serb First Army captures foothills of Mt Kajmakcalan (‘butter-churn’; 8,284 ft) 25 miles east-south-east of Monastir. Bulgars occupy Kavalla port. French 156th Division attacks west to Florina, 6 miles east by September 17.
While one man keep watch out of a trench in Macedonia, other Bulgarian soldiers eat their rations.
Western Front
Battle of the Somme: After 6-day delay (bad weather and muddy ground) French Sixth Army resumes offensive after Allied bombard*ment opens at 0600 hours: ‘Good progress’ reported with Bois d’Anderu and Bouchavesnes captured on Bapaume-St Quentin road.
Somme: French take south of Combles to the river, Hill 145, Marrieres Wood, all enemy trench system up to Bapaume-Peronne road, and many prisoners .On 12 September, XXXIII Corps (of the French Sixth Army) attacked towards Mont St Quentin and VII Corps attacked Bouchavesnes, taking the village and digging in facing Cléry and Feuillaucourt. I Corps took Bois d'Anderlu and broke through the German defences near Marričres Wood, before attacking north towards Rancourt and Sailly-Saillisel. On 13 September, I Corps closed on Le Priez Farm and VII Corps defeated several big German counter-attacks. Next day the attacks of VII and XXXIII corps were stopped by mud and German defensive fire but I Corps managed to take Le Priez Farm. Attacks were suspended again to bring up supplies and relieve tired troops, despite the big British attack due on 15 September. Frégicourt, which overlooked part of the area to be attacked by the British was still held by the Germans. Although Foch wanted to keep pressure on the Germans south of the river, supply priority was given to the Sixth Army; the Tenth Army met frequent German counter-attacks near Berny, which took some ground and was not able to resume its attacks
Bouchavesnes, and Hill 76, north of Peronne, taken, and part of German 3rd line.
Eastern Front
Dobruja: Field Marshall von Mackensen in supreme command of German-Bulgarian forces.
Romanians advance on Kronstadt (Brasso), their right flank joining Russians near Dorna Vatra.
The War at Sea
Today see the launch of another British Battleship... HMS Ramillies (pennant number: 07) was one of five Revenge-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was completed after the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and saw no combat during the war. She served with the Grand Fleet for the duration of the war. The ship was active throughout World War II, with service ranging from convoy escort to shore bombardment to engaging enemy battleships.
The Revenge-class ships were designed as slightly smaller, slower, and more heavily protected versions of the preceding Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. As an economy measure they were intended to revert to the previous practice of using both fuel oil and coal, but First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher rescinded the decision for coal in October 1914. Still under construction, the ships were redesigned to employ oil-fired boilers that increased the power of the engines by 9,000 shaft horsepower (6,700 kW) over the original specification. Ramillies had a length overall of 620 feet 7 inches (189.2 m), a beam of 101 feet 5.5 inches (30.9 m) and a deep draught of 33 feet 7 inches (10.2 m). She had a designed displacement of 30,400 long tons (30,900 t) and displaced 33,570 long tons (34,109 t) at deep load. She was powered by 2 sets of Parsons steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) and intended to reach a maximum speed of 23 knots (42.6 km/h; 26.5 mph). During her sea trials on 1 October 1917, the ship only reached a top speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) from 42,414 shp (31,628 kW). She had a range of 7,000 nautical miles (12,964 km; 8,055 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (18.5 km/h; 11.5 mph). Her crew numbered 936 officers and enlisted men in 1917. Her metacentric height was 4.5 feet (1.4 m) at deep load.
The Revenge class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381 mm) Mk I guns in four twin gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Twelve of the fourteen BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the shelter deck and were protected by gun shields. The ship also mounted four 3-pounder (47-millimetre (1.9 in)) guns. Her anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt Mk I guns. She was fitted with four submerged 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. Ramillies was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinders. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'X' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in June 1918.[6] A torpedo-control director with a 15-foot rangefinder was mounted at the aft end of the superstructure.
The ship's waterline belt consisted of Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was 13 inches (330 mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 4 to 6 inches (102 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. Above this was a strake of armour 6 inches thick that extended between 'A' and 'X' barbettes. Transverse bulkheads 4 to 6 inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes. The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 inches (279 to 330 mm) of KC armour, except for the turret roofs which were 4.75–5 inches (121–127 mm) thick. The barbettes ranged in thickness from 6–10 inches (152–254 mm) above the upper deck, but were only 4 to 6 inches thick below it. The Revenge-class ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 4 inches (25 to 102 mm) in thickness. The main conning tower had 13 inches of armour on the sides with a 3-inch roof. The torpedo director in the rear superstructure had 6 inches of armour protecting it. While under construction Ramillies was fitted with an anti-torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into water-tight empty outer compartments and inner compartments filled with water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The space between the tubes was filled with wooden packing. In addition, 1 inch of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazines and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines.The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch. During the 1933–34 refit, the platforms were removed from the turrets and a catapult was installed on the roof of 'X' turret, along with a crane to recover a seaplane.
Ramillies, named after the 1706 Battle of Ramillies, was laid down by William Beardmore and Company at its shipyard in Dalmuir, Scotland. She was launched on 12 June 1916 and commissioned on 1 September 1917. Commissioning was delayed because her rudder was damaged during launch. The battleship was towed with great difficulty to the Cammell Laird works on the River Mersey for repairs.[18]
Because of an increasing awareness of the danger of torpedo attack from submarines and destroyers, Ramillies, being completed later than her sisters in this class, had anti-torpedo bulges fitted. These were streamlined external compartments fitted along the waterline and filled with various shock absorbent materials, designed to take the impact of a torpedo before it could breach the hull.
Ramillies joined the 1st Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in May 1917. On 9 April 1920 Captain Aubrey Smith took command of the ship,[19] and in the disturbances between Turkey and Britain later in 1920, Ramillies fired from her position in the Sea of Marmora at Turkish shore targets. In 1924 Ramillies joined the 2nd Battle Squadron of the British Atlantic Fleet. During the 1926 general strike she was sent to the River Mersey to land food supplies, along with HMS Barham. By late 1926 she was with the Mediterranean Fleet. During the interwar period, Ramillies was lightened by having crushing tubes, wood and cement filling removed from her anti-torpedo bulges. By 1928, her anti-aircraft defences had been altered to four-4-inch quick firing Mark IV guns and her two forecastle deck 6-inch guns were removed. When political disturbances broke out in Palestine in 1929, Ramillies was sent out to support the British presence. From June 1932 to August 1934 she was in Plymouth for a major refit.
Ramillies was put in reserve on 31 January 1945 at Portsmouth and was used as an accommodation ship. John Egerton Broome was captain from 1945 to 1946. She was sold in 1946 and scrapped in 1949. One of Ramillies' 15-inch (381 mm) guns has been preserved and can be seen at the Imperial War Museum in London. The ship's bell is preserved at HMCS Star, a Naval Reserve Division at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Curse of the duplicates strikes again
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Shorter one tonight - had a big electrical storm earlier knocked me off line for a couple of hours, so rushing to complete before the day ends (and I have to be up at half five....) and only 2 days to go....
13th September 1916
Delighted to announce that NO DEATHS ARE RECORDED FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13TH 1916
There was just the one aerial victory claim on this day Linienschiffsleutnant Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield (Austro Hungarian Air Service) was flying his Albatros FB (K-150) when he shot down (although unconfirmed) a Nieuport over Miramare.
Private Charles Depper (Berkshire Regiment) is shot at dawn at age 30 for desertion. Early in August 1916 he deserted prior to an attack on the Somme. Leaving his rifle and equipment in a reserve trench at Ovillers, he made his way to Amiens, only to be arrested the same day. Depper told the Military Police that he was on his way to Rouen to catch a boat for England the reason for his disaffection was that he was tired of serving in the trenches. Private Depper came from Worcestershire but had emigrated to Canada, returning to England to join-up on the outbreak of war. He served with the 1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment. When warned for front-line duties, Depper left his battalion but was intercepted en-route for Calais. Charles Depper was aged 30 when court-martialled and was buried in Beauval Communal Cemetery, Somme. The battalion war diary entry for the 13 September 1916 reads:
'Work as on the 12th. Very little work was done in the morning, except Lecturing etc. Private DEPPER, was executed at 6.10a.m. having been tried by FGCM for "When on Active Service, deserting His Majesty's Service", and found Guilty. The execution was witnessed by 40 of the Battalion under the Command of Lieutenant Hampshire the Orderly Officer of the day. Weather:- a wet morning but fine later.' He is listed as being the son of Charles Depper, of Rock Hill, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Charles Depper's brother was also killed during the war.
He had been sent to France as a reinforcement to the Battalion. Early in August 1916 he deserted his comrades prior to an attack on the Somme. The battalion had moved forward to line east of Ovillers on 13th August . Attack on Skyline Trench driven back on 14th August . Bombing attack north of Ovillers 18th/19th August with objective held. Leaving his rifle and equipment in the reserve trenches at Ovillers on the 13th, Pte. Depper made his way to Amiens, only to be arrested the same day. He told the Military Police that he was on his way to Rouen to catch the boat for England as he was tired of serving in the trenches.
on a day we lost 590 men...
Today’s losses include:
Son of a Justice
Missionary Priest and former Military Chaplain
A member of the Royal Irish Constabulary
Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
A family that will lose three sons in the Great War
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Staff Surgeon James Keough Murphy (HMS Vivid Royal Naval Barracks Devonport RNVR) dies on service the day after his 47th He is the son of the Right Honourable Mr. Justice Murphy.
Second Lieutenant Robert Furley Callaway (Sherwood Foresters) is killed age 44. He is a Missionary Priest to the Diocese of St John’s Kaffraria in charge of the Holy Cross Pondoland South Africa who was originally served as a Chaplain but resigned to join the forces.
Private Harold George Okey (Royal Army Medical Corps) dies of wounds at home at age 30. His two brothers will also lose their lives in the Great War.
Private Charles Mann (Suffolk Regiment) is killed at age 21 ten days after his brother was killed.
Private Martin Malloy (Irish Guards) is killed at age 29. He is a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Private Peter Duncan (Seaforth Highlanders) is killed in action. His brother will be killed in August 1917.
Private David Fotheringham (Black Watch) is killed on Salonika at age 38. His brother will be killed in October 1918.
Capt. Tunstill's Men: Billets at Henencourt Wood
The next two days, both of them dull and damp, were spent in preparation of arms, equipment and rations and in some training.
Enquiries continued regarding 2Lt Roland Herbert Wyndham Brinsley-Richards (see 5th September) who had been officially reported ‘missing in action’ following the attack on Munster Alley. A statement was taken, at no.8 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne, from Pte. Frank Woodall, who was a member of ‘A’ Company. Woodall’s version of events was recorded, though not in his own words; “Very fair, clean-shaven, very young, about 6ft., informant thinks home North Shields (Brinsley-Richards was actually 29 years old; 5ft. 6 ˝” tall; and had been living in London). On July 30th. Regiment were in trenches near Thiepval (sic.). About 3am, A Company, which was informants’ company, relieved B Company, who had been on a bombing raid in charge of Lt. Richards. When informant got to the sap of the trench, he saw the Lt.’s body lying dead. He does not know where the Lt. was buried”.
Lt. Brinsley Richards
Pte. Frank Woodall (see 21st August) had only joined ‘A’ Company in June; he was subsequently transferred to 8DWR and was killed while serving with that Battalion on 9th October 1917; he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Capt. James Christopher Bull (see 8th September) wrote to the War Office regarding a cheque signed by him which had been found among the effects of the late 2Lt. Walter Douglas Taylor (see 8th September). Bull confirmed that he had issued the cheque in settlement of his account with the Company Officer’s Mess, of which Taylor had been President; he now issued a new cheque, payable, as requested, to the Assistant Financial Secretary, the War Office.
Western Front
Germany: HINDENBURG ACHIEVES DE FACTO COMMAND OF CENTRAL POWERS’ ARMIES. OHL (German Supreme Forces Command) for the purpose becomes OKL (Supreme War Command).
The Kaiser (center) with Hindenburg (left) and Ludendorff (right) at a briefing at GHQ. The two generals are increasingly taking over also foreign and internal affairs.
Battle of the Somme: French I Corps advance southeast of Combles; VII Corps repulses heavy counter-attacks at Bouchavesnes.
On 12 September, XXXIII Corps attacked towards Mont St Quentin and VII Corps attacked Bouchavesnes, taking the village and digging in facing Cléry and Feuillaucourt. I Corps took Bois d'Anderlu and broke through the German defences near Marričres Wood, before attacking north towards Rancourt and Sailly-Saillisel. On 13 September, I Corps closed on Le Priez Farm and VII Corps defeated several big German counter-attacks. Next day the attacks of VII and XXXIII corps were stopped by mud and German defensive fire but I Corps managed to take Le Priez Farm. Attacks were suspended again to bring up supplies and relieve tired troops, despite the big British attack due on 15 September. Frégicourt, which overlooked part of the area to be attacked by the British was still held by the Germans. Although Foch wanted to keep pressure on the Germans south of the river, supply priority was given to the Sixth Army; the Tenth Army met frequent German counter-attacks near Berny, which took some ground and was not able to resume its attacks.
From 7–12 September, Bavarian Infantry Regiment 19 lost 884 men in the defence of Ginchy. The 16th Division lost 4,330 casualties from 1–10 September and was transferred to the Second Army in Flanders. From 23 August to its relief on 7 September, the 7th Division lost 3,800 men. The 24th Division had lost approximately 2,000 casualties since the end of August.
Verdun: At citadel President Poincare confers Legion of Honour on the fortress ‘against whose walls the highest ambitions of Imperial Germany have broken’; Petain, Joffre, Nivelle and Mangin all present.
Politics
Germany: Kaiser, Hindenburg, Bethmann, Enver and Tsar Ferdinand confer at Pless.
Southern Fronts
Salonika: British 65th Brigade (22nd Division) storms German 59th Regiment’s Machukovo village salient, taking c.70 PoWs and 9 MGs for 586 casualties but loses it again until September 14.
Air War
Adriatic: 22 Italian Caproni bombers with Italian-built Nieuport fighter escort bomb Trieste.
The War at Sea
There were four reports hip losses on this day...
Ariel France The sloop was scuttled in the English Channel 35 nautical miles (65 km) north west of Sept Îles, Côtes-du-Nord by SM UB-18 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Hans Jensen Denmark The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 52 nautical miles (96 km) north east of the Île de Batz, Finistčre, France (49°38′N 3°43′W) by SM UB-18 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
J. N. Madvig Denmark The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 54 nautical miles (100 km) north north west of Paimpol, Finistčre (49°20′N 3°51′W) by SM UB-18 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Tolosa Norway The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 30 nautical miles (56 km) north north east of the Île de Batz by SM UB-18 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
and finally...
This day saw the birth of one of Britain's greatest ever children's authors... who also happened to be a fighter pilot in WW2
Roald Dahl is born in Llandaff, near the Welsh capital of Cardiff, on 13th September 1916. Roald's parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg, were both Norwegian and he was named after Norway's famous polar explorer, Roald Amundsen. At the time of his birth Roald had two older sisters, Astri (born 1912) and Alfhild (born 1914), as well as an older brother and sister from his father’s first marriage, Ellen (born 1903) and Louis (born 1906.) Roald's father Harald was a shipbroker and his business, Aadnesen and Dahl, was very successful. In Boy, Roald describes a shipbroker as "a person who supplies a ship with everything it needs when it comes into port - fuel and food, ropes and paint, soap and towels, hammers and nails, and thousands of other tiddly little items."
Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of acting wing commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults and he became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. In 2008, The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Dahl's short stories are known for their unexpected endings and his children's books for their unsentimental, macabre, often darkly comic mood, featuring villainous adult enemies of the child characters.[8][9] His books champion the kind-hearted, and feature an underlying warm sentiment. Dahl's works for children include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine. His adult works include Tales of the Unexpected.
His time as a fighter Pilot.
In August 1939, as World War II loomed, plans were made to round up the hundreds of Germans in Dar-es-Salaam. Dahl was made a lieutenant in the King's African Rifles, commanding a platoon of Askaris, indigenous troops serving in the colonial army. In November 1939, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as an aircraftman with service number 774022.After a 600-mile (970 km) car journey from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, he was accepted for flight training with 16 other men, of whom only three others survived the war. With seven hours and 40 minutes experience in a De Havilland Tiger Moth, he flew solo; Dahl enjoyed watching the wildlife of Kenya during his flights. He continued to advanced flying training in Iraq, at RAF Habbaniya, 50 miles (80 km) west of Baghdad. He was commissioned pilot officer on 24 August 1940. Following six months' training on Hawker Harts, Dahl was made an acting pilot officer.
He was assigned to No. 80 Squadron RAF, flying obsolete Gloster Gladiators, the last biplane fighter aircraft used by the RAF. Dahl was surprised to find that he would not receive any specialised training in aerial combat, or in flying Gladiators. On 19 September 1940, Dahl was ordered to fly his Gladiator from Abu Sueir in Egypt, on to Amiriya to refuel, and again to Fouka in Libya for a second refuelling. From there he would fly to 80 Squadron's forward airstrip 30 miles (48 km) south of Mersa Matruh. On the final leg, he could not find the airstrip and, running low on fuel and with night approaching, he was forced to attempt a landing in the desert. The undercarriage hit a boulder and the aircraft crashed, fracturing his skull, smashing his nose and temporarily blinding him. He managed to drag himself away from the blazing wreckage and passed out. He wrote about the crash in his first published work. Dahl was rescued and taken to a first-aid post in Mersa Matruh, where he regained consciousness, but not his sight, and was then taken by train to the Royal Navy hospital in Alexandria. There he fell in and out of love with a nurse, Mary Welland. An RAF inquiry into the crash revealed that the location to which he had been told to fly was completely wrong, and he had mistakenly been sent instead to the no man's land between the Allied and Italian forces.
A Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 which was the aircraft type in which Dahl engaged in aerial combat over Greece. In February 1941, Dahl was discharged from hospital and passed fully fit for flying duties. By this time, 80 Squadron had been transferred to the Greek campaign and based at Eleusina, near Athens. The squadron was now equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. Dahl flew a replacement Hurricane across the Mediterranean Sea in April 1941, after seven hours flying Hurricanes. By this stage in the Greek campaign, the RAF had only 18 combat aircraft in Greece: 14 Hurricanes and four Bristol Blenheim light bombers. Dahl saw his first aerial combat on 15 April 1941, while flying alone over the city of Chalcis. He attacked six Junkers Ju-88s that were bombing ships and shot one down. On 16 April in another air battle, he shot down another Ju-88. On 20 April 1941, Dahl took part in the "Battle of Athens", alongside the highest-scoring British Commonwealth ace of World War II, Pat Pattle, and Dahl's friend David Coke. Of 12 Hurricanes involved, five were shot down and four of their pilots killed, including Pattle. Greek observers on the ground counted 22 German aircraft downed, but because of the confusion of the aerial engagement, none of the pilots knew which aircraft they had shot down. Dahl described it as "an endless blur of enemy fighters whizzing towards me from every side". In May, as the Germans were pressing on Athens, Dahl was evacuated to Egypt. His squadron was reassembled in Haifa. From there, Dahl flew sorties every day for a period of four weeks, shooting down a Vichy French Air Force Potez 63 on 8 June and another Ju-88 on 15 June, but he then began to get severe headaches that caused him to black out. He was invalided home to Britain. Though at this time Dahl was only a pilot officer on probation, in September 1941 he was simultaneously confirmed as a pilot officer and promoted to war substantive flying officer.
Roald Dahl died on 23rd November 1990 and as a small and bizarre homage to the great man the word Oompa Loompa has TODAY been officially recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
From 19 Squadron RFC's war diary:Trailer for 15th September....
Towards the middle of September there were rumours of a final and very determined effort on a large scale to break the Hun line before the winter. It was whispered that entirely new forms of frightfulness were to be employed, but so little was known, and the orders for secrecy so imperative, that they could only be described as 'hush hush' machines. Interest was further aroused when it was known that aeroplanes were to work in close co-operation with these mysterious engines of war. On the 13th September the Squadron Commander was informed the date of the new attack was fixed for the 15th, and that a very special task was to be carried out by No 19 for which he was to select his most skilful pilots. This was no less than a continuous and very close patrol low over the trenches from the time the attack started, in order to report direct every movement of our advance, and, particularly, the position of the Tanks, as the 'hush hush' machines were now called. On the afternoon of the 14th all the officers of the three squadrons [of 9 HQ Wing] were collected together and were addressed by Major-General Trenchard himself. In grave tones he explained the great effort that was to be made the next morning and how it was dependent for its success on the help of the Corps. He called upon every pilot to do his utmost, and if need be to sacrifice himself loyally in the common cause. This address made a deep impression on the officers of the squadron.
Tom
You did very well to get the edition out at all, with the air strike knocking out your printing press Chris.
I did not notice any diminution in either the length nor content of last nights edition.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
I did notice less sleep than normal by the time I had finished it, lol
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
14th September 1916
Blimey it was a VERY busy day in the skies over the trenches on this day....
4 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14TH 1916
2nd Lieutenant Edward William Burke 80 Squadron RFC. Killed in Action 14 September 1916 aged 18, in aerial combat over Bullecourt. Son of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Burke, of Cloonee, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. He was the observer in Sopwith Strutter A1908
2nd Lieutenant John Hugh Gale 70 Squadron RFC Died of Wounds as a Prisoner of War 14 September 1916 aged 19.
Air Mechanic 2nd Class Jesse William Garratt 17 squadron RFC Died of malaria 14 September 1916 aged 20.
Spr. J. McV. Strathy RFC Killed in Action 14 September 1916
There were a record number of aerial combat claims on what was one of the biggest days of the war in the air. we have no fewer than 11 different pilots claiming 14 kills between them...
Capt.Alan Duncan Bell-Irving (Canadian) claims his 2nd victory by downing a balloon over Avesnes les Bapaume
Capt. Arthur Gerald "Gerry" Knight (Canadian) claims his 4th victory by downing a Fokker over Manoncourt
Captain Stanley Cockerell 24 Squadron RFC was flying a DH.2 when he claimed his first victory - a Fokker DII over Manacourt.
The day after war was declared, Cockerell joined up as a despatch rider in the Royal Flying Corps. In April 1915 he became an air mechanic 2nd class and later that year was promoted to air mechanic 1st class.
Cockerell was granted his Royal Aero Club Pilot's Certificate No. 3271 on 21 July 1916 and became a sergeant pilot with 24 Squadron. He used an Airco DH.2 on 14 September 1916 to share a victory with Arthur Gerald Knight, when they set a Fokker D.II aflame. He scored again on 30 September, again setting his enemy on fire. Cockerell was wounded in the hip on 10 October (the bullet was never removed). He was commissioned a second lieutenant on 27 October 1916. He then took a break until 4 February 1917, when he shared in the destruction of a reconnaissance plane. Two days later, he was the sole destroyer of another reconnaissance plane. On 2 April 1917, he destroyed an Albatros D.III for his fifth victory. He upgraded to an Airco DH.5 on 25 May for his sixth kill, when he destroyed another Albatros D.III. Cockerell was then withdrawn to England to serve in Home Defence squadrons at Hornchurch. He was appointed a flight commander on 1 September 1917, with the temporary rank of captain. He returned to France in July 1918 with 151 Squadron. On 4 August, while flying a Sopwith Camel in the squadron's night intruder role, he bombed the German aerodrome at Guizancourt. A Gotha bomber subsequently attempted a recovery at the field, and Cockerell destroyed it for his seventh consecutive victory.
Cockerell was appointed Chevalier of the Order of the Crown in August 1917 and was awarded the Croix de guerre in March 1918, both by Belgium. Although he was later regraded as a substantive flight lieutenant in line with the RAF's new rank system, he continued to be generally known as "Captain Cockerell". On 21 August 1919, Cockerell flew a Vickers Vimy from London to Amsterdam loaded with copies of The Times, which were then sold for the benefit of local charities.
On 24 June 1920, Cockerell took off from Brooklands in a Vickers Vimy on a pioneering flight to South Africa in an attempt to test the air route from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope. He was accompanied by fellow pilot Captain Frank Broome DFC (whose flight commander he had been in 151 Squadron), mechanic Sergeant-Major James Wyatt MSM, rigger Claude Corby, and passenger Peter Chalmers Mitchell, an eminent zoologist and correspondent for The Times, which sponsored the flight. That evening they arrived at RAF Manston in Kent. The following day they crossed the English Channel and arrived at Lyon. They reached Istres on 26 January, Rome on 27 January, Malta on 29 January, Tripoli on 31 January (having been held up by storms the previous day), Benghazi on 1 February, and Heliopolis near Cairo on 3 February. On 6 February, they set out for the main flight to South Africa and reached Aswan. On 8 February, after two forced landings caused by leaking cylinder water jackets, they reached Khartoum. After repairs, they left Khartoum on 10 February and reached El Jebelein, 208 miles to the south. Following further repairs, they left later the same day, but were forced to land in a dry swamp near Renk. The following day they returned to Jebelein for further repairs. On 14 February, they set off again and reached Mongalla, in the far south of Sudan the following day, after spending the night on the banks of the Nile. They remained in Mongalla making repairs until 20 February, when they took off again and reached Nimule, again with engine trouble. They began again on 22 February and reached Uganda in Uganda. On 24 February they left again and reached Kisumu in Kenya. They reached Tabora in Tanganyika Territory on 26 February, but crashed on take-off the following day, writing off the machine and ending the flight. Cockerell and Corby were slightly injured. Cockerell and Broome did eventually reach Cape Town, although not by air, and were welcomed by, among others, Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand, who had made the flight successfully by a slightly different route and were the only one of five crews attempting the journey to successfully complete it. On 12 July 1920, Cockerell and Broome were awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) and Wyatt and Corby the Air Force Medal (AFM) in recognition of the flight. On 17 August 1920, Cockerell was best man at Broome's wedding.He married Lorna Lockyer in 1921. On 4–6 March 1921, Cockerell carried out trials of the prototype Vickers Valentia flying boat over the Solent for the Air Ministry. On 17 March 1921, he landed a flying boat on the River Thames near the Palace of Westminster.On 15 March 1922, he ditched a flying boat in the Channel four miles off Hastings while making a test flight from Portsmouth to Sheerness. He and his two companions, Broome and Wyatt, were rescued from the water.
On 13 April 1922 he was the pilot for the maiden flight of the Vickers Viking which later that day crashed at Brooklands while being flown by Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, killing Smith and his co-pilot, Lieutenant James Mallett Bennett. He had taken Smith and Bennett as passengers and testified to the inquest that the machine seemed to be in perfect working order. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure. Cockerell and his six-year-old daughter Kathleen were killed in the German bombing of Sunbury on Thames on 29 November 1940. His six surviving children were thus orphaned
Major Stephen William Price 11 Squadron RFC - was flying an F.E.2b (6994) when he shot down a Albatross C over Bapaume.
Sous Lieutenant Noel Hugues Anne Louis de Rochefort (French Air Service) claims his 7th and alas final kill on this day, he will be shot down and killed the very next day.
Adjutant Maxime Albert Lenoir French Air Service claims his ninth victory whilst flying his Nieuport North of Douaumont
Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke claims kills number 23 and 24 by shooting down a Sopwith Strutter (A987) and a DH2 (7873) on this day
Also claiming a double on this day was Hauptmann Kurt Wintgens whose 14th and 15th kills accounted for a Nieuport and an unidentified pusher plane - it may well have been the FE flown by Lieutenant Gale (See above)
Tentente Ferruccio Ranza of the Italian Air Service claims his second victory by shooting down an enemy seaplane
Major William John Charles Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick 70 Squadron RFC downs an enemy aircraft whilst flying his Sopwith Strutter. He was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire; Trinity College, Cambridge; and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps on 11 June 1915. In December 1915, he was posted to No. 1 Aircraft Depot in France. Here he claimed his first victory flying a Nieuport scout. Flying the Sopwith 1˝ Strutter with 70 Squadron in September 1916, he scored his second and third victories but, on each occasion, his observer was killed. Promoted to Captain and posted to 23 Squadron in early 1917, he became his squadron's highest scoring ace and the highest scoring SPAD ace of the war, shooting down eighteen enemy aircraft in four months flying the SPAD VII. On 22 July 1917, he was promoted to Major and assumed command of 60 Squadron. Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick left the Royal Air Force in 1919. Post-war he was an aerial surveyor in South America, Burma, Africa and Iraq. Flying a DH.84 Dragon, Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick, founder of The Aircraft Operating Company of South Africa, took off from Baragwanath Airport near Johannesburg on 26 September 1933. Following a steep turn after takeoff, the plane stalled and fell to the ground from a height of 250 feet. Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick and his passenger, Sir Michael Oppenheimer, were killed.
and finally in this section we have Capt. Frederick Libby (USA) who flew for both the RFC and the USAF before the war was out...As an F.E.2b observer, the Colorado cowboy became the first American ace of the war in the summer of 1916. The following year, Libby completed pilot training and was posted to 43 Squadron on 18 April 1917. After scoring 2 victories, he was re-assigned to 25 Squadron as a D.H.4 pilot in August 1917. At the request of General Billy Mitchell, Libby transferred to the American Air Service on 15 September 1917. Returning to the United States, he participated in the Liberty Loan drive before joining the 22nd Aero as an instructor at Hicks Field in Texas. Unfortunately, Libby was seriously ill by this time and was found to be permanently disabled and medically unfit for further military service.
"Aerial gunnery is 90 percent instinct and 10 percent aim." Frederick Libby
On this day we lost 948 men...
Brigadier General Charles Edward Stewart CMG, (commanding officer 154th Infantry Brigade, 51st Division) is killed in action at age 47. With his intelligence officer (Lieutenant Frederick Neill Edmonstone Kitson, Black Watch) he is killed while they are walking through Houplines when a chance shall bursts within a few feet of them, killing them both. It is the only shell that falls in the vicinity today. Lieutenant Kitson is the son of the Reverend John Francis Kitson and dies at age 30.
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Lieutenant Colonel Cusack Grant Forsyth DSO (Northumberland Fusiliers commanding 6th Yorkshire Regiment) is killed at age 29. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the Great War.
Captain Bertram Saxelbye Evers (West Yorkshire Regiment) is killed at age 24. He is the son of the Reverend E Evers.
Lieutenant Cyril Gower Gardner (Grenadier Guards) is killed at age 19. He is the son of the Reverend Frederick Thomas Gardner. Rector of Goldhanger
Second Lieutenant Bryant Wynne Yorke-Lodge MC (Lancashire Regiment) is killed in action at age 20. He is the son of the Reverend J A B Lodge and was educated at Liverpool College, Rossall School and Brasenose College, Oxford.
Second Lieutenant Frank Radcliffe King (Liverpool Regiment) is killed in action at Salonika at age 30. He is the son of George Edward King JP (Alderman and Guardian for the Borough of Lambeth and Mayor of Lambeth).
Private John Charles Howe (Bedfordshire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 21. His brother will be killed in November 1918.
Private Fred Harrison (West Yorkshire Regiment) is killed at age 23. His brother will be killed in four days.
Southern Fronts
Italian Front – Seventh Battle of Isonzo (until September 17): Alter lengthy artillery preparation including gas shells Italian Third Army (14 divisions, 966 guns, 584 mortars) attacks at 0900 hours on 6*-mile front, captures Nova Vas Hills 144, 265 and 208 (Carso) with 1,800 PoWs, later regained by Austrians (Fifth Army, 101 battalions with 409 guns).
Macedonia: Italians and French make diversionary attacks in Doiran*-Vardar sector. Serbs break through at Gornichevo on Florina road and capture 32 Bulgar guns.
Italian Infantry assaulting the Carso Plateau
Western Front
Battle of the Somme: British storm trenches southeast of Thiepval and 11th Div the ‘Wonderwork’. Haig and Rawlinson confer, Haig urges determined assault on Martinpuich. French I Corps captures Le Priez Farm; French XXIII and VII Corps both stalemated; 78 German counter-attacks since September 1.
Tunstill's Men :As training continued on another cold and wet day, the Battalion was ordered to be made ready to move at short notice. This was in anticipation of a renewal of the British advance on the Somme, in what would become known as the Battle of Flers-Courcellette.
RSM John William Headings (see 10th August), who had only returned to duty five weeks earlier following treatment for a bout of sciatica, was admitted to hospital, via 45 Casualty Clearing Station, suffering from myalgia.
Eastern Front
Transylvania – Battle of Merisor-Petrosani (until September 22) north of Vulcan Pass: Rumanian First Army attacks towards Hatszeg. Austrian codebreakers get a warning of Rumanian counter*-attack.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Huge day tomorrow - a world first, three VCs, lots of planes up aloft to name but a few highlights.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
SPECIAL EDITION: 100 YEARS OF THE TANK
Exactly 100 years ago today, the British Army sent tanks into action for the first time at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme offensive, changing the nature of warfare forever. The Battle of the Somme, fought between July and November 1916, was one of the defining events of the First World War with more than one million casualties on all sides during the 141 days of the battle. In the first six weeks of the Somme offensive repeated Allied attacks had failed to achieve the progress that the senior leadership had planned.
To break the deadlock, Sir Douglas Haig planned a major attack on the 15th September 1916 to destroy German strong points between the villages of Combles and Courcelette. He also took the controversial and historic decision to reveal the British secret weapon, and commit tanks to this attack. The effectiveness of tanks was unknown. They promised much: the ability to cross trenches and wire, advance alongside the infantry protecting them and the crew, and to destroy German positions with a combination of cannon and machine guns. But they were slow, mechanically unreliable, the crews lacked experience and there had been no training alongside the infantry. Most significantly there were only 49 tanks available.
Before 1914, inventors had designed armoured fighting vehicles and one had been rejected by the Austro-Hungarian army in 1911. In 1912, L. E. de Mole submitted plans to the War Office for a machine which foreshadowed the tank of 1916, that was also rejected and in Berlin an inventor demonstrated a land cruiser in 1913. By 1908, the British army had adopted vehicles with caterpillar tracks to move heavy artillery and in France, Major E. D. Swinton RE heard of the cross-country, caterpillar-tracked Holt tractor in June 1914. In October, Swinton thought of a machine-gun destroyer, that could cross barbed wire and trenches and at GHQ discussed it with Major-General G. H. Fowke, the army chief engineer, who passed this on to Lieutenant-Colonel Maurice Hankey, the Secretary of the War Council but this had evoked little interest by January 1915. Swinton persuaded the War Office to set up an informal committee, which in February watched a demonstration of a Holt tractor pulling a weight of 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) over trenches and barbed wire, the performance of which was judged unsatisfactory.
Independent of Swinton, Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty had in October 1914, asked for an adaptation of a 15-inch howitzer tractor for trench crossing. In January 1915, Churchill had written to the Prime Minister, on the subject of an armoured caterpillar tractor to crush barbed wire and cross trenches and on 9 June, a vehicle with eight driving wheels and bridging gear was demonstrated to the War Office committee. The equipment failed to cross a double line of trenches 5 ft (1.5 m) wide and the experiment was abandoned. In parallel to these explorations, on 19 January 1915, Churchill ordered Commodore F. M. Seuter, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to conduct experiments with steamrollers and in February, Major T. G. Hetherington RNAS, showed Churchill designs for a land battleship. Churchill set up a Landships Committee, chaired by Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt the Director of Naval Construction, to oversee the creation of an armoured vehicle to crush wire and cross trenches. In June 1915, Sir John French, commander of the BEF found out about the ideas put forward by Swinton for caterpillar machine-gun destroyers. French sent the memoranda to the War Office, which in late June began to liaise with the Landships Committee at the Admiralty and specified the characteristics of the desired vehicle. Churchill had relinquished his post in the War Committee but lent his influence to the experiments and building of the tanks. By August, Swinton was able to co-ordinate the War Office specifications for the tanks, Admiralty design efforts and manufacture by the Ministry of Munitions. An experimental vehicle built by Fosters of Lincoln was tested in secret at Hatfield on 2 February 1916 and the results were considered so good that 100 more vehicles of the mother design and a prototype of the Mark I tank were ordered.
In March 1916, Swinton was given command of the new Heavy Section, Machine-Gun Corps, raised from 20 Squadron, RN Armoured Car Division, with an establishment of six companies with 25 tanks each, crewed by 28 officers and 255 men. Training began in great secrecy in June at Elveden in Suffolk, as soon as the first Mark I tank arrived. Two types of Mark I tank had been designed, male tanks, with a crew of eight, two 6-pounder guns and three Hotchkiss 8 mm machine-guns, a maximum speed of 3.7 mph (6.0 km/h) and a tail (two wheels at the rear to help with steering and to reduce the shock of crossing broken ground). Female tanks were similar in size, weight, speed and crew and were intended to defend the males against a rush by opposing infantry, with their armament of four Vickers and one Hotchkiss machine-gun and a much larger allotment of ammunition.
Mark I specifications
Dimensions 25.98 x 14.2 x 8 ft (7.92 (9.92 tail) x 4.33 x 2.44 m)
Total weight, battle ready 27.5(female)-28.4(male) tons
Crew 8
Propulsion Foster-Daimler Knight sleeve valve petrol engine, 105 hp
Speed 3 km/h (2 mph)
Range 45 km (27.96 mi)
Armament Male: 2 Hotchkiss 6 pdr (57 mm) QF and 3 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Hotchkiss machine guns
Female: Four 7.7 mm (0.303 in )Vickers machine guns and one 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Hotchkiss machine gun
Armor From 6 to 15 mm (0.23-0.59 in)
Total production 100
The Mk.I was elaborated to encompass all the lessons learnt from the Little Willie trials in 1915. No turret (giving a low center of gravity), armament mounted in sponsons, bolted hull made of boiler panels, newly designed tracks inherited from the Little Willie and a large, easily recognizable rhomboid hull, with the tracks surrounding the hull, making up the entire length of the machine. This shape could not be underestimated. While Great Britain learned the difficult trade of crossing heavily cratered, muddy terrain with the previous Lincoln machine, a radical solution was adopted, which proved adequate to the task, but too radical at the same time, and would emerge in postwar years. Indeed, a running track of this size allowed to gap the largest known trenches of the time, negotiate craters, while the front three meter recess allowed the vehicle to climb almost any obstacle. But, in addition of being heavy, these full-running tracks caused a safety problem for the crewmembers, who could get caught in it and be dragged under the tank. It also limited the ability to store anything on top, save for a narrow portion of the central hull. Visibility was perfectible and a lot of space was lost by cramming all the return rollers. A nightmare for an engineer, as well as the maintenance crew.
Propulsion relied on a six cylinder petrol engine at the rear of the hull, with no compartmentalization, due to the transmission system tunnel, which ran through the tank and, more importantly, because, at that stage, the engine was relatively untested and finicky enough to force engineers to need to be able to get their hands on the engine just in case. In addition, the engine had to push quite hard to carry the 28 tons of steel with its just 105 horsepower, with a crushingly low of 3.7 hp per tonne. Not surprisingly, the burden was made greater by the incredibly sticky nature of the mud, which was shown by recent studies to just stick to metal, which meant a tremendous force was required to extract whatever was plunged in it.
At least in the case of the tracks, the flat shape and serial arrangement made it more likely to “surf” on the surface, although taking along a large amount of mud in the process. Being clogged in a sinkhole was just the level of effort which the valiant little Daimler was not ready to undertake. Breakdowns were commonplace and ruined the early stage of the assault, largely diminishing the number of tanks that just had the luck to make their way into the no-man’s land and reach the destination. Also, the engine not being separated from the fighting compartment proved ruinous for the crew, which fell ill quite quickly, but that feature remained unchanged until 1918. The general staff didn’t see this sickness as a limitation either, given the relatively short distance which had to be crossed between opposing trenches. A mobility aspect which was incorporated into the design concerned the removable sponsons, allowing the tank to be narrower and thus, providing easier transport by rail. The crew comprised eight men, of which two were drivers (one for the gearbox and the other for the brakes) and two others controlling the gears of each track. This system needed perfect coordination, which was difficult due to the noise inside and the protective leather helmets they used. The four others were gunners, serving the six-pounders and the machine guns, depending on the armament. 50% of the Mk. Is were armed with two guns in the sponsons and three machine-guns (two in the sponsons, one axial in the hull), named “males”, and the other half were “females”, armed with five machine-guns. These were either Vickers models or the 8 mm (0.31 in) Hotchkiss air-cooled equivalents. The tanks were quite big, weighing 28 tons with an eight meters long hull and an overall length of nearly ten meters with the additional tail wheel, another feature kept from the Little Willie. It was designed to help crossing very large trenches, but later proved impractical and was dropped.
No less than 150 Mk.Is were built at William Foster & Co. of the Lincoln Metropolitan Carriage and Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon & Finance Co. at Wednesbury. The first order of 100 was increased to 150 in April 1916, acting as a pre-series for further mass-productions. The Foster deliveries concerned 37 males, while Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon, and Finance Company, of Birmingham, delivered 113 Tanks, including 38 “males” and 75 “females”. Later on, two rails were mounted over the hull to handle a wooden beam, used for unditching. The first were ready in a hurry and deployed in August, just in time for the Somme Offensive. From the end of 1917 and until 1918, some of the surviving ones were converted as signal tanks with a large antenna at the base of the driver’s cab, participating in the battle of Cambrai. Others were converted as supply tanks.
Their first operational use was in September at Flers-Courcelette, but this first attempt was a near disaster. Most of the tanks broke down on their way, others bogged down in the mud. However, despite the lack of training of their crews, some managed to reach their designated objective, if only too few. Only 59 were part of this attack, most of them being captured afterwards by the Germans. The first issues quickly arrived at the War Office. When they appeared however through the fog, they had an uncanny psychological effect on the German troops, which fled their trenches, leaving their machine guns. The distant roar and clinging of the tracks, and later the slow-moving masses emerging from the fog which resembled nothing built yet were enough. But their ability to take punishment and return fire was compelled by the fact the Germans were caught completely unaware of their existance. A real surprise achieved by the well-guarded secret behind the name that stuck ever since, the “tank”.
The noise, the smell and the temperature that reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius were just unbearable. There were powerful emanations of carbon monoxide, cordite, fuel and oil vapors, all made worse by poor ventilation. The crews often opened the narrow door situated just behind the sponson, in an attempt to get some fresh air in. With poor training and almost no internal communication, steering was enormously difficult, resulting in mechanical over-stress, causing many breakdowns. Another factor was the petrol engine, overwhelmed by the weight of the hull combined with the very sticky, heavy mud typical of the region, something that was rediscovered when excavating and experimenting with the supposed battlefield of Agincourt. Coordination between the tanks also proved inadequate, theoretically by using a set of fanions, flags, lamps, semaphores and other devices inspired by navy practice. There was no radio on board. Pigeons were used instead to report positions and status with the General Headquarters. Crew security was also an issue inside the tank. If the 8 mm (0.31 in) plates were proven bullet proof, each impact produced mini-shrapnel inside the hull, injuring anybody inside. Following the first reports, thick leather jackets and helmets, or a combination of leather and chain-mail, were provided to the crews. Spall liners would take ages to come into view.
A 1917 Mk. IV variant
Bert Chaney was a nineteen-year-old signal officer and had a front-row seat as three of the new weapons made their appearance in his sector of the battlefield. We join his story as the tanks lumber into position before the attack:
"We heard strange throbbing noises, and lumbering slowly towards us came three huge mechanical monsters such as we had never seen before. My first impression was that they looked ready to topple on their noses, but their tails and the two little wheels at the back held them down and kept them level. Big metal things they were, with two sets of caterpillar wheels that went right round the body. There was a huge bulge on each side with a door in the bulging part, and machine guns on swivels poked out from either side. The engine, a petrol engine of massive proportions, occupied practically all the inside space. Mounted behind each door was a motor-cycle type of saddle, seat and there was just about enough room left for the belts of ammunition and the drivers.
I was attached to battalion headquarters and the colonel, adjutant, sergeant-major and myself with four signallers had come up to the front line. From this position the colonel could see his men leave the assembly trench, move forward with the tanks, jump over us and advance to the enemy trenches. As a new style of attack he thought it would be one of the highlights of the' war.
While it was still dark we heard the steady drone of heavy engines and by the time the sun had risen the tanks were approaching our front line, dead on time. The Germans must have heard them too and, although they had no idea what to expect, they promptly laid down a heavy curtain of fire on our front line. This had the effect of making us keep our heads down, but every now and again we felt compelled to pop up and look back to see how the tanks were progressing. It was most heartening to watch their advance, we were almost ready to cheer. But there was a surprise in store for us.
Instead of going on to the German lines the three tanks assigned to us straddled our front line, stopped and then opened up a murderous machine gun fire, enfilading us left and right. There they sat, squat monstrous things, noses stuck up in the air, crushing the sides of our trench out of shape with their machine guns swiveling around and firing like mad.
Everyone dived for cover, except the colonel. He jumped on top of the parapet, shouting at the top of his voice, "Runner, runner, go tell those tanks to stop firing at once. At once, I say." By now the enemy fire had risen to a crescendo but, giving no thought to his personal safety as he saw the tanks firing on his own men, he ran forward and furiously rained blows with his cane on the side of one of the tanks in an endeavour to attract their attention.
Although, what with the sounds of the engines and the firing in such an enclosed space, no one in the tank could hear him, they finally realised they were on the wrong trench and moved on, frightening the Jerries out of their wits and making them scuttle like frightened rabbits. One of the tanks got caught up on a tree stump and never reached their front line and a second had its rear steering wheels shot off and could not guide itself The crew thought it more prudent to stop, so they told us afterwards, rather than to keep going as they felt they might go out of control and run on until they reached Berlin.
The third tank went on and ran through Flers, flattening everything they thought should be flattened, pushing down walls and thoroughly enjoying themselves, our lads coming up behind them, taking over the village, or what was left of it, and digging in on the line prescribed for them before the attack. This was one of the rare occasions when they had passed through the enemy fire and they were enjoying themselves chasing and rounding up the Jerries, collecting thousands of prisoners and sending them back to our lines escorted only by Pioneers armed with shovels. The four men in the tank that had got itself hung up dismounted, all in the heat of the battle, stretching themselves, scratching their heads, then slowly and deliberately walked round their vehicle inspecting it from every angle and appeared to hold a conference among themselves. After standing around for a few minutes, looking somewhat lost, they calmly took out from the inside of the tank a primus stove and, using the side of the tank as a cover from enemy fire, sat down on the ground and made themselves some tea. The battle was over as far as they were concerned."
In a fitting tribute (and GUTTED to miss it), the Tank Museum at Bovington sent their working Mk. IV replica to Trafalgar Square today - during 1916 and 1917 Trafalgar Square was often visited by Tanks for various reasons mainly propaganda...
If you want to read in detail about the first tanks and their heroic crews then I recommend this... its a great read
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
15th September 1916
The first time the world saw the tank in action (see above)
Blimey so it was carnage on all fronts today....
10 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15TH 1916
We will focus today on the losses suffered by 70 Squadron RFC - it was one of their darkest days...
15 September was to become another disastrous day for the squadron as they were completely outfought by the speedier, more manoeuvrable enemy Albatross fighters. The reconnaissance flight bound for Cambrai reached their target and spotted no less than 40 trains in the area, although that information was to prove costly in bringing it back to Fienvillers. Jasta 2 attacked the flight and 2/Lts. F.H. Bowyer and W.B. Saint were both killed near Hesbecourt. The 23 year old Saint was from Monkseaton and was attached to the RFC from the Royal Scots since January 1916 and had joined No. 70 Squadron on 21 May 1916. Capts. Patrick and Glenday then also came under attack. Glenday managed to shoot down one of his opponents before he was seriously wounded by the enemy’s fire. Hptm. Oswald Boelke then attacked Capt. Cruickshank and Lt. R.A. Preston in Sopwith A895 and after a long combat the German ace shot them down to their deaths near Eterpigny. Capt. Cochrane-Patrick then extracted himself from the fight and flew back to his base but his observer succumbed to his wounds in the hospital on the same day. Capt. Glenday, a 24 year old youth from Bury, has been promoted to Capt. in the Northumberland Fusiliers in March 1915 and had then applied to enter the RFC as an observer, joining No. 70 Squadron in August 1916. The fourth machine of the reconnaissance flight returned to Fienvillers with its observer 2/Lt. C.J. Beatty, also killed. The squadron gained little consolation from the fact that No. 27 Squadron acted upon the information gained from that ill fated flight and that they had bombed some of the trains. As further consolation for their casualty losses, during a later offensive patrol Lts. Vaucour and Bott attacked an enemy aircraft which escaped them. They were then approached by 3 enemy fighter which attacked their Sopwith from behind. Bott fired off short accurate bursts and in trying to manoeuvre out of the line of his fire, two of his attackers collided and crashed."
2nd Lieutenant Carl John Beatty 70 Squadron RFC - Killed in Action 15 September 1916 aged 27, Crashed in lines after combat.
Captain Guy Lindsay Cruikshank 70 Squadron RFC - Killed in Action at 6.45am on 15 September 1916 aged 26. Was commanding a patrol of seven aeroplanes on an Offensive Patrol when downed by Boelcke and his aircraft, Sopwith 11/2 Strutter A895 fell in pieces into Havrincourt Wood. His observer Lt R A Pre
Captain Ferdinand Goncalves Glenday 70 Squadron RFC - Died of Wounds 15 September 1916 aged 24
Lieutenant Rudolph Arthur Preston 70 Squadron RFC - Killed in aerial combat 15 September 1916 aged 23
Lieutenant William Bell Saint 70 Squadron RFC - Died of Wounds received in aerial combat 15 September 1916 aged 23
On this day we lost 6784 men
The Battle of Flers – Courcelette will be the third and last of the large-scale offensives mounted by the British Army during the Battle of the Somme. The battle, which will last a week, is significant for the first use of the tank in warfare and expectations are high that it will prove a decisive weapon. However, the Mark I tank’s performance in the battle is patchy and General ‘Sir’ Douglas Haig, has been criticised for revealing the secret weapon too soon. He was warned against this by both his field commanders and the French government.
Like the earlier offensives of 1st July (Battle of Albert) and 14th July (Battle of Bazentin Ridge), Haig has hopes to achieve a breakthrough, enabling a return to mobile warfare. Though the British, Canadian and New Zealand forces do make significant gains on the day, a breakthrough is not forthcoming and the Somme front reverts to a struggle of attrition, which, with the onset of wet weather, creates dreadful conditions in which the infantry has to live and fight. Objectives that are taken include High Wood and the Switch Line over which the British have been struggling for two months. On the left flank the Canadian Corps captures Courcelette while in the centre the villages of Martinpuich and Flers are taken but these are short of the original objectives of Gueudecourt and Lesbœufs. On the right, the German redoubt known as the Quadrilateral stops the British short of Morval. General Smuts’ columns reach south of the Uluguru Hills and occupy Kissaki, while British naval forces occupy the Sudi Bay.
One thousand three hundred and eight hours of flying are recorded by the Royal Flying Corps. Twenty four German aircraft and two kite balloons are shot down. Eight tons of explosives are dropped on Bapaume Station, while Velu Station and Provins Aerodrome are also bombed. Near Cambrai a bomb is dropped from five hundred feet which blows up an ammunition train. Third Wing Royal Flying Corps carries out ninety six shoots including seventy on enemy artillery batteries.
Captain Alfred Spencer Mason Summers (Hussars attached Royal Flying Corps) the only son of the late Right Honorable J W Summers MP is killed at age 30.
Captain Guy Lindsay Cruikshank DSO MC (Gordon Highlanders attached Royal Flying Corps) is killed in action at age 26. His brother was killed four days short of two years earlier and their sister will be killed in the blitz on 9th September 1940 serving in the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service of the YMCA Central Club.
Captain Ferdinand Goncalves Glenday (Northumberland Fusiliers attached Royal Flying Corps) is killed at age 24. He is the nephew of the Reverend E A Glenday Vicar of Holy Trinity with whom he lived after his father died.
Lieutenant Raymond Asquith (Grenadier Guards) the son of the Prime Minister and future Earl of Oxford and Asquith dies of wounds near Ginchy at age 37. While leading the first half of Company 4 in the attack he is shot in the chest and dies while being carried back to an aid casualty clearing station. An associate of Rupert Brooke he was a barrister and scholar of high intellect and had been President of the Union at Oxford and won the Craven, Derby and Ireland Scholarships, a First in Greats and a Fellowship at All Souls. He headstone is engraved “Small time but in that small most greatly lived this star of England”. He is a Great War Poet leaving the poems Untitled and Belgian Railway Verses. He was junior counsel in the North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration and the investigation of the sinking of the Titanic. His widow is a descendant of ‘Little Jack Horner’ of nursery rhyme fame and her younger brother will be killed next year. He is the great-uncle of actress Helena Bonham-Carter.
For the first time in history three battalions of the Coldstream Guards attack together advancing along the Ginchy-Lesboefs road. In spite of advancing “as steady as though they were walking down the Mall’ they suffer heavy casualties. Of the seventeen officers and 690 other ranks that go into battle, only three officers and 221 other ranks survive.
Lieutenant Colonel ‘the Honorable’ Guy Victor Baring (commanding 1st Coldstream Guards) killed age at 43. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Worcester. He is a South African War veteran and son of the 4th Baron Ashburton. He joined the Coldstream Guards in 1893 and was sent to South Africa in 1899 being present at the battles of Belmont, Graspans, Modder River, Magersfontein and Driefontein and he was present at the occupation of Bloemfontein. He was the commander of a detachment of the Coldstream Guards which in 1900 went to the inauguration of the Earl of Hopetoun as Governor General of Australia. He was then attached to the King’s African Rifles and was with the Jubaland Expedition in 1901 against he Ogaden Somalis.He was elected to Parliament in the 1906 general election and was re-elected in both the January and December 1910 elections. He retired from the Coldstream Guards in 1913 but rejoined on the outbreak of war in 1914. Baring married is married and has six children including the cricketer Giles Baring. Among his grandchildren is the actress Rachel Ward and the actress and environmentalist Tracy Worcester. Captain and Adjutant George Ronald Lane (Coldstream Guards) is killed at age 22. He is the son of Major General ‘Sir’ Ronald B Lane.
Lieutenant Dillwyn Parrish Starr (Coldstream Guards) is killed leading his platoon. He is a 1908 graduate of Harvard and played four years of American Football, two years as quarterback and two years as an end. He is the son of Dr. Louis Starr Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. While at Harvard he was a member of Hasty Pudding and Porcelain Clubs. Second
Lieutenant Francis Grissell (Coldstream Guards) is killed by the explosion of a German hand-grenade after reaching the second objective during the Guards’ advance. His brother will be killed commanding a battalion of the Norfolk Regiment in April 1917.
Captain Thomas Sowerby Rowlandson MC (Yorkshire Regiment) is killed at age 36. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won a blue for Association Football from where he joined the Corinthians Football Club and played regularly for them in goal and later for Sunderland, he also took a team representing England to South Africa, Budapest, Norway, Sweden and Canada and is an F.A. Amateur International. He is Justice of the Peace for North Riding; and with the outbreak of the Great War he gave his family home over to the Red Cross to act as a hospital. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment in September 1914 being promoted to Captain in October 1915. He dies on the parapet of a German trench at the head of his men. An enemy bomb strikes him on the shoulder killing him instantly.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Reginald Duncombe (Yorkshire Hussars commanding 21st King’s Royal Rifle Corps) is killed in action at age 37. He is the 2nd Earl of Feversham, son of the Viscount Helmsley and son-in-law of the 5th Earl of Warwick. He became Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton in 1906 and held the seat until he inherited his title on the death of his grandfather in 1915. His deerhound was taken to the front with him and killed and buried with him. His son-in-law will be killed by a friendly sentry when he does not answer a challenge in 1942 and his wife the daughter of the Earl will commit suicide shortly after.
Lieutenant Colonel Eric William Benson (commanding 9th King’s Royal Rifle Corps) is killed in action. He is the son of the Shakespearean actor ‘Sir’ Francis (Frank) Robert Benson who is a cousin of Basil Rathbone.
Alas the list of the fallen on this day is far too long for this simple thread - we salute all those lost on both sides on this most bloody of days...
Sixteen different aces claimed a total of 18 victories on this day - again one need to edit these..
Captain Albert Ball score a double with victories 18 and 19
Oswald Boelcke claims victories 25 and 26
Kurt Wintgens gains victory number 16
Rene Dorme claims his 10th kill for the French Air Service
Wilhelm Frankl bags his 11th kill
Lieutenant Edwin Stuart Travis Cole 60 Squadron claims his first kill on this day.
A mechanical engineer from Bristol, Edwin Stuart Travis Cole, the son of Reuben and Jessie Cole, received Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 2160 on a Caudron biplane at Ruffy-Baumann School, Hendon on 14 December 1915. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant (on probation) on 29 April 1916. Posted to 60 Squadron, he scored his first victory flying a Nieuport scout. Posted to 1 Squadron in October 1916, he scored seven more victories with Nieuport scouts in the spring of 1917. Cole served with the Royal Air Force during World War II.
Lieutenant Maximillian John Jules Gabriel "Monty" Mare-Montembault 32 Squadron RFC claims his first victory
From the North Somerset Yeomanry, Maximillian John Jules Gabriel Mare-Montembault was seconded for duty with the Royal Flying Corps on 3 August 1916 and was posted to 32 Squadron on 10 August 1916. He scored 6 victories flying the D.H.2 and was shot down on 10 October 1916. On 6 March 1917, he was captured by the Germans when he was shot down for the second time by Adolf von Tutschek. He remained a prisoner for the duration of the war. On 10 April 1919 he relinquished his commission on account of ill-health contracted on active service.
Lieutenant John Ingles Gilmour 27 Squadron RFC also opened his account on this day
2nd Lieutenant John Ingles Gilmour, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, received Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 2888 on a Maurice Farman biplane at military school, Farnborough on 17 March 1916. With 3 victories each, he and South African ace Douglas Bell achieved the highest scores of the war flying Martinsyde Elephants.
On this bloody day there were three Victoria Crosses won...
Brigadier General John Vaughan Campbell, VC, CMG, DSO (31 October 1876 – 21 May 1944) was a senior British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Campbell was 39 years old, and a temporary lieutenant colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 15 September 1916 at Ginchy, France, during the Battle of the Somme, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell took personal command of the third line when the first two waves of his battalion had been decimated by machine-gun and rifle fire. He rallied his men and led them against the enemy machine-guns, capturing the guns and killing the personnel. Later in the day he again rallied the survivors of his battalion and led them through very heavy hostile fire. His personal gallantry and initiative at a very critical moment enabled the division to press on and capture objectives of the highest tactical importance. Not mentioned in the citation but much reported in the popular press, by which he was dubbed the "Tally-Ho VC", is that he rallied his men under fire by blowing a hunting horn and giving the traditional hunting cry. Later in 1916, he achieved the rank of brigadier general. In 1919 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to King George V, a post held until he retired from the army in 1933, and was subsequently a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms until his death. In the Second World War he was an honorary flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1939 to 1940, then from 1941 until his death commanded the 8th Battalion Gloucestershire Home Guard. He died, aged sixty-seven, at his last home in Woodchester near Stroud, on 21 May 1944, and was cremated at Cheltenham. His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters (Coldstream Guards RHQ) in Wellington Barracks, London.
Fred McNess VC (22 January 1892 – 4 May 1956) was an English-born Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
McNess was 24 years old, and a lance-sergeant in the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 15 September 1916 near Ginchy, France, during a period of severe fighting, Lance-Sergeant McNess led his men with great dash in the face of heavy shell and machine-gun fire. When the first line of the enemy trenches was reached, it was found that the left flank was exposed and that the enemy were bombing down the trench. McNess then organised and led a counter-attack and, although he was very severely wounded in the neck and jaw, did not give up. Finally he established a "block" and continued encouraging his men and throwing bombs until exhausted by loss of blood. He later achieved the rank of sergeant. The severe nature of his wounds left Ness in lifelong pain which eventually led him to take his own life. His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters (Scots Guards RHQ), Wellington Barracks in London.
Donald Forrester Brown VC (23 February 1890 – 1 October 1916) was a New Zealand soldier of World War I who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Brown's Victoria Cross was the second won by a New Zealander during the war, and was the first awarded for actions on the Western Front.
Brown embarked for the Middle East to join the New Zealand Division, which had been formed after the Gallipoli Campaign and was in training in Egypt by the time he arrived in January 1916. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment, which by May was on the Western Front in France. Brown, by now a sergeant, earned his Victoria Cross in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette during the Somme Offensive. On the opening day of the battle, 15 September 1916, his unit was tasked with capturing a series of German held trenches from their position south-east of High Wood. While the first trench was captured with ease with the assistance of effective artillery support, his company came under heavy flanking machine gun fire while advancing to the next trench line, which inflicted heavy casualties amongst the company. Brown, together with another soldier, Corporal J. Rodgers,[Note 1] attacked one machine gun post, killing the crew and capturing the gun. This allowed the remaining soldiers to regroup and prepare for an attack on the next trench, but during a covering artillery barrage they once again came under fire from a machine gun post. Brown was amongst those who attacked this second machine gun post, swiftly dealing with the threat. Once the covering barrage lifted, the New Zealanders advanced and successfully captured their next objective, the Switch Line. Brown was key in immediately improving the existing defences in preparation against a possible counterattack. The following day, his company along with the remainder of his battalion was relieved and able to withdraw. Brown's company lost 123 men from its initial complement of 180 during the opening day of the battle. The Otago Regiment was back in the line on 1 October for the Battle of Le Transloy. In an attack on a German strongpoint near Eaucourt L'Abbaye, Brown was again involved in the seizing of an enemy machine gun post which was holding up the advance. Moving forward on his own, and armed only with a pistol, Brown attacked the post, killing its crew and capturing the gun. This allowed his fellow troops to attack and capture the strongpoint. During this attack, Brown was shot in the head by a sniper and killed instantly.
Brown's company commander had recommended him for a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions on 15 September, and his battalion commander had written to Brown's father indicating that he had hoped that Brown's recommendation would be upgraded to a Victoria Cross. However, with Brown's death it was not until the officers of his battalion started agitating for a Victoria Cross nomination that any progress was made. The award of the Victoria Cross to Brown, the first earned by a soldier of the NZEF on the Western Front, was gazetted on 15 June 1917, and it was duly presented to his father by the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, New Zealand's Governor General, on 30 August 1917. Brown is buried at Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. His Victoria Cross is held by his family.
Western Front
Battle of the Somme– Battle of Flers*-Courcelette (until September 22): From 0620 hours, after 40-minutes shelling, 14 divisions (2 Canandian and 1 NZ) and 32 of 49 FIRST TANK MK I‘s IN ACTION (5 ditched, 9 break down, 10 hit) advance 2,000-3,000 yards behind creeping barrage on 6-mile front capturing Flers, Martinpuich, Courcelette and High Wood by 1100 hours in German 3rd line. British Guards Division advance (Raymond Asquith, PM’s son, killed) towards Les Boeufs held up by ‘Quadrilateral’ (between Ginchy and Bouleux Wood).
French I Corps infantry advance at 1500 hours and make slight progress north of Priez Farm. Artillery and MG fire halt French movement near Rancourt.
Southern sector: French Tenth Army renews its attacks south of Somme on Santerre Plateau, captures 3 villages (*until September 17) and repulses frequent counter-attacks. Micheler regrets lack of reserves prevents follow-up operations.
146 extra heavy guns sent to German First and Second Armies at the Somme and 144 worn*out guns replaced (until October 8).
Hindenburg issues his first formal operation order: ‘The main task of the Armies is now to hold fast all positions on the Western, Eastern, Italian and Macedonian fronts and to employ all other available forces against Rumania’.
Eastern Front
Romania: Crown Council decides to transfer half Transylvanian Armies to face Bulgaria.
Brusilov offensive – Pripet, Galicia: General Kaledin with Eighth Army HQ transferred south to command, troops between Lechitski and Sakharov, Gourko’s Special Army takes over Brusilov’s northern flank.
Southern Fronts
Dolomites: Monte Rosa Alpini Battalion captures Mt Cauriol (7,605 ft) at 4th assault, then Mt Gardinal (7,723 ft) to northeast (September 23), beats of Austrian attacks until September 28.
Air War
Adriatic – FIRST SUBMA*RINE SUNK BY AIR ATTACK: 2 Austrian Lohner flying-boats bomb and sink French submarine Foucault, then land and save crew.
On 15 September 1916, while on patrol off Cattaro under the command of Lt. L Devin, Foucault was spotted under the surface by two Austro-Hungarian seaplanes. These were L132, flown by Lts. Konjovics and Sewera, and L135 (Lts. Zelezny and.Klimburg). The two planes proceeded to bomb Foucault, scoring hits and forcing her to the surface, Unable to dive and without power, Devin ordered her to be abandoned and scuttled. All her crew escaped without casualties. The seaplanes landed and took the crew prisoner, holding them until the arrival of an Austrian torpedo boat. This incident was the first instance of a submarine at sea being sunk by air attack
Western Front: Royal Flying Corps helps engage 85 German batteries (29 silenced) and drops 8t bombs on 15 targets; claims 15 German aircraft, loses 14 aircrew and 6 aircraft. Second Lieutenant Ball destroys or forces down 10 German aircraft until September 28.
Southern Tunisia: – 4 French Farmans bomb Senussi base, but 1 crashes.
There is so much more to this day, I cant possibly cover everything, but I hope we have managed to get some of the key highlights down today
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
A Mark I tank C-19 of the heavy section of the Machine Gun Corps on the way to the front on 15 September 1916.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
From the war diary of 19 Squadron RFC
15th September 1916
During the night machines were sent with orders to drop bombs on the enemy billets, his railway junctions, aerodromes or any good target that could be found, and this was done from every aerodrome in the Somme area. At 4.50am two machines left to attack Havrincourt Chateau. Four 112lb bombs were dropped from 1,200 feet. Captain G.W.D Allen reports that one of his bombs exploded in the south-west corner of the Chateu, knocking out one of the walls. Second Lieutenant Edwards did not observe the bursts of his bombs.
The Opening Day of the Third Phase of the Battle of the Somme (15th September 1916)
This day was marked by the first operational appearance of the tank. From the start of the attack, specially selected pilots of the squadron were allotted the task of flying a continuous and very low contact patrol over the trenches in order to report every movement of our advance, and, in particular, the position of the tanks. The system of contact patrols (close communication between aircraft and infantry, cavalry, tanks etc.) was now recognised as a tactical achievement and played its part accordingly in the Battle of the Somme. From this date the Squadron continued with its offensive fighter patrols and bombing raids as well as the special contact patrols. Officers and men were compelled to fly and work day and night, repairing the damage causes by AA and machine gun fire in order to keep pace with the great offensive.
Captain Henderson was the first to go up on the special contact patrol. Before he returned Second Lieutenant Selous was sent to maintain the contact with the troops. He in his turn was succeeded by Lieutenant G.B.A. Baker, and so on. Captain Henderson, his machine riddled with bullets, reported seeing our troops leave the trenches and go ahead. Only a few, he said, were held up. On his second patrol, he reported seeing on the tanks capture a village at the head of a column of men walking beside it, cheering and waving to him as he flew over.
Very nicely done. You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Hedeby again.
Thank you for the addition - much appreciated
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
16th September 1916
Lets hope for a shorter one than of late as I need some sleep lol...
5 AIRMEN HAVE FALLEN ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16TH 1916
Lieutenant Clarence Edwards Nooth Cooper RFC 6 Kite Balloon Section - Died of accidental injuries 16 September 1916 aged 25, following balloon cable being struck by FE2b 6971 of 18 Squadron, kite balloon was cut adrift and his parachute failed to open, he fell to the ground near Montauban. LIEUTENANT C. E. N COOPER, Lincolnshire Regiment, attached R. F. C., who fell on September 16, in his 26th year, was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. C. Nooth Cooper, of South Norwood. He was educated at Whitgift Grammar School, Croydon, and after six years service in the Mercantile Marine, he obtained an appointment with Messrs. Geo. Cradock and Co., wire rope makers, of Wakefield, Yorks. He enlisted in the Queen Victoria Rifles in October, 1914, and obtained his commission in the Lincolnshire Regiment Special Reserve, in February, 1915. In April, 1915, he was sent to the front and served there with his regiment until about three months ago, when he was lent to the Royal Flying Corps as a balloon observation officer. His death was caused by his parachute failing to act when compelled by an accident to descend from his balloon.
Air Mechanic 2nd Class Jacob Holbrook RFC Recruits Depot. Killed on this day 1916 aged 33.
2nd. Lieutenant Leslie Edgar John Lonnen RFC Accidentally Killed while flying at Dartford 16 September 1916 aged 27
2nd Lieutenant Philip Joseph Smythe 18 Squadron RFC Died of Wounds 16 September 1916 aged 23
Sergeant David Brown Walker 11 Squadron RFC Died 16 September 1916 of wounds received in aerial combat on 15th aged 19
Claiming his first aerial victory today we have Leutnant Otto Walter Hohne of Jasta 2 - who shoots down FE2b number 6999 over Manancourt
Leutnant Otto Paul Wilhelm Höhne (30 April 1895 22 November 1969) was a German World War I flying ace credited with six confirmed aerial victories. Höhne was a pioneer ace; he was the first pilot to score a victory while flying the Albatros D.1 During World War II he was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Höhne initially flew with Kampfeinsitzerkommando (Combat Single-Seater Command) Nord, before moving on for a brief posting to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 1 in early August 1916. On 27 August, he became one of the original pilots in the newly formed original fighter squadrons. He was assigned to Jagdstaffel 2 serving under Oswald Boelcke when he downed a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b from 11 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps on 16 September 1916, scoring the first victory for the Albatros D.1 and sending both men in the FE.2 crew into captivity. Six days later, Höhne shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 over Combles. A month later, on 25 October, at ten minutes to noon, it was the turn of a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2d. On 3 November, Höhne shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c over Hébuterne. Six days later, on 9 November 1916, he shot down Canadian ace Alan Duncan Bell-Irving's Nieuport 17 fighter to become an ace. He would score one more time, eight days later.
Otto Höhne was himself wounded in action on 10 January 1917. After spending most of 1917 in hospital, he later returned as commander of Jasta 2 in early 1918. He served in that capacity for one month, flying the Fokker D.1, before stepping aside as seeing himself still not sufficiently recovered to lead the squadron. Höhne returned to service during World War II, serving in the Luftwaffe and rising to Major General. As lieutenant colonel in KG 54, he led one of the two bomber columns during the Rotterdam Blitz, but managed to abort the attack of his column at the last minute. He was again badly injured in the crash of a Heinkel 111 on 15 August 1941 and subsequently served as Generalmajor and commanding officer of the flight combat school in Fürstenfeldbruck (Bavaria)
Lieutenant Patrick Anthony Langan-Byrne 24 Squadron RFC claims his 4th victory destroying a Fokker D.II over Achiet.
Also Claiming his 4th Victory on this day we have Francesco Baracca
The son of a nobleman, Francesco Baracca, Italy's greatest ace, entered the Scuola Militare at Modena in October 1907. Less than a year later, he was an officer in the Royal Piedmont Cavalry. In April 1912, Baracca and other cavalry officers were ordered to Reims, France for flight training. By the time the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 24 May 1915, Baracca was an experienced pilot and instructor. Flying Nieuport two-seaters along the Udine Front, his first attempts to shoot down enemy aircraft were frustrated by frequent machine gun jams. With a Nieuport 11, he scored the first Italian victory of the war on 7 April 1916, forcing down an Austrian Aviatik with an accurate burst of machine gun fire. His final victory, an Austrian Albatros D.III, came just three days prior to his death. Shot down and killed while strafing enemy lines, his body was recovered a few days later near the burnt out wreckage of his SPAD VII. When found, Baracca was holding a pistol in his hand and had a bullet hole in his forehead. Whether he was shot down by ground fire, chose suicide over a fiery death in the cockpit or was killed attempting to resist capture will never be known.
On the ground and in the air, Baracca's aircraft were easily recognized by the prancing black horse painted on the fuselage. In 1923, Baracca's mother, Countess Paolina, suggested that a young Enzo Ferrari use her son's emblem on his now famous line of automobiles.
Tenente Luigi Olivari of the Italian Air Service claims his second kill on this day, whilst his compatriot Capitano Fulco Ruffo di Calabria does likewise
Another tragic day as we lost another 3299 men...
At Courcelette the Welsh Guards after a delay of almost 4 hours attack from their trenches northwest of Guillemeont Station. The troops quickly lose their direction and the advance breaks down. The battalion fails to reach any of its objectives and digs in close near the Flers Lesboeufs Road with the enemy close.
Lance Corporal Augustus Harris a member of the Glamorganshire Police Force a well known local Rugby player.
Henry Blythe King Allpass
Second Lieutenant Henry Blythe King Allpass (Essex Regiment attached Cambridgeshire Regiment) is killed in action at age 23. He is the son of the Reverend Henry Alfred Allpass a friend of J R R Tolkien and one of the Great War Poets. His brother was killed in August 1915 on Gallipoli.
Captain Tunstill's Men: Training continued; various inspections were carried out and the Battalion bombers were given practice in throwing live bombs.
L.Cpl. Richard Cleasby Chorley (see 4th April), was granted Class I Proficiency Pay, which would see him paid an additional 6d. per day on top of his standard 1s. per day. Proficiency pay could be awarded on the basis of long service or in relation to particular skills or qualifications; the details under which Chorley received his award are not stated.
Lance Corporal William Thomas (Somerset Light Infantry) is killed. His brother was killed in July 1915.
Private Arthur Thomas Jefferies (Somerset Light Infantry) is killed in action at age 33. His brother went missing in August and will be shot at dawn in November for desertion.
The Grenadier Guards attack in front of Ginchy without artillery support and advance as far as the high ground west of Lesboeufs suffering heavy casualties from machine gun fire from the church tower. They are forced to stop and dig in 250 yards short of their objective.
Capt. Gilbert Tunstill (see 11th September), who had been injured in a fall from his horse a few days earlier, left 24th General Hospital at Etaples and was taken to Calais, where he embarked aboard the Hospital Ship Dieppe for Dover. Having travelled overnight, on arrival next day in England he would be admitted to 4th London General Hospital for treatment for synovitis and abrasions to the right knee. The Somerset Light Infantry carries out an attack on Gird Trench, north east of Fleurs at 09:25 but under heavy fire from Gas Alley the attack fails, all 17 officers and some 387 other ranks becoming casualties.
Eastern Front
Brusilov offensive, Galicia Second Battle of the Narajowka and Zlota Lipa (until September 17): 4 Russian divisons with gas attack Turk XV Corps which holds despite c.5,000 casualties.
Transylvania: Rumanian Second Army occupies Baraoltu dominating Kronstadt*-Foldvar railway 30 miles from frontier. Ex-CoS Falkenhayn takes command of Ninth Army.
Dobruja: Mackensen attacks Rasova-Tuzla line (until September 20), but retires to re-stock with heavy shell. Turk 25th Division repulses Rumanian counter-attacks on September 22.
Western Front
Battle of the Somme: British repulse counter-attack near Courcelette, but 5 German relief divisions now oppose exploitation. Allies capture Dunibe Trench. NZ Division advances north and west of Flers. The attack was renewed on 16 September without any real success. The Guards Division suffered heavily while making an unsupported attack, and had to be relieved that night. In the centre XV corps attacks at 9.25 a.m. The 14th Division was let down by the artillery, and after an ineffective bombardment was unable to make any progress. The 21st Division attack (led by the 64th Brigade under Brigadier General H.R. Headlam) began bogged down passing around Flers. It then fell too far begin the artillery barrage, and its only tank was destroyed by an artillery shell. The Brigade signal headquarters in Flers was also destroyed by shellfire. The New Zealand Division repulsed an early German counterattack, and then made some limited progress before being ordered to halt when news came through of the failure to their right. III corps also made little progress.
Hindenburg arrives at Cambrai, orders construction of semi-permanent defence line (5-30 miles) to the rear (Hindenburg Line).
Southern Fronts
Isonzo: Italians capture San Grado di Merna, Hill 208S, and all of Hill 144, but fail to take Hill 123 and Veliki Kribach farther east.
Macedonia: Serbs fighting Bulgars in forest on Mt Kajmakcalan foothills (until September 18).
Politics
Germany: A German-led Central Powers Supreme War Council agreed but Emperor Charles revokes Austrian signature after November 21.
Air War
Germany: Navy airships L6 and L9 destroyed in accidental fire on ground.
Western Front: Royal Flying Corps aircraft and balloon collide with fatal results.
Jasta 2 Flies its first operational mission
Jasta 2 (Jagdstaffel Zwei in full and also known as Jasta Boelcke) was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte Squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator of several notable aviation careers. As one of the very first Jastas, Jasta 2 had no parent unit and there was therefore no mass transfer of personnel from existing staffeln. Assigned to the German 1st Army, the unit was created with the intention that Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke would be its leader. Jasta 2 was formed on 10 August 1916 at Bertincourt. Boelcke was ordered to return from an inspection tour of south-eastern theatres of the War to take command and arrived back on the Western Front later that month.
After Max Immelmann's death, Kaiser Wilhelm II had ordered Boelcke grounded for a month to avoid losing him in combat soon after Immelman. He had become such an important hero to the German public, as well as such an authority on aerial warfare, that he could not be risked. Given a choice between a desk job and a tour of the Middle East, Boelcke downed a Nieuport over Douaumont on 27 June and reported to headquarters. Boelcke was detailed to share his expertise with the head of German military aviation. What had been known previously as the Deutsches Heer's Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches was being reorganized into the Luftstreitkräfte in mid-1916; this reorganization was inspired by Boelcke. At this time, Boelcke codified his Dicta. He also shared his views on creation of a fighter arm, and the organization of fighter squadrons. Boelcke was sent on a tour of the Balkans. He transited Austria to visit Turkey. Upon his return swing, he visited Bulgaria and the Russian Front. Boelcke would be visiting Wilhelm in Kovel when he received a telegram from the head of German aviation, Feldflugchef (Aviation Chief of Staff) Oberstleutnant Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen, appointing him to raise, organize and command Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 2. He was given permission to choose his own pilots to form a fighter squadron. Among his first selections upon his return were Manfred von Richthofen, Erwin Böhme and Hans Reimann.
Boelcke was appointed commander of Jasta 2 on 30 August 1916. The unit utilised the empty buildings vacated by FFA 32 in the Vélu Woods. As of 27 August the fledgling Jasta had three officers and 64 other ranks on strength, but no aircraft.
The first aircraft arrived on 1 September; two Fokker DIIIs and an Albatros D.I. By 8 September there were eight pilots on strength, including Manfred von Richthofen and Erwin Böhme. Three days later, Böhme noted he was pushing for permission to use his castoff Halberstadt, since Boelcke had a Fokker; there seemed to be four airplanes in the squadron by then. On 16 September, Boelcke's new squadron received five new Albatros D.Is for the pilots, and an improved Albatros D.II for the Staffelfuhrer. Boelcke promptly put the new planes in the air on the first-ever fighter unit effort to gain local air superiority. At 1300 hours 16 September, Boelcke and five of his pilots took off; they intercepted a British bombing raid on Marcoing Railway Station. While Boelcke held aside, his five tyros bounced a British formation of 14 (see more tomorrow) planes, broke it up, and shot down two. The master himself added another. That night, a German army tradition was ditched and a new German air force custom established when the enlisted men were invited into the Jasta's social center.
Boelcke shot down ten Royal Flying Corps planes in his first month with Jasta 2, September 1916. He would fly a solo mission in the morning and return to his "cubs" for afternoon training. However, in contrast to his freebooting style, his pilots always flew in disciplined formations in practice, and he repeatedly drilled them in his tactics. Among them were his famed combat rules, called "Boelcke's Dicta", which were the first systematic analysis of air combat and continued to be applicable through World War II. Boelcke's attitude is best expressed in his own words: "Everything depends on sticking together when the Staffel goes into battle. It does not matter who actually scores the victory as long as the Staffel wins." He not only preached this doctrine to his own "cubs"; he proselytized throughout the Luftstreitkräfte. He wrote upon his ideas, sketched them out, and delivered them in person to other aerodromes. Thus, Jasta 2 became the birthplace of fighter aviation tactics.
Boelcke was killed on 28 October 1916. Oblt. Stefan Kirmaier, who had 10 victories of his own, was appointed leadership in his place. Kirmaier's command was to be short-lived; on 22 November, he lost his life after a fight with fliers from No. 24 Squadron. Hpt. Franz Walz arrived from Jasta 29 a week later. Jasta 2 was renamed Jasta Boelcke on 17 December in honor of their former commander.
Home Fronts
Italy: Lieutenant Colonel Douhet, CoS Italian 5th Division and air power advocate, arrested for writing strong criticisms of Commando Supremo to War Minister; court-martial imprisons him for a year from October 15.
Germany: 39 industrialists tell War Ministry workers cannot exceed 9 hours per day. Army to release skilled workers and open the great Belgian labour basin.
Britain: Churchill to Fisher: My poor land battleships have been let off prematurely and on a petty scale. In that idea resided one real victory.
Last edited by Hedeby; 09-17-2016 at 02:55.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR by Henry Blythe King Allpass
When dim in the far time
It shall not be war-time,
And life be not death, and pleasures increase ;
When dazzle the cheering,
And the end of the fearing
And the manifold blessings of Commerce and Peace.
When pulpits are crowing,
And wine is a-flowing,
And friends are a-meeting who long have not met ;
When fair is Earth’s promise,
And you patronise ” Tommies “
—
In the day of rejoicing you shall not forget :
—
‘Tis Ours that you’re reaping,
Ours, who lie sleeping.
Princes of Ypres and Loos and the Aisne :
To us be the glory.
Us, mangled and gory,
First honour to Us, whom you honour in vain.
Then, sorrowing greatly.
Your Jubilee stately
You shall keep for a fast to the friends who are fled ;
And solemnly voicing
Shall cease your rejoicing
To toast and keep toasting the health of The Dead.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Thank you! All I could previously find was: Western Front: Royal Flying Corps aircraft and balloon collide with fatal results.
Even when I went digging for details, I still couldn't. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm doesn't list it at all.
And oh, from imgur.com, via: https://twitter.com/centuryagotoday, I found:
Captain Tom Rees becomes the first official confirmed kill of Manfred von Richthofen (the future Red Baron):
SPOILER ALERT (SEE ABOVE).............
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
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