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Thread: 100 Years Ago Today

  1. #3551

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    Another comparitively small incident on 27th August 1918 was the Battle of Ambos Nogales...
    A fascinating aside there David, thanks for that.

    "He is wise who watches"

  2. #3552

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    Good to have you back Neil.
    We are getting nearer to the ultimate showdown.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  3. #3553

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    Well I'm back for a short while. Might have a job interview shortly then off on a training course. It's permanent hours.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  4. #3554

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    Glad to hear that Neil. i will keep my fingers crossed for you.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  5. #3555

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    Thursday 29th August 1918
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    Armistice Countdown 75 days

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    Sewell's Whippet tank

    Cecil Harold Sewell VC (27 January 1895 – 29 August 1918) was educated at Dulwich College between 1907 and 1910. He was 23 years old, and a lieutenant in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, attached to 3rd (Light) Battalion, Tank, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 29 August 1918, at Fremicourt, Lieutenant Cecil Harold Sewell (Royal West Kent Regiment attached Light Tank Corps) while in command of a section of Whippet light tanks gets out of his own tank and crosses open ground under heavy machine-gun fire to rescue the crew of another Whippet of his section which has side-slipped into a shell-hole overturned and caught fire. The door of the tank became jammed against the side of the shell-hole but unaided he digs away the entrance to the door and releases the crew. After having extricated the crew, seeing one of his own crew lying wounded behind his tank, he again dashes across the open ground to his assistance. He is hit in doing so, but succeeds in reaching the tank when a few minutes later he is again hit, fatally, in the act of dressing his wounded driver. During the whole of this period he is within full view and short range of the enemy machine guns and rifle-pits, and throughout, by his prompt and heroic action, showed an utter disregard for his own personal safety. Lieutenant Sewell will be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and dies at age 23. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the Great War.

    His Victoria Cross and his Whippet tank are displayed at The Tank Museum, Dorset, England.

    His brother, Bert Sewell, a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, was also killed in action in November 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial. His story was featured on the Channel 4 documentary 'The Last Heroes Of The Somme'

    Today we lost: 1,116

    Today’s losses include:
    ˇ An Olympic Gold Medal swimmer and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
    ˇ A Victoria Cross winner
    ˇ The brother of a Victoria Cross winner
    ˇ Multiple families that will lose two, three and four sons in the Great War
    ˇ A battalion commander
    ˇ The son of the Sheriff Substitute for Lankarkshire
    ˇ The son of a member of the clergy
    ˇ A Great War Poet
    Today’s highlighted casualties include:
    ˇ Lieutenant Colonel Edward Twelvetree Saint DSO (commanding 1st/1stCambridgeshire Regiment) dies of wounds at #53 casualty clearing station received the previous day at age 33. He was an acting Brigadier General twice in the Great War the first time from mid-July to early August 1918 and then from the 21st to 27th of August.
    ˇ Captain Thomas Alexander Fyfe MC (Highland Light Infantry) is killed in action at age 25. He is the son of the Sheriff Substitute of Lankarkshire and has a brother who was killed in July 1916.
    ˇ Lieutenant Wilfred Hay Ruxton (Royal Air Force) is accidentally killed at age 28. He is the son of the late Reverend F D Ruxton.
    ˇ Second Lieutenant Henry Lamont Simpson (Lancashire Fusiliers) is killed by a sniper at Hazebrouck at age 21. He is a Great War poet. His only collection of poetry, Moods and Tenses, will be published the year after the war ends.
    ˇ Lance Corporal Thomas Armitage Salmon (Australian Infantry) is killed at age 20. He is one of five brothers who served three of whom fell.
    ˇ Lance Corporal William Corcoran (South Lancashire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 20. His two brothers have already lost their lives in the Great War.
    ˇ Private Charles William Brown (London Regiment) is killed at age 19. His brother was killed in August of last year.
    ˇ Private Raymond Courtney (Australian Infantry) is killed at age 22. His brother was killed in August 1916.
    ˇ Private Arthur Frederick Cornwell (London Regiment) is killed at age 30. He is the brother of Victoria Cross winner John Travers Cornwell.
    ˇ Private Alexander Taylor (Gordon Highlanders) is killed at age 23. He is the last of four brothers who will lose their lives in the Great War.

    Air Operations:

    Western Front: 16 RAF DH9s cause fires at Cambrai and Valenciennes stations, but 20 German fighters (4 lost) thwart 12 DH9s (2 lost) from bombing Somain station and their 15 escorting Sopwith Camel fighters lose 5. Germans claim 40 aircraft for loss of 4.

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    Captain William Henry Hubbard (Royal Air Force) brings down one enemy aircraft having fought ten minutes with several Fokker biplanes. Captain Harold Mervyn Ireland (Royal Air Force) leads a large formation detailed for a long distance bombing raid on certain enemy docks. A strong and adverse wind is blowing and thick clouds almost obscure the ground rendering the task of reaching such a distant object very difficult. Carefully studying the compass and making what he considers due allowances for the wind he leads his formation to a point which he judges will be in the vicinity of the objective. A break in the clouds shows that he is correct, and the docks are effectively bombed.
    Captain Allan Hepburn and Second Lieutenant Horace George Eldon shoot down a Fokker D VII east of Lille.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 1 confirmed (Entente 1: Central Powers 0) (Strange considering claims above)

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    Western Front:

    GERMANS BEGIN EVACUATION OF FLANDERS:

    Sniper kills British war poet Lt H L Simpson at Hazebrouck
    .
    CIGS telegram warns Haig ‘the War Cabinet would become anxious if we received heavy punishment in attacking the Hindenburg Line without success’.

    Somme: New Zealand Division recaptures Bapaume.

    Aisne: French re-occupy Noyon and cross river Ailette.

    Artois: Canadians advance nearly 1,000 yards, taking 2 villages on river Sensee.

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    Second Lieutenant Cecil Patrick Healy (Australian Infantry) is killed in an attack on a German trench at age 34. He was an Olympic swimmer in both 1906 at Athens and 1912 at Stockholm. The highlight of his career was being a member of the Gold medal winning 4X200-meter free style Australian swim team. Also in 1912 he won the silver medal in the 100-meter free style race and competed in the 400-meter race. In 1906 he won the bronze medal in the 100-meter free style race and also competed in the 400-meter race. He will be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1981.

    Eastern Front:

    British Embassy at Petrograd attacked by Bolshevist troops; Captain Cromie, Naval Attache, killed.

    Southern Front:

    Austrian offensive in southern Albania checked.

    Tunstills Men Thursday 29th August 1918:

    In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    Following the accidental injury suffered by Pte. Bruce Ernest Nash (see 14th June) on 14th June, formal reports regarding the incident were submitted by Capt. **** Bolton MC (see 23rd August), as Pte. Nash had, incorrectly, been noted as having been wounded in action.

    2Lt. Christopher Longstaff (see 13th January), serving in France with 9West Yorks, departed on two weeks’ leave to England.

    Pte. Edwin Dawson (see 12th July), who had been in England since having suffered severe wounds to his chest, left wrist and left foot on 20th September 1917, was posted from 3DWR at North Shields to 14DWR at Clacton.

    Fred Tate (see 3rd January), who had been an original member of ‘A’ Company but had been discharged on grounds of ill health whilst the Company was in training, died, aged 48, at his home in Gomersal. His cause of death was stated as being “phtisis pulmonalis” (TB).

    Naval Operations:

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    Political:

    Mr. Ryan (U.S.A.) to be Assistant Secretary of War, with title and functions of Director of Air Service.

    Visit of Kaiser Wilhelm to Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria at Nauheim.

    Anniversary Events:
    70 The Temple of Jerusalem burns after a nine-month Roman siege.
    1526 Ottoman Suleiman the Magnificent crushes a Hungarian army under Lewis II at the Battle of Mohacs.
    1533 In Peru, the Inca chief Atahualpa is executed by orders of Francisco Pizarro, although the chief had already paid his ransom.
    1776 General George Washington retreats during the night from Long Island to New York City.
    1793 Slavery is abolished in Santo Domingo.
    1862 Union General John Pope’s army is defeated by a smaller Confederate force, at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
    1882 Australia defeats England in cricket for the first time. The following day an obituary appears in the Sporting Times addressed to the British team.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 08-29-2018 at 10:19.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  6. #3556

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    Friday 30th August 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 74 days

    Today we lost: 1,503

    Today’s losses include:

    • A Scottish Rugby International
    • Multiple families that will lose two and three sons in the Great War
    • The son of a Member of Parliament
    • The son of a Justice of the Peace
    • A man whose son will be killed in the Second World War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Captain Charles Frederick Sandoe (Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry) is killed at age 20. His brother was killed in May 1917.
    • Captain Tom Cecil Haydn Berry (Welsh Regiment) is killed at age 26. He is a scholar and exhibitioner at Exeter College, Oxford.
    • Lieutenant Edward Slattery DCM MM (Central Ontario Regiment) is killed at age 23. His brother was killed in August 1917.
    • Lieutenant Roger Morrow Porter (East Ontario Regiment) is killed at age 20. He is the son of E Goss Porter KC MP.
    • Lieutenant George Rowland Collin (Central Ontario Regiment) is killed at age 36. His son will be killed in the Second World War in May 1942
    • Second Lieutenant Harris Hartas Anson (Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) is killed in action at age 28. He is the son of Harris Anson JP.
    • Sergeant Hugh James Frederick Barber (Australian Infantry) is killed at age 37. His brother was killed in November 1916.
    • Lance Corporal Charles Pearson (Dragoon Guards) is killed at age 46. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the Great War.
    • Air Mechanic 1st Class Reginald William Cowin (Airship Construction Station, Kingsworth Royal Air Force) is accidentally killed flying at age 21. His brother was killed in July 1916.
    • Private Ernest W Martin (Suffolk Regiment) is killed in action at age 19. His brother was killed in June 1915.
    • Private Albert Martin (Northumberland Fusiliers) dies as a prisoner of war at age 19. His brother died of wounds in October 1917.
    • Private Frederick Robert George Rockall (Royal Fusiliers) is killed in action at age 35. His brother was killed in September 1916.
    • Private Percival Richard Bradford (Middlesex Regiment) dies of wounds as a prisoner of war at age 19. His brother died of wounds in 1914.


    Air Operations:

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Air Force/Allied casualties today:

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    Royal Air Force Losses today 34 of which:
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    Claims: 5 confirmed (Entente 5: Central Powers 0)

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    Home Fronts:

    Lieut.-General Sir C.F.N. Macready, Adjutant-General, Home Forces, Great Britain, resigns (see February 22nd, 1916, and September 11th, 1918).

    Western Front:

    Battle of the Scarpe, 1918, ends (see 26th)

    AEF now holds 90 miles of front (68 miles on July 30), BEF holds 87 miles.

    Flanders: British 25th Division reoccupy Bailleul.

    Somme: British take and lose Bullecourt-Hendencourt. Australian Corps crosses Somme south and west of Peronne.

    Meuse: US First Army now has 16 divisions. Pershing concentrates 3 AEF (I, IV and V) Corps and 1 French (II Colonial) with 3,020 (1,329 French) guns; 267 tanks; 1,500 aircraft (609 US-piloted) round St Mihiel Salient (until September 11).

    Aisne: US 32nd Division (over 2,600 casualties) storms Juvigny in 2 1/2 mile penetration (until September 1) as Mangin crosses the Ailette and turns east behind Chemin des Dames with 300 tanks in support.

    Artois: British 52nd Division capture Hendecourt behind Fresnes-Rouvroy line.

    British advance on Peronne, crossing Somme at Feuilleres (west of Peronne) and taking Clery (north-west of Peronne).

    British advance towards Cambrai, attacking between Haucourt and Hendecourt (north and south of Arras-Cambrai road).

    Violent fighting at Bullecourt (south of Hendecourt).

    Germans retreat on Lys front; British reoccupy Bailleul.

    Eastern Front:

    USSR: LENIN WOUNDED (pistol bullet through hip, another in shoulder) by Socialist Revolutionary Dora Kaplan (executed on September 4).

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Friday 30th August 1918:

    In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    Lord Cavan presented medal ribbons for the awards arising from the raid on the Vaister Spur. 2Lt.Bernard Garside (see 26th August) recalled that, “the general had a parade of those on the raid and congratulated us all on killing about 70 Austrians and capturing many more. He said the machine gun barrage against us had been one of the heaviest the Battalion had known, even in France”.

    Pte. John Bayliss (see 19th August), who had been held in confinement for ten days having been reported for sleeping whilst on sentry duty, was released and resumed normal duties pending a date for his trial.

    Pte. George Ingle (see 28th August 1917) was admitted to 71st Field Ambulance, suffering from diarrohea.

    Pte. Ellis Sutcliffe (see 27th March), who had been taken prisoner in March while serving with 2nd/5thDWR, died from pleurisy at a German hospital in Caudry; he would be buried in the German military cemetery at Caudry, north-west of Le Cateau.

    L.Cpl. Alfred Edward Wybrow MM (see 2nd June), serving in France with 2DWR, was wounded in action, suffering a wound to his left heel. He would be admitted via 10th Field Ambulance to 3rd Australian General Hospital at Abbeville and from there evacuated to England on 3rd September, travelling onboard the Hospital Ship Newhaven. On arrival in England he would be admitted to 3rd Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.

    Pte. Sam Tinkler (see 25th August), who was home on leave while serving in France with 54th Company, Labour Corps, married Edith Rice, in a service in Bradford.

    A payment of Ł3 2s. 5d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte.Herbert Butterworth (see 27th November 1917), who had been killed in action in November 1917 while serving with 2/6thDWR; the payment would go to his father, Henry.

    Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:

    Publication of General Marshall's first Despatch re: Mesopotamia.

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    Trans-Jordan: First 600 supply camels begin 300-mile march to Azrak.

    Mozambique – Action at Lioma (until August 31): Lettow attacks camp from 3 sides but is repulsed as Kartucol arrives, losing 95 casualties (including 29 Europeans), 200 carriers, ammo, baggage and medical stores. Kartucol just fails to trap Lettow, having pursued 435 miles in month.

    Naval Operations:

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    Political:

    (British) Government welcome to Mr. Gompers (President of American Federation of Labour).

    London Police strike.

    Austria: Count Burian notifies Berlin of Austrian intention to take independent peace action.


    Anniversary Events:
    1617 Rosa de Lima of Peru becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
    1721 The Peace of Nystad ends the Second Northern War between Sweden and Russia, giving Russia considerably more power in the Baltic region.
    1781 The French fleet arrives in the Chesapeake Bay to aid the American Revolution.
    1813 Creek Indians massacre over 500 whites at Fort Mims, Alabama.
    1860 The first British tramway is inaugurated at Birkenhead by an American, George Francis Train.
    1861 Union General John Fremont declares martial law throughout Missouri and makes his own emancipation proclamation to free slaves in the state. President Lincoln overrules the general.
    1892 The Moravia, a passenger ship arriving from Germany, brings cholera to the United States.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 08-30-2018 at 05:18.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  7. #3557

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    My apologies. Yesterday's and today's issue will be posted tonight. Delay from yesterday due to seeing off son to Canada to start year 3 of his Masters degree in astro-physics. Dunno were he gets brains from...certainly not I.

    Neil
    See you on the Dark Side......

  8. #3558

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    Oh and today is Border Reiver.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  9. #3559

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

  10. #3560

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    Saturday 31st August 1918


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    Armistice Countdown 73 days

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    George Cartwright, VC ,ED (9 December 1894 – 2 February 1978) was one of 64 Australians to receive the award for their actions during the First World War, performing the deeds that led to his award in September 1918 during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin. After the war, Cartwright returned to Australia and worked as a mechanic. He continued to serve in the military part-time, returning to full-time service during the Second World War, undertaking a training role in Australia. He was demobilised in 1946, and returned to civilian life. He died at the age of 83.
    Cartwright was born in South Kensington, London, on 9 December 1894 to William Edward Cartwright, a coach trimmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Stracey). He attended the local school, before emigrating to Australia in 1912 at the age of eighteen without his family. Settling in New South Wales, Cartwright gained employment at a sheep station in the Elsmore district as a labourer.

    On 9 December 1915—his 21st birthday—Cartwright enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Allotted to the newly raised 33rd Battalion—an infantry battalion raised in New South Wales—as a private.

    After the 3rd Division, to which the 33rd Battalion was assigned, deployed to the Western Front in November 1916, Cartwright served with them through the Battle of Messines where he was wounded in June 1917. Later, in April 1918, he was wounded again when the 33rd Battalion's position was attacked with gas while holding a position around Villers-Bretonneux. He was briefly hospitalised but returned to duty in June. In August, the Allies launched the Hundred Days Offensive around Amiens, which resulted in a series of advances as the Allies sought to break through the Hindenburg Line.

    On 31 August 1918, at Road Wood, south-west of Bouchavesnes, near Peronne when two companies became held up by machine gun fire, Cartwright attacked the gun alone under intense fire. He shot three of the crew, and, having bombed the post, captured the gun and nine enemy soldiers. For his actions he was recommended for the Victoria Cross. On 30 September 1918 he was wounded and evacuated to England. Cartwright was conferred with his VC, by King George V.

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    Major James Palmer Huffam VC (31 March 1897 – 16 February 1968) was 21 years old, and a second lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, attd, 2nd Battalion. On 31 August 1918 at St. Servin's Farm, he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

    Second Lieutenant Huffam with three men rushed an enemy machine-gun post and put it out of action. His position was then heavily attacked and he withdrew, carrying back a wounded comrade. Again in the night, accompanied by two men only he rushed an enemy machine-gun, capturing eight prisoners and enabling the advance to continue.
    After World War I he remained in the army and was for a time seconded to the Royal Air Force as a Flying Officer. He served in WW2 and achieved the rank of major.

    His medal is privately owned and not publicly displayed.

    He was born at Dunblane on 31 March 1897. He was the fourth son of Edward Valentine Huffam, an Army Pensioner (Royal Highlanders) and High Bailiff, and Dorothy Roughead Huffam, of 2 West Street, Spittal, Berwick-on-Tweed. His siblings were Alfred Meek, John Henry, Elizabeth Clara Margery, Dorothy Francis, Henry Harold and Dorothy Gertrude Beatrice. Huffam was educated at Spittal Council School.

    He was initiated as a Freemason at St David’s Lodge No 393 Berwick on Tweed on 17 Feb 1920, age 22. On 23 April 1935, he married Constance Marion Huffam at Valletta, Malta and they had two children.

    After the War, James Palmer Huffam remained in the army undertaking service in India and West Africa. He eventually rose to the rank of Major and retired in 1938 for the first time. During the Second World War he went back into the service and was the Assistant Provost Marshal for France and was involved in the D Day Landings. He retired for the second time in 1945 and died in 1968 at Burnt Oak in Middlesex, on 16 February 1968

    Today we lost: 1,350

    Today’s losses include:


    • The Naval Attache to Petrograd
    • A Humane Society Bronze Medal for Life Saving winner
    • The grandson of the Chief of Police in Pembrokeshire
    • The son of a Justice of the Peace
    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • The son of a General
    • Multiple families that will lose two and three sons in the Great War
    • A man whose son will be killed in March 1941 in the Second World War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Captain Henry Stobart Gammell MC (Gordon Highlanders) is killed at age 22. He is the son of ‘Sir’ Sydney James Gammell KT JP and grandson of the Reverend James Stewart Gammell.
    • Captain Thomas St Peirre Bunbury (Royal Field Artillery attached Royal Air Force) is killed at age 24. He is the son of Major General W E Bunbury CB.
    • Capain Hugh Cyril Arthur Brooking (North Somerset Yeomanry) dies of blood poisoning at home at age 47. He is the son of the Reverend Arthur Conolly Brooking Vicar of Bovington.
    • Lieutenant Cecil William Orlando Oswald (Australian Infantry) is killed at age 32. His brother will be killed tomorrow.
    • Bombardier E Watmough (Royal Field Artillery) is killed in action at age 27. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the Great War.
    • Private Ernest Archibald Collins (East Kent Regiment) is killed at age 28. His brother was killed last November.
    • Private Frank Moyses (Machine Gun Corps) is killed. His brother was killed in March 1917.
    • Private Frank Farquharsons (Australian Infantry) is killed. His brother was killed in May 1917.
    • Private Albert Frank Chapman (Manitoba Regiment) is killed at age 25. His brother was killed in March of this year.
    • Gunner Samuel W Proctor MM (Royal Field Artillery) is killed at age 25. His son will be killed in March 1941.


    Air Operations:

    Western Front: No 110 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF reaches France, equipped with Liberty-engined DH4s. RAF August aircraft losses a record so far with 215 planes (French 55) but record 948t bombs dropped (French drop 550t). During August Germans claim record 655 Allied aircraft for record loss of 174.

    Britain: All London Air Defence Area squadrons fitted with radio telephone linked to central operations room (September 12).

    Aegean: RAF Aegean Group has 116 aircraft (38 seaplanes).

    Italian Front: 3 No 45 Squadron Sopwith Camel fighters destroy all 6 Austrian fighters encountered over Allied lines.
    While carrying out a shoot Lieutenant (Temporary Captain) Charles Ley King (Royal Air Force) fires eight hundred eighty-four rounds in five and a half hours, and four pits are destroyed. Captain Jack Cottle shoots down three Albatros D.III’s killing Austro-Hungarian Ace Josef Purer and forcing the capture of Otto Forster. During this engagement 7 victories are achieved by British pilots of 45th squadron.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 2 confirmed (Entente 2: Central Powers 0)


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    Western Front:

    Australians capture Mont St. Quentin (overlooking Peronne).

    End of Battle of Bapaume.

    Germans evacuate Mt. Kemmel.

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    Flanders: Germans evacuate Mt Kemmel.

    Cambrai: 3 German tanks attack British lines near Bapaume but repulsed by artillery fire; 2 captured.

    Somme – Second Battle of Bapaume (until September 3): British Third Army with tanks and armoured cars.

    Australians capture Peronne: After crossing the river 5 miles south of Peronne 1,320 men of 2nd Australian Division drive German 2nd Guard Division (over 700 PoWs) off Mont St Quentin, 1 mile north of Peronne (until September 2). Rawlinson calls it ‘The finest single feat of the whole war’ (8 Victoria Crosses won). Pershing letter to Foch insists on integral US First Army.

    Germany: During August Germans disband 10 divisions to stiffen remainder.

    Britain: BEF (108,712 casualties including some to September 3) has taken 63,579 pow’s and 870 guns among total German August loss of 228,000, only 130,000 German replacements available.

    France: French troops (c. 100,000 casualties) take 31,000 pow’s and 890 guns during August.

    USA: Tank Corps receives 144 Renault FT-17 light tanks.

    Eastern Front:

    USSR: Petrograd Cheka (Soviet political police, later KGB) murder Captain Cromie, Royal Navy attaché in British Embassy; Lockhart arrested in Moscow.

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    Captain Francis Newton Allen Cromie CB DSO (Naval Attaché, Petrograd Royal Navy) is murdered by Bolsheviks as he stands on the embassy steps denying entry to a mob intent on storming the embassy. He had been a pioneer of the Royal Navy’s infant submarine service, developing tactics and procedures that would prove valuable for those that followed in his wake. He was born in 1882 the son of an officer in the Hampshire Regiment, who lost two other sons in the Great War, and who later became the Consular General in Dakar. Through his mother he was the grandson of the Chief of Police in Pembrokeshire. He had been awarded the Royal Humane Society’s bronze medal for saving the life of a sailor washed overboard from HM Submarine A3 in 1906.

    Volga: Stalin letter to Lenin says Cossacks breaking up, asks for Caspian naval force including 2 submarines.

    Siberia: The 3 Czech Legion groups link up to control whole Trans-Siberian railway.

    Supplementary Peace Treaties signed at Berlin.

    Bolshevik position 75 miles south of Archangel on Vologda Railway carried by Allies.

    Southern Front:


    Tunstills Men Saturday 31st August 1918:

    In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    L.Cpl. Victor Race MM (see 15th March) was promoted Acting Corporal.

    Pte. Joseph Binns (19614) (see 21st March) and Ernest Mudd (see 15th March) departed on seven days’ leave to Lake Garda.

    Pte. Walter Eary (see 19th August) was transferred from 9th Casualty Clearing Station to 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia; he had been treated for tonsillitis, but was now re-diagnosed as suffering from a ‘laryngeal tumour’.

    Pte. Herbert Holt (see 20th June), serving in France with 2DWR, was wounded in action, suffering injuries to his right wrist.

    Pte. Samuel Walker (see 6th June), also serving with 2DWR, was initially reported wounded and missing but this report was cancelled and he was confirmed simply as having suffered wounds to his “upper arm and ear; mild”.

    A payment of Ł8 16s. 9d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte.James Tuddenham, known to all as ‘Tudd’ (see 31st May), who had been killed in action on 30th April while serving with 1st/6th DWR; the payment would go to his mother, Elizabeth.


    Casualties for the month were officially recorded as being:

    Killed 2

    Accidentally killed 0

    Died of wounds 0

    Wounded 5 officers and 46 other ranks

    Accidentally wounded 0

    Missing 1 officer and 7 other ranks

    The official cumulative casualty figures since arriving in France in August 1915 were thus:

    Killed 279

    Accidentally killed 5

    Died of wounds 21

    Wounded 1,368

    Accidentally wounded 53

    Missing 189

    Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:

    British attack Germans successfully near Lioma, un Lurio valley (Portuguese East Africa), and drive them south.

    The Turks at Baku again attack Binagadi Hill early in the morning. The 7th North Staffordshire Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Robert L Petty (West Yorkshire attached) brush off a strong enemy patrol then report at least 500 Turks are forming to attack. A company of the Warwicks is shifted to the center of the oil derricks near the Hill to be held in reserve and an armored train filled with Russians is sent to the village to pin down the enemy at the Mud Volcano. At 06:00 Turkish machine guns and artillery open fire on the men on Binagadi Hill, inflicting heavy casualties, including Lieutenant Petty who is killed. The British survivors retreat to a fallback position called Warwick Castle. With little support for either the Russians or the Armenians everyone is pulled back to Baladjari.

    Naval Operations:

    In August Allied and neutral shipping lost to U-boats: 104 ships (41 British with 217 lives), 278,876t (British 145,7211); U-Boat figure 154 ships worth 310,180t including 38 ships of 71,490t in Mediterranean (1 ship with 2,209t to Austrians); 7 U-Boats sunk (2 to unknown causes).

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    Political:

    London Police strike settled; men return to work.

    Anniversary Events:
    1303 The War of Vespers in Sicily ends with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
    1756 The British at Fort William Henry, New York, surrender to Louis Montcalm of France.
    1802 Captain Meriwether Lewis leaves Pittsburgh to meet up with Captain William Clark and begin their trek to the Pacific Ocean.
    1864 At the Democratic convention in Chicago, General George B. McClellan is nominated for president.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-02-2018 at 15:04.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  11. #3561

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    Thanks for the past few days Neil it was nice to have a bit of a break down in a (mostly) sunny Devon. Back home now (well for a few days anyway) so its on with the show whilst Neil recovers from a long day of 'What a Tanker' at the Border Reviver show.

    September 1st 1918

    The first preliminary skirmishes are undertaken for the main assault at Lake Doiran in Salonika. At 17:36 the Gloucester and Hampshire Regiments attack the Roche Noir Salient in the Vardar Valley in order to suggest to the enemy that the main attack might occur in this region. They advance and capture the enemy first line before the Bulgars realize an attack is starting. All objectives are taken and the attack is a complete success, the Salient being captured.

    Captain Allan Hepburn and Sergeant Ernest Antcliffe shoot down a Fokker D VII east of Becelaere.

    The Battle of Baku

    General Dunsterville advises the authorities at Baku that unless the local defenders of Baku show more spirit in their defense he will be forced to withdraw his British troops. Lieutenant Colin Paget (Warwickshire Regiment) is killed in action during the retreat of the Baku expedition. He was the Assistant Master at Wargrave School, Berkshire and has two brothers who die in the Great War, the first in October 1914 the second killed in October of this year.

    Battle of Baku – British General Lionel Dunsterville, commander of the Allied force in Baku, Azerbaijan, met with leaders of the Centrocaspian Dictatorship and warned if the situation to hold the city from the Islamic Army of the Caucasus did not improve in the next few days, his force would withdraw. He was convinced to stay on until a White Russian reinforcement of 600 troops arrived.

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    29 August– 1 September, the Ottoman forces managed to capture the positions of Binagadi Hill and Diga. Several coalition units were overrun, and losses were heavy. By this point, allied troops were pushed back to the saucer-like position that made up the heights surrounding Baku. However, Ottoman losses were so heavy that Mürsel Bey was not immediately able to continue his offensive. This gave the Baku Army invaluable time to reorganize. Faced with an ever-worsening situation, Dunsterville organized a meeting with the Centrocaspian Dictators on 1 September. He said that he was not willing to risk more British lives and hinted at his withdrawal. However, the dictators protested that they would fight to the bitter end, and the British should leave only when troops of the Baku Army did. Dunsterville decided to stay until the situation became hopeless. Meanwhile, Bicherakhov captured Petrovsk, allowing him to send help to Baku. The reinforcements consisting of 600 men from his force, including Cossacks, raised hope.

    1–13 September, the Ottoman forces did not attack. During this period, the Baku force prepared itself and sent out airplane patrols constantly. In his diary, Dunsterville reported the atrocities against the Muslim population perpetrated by Armenian militants. On 12 September, an Arab officer from the Ottoman 10th Division deserted, giving information suggesting the main assault would take place on 14 September.

    On the night of 13/14 September, the Ottoman forces began their attacks. The Ottoman forces nearly overran the strategic Wolf's Gate (Azerbaijani: Qurd qapısı) west of Baku, from which the whole battlefield could be seen. However, their advance was halted by a counterattack. The fighting continued for the rest of the day, and the situation eventually became hopeless. By the night of 14 September, the remnants of the Baku Army and Dunsterforce evacuated the city for Anzali.

    On 30 October, The Armistice of Mudros was signed by the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman forces left the city.

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    At Peronne during operations after passing their first objective Corporal Alexander Henry Buckley’s (Australian Infantry) half company and part of the company on the flank are held up by a machine gun nest. With one man he rushes the post shooting four of the occupants and taking 22 prisoners. Later on reaching a moat, it is found that another machine gun nest commands the only available footbridge. While this is being engaged from a flank Corporal Buckley endeavors to cross the bridge and rush the post, but is killed in the attempt. Throughout the advance he displays great initiative, resource and courage, and by his efforts saves many of his comrades from becoming casualties. For his efforts Corporal Buckley will be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Buckley was one of EIGHTEEN men awarded the Victoria Cross over the next 48 hours

    Buckley was born on 22 July 1891 to James and Julia Buckley at Gulargambone, New South Wales, Australia. One of four children, he was home schooled on his parents' property Homebush during his childhood. After completing his schooling, he worked on the family farm with his father. Buckley enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 3 February 1916, volunteering for overseas service. After completing basic training at Bathurst, New South Wales in June, he was sent to England among a draft of reinforcements. Just prior to departing Australia, Buckley became engaged. He was posted to 54th Battalion, an infantry battalion assigned to the 14th Brigade, which was part of the 5th Division.

    Joining the battalion on the Western Front in November 1916 at Flers, France, Buckley served with it as it manned defensive positions along the Somme during the winter months. The following year, after the Germans withdrew towards the Hindenburg Line, Buckley took part in the fighting around Bullecourt, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde and in November 1917 he was promoted to temporary corporal. In August 1918, the 54th Battalion took part in the initial stages of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive around Amiens. On the night of 1/2 September 1918, at Peronne, France, during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, Buckley performed the deeds that led to him being posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

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    For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice at Peronne during the operations on the 1st/2nd Sept., 1918. After passing the first objective his half company and part of the company on the flank were held up by a machine gun nest. With one man he rushed the post shooting four of the occupants and taking 22 prisoners. Later on reaching a moat, it was found that another machine gun nest commanded the only available footbridge. Whilst this was being engaged from a flank Cpl. Buckley endeavoured to cross the bridge and rush the post, but was killed in the attempt. Throughout the advance he had displayed great initiative, resource and courage, and by his efforts to save his comrades from casualties, he set a fine example of self-sacrificing devotion to duty.

    — The London Gazette, 14 December 1918

    The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin was a battle on the Western Front during World War I. As part of the Allied counteroffensives on the Western Front in the late summer of 1918, the Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of August 31, and broke the German lines at Mont Saint-Quentin and Péronne. The British Fourth Army's commander, General Henry Rawlinson, described the Australian advances of August 31 – September 4 as the greatest military achievement of the war.[1] During the battle Australian troops stormed, seized and held the key height of Mont Saint-Quentin (overlooking Péronne), a pivotal German defensive position on the line of the Somme. The Allies were pursuing the Germans, and the greatest obstacle to crossing the Somme River in pursuit was Mont Saint-Quentin which, situated in a bend of the river, dominated the whole position. The Mont was only 100 metres high but was a key to the German defence of the Somme line, and the last German stronghold. It overlooked the Somme River approximately 1.5 kilometres north of Péronne. Its location made it an ideal observation point, and strategically, the hill's defences guarded the north and western approaches to the town.

    Australian forces faced the German LI Corps, part of 2nd Army, under General Max von Boehn. According to Australian official historian Charles Bean, "German archives show that the 51st Corps anticipated the offensive... The line divisions were ordered to increase their depth and the counter-attack divisions to 'stand to.'" Bean states that LI Corps controlled the 5th Royal Bavarian Division, 1st Reserve Division and 119th Division. The German 94th Infantry Regiment (part of the IV Reserve Corps) was also involved in the battle.

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    The offensive was planned by General John Monash; Monash planned a high-risk frontal assault which required the Australian 2nd Division to cross a series of marshes to attack the heights. This plan failed when the assaulting troops could not cross the marshes. After this initial setback, Monash manœuvred his divisions in the only free manœuvre battle of any consequence undertaken by the Australians on the Western Front.

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    "The gaps in the wire near Anvil Wood were death traps", reads the caption of a contemporary photograph of the battlefield.

    Australians of the Second Division crossed to the north bank of the Somme River on the evening of 30 August. At 5 am on 31 August 1918, supported by artillery, two significantly undermanned Australian battalions, charged up Mont St Quentin ordered by Monash to 'scream like bushrangers'. The Germans quickly surrendered and the Australians continued to the main German trench-line. In the rear, other Australians crossed the Somme by a bridge which Australian engineers had saved and repaired. The Australians were unable to hold their gains on Mont St Quentin and German reserves regained the crest. However, the Australians held on just below the summit and next day it was recaptured and firmly held. On that day also, 1 September 1918, Australian forces broke into Péronne and took most of the town. The next day it completely fell into Australian hands. In three days the Australians endured 3,000 casualties but ensured a general German withdrawal eastwards back to the Hindenburg Line

    Looking back after the event, Monash accounted for the success by the wonderful gallantry of the men, the rapidity with which the plan was carried out, and the sheer daring of the attempt. In his Australian Victories in France, Monash pays tribute to the commander of the 2nd Division, Major-General Charles Rosenthal, who was in charge of the operation. But Monash and his staff were responsible for the conception of the project and the working out of the plans. The Allied victory at the Battle of Mont Saint Quentin dealt a strong blow to five German divisions, including the German elite 2nd Guards Division. As the position overlooked much of the terrain east of Mont St. Quentin, it guaranteed that the Germans would not be able to stop the allies west of the Hindenburg Line (the same position from which the Germans had launched their offensive in the spring). A total of 2,600 prisoners were taken at a cost of slightly over 3,000 casualties.

    The following soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross for their role in the battle, all to members of the Australian 2nd Division:

    Albert David Lowerson, 21st Battalion, originally from Myrtleford, Victoria
    Robert MacTier, 23rd Battalion, originally from Tatura, Victoria
    Edgar Thomas Towner, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, from Blackall, Queensland

    Other medals awarded included the Military Medal. Robert James Young, 25th Battalion, originally from Brisbane, was one such awardee. During the attack "he selected a position on a hill which was being heavily shelled at the time. He remained there for half an hour trying to establish visual communication. When this failed, he at once ran at a line to bde Forward Station through very heavy machine gun and artillery fire and remained out on the line the whole day, keeping it in order. Throughout the whole operation he showed an utter disregard of danger and set a fine example to all his men." - C.Rosenthal, Major General, 11/9/18

    William Stevens, 23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, originally from Melbourne was awarded a Bar to his Military Medal for his work during the battle. In part, his citation from C.Rosenthal, Major General reads: "In the Village fighting he personal lead a party of five which accounted for 16 of the enemy who put up a spirited resistance. Later during the consolidation, he personally supervised the placing of the six Company Lewis Guns, moving around the Company front in spite of fierce enemy fire. His work throughout was of the highest order, and his fighting spirit throughout was of the greatest value to the success of his Company.

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    William Matthew Currey, VC (19 September 1895 – 30 April 1948) was a politician and an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He received the award for his actions during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin in September 1918, while serving with Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front during the First World War. After the war, Currey worked as a labourer and railway worker before entering the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Labor Party representative for the seat of Kogarah, which he held between 1941 and his death in 1948.

    Born at Wallsend, New South Wales, on 19 September 1895[1] Currey was the son of a miner, William Robert Currey and Mary Ellen Lang. After attending Dudley and Plattsburg public schools, he was employed as a wireworker in Leichhardt. In October 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, volunteering for service overseas during the First World War, having attempted unsuccessfully several times before, being rejected as under-aged. After being accepted, Currey was eventually sent to the Western Front in Europe, where he initially served the 4th Light Trench Mortar Battery, before being posted in July 1917 to the 53rd Battalion – an infantry battalion that had been recruited primarily from New South Wales – as a reinforcement. In late 1917, Currey fought with the battalion during the Battle of Polygon Wood.

    In September 1918, during the final Allied offensive of the war – the Hundred Days Offensive – Currey was one of eight Australians awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin.

    On 1 September 1918 in the attack on Péronne, France, Currey, as a 22-year-old private in the 53rd Battalion, rushed forward under heavy machine-gun fire and captured single-handed a 77-mm field gun which had been holding up the advance, killing all the crew. Later, when the advance was checked by an enemy strong-point he crept round the flank and engaged the post with a Lewis gun, then rushed it, causing many casualties. Subsequently he volunteered to carry orders for withdrawal to an isolated company, bringing back valuable information, doing so under heavy fire and despite being gassed. The citation published in the London Gazette of 14 December 1918 concluded that his behaviour was a "striking example of coolness, determination and utter disregard of danger... and his gallant work contributed largely to the success of the operation."

    The Australian official war historian, Charles Bean, described the final act of Currey's heroism thusly: "At 3 am when efforts to reach (a Lt Waite in an advanced position) having failed Private Currey volunteered to make his third attempt and going out far into the disputed front he stood up and called with all his lung power. "Waitsy! Get in." The Germans turned on him every weapon they had; he was gassed and his respirator was shot through. But Waite had heard him and returned

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    John Gildroy Grant, VC (26 August 1889 – 25 November 1970) was a soldier in the New Zealand Military Forces during the First World War. Born in Hawera, Grant was a builder when he volunteered in June 1915 to serve in the First World War with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). He was posted to the 1st Battalion of the Wellington Regiment and from 1916 served on the Western Front. It was on 1 September 1918, during an engagement at Bancourt, that he performed the actions that led to him being awarded with the VC. He ended the war as a second lieutenant. Discharged from the NZEF, he returned to civilian life. In his later years, he struggled to hold down regular employment due to the effects of what was most likely post-traumatic stress disorder. He died in 1970 at the age of 81.

    John Grant was born on 26 August 1889 in Hawera, a small town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. He was one of the nine children of George and Jane Grant, who were both originally from Scotland. John's education ended after primary school and he took up construction work. A volunteer fireman, he was working as a builder when he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in June 1915. At the time of Grant's enlistment, the main contingent of the NZEF, which had formed the New Zealand and Australian Division, was engaged in the Gallipoli Campaign. After initial training, he embarked for the Middle East in October 1915 with the 7th Reinforcements. He joined the 1st Battalion, Wellington Regiment of the New Zealand Division, then being formed in Egypt in the aftermath of the evacuation from the Gallipoli Peninsula. It duly embarked for the Western Front. Grant served with the unit throughout 1916 and into 1917, during which time his battalion fought in the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, and the Battle of Messines.[ In June 1917, he was promoted to corporal and in early 1918 was made a sergeant.

    From late August to early September 1918, the New Zealand Division was engaged in the Second Battle of Bapaume, which had as its objective the town of Bapaume. On 1 September, near Bancourt, the lead elements of the 1st Battalion came under heavy fire from a series of German machine-gun posts, which threatened their advance. Despite this, Grant's platoon pressed on. As they neared one of the posts, Grant, followed by another soldier,[Note 1] broke ahead and entered the post, "demoralising" the crew, according to the London Gazette, and allowing his platoon to capture the Germans. He attacked another nearby machine-gun post in similar fashion and soon his platoon, and the rest of his company, were able to put the remaining posts out of action. His battalion was relieved that evening. For his role in the action of 1 September, Grant was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire.

    The citation read:
    For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty near Bancourt on the 1st September, 1918, when Serjeant in command of a platoon forming part of the leading waves of the battalion attacking the high ground to the east of Bancourt. On reaching the crest, it was found that a line of five enemy machine-gun posts offered a serious obstacle to further advance. Under point blank fire, however, the company advanced against these posts. When about twenty yards from the posts Sjt. Grant, closely followed by a comrade, rushed forward ahead of his platoon, and with great dash and bravery entered the centre post, demoralising the garrison and enabling the men of his platoon to mop up the position. In the same manner he then rushed the post on the left and the remaining posts were quickly occupied and cleared by his company. Throughout the whole operation on this and the two previous days Sjt. Grant displayed coolness, determination, and valour of the highest order, and set a splendid example to all

    — London Gazette, No. 31034, 26 November 1918[11]
    Shortly afterwards, Grant was promoted to second lieutenant and travelled to Cambridge in England for officer training in October 1918. He was wounded in November, within days of his return to the front. Together with three other New Zealanders who had been awarded the VC, he received his medal from King George V in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 27 February 1919. His service with the NZEF ended with his repatriation to New Zealand later that year. His home town of Hawera gave him a formal welcome on his return on 29 October 1919 and he was presented with an inscribed gold watch.

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    Arthur Charles Hall, VC (11 August 1896 – 25 February 1978) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Hall was born on 11 August 1896 in the Sydney suburb of Granville, New South Wales, to a livestock farmer and his wife. After attending school in Bathurst, he worked with his father on properties near Nyngan.

    In April 1916, at the age of 19, Hall enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). After training, he was posted to 54th Battalion, then serving on the Western Front in France. He was wounded in late March 1917, within two months of arriving in France. Back in the front lines by late April, he saw action during the Battle of Bullecourt and later, during the second phase of the Battle of Passchendaele, in the Battle of Polygon Wood. He was promoted to corporal after this latter battle. The battalion was involved in fighting on the Somme from early to mid-1918, including the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. It was then involved in the Hundred Days Offensive which began in August.

    On 1 September 1918 at Péronne, Somme, Hall rushed a machine-gun post, shooting four of the enemy and capturing nine, with two guns. Continuously in advance of the main party, he personally led assault parties, capturing many small parties of the enemy and machine-guns. On the morning of 2 September during a heavy barrage, he carried to safety a comrade who had been dangerously wounded and was in urgent need of medical attention. It was for these actions that Hall was awarded the Victoria Cross.

    After the Battle of St. Quentin Canal, Hall's battalion amalgamated with the 56th Battalion in October 1918, becoming the 54th/56th Battalion. He was promoted to sergeant with this unit before being discharged from the AIF in August 1919.

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    Albert David "Alby" Lowerson, VC (2 August 1896 – 15 December 1945) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Albert Lowerson, nicknamed Alby, was born in Myrtleford, a town in the state of Victoria, on 2 August 1896. His father worked for the railways as an engine driver but later turned his hand to farming. Lowerson worked as a gold miner after leaving school. In July 1915, Lowerson joined the Australian Imperial Force. After initial training, he embarked for the Middle East in September 1915 as a reinforcement for 21st Battalion. He arrived too late to participate in the Gallipoli Campaign and in March 1916 proceeded with his battalion to the Western Front. He fought in the Battles of the Somme, Pozičres and Mouquet Farm, the latter of which saw him wounded.[1] He was also recommended for the Military Medal for his work at Pozičres but this was not awarded.[2] After a month recovering from his wounds he rejoined his battalion and shortly afterwards was promoted to corporal. Promoted in April 1917 to acting sergeant, he was again wounded, this time during the Second Battle of Bullecourt.

    Lowerson's promotion to sergeant was made permanent while he was still recovering from his wounding at Bullecourt. He rejoined his battalion in November 1917. On 1 September 1918, during the Battle of Mont St Quentin, 21st Battalion supported 23rd and 24th Battalions in an attack towards the village of Mont St Quentin. Lowerson's company was held up in its advance on the flank of the village and, with a party of seven men, attacked and captured a strong point from which heavy machinegun fire was directed towards the advancing Australians. The advance was able to continue. Lowerson, wounded, was sent to the rear but it was a further two days before he was dispatched to a hospital.

    After his wounding at St Quentin, Lowerson returned to his unit in September 1918 but received his fourth wound the following month and took no further part in the war. The award of his VC for his actions at St Quentin was gazetted on 14 December 1918 and he was presented with it by King George V on 1 March 1919. The citation for his VC read:

    For most conspicuous bravery and tactical skill on the 1st September, 1918, during the attack on Mt. St. Quentin, north of Peronne, when very strong opposition was met with early in the attack, and every foot of ground was stubbornly contested by the enemy. Regardless of heavy enemy machine gun fire, Sergeant Lowerson moved about fearlessly directing his men, encouraging them to still greater effort, and finally led them on to the objective. On reaching the objective he saw that the left attacking party was held up by an enemy strong post heavily manned with twelve machine guns. Under the heaviest sniping and machine gun fire, Sergeant Lowerson rallied seven men as a storming party, and directing them to attack the flanks of the post, rushed the strong point, and, by effective bombing, captured it, together with twelve machine guns and thirty prisoners. Though severely wounded in the right thigh, he refused to leave the front line until the prisoners had been disposed of, and the organization and consolidation of the post had been thoroughly completed. Throughout a week of operations, his leadership and example had a continual influence on the men serving under him, whilst his prompt and effective action at a critical juncture allowed the forward movement to be carried on without delay, thus ensuring the success of the attack.

    — The London Gazette, 13 December 1918

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    Robert "Bob" Mactier, VC (17 May 1890 – 1 September 1918) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was one of 64 Australians to receive the award for their actions during the First World War, receiving it as a result of deeds performed during the Battle of Mont St Quentin on 1 September 1918. That day, Mactier was a battalion runner serving with the 23rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. He was sent forward by an officer to determine the cause of a delay in the battalion moving into its jumping off position. The cause was a well placed enemy machine gun. On his own initiative, Mactier jumped out of the trench and charged the gun, killing its crew of six. He then charged two other machine guns, killing more crews and causing at least 40 enemy to surrender. He was killed by fire from a fourth machine gun, but not before enabling his battalion to form up on time.

    He was 28 years old, and a private in the 23rd Battalion when the following deed took place for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The full citation for the Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette on 13 December 1918:[6]

    War Office, 14th December, 1918

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to award the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Warrant Officer, Non-commissioned Officers and Men:-

    No. 6939 Pte. Robert Mactier, late 23rd Bn., A.I.F.

    'For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the morning of the 1st September, 1918, during the attack on the village of Mt. St. Quentin. Prior to the advance of the battalion, it was necessary to clear up several enemy strong points close to our line. This the bombing patrols sent forward failed to effect, and the battalion was unable to move. Private Mactier, single handed, and in daylight, thereupon jumped out of the trench, rushed past the block, closed with and killed the machine gun garrison of eight men with his revolver and bombs, and threw the enemy machine gun over the parapet. Then, rushing forward about 20 yards, he jumped into another strong point held by a garrison of six men, who immediately surrendered. Continuing to the next block through the trench, he disposed of an enemy machine gun which had been enfilading our flank advancing troops, and was then killed by another machine gun at close range. It was entirely due to this exceptional valour and determination of Private Mactier that the battalion was able to move on to its "jumping off" trench and carry out the successful operation of capturing the village of Mt. St. Quentin a few hours later.'

    Mactier was buried nearby at Clery but in 1924, he was reinterred in the Hem Farm Military Cemetery near Péronne, France. Mactier's actions have been described as "a remarkable one-man offensive". He was unmarried.

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    Edgar Thomas Towner, VC, MC (19 April 1890 – 18 August 1972) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. A lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, Towner was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 1 September 1918, during an attack on Mont St. Quentin on the Western Front.

    Born in Queensland to a farming family, Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. Posted to the transport section of the 25th Battalion, he served in Egypt until his unit was sent to the Western Front. He then transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion where he was commissioned as a lieutenant and twice mentioned in despatches for his leadership. During June 1918, Towner led a machine gun section in attack near Morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives under heavy fire, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. In September, again commanding a machine gun section, he was involved in the Allied counteroffensive that broke the German lines at Mont St. Quentin and Péronne. Fighting for thirty hours after being wounded, his "conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty" earned him the Victoria Cross, which was presented by King George V in April 1919. Discharged in August, Towner returned to Australia. He was appointed a director of the Russleigh Pastoral Company, and briefly re-enlisted during the Second World War, when he was promoted to major. A keen geographer, he was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal in 1956 for his geographical work. Unmarried, he died in 1972 at the age of 82.

    On 1 September 1918, Towner was in command of No. 3 Section of the 7th Machine Gun Company during an attack on Mont St. Quentin, near Péronne. Armed with four Vickers machine guns, the section was attached to the right flank of the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, whose principal objective was to seize the summit of Mont St. Quentin. To accomplish this, the battalion would have to advance through the village of Feuillaucourt before moving down to the Péronne road. The Australians began their advance at 06:00 behind an artillery screen, with Towner's section covering a front of 1,400 metres (1,500 yd). Visibility was limited by rain, and Australian casualties soon began to mount. Locating a German machine gun that was causing heavy losses among the advancing troops, Towner rushed the position and single-handedly killed the crew with his revolver. Having captured the gun, he then turned it on the Germans.

    Once Feuillaucourt had fallen, the 24th Battalion continued to the Péronne road. However, the Germans had occupied a copse of trees and put up strong resistance, halting the advance. German troops were observed massing for a counter-attack, so Towner moved forward with several of his men, two Vickers guns, and the captured German gun, and brought the assembling Germans under concentrated fire, inflicting many casualties.Attempting to retire, a party of twenty-five German soldiers were cut off by Towner's guns and taken prisoner. Under heavy incoming fire, Towner then scouted over open terrain to locate advantageous positions from which his guns could offer further support. When he moved his section forward, the machine gunners were able to engage more groups of German soldiers; their aggressive action enabled the advance to be renewed, and the battalion attained the cover of a sunken section of the Péronne road.However, on rejoining them Towner found that his section was growing short of ammunition, so he made his way back across the fire-swept ground and located a German machine gun, which he brought forward along with several boxes of ammunition. This he brought into action "in full view of the enemy"; his effective fire forced the Germans to retire further, and allowed one of the stalled Australian flanks to push ahead.

    German machine gunners had occupied a commanding vantage overlooking the sunken road, and began to rain down heavy fire around Towner's position. One of the bullets struck his helmet, inflicting a gaping wound to his scalp. Refusing to be evacuated for medical treatment, Towner continued firing his gun as the German pressure increased and the situation grew critical. Eventually the Australian infantry were forced to retire a short distance, but with all its crew having become casualties, one gun was left behind. Alone, Towner dashed out over no man's land and retrieved the weapon. With this gun he "continued to engage the enemy whenever they appeared", putting a German machine gun out of action with his accurate fire. Throughout the night, Towner frequented the front lines and "continued to fight and ... inspire his men". He provided supporting fire for the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion as they assaulted a heavily fortified crater on Mont St. Quentin's summit, and repeatedly reconnoitred the German position to reported on troop movements. The next morning his section assisted in repulsing a large German counterattack before Towner was finally evacuated with exhaustion—thirty hours after being wounded. Initially admitted to the 41st Casualty Clearing Station, he was transported by train to the 2nd Red Cross Hospital at Rouen. For his actions during the battle, Towner was awarded the Victoria Cross—the third of six Australians to receive the medal during the fighting around Mont St. Quentin and Péronne.

    The full citation for Towner's Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette on 14 December 1918, reading:

    War Officer, 14th December, 1918.

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Warrant Officer, Non-commissioned Officers and Men: —

    Lt. Edgar Thomas Towner, M.C., 2nd Bn., Aus. M.G. Corps.

    For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty on 1st September, 1918, in the attack on Mont St. Quentin, near Peronne, when in charge of four Vickers guns. During the early stages of the advance he located and captured, single-handed, an enemy machine-gun which was causing casualties, and by turning it on the enemy inflicted severe losses. Subsequently, by the skilful, tactical handling of his guns, he cut off and captured twenty-five of the enemy. Later, by fearless reconnaissance under heavy fire, and by the energy, foresight and promptitude with which he brought fire to bear on various enemy groups, he gave valuable support to the infantry advance. Again, when short of ammunition, he secured an enemy machine-gun, which he mounted and fired in full view of the enemy, causing the enemy to retire further, and enabling our infantry to advance. Under intense fire, although wounded, he maintained the fire of this gun at a very critical period. During the following night he steadied and gave valuable support to a small detached post, and by his coolness and cheerfulness inspirited the men in a great degree. Throughout the night he kept close watch by personal reconnaissance on the enemy movements, and was evacuated exhausted thirty hours after being wounded. The valour and resourcefulness of Lt. Towner undoubtedly saved a very critical situation, and contributed largely to the success of the attack.

    The capture of Peronne takes place while British troops also take Bouchavesnes and Rancourt and make general progress south of Scarpe while on Lys front they advance and capture Neuve Eglise.

    The U.S. Army 28th Infantry Division defeated German forces after nearly a month of brutal street fighting that destroyed most of the commune of Fismes, France

    WESTERN FRONT

    Britain: BEF peak 1918 estimated strength of 1,916,464 soldiers (record 163,635 Canadians).
    Somme: British 52nd and 57th Divisions finally secure Bullecourt and Hendecourt after fighting since August 28; BEF Third Army clears eight more villages east and southeast of Bapaume (*until September 2), has gained 8-13 miles with 11,000 PoWs from 23 German divisions since August 21. 5th Australian Division reoccupies Peronne (until September 2) after 2nd Australian Division captures Mt St Quentin. 3 British divisions capture 4 villages and farm to north. AMIENS SAliENT ELIMINATED.
    Flanders: British 30th Division (Second Army) recaptures Neuve Eglise and Wulverghem (September 2).
    Aisne: French recapture five villages north of Soissons (until September 2).

    EASTERN FRONT
    Germany: During September 3 German divisions and Austrian 106th Division leave for Western Front.
    Siberia: By now White Siberian Army has 38,000 men and 70 guns.
    Urals: In September Future Soviet marshal V K Bliukher first Order of the Red Banner winner (instituted September 16).
    South Russia: By now White Volunteer Army 35,000-40,000 strong (Lieutenant-General Wrangel joins from Crimea on September 7).

    SEA WAR

    USA: Shipping Board has 331 Allied and neutral ships on charter worth 1,084,986t.
    Mediterranean: Only 8 of 979 ships sailed in convoy lost (during September).
    Allied Otranto Barrage Force: 280 ships including 31 destroyers; 8 submarines; 10 sloops and torpedo boats; 36 US subchasers; 153 trawlers.
    Eastern Atlantic: 3 US battleships stationed at Berehaven (Southwest Ireland) to cover Atlantic convoys from surface attack, sail for that purpose in October.

    AIR WAR

    Britain: 16,224 American mechanics have arrived to work and train with RAF (3,931 by March 1).
    Germany: During September Peak month of RAF raids, with 62.
    Western Front: Germans claim 27 Allied aircraft for loss of 8. RAF FE2b night bombers attack 3 defended villages in front of BEF First Army with 300 bombs (night September 1/2/3, tactic repeated on September 18).
    Russia: In September Aviadarm formed with 315 planes (mainly Anglo-French made) to support Red Army.

    The following claims were made on this day

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    9 British Airmen were lost on this day - light numbers considering just how much was happening all along the Western front in particular

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    and finally for today... Captain Tunstill's Men : In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    Pte. Noah Davis (see 27th August), who had been admitted five days’ previously, suffering from pneumonia and jaundice, died at 9th Casualty Clearing Station; he would be buried at Dueville Communal Cemetery Extension.

    Sgts. Christopher Clapham MM (see 24th August) and Harold Howlett (see 9th July); L.Cpls. Edward Shaw Powell (see 25th November 1917) and Harry Seward (see 6th August) and Ptes. Leonard Briggs (see 26th March), Thomas Henry Fearn (see 20th August), Hartley Gibb (see 6th February), William Little (see 19th February) and Fred Melton Vasey (see 29th October 1917) departed on two weeks’ leave to England.

    Brig. Genl. Archibald Bentley Beauman DSO (see 25th August), commanding 69th Brigade, considered the case of Pte. Frederick George Westlake (see 25th August), who had suffered a gunshot wound to his right foot a week previously. Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 25th August) had concluded that the injury was “probably accidental, as the man has a good character”. Brig. Genl. Beauman deferred judgement, requesting that a statement be obtained from Pte. Westlake himself. A statement was accordingly taken at 69th Field Ambulance where Pte. Westlake was being treated: “I had been out on patrol the night previous and when I came in, forgetting to unload my rifle, I went to sleep. Next day we had to keep sheltered until 11 o’clock as the artillery were breaking the wire, for fear of retaliation, but when we came and had dinner I suddenly thought my rifle had to be cleaned, and went and picked it up to take my pull-through from the butt trap forgetting it were loaded, and while pulling my pull-through from the butt trap, it went off, blowing the rifle out of my hands and the bullet caught me in the foot”. Having reviewed Pte. Westlake’s statement, Brig. Genl. Beauman would conclude that Pte. Westlake had been negligent and should be tried by Field General Court Martial.

    2Lt. Herbert Edwin James Biggs (see 23rd August) was promoted Lieutenant.

    Pte. John Henry Evison (see 10th August) who had been in England since having been wounded on 21st June, was posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

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    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

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    Duplicated post - so here is a picture of an aeroplane...

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    Last edited by Hedeby; 09-02-2018 at 00:39.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  13. #3563

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    I realise this last post has duplicated but I will wait to see if all the attachments fall off one/both before I delete one - sigh !

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  14. #3564

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

  15. #3565

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    2nd September 1918

    Hugh McIver VCPrivate Francis Turbutt Earley (King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) dies of wounds received the previous day in the chest at age 19. The young journalist wrote his last letter home the afternoon that he would later be wounded on.

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    My Dear Father,
    It is a strange feeling to me but a very real one, that every letter now that I write home to you or to the little sisters may be the last that I shall write or you read. I do not want you to think that I am depressed; indeed on the contrary, I am very cheerful. But out here, in odd moments the realization comes to me of how close death is to us. A week ago I was talking with a man, a Catholic, from Preston, who had been out here for nearly four years, untouched. He was looking forward with certainty to going on leave soon. And now he is dead – killed in a moment during our last advance. Well it was God. I say this to you because I hope that you will realize, as I do, the possibility of the like happening to myself. I feel glad myself that I can look the fact in the face without fear or misgiving. Much as I hope to live thro’ it all for your sakes and my little sisters! I am quite prepared to give my life as so many have done before me.

    Lieutenant James Pomeroy Cavers and Lieutenant F D Travers (Royal Air Force) share a victory over an enemy aircraft on the Balkan front.

    Lieutenant Colonel Richard Annesley West (North Irish Horse commanding 6th Tank Corps) VC DSO MC is killed at Vaulx-Vraucourt at age 40. He is a veteran of the South Africa War. He arrives at the front line when the enemy is delivering a local counter-attack. The infantry battalion has suffered heavy officer casualties and realizing the danger if they give way, and despite the enemy being almost upon them, Colonel West rides up and down in face of certain death, encouraging the men. He is eventually riddled with bullets and killed on the spot. For his actions today and previously at Courcelles he will be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

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    Richard Annesley West, VC, DSO & Bar, MC (26 September 1878 – 2 September 1918) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was 39 years old, and an acting lieutenant colonel in the North Irish Horse, seconded to 6th Battalion, Tank Corps during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 21 August 1918 at Courcelles, France, during an attack, the infantry lost their bearings in dense fog and Lieutenant Colonel West at once collected any men he could find and led them to their objective, in face of heavy machine-gun fire. On 2 September at Vaulx-Vraucourt, he arrived at the front line when the enemy were delivering a local counter-attack. The infantry battalion had suffered heavy officer casualties and realizing the danger if they gave way, and despite the enemy being almost upon them, Colonel West rode up and down in face of certain death, encouraging the men. He fell riddled with bullets. His magnificent bravery at a critical moment so inspired the infantry that the hostile attack was defeated.

    He is buried at the Morey Abbey Military Cemetery, Mory

    At Pronville, France, Chief Petty Officer George Henry Prowse (Drake Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve) leads a small party of men against an enemy strong-point, capturing it, together with 23 prisoners and 5 machine-guns. On three other occasions he displays great heroism in dealing with difficult and dangerous situations, and at one time he dashes forward and attacks and captures two machine-gun posts, killing six of the enemy and taking 13 prisoners and two machine-guns. He is the only survivor of this gallant party, but his action enabled the battalion to push forward in comparative safety. For his actions he will be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross as he will be killed in twenty-five days at age 32. He served with the Royal Naval Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and in France on the Western Front where he was killed in action before the award of either of his decorations was announced.

    According to his service record, which has been placed online by The National Archives, Prowse was born on 28 August 1896, however the Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his age at death as 32, which would place his birth in 1886. Recent research in South Wales has unearthed a birth certificate that shows he was actually born on 29 August 1886 in Brynsion Terrace, Gilfach Goch, Llantrisant and a Blue Plaque was placed on the house (Brynsion Terrace has since been renamed to be part of High Street) by the local council, Rhondda Cynon Taff on 21 October 2006. He enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve for the Royal Naval Division, on 26 February 1915. The details recorded in his service record show he was living in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales with his wife Sarah; he had been working as a collier, was 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, had grey eyes, brown hair and a "fair" complexion. At some time he relocated to Camerton in Somerset,probably to work in the coal mines there. In the churchyard at Camerton there is a war memorial with his name shown.

    Prowse was initially rated Ordinary Seaman, on 5 May 1915 he was promoted to Able Seaman. After completing training at Blandford, in September 1915 he was posted to the Drake Battalion, which was then engaged in the Gallipoli Campaign. It is not clear how much active service Prowse saw at this time as he spent significant periods hospitalised with first jaundice and then gastroenteritis, finally rejoining his battalion in Egypt on 9 January 1916.The division remained engaged in the Gallipoli Campaign until May 1916 when it was transferred to France. Prowse arrived at Marseilles on 7 June 1916, on 20 June he was promoted Petty Officer. In November 1916 the Division was employed in the Battle of the Ancre, the final attempt to resolve the Battle of the Somme. Prowse received a gunshot wound in his left thigh on 13 November (the opening day of the battle) and after initial treatment in France was admitted to a hospital in Epsom on 17 November. Having been discharged from hospital, he went back to the base at Blandford on 9 January 1917, and eventually returned to his battalion in France on 28 March 1917.

    Prowse was about 32 years old, and a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, (Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division) during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

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    On 2 September 1918 at Pronville, France, Chief Petty Officer Prowse led a small party of men against an enemy strong-point, capturing it, together with 23 prisoners and 5 machine-guns. On three other occasions he displayed great heroism in dealing with difficult and dangerous situations, and at one time he dashed forward and attacked and captured two machine-gun posts, killing six of the enemy and taking 13 prisoners and two machine-guns. He was the only survivor of this gallant party, but his action enabled the battalion to push forward in comparative safety.

    Citation
    For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when, during an advance, a portion of his company became disorganised by heavy machine gun fire from an enemy strong point. Collecting what men were available he led them with great coolness and bravery against this strong point, capturing it together with twenty-three prisoners and five machine guns. Later, he took a patrol forward in face of much enemy opposition, and established it on important high ground. On another occasion he displayed great heroism by attacking single-handed an ammunition limber which was trying to recover ammunition, killing three men who accompanied it and capturing the limber. Two days later he rendered valuable services when covering the advance of his company with a Lewis gun section, and located later on two machine gun positions in a concrete emplacement, which were holding up the advance of the battalion on the right. With complete disregard of personal danger he rushed forward with a small party and attacked and captured these posts, killing six enemy and taking thirteen prisoners and two machine guns. He was the only survivor of the gallant party, but by this daring and heroic action he enabled the battalion on the right to push forward without further machine gun fire from the village. Throughout the whole operations his magnificent example and leadership were an inspiration to all, and his courage was superb.

    Martin Doyle VC, MM (25 October 1891 – 20 November 1940) was a British soldier during the First World War, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross. After the war he joined the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence, served with the National Army during the Irish Civil War, in the Defence Forces until 1937 and Reserve Defence Forces until 1939.

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    Doyle was born in New Ross, County Wexford on 25 October 1891. After service with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers he joined The Royal Munster Fusiliers and was awarded the Military Medal[1]

    In September 1918 as a company sergeant-major in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Munster Fusiliers, 16th (Irish) Division during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

    For most conspicuous bravery on the 2nd September, 1918, near Riencourt, when as Acting Company Serjeant-Major, command of the company devolved upon him consequent on officer casualties.

    Observing that some of our men were surrounded by the enemy, he led a party to their assistance, and by skill and leadership worked his way along the trenches, killed several of the enemy and extricated the party, carrying back, under heavy fire, a wounded officer to a place of safety. Later, seeing a Tank in difficulties, he rushed forward under intense fire, routed the enemy who were attempting to get into it, and prevented the advance of another enemy party collecting for a further attack on the Tank. An enemy machine gun now opened on the Tank at close range, rendering it impossible to get the wounded away, whereupon C.S.M. Doyle, with great gallantry, rushed forward, and, single-handed, silenced the machine gun, capturing it with three prisoners. He then carried a wounded man to safety under very heavy fire.

    Later in the day, when the enemy counterattacked his position, he showed great power of command, driving back the enemy and capturing many prisoners. Throughout the whole of these operations C.S.M. Doyle set the very highest example to all ranks by his courage and total disregard of danger.

    Arthur Walter Evans VC, DCM (alias "Walter Simpson") (8 April 1891 – 1 November 1936) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    Evans was 27 years old, and a lance sergeant in the 6th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. He was awarded the VC under the alias Walter Simpson with which he had enlisted in the army. On 2 September 1918 south west of Etaing, France, a patrol reconnoitring on the west bank of a river sighted an enemy machine-gun on the east bank. The river being very deep at that point, Lance Sergeant Evans volunteered to swim across and having done so crawled up behind the machine-gun post, where he shot the sentry and another man and made four more surrender. After a crossing had been found and one officer and one man joined him, machine-gun and rifle fire was opened on them. The officer was wounded and Sergeant Evans covered his withdrawal under very heavy fire.

    The citation reads:

    No. 41788 Cpl. (L./Sjt.) Walter Simpson, Linc. R. (Bolton).

    For most conspicuous bravery and initiative when with a daylight patrol sent out to reconnoitre and to gain touch with a neighbouring division. When on the west bank of a river an enemy machine-gun post was sighted on the east bank. The river being too deep to ford, Sjt. Simpson volunteered to swim across, and having done so crept up alone in rear of the machine-gun post. He shot the sentry and also a second enemy who ran out; he then turned out and caused four more enemy to surrender. A crossing over the river was subsequently found, and the officer and one man of his patrol joined him, and reconnaissance was continued along the river bank. After proceeding some distance machine-gun and rifle fire was opened on the patrol and the officer was wounded. In spite of the fact that no cover was available, Sjt. Simpson succeeded in covering the withdrawal of the wounded officer under most dangerous and difficult conditions and under heavy fire. The success of the patrol, which cleared up a machine-gun post on the flank of the attacking troops of a neighbouring division and obtained an identification, was greatly due to the very gallant conduct of Sjt. Simpson.

    — London Gazette, 30 October 1918.
    He was later permitted to re-assume his original name

    Jack Harvey VC (24 August 1891 – 15 August 1940) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    Harvey was a 27-year-old private in the 1/22nd (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (The Queen's), British Army during the First World War.

    On 2 September 1918 north of Peronne, France, when the advance of his company was held up by machine gun fire, Private Harvey dashed forward a distance of 50 yards alone, through the English barrage and in the face of heavy enemy fire. He rushed a machine gun post, shooting two of the team and bayoneting another. He then destroyed the gun and continued his way along the enemy trench. He single-handedly rushed an enemy dugout which contained 37 Germans and compelled them to surrender. These acts of gallantry saved the company heavy casualties and materially assisted in the success of the operation. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for these actions.

    Harvey later achieved the rank of sergeant.

    Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson VC, MC (16 December 1883 – 9 April 1954) was an American-born Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) during the First World War. Hutcheson was one of the seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their deeds on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions across the 30 km long Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France. The other six were Arthur George Knight, William Henry Metcalf, Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young.

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    Hutcheson was a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School. In 1915, he renounced his United States citizenship in order to join the Canadian Army as a medical officer. He reclaimed his American citizenship after the war.

    He was 34 years old, and a captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Canadian Expeditionary Force, attached to 75th (Mississauga) Battalion, during the First World War. He was awarded the MC in 1918 for attended to and dressing the wounded.[2]

    On 2 September 1918 in France, Captain Hutcheson went through the Drocourt-Quéant Support Line with his battalion, remaining on the field until every wounded man had been attended to. He dressed the wounds of a seriously hurt officer under terrific machine-gun and shell fire, and with the help of prisoners and his own men, succeeded in evacuating the officer to safety. Immediately afterwards, he rushed forward in full view of the enemy to attend a wounded sergeant, and having placed him in a shell-hole, dressed his wounds.

    The citation reads:

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to:–

    Capt. Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson, Can. A. Med. Corps, attd. 75th Bn., 1st Central Ontario R.

    For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on September 2nd, when under most intense shell, machine-gun and rifle fire, he went through the Queant-Drocourt Support Line with the battalion. Without hesitation and with utter disregard of personal safety he remained on the field until every wounded man had been attended to. He dressed the wounds of a seriously wounded officer under terrific machine-gun and shell fire, and, with the assistance of prisoners and of his own men, succeeded in evacuating him to safety, despite the fact that the bearer party suffered heavy casualties.

    Immediately afterwards he rushed forward, in full view of the enemy, under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, to tend a wounded sergeant, and, having placed him in a shell-hole, dressed his wounds. Captain Hutcheson performed many similar gallant acts, and, by his coolness and devotion to duty, many lives were saved.

    — London Gazette, 14 December 1918

    Arthur George Knight VC (26 June 1886 – 3 September 1918) was an English-Canadian soldier. Knight was a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    Knight emigrated from England to Canada in 1911 and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in December 1914 at Regina, Saskatchewan. In November 1917, Knight was awarded the Croix de Guerre by his Majesty Leopold III, King of the Belgians, for his actions. Knight was 32 years old, and an acting sergeant in the 10th Battalion, CEF during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 2 September 1918 at Villers-les-Cagnicourt, France, when a bombing section which he was leading was held up, Sergeant Knight went forward alone, bayoneting several machine-gunners and trench mortar crews, and forcing the rest to retire. Then bringing forward a Lewis gun he directed his fire on the retreating enemy; his platoon went in pursuit and the sergeant, seeing about 30 of the enemy going into a tunnel leading off the trench, again went forward alone, killing an officer and two NCOs and taking 20 prisoners. After this, again single-handed, he routed another hostile party. Later he was fatally wounded.

    Knight is buried at Dominion Cemetery in Hendecourt-les-Cagnicourt, Pas-de-Calais, France. The cemetery is roughly three kilometres northeast of the village (plot I, row F, grave 15). His Victoria Cross is on display at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A plaque commemorating Knight's VC action was dedicated in Villers-les-Cagnicourt in April 2015 by a delegation of The Calgary Highlanders.

    William Henry Metcalf VC, MM & Bar (29 January 1894 – 8 August 1968)[1] was an American soldier in the Canadian Army during World War I. Although Metcalf was born in the United States, Metcalf is also considered Canadian since he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914. He is one of only six Americans to receive the Victoria Cross.

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    Metcalf was one of seven Canadian soldiers to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions across the 30-kilometre-long (19 mi) Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France. He was 23 years old, and a lance corporal in the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 2 September 1918 at Arras, France, when the right flank of the battalion was held up, Lance Corporal Metcalf rushed forward under intense machine-gun fire to a passing tank and with his signal flag walked in front of the tank directing it along the trench in a perfect hail of bullets and bombs. The machine-gun strong-point was overcome, very heavy casualties were inflicted and a critical situation was relieved. Later, although wounded, Corporal Metcalf continued to advance until ordered to get into a shell-hole and have his wounds dressed.

    Victoria Cross citation
    The citation reads:

    No. 22614 L./Cpl. William Henry Metcalf, M.M., Manitoba R.

    For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty in attack, when, the right flank of the battalion being held up, he realised the situation and rushed forward under intense machine-gun fire to a passing Tank on the left. With his signal flag he walked in front of the Tank, directing it along the trench in a perfect hail of bullets and bombs. The machine-gun strong points were overcome, very heavy casualties were inflicted on the enemy, and a very critical situation was relieved.

    Later, although wounded, he continued to advance until ordered to get into a shell hole and have his wounds dressed.

    His valour throughout was of the highest standard.

    — London Gazette, 15 November 1918.
    In addition to the Victoria Cross, he was awarded the Military Medal and Bar

    Cyrus Wesley Peck VC, DSO & Bar
    (26 April 1871 – 27 September 1956) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    Peck was born in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick to a family that had emigrated from New England in 1763. Peck was 16 years old when his father moved the family to New Westminster, British Columbia. Peck took military training and crossed the Atlantic to join the British Army then changed his mind. He returned to Canada and would volunteer for the Boer War. He was not accepted for duty. He next moved to Klondike, Yukon. When First World War began he was in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and working in a salmon cannery.
    He went overseas in 1914 as a Major in the 30th Battalion. Then in May 1915 Peck joined as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was 47 years old. He became the commanding officer of the Regiment during the Battle of the Somme (1916). Peck was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the 1917 King's Birthday Honours;[1] a Bar to the DSO, for which the citation in the London Gazette read, "During an attack he showed fine courage and leadership. He led his battalion, under difficulties caused by heavy mist, to its final objective, nearly three miles, after severe fighting. He personally led his men in an attack on nests of machine guns protecting the enemy's guns, which he captured. Some of the guns were of 8-inch calibre.";[2] was Mentioned in Despatches five times; and was wounded twice.

    On 2 September 1918 at Cagnicourt, France (the Drocourt-Queant Line), when Lieutenant Colonel Peck's command, after capturing the first objective, was held up by enemy machine-gun fire, he went forward and made a personal reconnaissance under very heavy fire. Returning, he reorganized his battalion and pushed them forward. He then went out, under the most intense artillery and machine-gun fire and intercepted the tanks, giving them the necessary directions, pointing out where they were to make for, and thus paving the way for an infantry battalion to push forward. To this battalion he subsequently gave the necessary support. The full citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 12 November 1918 (dated 15 November 1918):[3]

    War Office, 15th November, 1918.

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Noncommissioned Officers and Men: —

    Lt.-Col. Cyrus Wesley Peck, D.S.O., Manitoba R.

    For most conspicuous bravery and skilful leading when in attack under intense fire. His command quickly captured the first objective, but progress to the further objective was held up by enemy machine-gun fire on his right flank. The situation being critical in the extreme, Colonel Peck pushed forward and made a personal reconnaissance under heavy machine-gun and sniping fire, across a stretch of ground which was heavily swept by fire. Having reconnoitred the position he returned, reorganised his battalion, and, acting upon the knowledge personally gained; pushed them forward and arranged to protect his flanks. He then went out under the most intense artillery and machine-gun fire, intercepted the Tanks, gave them the necessary directions, pointing out where they were to make for, and thus pave the way for a Canadian Infantry battalion to push forward. To this battalion he subsequently gave requisite support. His magnificent display of courage and fine qualities of leadership enabled the advance to be continued, although always under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, and contributed largely to the success of the brigade attack.

    Lawrence Carthage Weathers, VC (14 May 1890 – 29 September 1918) was a New Zealand-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. His parents returned to their native South Australia when Weathers was seven, and he completed his schooling before obtaining work as an undertaker in Adelaide. He enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in early 1916, and joined the 43rd Battalion. His unit deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium in late December. After a bout of illness, Weathers returned to his battalion in time to take part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917, during which he was wounded. Evacuated to the United Kingdom, he rejoined his unit in early December.

    Promoted to lance corporal in March 1918, Weathers fought with his battalion during the German Spring Offensive, but was gassed in May and did not return to his unit until the following month. He participated in the Battle of Hamel in July, the Battle of Amiens in August, and the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin in September. At Mont Saint-Quentin he was recommended for the award of the Victoria Cross. Promoted to temporary corporal, he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell on 29 September during the Battle of St Quentin Canal, and died soon after, never having been aware that he was to receive the Victoria Cross, which was not announced until late December. As of 2007, his Victoria Cross was in private hands.

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    On 8 February 1916, Weathers enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and was initially allotted as a reinforcement to the 10th Battalion. In June he was transferred to the 43rd Battalion, part of the 11th Brigade, 3rd Division. The 43rd Battalion embarked on HMAT Afric in June 1916, and after a brief stop in the Middle East and transit through France, spent the rest of the year training at Larkhill on the Salisbury Plain in southern England. The 3rd Division embarked for the Western Front in November, and entered the trenches for the first time in late December. Weathers reported sick in late January 1917, and did not rejoin his unit until late April. He returned to the front lines in time to participate in the first major action his battalion saw in the war, the Battle of Messines, during which the 43rd Battalion incurred 122 casualties in a night-time operation to capture the final objective, the Oosttaverne Line. One of those casualties was Weathers, who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg on 10 June. Evacuated to hospital in the United Kingdom, he did not return to his unit until early December. The 3rd Division spent the winter of 1917–1918 rotating through the front lines in the Messines sector of the Flanders region of Belgium, largely improving the trenches against an expected German offensive in the spring. Weathers was promoted to lance corporal on 21 March 1918, and a week later his battalion helped blunt the German Spring Offensive, taking up defensive positions between the Ancre and the Somme rivers west of Morlancourt. In late May he required medical treatment following a gas attack near Villers-Bretonneux that caused 230 casualties among the 43rd, and Weathers did not return to duty until mid-June.

    The 43rd Battalion's next major action was the highly successful Battle of Hamel on 4 July. The battalion was responsible for clearing the village itself and suffered 97 casualties. The 43rd played a supporting role in the first phase of the Battle of Amiens on 8 August, which marked the beginning of the Hundred Days Offensive to drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line of fortifications. This included fighting west of Suzanne on 25–26 August. On 2 September, during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, the 43rd Battalion was tasked with clearing trenches north of the village of Allaines. It captured Graz Trench opposite Allaines without a fight, then using hand grenades (known as bombs), fought northwards towards Scutari Trench, and succeeded in containing about 150 Germans at a fork in the trench. Faced with a deluge of German fire, a deadlock ensued, which was broken by Weathers, supported by three other men. His actions on that day resulted in a recommendation for the award of the Victoria Cross.

    The citation read:

    For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on the 2nd of September 1918, north of Peronne, when with an advanced bombing party. The attack having been held up by a strongly-held trench, Corporal Weathers went forward alone, under heavy fire, and attacked the enemy with bombs. Then, returning to our lines for a further supply of bombs, he again went forward with three comrades and attacked under very heavy fire. Regardless of personal danger, he mounted the enemy parapet and bombed the trench, and, with the support of his comrades, captured 180 prisoners and three machine guns. His valour and determination resulted in the successful capture of the final objective, and saved the lives of many of his comrades.

    When Weathers returned to his comrades, his uniform was covered in mud, he had blood running down his face, and he had five days' stubble on his chin. He was also festooned "like a Christmas tree" with souvenired German binoculars and pistols. Full of nervous tension, he chattered to his mates about how he had "put the wind up" the Germans. During the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, the 43rd Battalion suffered 67 casualties. Over the next week, the 11th Brigade was part of the pursuit of the Germans to the main Hindenburg Line. Weathers was promoted to temporary corporal on 10 September. On 29 September, the 3rd Division was part of the Battle of St Quentin Canal, one of the last Australian ground actions of the war, which involved breaching the Beaurevoir Line, the third line of defences of the Hindenburg Line. During the battle, the 43rd Battalion was sheltering in a trench when a shell burst among a small group of men, wounding Weathers in the head. He died soon after, not knowing he would receive the Victoria Cross, which was gazetted on 24 December 1918. The same shell killed his uncle, Lance Corporal J. J. Weathers.

    John Francis Young VC (14 January 1893 – 7 November 1929) was a Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Young was a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    John Francis Young was born in Kidderminster, England on 14 January 1893. He was the son of Robert Charles Young and Mary Ann Cooper. He had two brothers: Robert Peart Young born in 1896 and Reginald H. Young born 1903. He emigrated to Canada before World War I and worked in Montreal as a packer for Imperial Tobacco. John Francis Young was 25 years old, and a private in the 87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War when he performed the deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

    On 2 September 1918 in the Dury-Arras Sector, France, when his company had suffered heavy casualties, Private Young, a stretcher-bearer, went forward to dress the wounded in open ground swept by machine-gun and rifle fire. He did this for over an hour displaying absolute fearlessness, and on more than one occasion, having used up all his stock of dressings, he made his way to company headquarters for a further supply before returning to the battlefield. Later in the day he organised and led stretcher-bearers to bring in the wounded whom he had dressed. He spent a full hour rescuing well over a dozen men.

    Mustard gas was present in the battle which damaged one of Young's lungs. This later contributed to his contracting tuberculosis.

    The citation reads:

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to:–

    No. 177239 Pte. John Francis Young, 87th Bn., Quebec R.

    For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack at Dury-Arras sector on the 2nd September, 1918, when acting as a stretcher-bearer attached to "D" Company of the 87th Bn., Quebec Regiment. This company in the advance over the ridge suffered heavy casualties from shell and machine-gun fire. Pte. Young, in spite of the complete absence of cover, without the least hesitation went out, and in the open fire-swept ground dressed the wounded. Having exhausted his stock of dressings, on more than one occasion he returned, under intense fire, to his company headquarters for a further supply. This work he continued for over an hour, displaying throughout the most absolute fearlessness. To his courageous conduct must be ascribed the saving of the lives of many of his comrades. Later, when the fire had somewhat slackened, he organised and led stretcher parties to bring in the wounded whom he had dressed. All through the operations of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th September Pte. Young continued to show the greatest valour and devotion to duty.

    — London Gazette, 13 December 1918.

    He received his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 30 April 1919.

    Private Hugh McIver VC MM (Royal Scots) is killed at age 28 near Courcelles ten days after performing acts that will result in him being awarded the Victoria Cross. On 23rd August 1918 east of Courcelle-le Compte, France, he was employed as a company-runner and under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire carried messages regardless of his own safety. Single-handed he pursued an enemy scout into a machine-gun post and having killed six of the garrison, captured 20 prisoners and two machine-guns. Later he succeeded, at great personal risk, in stopping the fire of a British tank which was directed in error against our own troops.

    WESTERN FRONT

    Artois: CANADIANS STORM DROCOURT-QUEANT ‘SWITCH LINE’ (Wotan sector of Hindenburg Line) in 4 hours from 0500 hours: 1st and 4th Divisions (7 Victoria Crosses won) break through and reach open country except on extreme left, 57 tanks in support. Advance defeats 11 German divisions and claims 10,000 PoWs. LUDENDORFF ISSUES ORDER FOR SECOND PHASED RETIREMENT to 4 armies shortly after 1400 hours – in south to main 10-mile deep Hindenburg position, in north behind and along Canal du Nord (average fall back of 13 miles). BEF has advanced average of 14 miles on 26-mile front since August 21, taken 46,241 PoWs for c.89,000 casualties, defeated 66 German divisions (c.115,600 casualties in total). Foch, Petain and Pershing meet.

    The Drocourt-Quéant Line (Wotan Stellung) was a set of mutually supporting defensive lines constructed by Germany between the French towns of Drocourt and Quéant during World War I. This defensive system was part of the northernmost section of the Hindenburg Line, a vast German defensive system that ran through northeastern France. It was attacked and captured by Canadian and British troops in the closing months of the war as part of Canada's Hundred Days of successful offensive campaigning that helped end the war.

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    The Drocourt–Quéant Line ran between the French cities of Drocourt and Quéant and was part of a defensive system that ran from a point within the Hindenburg Line, eleven miles west of Cambrai, northward to within seven miles west of Douai and terminated along the front east of Armentičres. The Drocourt–Quéant Line was a system in depth and incorporated a number of mutually supporting lines of defence. The system consisted of a front line system and a support line system, each consisting of two lines of trenches. The system incorporated numerous fortifications including concrete bunkers, machine gun posts and heavy belts of barbed wire.

    At 5:00 a.m. in the morning on 2 September 1918, Canadian and British forces attacked the Drocourt–Quéant Line supported by tanks and aircraft. In twilight, the Canadian 1st Division attacked the line south-eastwards, on the extreme right, south of the Arras–Cambrai road, The Canadian 4th Division attacked in the centre between Dury and the main road and the British 4th Division attacked south of the River Sensee. Seven Canadians were awarded VCs individually that day: Bellenden Hutcheson, Arthur George Knight, William Henry Metcalf, Claude Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young. The next day the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line with the Allies taking many prisoners. The Canadian and British troops then moved on to their next battle, the Battle of Canal du Nord.


    EASTERN FRONT

    USSR: Red Terror declared (Petrograd Cheka announce 512 executed). Red Revolution*ary Military Council formed with Trotsky Chairmen. Sovnarkom accuse Anglo-French representatives of plotting.
    North Russia: Italian battalion lands at Murmansk.
    East Siberia: Czechs from Lake Baikal join Semenov at Manchuria Station. US Major-General Graves lands at Vladivostok.
    North Caucasus: *Bicherakov occupies Petrovsk. Muslim Checen overthrow Shura Soviet on September 3.

    SEA WAR
    North Sea: Kurt Beilzen ‘the man who killed Lord Kitchener’ killed when his U-102 is sunk by mines off Northern Barrage.

    SECRET WAR

    Britain: Weymss indicates to Beatty that new German naval cipher broken.

    AIR WAR
    Germany: 5 Handley Page bombers inflict damage of 400,000 Reichsmark on Saarbrucken’s Burbach works (night September 2-3).
    Western Front: JG3 destroys 26 Allied aircraft without loss, but up to 90 RAF single-seaters strafe ahead of Canadian Corps. British lose 36 aircraft (including 4 Sopwith Camel fighters of US No 148 Squadron) and 13 balloons, claim 8 German. Germans claim 50 Allied aircraft for loss of 6.

    The British Ace Major Arthur William Keen MC of 40 Squadron RAF was killed on this day.

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    The son of Arthur Thomas and Isabel Charlotte Eliza (née Willan) Keen, Arthur Willan Keen was schooled at Aldro, Dunchurch Hall and Rugby before commencing an engineering degree at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1913. His degree unfinished, Keen joined the Army Service Corp (Mechanical Transport) in 1915, as a 2nd Lieutenant. In November 1915 he joined the Royal Flying Corps and attended the School of Instruction, Reading, Berkshire. Basic flying training followed at Catterick, Yorkshire where Keen achieved his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 2298 on 17 January 1916, flying a Maurice Farman biplane. In late January 1916 Keen moved to Montrose, Forfarshire in Scotland, for advanced flying training. By mid-February he had been awarded his RFC Pilot Brevet and was selected to remain at Montrose as a flying instructor. On 17 June 1916, whilst airborne, Keen witnessed another aircraft crash into the sea close to Montrose airfield. He quickly landed, leapt into his car, drove rapidly for the beach, and swam out about 150 yards to rescue injured Canadian pilot 2nd Lt Robert E. A. Macbeth from the submerging wreck. This incident earned Keen the Bronze Medal of the Royal Humane Society (see citation below).

    August 1916 saw Keen join his first operational unit, 70 Squadron. Operating the Sopwith 1˝ Strutter, the squadron had already begun deploying in July, by individual Flights, to Fienvillers, France, in support of the Somme offensives. On 28 August Keen scored both his, and 70 Squadron's, first aerial combat victory. At the end of October 1916 Keen was briefly posted to No.45 Squadron, as a temporary Captain and Flight Commander, to assist the newly-arrived squadron in gearing up for war. No. 45 Squadron, also operating the Sopwith 1˝ Strutter, was co-located with 70 Squadron at Fienvillers. In early December 1916 Keen returned to Home Establishment, this time serving as a flying instructor with training units at Ternhill, Shropshire and Harlaxton, Lincolnshire. Keen returned to France at the end of April 1917, to 40 Squadron, newly-equipped with Nieuport scouts and in the throes of moving from Auchel to Bruay, France. He initially commanded ‘C’ Flight which included (then) 2nd Lt Edward C. 'Mick' Mannock amongst its members. During this tour Keen claimed a further 11 victories flying the Nieuport 23, and was awarded the Military Cross (see citation below).

    Another Home Establishment tour followed in November 1917, with a posting to HQ Eastern Training Brigade. Keen was then promoted to Major in April 1918 to command a flying training squadron at the Central Flying School, Upavon, Wiltshire. It wasn't long before Keen returned to 40 Squadron again, in June 1918, this time as Squadron Commander, following the combat death of previous incumbent Major Roderic S. Dallas. No.40 Squadron now operated the RAF SE5a; with this aircraft Keen added 2 further victories to his tally. An unfortunate flying accident at Bruay on 15 August 1918 resulted in concussion and burns, and Keen sadly succumbed to those injuries in hospital on 2 September, 70 days before the Armistice.

    Incorrectly listed as Arthur William Keen in some secondary sources. Some sources also incorrectly date Keen's death as 12 September 1918.

    Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal
    Awarded to people who have put their own lives at great risk to save or attempt to save someone else. "Bronze medal to Second Lieutenant A. W. Keen, Royal Flying Corps, for his rescue of Lieutenant MacBeth from the sea near Montrose on June 17th. The aeroplane on which Lieutenant MacBeth was flying came down in the sea, and Lieutenant Keen, who was also flying, seeing the accident, at once landed, and making his way to the place was just in time to save Lieutenant MacBeth, who was trying to swim ashore from the wrecked machine."

    Military Cross (MC)
    T./Capt. Arthur Willan Keen, Gen. List and R.F.C.
    For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has shown the greatest gallantry and skill in aerial fighting, and his daring in leading offensive patrols into favourable positions for attack has been the means of many hostile aircraft being destroyed and driven down.

    The following claims were made on this day

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    22 British airmen were lost on this day

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    and finally again we have some updates from Captain Tunstill's Men : In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    Ptes. John Bundy (see 21st July) and John Henderson (see 26th August) were appointed (unpaid) Lance Corporal.

    Pte. James Hillhouse (see 30th May) was reported by Sgt. Wilson Allinson (see 26th August), L.Sgt. Abel Roberts (see 27th August) and Cpl. William Harry Hall (see 25th August) for “hesitating to comply with an order; ie not putting on his puttees properly when ordered to do so”; on the orders of Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 1st September) he was to undergo seven days’ Field Punishment no.2.

    L.Cpl. Dennis Waller (see 8th August), who had been severely wounded in action a month previously while serving in serving in France with 2DWR, suffering a compound fracture of his left femur, underwent a second operation at 54th Casualty Clearing Station. It was reported that, “wounds suppurating freely; temperature irregular; unduly rapid pulse; wounds granulating; posterior drainage established”.

    L.Cpl. Frank Mallinson MM (see 19th May), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was reported for “not complying with an order and insolence to a superior officer”; he was severely reprimanded but suffered no further punishment.

    Pte. Frederick Fielden (see 14th October), who had been in England since having been severely wounded on 20th September 1917, dictated a new will; he had recently been re-admitted to Edmonton War Hospital due to ‘pain in the stomach and loss of weight’. His new will appointed one Ralph Ashton of Green Lane, Halifax, as his executor and bequeathed all his property and assets to his sister, Elizabeth Ann Fielden; thus denying his wife, Catherine, any rights to his assets. It would appear, from subsequent proceedings, that she had been estranged from him and she would be denied access to any further payments on account of ‘misconduct’.

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    Last edited by Hedeby; 09-02-2018 at 14:53.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  16. #3566

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

  17. #3567

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    Another massive edition Chris.
    Thanks. Rob.
    Only half finished lol...

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  18. #3568

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    Dispatch rider with Saturday 31st issue reported in today, issue posted.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  19. #3569

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

  20. #3570

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    3rd September 1918

    Lieutenant James Pomeroy Cavers (Royal Air Force) is attacked by six enemy aircraft while on escort duty protecting reconnaissance aircraft over the Balkan front. To protect the slower aircraft he stays and fights until his aircraft is hit and falls into Lake Doiran. He survives the crash and as he is swimming to shore the enemy fighters strafe and kill him in the water. This is witnessed by other members of 150 Squadron, including Lieutenant F D Travers, Lieutenant W Ridley and Captain G C Gardiner, who then attack the enemy formation shooting four of them down.

    Lieutenant Robert Reginald Richardson (Royal Air Force) drops two 230-pound bombs at an enemy submarine. The first bomb detonates fifteen yards astern of the conning tower. He then circles and drops another bomb twenty yards ahead. No patrol vessels are available to assist.

    Second Battle of Bapaume – The battle for Bapaume, France ended with a victory for New Zealand over Germany, with 800 New Zealand soldiers killed and 2,300 wounded.
    Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin – German forces retreated back to the Hindenburg line, ending the battle at a cost of 3,000 Australian casualties.
    Battle of Drocourt-Quéant Line – Canadian troops forced the Germans to withdraw 40 miles (64 km) back to the Hindenburg Line; six Canadian soldiers received the Victoria Cross for action during the battle.

    Battle of San Matteo – Austro-Hungarian forces bombarded the San Matteo peak of the Ortler mountain in Alps in an attempt to take it back from Italian forces. The attack failed with 17 men lost on the Austro-Hungarian side and 10 on the Italian side. The attack was the last offensive carried out by Austria-Hungary in World War I. At an altitude of 2,800 metres, it was the highest battle ever fought until the a battle during Kargil War in 1999 was fought at 5,600 metres. On September 3, 1918 the Austro-Hungarian forces launched operation "Gemse", an attack aimed to retake the mountain. A large scale artillery bombardment, followed by the assault of at least 150 Kaiserschützen of the 3rd KuK Kaiserjäger Regiment stationed in Dimaro, was eventually successful and the lost position was retaken. The Italians, who already considered the mountain lost, began a counter-bombardment of the fortified positions, causing many victims among both the defending Italian and the Austro-Hungarian troops.

    The Austro-Hungarians lost 17 men in the battle and the Italians 10. The counterattack would be the last Austro-Hungarian victory in World War I. The Armistice of Villa Giusti, concluded on November 3, 1918 at 15:00 at Villa Giusti (near Padua) ended the Alpine War in these mountains on November 4, 1918 at 15։00 h.

    WESTERN FRONT
    France: FOCH GENERAL ORDER SPECIFIES UNREMITTING ATTACKS ALL ALONG THE LINE.
    Germany: Ludendorff secret order deplores defeatist talk by men on leave.
    Artois: British re*enter Lens; rapid German retreat. Canadian Corps suffers 5,622 casualties (September 1-3) and takes 6,000 unwounded PoWs (September 1-4).
    Somme: French cross river to east at Epenancourt south of Peronne.

    SEA WAR
    North Sea: 6 Royal Navy monitors fire 550 shells (including 52 x 18-inch shells from General Wolfe at 36,000 yards) at Snaeskerke rail junction and bridge 4 miles south of Ostend despite German aircraft bombing (repeated September 29, October 2 and 3).
    Neutrals, Chile: 7 of 32 interned German steamers partially sabotaged by crews, but Chilean troops board.

    AIR WAR
    Western Front: Allies claim 55 German aircraft (Germans admit loss of 8 for 30 Allied).
    Salonika: 6 RAF SE5a and Sopwith Camel fighters destroy 4 of 6 German aircraft encountered after lone Bristol photo recon monoplane shot down into Lake Doiran.

    The Imperial German Navy combined five squadrons to form the world's first navy fighter wing, the Royal Prussian Marine Jagdgeschwader, with Gotthard Sachsenberg as its first commanding officer

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    Gotthard Sachsenberg (6 December 1891 – 23 August 1961) was a German World War I fighter ace with 31 victories who went on to command the world's first naval air wing. In later life, he founded the airline Deutscher Aero Lloyd, became an anti-Nazi member of the German parliament, and also became a pioneering designer of hydrofoils. Gotthard Sachsenberg was born in Rosslau, north of the Elbe River near Dessau, Germany. After his initial schooling, he attended the gymnasium in Eisenach for secondary schooling preparatory to entering university. His major was economics. He volunteered for seagoing service and became a sea cadet on the cruiser SMS Hertha on 1 April 1913. In 1914, promotion to Fähnrich zur See and transfer to the battleship SMS Pommern followed. He received the Iron Cross First Class in August, 1915 as an officer candidate, for his excellence as an artillery spotter. On 18 September 1915, he received his leutnant's (lieutenant's) commission.

    However, he was fascinated by aircraft and in December 1915 transferred to the air service. He was posted to Marine Feldflieger Abteilung II as a Fähnrich zur See observer.

    He then served as an instructor for observers. He underwent pilot training at Johannisthal, qualifying as a pilot. Returning to MFA II to fly a Fokker Eindekker.

    On 1 February 1917, Sachsenberg succeeded Oberleutnant von Santen as commanding officer of Marine Feld Jasta I. MFJ II was organized somewhat later, and the two were combined into a larger unit, Marine Jagdgruppe Flandern. Leutnant zur See Sachsenberg was appointed its commanding officer. His friend and rival ace Theo Osterkamp became commander of MGJ II. MFJ III was later raised and added to the larger unit. Still later, two more MFJs were raised and added to the parent unit, bringing its strength up to about 50 fighter planes, comparable to an army Jagdgeschwader. Stationed on North Sea coastal airfields, the MFJ units often fought against Royal Naval Air Service aircraft who were stationed in similar circumstances.

    Sachsenberg opened his score as a fighter pilot, downing a Farman and a Sopwith 1˝ Strutter on 1 May 1917. He scored again on the 12th, claiming a Sopwith Pup into the sea, and then notching a double victory on 7 June to make him an ace. On 20 August, Sachsenberg was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. By the end of 1917, his victory roll stood at eight. He claimed his ninth victory on 17 March 1918, and continued to score steadily until 29 October 1918, when he downed his 31st confirmed. Midway through this run, Sachsenberg was awarded Prussia's and Germany's highest decoration, the Pour le Mérite, on 5 August 1918. The MJF switched from the Albatros to Fokker D.VIIs in June 1918. They were as colorfully and distinctively marked as Manfred von Richthofen's "Flying Circus" (Jagdgeschwader 1), with the basic color scheme being yellow and black, as a yellow and black checkerboard had been Sachsenberg's personal motif, and it was spread to the entire unit, with minor variations marking the different pilots.

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    Sachsenberg formed Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg in January 1919, consisting of 700 personnel, several of whom were fellow World War I aces. Based at Riga, Latvia, it gave aerial support to the Freikorps, fighting Russian communist forces on the Baltic borders of Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.[citation needed] It was successful in establishing air superiority over its opponent, and mainly flew ground support missions on behalf of the Freikorps.

    Sachsenberg received a promotion to Oberleutnant on 5 March 1920. After the Baltic war ended, Sachsenberg initially concerned himself with helping his fellow veterans make the transition back to civil life. He then joined with Professor Hugo Junkers, whose aircraft he had used in the Baltic, to found Aero Lloyd Airlines. Another business interest of Sachsenberg's was his brother's shipyard, building river craft and small coastal ships. Sachsenberg became interested in politics and was elected to the German Parliament. He represented Liegnitz from July 1932 onwards, taking a pacifist stance. He wrote and published articles decrying Germany's military buildup toward war, and especially its establishment of the Luftwaffe. He predicted it would bring war home to German families and German soil. In retribution for his voiced 'defeatism', the Nazis held a secret trial in absentia, although Sachsenberg escaped the consequences of conviction because his family shipyard was producing military ships.

    In the mid-1930s, Sachsenberg allied himself with hydrofoil ship pioneer Hanns von Schertel. Hydrofoil ship speeds of more than 30 knots, faster than any warships then on water, attracted attention from the German Ministry of Transportation and Finance, the German Navy, and German Air Force. Commercial exploitation of the hydrofoil was cut short by World War II. Several military hydrofoils of differing sizes, with speeds up to 60 knots, were acquired during World War II. However, they were only prototypes, and most fell prey to war damage of some sort. The end of World War II brought the Russian occupation of Dessau, and their acquisition of the shipyard. Sachsenberg and Shertel set up a new hydrofoil operation named Supramar in Switzerland. In 1953, they finally saw the first commercial hydrofoil in operation between Ascona, Switzerland, and Arona, Italy, on Lake Maggiore. The hydrofoil concept gradually spread worldwide, but Sachsenberg did not live to see its general use. He died in Bremen of a heart attack on 23 August 1961.

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    John McNamara VC (28 October 1887 – 16 October 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was 30 years old, and a corporal in the 9th Battalion, The East Surrey Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

    On 3 September 1918 north west of Lens, France, when operating a telephone in evacuated enemy trenches occupied by his battalion, Corporal McNamara realised that a determined enemy counter-attack was gaining ground. Rushing to the nearest post, he made very good use of a revolver taken from a wounded officer and then, seizing a Lewis gun, he fired it until it jammed. By this time, he was alone in the post and, having destroyed the telephone, he joined the nearest post and maintained a Lewis gun until reinforcements arrived.

    He was killed in action near Solesmes, France, on 16 October 1918.

    The following claims were made on this day

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    The top performance of the day was from Captain Walter Alfred Southey DFC & Bar 84 Squadron RAF

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    The son of Walter & Emma Southey, Walter Alfred Southey joined the army in February 1916. He was promoted to temporary 2nd Lieutenant (on probation) with the Royal Flying Corps on 5 August 1916. In 1917 he joined 48 Squadron as a Bristol Fighter pilot. He scored no victories until he was reassigned to 84 Squadron in April 1918. Becoming a flight commander during the summer of 1918, he narrowly escaped capture when he inadvertently landed his aircraft behind enemy lines. Flying the S.E.5a, Southey was credit with twenty victories. He died as the result of an unknown accident which fractured his skull.

    Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
    Lieut. (T./Capt.) Walter Alfred Southey.
    A gallant and skilful officer. On the 9th August, observing a large body of enemy troops and artillery on a road, he descended to 50 feet and bombed them, causing heavy casualties; he then engaged them with machine-gun fire, inflicting further loss and scattering them in all directions. He displays great courage in the air, having accounted for seven enemy aircraft.
    Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 November 1918 (30989/12973)

    Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) Bar
    Lt. (A./Capt.) Walter Alfred Southey, D.F.C. (FRANCE)
    An officer of ready resource whose skilful leadership is of the greatest value to his squadron. Since 23rd August Captain Southey has destroyed five enemy kite balloons and three machines, while he has also driven down two aircraft completely out of control.
    Supplement to the London Gazette, 8 February 1919 (31170/2034

    It was a bad day for the RAF with 33 British airmen lost, including...

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    Captain Tunstill's Men:
    In Brigade reserve camp near Cavalletto.

    The Battalion was relieved by 8Yorks and moved into brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Pte. Charles Walton (see 7th August) was reported by Sgt. Ernest Craddock (see 26th August) as having a “dirty bayonet on 9am parade; on the orders of Capt. **** Bolton MC (see 29th August) he would be confined to barracks for four days.

    Pte. Joseph William Carter (see 22nd March) was admitted to 69th Field Ambulance, suffering from “inflammation of the larynx”; he would be discharged and re-join the Battalion eight days later.

    Pte. James Henry Innes (see 29th October 1917) was admitted to 11th General Hospital in Genoa, suffering from “I.C.T.” (Inflammation of the connective tissue) to his buttock.

    Pte. George Ingle (see 30th August), who was being treated for diarrohea at 71st Field Ambulance, suffered burns to his right arm when an oil lamp exploded and set light to his shirt; he was transferred to 9th Casualty Clearing Station for further treatment.

    Capt. Hugh William Lester MC (see 23rd July), serving in France as Brigade Major to 11th Infantry Brigade, would be awarded a Bar to the Military Cross, “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty near Eterpigny during the period August 29th to September 3rd, 1918, when he carried out his duties as Brigade Major with great energy, being always well up in front and keeping his headquarters well informed of the progress of the fighting. He finished up at dawn on the sixth day by discovering that the enemy had withdrawn”.

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    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  21. #3571

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    4th September 1918

    Penultimate one from me for a short while - am heading somewhere hotter.... I will be passing the baton (well typewriter) to the very capable Squadron Leader Scafloc.

    Lieutenant Alec Corry Vully de Candole (Wiltshire Regiment attached Machine Gun Corps) is killed in a bombing raid on Bonningues at age 21. He was a Great War Poet and two days before his death he wrote his final poem:

    When the Long Last Trek is Over
    When the long last treck is over,
    And the last long trench filled in,
    I’ll take a boat to Dover,
    Away from all the din;
    I’ll take a trip to Mendip,
    I’ll see the Wilshire downs,
    And all my sould I’ll then dip
    In peace no trouble drowns.

    Away from noise of battle,
    Away from bombs and shells,
    I’ll lie where browse the cattle,
    Or pluck the purple bells,
    I’ll lie among the heather,
    And watch the distant plain,
    Through all the summer weather,
    Nor go to fight again.

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    Lieutenant Geoffrey Fyson (Royal Scots) is killed when on patrol by a bomb at Salonika at age 33. He was Exhibitioner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. His twin brother was killed in April 1915 and they were sons of the Right Reverend Philip K Fyson DD formerly Bishop of Hokkaido, Japan.

    Second Lieutenant Hugh George Evans (Liverpool Regiment attached Devonshire Regiment) is killed in action at age 31. His is the son-in-law of the Mayor of Denbigh and has been previously wounded several times. On one occasion a bullet struck a copy a Pocket Testament in his breast pocket saving his life. His brother was killed last October.

    Corporal William Harold Wood (New Zealand Rifle Brigade) is killed at age 20. He is the son of the Reverend William Charles Wood Vicar of Papauura New Zealand.
    Private Robert Cargill (New Zealand Reinforcements) dies at sea at age 26. His brother was killed in June 1917.
    Private Percy Charles Bartram (Bedfordshire Regiment) is killed in action at age 21. His brother was killed in May of this year.
    Private Gilbert Youlden (Hampshire Regiment) is killed at age 19. His brother was killed last October.

    Now if the 'Darwin Awards' (see link if you are not familiar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Awards ) were around in 1918 then the following would certainly qualify

    Driver Stanley Hughes (Australian Field Artillery) is accidentally killed at age 25 as he and a friend were intending to use a trench mortar bomb to fish and they accidentally detonate it.

    SOUTHERN FRONTS
    Britain: Lloyd George approves Macedonia offensive after Guillaumat visits London, latter then visits Rome who approve on September 10.

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    WESTERN FRONT
    Flanders: British 29th Division captures Ploegsteert and Hill 63.
    Somme: NZ Division captures Ruyaulcourt, 7 miles east of Bapaume.

    EASTERN FRONT

    USSR: Lockhart again arrested. British War Cabinet cable threatens reprisals if British lives not guaranteed.
    Northern Russia: 4500 US troops (Colonel Stewart’s 339th Regiment, embarked Newcastle August 26) land at Archangel (and September 11). Allies occupy Obezerskaya 73 miles south.


    HOME
    The U.S. Army established the 95th Infantry Division at Camp Sherman, Ohio.

    The 95th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. Today it exists as the 95th Training Division, a component of the United States Army Reserve headquartered at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Activated too late to deploy for World War I, the division remained in the Army's reserve until World War II, when it was sent to Europe. Renowned for fighting back fierce German counterattacks, the division earned the nickname "Iron Men of Metz" for fighting to liberate and defend the town. After World War II, the division spent another brief period in reserve before being activated as one of the Army's training divisions. Over the next fifty years the division would see numerous changes to its structure as its training roles changed and subordinate units shifted in and out of its command. It activated a large number of regimental and brigade commands to fulfill various training roles. The division then began conducting one station unit training, a responsibility it continues to this day.

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    The 95th Division was first constituted on 4 September 1918 in the NationalAarmy. It was organized that month at Camp Sherman, Ohio. The division was organized with the 189th Infantry Brigade and the 190th Infantry Brigade of the Oklahoma organized reserve. The division was slated to be deployed overseas to fight in World War I. Training of all of the division's units began immediately. On 11 November, the Armistice with Germany was signed, ending the hostilities. The division's deployment was cancelled and it was demobilized in December 1918. All of the division's officers and enlisted men were discharged from the military or transferred to other unit.

    On 24 June 1921, the division was reconstituted and reactivated in the Organized Reserve. The headquarters was organized on 31 August 1921. From that point until 1942, the division remained as a reserve unit based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

    On 15 July 1942, the division was ordered into active military service and reorganized at Camp Swift, Texas. The 189th and 190th Infantry Brigades were disbanded as part of an army-wide elimination of brigades. Instead, the division was based around three infantry regiments, the 377th Infantry Regiment, the 378th Infantry Regiment, and the 379th Infantry Regiment. The division also received a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia this year. Over the next two years, the division trained extensively in locations throughout the United States.

    The 95th Infantry Division was assigned to XIII Corps of the Ninth United States Army, Twelfth United States Army Group. The division sailed for Europe on 10 August 1944. The 95th Infantry Division arrived in England on 17 August. After receiving additional training, it moved to France one month later on 15 September. During this time it was reassigned to III Corps. The division bivouacked near Norroy-le-Sec, from 1 to 14 October. It was then assigned to XX Corps of the Third United States Army. The division was sent into combat on 19 October in the Moselle bridgehead sector east of Moselle and South of Metz and patrolled the Seille near Cheminot, capturing the forts surrounding Metz and repulsing enemy attempts to cross the river. It was during the defense of this town from repeated German attacks that the division received its nickname, "The Iron Men of Metz." On 1 November, elements went over to the offensive, reducing an enemy pocket east of Maizičres-lčs-Metz. On the 8 November, these units crossed the Moselle River and advanced to Bertrange. Against heavy resistance, the 95th captured the forts surrounding Metz and captured the city by 22 November.

    The division pushed toward the Saar on 25 November and entered Germany on the 28th. The 95th seized a Saar River bridge on 3 December and engaged in bitter house-to-house fighting for Saarlautern. Suburbs of the city fell and, although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Saar bridgehead was firmly established by 19 December. While some units went to an assembly area, others held the area against strong German attacks.[10] On 2 February 1945, the division began moving to the Maastricht area in the Netherlands, and by 14 February, elements were in the line near Meerselo in relief of British units. During this time the division returned to the Ninth Army under XIX Corps, though saw temporary assignments to several other corps through the spring.

    On 23 February, the division was relieved, and the 95th assembled near Jülich, Germany, on 1 March. It forced the enemy into a pocket near the Hitler Bridge at Uerdingen and cleared the pocket on 5 March, while elements advanced to the Rhine. From 12 March, the 95th established defenses in the vicinity of Neuss. Assembling east of the Rhine at Beckum on 3 April, it launched an attack across the Lippe River the next day and captured Hamm and Kamen on the 6th. After clearing the enemy pocket north of the Ruhr and the Möhne Rivers, the division took Werl and Unna on 9/10 April, Dortmund on 13 April and maintained positions on the north bank of the Ruhr. It held this position until the end of the war.

    AIR WAR

    Western Front: RAF day bombers raid Valenciennes, Douai and Cambrai, air combat costs 15 RAF and 11 German aircraft.

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    A flight of twelve Camels from Royal Air Force, while on temporary attachment from II Brigade is engaged by JGIII flying perhaps as many as thirty Fokkers over the First Army front. Eight pilots do not return, four are dead four are made prisoners. This is the largest single loss during the Great War by a Camel squadron.

    On a busy day in the air, the following claims were made

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    There were two Hat-tricks on this day, one on each 'side'

    Captain Edgar Charles Johnston DFC 88 Squadron RAF (Bristol Fighters)

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    After serving with the Australian Imperial Force, Edgar Charles Johnston joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. By the end of the year, he scored his first victory as a D.H.5 pilot serving with 24 Squadron. In 1918, he returned to England where he joined 88 Squadron before returning to France as the commander of B Flight. Flying Bristol Fighters, he and his observers downed 19 enemy aircraft before the Armistice was signed. Returning home to Australia, Johnston later became Assistant Director General of the Department of Civil Aviation and was employed by Qantas Airlines before he retired in 1967.

    Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
    Lt. (T./Capt.) Edgar Charles Johnston.
    A brilliant and most dashing leader who greatly distinguished himself on the 4th of September. Leading his flight of four machines (including his own), he saw a patrol of fourteen Fokkers. Undaunted by the disparity in numbers, he, without hesitation, engaged and completely defeated them. He shot down one machine in flames himself, and three others were driven down out of control. Continuing his patrol, he shortly afterwards saw a second formation of eight Fokkers. His machine was badly shot about and much of his ammunition expended, but this did not deter him from at once attacking them. In this engagement three Fokkers were accounted for, one of which he himself shot down, thus making a total of seven enemy machines disposed of by his flight of four in one morning. A very fine performance, reflecting the greatest credit on all engaged.

    Leutnant Otto Fruhner of Jasta 26

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    On 20 September 1918, Fruhner was wounded and forced to parachute from his plane when he collided with a Sopwith Camel from 203 Squadron.

    Captain Tunstill's Men: In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Cpl. Stanley Vyvyan Golledge (see 26th August) was promoted Acting Sergeant.
    Pte. Ralph Pocock Crease (see 17th March) was promoted Acting Corporal.
    A/L.Cpl. Robert William Gough (see 6th August) began to be paid according to his rank, having previously held the post unpaid.
    Pte. Francis Barrett (see 28th July) was appointed (unpaid) Lance Corporal.
    Pte. Jonas Yoxall (see 20th August), who had been wounded on 20th August, suffering shrapnel wounds to his forehead, was transferred from 11th General Hospital at Genoa to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano.
    Ptes. Thomas James Hogben (see 26th August) and John O’Gara (see 29th October 1917), who had been wounded on 26th August, were evacuated to England; the details of their treatment in England are unknown.

    Cpl. William Foulds (see 25th June), who had been suffering from swollen glands in his neck, was evacuated to England from 81st Stationary Hospital in Marseilles. On arrival in England he would be admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. Having been admitted he would be operated on: “an incision was made and pus evacuated and hot fomentations applied”.

    Pte. Charles Grant (see 5th July 1917) was evacuated to England; he was suffering from chronic conjunctivitis, but the details of his treatment are unknown.

    A grant of Ł104 3s. 4d. was authorised, to be paid to 2Lt. Billy Oldfield MM (see 19th August), who had been severely wounded in April while serving in France with 1st/4th DWR and was still at 2nd Northern General Hospital in Leeds.

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    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  22. #3572

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    Thanks for another spiffing series of editions Chris.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  23. #3573

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    5th September 1918

    U.S. Navy troopship USS Mount Vernon was hit by a torpedo by German submarine U-82, killing 36 on-board and injuring another 13 in the attack. Accompanying American destroyers forced the submarine away, allowing emergency repairs to get underway that saved Mount Veron and allowed her to return to port under her own power.

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    SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie was an ocean liner built in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1906 for North German Lloyd that had the largest steam reciprocating machinery ever fitted to a ship. The last of four ships of the Kaiser class, she was also the last German ship to have been built with four funnels. She was engaged in transatlantic service between her homeport of Bremen and New York until the outbreak of World War I.

    On 4 August 1914, at sea after departing New York, she turned around and put into Bar Harbor, Maine, where she later was interned by the neutral United States. After that country entered the war in April 1917, the ship was seized and turned over to the United States Navy, and renamed USS Mount Vernon (ID-4508). While serving as a troop transport, Mount Vernon was torpedoed in September 1918. Though damaged, she was able to make port for repairs and returned to service. In October 1919 Mount Vernon was turned over for operation by the Army Transport Service in its Pacific fleet based at Fort Mason in San Francisco. USAT Mount Vernon was sent to Vladivostok, Russia to transport elements of the Czechoslovak Legion to Trieste, Italy and German prisoners of war to Hamburg, Germany. On return from that voyage, lasting from March through July 1920, the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board and laid up at Solomons Island, Maryland until September 1940 when she was scrapped at Boston, Massachusetts.

    Kronprinzessin Cecilie was commandeered by the United States on 3 February 1917 and transferred from the United States Shipping Board (USSB) to the U.S. Navy when America entered the war that April. She was commissioned 28 July 1917 and renamed USS Mount Vernon after George Washington's Virginia home. She was fitted out at Boston to carry troops and materiel to Europe. Mount Vernon departed New York for Brest on 31 October 1917 for her first U.S. Navy crossing, and during the war made nine successful voyages carrying American troops to fight in Europe. However, early on the morning of 5 September 1918, as the transport steamed homeward in convoy some 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the French coast, her No. 1 gun crew spotted a periscope some 500 yards (460 m) off her starboard bow. Mount Vernon immediately fired one round at German U-boat U-82. The U‑boat simultaneously submerged, but managed to launch a torpedo at the transport. Mount Vernon's officer of the deck promptly ordered right full rudder, but the ship could not turn in time to avoid the missile, which struck her amidships, knocking out half of her boilers, flooding the midsection, and killing 36 sailors and injuring 13. Mount Vernon's guns kept firing ahead of the U‑boat’s wake and her crew launched a pattern of depth charges. Damage-control teams worked to save the ship, and their efforts paid off when the transport was able to return to Brest under her own power. Repaired temporarily at Brest, she proceeded to Boston for complete repairs.

    Mount Vernon rejoined the Cruiser and Transport Service in February 1919 and sailed on George Washington’s birthday for France to begin returning veterans to the United States. Mount Vernon pulled out of port on 3 March 1919 at 11 PM to return to the United States. Some of her notable passengers during her naval service were: Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations; General Tasker H. Bliss, Chief of Staff of the United States Army; Col. Edward M. House, Special Adviser to President Wilson; and Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War.

    The Kazan Operation

    Kazan Operation was the Red Army's offensive (5–10 September 1918) against the Czechoslovak Legion and the People Army of Komuch during the Russian Civil War.

    Following the capture of Samara by the Czech Legion on 8 June, several members of the Constituent Assembly, which had been dissolved by the Bolsheviks, organized a Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (in Russian "Constituent Assembly" was "Uchreditel'noe Sobranie", hence the abbreviation for Committee was "Komuch"). This threatened to form an alternative socialist government to the Bolshevik regime. In August 1918, the Whites occupied Kazan. Bolshevik forces were defeated, and they dispersed to Kazan's neighborhood. The Whites lilled the remaining of Bolsheviks in the city, including Mullanur Waxitov.

    The Fifth Army has been assigned the task of taking Kazan. Our enemy is trying to break through from Kazan to Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Vyatka and Vologda, to link up with the Anglo-French troops, and to crush the heart of the workers’ revolution – Moscow. But before Kazan stand the workers’ and peasants’ regiments of the Red Army. They know what their task is: to prevent the enemy from taking a single step forward: to wrest Kazan from his grasp: to throw back the Czech mercenaries and the officer-thugs, drown them in the Volga, and crush their criminal mutiny against the workers’ revolution.In this conflict we are using not only rifles, cannon and machine guns, but also newspapers. For the newspaper is also a weapon. The newspaper binds together all units of the Fifth Army in one thought, one aspiration, one will. Forward to Kazan! Leon Trotsky August 1918. At the beginning of the operation, the Reds' disposition was as follows: To the west of Kazan were the Fifth Army of the Eastern Front under Pēteris Slavens and the Volga Flotilla under Fyodor Raskolnikov; to the east of Kazan was the Arsk group of the Second Army under Woldemar Azin. They opposed the Czechoslovak legion and KomUch People's Army under A. P. Stepanov.

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    On September 7, the Right Bank Group of the Fifth Army with the flotilla's backing reached the right (west) bank of Volga and shelled Kazan from the commanding position of Uslan Hill. The Left Bank Group reached the mouth of the Kazanka River. That day the Arsk Group took Kinderle and Klyki villages to the east of Kazan. On September 9, sailors and landed marksmen under Nikolay Markin took the beachhead at the western part of Kazan. On that day the Left Bank Group and Arsk Group joined and laid siege to part of Kazan. On September 10, after storming the city from three directions, Red Army troops took control of Kazan. The majority of Whites managed to sail away via the Volga. The capturing of Kazan and Simbirsk by the Red Army made continued strategic offensives westwards possible for the Red Army.

    The North Russia Intervention, also known as the Northern Russian Expedition, the Archangel Campaign, and the Murman Deployment, was part of the Allied Intervention in Russia after the October Revolution. The intervention brought about the involvement of foreign troops in the Russian Civil War on the side of the White movement. While the movement was ultimately defeated, the Allied forces fought notable ending defensive actions against the Bolsheviks in the battles of Bolshie Ozerki, allowing them to withdraw from Russia in good order. The campaign lasted from 1918, during the final months of World War I, to 1920.

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    In March 1917, after the abdication of Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the formation of a provisional democratic government in Russia, the U.S. entered World War I. The U.S. government declared war on the German Empire in April (and later upon Austria-Hungary) after learning of the former's attempt to persuade Mexico to join the Central Powers. The Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky, pledged to continue fighting Imperial Germany on the Eastern Front. In return, the U.S. began providing economic and technical support to the Russian provisional government, so they could carry out their military pledge. The Russian offensive of 18 June 1917 was crushed by a German counteroffensive. The Russian Army was plagued by mutinies and desertions. Allied war materiel still in transit quickly began piling up in warehouses at Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and the ice-free port of Murmansk. Anxious to keep Russia in the war, the Royal Navy established the British North Russia Squadron under Admiral Kemp.

    The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, came to power in October 1917 and established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Five months later, they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, which formally ended the war on the Eastern Front. This allowed the German army to begin redeploying troops to the Western Front, where the depleted British and French armies had not yet been bolstered by the American Expeditionary Force. Coincidental with the Treaty, Lenin personally pledged that if the Czechoslovak Legion would stay neutral and leave Russia, they would enjoy safe passage through Siberia on their way to join the Allied forces on the Western Front. However, as the 50,000 members of the Legion made their way along the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Vladivostok, only half had arrived before the agreement broke down and fighting with the Bolsheviks ensued in May 1918. Also worrisome to the Allied Powers was the fact that in April 1918, a division of German troops had landed in Finland, creating fears they might try to capture the Murmansk–Petrograd railroad, the strategic port of Murmansk and possibly even the city of Arkhangelsk.

    Faced with these events, the leaders of the British and French governments decided the western Allied Powers needed to begin a military intervention in North Russia. They had three objectives: they hoped to prevent the Allied war materiel stockpiles in Arkhangelsk from falling into German or Bolshevik hands; to mount an offensive to rescue the Czechoslovak Legion, which was stranded along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and resurrect the Eastern Front; and by defeating the Bolshevik army with the assistance of the Czechoslovak Legion, to expand anti-communist forces drawn from the local citizenry. Severely short of troops to spare, the British and French requested that US President Woodrow Wilson provide U.S. troops for what was to be called the North Russia Campaign, or the Allied Intervention in North Russia. In July 1918, against the advice of the US War Department, Wilson agreed to a limited participation in the campaign by a contingent of U.S. Army soldiers of the 339th Infantry Regiment, that was hastily organized into the American North Russia Expeditionary Force, which came to be nicknamed the Polar Bear Expedition. Under his Aide Memoire, Wilson set the guidelines for American intervention by saying the purpose of American troops in Russia was "to guard military stores which may subsequently be needed by Russian forces and to render such aid as may be acceptable to the Russians in the organization of their own self-defense.

    The British Secretary of State for War, Lord Milner,, appointed Lt. General Frederick C. Poole, who had spent two years in Russia, to lead the expedition to Archangel.

    The British 6th Battalion Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI) was scratched together from a company of the Royal Marine Artillery and companies from each of the three naval port depots. Very few of their officers had seen any land fighting. Their original purpose had been only to deploy to Flensburg to supervise a vote to decide whether northern Schleswig-Holstein should remain German or be given to Denmark. Many of the Marines were less than 19 years old; it would have been unusual to send them overseas. Others were ex-prisoners of war who had only recently returned from Germany and had no home leave.

    There was outrage when on short notice, the 6th Battalion was shipped to Murmansk, Russia, on the Arctic Ocean, to assist in the withdrawal of British forces. Still not expecting to have to fight, the battalion was ordered forward under army command to hold certain outposts.

    The forces included:

    A British Royal Navy Flotilla of over 20 ships – including two seaplane carriers; HMS Pegasus and HMS Nairana
    The 45th and 46th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers
    Approximately 8,000 United States Army soldiers
    14 Battalions of British Commonwealth troops – Canadian Brigade and Australian Infantry,
    2,000 French, Colonial & Engineers,
    1,000 British-Serbian and Polish Rifles assigned to assist Admiral Kolchak’s White Guard forces in the north and make a junction with his Siberian forces (Czechoslovak Legion) near Kotlas.
    A British Royal Air Force contingent comprising Airco DH.4 bombers, Fairey Campania and Sopwith Baby seaplanes along with a single Sopwith Camel fighter.

    Opposing this international force was the Sixth and Seventh Red Army, combined in the Northern Front (RSFSR), which was poorly prepared for battle in May 1918

    On 2 August 1918, anti-Bolshevik forces, led by Tsarist Captain Georgi Chaplin, staged a coup against the local Soviet government at Archangelsk. British diplomats had travelled to in preparation of the invasion, and General Poole had coordinated the coup with Chaplin. Allied warships sailed into the port from the White Sea.[9] The Northern Region Government was established by Chaplin and popular revolutionary Nikolai Tchaikovsky; to all intents and purposes, however, General Poole ran Archangelsk, declaring martial law and banning the red flag, despite the decision of the Northern Region Government to fly it. It was reported in the British press in early August that the Allied Powers had occupied Arkhangelsk, although not officially confirmed by the British authorities at the time. By 17 August it was being reported that the Allies had advanced to the shores of Onega Bay. The lines of communications south from Arkhangelsk were the Northern Dvina in the east, Vaga River, Arkhangelsk Railway, the Onega River in the west, and the Yomtsa River providing a line of communication between the Vaga River and the railway in the centre.

    In September 1918, the Allied Powers took Obozerskaya, around 100 miles (160 km) south of Archangel. During the attack, the RAF provided air support to the advancing Allied infantry, conducting bombing and strafing runs. On 28 August 1918 the British 6th Royal Marine Light Infantry Battalion was ordered to seize the village of Koikori (Койкары) from the Bolsheviks as part of a wide offensive into East Karelia to secure the British withdrawal to Murmansk. The attack on the village was disorganized and resulted in three Marines killed and 18 wounded, including the battalion commander who had ineffectually led the attack himself. A week later, B and C companies, led this time by an army major, made a second attempt to take Koikori, while D company was involved in an attack on the village of Ussuna. The British were again repulsed at Koikori; the army major was killed and both Marine company commanders wounded. D company was also beaten off by Bolshevik forces around Ussuna, with the death of the battalion adjutant, killed by sniper fire. The next morning, faced with the prospect of another attack on the village, one Marine company refused to obey orders and withdrew themselves to a nearby friendly village. Ninety-three men from the battalion were court-martialled; 13 were sentenced to death and others received substantial sentences of hard labour. In December 1919, the Government, under pressure from several MPs, revoked the sentence of death and considerably reduced the sentences of all the convicted men.

    In September, with the Allied withdrawal already ongoing, a British detachment was sent by sea to Kandalaksha to stop sabotage operations carried out by Finnish Bolsheviks against the railway there. The British party was ambushed even before landing and suffered heavy casualties. Consequently, the unopposed Bolsheviks destroyed a number of bridges, delaying the evacuation for a time. A British River Force of eleven monitors (HMS M33, HMS Fox and others), minesweepers, and Russian gunboats was formed to use the navigable waters at the juncture of the rivers Vaga and Northern Dvina. Thirty Bolshevik gunboats, mines, and armed motor launches took their toll on the allied forces.

    The Allied troops, led by Lionel Sadleir-Jackson, were soon combined with Poles and White Guard forces. Fighting was heavy along both banks of the Northern Dvina. The River Force outflanked the enemy land positions with amphibious assaults led by US Marines, together with coordinated artillery support from land and river. Their Lewis gun proved to be an effective weapon, since both sides were only armed with the bolt action rifles. The Allied troops were inactive in the winter of 1918, building blockhouses with only winter patrols sent out.

    Within four months the Allied Powers' gains had shrunk by 30–50 kilometres (19–31 mi) along the Northern Dvina and Lake Onega Area as Bolshevik attacks became more sustained. A steady withdrawal was made from September 1918. Fierce fighting took place on Armistice Day 1918 at the Battle of Tulgas (Toulgas) at the Kurgomin–Tulgas line: the final defensive line in 1919. Trotsky as Commander in Chief of the Red Army personally supervised this task on the orders of Lenin. The Bolsheviks had an advantage in artillery in 1919 and renewed their offensive while the Vaga River was hurriedly evacuated. The furthest advance south in the conflict was a US Mission in Shenkursk on the Vaga River and Nizhnyaya Toyma on the Northern Dvina where the strongest Bolshevik positions were encountered. Allied troops were expelled from Shenkursk after an intense battle on 19 January 1919.The River Force monitors made a final successful engagement with the Bolshevik gunboats in September 1919. The Allied Powers then withdrew to prevent the Bolsheviks from carrying out the same tactics on the retreating Allied forces.

    An international policy to support the White Russians and, in newly appointed Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill's words, "to strangle at birth the Bolshevik State" became increasingly unpopular in Britain. In January 1919 the Daily Express was echoing public opinion when, paraphrasing Bismarck, it exclaimed, "the frozen plains of Eastern Europe are not worth the bones of a single grenadier". From April 1919, the inability to hold the flanks and mutinies in the ranks of the White Russian forces caused the Allied Powers to decide to leave. British officers at Shussuga had a lucky escape when their Russian gunners remained loyal. A number of western military advisers were killed by White mutineers who went over to the Bolsheviks. The British War Office sent General Henry Rawlinson to North Russia to assume command of the evacuation out of both Archangelsk and Murmansk. General Rawlinson arrived on August 11. On the morning of September 27, 1919, the last Allied troops departed from Archangelsk, and on October 12, Murmansk was abandoned.

    Minor operations to keep open a line of withdrawal against the 7th Red Army as far south as Lake Onega and Yomtsa River to the east took place along the Arkhangelsk Railway with an armoured train manned by the Americans. The last major battle fought by the Americans before their departure took place at Bolshie Ozerki from 31 March through 4 April 1919.

    The US appointed Brigadier General Wilds P. Richardson as commander of US forces to organize the safe withdrawal from Arkhangelsk. Richardson and his staff arrived in Archangelsk on April 17, 1919. By the end of June, the majority of the US forces was heading home and by September 1919, the last US soldier of the Expedition had also left Northern Russia.

    The White Russian Northern Army now had to face the Red Army alone. Poorly discipined, this Army was no match for the Red Army and it quickly collapsed, when the Bolshevik launched a counter-offensive in December 1919. Many soldiers capitulated and the remnants of the Army were evacuated from Arkhangelsk in February 1920. On February 20, 1920 the Bolsheviks entered Arkhangelsk and on March 13 1920, they took Murmansk. The White Northern Region Government ceased to exist. In 1927, the Constructivist-styled Monument to the Victims of the Intervention was raised in Murmansk, on the tenth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. It was still standing as of November 2017.

    Two fictional television characters fought with the British Expeditionary Force: Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In (as an intelligence officer in Murmansk) and Albert Steptoe in Steptoe and Son.

    The U.S. Army established the 97th Infantry Division at Camp Cody, New Mexico

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    The 97th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. Nicknamed the Trident division because of its shoulder patch, a vertical trident in white on a blue background, it was originally trained in amphibious assaults as preparation for deployment in the Pacific Theater, it was deployed to Europe in 1944 when casualties from the Battle of the Bulge needed to be replaced.

    The 97th Division was one of the divisions planned to be activated in late 1918 and deployed to France in 1919 to reinforce the American Expeditionary Force. The division was organized at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico and activated on 5 September 1918. It included the 193rd and 194th Infantry Brigades, and the 172nd Field Artillery Brigade. The 194th was to be organized and trained at Camp Cody, the 172nd at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and the 193rd was to be organized in France with the AEF. The division's cadre consisted of over 1,000 trained officers and enlisted men, and Colonel Carl A. Martin became its first commander on 26 September.

    The division was composed of National Army draftees mainly from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.[citation needed] In October, over 5,000 draftees, mainly from Oklahoma and Minnesota, were sent to the division at Camp Cody. Initial instruction at Camp Cody went relatively well, but the 172nd Brigade's training at Camp Jackson was delayed by a lack of personnel. Its regiments were at less than half strength as late as the beginning of November. In late October, the 97th was struck by the 1918 flu pandemic, which sickened over 500 soldiers and killed more than 100. On 25 October, Brigadier General James R. Lindsay became division commander as Martin became its chief of staff. The war ended with the Armistice of 11 November, and the 97th was ordered to be demobilized on 20 November. At the time, it consisted of 402 officers and 7,889 men. The demobilization was completed on 22 December, when the division was inactivated.

    Neptune's trident was originally adopted as the division's symbol, to represent the coastal states of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, from which recruits were drawn in 1918. The three prongs of the trident represent the three states, the blue symbolizes the states' numerous fresh water lakes, and the white of the border and trident represents the snow that covers these states' mountains.

    The 97th Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 25 February 1943 at Camp Swift, Texas. Most of the cadre came from the 95th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In February 1944 the division was moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for additional training. During 1944 approximately 5,000 soldiers were stripped from the division and sent as replacements to other units in Europe. Division strength was eventually restored when the Army Specialized Training Program was terminated and its personnel were reassigned to Army Ground Forces. In July 1944 the division relocated to Camp San Luis Obispo, California. Under the supervision of the Navy and Marine Corps, the division began amphibious training and exercises at Camp Callan, Coronado Strand, San Clemente Island, San Nicolas Island and Camp Pendleton. In September 1944 the 97th was transferred to Camp Cooke, California, for further amphibious training.

    Because of the high number of American casualties during the Battle of the Bulge, several American units earmarked for the Pacific, including the 97th Infantry Division, were ordered to the European Theater of Operations for the final assault on Germany. The strength of the division upon deployment in Europe was 600 officers and 14,000 men.

    WESTERN FRONT
    Somme: French Third Army (Humbert) advances on St Quentin from Noyon, retakes Ham on September 6, fights across Crozat Canal at two points, retaking 5 villages on September 8, another 3 and Fort Liez on September 9.
    Aisne: French troops and AEF reach the river in Conde sector. Legion’s 3rd Battalion, storms MG*-studded Terny-Sorny, then held at Allemant (September 6).
    Meuse: AEF St Mihiel attack set for September 12.

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    EASTERN FRONT
    Ukraine: Hetman Skoropadski in Berlin; 1918-19 Economic agreement signed at Kiev on September 11.
    East Siberia*: Japanese take Khabarovsk with 120 guns, and Blagoveschensk on September 18 with 2,000 Austro-German PoWs, 326 rail cars and 55 steamers.

    MIDDLE EAST

    Northwest Persia: Up to 2,000 Turks with 2 guns (11th Caucasian Division) advance along Tabriz road vs 660 British and irregulars, occupy Turkmanchai (September 7) and Mianeh (September 9), patrols reach Zenjan after British Kullan Kuh mountain position outflanked on September 12, but by September 21 recalled to Constantinople.

    AIR WAR
    Canada: Royal Canadian Naval Air Service founded.

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    The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service (RCNAS) was established in 1918 during the First World War in response to the Royal Canadian Navy's recommendation that defensive air patrols be established off Canada's Atlantic coast to protect shipping from German U-boats. Britain warned Canada that an attack by a new class of U-boat that could voyage across the Atlantic was possible. Although U-boats were few in number and not yet capable of posing a major threat in open ocean where ships were difficult to locate, they could be a threat near ports, bays or channels where ships would be certain to be grouped together. Aircraft had proven themselves in similar defensive situations such as convoys, where aircraft forced submarines to remain submerged. The United States already had aircraft and bases to defend its own shores, but it was concluded that additional stations in Canada would be needed.

    The United States supplied aircraft and personnel while Canada recruited and trained its own aircrew and support personnel who were intended to replace the Americans. RCNAS aircrew were trained in the United States and the United Kingdom.

    The United States Naval Flying Corps flew convoy escort missions and reconnaissance patrols from two air stations which were established in Nova Scotia near convoy assembly ports:

    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Naval Air Station Halifax)
    North Sydney, Nova Scotia (Naval Air Station Sydney)
    Escorts were provided to ships leaving and entering port. No U-boats were ever located, however, although 110,000 tons of shipping were sunk in North American waters in the last two months of the war.[2]

    The war ended before the RCNAS aircrew had completed training and the RCNAS was disbanded. The Air Board took control of both stations. The Halifax station would remain in operation, while the North Sydney station was left inactive until the Second World War.

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    Western Front: *RAF reduces low-flying fighter operations to recuperate, losses fall dramatically until September 15.

    While on escort duty Lieutenant Gordon Metcalfe Duncan (Royal Air Force) attacks a formation of five Fokker biplanes, one of which he engages at close range and it is seen to break up in the air. He then drives down a second out of control. Captain Allan Hepburn (Royal Air Force) and Second Lieutenant Horace George Eldon achieve two victories shooting down a pair of enemy Fokker D V II’s near Armentiers, while in the same action Lieutenant V Voss and Sergeant Charles Hill bring down another Fokker.

    The British air ace Lieutenant Herbert Barrett Good of 92 Squadron RAF was killed in action. He had five confirmed kills at the time of his death. Herbert Barrett Good scored five victories flying the S.E.5a with 92 Squadron in August 1918.

    The following claims were made on this day

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    It was a bad day for the RAF with another 35 airmen lost, including...

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    and finally ... Captain Tunstill's Men: In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Ptes. Herbert Bibby (see 7th August), Edward Henry Chant (see 28th August), Owen Frank Hyde (see 6th July) and William Ryan (see 1st July) re-joined the Battalion from the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia.

    Pte. Charles Knight (see 4th July), who had been on attachment to a working party at Rocchetto Station, re-joined the Battalion.

    Pte. Frank Tucker (see 24th August), who was late returning from leave to England, re-joined the Battalion. Evidence of his late return would be taken from Cpl. Mark Butler (see 11th August), A/Cpl. Victor Munnery (see 24th August) and Pte. Wellington Baldwin (see 4th August) and, on the orders of Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 2nd September) Pte. Tucker would undergo seven days’ Field Punishment no.2.

    Sgt. William Walker Rossall MM (see 6th August) was admitted via 69th Field Ambulance and 39th Casualty Clearing Station to 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia (cause unknown).

    L.Cpl. Louis Feather MM (see 28th July) was briefly admitted to hospital (cause and details unknown); he would re-join the Battalion after two days.

    Pte. Frederick George Westlake (see 1st September), who was awaiting trial by Field General Court Martial having suffered a gunshot wound to his right foot two weeks’ previously, was transferred from 69th Field Ambulance to 9th Casualty Clearing Station.

    Pte. Charles Frederick Riddial (see 25th August), who was home on leave, was married, at Newsome Parish Church, to Nellie Wilkinson.

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    thank you for reading - its over to Neil for the next week whilst I go and lie on a sun lounger and drink beer...
    Last edited by Hedeby; 09-05-2018 at 10:59.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  24. #3574

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    and thank you for that Chris, just to add I will not be lying on a sun lounger drinking beer.......mainly 'cause its f'kn raining!
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-06-2018 at 08:25.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  25. #3575

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    Friday 6th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 67 days

    Today we lost: 724

    Today’s losses include:


    • A General
    • The son of an Admiral
    • Multiple families that will lose two sons
    • The son of a member of the clergy

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Major Roger Gresley MC (Royal Field Artillery) is killed at age 23. He is the son of Rear Admiral Richard Gresley.
    • Major Robert Charles Manning DSO MC (Royal Engineers) dies of wounds at age 29. His brother was killed in March.
    • Lieutenant Frederick Andrew Pierssene (Sussex Regiment) is killed at age 20. He is the son of the Reverend Rene Pierssene Vicar of Charndler’s Ford.
    • Lieutenant Edwin Victor White (South Staffordshire Regiment) is killed at age 21. His brother was killed in October 1914.
    • Private William Lumbard (Somerset Light Infantry) is killed in action at age 22. His brother was killed in August 1916.
    • Private Frederick Potts (East Yorkshire Regiment) is killed at age 20. His brother will die on service at home in less than two months.
    • Private John Kemp (Machine Gun Corps) is killed at age 19. His brother was killed in March.


    Air Operations:

    September

    The world's first flush-decked aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, is commissioned into the Royal Navy.

    September

    The Royal Air Force contingent in North Russia assists Allied forces in the capture of Obozerskaya.
    Second Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Horace Percy Lale (Royal Air Force) leads his patrol of nine machines to the assistance of some formations that are being attacked by thirty to forty enemy aircraft. In the engagement he and his observer Second Lieutenant Harold Leslie Edwards, account for two Fokkers. Eventually the enemy is driven off, five of their machines being destroyed and three others shot down out of control.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today 1:

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    Royal Flying Corps Losses today 23, of which the following are recorded:

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    Claims: 40 confirmed (Entente 33: Central Powers 7)


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    Western Front:

    Brigadier General Lionel William Pellew East CMG DSO Commander of Corps of Heavy Artillery is killed in action at age 52. He is killed by a machine gun, whilst conducting a reconnaissance for forward observation posts.

    Flanders: GERMAN EVACUATION OF LYS SALIENT COMPLETE. At OHL Conference Hindenburg stresses gravity of situation; Boehn recommends 45-mile retirement to Antwerp-Meuse position, instead decision taken to halt (if necessary) on Hermann-Hunding-Brunhild position, 20 miles back.

    BEF field guns and 6-inch howitzers have fired 8,382,200 rounds since August 8.

    Amiens-St. Quentin road British press forward.

    Germans in full retreat from the Somme.

    Ham and Chauny re-taken by French.

    In north English troops advance north-west of Armentieres and re-take Bailleul.

    Americans reach south bank of Aisne river.

    Eastern Front:

    USSR: Colonel Vatsetis made first Main C-in-C of Red Army, Colonel S S Kamenev takes over Red Eastern Front.
    Volga: Stalin reports Cossack retreat over Don from Tsaritsyn.

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Friday 6th September 1918:

    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Pte. Michael Hannigan (see 28th May) suffered a sprained ankle while training and would be admitted via 69th Field Ambulance to 23rd Division Rest Station.

    Pte. William Belcher (see 21st July) re-joined the Battalion and was awarded seven days’ Field Punishment no.2 and ordered to forfeit three days’ pay, having been late in returning from leave to England.

    Pte. Lancelot Johnson (see 26th August), who had suffered shrapnel wounds to his left arm and thigh on 26th August, was transferred from 29th Stationary Hospital in Cremona to 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia.

    Pte. Albert Mellor (see 18th August) was reported as “absent without leave” having failed to report for departure to Italy at the conclusion of his two weeks’ leave in England.

    Pte. Frederick Fielden (see 2nd September), who had been severely wounded on 20th September 1917, died of his wounds at Edmonton War Hospital in London. His medical report stated that, “Wounds healed slowly, resulting in fair movement of arm and good of leg. Was re-admitted to Edmonton War Hospital from an auxiliary hospital complaining of pain in stomach and loss of weight. Went rapidly worse; great emaciation and continual sickness. No mass could be felt in abdomen. Sank rapidly and died at 3.55am. No post mortem allowed”. Pte. Fielden would be buried in his home town of Halifax, at Stoney Royd Cemetery.

    Pte. Charles Edward Berry (see 12th June), who had been in England since January after suffering from severe haemorrhoids, was posted from Northern Command Depot at Ripon to 3DWR at North Shields.

    A payment of Ł5 6s. 9d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte.John Buckley (see 20th September 1917), who was presumed dead having been officially missing in action since 20th September 1917; the payment would go to his mother, Sarah.

    The weekly edition of the Craven Herald carried a report regarding the late Pte. John William Whitfield(see 9th October 1917), who had been officially ‘missing in action’ since October 1917.

    Linton Soldier's Sacrifice

    News has been received from the Record Office, York, by Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Whitfield, Linton, that their only son, Sapper I. W. Whitfield, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, reported wounded and missing on the 9th October 1917, is now officially stated to have been killed on that date. He voluntarily enlisted, thinking it his duty to fight for his country, in January 1915. After being trained at different camps in England, he was, in August 1915, drafted to France. After serving in the trenches for some months, he was transferred to the Engineers (as platelayer) where he remained until taken back to his old regiment in September 1917. He was 25 years of age, and of a genial disposition, which made him a great favourite in the village, where he will be much missed. His letters home were always bright and cheerful. Great sympathy is felt for the parents and family. Previous to joining the Army he was employed on the Yorkshire Dales Railway as a platelayer on the Rylstone section.

    Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:

    In East Africa von Lettow's forces are overtaken on Upper Lurio river near Anguros and attacked by two British columns from south and south-east. Enemy retreat west after severe losses in killed and captured.

    Mozambique
    – Action at Pere Hills: Lettow’s main force (90 casualties plus 30 porters) bumps into Kartucol‘s transport column, but is held by dusk for 132 KAR casualties (53 PoWs); Germans disengage 3 miles northwest. Shortcol continues pursuit on September 7.

    Naval Operations:

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    Anniversary Events:

    394 Theodosius becomes sole ruler of Italy after defeating Eugenius at the Battle of the River Frigidus.
    1422 Sultan Murat II ends a vain siege of Constantinople.
    1522 One of the five ships that set out in Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world makes it back to Spain. Only 15 of the original 265 men that set out survived. Natives in the Philippines killed Magellan.
    1688 Imperial troops defeat the Turks and take Belgrade, Serbia.
    1793 French General Jean Houchard and his 40,000 men begin a three-day battle against an Anglo-Hanoverian army at Hondschoote, southwest Belgium, in the wars of the French Revolution.
    1847 Henry David Thoreau leaves Walden Pond and moves back into town, to Concord, Massachusetts.
    1861 Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces capture Paducah, Kentucky from Confederate forces.
    1870 The last British troops to serve in Austria are withdrawn.
    1901 28-year-old anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots President William McKinley while attending a reception at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies eight days later, the third American president assassinated.
    1907 The luxury liner Lusitania leaves London for New York on her maiden voyage.
    1918 The German Army begins a general retreat across the Aisne, with British troops in pursuit.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-06-2018 at 08:25.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  26. #3576

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skafloc View Post
    and thank you for that Chris, just to add I will not be lying on a sun lounger drinking beer.......mainly 'cause its f'kn raining!
    Right on Neil.
    About 10.30 I had to put a beer mat over my G&t to stop the rain getting in. Should have left the awning over the patio up!
    Kyte.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  27. #3577

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    You know what it is Rob, these young whipper snappers retire and think life is all lying on sunbeds and sipping ice cold beer!

    Just wait until the rheumatism and arthritis kicks in! and don't mention rust....did I tell you it was raining?

    Neil
    See you on the Dark Side......

  28. #3578

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    Keep up the good work love reading this post

  29. #3579

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    Saturday 7th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 66 days

    Today we lost: 687

    Today’s losses include:

    • A Wolverhampton Wanderers footballer
    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Captain Arthur Hamilton Young (Canadian Army Pay Corps attached 7th Brigade Headquarters Canadian Infantry Brigade) is killed. He is the son of Archdeacon Young.
    • Private John McCulloch (Lincolnshire Regiment) is killed in action at age 19. His brother was killed in September 1916.
    • Driver James Ingram (Royal Field Artillery) is killed in action at age 20. His brother was killed in July 1917.
    • Private Arthur Oldring (Alberta Regiment) is killed at age 46. He is the son of the Reverend George Wright Oldring.
    • Private Harold Ingram Davidson (Gordon Highlanders attached London Regiment) dies of wounds at age 20. His brother was killed in March 1916.
    • Private Arthur Ernest Scott MM (Royal West Kent Regiment) is killed at age 20. His brother will die the day the Armistice takes effect during the Great Influenza outbreak.
    • Private John Shelton (Lincolnshire Regiment) is killed at age 34. He is a footballer who played for the Wolverhampton Wanderers from 1907 to 1911 making 94 appearances scoring 17 goals and played in the 1908 FA Cup victory for the Wanderers. He later played for Port Vale making 139 appearances until conscripted in the summer of 1917.


    Air Operations:

    Rudolf Besel was killed in a flying accident at Gablingen. He was a 2-seater pilot and had 5 victories with Schutzstaffel 30.

    The U.S. Marine Corps '​s 1st Marine Aviation Force, building up in the Calais-Dunkirk area of France to operate as an element of the U.S. Navy '​s Northern Bombing Group, takes delivery of its first bomber.

    No 104 Squadron loses 5 DH9s in Ludwigshafen raid.

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    This is a De Havilland DH9 E659 'E' of 104 Squadron RAF, based at Azelot towards the end of WWI.

    No . 104 Squadron, arrived in the IF sector on 20 May 1918 and flew its first mission on 8 June. No. 104 suffered 134 aircrew casualties in five months . A total of 33 aircrewmen reported sick in No. 104, with 20 reporting ill between July and September. Ten reported sick in August, the month with the most severe battle casualties. No. 104 Squadron was forced to stand-down three times because of losses, the first coming within a month of the unit's entering active service . Between 8 and 31 July, the squadron participated in no raids; over half its members had been lost in the previous four weeks. 5 ' No. 104 flew five missions in the first half of August, losing machines to enemy action (seven) or to crashes (one) on every operation. On a mission to Mannheim on 22 August, seven of 12 DH9s were shot down, forcing No . 104 to stand-down for the second time. The squadron flew again on 3 September, when 12 planes took off in a joint mission with 11 aircraft from No . 99 Squadron. They bombed Morhange aerodrome and returned safely. No . 104 was grounded for the third time in late September. On 7 September, 12 machines took off in a second attempt to reach Mannheim; three were shot down and two aborted with engine trouble.

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    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:

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    Claims: 24 confirmed (Entente 15 : Central Powers 9)


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    Western Front:

    Flanders: Skirmishing in Armentieres-Lens sector.

    Rapid British and French pursuit of Germans, who retreat towards "Hindenburg Line".

    British take Roisel (railway junction for St. Quentin and Cambrai) and greater part of Havrincourt Wood.

    Somme French capture Pithon, Dury and Ollezy, east of Ham, cross Crozat canal at Pont de Tugny and St. Simon after heavy fighting.

    Lys front enemy display strong resistance.

    Eastern Front:


    USSR:
    Lenin cables Trotsky ‘Recovery proceeding excellently’. First Ł12.5 million of war indemnity sent from Moscow. Germans receive at Orsha on September 10.
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    The arrival of Russian gold as reparations.

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Saturday 7th September 1918:

    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Pte. Richard Henry Harris (see 26th August), who had suffered a wound to his left hand on 26th August, was transferred from 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to 81st Stationary Hospital in Marseilles.

    Pte. James Percival (see 26th August), who had suffered wounds to his left leg on 26th August, was transferred from 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to 57th General Hospital in Marseilles.

    Pte. Walter Eary (see 31st August), who was being treated for a laryngeal tumour, was transferred from 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to 57th General Hospital in Marseilles. Whilst at Marseilles an operation would be performed to remove the tumour.

    L.Cpl. Dennis Waller (see 2nd September), who had undergone two operations since having been severely wounded in action a month previously while serving in serving in France with 2DWR, suffering a compound fracture of his left femur, was transferred from 54th Casualty Clearing Station to 35thGeneral Hospital at Calais.

    Lt. David Lewis Evans (see 15th July), serving with 3DWR, appeared before a further Army Medical Board assembled at Tynemouth. The report of the Board found that, “This officer is boarded prior to going on a course from 9.9.18 to 27.9.18 at Cleethorpes (Lewis gun). No perceptible improvement since last board. States he is short of breath on exertion; vocal resonance and respiratory murmur still deficient right side; is not strong and feels fatigue”. The Board found him fit to continue service at home with 3DWR at North Shields. He was to be re-examined in two months.

    A second payment, of Ł2 2s. 4d. was authorised, being a further amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. George Waterworth (see 19th November 1917), who had been killed in action on 7th June 1917; the payment would go to his father, James.

    Naval Operations:


    Publication by Admiralty of names of commanders of 151 U-boats disposed of by Navy.

    Master W Steel age 26 and his entire crew of eleven are killed when S S Ruysdael is sunk by a German submarine 228 miles west of Ushant while carrying coal to Taranto.

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    Anniversary Events:

    1571 At the Battle of Lepanto in the Mediterranean Sea, the Christian galley fleet destroys the Turkish galley fleet.
    1630 The town of Trimountaine in Massachusetts is renamed Boston. It became the state capital.
    1701 England, Austria, and the Netherlands form an Alliance against France.
    1778 Shawnee Indians attack and lay siege to Boonesborough, Kentucky.
    1812 On the road to Moscow, Napoleon wins a costly victory over the Russians at Borodino.
    1813 The earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname "Uncle Sam" occurs in the Troy Post.
    1864 Union General Phil Sheridans’s troops skirmish with the Confederates under Jubal Early outside Winchester, Virginia.
    1876 The James-Younger gang botches an attempt to rob the First Natinal Bank of Northfield, Minnesota.
    1888 An incubator is used for the first time on a premature infant.
    1892 The first heavyweight-title boxing match fought with gloves under Marquis of Queensbury rules ends when James J. Corbett knocks out John L. Sullivan in the 21st round.
    1912 French aviator Roland Garros sets an altitude record of 13,200 feet.
    1916 The U.S. Congress passes the Workman's Compensation Act.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-07-2018 at 13:12.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  30. #3580

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    Sunday 8th September 1918


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    Armistice Countdown 65 days

    Today we lost: 598


    Today’s losses include:


    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • The grandson of a member of the clergy
    • A family that will lose two sons in the Great War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Captain A E E Roebuck (Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) is killed in action at age 21. He is the son of the Reverend Alfred Roebuck.
    • Lieutenant George Keith Elliott (Royal Welsh Fusiliers attached Welsh Horse Yeomanry) is killed in action at age 20. He had been a Science Scholar of University College, Oxford and is the grandson of the Reverend Robert Cowan.
    • Lieutenant William Margetson Heald (Royal Army Medical Corps) dies of wounds at age 24 received 23rd August when a shell struck his aid post near Bray. He is the son of the Reverend Charles William Heald Rector of Chale.


    Air Operations:

    General Headquarters:

    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 11 confirmed (Entente 7: Central Powers 4)

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    Western Front:

    France: Foch visits King Albert and Haig (who tells Churchill ‘the Allies should aim at getting a decision as soon as possible’), decides to add Flanders offensive.

    Germany: OHL orders signals concerning tanks be given priority. German writer and poet Lieutenant Bernhard von der Marwitz (relative of army commander) dies of wounds aged 28 at Valenciennes Lazarett.

    Aisne: US III Corps transferred from the Vesle (crossed September 4) to Souilly.

    Meuse: Ludendorff orders St Mihiel salient evacuation.

    At dawn the village of Epehy is attacked in the pouring rain by the 9th Royal Fusiliers. Among those killed by the enemy machine guns is Private Thomas Stephen Austin killed at age 19. His brother died of wounds in January 1916.
    Enemy show increased resistance.

    Violent fighting north and east of St. Simon.

    Avesnes lost and re-taken by French, who also take Artemps, Happencourt, Fluquieres, Vaux and gain ground both sides of Oise river.

    Over 19,000 prisoners taken by British in past week. Over 150,000 men, 2,000 guns and 13,000 MGs. taken by Allies since 18 July.

    Eastern Front:

    Representatives of neutral countries make strong protest against the wholesale arrests and executions carried out in Russia.

    Junction of the Czecho-Slovaks at Olovyanna in Siberia with other Czech forces from the east.

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Sunday 8th September 1918:
    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Sgt. Harry Singleton (see 9th June), who had been taken prisoner in France in April while serving with 50th Field Ambulance, was moved to a camp in Germany; he would later recall that, “Things began to improve when I got settled, as we got some British food from the British Help Committee in Friedrichsfeld”. He was the brother of Robert Singleton (see 8th December 1917).

    Naval Operations:


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    Anniversary Events:

    1504 Michelangelo's 13-foot marble statue of David is unveiled in Florence, Italy.
    1529 The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman re-enters Budapest and establishes John Zapolya as the puppet king of Hungary.
    1565 Spanish explorers found St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
    1628 John Endecott arrives with colonists at Salem, Massachusetts, where he will become the governor.
    1644 The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam surrenders to the British fleet that sails into its harbor. Five years later, the British change the name to New York.
    1755 British forces under William Johnson defeat the French and the Indians at the Battle of Lake George.
    1760 The French surrender the city of Montreal to the British.
    1845 A French column surrenders at Sidi Brahim in the Algerian War.
    1863 Confederate Lieutenant **** Dowling thwarts a Union naval landing at Sabine Pass, northeast of Galveston, Texas.
    1903 Between 30,000 and 50,000 Bulgarian men, women and children are massacred in Monastir by Turkish troops seeking to check a threatened Macedonian uprising.
    1906 Robert Turner invents the automatic typewriter return carriage.
    1915 Germany begins a new offensive in Argonne on the Western Front.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-08-2018 at 08:16.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  31. #3581

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    Monday 9th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 64 days

    Today we lost: 598

    Today’s losses include:

    • A survivor of the Lusitania sinking
    • Multiple families that will lose two and three sons in the Great War
    • The son of a member of the clergy
    • The son of a General

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:


    • Captain Laurence Hurley Callinan (Australian Field Artillery) dies of wounds at age 24. His brother died of wounds in May 1917.
    • Lieutenant Gavin Ralston Mure Caldwell (Coldstream Guards) is killed at age 21. He is the son of the Reverend William Henry McKenna Caldwell Rector of Fetcham.
    • Lieutenant Cyril John George Wallace (Northumberland Fusiliers) dies of gassing at age 22. He is a survivor of the sinking of Lusitania in 1915 while en-route from New York to rejoin his regiment.


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    Cyril John George Wallace


    • Lieutenant Arthur Hugh Courtrey Galbraith (Royal Garrison Artillery) dies of gassing at age 21. He is the son of the late Major General ‘Sir’ William Galbraith KCB.
    • Lieutenant Joseph Victor Robinson Pastfield (Middlesex Regiment) is killed at age 20. His brother was killed in December 1914.
    • Gunner Richard Franklin Phillpott (Royal Field Artillery) dies of wounds at age 20. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the Great War.
    • Private Frederick Meikle (Cheshire Regiment) is killed at age 38. His brother was killed in February 1915.


    Air Operations:

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:
    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 1 confirmed (Entente 1: Central Powers 0)


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    Home Fronts:

    Turkey: Constantinople papers state 98 firms worth 16.6 million Turkish Pounds formed during war.

    Britain: Register formed for British subjects’ claims in Russia (some not compensated till 1987). Churchill writes to Prime Minister on 1919 manpower problems, urges 100,000 men for Tank Corps (55,000 agreed).

    France: 2 deputies mortally wounded visiting front.

    Western Front:

    Germany: Lieutenant-Colonel Wetzell, strategic adviser at OHL, superseded owing to rows with Ludendorff.

    Somme: British gain high ground commanding Hindenburg Line north of Havrincourt Wood. After sharp fighting British gain high ground between Havrincourt and Gouzeaucourt, overlooking Hindenburg Line.

    Aisne: Two strong counter-attacks at Laffaux (between Soissons and Laon) repulsed. (and on September 11).

    French push well across Crozat Canal towards St. Quentin and La Fere; main progress made east of St. Simon; they capture Grand Seraucourt, Montescourt, Remigny and Liez Fort.

    Eastern Front:

    Complete anarchy reported in Petrograd; Bolsheviks massacre the "bourgeoisie". Threat to execute British officials.

    Southern Front:

    Greek new advanced line heavily bombed in Struma Valley.

    Tunstills Men Monday 9th September 1918:


    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    News was received that the British divisions in Italy were to be transferred back to France as soon as possible. All plans for offensive operations on the Asiago Plateau (see 12th August) were thus abandoned which, in the words of the Divisional History, “came as a great disappointment”. However, a “deeper disappointment” was that one battalion was to be withdrawn from each brigade for an immediate return to France; in the case of 69th Brigade this was to be 9Yorks.

    Pte. John Starling (see 11th August) was reported by RSM Charles Edward Parker, MM (see 23rd August) and Sgt. Charles Marsden (see 28th July) as having been, “improperly dressed, ie not wearing waist belt”; on the orders of Capt. James Watson Paterson (see 3rd August) he would be confined to barracks for three days.

    Pte. Herbert Holt (see 31st August), who had been wounded while serving in France with 2DWR, was evacuated to England.

    Pte. Ernest Franklin (25969) (see 13th August), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was reported as “absent off his final leave pass at 11.55pm”.

    Sgt. Charles Robert Scarber died from pneumonia in King George’s Hospital, Lambeth; he would be buried at Stamford Cemetery. Sgt. Scarber was 31 years old and from Stamford, where he had worked as a compositor. He had served with 10DWR before being transferred to the Labour Corps; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish the details of his service with 10DWR.

    Naval Operations:

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    Anniversary Events:

    337 Constantine’s three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east.
    1087 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.
    1513 King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English troops at the Battle of Flodden.
    1585 Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.
    1776 The term “United States” is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the “United Colonies.”
    1786 George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery.
    1791 French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town.
    1834 Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England.
    1850 California, in the midst of a gold rush, enters the Union as the 31st state.
    1863 The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga.
    1886 The Berne International Copyright Convention takes effect.
    1911 An airmail route opens between London and Windsor.
    1915 A German zeppelin bombs London for the first time, causing little damage.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-09-2018 at 01:49.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  32. #3582

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    Tuesday 10th September 1918


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    Armistice Countdown 63 days


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    Samuel Needham VC (16 August 1885 – 4 November 1918) was 33 years old, and a private in the 1/5th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    Samuel Needham was born in Great Limber, Lincolnshire on 16 August 1885, to Septimus and Mary Needham. His father was one of Lord Yarborough's grooms and Sam, was to follow in his fathers’ footsteps. When he left the Brockesby Stables, he worked in several other hunting stables, including the Duke of Westminster's and the Earl of Fitzwilliam's.

    When war broke out in August 1914, Sam's parents had both passed away and he was living with his married sister (Mrs Baron) at 6 Astley Street in Hull. His interest in and experience with horses led him to enlist initially as Private RTS/5023 in the Army Service Corps and he went to France on 13 January 1915. Having been wounded (or taken ill) and recovered in England, he was transferred into the Bedfordshire Regiment as Private 203329. Looking at the service numbers around his, it would appear he joined the regiment at the end of 1916 or early in 1917. As a result, he may have physically joined the 1st/5th Battalion in Palestine at any time between late 1916 and late 1917, depending on whether he spent time in one of the reserve battalions in England before sailing to the Middle East.
    Although major operations in that theatre of war were paused in response to the threat posed by the German Spring Offensives on the Western Front in March 1918, they resumed late that summer. During an overnight fighting patrol that was in very real danger of being overwhelmed and annihilated early on 11 September 1918, his complete disregard for his own personal safety and "berserk fury" saved his patrol from certain destruction.

    An extract from The London Gazette, dated 29 October 1918, records his citation:
    "For most conspicuous bravery and initiative when with a strong patrol which was heavily attacked by the enemy and forced back in confusion. At this critical moment Private Needham ran back and fired rapidly at a body of the enemy at point-blank range. His action checked the enemy and enabled the patrol commander to reorganise his men. The patrol had many casualties, but successfully got back all their wounded, and it was due to the action of individuals, of which this is the most outstanding, that the entire patrol was not cut off. Pte. Needham's example was of the greatest value at a critical moment, and the bold and determined stand made by him did more than anything to inspire confidence, and undoubtedly saved a critical situation."

    Page 232 of Captain F.A.M. Webster's book 'The History of the Fifth Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (TA)' says:

    'At one stage of operations on the Bureid Ridge, one of Captain Yarde's patrols suddenly bumped into a very much stronger Turkish patrol and, when our men were getting demoralised by our casualties, Private S Needham, who was a miner from Hull, saved the situation and won the Victoria Cross. He charged the enemy single handed and, fighting like one possessed, accounted for many Turks. His berserk fury created such a diversion in the darkness and confusion that, for the moment, the enemy was checked and themselves gave way before him. His comrades were unanimous in thinking that Private Needham's action enabled them to get away, otherwise they would have all been surrounded and cut off. Had this happened the valuable information that Captain Yarde brought back would not have been available for further operations. It should be noted that Captain Yarde himself won a bar to his MC on this occasion.'

    With an irony that so often befalls the tallest of hero's, Sam survived all the war could throw at him but died within a few days of it ending.

    According to a privately printed pamphlet detailing the life of Samuel, he died on 4 November 1918 from a gunshot wound to his head received whilst at No. 1 Base Depot in Kantara. Although unconfirmed so far, this appears to have been as a result of an accident of some kind.

    His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regimental Collection at the Wardown Park Museum, Luton, Bedfordshire.

    Today we lost: 721

    Today’s losses include:

    • The son of an Admiral
    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • The son of a Justice of the Peace
    • The brother of a Victoria Cross winner
    • A man whose brother-in-law was killed
    • Multiple women who will lose a husband in the Great War and a son in the Second World War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Major Aylmer Louis Elliott Fleet (Royal Field Artillery) MC is killed in action at age 29. He is the son of Vice Admiral Henry L Fleet.
    • Captain and Adjutant Charles Edward de la Bere (Royal Garrison Artillery) is killed in action. He is the son of the Reverend John de la Bere.
    • Second Lieutenant Frank Bidgood (London Regiment) is killed at age 25. He is the son of R Bidgood JP.
    • Corporal Albert Cairns (Saskatchewan Regiment) dies of wounds at age 23. His brother will be killed in November performing acts that will win him the Victoria Cross.
    • Private Arthur Graney (Sherwood Foresters) is killed in action at age 33 at Serona, Italy. His brother-in-law was killed in June 1917.
    • Private Richard Pearson (New Zealand Rifle Brigade) is killed at age 35. His two brothers have already been killed in the Great War.
    • Private Reginald Smith MM (Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) is killed at age 21. His brother was killed in August 1917.
    • Private William Alfred Kerridge (Durham Light Infantry) is killed at age 30. His brother will die on service in March next year and they are sons of the Reverend Albert Alfred Edward Kerridge Rector of Hawksworth.
    • Private Herbert Hermon Mordecai (East Yorkshire Regiment) is killed. His son will be killed in the Second World War.
    • Private J W Bowron (East Yorkshire Regiment) is killed. His son will be killed in May 1940 at Dunkirk.
    • Private Benjamin Morris Percy Williams (Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry) is killed at age 26. His son will be killed in the Second World War in May 1944.


    Air Operations:
    The 96th, 11th, 20th and 166th Aero Squadrons were organized under the 1st Day Bombardment Group to provide air support for American ground troops at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.

    Captain Allan Hepburn (Royal Air Force) and Second Lieutenant Horace George Eldon shoot down an enemy Fokker D VII north of Douai.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 2 confirmed (Entente 2: Central Powers 0)


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    Home Fronts:

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    Germany: Kaiser addresses 1500 Krupp workers, to keep the workers on their toes, on a visit to Essen Gusstahlfabrik and gets no response.

    Fearing unrest, several divisions are stationed around Berlin.

    Western Front:

    Local fighting in Epehy and Gouzeaucourt sectors
    .
    British patrols make progress north-east of Neuve Chapelle.

    East of Crozat Canal between St. Quentin and La Fere, French make further progress; they occupy Hinancourt and Travecy.

    Special Order of the Day issued: 75,000 prisoners and 750 guns taken by British in four weeks.

    Eastern Front:

    Volga: Red Fifth Army (aided by 4 Baltic Fleet destroyers) retakes Kazan; Czechs and Komuch People’s Army retreat to avoid trap.

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Tuesday 10th September 1918:

    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    Pte. Henry Grimshaw (see 24th August) was discharged from 24th Casualty Clearing Station and re-joined the Battalion.

    Ptes. Alfred Bottom and Colonel Craven joined the Battalion. Alfred Bottom was 24 years old and from Huddersfield. He had enlisted in January 1916 and had served almost two years in France with 2DWR from May 1916, before being evacuated to England having suffered wounds to his left hand. He had remained in England from April 1918. Colonel Craven was a 22 year-old sizer from Clayton, near Bradford. He had enlisted in June 1915 and had seen active service with 8DWR between November 1915 and October 1916 when he had been evacuated to England having suffered a shrapnel wound to the face. He had returned to France in September and had been wounded again while serving with 2nd/6thDWR, suffering wounds to his right arm, as a result of which he had again been evacuated to England. Both men had been reported absent from their final leave passes, but both had then been posted to Le Havre on 25th August and travelled to Italy from there.

    Pte. William Douglas had also been posted from Le Havre to Italy to join 10DWR; however on arrival at the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia he had been found to be suffering from gastritis and had been admitted to 51st Stationary Hospital. William Douglas was a 22 year-old iron turner, originally from Belfast; he had enlisted in Halifax in May 1915 and had trained with 11DWR. He had been transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in August 1916 and had remained with the RFC/RAF until voluntarily transferring back to the West Ridings in July 1918.

    Pte. Ernest Mudd (see 31st August), who had only returned from leave the previous day, was admitted via 71st Field Ambulance to 23rd Division Rest Station; he was suffering from inflammation to his left knee.

    Maj. William Norman Town (see 23rd August) left the Battalion to return to England to attend a senior officers’ training course.

    2Lt. William Edmondson Gaunt (see 26th April), serving in Egypt with 2nd/4th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment, was transferred to 2/22nd Battalion London Regiment.

    Pte. James Charles Eugene O’Callaghan (see 16th July 1917), who had been in England since having been severely wounded on 7th June 1917, was posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

    Naval Operations:

    North Sea: Coastal Submarine UB-83 sunk in Pentland Firth by destroyer HMS Ophelia‘s depth charges.

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    Anniversary Events:

    1419 John the Fearless is murdered at Montereau, France, by supporters of the dauphin.
    1547 The Duke of Somerset leads the English to a resounding victory over the Scots at Pinkie Cleugh.
    1588 Thomas Cavendish returns to England, becoming the third man to circumnavigate the globe.
    1623 Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.
    1813 The nine-ship American flotilla under Oliver Hazard Perry wrests naval supremacy from the British on Lake Erie by capturing or destroying a force of six English vessels.
    1846 Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States.
    1855 Sevastopol, under siege for nearly a year, capitulates to the Allies during the Crimean War.
    1861 Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia, fall back after being attacked by Union Troops. The action is instrumental in helping preserve western Virginia for the Union.
    1912 Jules Vedrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier.
    1914 The six-day Battle of the Marne ends, halting the German advance into France.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-10-2018 at 05:04.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  33. #3583

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    Wednesday 11th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 62 days

    Today we lost: 543

    Today’s losses include:


    • A former All Blacks Rugby footballer
    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • Families that will lose two and three sons in the Great War
    • The son of a General

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Lieutenant Lawrence Gordon Lyon (Royal Canadian Regiment) is killed in action at age 23. He is the son of the Reverend Paul Lyon Rector of Lower Sapey.
    • Lieutenant Colonel Philip Prideaux Budge DSO (Royal Field Artillery) is killed in action at age 36. His older brother killed in July 1916.
    • Lieutenant Arthur Charles Parker (Hussars) dies on service. He is the son of Brigadier General A Parker.
    • Lance Sergeant Ernest Henry Dodd (New Zealand Rifle Brigade) is killed at age 38. He is a former member of the All Blacks Rugby Football Club.
    • Corporal Guy Robert Hurst Maitland-Addison (Machine Gun Corps) becoming the third and final son of Major Alfred Maitland-Addison to be killed in the Great War. He dies at age 33.
    • Private Harold Pashley Davies (Somerset Light Infantry) is killed at age 19. He is the son of the Reverend Edward Davis Vicar of Chevithorne.
    • Private Lawrence Edward Courtney (Royal Fusiliers) is killed at age 36. He is the son of the Reverend Stanley Thomas Courtney Vicar of Bullington.


    Air Operations:

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:
    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 2 confirmed (Entente 2: Central Powers 0)

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    Home Fronts:

    Lieut.-General Sir G.M.W. Macdonogh appointed Adjutant-General, Home Forces, Great Britain (see August 30th).

    Western Front:

    France: Belgian King Albert meets Foch at Bombon and agrees to lead Allied Flanders offensive.
    Belgians gain ground north of Ypres.

    Cambrai: German counter-attacks at Gouzeaucourt and Moeuvres. British retake 3 villages to south.

    British line advanced further south: Vermand, Attilly and Vendelles are taken.

    British rush and hold the "Railway Triangle" position, south-west of La Bassee.

    Meuse: Lieutenant-Colonel Patton instructs 34th Brigade (US) Tank Corps in St Mihiel Sector: ‘American tanks do not surrender … as long as one tank is able to go forward. Its presence will save the lives of hundreds of infantry and kill many Germans …’ By this time the American army on the Western Front reaches the size of the British and French armies, and the Americans are fresh

    Counter-attacks round Laffaux repulsed by French.

    Eastern Front:

    Arrival of American troops at Archangel announced.

    Northern Russia: Allies from Murmansk capture Fort Ukhtinskaya. 200 Royal Scots and 2 guns from Archangel repel 500 Red night attack and occupy Priluki on river Dvina (until September 12), occupy five more villages astride river up to 25 miles southeast (September 14-17).

    Trans-Caspia: 136 British with 2 guns (arrived September 4) aid repulse of Reds from Kaakha (and on September 18).

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Wednesday 11th September 1918:

    In Brigade reserve in huts near Monte Pau.

    The Battalion marched to reserve positions near Monte Magnaboschi, relieving 9Yorks, which battalion was to depart to return to France.

    Pte. Albert Christopher Benson (see 26th October 1917), who was one of the Battalion signallers, was killed by Austrian shelling whilst laying telephone wires; he would be buried at Magnaboschi British Cemetery.

    In a separate incident a number of men were wounded when a stray Austrian shell landed amongst a group of men from ‘A’ Company. Pte. William Barber (see 2nd August) was wounded and evacuated to 69th Field Ambulance, where he died later the same day. He would be buried at Cavalletto British Cemetery. Cpl. Mark Butler (see 5th September) suffered shrapnel wounds to his left shoulder; he would be evacuated via 69th Field Ambulance and 24th Casualty Clearing Station to 29th Stationary Hospital in Cremona. A/Cpl. Victor Munnery (see 5th September) suffered a shrapnel wound to his right elbow; he would be admitted via 69th Field Ambulance to 24th Casualty Clearing Station. Having been wounded, he automatically relinquished his acting rank of Corporal. Pte. Walter Limmer (see 19th August) suffered severe head wounds; he would be evacuated to 24th Casualty Clearing Station. Pte. Edward Mawle (see 29th October 1917) was also wounded, suffering wounds to his right arm; the details of his treatment in Italy are unknown.

    Pte. William John Thomas Hurst (see 5th August) was admonished having been reported by Sgts. Stanley Vyvyan Golledge (see 4th September) and Arthur Ledgard (see below) as “falling out on the line of march without permission”.

    Sgt. Arthur Ledgard had previously served with 5DWR; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to make a positive identification of this man or to establish when and under what circumstances he had joined 10DWR.

    L.Cpl. William (Billy) Hoyle MM (see 14th July) was admitted to hospital (details unknown), suffering from ‘dental caries’.

    Pte. Sidney John Rainbow (see 13th May) was admitted via 69th Field Ambulance to 23rd Division Rest Station, suffering from “I.C.T.” (Inflammation of the connective tissue) to his right ankle.

    Pte. John Foster (see 15th August), serving in France with 2/7th DWR, was transferred from one of the convalescent hospitals at Trouville to ‘F’ Infantry Base Depot at Etaples, en route to returning to active service.

    2Lts. Edgar Leyland Mills Lumb, Robert James Robinson and Samuel Whitaker arrived in Italy, en route to joining 10DWR. Edgar Mills Leyland Lumb was 19 years old, the elder of two sons of Rowland and Sarah Elizabeth Lumb; his father worked as a worsted spinner and the family lived in Sowerby Bridge. He had been commissioned Temporary Second Lieutenant on 31st May 1918. Robert James Robinson was 23 years old and had worked as a bank clerk in Keighley before enlisting in August 1914. He had initially trained with 8DWR but had been transferred to the Army Cyclist Corps in March 1915 and had served in both Gallipoli and in France between July 1915 and October 1917, being promoted Corporal. He had been posted back to England in October 1917 and had undertaken his officer training at 20th Officer Cadet Battalion at Fleet, being commissioned on 28th May 1918. Samuel Whitaker was 30 years old and had worked as an accountant’s clerk in his home town of Keighley before enlisting in September 1914. He had served in 16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment and had seen active service with his battalion in both Gallipoli and in France between December 1915 and September 1917, rising to the rank of Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant. He had returned to England in September 1917 and had undertaken his officer training at 13th Officer Cadet Battalion at Newmarket, being commissioned on 28th May 1918. On 6th May 1918 he had married Dora Russell Graves.

    Ernest Webb, brother of Pte. Edward Percy Webb (see 21st June), who had been missing in action since the trench raid on 21st June, wrote to the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in York, “My mother, Mrs. H. Webb of ‘Campsie’, Chichester Road, North Bersted, Sussex, has been informed by the War Office that my brother, Pte. E.P. Webb, 25918, 7th Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 10th Battalion of your Regiment has been reported killed and missing in Italy. I shall be greatly obliged if you will be good enough to inform me whether this news is confirmed. Also any further information respecting him will be very much appreciated”. In reply he would be informed that his brother was currently reported missing in action.

    Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:

    East Africa: 324 KAR defeat 2000 Masai (revolt vs recruiting) 20 miles west of Narok; talks restore quiet till February 1919.

    Naval Operations:

    No ships lost today.

    Political:

    Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (brother-in-law of the Kaiser), candidate for Kingdom of Finland.

    Britain: Lloyd George cable thanks Czech legions for service to Allies.

    Germany: Hintze instructs appeal to Holland for mediation.

    USA: Government declines Cuban troop offer due to shipping shortage.

    Anniversary Events:

    1297 Scots under William Wallace defeat the English at Stirling Bridge.
    1695 Imperial troops under Eugene of Savoy defeat the Turks at the Battle of Zenta.
    1709 John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, wins the bloodiest battle of the 18th century at great cost, against the French at Malplaquet.
    1740 The first mention of an African American doctor or dentist in the colonies is made in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
    1777 General George Washington and his troops are defeated by the British under General Sir William Howe at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania.
    1786 The Convention of Annapolis opens with the aim of revising the Articles of Confederation.
    1802 Piedmont, Italy, is annexed by France.
    1814 U.S. forces led by Thomas Macdonough route the British fleet on Lake Champlain.
    1847 Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" is first performed in a saloon in Pittsburgh.
    1850 Soprano opera singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," makes her American debut at New York's Castle Garden Theater.
    1864 A 10-day truce is declared between generals William Sherman and John Hood so civilians may leave Atlanta, Georgia.
    1857 Indians incited by Mormon John D. Lee kill 120 California-bound settlers in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
    1904 The battleship Connecticut, launched in New York, introduces a new era in naval construction.
    1916 The "Star Spangled Banner" is sung at the beginning of a baseball game for the first time in Cooperstown, New York.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-11-2018 at 15:20.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  34. #3584

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    Thursday 12th September 1918


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    Armistice Countdown 61 days
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    Laurence Calvert VC, MM (16 February 1892 – 6 July 1964) was 26 years old, and a sergeant in the 5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry when, on 12 September 1918 at Havringcourt, France at the Battle of Havringcourt, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. The full citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 12 November 1918 (dated 15 November 1918):

    War Office, 15th November, 1918.
    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Noncommissioned Officers and Men: —
    [...]

    No. 240194 Sgt. Laurence Calvert, M.M.. K.O.Y.L.I. (Conisbro').
    For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack when the success of the operation was rendered doubtful owing, to severe enfilade machine-gun fire. Alone and single-handed Sjt. Calvert, rushing forward against the machine-gun team, bayoneted three and shot four.

    His valour and determination in capturing single-handed two machine guns and killing the crews thereof enabled the ultimate objective to be won. His personal gallantry inspired all ranks.

    He was also awarded the Military Medal (MM), and the Belgian Order of Leopold (with palm), in the grade of Chevalier.

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    Harry John Laurent, VC (15 April 1895 – 9 December 1987) was born in Tarata, Laurent was a grocer's assistant when he volunteered in May 1915 to serve in the First World War with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). He was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and from 1916 served on the Western Front. It was on 12 September 1918, during an engagement that followed the Second Battle of Bapaume that he performed the actions that led to him being honoured with the VC. He ended the war as a second lietenant. Discharged from the NZEF, he returned to civilian life but was recalled to active duty during the Second World War and was involved in the Home Gaurd. He was the last surviving New Zealand VC winner of the First World War at the time of his death in 1987.

    During the Hundred Days Offensive, the New Zealand Division, following the Second Battle of Bapaume, was in pursuit of retreating German forces. Leading a patrol on 12 September in the area east of Gouzeaucourt Wood, France, Laurent was ordered to locate and regain contact with the German front lines. The 12-man patrol inadvertently penetrated through the front line and located a line of artillery. Realising the patrol's mistake, Laurent organised a swift attack which resulted in the capture of 112 prisoners, with one member of the patrol being killed and three others wounded. He then extricated his patrol, together with the prisoners, back to the New Zealand line, fighting off counterattacks along the way. For his bravery and leadership, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).
    His VC was gazetted on 12 November 1918, and the citation read:

    For most conspicuous bravery, skill, and enterprise when during an attack he was detailed to exploit an initial success and keep in touch with the enemy. With a party of twelve he located the enemy support line very strongly held, at once charged the position, followed by his men, and completely disorganised the enemy by his sudden onslaught. In the subsequent hand-to-hand fighting which ensued he showed great resourcefulness in controlling and encouraging his men, and thirty of the enemy having been killed, the remainder surrendered, a total of one officer and 111 other ranks in all. The success of this daring venture, which caused his party four casualties only, was due to his gallantry and enterprise

    — The London Gazette, No. 31012, 19 November 1918
    Laurent was sent to England in October 1918, where he attended an officer training school. The war had ended by the time he was commissioned in February 1919. He, together with three other New Zealanders who had been awarded the VC, received his medal from King George V in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 27 February 1919. A few months later, he left England for New Zealand and his hometown of Hawera. On his arrival, the mayor presented him a gold watch and chain, the cost of which was met by public donations. In October 1919, he was part of the welcoming party when fellow VC recipient and Hawera resident John Grant returned home.

    Discharged from the NZEF and placed on the Reserve of Officers Laurent settled into life in Hawera and soon found employment at a grocery store. He later worked as a sales representative He married Ethel Homewood, originally from England, on 20 July 1921, in a ceremony at Hawera. Fellow VC recipients John Grant and Leslie Andrew were present, the former in the capacity of best man. In 1937, Laurent, along with several other VC recipients, was awarded the coronation medal to commemorate the ascension of King George VI to the British throne.

    During the WW2, Laurent was recalled to the Reserve of Officers of the New Zealand Military Forces. He was soon commanding a battalion in the Home Guard. Later promoted to a temporary lietenant colonel, he was made group director of the Hawera Home Guard in early 1942. Late the following year he was appointed commander of the Hawera squadron of the Air Training Corpsand held this post until 1945. He was formally seconded to the Royal New Zealand Air Force for a brief period as a squadron commander of 34th Air Training Squadron before ceasing active duty at the end of the war. He formally retired from the military in 1949

    At the age of 61, Laurent went to London in 1956 as part of the VC centenary celebrations. He attended further VC events in the following years. He died in Hastings on 9 December 1987, the last surviving New Zealand VC winner of the First World War. His wife had predeceased him the previous year. His ashes are interred in the Memorial Wall at the Servicemen's Cemetery at Hawera, his hometown. A street in the town is also named after him, and nearby is Grant VC Street, named for fellow VC recipient John Grant.

    Laurent's VC was displayed at the QEII Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, along with his service medals from the First and Second World Wars and his coronation medals. On 2 December 2007, Laurent's VC was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among a hundred medals stolen from the museum. On 16 February 2008, New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$ 300,000 reward offered by Michael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess.

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    Alfred Wilcox VC (16 December 1884 – 30 March 1954), was 33 years old, and a lance-corporal in the 2/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 12 September 1918 near Laventie, France, when his company was held up by enemy machine-gun fire at short range, Lance-Corporal Wilcox rushed to the nearest enemy gun, bombing it and killing the gunner. Being then attacked by an enemy bombing party, the corporal picked up enemy stick bombs and led his company against the next gun, finally capturing and destroying it. Then, left with only one man he continued bombing and captured a third gun. Going up the trench, bombing as he went, he captured a fourth gun and then returned to his platoon.

    A nephew was Charles Wilcox GC. In 2006 his nephew John Wilcox, who had attended his Uncle's funeral in 1954, helped historian Chris Sutton in locating his grave in Aston Church. A service was held, and a memorial unveiled on 12 September 2006, 88 years to the day after he captured the guns.


    Today we lost: 915

    Today’s losses include:

    • The son of a Baronet
    • A Nursing sister
    • A family that will lose three children in the Great War
    • A man whose father has previously died of wounds in the Great War
    • Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
    • The son of a member of the clergy

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Major Arthur George Percival Heywood (Manchester Regiment) is killed in action. He is the son of ‘Sir’ Arthur Percival Heywood the Baronet.
    • Second Lieutenant Duncan Francis Charles Adamson (London Regiment) is killed in action at age 21. His father died of wounds received in action as a CQMS in the London Regiment in May 1915.
    • Second Lieutenant Merton Alfred Rose MC (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 24. His brother will die of disease in Egypt in September 1919 on service.
    • Rifleman Thomas Mitchell Abernethy (New Zealand Rifle Brigade) is killed in action at age 27. He is the son of the Reverend Christopher Abernethy and his brother was killed in August 1917.
    • Rifleman Frederick William Farrant (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) is killed in action at age 18. His brother died of wounds in November 1916.
    • Private Alfred Cecil Callister (Army Service Corps) dies at home. His brother was killed in April 1918.


    Air Operations:

    Western Front – St Mihiel Operation: 627 French and 611 American fighters (30 squadrons) are brought together for the Battle. Greatest Allied air concentration of war with US units; 25 French escadrilles; le Division Aerienne (600 aircraft) and 9 squadrons of Independence Force (c.100 bombers); single Italian, Brazilian, Portuguese, Belgian squadrons. Total 1,483 planes under US Brigade-General Mitchell, bombers and recon planes spearhead Pershing’s advance while fighters maintain local air supremacy (‘barrier’ technique, as pioneered at Verdun). US 3rd Pursuit Group specializes in lorry-busting. Rickenbacker shoots down JG2 Fokker (6th kill), but JG2 claims 81 victories for 2 losses (September 12-18).

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:
    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 11 confirmed (Entente 4: Central Powers 7)

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    Western Front:

    Battle of Epehy begins: British success on Cambrai front, Moeuvres, Havrincourt and Trescault taken; over 1,000 prisoners.

    Battle of St. Mihiel begins: Americans supported by French, begin attack on St. Mihiel salient, south of Verdun; they advance five miles on a twelve-mile front; about 8,000 prisoners.

    Meuse – The Battle of St. Mihiel (12 - 16 September 1918) was the first large-scale, separate offensive by American forces on the Western Front. By late summer 1918 the strategic importance of the German-held salient south of Verdun had was not so prominent as it was in 1917, when the newly arrived American Staff officers arrived on the Western Front. Their desire at that time was to carry out a separate offensive by American forces against the danger posed by this salient. Marshal Foch, commander of the Allied forces on the Western Front in late 1918, had to be convinced it was still relevant to make the attack.

    He did agree, although he was also wishing to use the American forces for an assault west of Verdun in the Meuse-Argonne sector. The German forces were in the process of evacuating the salient when the American First Army attacked them, supported by French tanks and artillery and 600 Allied aircraft. The offensive successfully cleared the Germans from the salient and 15,000 German prisoners were captured with 250 guns. A few days later the American First Army transferred to the Meuse-Argonne sector in preparation for an attack.

    After 4-hour barrage from 0100 hours by 3,010 guns, 216,000 men of (10 divisions) US First Army (Pershing), supported by 48,000 French (4 divisions) advance in heavy rain 5 miles on 12-mile front vs Fuchs’ 75,000-strong Detachment C (already withdrawing its 13 divisions) and take 8,000 PoWs. AEF fires 100,000 round (200t) phosgene; 9000 gassed (50 deaths). Patton and MacArthur meet under fire, former outwalks his tanks (70 of 174 reach startline).

    The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the AmericanExpeditionary Force (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against German positions. The US Army Air Service played a significant role in this action.

    This battle marked the first use of the terms "D Day" and "H-Hour" by the Americans. The fighting was depicted in the 1927 film Wings.

    The attack at the St. Mihiel salient was part of a plan by Pershing in which he hoped that the Americans would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz. It was the first and only offensive launched solely by the United States Army in World War I, and the attack caught the Germans in the process of retreating. This meant that their artillery was out of place and the American attack, coming up against disorganized German forces, proved more successful than expected. The St. Mihiel attack established the stature of the U.S. Army in the eyes of the French and British forces, and again demonstrated the critical role of artillery during World War I and the difficulty of supplying such massive armies while they were on the move. The U.S. attack faltered as artillery and food supplies were left behind on the muddy roads. The attack on Metz was not realized, as the Germans refortified their positions and the Americans then turned their efforts to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.


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    General Pershing

    General John Pershing thought that a successful Allied attack in the region of St. Mihiel, Metz, and verdun would have a significant effect on the German army. General Pershing was also aware that the area's terrain setting first dictated that the restricted rail and road communications into Verdun (restrictions that had been imposed by the German attack during the Battle of Flirey) be cleared, and that a continuation of the attack to capture the German railroad center at Metz would be devastating to the Germans. For this, he placed his confidence in a young First Infantry Division Major, George Marshall, to move troops and supplies effectively throughout the battle. After these goals were accomplished, the Americans could launch offensives into Germany proper. The American First Army had been activated in August and taken over the sector of the Allied line. Pershing had to persuade Marshall Foch (the supreme Allied military commander) to permit an American attack on the salient.

    The weather corps of Corps I Operation Order stated: "Visibility: Heavy driving wind and rain during parts of day and night. Roads: Very muddy." This would pose a challenge to the Americans when the order to advance was given. In some parts of the road, the men were almost knee-deep in mud and water. After five days of rain, the ground was nearly impassable to both the American tanks and infantry. Many of the tanks were wrecked with water leakage into the engine, while others would get stuck in mud flows. Some of the infantrymen developed early stages of trench foot, even before the trenches were dug.

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    Map of the Battle

    Prior to the American operation, the Germans installed many in-depth series of trenches, wire obstacles, and machine gun nests. The battlefields' terrain included the nearby premises of three villages: Vigneulles, Thiaucourt, and Hannonville-sous-les-Cotes. Their capture would accelerate the envelopment of the German divisions near St. Mihiel. The American forces planned to breach the trenches and then advance along the enemy's logistical road network.

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    American Units advance

    The Germans knew many details about the Allied offensive campaign coming against them. One Swiss newspaper had published the date, time, and duration of the preparatory barrage. However, the German Army stationed in the area of St. Mihiel lacked sufficient manpower, firepower and effective leadership to launch a counter-attack of its own against the Allies. With Allied offensives to the north, the Germans decided to pull out of the St. Mihiel Salient and consolidate their forces near the Hindenburg Line. The order to evacuate the area was given on 8 SeptemberThe Allied forces discovered the information on a written order to Army Group Gallwitz.

    Although the AEF was new to the French theater of war, it trained hard for nearly a year in preparation for fighting against the German armies. In June 1917 Pershing ordered the creation of a tank force to support the AEF's infantry. As a result, by September 1918, Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton Jr. had finished training two tank battalions – 144 French-built Renault FT light tanks organized as the 344th and 345th Battalions of the United States Tank Corps – at Langres, France for an upcoming offensive at the St. Mihiel salient. "Due to the serious resistance of the enemy, especially along the eastern edge of the FORET d’ARGONNE and in the vicinity of CHEPPY and VARENNES, and due also the lack of support of the Infantry, all the Tanks had contrary to plan entered the action before evening of the first day. The 344th Battalion supporting the advance of the 28th and 35th Divisions left the positions of departure and advanced ahead of the Infantry at H-hour (5:30 a.m.) On the morning of the 26th, Colonel G. S. Patton, Jr., commanding the Brigade of Tanks, was wounded while getting Tanks forward and rallying disorganized Infantrymen to attack enemy resistance. Major Sereno E. Brett, commanding the 344th Battalion, was then placed in command of the Brigade." Patton was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his "extraordinary heroism" that day. In addition to the 144 AEF tanks, the attack was joined by 275 French tanks (216 FTs and 59 Schneider CA1 and Saint- Chamond tanks) of the French 1st Assault Artillery Brigade; a total of 419 tanks.

    The Saint-Mihiel offensive began on 12 September with a threefold assault on the salient. The main attack was made against the south face by two American corps. On the right was the I Corps (from right to left the 82nd, 90th, 5th and 2nd Divisions in line with the 78th in reserve) covering a front from Pont-ŕ-Mousson on the Moselle west toward Limey; on the left, the IV Corps (from right to left the 89th, 42nd and 1st Divisions in line with the 3rd in reserve) extending along a front from Limey west toward Marvoisin. A secondary thrust was carried out against the west face along the heights of the Meuse, from Mouilly north to Haudimont, by the V Corps (from right to left the 26th Division, the French 15th Colonial Division, and the 8th Brigade, 4th Division in line with the rest of the 4th in reserve). A holding attack against the apex, to keep the enemy in the salient, was made by the French II Colonial Corps (from right to left the French 39th Colonial Division, the French 26th Division, and the French 2nd Cavalry Division in line). In First Army reserve were the American 35th, 80th and 91st Divisions.

    The Allies mobilized 1,481 aircraft to provide air superiority and close air support over the front. About 40% were American-flown in American units, the remainder were British, French, and Italian. Nine bomber squadrons of the British RAF, although provided for the battle, were not under Pershing's operational control.

    Defending the salient was German "Army Detachment C", consisting of eight divisions and a brigade in the line and about two divisions in reserve. The Germans, now desperately short of manpower, had begun a step-by-step withdrawal from the salient only the day before the offensive began. The attack went so well on 12 September that Pershing ordered a speedup in the offensive. By the morning of 13 September, the 1st Division, advancing from the east, joined up with the 26th Division, moving in from the west, and before evening all objectives in the salient had been captured. At this point, Pershing halted further advances so that American units could be withdrawn for the coming Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

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    "Open attack at St. Mihiel" (Jonas, 1927)

    The American V Corps location was at the northwestern vertices, the II French Colonial Corps at the southern apex, and the American IV and I Corps at the southeastern vertices of the salient. Furthermore, General Pershing's intent was obvious; to envelope the salient by using the main enveloping thrusts of the attack against the weak vertices. The remaining forces would then advance on a broad front toward Metz. This pincer action, by the IV and V Corps, was to drive the attack into the salient and to link the friendly forces at the French village of Vigneulles, while the II French Colonial Corps kept the remaining Germans tied down."

    "One reason for the American forces' success at St. Mihiel was General Pershing's thoroughly detailed operations order. Pershing's operation included detailed plans for penetrating the Germans' trenches, using a combined arms approach to warfare. His plan had tanks supporting the advancing infantry, with two tank companies interspersed into a depth of at least three lines, and a third tank company in reserve. The result of the detailed planning was an almost unopposed assault into the salient. The American I Corps reached its first day's objective before noon, and the second day's objective by late afternoon of the second".

    "Another reason for the American success was the audacity of the small unit commanders on the battlefield. Unlike other officers who commanded their soldiers from the rear, Colonel Patton and his subordinates would lead their men from the front lines. They believed that a commander's personal control of the situation would help ease the chaos of the battlefield."

    Cambrai – Battleof Havrincourt was launched as a successful attack by the British Third Army with three divisions against four German Army divisions holding the fortified town of Havrincourt, won on 5-mile front by 6 divisions of Byng’s Third Army who take village southwest of Cambrai, 1,000 powand beat 4 division counter-attacks.
    The Battle of Havrincourt involved the British Third Army (under the command of General Sir Julian Byng ) against German troops, including those of the 3rd and 10th Corps, in the town of Havringcourt, France. Although these battles were relatively small achievements in light of what would follow it marked the first time that the Hindenburg Line was pierced.

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    Three divisions of the Third Army attacked the village of Havrincourt: the 62nd Division, New Zealand Division and 37th Division. Defending Havrincourt were four German divisions, from the 3rd and 10th Corps. In the normal course of events, the 62nd Division would not have been there but they had been given the Havrincourt sector out of respect for their performance there in 1917, the 62nd [West Riding] Division took Havrincourt and the 37th took Trescourt.

    In 1918, despite their numerical superiority and strong fortifications within the town, the Germans were unable to hold their position and by the day's end Havricourt was in British hands. The victory was not particularly showy or impressive, but it highlighted a growing lack of fighting spirit among the German soldiers on the Western Front. While some took no notice of this small battle, others noted its significance – indeed, Byng himself saw it as a turning point of sorts;

    "He reckons his most important day with the 3rd Army to have been the capture of Havrincourt by the 56th Division. in September 1918. He supported it quickly with two other divisions, and the Boches threw two of the old Vionville divisions of their 3rd and 10th Corps, Brandenburgers and Hanoverians, against him with two more in reserve. They were well beaten, and the heart was out of the enemy afterwards." – as recounted by Colonel Charles a Court Repington.

    This victory encouraged Field Marshal Douglas Haig to approve an attack on Epehy the following day, along with other operations to prepare for the assault on the Hindenburg Line.

    Heavy rain and high wind impedes air work.

    Eastern Front:

    Russia: Tukachevksi’s Red First Army retakes Simbirsk, Lenin cables Trotsky with thanks.
    Southern Front:

    Artillery activity on whole Struma front.

    Tunstills Men Thursday 12h September 1918:

    Reserve positions near Monte Magnaboschi.

    The detached battalions from each brigade of 23rd Division (see 9th September) departed for France and it was intended that the remainder of both 7th and 23rd Divisions should follow as soon as sufficient transport could be procured. Pte. Harold Charnock (see 26th August) would later recall that, “it was freely rumoured that the Division was to return to France. This seemed probable”.

    Pte. Walter Limmer (see 11th September), who had suffered severe head wounds the previous day, died at 24th Casualty Clearing Station; he would be buried at the adjacent Cavalletto British Cemetery. News of his death would be communicated to his wife (they had married only a month previously while Pte. Limmer was on leave) by 2Lt. George Clifford Sugden (see 23rd August): “I write on behalf of No. 4 Platoon and myself to express my deep sympathy in your great bereavement. I personally feel the loss very much, as perhaps you know he has been my batman for some months now, and consequently we have been much together in the trenches, and naturally got to know each other very well. We had just moved to a new camp on the 11th, and your husband had only reported an hour before to me from leave. He had just finished tea when a shell came over that gave us no chance, and burst in the midst of us. Walter, I found, was badly wounded in his head. We immediately dressed his wounds and rushed off to the doctor, but I don’t think he ever regained consciousness until the following day, when he died at 4-30; at any rate he did not suffer any pain. I assure you we all miss him very much because he was always cheerful and willing to do anything I asked of him. You will be glad to know that he is buried in a very pretty cemetery in a pine wood. We have made a very nice cross for his grave. Be assured his resting place will be looked after as far as we are able”. There was also a letter from Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 5th September), “He was a good and a gallant soldier, and it is particularly sad that he should have been hit just after returning from leave. Please accept the sincerest sympathy of myself and all my fellow officers in your terrible bereavement. Your consolation must be that your husband died doing his duty for his King and Country”. One of Pte. Limmer’s ‘pals’ (unnamed) also wrote, “He was always one of the cheeriest, best and bravest – an example of what a really good soldier should be. The regiment can ill afford to lose men of his type”.

    Pte. Walter William Scott (see 21st May), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to bronchitis; he was awarded a pension of 11s. per week, to be reviewed after one year.

    A payment of Ł12 2s. 2d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte.Harry Robinson (see 19th July), who had died of his wounds on 19th July; the payment would go to his widow, Edith.

    Naval Operations:

    East Atlantic: U-boat sinks Union liner Galway Castle (154 lives lost).

    SS Galway Castle is torpedoed and sunk one hundred sixty miles from Fastnet out in the Atlantic. At least twenty-seven are killed. Nursing Sister Constance Addison (South African Military Nursing Service) is killed when she gives up her place in a lifeboat to another passenger. She goes down with the ship. She has two brothers who have been previously killed in the Great War.

    Mediterranean:
    Armed boarding steamer Samiasunk by U-boat.

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    Political:

    Blue Book (Cd. 9146) and (Cd. 8371) issued, describing German rule in south-west Africa and ill-treatment of the natives.

    Anniversary Events:


    490 BC Athenian and Plataean Hoplites commanded by General Miltiades drive back a Persian invasion force under General Datis at Marathon.
    1213 Simon de Montfort defeats Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France.
    1609 Henry Hudson sails into what is now New York Harbor aboard his sloop Half Moon.
    1662 Governor Berkley of Virginia is denied his attempts to repeal the Navigation Acts.
    1683 A combined Austrian and Polish army defeats the Turks at Kahlenberg and lifts the siege on Vienna, Austria.
    1722 The Treaty of St. Petersburg puts an end to the Russo-Persian War.
    1786 Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis is appointed governor general of India.
    1836 Mexican authorities crush the revolt which broke out on August 25.
    1918 British troops retake Havincourt, Moeuvres, and Trescault along the Western Front.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-13-2018 at 14:51.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  35. #3585

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    And just when you think your on top of things.... you see you forgot 2 VC's that were won yesterday!

    Mistake now rectified.

    Onwards and upwards, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  36. #3586

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    Friday 13th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 60 days

    Today we lost: 633

    Today’s losses include:


    • Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great War
    • A member of the Essex County Constabulary
    • The captain of the hockey team at Halifax New School

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Lieutenant John Parnwell Gray (Royal Field Artillery) dies of accidental injuries at age 20. His brother was killed in October 1915.
    • Second Lieutenant F A Parfitt (York and Lancaster Regiment) dies at home at age 21. His brother will die at home in November of this year.
    • Sergeant Thomas Samuel Woof (Rifle Brigade) is killed. His brother was killed in June of this year.
    • Sergeant Ernest William Wedlock (Labour Corps) is killed while working in the ruined village of Hersin at age 44. He is a member of the Essex County Constabulary and leave behind a widow and nine children.
    • Private George Mitchell (Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry) is killed in action in Greece at age 29. He was the captain of the hockey team at Halifax New School.
    • Rifleman William Richard Ballard (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) is killed at age 38. His brother will be killed in sixteen days just 4.5 kilometers from the spot where William is killed.


    Air Operations:

    France:
    Marshal Foch memo to Premier Clemenceau on ‘The bombardment of the Interior of Germany’by an ‘inter-allied bombing force’.

    Western Front:
    Handley Page bombers of No 207 Squadron attack Le Cateau station with 79 bombs (night September 13-14). RAF night raids on 3 German Paris bombing bases (night September 15-16).

    General Headquarters:

    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:


    Second Lieutenant Edward Eno Crosby (Royal Air Force) is killed in action at Esegney age 19. While on a bombing mission his DH9 breaks up and crashed in American lines. His brother will die of wounds four days after the war ends.

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    Claims: 31 confirmed (Entente 18 : Central Powers 13)

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    Western Front:

    Meuse
    – St Mihiel: Pershing takes 13,000 pow’s and 200 guns as salient closed at Vigneulles by 0600 hours as US 26th and 1st Divisions meet (200,000 Americans in reserve). BAR first used in action by US 79th Division.

    Somme:
    British and French nearing St. Quentin: they take Holnon Wood and Savy respectively.

    Southern Front:

    Tunstills Men Friday 13th September 1918:

    Reserve positions near Monte Magnaboschi.

    The Battalion moved into front line positions on the far left of the divisional front, relieving 11West Yorks.; three companies went into the front line, with the fourth in close support near Cesuna Tunnels.

    Pte. Walter Evans (see 25th May) was reported by A/CSM Albert Blackburn (see 27th August), A/Sgt. James Shackleton MM (see 21st March; it is not clear when Shackleton had been promoted from his previous rank of Corporal) and Cpl. Alfred Frankland (see 25th May) for drunkenness; he would be kept under close arrest for four days before being ordered by Lt.Col. Francis Washington Lethbridge DSO (see 12thSeptember) to undergo 14 days’ Field Punishment no.1.

    Pte. Walter Dey (see 17th June) was admitted via 71st Field Ambulance and 24th Casualty Clearing Station to 11th General Hospital in Genoa; he was suffering from malaria.

    L.Cpl. Harry Bailey (25248) (see 13th July), who had been suffering from jaundice, was discharged from 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia and posted to the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia.

    2Lt. Harley Bentham (see 7th September 1917), serving in France with 5DWR, was severely wounded during an attack on the village of Havrincourt, and died of his wounds later the same day. News of his death would be received by his family in a letter from the Battalion Commanding Officer; “It is with deep sorrow that I have to inform you of the death of Second-Lieutenant Bentham in action on the 13th. He was wounded by shellfire whilst gallantly leading his men in the attack, which resulted in the capture of Havrincourt. He did not suffer and died shortly after reaching the C.C.S. We officers, N.C.O.s and men of his battalion thought much of him as a gallant, cheerful comrade, and it is a great grief to us that victory has cost so much to you and him. May the knowledge that he did his duty well and bravely help to lighten this great sorrow." 2Lt. Bentham would buried at Sunken Road Cemetery, Boisleux St. Marc.

    L.Cpl. Dennis Waller (see 7th September), who had been severely wounded in action on 8th August while serving in serving in France with 2DWR, suffering a compound fracture of his left femur, was evacuated to England from 35th General Hospital at Calais, travelling onboard the Hospital Ship Ville de Liege. On arrival in England he would be admitted to Edmonton General Military Hospital. On the same day theLondon Gazette published notice of the award of the Military Medal to L.Cpl. Waller.

    Pte. William Norman Whitehead (see 15th June) who had been in England since having been severely wounded in June 1917, was posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

    The weekly edition of the Craven Herald published news of the death of Pte. Edwin Kenyon (see 26thAugust) who had been killed during the trench raid on 26th August; there were also In Memoriam notices from Pte. Kenyon’s family.

    News was received last week-end, from Italy, of the death of Private Edwin Kenyon, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, who was killed in action on the 26th August. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Kenyon, 54 Willow Bank, Barnoldswick, and leaves a wife residing at Cornholme. Private Kenyon joined up in January, 1915, and after serving two years and five months in France was transferred to the Italian Front in October last. In a letter of sympathy to the bereaved wife an N.C.O. says:- "The company was ordered to make a raid on enemy trenches. This took place and I saw your husband after we had reached our objective. After a short time we were ordered back again and he was all right until he got within a short distance of our own lines, when a bullet struck him in the head, killing him instantly." Private Kenyon was 24 years of age.

    KENYON – In loving memory of Private Edwin Kenyon, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, killed in Italy August 26th, aged 24 years.

    We pictured his safe returning,

    We longed to clasp his hand,

    But God has postponed the meeting

    Till we meet in the better land.

    From Mother and Father, Brothers and Sisters, 54 Willow Bank, Barnoldswick.

    KENYON – In loving memory of my dear husband, Private Edwin Kenyon, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, who was killed in Italy August 26th, 1918, aged 24 years.

    I often think of the days gone by,

    When we were both together;

    But a shadow o’er my life is cast,

    A dear one gone for ever.

    From his loving wife, May, Vale School House, Cornholme.

    Naval Operations:

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    Political:

    Registration in U.S.A. of 13 million citizens between 18 and 21, and 32 and 35 for military service.

    British Railway strike begins in South Wales.

    Anniversary Events:

    1515 King Francis of France defeats the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthaus Schiner at Marignano, northern Italy.
    1549 Pope Paul III closes the first session of the Council of Bologna.
    1564 On the verge of attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida, Jean Ribault's French fleet is scattered by a devastating storm.
    1759 British troops defeat the French on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec.
    1774 Anne Robert Turgot, the new controller of finances, urges the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom.
    1782 The British fortress at Gibraltar comes under attack by French and Spanish forces.
    1788 The Constitutional Convention authorizes the first federal election resolving that electors in all the states will be appointed on January 7, 1789.
    1789 Guardsmen in Orleans, France, open fire on rioters trying to loot bakeries, killing 90.
    1846 General Winfield Scott takes Chapultepec, removing the last obstacle to US troops moving on Mexico City.
    1862 Union troops in Frederick, Maryland, discover General Robert E’ Lee’s's attack plans for the invasion of Maryland wrapped around a pack of cigars. They give the plans to General George B. McClellan who sends the Army of the Potomac to confront Lee but only after a delay of more than half a day.
    1863 The Loudoun County Rangers route a company of Confederate cavalry at Catoctin Mountain in Virginia.
    1905 U.S. warships head to Nicaragua on behalf of American William Albers, who was accused of evading tobacco taxes.
    1918 U.S. and French forces take St. Mihiel, France in America's first action as a standing army.
    Last edited by Flying Officer Kyte; 09-14-2018 at 08:55.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  37. #3587

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    Saturday 14th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 59 days

    Today we lost: 584

    Today’s losses include:

    • A General
    • Multiple battalion commanders
    • A Member of Parliament and son of a Marquis
    • The son of a member of the clergy
    • Multiple families that will lose two, three and four sons in the Great War
    • A family that will lose a son and a daughter in the Great War
    • The man who scored the first goal ever for the Ayr United club

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Brigadier General Lumley Owen Williamses Jones DSO commanding officer 13rth Brigade 5th Division dies on service at age 41.
    • Lieutenant Colonel F H A Wollaston DSO (Rifle Brigade commanding 1st/5thSuffolk Regiment) is killed at age 39.
    • Major (Temporary Lieutenant Colonel) ‘Lord’ Alexander George Boteville Thynne DSO (Wiltshire Regiment commanding 6th Wiltshire Yeomanry) a Member of Parliament for Bath, is killed in action at age 45. He is the son of the Marquis and Marchioness of Bath. He is a veteran of the South Africa War and Somali 1903-4.
    • Captain Eric Minot Spinks (North Staffordshire Regiment) is killed at age 24. He is the son of the Reverend Edmund Spink Vicar of Bakewell.
    • Lieutenant Harold Archibald Smith MC (Canadian Mounted Rifles) dies at age 25 in England. He had been a theological student before he enlisted at a stretcher-bearer in January 1915.
    • Lance Corporal Edgar Birch (North Staffordshire Regiment) is killed at age 26. He is the last of three brothers who are killed in the war, the other two being killed last year.
    • Lance Corporal Clifton Lionel Williams (Machine Gun Corps) is killed at age 19 becoming the youngest and last of four brothers who lose their lives in the Great War.
    • Lance Corporal Adolphus Jenner (Royal Fusiliers) is killed at age 24. His brother was killed in June 1916.
    • Driver Archibald Campbell (Royal Field Artillery) dies of wounds to his back and shoulder received in action at age 38. He played football for the Carlisle United, Ayr United and Albion Rovers clubs. He scored the first league goal ever for Ayr United in 1910.
    • Dursley War Worker Doris Mary Wyatt dies at age 23. Her brother will die of wounds next month.
    • Private Henry Bertram Clapperton (West Surrey Regiment) is killed at age 30. His brother died of wounds in May 1917.


    Air Operations:

    Germany: Largest Handley Page effort (night September 14-15), 40 various targets (1 lost).

    While on a bombing raid Second Lieutenant James Gordon Dennis is engaged in a formation, which is attacked by twenty of the enemy, and during the ensuing fight he is severely wounded. He at once signals his observer, Lieutenant H G Ramsey to take charge of their machine, but the observer has also been wounded and is unable to comply. Lieutenant Dennis decides that his duty demands that he should remain with the formation to the end of the battle, and does this, notwithstanding the loss of blood from his wounds. He succeeds in bringing his machine back to our lines – a distance of over forty miles – a feat that surprised even his commanding officer.

    Macedonia:
    First of 3 RAF pre-final offensive bombing raids (until September 16) on Hudova airfield.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today:
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    Claims: 55 confirmed (Entente 31: Central Powers 24)


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    Western Front:

    Continued German retreat between the Meuse and Moselle, closely followed by French and Americans.
    Between the Oise and Aisne the French capture Allemant village and Laffaux Mill in local attacks.

    Aisne:
    French Tenth Army storms Allemant (Legion’s last major action) and Laffaux Mill (Marine battalion) in 5-miles of Hindenburg Line and captures 2,500 pow and guns; recaptures Vailly on river (September 16); advances northeast of Soissons (September 17), and repulses five counter-attacks near Allemant (September 20).

    German counter-attacks at Havrincourt fails.

    Southern Front:


    Macedonia – ALLIED FINAL OFFENSIVE:
    Battle of the Vardar (until September 25; French Battle of the Dobropolje until September 17 and Serb Battle of the Moglenitsa) begins with record Balkans 650-gun bombardment from 0800 hours along 80-mile Vardar-Monastir line especially on 6-mile Mountains Sokol-Vetrenik sector. Scholtz wrongly moves Bulgar regiment and 12th Saxon Jaeger battalion to north of Monastir, only at 2230 hours discovers the point of attack.

    Tunstills Men Saturday 14th September 1918:

    Front line positions on the far left of the divisional front, north of Mt. Lemerle.

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    It was around this time that Sgt. Richard Everson (see 26th August) was recommended for the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal; he had already been recommended for the Military Medal for his actions in the raid on 26th August. The citation for his DCM award referred to his service over an extended period, “During the period 26th February 1918 to 14th September 1918, he has always displayed great gallantry and devotion to duty; he is a most conscientious and capable worker both in and out of the line, and under the heaviest fire, and has on all occasions been of the very greatest help to his company commander and of benefit to the members of his company”.

    Pte. Frederick George Westlake (see 5th September), who had suffered a gunshot wound to his right foot three weeks’ previously, was tried by Field General Court Martial held at 9th Casualty Clearing Station. Pte. Westlake was charged with, “When on active service conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in that he, on or about 25th August 1918, negligently handled a rifle whereby he became wounded”. He was found guilty and ordered to forfeit 28 days’ pay.

    CQMS Maurice Harcourt Denham (see 24th August), who had been injured in an accident three weeks’ previously, was transferred from 38th Stationary Hospital in Genoa to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano.

    Pte. Alfred Shaw (see 26th May) was transferred from hospital in Marseilles to 16th Convalescent Depot, also in Marseilles.

    Pte. Ernest Thorn (see 9th August) was posted from the Regimental Depot in Halifax to 3DWR at North Shields.

    Pte. Harry Walsh (see 4th July 1917), who had been in England since suffering severe wounds to his back in June 1917, was married to Edith Lawrence at St. Mark’s Church, Harrogate. Pte. Walsh’s address was stated as being St. Nicholas’ Hospital, Wetherby Lane, Harrogate. Edith Lawrence was the widow of Pte. Harry Lawrence who had been killed in September 1916 while serving with 1st/8th West Yorks.

    Pte. William Franklin (see 1st June), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was formally transferred to Army Reserve Class P; this classification of the reserve applied to men “whose services were deemed to be temporarily of more value to the country in civil life rather than in the Army”. He was to take up employment as a coal miner at Baggeridge Colliery, Sedgley, Staffs..

    The weekly edition of the Keighley News reported on the condition of A/CSM Frank Shelah Gilleard (see 26th August) who had been wounded in the trench raid on 26th August,

    Sergeant Major Frank Gilleard, West Riding Regiment, son of the late Mr. Fred Gilleard and of Mrs. Gilleard of 31 Argyle Street, Keighley, has been dangerously wounded in the abdomen by gunshot in Italy. Latest reports, however, go to show that he is improving somewhat. He joined the Army on September 1st 1914. Before going to Italy shortly before last Christmas he was wounded three times in action in France. Since being wounded, Sergeant Major Gilleard has been awarded the Military Cross, the presentation being made to him in hospital by the Commander-in-Chief.

    Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:

    Azerbaijan – Turks capture Baku: 8-10 battalions capture Wolfs Gate. Dunsterforce evacuation ordered at 2000 hours after 180 casualties and 5 RAFsorties. 3 Royal Navy-manned ships take 1,300 British soldiers and 8,000 Armenians to Enzeli (until September 15). Tartars massacre 8,988 Armenians (until September 16). Turks install Khan Khoiski’s Tartar Government on September 16.

    Before dawn a Turkish artillery barrage strikes everywhere along the 14-mile long front at Baku. Eight to 10 Turkish battalions cross the railroad tracks and roll over the Russian defenders gaining control of the cliffs overlooking Baku. The 39th Brigade rushes to stem the tide but lack the strength to thrown the Turks from the heights. Lieutenants McKay and Pope finding their Martinsydes unserviceable so burn them and join the infantry. With scattered artillery fire pounding Baku and his last line of defenses breached, Dunsterville decides that further resistance is futile and accordingly he orders the Royal Navy to prepare to evacuate the Dunsterforce and with Baku lit by flames and its streets beginning to ring with the din of combat the force heads out to sea. The mission to Baku has cost Dunsterforce 180 men dead, wounded and missing. The Turkish casualties are put at 2,000.

    Naval Operations:

    The British aircraft carrier Argus is completed. She is the world '​s first aircraft carrier with an unobstructed flight deck from stem to stern.

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    HMS Argus was converted from an ocean liner that was under construction when the First World War began, and became the first example of what is now the standard pattern of aircraft carrier, with a full-length flight deck that allowed wheeled aircraft to take off and land. After commissioning, the ship was heavily involved for several years in the development of the optimum design for other aircraft carriers. Argus also evaluated various types of arresting gear, general procedures needed to operate a number of aircraft in concert, and fleet tactics. The ship was too top-heavy as originally built and had to be modified to improve her stability in the mid-1920s. She spent one brief deployment on the China Station in the late 1920s before being placed in reserve for budgetary reasons.

    Argus was recommissioned and partially modernised shortly before the Second World War and served as a training ship for deck-landing practice until June 1940. The following month she made the first of her many ferry trips to the Western Mediterranean to fly off fighters to Malta; she was largely occupied in this task for the next two years. The ship also delivered aircraft to Murmanks in Russia, Takoradi on the Gold Coast, and Reykjavik in Iceland.

    By 1942, the Royal Navy was very short of aircraft carriers and Argus was pressed into front-line service despite her lack of speed and armament. In June, she participated in Operation Harpoon, providing air cover for the Malta-bound convoy. In November, the ship provided air cover during Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa, and was lightly damaged by a bomb. After returning to the UK for repairs, Argus was used again for deck-landing practice until late September 1944. In December, she became an accommodation ship and was listed for disposal in mid-1946. Argus was sold in late 1946 and scrapped the following year.

    Argus had her genesis in the Admiralty's desire during the First World War for an aircraft carrier that could fly off wheeled aircraft and land them aboard. Existing carriers could launch wheeled aircraft, but had no way to recover them as they lacked flight decks. In 1912, the ship builder William Beardmore had proposed to the Admiralty an aircraft carrier design with a continuous, full-length flight deck, but it was not accepted. As the limitations of existing carriers became more apparent, this design was dusted off and the Admiralty located two large, fast hulls suitable for conversion into an aircraft carrier. Construction of the Italian ocean liners Conte Rosso and Giulio Cesare had been suspended by William Beardmore and Company at the outbreak of the war, and both met the Admiralty's criteria. Conte Rossowas purchased on 20 September 1916, possibly because her machinery was more complete than that of Giulio Cesare, and the company began work on converting the ship.

    The initial design had two islands with the flight deck running between them. Each island contained one funnel; a large net could be strung between them to stop out-of-control aircraft. The islands were connected by braces and the bridge was mounted on top of the bracing, which left a clear height of 20 feet (6.1 m) for the aircraft on the flight deck. Fairly early in the design process, the decision was made to delete the funnels to reduce turbulence over the flight deck. The exhaust gases were, instead, ducted aft in the space between the roof of the hangar deck and the flight deck and were enclosed by a casing through which cooler air was driven by electric fans. They normally exhausted underneath the aft end of the flight deck, but the exhaust could be vented through openings on the rear side of the hull by two large electric fans.

    In November 1916, the ship's design was tested in a wind tunnel by the national Physical Laboratory to evaluate the turbulence caused by the twin islands and the bridge over them. They were found to cause problems, but no changes were made until the ship was nearly complete. In April 1918, Argus was ordered to be modified to a flush-deck configuration after the sea trials of the carrier Furious had revealed severe turbulence problems caused by her superstructure. The ship was given a bridge underneath her flight deck, extending from side to side, and she was fitted with a retractable pilot house in the middle of the flight deck for use when not operating aircraft.

    Argus's stability had been a concern from the beginning. Despite having been originally conceived as a liner with a hull designed to minimise rolling, most of the changes made to the ship during her conversion added topside weight, raising her centre of gravity. Even the addition of 600 long tons (610 t) of ballast still left the ship with a very low metecentric height of only 1.6 feet (0.49 m) lightly loaded and 3.8 feet (1.2 m) at deep load. This meant that she was very steady, but heeled noticeably when turning. The ship proved to be very manoeuvrable at medium and high speeds, but steered badly at low speeds and in wind due to her large surface area.

    Argus had an overall length of 565 feet (172.2 m), a beam of 68 feet (20.7 m), and adraught of 23 feet 3 inches (7.1 m) at deep load. She displaced 14,450 long tons (14,680 t) at standard and 15,575 long tons (15,825 t) at deep load. Each of the ship's four sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft. Steam was supplied by 12 cylindrical Scotch boilers. The turbines were designed for a total of 20,000 shaft horsepower (15,000 kW), but they produced 21,376 shaft horsepower (15,940 kW) during her sea trials in September 1918, and gave Argus a speed of 20.506 knots (37.977 km/h; 23.598 mph). The ship carried 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) of fuel oil, which gave her a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

    The ship's flight deck was 549 feet (167.3 m) long and her hangar was 330 feet (100.6 m) long, 48–68 feet (14.6–20.7 m) wide, and 16 feet (4.9 m) high. Aircraft were transported between the hangar and the flight deck by two aircraft lift elevators); the forward lift measured 30 by 36 feet (9.1 m × 11.0 m) and the rear 60 by 18 feet (18.3 m × 5.5 m). Argus was the only British carrier serving in the Second World War capable of striking down (stowing away) aircraft with non-folding wings because of her wide lifts and tall hangar ceiling. Three fire curtainsdivided the hangar and another separated the hangar and the quaterdeck. She could accommodate between 15 and 18 aircraft. No arresting gear was fitted as completed. Two large cranes were positioned on the quarterdeck, beneath the rear of the flight deck. Petrol storage consisted of 8,000 imperial gallons (36,000 l; 9,600 US gal) in 2-imperial-gallon (9.1 l; 2.4 US gal) tins stowed below the waterline. The ship's crew totalled 495 officers and men.

    The ship was armed with four 4-inch (102mm) anti-aircraft guns, two on the quarterdeck and one on each side of the hull. She was also fitted with two low-angle 4-inch guns, one also on each side of the hull. The rear magazine and the torpedo warhead storage magazine were protected by a total of 2 inches (51 mm) of protective plating on all sides, but the forward magazine and bomb storage rooms only had a 2-inch thick deck to protect them.

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    Argus was laid down in 1914 by William Beardmore and Company in Dalmuir, as the Conte Rosso. She was renamed after her purchase in September 1916 and was launched on 2 December 1917, her building having been slowed by labour shortages. The ship was commissioned on 16 September 1918. Formally named after Argus of the 100 Eyes from Greek mythology, Argus was nicknamed the Hat Box or the Flatiron due to her flat-topped appearance.
    After commissioning too late to participate in the First World War, Argus was tasked to conduct deck-landing trials with longitudinal arresting gear transferred from Furious. The first landing on the ship was made on 1 October 1918 by a Sopwith Ship Strutter. The same month, the ship was used in trials to evaluate the effects which an island superstructure would have on flying operations, with a canvas-and-wood dummy island being installed with a smoke box to simulate funnel gases. By 19 December, 36 successful landings had been made by Ship Strutters and Sopwith Pups. Argus was refitted from 23 December to 21 March 1919 with modified arresting gear. The wires of the arresting gear had been lifted off the deck so they could engage the hooks on the undercarriages of the aircraft, but this prevented the use of the flight deck for any other purpose. The after lift was therefore lowered 9 inches (229 mm), which allowed aircraft to use the area when the lift was raised flush with the rest of the flight deck. Trials began in April and the lift was widened in October. Argus joined the Atlantic Fleet in January 1920 for its Spring Cruise carrying eight Ship Strutters, four Sopwith Camel fighters, two Airco DH.9A bombers and two Fairey floatplanes. Operational experience confirmed that the aircraft should attempt to land directly onto the arresting gear lest they be blown over the side of the carrier, as happened three times during the cruise.

    After the ship's return from its cruise, a conference was convened aboard Argus on 19 May to consider revised landing arrangements. It was decided that a longer system of wires was needed, and the landing well system was abandoned in favour of ramps that could be raised and lowered as needed. Powered palisades were also needed on the side of the flight deck to help retain aircraft aboard that had not engaged a wire. The revised system was successfully tested aboard the carrier Eagle later in the year and Argus' arresting gear was modified accordingly in time for the 1921 Spring Cruise, during which the ship carried ten Parnell Panther spotter and reconnaissance aircraft and three Fairey IIIC reconnaissance aircraft. In addition, the ship's after lift was permanently locked in the raised position and 150 long tons (150 t) of ballast were added to compensate for the additional weight of the equipment high in the ship. This cruise was deemed very successful as 45 landings were made, only two of which resulted in serious accidents, an accident rate comparable to those of land-based units. The time required to launch two aircraft and land one aboard was forty minutes during this cruise, primarily because the rotary engines of the time were very difficult to start.

    On September 1922, Argus, equipped with Gloster Nightjar fighters, was deployed to the Dardanelles as a response to the Chanak crisis. As well as operating her own aircraft, Argus was used to fly off Bristol Fighters that had been ferried to the Dardanelles aboard the seaplane carrier Ark Royal to an airfield at Kilia on the European side of the straits. (The aircraft could not be flown off Ark Royal since it was a seaplane carrier with no flight deck. The Bristol Fighters were transferred to Argus by crane).

    In July 1922, Argus was inclined to evaluate her stability in light of the additional weights that had been added since her completion and it was discovered that her metacentric height had been reduced by 0.83 feet (0.3 m). The Director of Naval Construction proposed to fit her with a girdle at her waterline to increase her beam and thus her stability. He intended to do this under the 1923–1924 Naval Programme, but this was delayed several times as the ship was needed for training and when she was finally modified it was under the 1925–1926 Naval Programme. Girdling increased her deep displacement to 16,750 long tons (17,020 t) and her beam to 74 feet (22.6 m), and reduced her draught to 22 feet 10 inches (7.0 m) and her speed by a quarter of a knot. The ship was also fitted with bulk petrol storage, new four-inch guns that used fixed ammunition, and new radio masts.

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    Argus usually operated about 15 aircraft during the 1920s. This was commonly divided up between one small flight of fighters (Gloster Nightjars or Fairey Flycatchers), one of spotters (Parnall Panthers or Avro Bisons), and one spotter reconnaissance flight with Fairey IIIs.

    The ship's hull was surveyed in 1927 and anticipated to be sound for another 15 years, and she relieved Hermes on the China Station from 1 September to 20 March 1928. Sometime after her return, Argus was laid up at Plymouth at 14-days readiness to save money. Since she was completed before 9 December 1921, the Washington Naval Treaty classified her as an experimental aircraft carrier and thus she did not need to be scrapped to release treaty-limited tonnage for new construction. The ship was reduced to Extended Reserve (four months readiness) at Rosyth in September 1932. In February 1936, it was decided to refit the ship as a tender for Queen Bee target drones. The opportunity was taken to widen her flight deck by 10 feet (3.0 m) and replace her old boilers with six new destroyer-type boilers which could generate more steam than her turbines could handle. The ship was intended to have one hydro-pneumatic aircraft catapult, but this was instead diverted to Ark Royal. Since Argus was now classified as a naval auxiliary, her four-inch guns were removed. Her refit was completed on 30 July 1938 and she underwent sea trials the following month.

    The steamer S S Gibel Hamam is torpedoed and sunk by UB-103 while on a voyage from Swansea to France with a cargo of coal. Twenty-one including the master are killed.

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    Political:

    Germany makes peace offer to Belgium on the basis of no indemnity or reparation, etc.

    Austria: Government sends note to US, all belligerents and neutrals suggesting ‘non-committal discussion’ on neutral soil. Allies spurn and Germans irritated.

    Anniversary Events:

    1146 Zangi of the Near East is murdered. The Sultan Nur ad-Din, his son, pursues the conquest of Edessa.
    1321 Dante Alighieri dies of malaria just hours after finishing writing Paradiso.
    1544 Henry VIII’s forces take Boulogne, France.
    1773 Russian forces under Aleksandr Suvorov successfully storm a Turkish fort at Hirsov, Turkey.
    1791 Louis XVI swears his allegiance to the French constitution.
    1812 Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia reaches its climax as his Grande Armee enters Moscow--only to find the enemy capital deserted and burning, set afire by the few Russians who remained.
    1814 Francis Scott Key writes the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" as he waits aboard a British launch in the Chesapeake Bay for the outcome of the British assault on Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.
    1847 U.S. forces under Genera; Winfield Scott capture Mexico City, virtually bringing the two-year Mexican War to a close.
    1853 The Allies land at Eupatoria on the west coast of Crimea.
    1862 At the battles of South Mountain and Crampton's Gap, Maryland Union troops smash into the Confederates as they close in on what will become the Antietam battleground.
    1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 26th President of the United States upon the death of William McKinley, who was shot eight days earlier.
    1911 Russian Premier Pyotr Stolypin is mortally wounded in an assassination attempt at the Kiev opera house.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-14-2018 at 09:10.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  38. #3588

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    Sunday 15th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 58 days

    Today we lost: 614


    Today’s losses include:


    • Multiple sons of members of the clergy
    • Families that will lose two and four sons in the Great War
    • The Paisley Abbey organist
    • A man who was married forty days ago and whose son will be born next year

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Second Lieutenant Lawrence McLean Lord (Central Flying School, Royal Air Force) is accidentally killed at age 18. He is the son of the Reverend C S Lord.
    • Second Lieutenant William Forbes Forsyth (Royal Scots) is killed at age 38. He is he organist at Paisley Abbey
    • Corporal Albert Constable (Dorsetshire Regiment) dies of wounds as a prisoner of war at age 29. His three brothers have already been killed in the Great War.
    • Private Edward James Godman (Bedfordshire Regiment) dies of wounds received in action at home at age 34. His brother was killed in October 1915.
    • Private William Arthur Lloyd-Jones (East Yorkshire Regiment) dies as a prisoner of war at age 19. He is the son of the Reverend Robert Lloyd-Jones.
    • Private William Bagshawe Heald (West Yorkshire Regiment) dies of wounds at age 21. He was married forty days ago and his son will be born in 1919.


    Air Operations:

    Germany: Stuttgart (Bosch and Daimler works) attacked by 9 DH4s of No 55 Squadron; 2 fighters shot down.
    Karlsruhe and Mainz heavily bombed by R.A.F.

    Captain William Henry Hubbard (Royal Air Force) brings down one enemy aircraft, while Lieutenant Gerald Anderson and Second Lieutenant Thomas Sydney Chiltern (Royal Air Force) bring down a Fokker D VII east of Seclin.

    France – last bombing of Paris:
    50 Gotha bombers (2 lost) drop 85 bombs (37 casualties).

    Western Front:
    German pilots destroy 6 and damage 4 balloons on BEF First and Third Army fronts (RAF manage 3 plus 3). Germans claim 58 Allied aircraft for loss of 12 in air fighting above all but one of the 14 German armies.
    Flying a Sopwith Camel, Frank Broome of the Royal Air Force's No. 151 Squadron shoots down a giant German Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI bomber over Beugny, France, one of the only two R.VI bombers lost to enemy action in World War I and the only one shot down by an Allied aircraft. He will be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the achievement.

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    The R.VI equipped two Luftstreitkrafte (Imperial German Army Air Service) units, Riesenflugzeug-Abteilung (Rfa) 500 and Rfa 501, with the first delivered June 28, 1917.

    The units first served on the Eastern Front, based at Alt-Auz and Vilua in Kurland until August 1917. Almost all missions were flown at night with 770 kg (1,698 lb) bomb loads, operating between 6,500 and 7,800 feet (2,000 and 2,400 m) altitude. Missions were of three to five hours' duration.

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    Rfa 501 was transferred to Ghent, Belgium for operations against both France and Great Britain, arriving September 22, 1917, at Sint-Denijs-Westrem airdrome. Rfa 501 later moved its base to Scheldewindeke airdrome south of group headquarters at Gontrode, while Rfa 500 was based at Castinne, France, with its primary targets French airfields and ports.

    Rfa 501, with an average of five R.VI's available for missions, conducted 11 raids on Great Britain between September 28, 1917, and May 20, 1918, dropping 27,190 kg (27 long tons; 30 short tons) of bombs in 30 sorties. Aircraft flew individually to their targets on moonlit nights, requesting directional bearings by radio after takeoff, then using the River Thames as a navigational landmark. Missions on the 340-mile (550 km) round trip lasted seven hours. None were lost in combat over Great Britain (compared to 28 Gotha G bombers shot down over England), but two crashed returning to base in the dark.

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    Four R.VI's were shot down in combat (one-third of the operational inventory), with six others destroyed in crashes, of the 13 commissioned during the war. Six of the 18 eventually built survived the war or were completed after the armistice.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today 22 of which the following 20 are recorded:

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    Claims: 55 confirmed (Entente 31: Central Powers 24)


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    Western Front:

    British capture Maissemy, five miles north-west of St. Quentin.

    Germans make ineffective counter-attacks south of the Oise.

    Americans continue advance on 33-mile front; they come within reach of fortress guns of Metz.

    France:
    French losses since 1 July: 279,000 soldiers.

    Germany:
    Construction of Hermann Line behind Army Groups Rupprecht and Boehn begun. German gas response to BEFautumn offensive: 2 million rounds (4,000t) mustard gas expended; 24,363 gassed (540 deaths) until November 11.

    Flanders:
    Belgian composer and soldier for duration of war Georges Antoine dies from influenza.

    Eastern Front:


    Volga:
    Red Eastern Front (5 armies) total 70,000 men; 225 guns; 1,059 MGs.

    Baku finally evacuated by the British forces (night 14th/15th) (see August 26th and November 17th).

    Southern Front:


    Battle of the Vardar begins.

    French and Serbian offensive in the Balkans; Bulgarian position carried on front of seven miles, and 800 prisoners taken.

    Macedonia:
    At 0530 hours 36,000 Serb, French and Italian infantry attack 12,000 Bulgars and Germans, capture Mt Vetrenik (4,725ft), Mt Dobropolje (6,125ft; French first use flamethrowers) and Mt Sokol with nearly 3,000 pow and 33 guns for 2,520 casualties. Advance continues at night up to 6 miles.

    Tunstills Men Sunday 15th September 1918:


    Front line positions on the far left of the divisional front, north of Mt. Lemerle.

    L.Cpl. Ernest Pearson MM (see 17th December 1917) and Ptes. Joseph Blackburn (29722) (see 25th July),Stanley Barker (see 26th August), Fred Wilson Fawcett (see 25th February), George Green (22749) (see 20th June), Thomas Warburton (see 24th February), Frederick William Warner (see 10th June) and Robert Wilson (see 21st June) departed on two weeks’ leave to England

    Pte. Ernest Mudd (see 10th September), who had been under treatment for inflammation to his left knee, was transferred from 23rd Division Rest Station to 39th Casualty Clearing Station.

    Pte. Charles William Groves (see 26th August), who had suffered wounds to his left hand on 26th August was transferred from 11th General Hospital in Genoa to 81st General Hospital in Marseilles.

    Lt. Andrew Aaron Jackson (see 26th August), who had suffered wounds to his right shoulder during the trench raid on 26th August, was evacuated to England from Le Havre; on arriving in England he would be admitted to Lady Cooper’s Hospital, Hursley Park, Winchester.

    Pte. Albert William Knight (see 23rd November 1917), serving with 2/6th DWR, was wounded in action, suffering wounds to both knees; he would be admitted to one of the hospitals at Etaples.

    Lt. Arthur Lilley (see 17th August), serving in France with the RAF, was admitted to 12th Stationary Hospital; the nature of his injury or illness is unknown.

    Naval Operations:


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    Political:

    German Government make definite peace offer to Belgium (see January 10th and 12th, 1917).

    Austria-Hungary sends a Note to U.S.A. and all belligerent and neutral powers suggesting a "confidential and non-binding" discussion on peace terms.

    USA:
    New York Congress of Austrian subject peoples demands Empire’s dismemberment.

    Anniversary Events:


    1588 The Spanish Armada, which attempted to invade England, is destroyed by a British fleet.
    1776 The British occupy Manhattan.
    1788 An alliance between Britain, Prussia and the Netherlands is ratified at the Hague.
    1858 The Butterfield Overland Mail Company begins delivering mail from St. Louis to San Francisco. The company's motto is: "Remember, boys, nothing on God's earth must stop the United States mail!"
    1862 Confederates capture Harpers Ferry, securing the rear of Robert E. Lee’s forces in Maryland.
    1891 The Dalton gang holds up a train and takes $2,500 at Wagoner, Oklahoma.
    1914 President Woodrow Wilson orders the Punitive Expedition out of Mexico. The Expedition, headed by General John Pershing, had been searching for Pancho Villa, a Mexican revolutionary.
    1916 Armored tanks are introduced by the British during the Battle of the Somme.
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-14-2018 at 23:41.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  39. #3589

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    Two very nice editions Neil.
    I particularly liked the articles on the Staaken, and the Argus yesterday which was another mammoth edition.

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

  40. #3590

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    Last one tomorrow for awhile, as I hand back over to Chris for Mondays edition.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  41. #3591

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    Why is it, does anybody know, that as of the last three days when I click on the link in the email it takes me to Post Number 1 and not the latest post?
    Bloody good editions Neil.

  42. #3592

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    and to finish my stint a small offering before I hand over to Chris.......
    See you on the Dark Side......

  43. #3593

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    Monday 16th September 1918

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    Armistice Countdown 57 days
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    David Ferguson Hunter VC (28 November 1891 – 14 February 1965) was 26 years old, and a corporal in the 1/5th Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC on 23 October 1918.

    On 16/17 September 1918 at Moeuvres, France, Corporal Hunter was detailed to take on an advanced post which was established in shell holes close to the enemy. There was no opportunity for reconnoitring adjacent ground, and the following afternoon Corporal Hunter found that the enemy had established posts all round him, isolating his command. He determined to hold out and despite being exceedingly short of food and water this NCO managed to maintain his position for over 48 hours until a counter-attack relieved him. He repelled frequent enemy attacks and also barrage from our attacks, which came right across his post.

    He was subsequently promoted to the rank of sergeant on 23 October 1918. He died 14 February 1965

    On 12 August 2004, his previously unmarked grave in Dunfermline Cemetery was marked by a memorial stone in a ceremony.

    His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Museum of The Royal Highland Fusiliers, Glasgow, Scotland.

    Today we lost: 589

    Today’s losses include:

    • Multiple families that will lose two sons in the Great war
    • A Military Chaplain
    • A grandson of a member of the clergy
    • A man whose son will be killed in the Second World War

    Today’s highlighted casualties include:

    • Lieutenant Archibald Denys Irivng (Royal Field Artillery) dies of wounds when he is struck by a piece of shell while leading an ammunition column at Saulcourt. He is the grandson of the late Reverend Thomas Bray.
    • Chaplain ‘the Reverend’ Matthew Vincent Prendergast died on service in Cairo at age 37.
    • Sergeant Richard Speakman (Cheshire Regiment) is killed at age 26. His brother died of pneumonia on service in February 1915.
    • Lance Corporal Henry Watson (Sussex Regiment) is killed at age 24. His brother was killed in May 1917.
    • Gunner Wilfrid Norminton (Royal Garrison Artillery) is killed at age 29. His son will be killed in the Second World War.


    Air Operations:

    Trans-Jordan: 6 RAF DH9s raid Deraa for first time; 8 German planes from Deraa cause Arab Army only 2 casualties thanks to BE12 (destroyed).

    Western Front: RAF destroy 8 German aircraft for loss of 4 over BEF Third Army but, overall, Germans claim 59 Allied planes for loss of 10.

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    Germany:
    7 RAF Handley Pages lost on raids on Cologne, Saarbruecken and Trier etc, 6 of them lost to anti-aircraft guns (16,063 rounds fired and 173 searchlights in action, night September 16-17).

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    Second Lieutenant Harold Leslie Edwards, while on patrol with nine other machines, engages twelve enemy scouts. In the combat that ensues, he destroys one, his pilot accounting for a second, and they take part in the destruction of a third.

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    An SS class airship with twin ventral fins and a BE2c-type car for the pilot
    .
    Coastal submarine UB-103, sighted by British blimp SS 21 (Pilot US Ensign NJ Learned), sunk by several Royal Navy drifters’ depth charges off Cap Gris Nez.

    Air raid on Paris by Gothas during the night: 6 killed, 15 injured, 2 raiders brought down.

    End of air Battle over St Miheil:
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    Situation before St Miheil OperationIn July 1918 the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was assigned its first great mission of World War I; the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient on the famed western front. The salient was a V in the German line approximately 35 miles wide at its base and 15 at its apex. The salient had been formed in September 1914 as part of the German attempt to envelop the fortress of Verdun. It had remained a troublesome bulge in the line for over four years and all attempts to eliminate it had been futile. General John Pershing, Commander of the AEF had insisted that the Americans be given an independent portion of the front. Up until this point American forces had seen battle only as a portion of larger British or French armies. Thus, St. Mihiel would be the first great test of American troops as well as the mettle of their General.

    St. Mihiel was also the greatest air battle of the Great War. Some 1476 allied air planes would participate in the offensive; the largest assembly of aviation assets the world had ever seen to that time. They would be opposed by some 500 German aircraft in the four days of the battle (12-16 Sept 1918). Moreover, St. Mihiel was significant because of the combined operation of air forces from the US, France, Italy, Great Britain and Portugal. For the most part, allied air assets were under a single command, the First US Army Air Service. Command of the largest air operation in History was entrusted to an obscure American Colonel, William (Billy) Mitchell, who had limited combat experience, especially in comparison to his allied counterparts.

    The air campaign plan for St. Mihiel was primarily the brain child of Billy Mitchell. General Mason Patrick, Commander US Army Air Service reviewed the plans, and final approval came from General Pershing. The viewpoints and personalities of these three men gelled particularly well for this campaign. While Mitchell did not have a completely free hand in planning the operation, there appears to have been minimal intervention or amendment by his superiors. In addition, there was excellent cooperation among Allied Forces. French, Italian and Portuguese forces were placed under command of the First Air Service. While the British maintained an independent air force for the battle, there was strong cooperation with the other allies. The French liaison officer, Major Paul Armengaud, proved invaluable in the planning process.

    The staff of the First Air Service completed the majority of the plans for the St. Mihiel Air Campaign. Mitchell organized his staff as follows:

    1. An operation section, which made the plans and provided for the execution of all military operations. It was the duty of this section to answer the questions where, when and how the military operations were to be carried out.
    2. An information section was created to receive and distribute all of the information secured from the air, both by visual observation and photography as to the movements of our own army and that of the enemy.
    3. The balloon section had charge of the captive balloons and their operations.
    4. The material section was charged with the responsibility of constructing the airdromes, arranging for the supply of materials, airplanes, gas, oil, ammunition, photographic and radio equipment . . . , and all other items necessary for the supply of the squadrons, groups, wings, and brigades.
    5. The last section was the administrative section, which had supervision over correspondence, replacement of personnel, securing of personnel, recording of the location of the men and their pay.

    The first step in the planning process was the organization and staffing of the First Air Service Headquarters. This was completed by mid August and the five sections previously mentioned began to function. A public school building was commandeered to house the headquarters and a 12 by 12 foot relief map of the St. Mihiel sector was obtained from a French balloon company. Mitchell staffed his headquarters with "the old staff officers whom I had trained, with Colonel T. D. Milling as Chief of Staff, the best one I have seen in any service."

    The organization and planning process was a continual one. Not only was it applied to the headquarters but to the entire First Air Service as well. Mitchell had to develop a force structure to carry out his plans. Wings, groups and squadrons had to be established. Some already existed, but many had to be put together, virtually overnight. In addition, support organizations for communications, logistics, intelligence and personnel administration were established. The scope of the organization and staffing function was indeed monumental. In addition, appointments had to be made with a very limited number of experienced personnel. In some instances a pursuit squadron was organized and staffed, but only bombers were available and the unit's mission was changed with assigned personnel training into the new weapons system. Flexibility was a key characteristic of all planning done for this campaign.
    Another step in the process was to determine the objectives for the ensuing air campaign. The overall objective for the battle was quite simple. The German forces were to be forced out of the salient. This in turn fit into the larger plan of the allied offensive, which was to break the German lines at multiple points and to destroy the German army in the West. From this overall objective, a number of sub-objectives were established for the air campaign.

    On 20 August 1918, Colonel Mitchell issued a memorandum that spelled out objectives for the St. Mihiel Air Campaign. The general objectives of aviation were: 1. destruction of enemy air forces so that they could not over fly allied lines, 2. reconnaissance of enemy positions to include direction of artillery fire, and 3. destruction of enemy ground forces through bombardment and strafing. Aviation assets were allocated into three categories, observation, pursuit and bombardment.

    From these general objectives specific targets were identified. Target selection was made at four different levels. A limited number of targets were designated by the First Army Staff. The majority, however, were identified by Mitchell and his First Air Service staff. Subordinate commands, especially army corps directed missions in their sectors, most notably observation and balloon busting. Finally, as operations order number 38 for the Third Pursuit Group provided, "If better objectives are seen in the immediate region of the roads assigned, Flight Commanders may decide to attack them."

    Yet another part of the process was to gather information, or what is termed today, intelligence, about the enemy. This aspect of planning created a dilemma. All levels thirsted for information about the enemy. However, an increase in aerial observation could tip the enemy off about the impending offensive. Thus a balance had to be struck and deception used to maintain the security of the operation. Phony patrols, false movements and communications, construction of dummy airdromes and a host of other methods were employed to maintain secrecy. These ploys were only partly successful. The Germans had identified the salient as the likely area for the next allied push; but, they miscalculated the day of the attack and were caught in the middle of their withdrawal.

    It would seem logical that intelligence would be gathered before objectives or targets were established. Indeed this was the case. An important point to remember about the planning process for St. Mihiel is that the steps were not always sequential. Thus a variety of steps were being performed at different levels on any given day.
    After staffs had been organized, objectives determined intelligence gathered, and forces assembled, the plan had to be communicated to the employers. We can learn some important lessons about the communication of plans from St. Mihiel. As Mitchell observed, When commanding, I always drew up my own orders for the military operation of the fighting units, and personally checked the sending and receipt by the unit commander of their special orders. When orders were not obeyed, it was usually the commanding officer who was at fault. Either the orders had not been delivered or they were so written that nobody could understand them. I always kept an officer at my headquarters, whose name I shall not mention, who I had read all the orders. If he could understand them anybody could. He was not particularly bright but he was one of the most valuable officers I had.

    A review of the plans, memos and orders for St. Mihiel reveals a remarkable clarity of expression. In the first place each document is brief, usually no more than three pages. A typical plan was divided into four parts, early preparation, preparation immediately preceding the attack, the attack, and exploitation of the attack. In each phase the intent of the plan would be clearly spelled out in a few declarative sentences. For example:
    A. Early Preparation
    1. Its general Intent:
    (a) Keeping up the normal bombardment of the sector so as not to draw enemy's attention to our air concentration.
    (b) Preventing access to our lines of hostile reconnaissance aviation -- hindering the observation work of enemy balloons.
    (c) Gathering all information necessary to the preparation of the attack, especially for the artillery preparation.

    The plan broke missions out into three categories bombardment, pursuit and reconnaissance and provided a brief statement regarding each. The nitty gritty of each branch's role was contained in annexes to the basic plan.
    In the case of bombers, the preparation phase simply stated, "To hinder enemy concentration by railroads, (Arrival of reinforcements and supplies of any nature). Destruction of enemy aviation on its flying fields." This was followed by a specific target list that tasked each unit. The plan tasked British Air Forces as well, but the mission orders were issued by General Trenchard. The annex further defines targets for the remaining phases of the attack, artillery preparation, the initial attack and the exploitation of the battle.

    The exploitation instructions were very brief and specific targets were not predetermined. "Objectives will be determined according to the situation at the time being," and in close coordination with the infantry. Targets would be identified and attacked in the order presented. Pursuit and reconnaissance received similar directions.

    One of the most extraordinary documents from this campaign is Circular Number 1 which 1st Army Air Service issued August 19, 1918. This 34 page manual provided procedures for all aspects of air operations. It was also an invaluable training guide, and training was definitely an important part of air campaign planning. As instructions for observation crews mandated "The more practices of aerial liaison with infantry that can be carried out the better. It is impossible to overdo it. In the course of these exercises every one must endeavor to simulate, as far as possible, the conditions that will be met during the actual attacks." Another section described what facilities should be maintained for instructional purposes. They included, radio buzzers to practice key manipulation, copies of the latest pamphlets on adjustment of artillery fire, blackboards and instruction charts with schematics of machine guns.

    Moreover, each Group was tasked to draw up a course of instruction for all their observers and to recruit instructors and guest speakers. Not surprisingly there was a strong emphasis on maps and an observers' room was established to disseminate information.

    Circular 1 also prescribed the daily routine for all the players. It included instructions for staff meetings, scheduling, and general administration. Although mundane, these tasks were nevertheless important and provide insight into the planning process.

    More importantly, the circular outlined duties and responsibilities and provided functional statements for each position in the 1st Army Air Service. Brief statements such as, "The Photographic Officer is charged with the equipping of the airplanes with the proper cameras and number of magazines, and the prompt transportation to the photo laboratory of these articles upon the return of the mission," or "The Engineering Officer is responsible that the airplanes are inspected and no unsafe planes are used"were clear and to the point. Today, they may be considered oversimplified, but they nevertheless have a refreshing crispness. In sum, everyone who read the circular knew what his job was, but also had a high degree of flexibility in carrying his duties out.

    The capstone to the planning process for St. Mihiel was leadership. Colonel Mitchell's leadership was the glue that held all the disparate parts of the plan together. On-scene observers remember Mitchell as being everywhere, seemingly at the same time. He was frequently in the air, checking the progress of plans. He would drop in on airfields and chat with crews. His boundless energy enabled him to review the volumes of orders that went out and the reports that came back in. While meticulous in his review of details, Mitchell did not stifle his staff or his operators. While he set demanding standards, to be sure, and dealt harshly with incompetents, his goals were also realistic and obtainable. His example of indefatigable resolve was infectious. His subordinate commanders and crews also displayed a confidence that was disproportionate to their combat experience. Or perhaps, their confidence was derived from this very lack of experience. Whatever the source, one discerns an attitude of professionalism that at times masks the enormity of the task that confronted the airmen of this era.

    The principle of air superiority was emphasized and in turn confirmed in the great air battle at St. Mihiel. As Mitchell put it the bulk of his aviation assets was, "To be put into a central mass and hurled at the enemy's aviation, no matter where he might be found, until complete ascendancy had been obtained over him in the air." After initial success was obtained, superiority and ultimately supremacy was to be maintained. "In addition to this, his airdromes were attacked both night and day, so as to force him either to arise and accept combat, or to lose his airplanes in the hangars themselves on his own fields."

    While Mitchell understood the need for air superiority, he also realized there was a compelling need on the part of the infantry for air protection. Thus, part of his theory of operations was to assign to the infantry the aviation they needed for their own operations. This included both observation and pursuit squadrons. The remainder of air assets which included over 1,000 of the 1,476 assigned went into the strategic reserve whose purpose was destruction of the German Air Forces.

    The element of surprise was used to great advantage in the campaign. As part of surprise, the principle of security was employed. Operational security was maintained without difficulty. This was accomplished without the elaborate OPSEC procedures we have today. Certainly there was encrypting and information was restricted on a need to know basis. One interesting aspect was no mention in any of the plans about how to handle the media!
    Another principle of great importance was communications. As mentioned earlier, Mitchell stressed the need for clear instructions in plans and orders. In addition, great emphasis was placed on the technical aspect of communications. The Air Service replaced the horse cavalry as the eyes and ears of the Army. Large portions of the instructional circular are devoted to methods of communication. A number of redundant systems were employed and included radio, Very pistol, voice, dropping of written messages and ground signals. Moreover, disruption of the enemy's communication systems was given high priority. Time and time again the literature of the participants ties the effect of air superiority to insuring secure communications for the Allies and denying it to the Germans.

    The concept of the air land battle was formulated during this campaign. With the exception of balloons, Mitchell's diagram of the American system of the employment of aeronautics (Attachment one) could be used today to depict the Army's plan for an air land battle. Mitchell understood that the airplane made war three dimensional. This particular diagram demonstrates his understanding of how an air force and an army could work together in a major offensive.

    Finally, one of Mitchell's greatest worries, was achieving "combination in the air." In the first place he was concerned about coordinating the effort between large numbers of machines. Formation of half a dozen planes had had problems and now the scale was up to sixty planes in formation. Secondly, he expected problems between the various branches of aviation, such as pursuit, observation, and bombardment. Interaction between the branches was key and Mitchell eluded to problems of the ground army with its branches. "To my great satisfaction I found out from the first big fight that we went into that our combination in the air was wonderful." He attributed the success to the quality of his airmen, training and the team experience crews had from their youth through such sports as football, baseball, hockey and polo.

    It is important to note that the branches of aviation that would later become our present day MAJCOMS were in their infancy. The success certainly can be attributed to the factors that Billy Mitchell related. However, these different branches had not had time to establish their own turfs and bureaucratic power. His admonition that air power is most effective when all parts are used in combination is well taken.

    The end product of the planning process was the plan of employment, described by its author, Mitchell, as:
    the most important document which has to be prepared at the beginning of a battle, and from its complete and through understanding does success or failure result. A plan of employment tells each branch of aviation what it must do in accordance with the general object of the operations, and how every detail is to be handled as occasions may arise.

    The most important factor in the campaign was providing air cover for Allied ground forces. To accomplish that end, Mitchell assigned pursuit and aviation squadrons directly to ground forces. Throughout the document, the importance of covering the Allied advance is evident. Tied to this primary factor was the need for "air ascendancy."
    The enemy air force was the prime target for the strategic reserve. The intent was to kill it through air-to-air combat or on the ground. To accomplish this end, the allies assembled a force that gave them a 3-1 numerical advantage. After protection of the infantry and destruction of the enemy air capability, the German army was the last objective of the campaign. As mentioned earlier, other key doctrinal factors included surprise and security.

    The destruction of German land forces was strictly a secondary consideration for the 1st Air Service.

    American command and an independent sector were the political influences on this campaign. At issue was the role of the American Expeditionary Force. Was it to be a massive manpower pool for the seasoned French and British commands to use to back fill their losses? In a military view, there were some sound arguments for such an arrangement. The Allies had been fighting for nearly four years and obviously had much more combat experience. Melding American and Allied units could reduce the danger to the new troops and speed up the learning process. In addition, there might be significant risk in giving the green Americans a large portion of the front. If the Americans faltered during a German offensive, an entire segment of the line might be broken without a chance that it could be reclosed.

    Pershing was adamant that American manpower would not have a secondary role. His army would become a full partner in the alliance. This would not only enhance American morale, but would increase America's standing as a first among equals. Ironically, it was non military factors that led to American direction of the war's greatest air battle
    St. Mihiel was an unqualified success. The salient was reduced in four days and the German army was severely mauled. The AEF increased its stature and this was prelude to Meuse Argonne that would help bring the war to an end in less than two months. Air ascendancy was achieved; the Luftwaffe was rendered ineffective. Many of the principles of massive air formations where proven to work.

    There was a lack of strategic vision in the employment of air power for this campaign. For example, the term strategic was used to describe air strikes only 60 kilometers into enemy territory against targets such as rail centers, supply depots and air fields. In addition, the whole concept of operations for air power was to support ground power. The center of gravity was defined as the enemy's armed forces. While the enemy air force was the main objective of Allied aviation, there was no attempt to destroy the German aircraft industry. The idea that air forces can operate independently of other forces had not yet germinated in Mitchell's fertile mind.

    To be sure, the capabilities of strategic bombardment were very limited. However, strategic air campaigns had been experimented with by Germany and Great Britain. The famous Zeppelin and Gotha Bomber raids on London, while largely ineffective in their material destruction, had a psychological impact. To counter the Zeppelins, the British had launched a raid of Fredrickshafen and at least attempted to destroy the source of German strategic air power.
    The severest limitation at St. Mihiel and indeed all of WWI was the total lack of preparedness by the United States to engage in such a conflict. For example, "On 6 April 1917, not a single air unit had been trained for warfare. The two flying fields operated by the Army had only 55 trainers, of which General John J. Pershing later said, "51 were obsolete and the other 4 were obsolescent." Moreover, the Aviation section had only 131 officers, 1,087 enlisted men and out of this group there were but 26 fully trained pilots and none had combat experience. Yet a mere seventeen months later the Americans planned, executed and won the greatest air battle of the war!

    Coupled to this overall situation of unpreparedness was the lack of experienced crews. Even when crews could be found, there were no air frames for them to fly. St. Mihiel was fought with airplanes provided largely by Britain and France. In fact, no plane of complete American manufacture saw combat in WWI. Another limiting factor was that the strategy was out in front of the technology of the aircraft employed.

    The greatest surprise at St. Mihiel was that it went so well. Perhaps this was not a surprise to Billy Mitchell, his staff, or the airmen who achieved this victory. For they exuded a refreshing sense of confidence that they would prevail. However, in retrospect there were significant problems that could have resulted in a different outcome. Paramount among these was the lack of peacetime readiness. St. Mihiel, for the Americans, was a novice operation. There was a lack of training, air power doctrine was being invented rather than studied, and equipment was in short supply. These rather significant problems were overcome by Mitchell's vision, his indefatigable leadership, the courage and innovation of American airmen, and good fortune. Fog and friction don't always work against you.

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    Aftermath of St Miheil Operation.

    There were plenty of snafus, however. Shortly before the battle, a flight of six bombers went on patrol in bad weather. They became disoriented, flew well over German lines, ran out of gas and were captured. Reports tell of a shortage of wheels for planes. In other instances, orders arrived after deadlines for execution. Balloons tangled in telephone lines strung by the Signal Corps. Rain turned runways to mud and clouds obscured targets.

    In the first two days of the campaign, the Germans fiercely contested control of the air. Kill ratios were about even, 63 German planes were destroyed in air-to-air combat, while the allies lost 62 to all causes. Allied balloon busting was more one-sided. Thirty Hun balloons were killed in the air, many more died in their nests, while only four Allied balloons were downed by enemy fire. Air superiority was gained more by superior numbers and a relentless attack on German air fields than innate American airmanship.

    General Headquarters:
    Tbc

    Royal Flying Corps casualties today:

    tbc

    Royal Flying Corps Losses today 40, of which 20 are recorded in detail:

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    Others:
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    Claims: 116 confirmed (Entente 87: Central Powers 29)


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    Home Fronts:

    USSR: Lenin recovers from gunshots, attends meetings (until September 17), but moves to Gorki (September 24 or 25) to convalesced until mid-October.

    Western Front:

    Slight advance by British in neighbourhood of Ploegsteert and east of Ypres.

    French capture Vailly (north-east of Soissons) and Mt. des Singes.

    Americans advance along west bank of Moselle.

    Meuse: St Mihiel salient fully straightened out for 7,511 US and 597 French casualties (15,000 beds available), 15,000 pow and 450 (or 443) guns taken. Germans commit 4 reserve divisions. Metz fortress guns fire (September 15), but c.400,000 Americans now switched 60 miles northwest.

    Eastern Front:

    Archangel Front; successful operation by naval units and Allied troops on the River Dvina; two enemy ships sunk, three guns captured.

    Southern Front:
    Franco-Serbian advance continued; the troops advance to a depth of five miles on 16-mile front in region of Dobropolje.

    Macedonia: Serb Yugoslav Division attacks Mt Kozyak all day (inside Bulgar 3rd line) and finally takes it, but German 13th Saxon Jaeger battalion covers breach. Scholtz cables Hindenburg, asking for German divisions from Western Front; request forwarded to Austrians, who hedge. Bulgar 2nd Division withdraws to 3rd line without warning.
    Bulgaria: Tsar Ferdinand replies to General Lukov peacefeeler suggestion ‘Go out and get killed in your present lines’.
    Italian Front: Italian raid north and northwest of Mt Grappa takes 300 pow and some MGs, counter-attacks beaten on September 17.

    Tunstills Men Wednesday 11th September 1918:

    Front line positions on the far left of the divisional front, north of Mt. Lemerle.

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    Starting at 9pm, the Battalion was relieved by 11th Northumberland Fusiliers and marched to Bydand Corner, from where they were taken by motor lorries to Beregana Camp, south-east of Thiene, where they had been five weeks previously.

    Pte. Owen Frank Hyde (see 5th September) departed for England on two weeks’ leave.

    2Lt. Keith Sagar Bain (see 26th August), who had suffered wounds to his right leg and buttock during the trench raid on 26th August, was transferred from 62nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to an Officers Convalescent Hospital in Portofino.

    Pte. Sidney John Rainbow (see 11th September), who had been admitted to 23rd Division Rest Station five days’ previously, suffering from “I.C.T.” (Inflammation of the connective tissue) to his right ankle, was now diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia and was transferred to 39th Casualty Clearing Station.

    Pte. Charles Hammond (see 15th November 1917), serving in France with 2/7th DWR, was posted back to England, having suffered wounds to his right leg; the date and circumstances of his having been wounded are unknown.

    Lt. John Robert ****inson (see 26th March), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, appeared before a further Army Medical Board which found him fit for general service.

    Pte. Albert Saville (see 19th July 1917), serving with 298th Labour Company, based at Ripon, was transferred to 762nd Area Employment Company.

    Naval Operations:

    The armed merchantman S S Acadian (Master J Snowden) is torpedoed and sunk by the U-boat UB-117 eleven miles west south west from Trevose Head. Twenty-five are killed including her master. There is one survivor.

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    At about 18:00 this evening an explosion occurs on board HMS Glatton while she is lying in Dover Harbor. This is followed by a severe fire involving the whole of the amidship part of the ship. Efforts are made to deal with the fire by means of salvage tugs. The foremost magazines are flooded but it is found impossible to flood the after magazines. The initial explosion and fire cut off the after part of the ship killing or seriously injuring all the officers who are on board with one exception and there is danger of a further explosion which might cause severe damage to the town and to other vessels which are in close proximity loaded with oil and ammunition. At the time of the explosion Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Edward Leicester Atkinson DSO (Royal Navy) is at work in his cabin. The first explosion renders him unconscious. Recovering shortly thereafter he finds the area outside his cabin filled with smoke and fumes. He makes his way to the quarter deck by means of a ladder during this time he brings two unconscious men on to the upper deck. He now returns to the flat and is bringing up a third man when a smaller explosion occur while he is on the ladder. This explosion blinds Atkinson and at the same time a piece of metal is driven into his left leg in such a manner that he is unable to move until he has himself extracted it. Placing the third man on the upper deck he proceeds forward through the shelter deck. By feel being totally unable to see he finds two more unconscious men both of whom he brings out. He is found on the upper deck in an almost unconscious condition so wounded and burned that his life was in peril for some time. Lieutenant George Devereux Belben DSC, Sub Lieutenant David Hywel Evans (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve), Petty Officer Albert Ernest Stoker and Able Seaman Edward Nunn are in boats rescuing men who have either been blown or jumped overboard. They then board Glatton on their own initiative and enter the super structure which is full os dense smoke and proceed down to the deck below. They succeed in rescuing seven or eight badly injured men from the mess deck in addition to fifteen who they find and bring out from inside the ship. They continue their efforts until all chances of rescuing others has passed and the ship is ordered to be abandoned. For their efforts Lieutenant Commander Atkinson, Lieutenant Belben, Sub Lieutenant Evans, Petty Officer Stoker and Able Seaman Nunn will all be awarded the Albert Medal. At about 20:00 the ship is torpedoed and sunk. Seventy-nine are killed or die as a result of the explosion including Lieutenant Commander Reginald James Blakeney Drew the son of the late Inspector General W B Drew killed at age 30.

    Glatton remained in Dover Harbour, an obstruction to shipping, with her hull visible at low tide as the Harbour Board could not afford the Ł45,000 quoted on average by salvage companies. Finally they asked the Harbourmaster, Captain John Iron, if he could do it for less. He estimated it would cost about Ł5,000 if he was granted use of the salvage craft already at Dover. The Board accepted his offer and work began in May 1925. Some 12,000 short tons (11,000 t) of silt were removed from underneath Glatton and her mainmast and superstructure were blasted away from the wreck. Four lifting lighters, with a capacity of 1,000 long tons (1,000 t), were hired, but they would not suffice to lift a water-logged 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) ship. It was necessary to seal all of the holes on her topside and pump air into each compartment at a rate of 70,000 cubic feet (2,000 m3) per minute to restore her buoyancy. The first attempt to lift her began on 2 December 1925 and was successful in breaking the suction holding her to the bottom in combination with the rising tide. That was enough for the first try and the major lifting effort began the following day. Slowly she was moved, taking advantage of the tides, until on 16 March 1926 she was moved to a deep gully next to the western pier of the submarine harbour, close by the shore. The total cost was considerably more than originally estimated, but still far less than that quoted by the salvage companies, at no more than Ł12,000. There she remains, buried by landfill underneath the current car ferry terminal.

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    Political:

    USA: President Wilson rejects Burian ‘Peace Note’
    (Vienna receives on September 19).

    Britain:
    Balfour calls Austro-German offers unacceptable. King George V cables President Wilson with congratulations on St Mihiel salient removal.

    Germany:
    Count Hertling tells Conservative leader that Austrian peace move has prejudiced Dutch mediation.

    Japan:
    Government recognizes Czechs as belligerent Allies.

    Anniversary Events:

    1620 The Pilgrims sail from England on the Mayflower.
    1668 King John Casimer V of Poland abdicates the throne.
    1747 The French capture Bergen-op-Zoom, consolidating their occupation of Austrian Flanders in the Netherlands.
    1789 Jean-Paul Marat sets up a new newspaper in France, L'Ami du Peuple.
    1810 A revolution for independence breaks out in Mexico.
    1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest leads 4,500 men out of Verona, Miss. to harass Union outposts in northern Alabama and Tennessee.
    1889 Robert Younger, in Minnesota's Stillwater Penitentiary for life, dies of tuberculosis. Brothers Cole and Bob remain in the prison.
    1893 Some 50,000 "Sooners" claim land in the Cherokee Strip during the first day of the Oklahoma land rush.
    1908 General Motors files papers of incorporation.

    1914 First Battle of Aisne begins
    1914 For the first time, RFC uses wireless telegraphy during recon flights over enemy artillery positions
    1914 Soldiers begin digging the first trenches on the Western Front
    1916 Jasta 8 mobilized
    1917 Norman MacGregor downs the first Fokker Dr1 of the war
    1917 L'Escadrille Lafayette loses pilot near Rodern. S/Lt Kiffin Rockwell KIA.
    1917 The eleventh Battle of Isonzo ends; Italians capture Monte Santo and part of the Bainsizza plateau
    Last edited by Lt. S.Kafloc; 09-16-2018 at 00:44.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  44. #3594

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    You may need to reset your preferences Reg.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  45. #3595

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    You may need to reset your preferences Reg.Rob.

    Thanks Rob------------------BUT
    Murphy's law would appear to be alive and kicking.
    Today it would seem to have corrected itself!

  46. #3596

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    Thanks for the last few days etc. Neil. Now that my tan is fully topped up I am happy to step back into the editor's chair, I will see us through this week and the Doncaster Weekend.

    17th September 1918

    The Battle of Dobro Pole
    (Serbian: Битка код Доброг Поља, Bitka Kod Dobrog Polja, Greek: Μάχη του Ντόμπρο Πόλε, Máchi tou Dómbro Póle), also known as the Breakthrough at Dobro Pole (Bulgarian: Пробив при Добро Поле, Probiv Pri Dobro Pole), was a World War I battle, fought between 15 and 18 September 1918. The battle was fought in the initial stage of the Vardar Offensive, in the Balkans Theatre. On September 15, a combined force of Serbian, French and Greek troops attacked the Bulgarian-held trenches in Dobro Pole ("Good Field"), at the time part of the Kingdom of Serbia (present day Republic of Macedonia). The offensive and the preceding artillery preparation had devastating effects on Bulgarian morale, eventually leading to mass desertions. Despite being outnumbered and poorly equipped, certain Bulgarian units offered fierce resistance, delaying the Entente advance in Zborsko. However, the collapse of the front line enabled the Allies to assault Bulgarian positions from multiple directions and eventually quell the last pockets of resistance. The Central Powers' defeat at the Dobro Pole played a role in the Bulgarian withdrawal from the war and opened the way for the subsequent capture of Vardar Macedonia.

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    The 28 June 1914, assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir presumptive Archduke Franz Ferdinand precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. The conflict quickly attracted the involvement of all major European countries, pitting the Central Powers against the Entente coalition, and starting World War I.

    Serbia was ultimately defeated during the autumn 1915 phase of the Serbian Campaign, prompting France and Britain to transfer troops from the Gallipoli Campaign to Greek Macedonia. The Macedonian Front was thus established to support the remnants of the Serbian army in their effort to conquer Vardar Macedonia. On 17 August 1916, Bulgaria invaded Greece, easily conquering all Greek territory east of the Struma, since the Greek Army was ordered not to resist by the pro-German King Constantine. The surrender of territory recently won with difficulty in the Second Balkan War of 1913 was the last straw for many supporters of Liberal Party politician Eleftherios Venizelos. With Allied assistance, they launched a coup which secured Thessaloniki and most of Greek Macedonia, causing the National Schism. In June 1917, the Venizelists gained full control of the country, immediately declaring war on the Central Powers and joining the Allied Army of the Orient operating on the Balkan Front. The Greek entry into the war, along with the 24 division reinforcements that the army had received in the spring of the same year, created a strategic advantage for the Entente.

    In late July 1918, Bulgarian commander-in-chief Nikola Zhekov sent German field marshal general Paul von Hindenburg a message regarding a rumored Entente offensive, and detailed Bulgaria's inability to adequately defend the Vardar portion of the front. Zhekov requested that Germany immediately reinforce the Balkan Front, hinting that Austria-Hungary would also be required to strengthen its positions in Albania. On 17 August, Hindenburg pledged to provide Bulgaria with support once the situation on other front permitted it. Hindenburg's reluctance to support Bulgaria was also manifested by the early September redeployment of the last German Jäger battalion stationed in Macedonia back into Germany. The Bulgarians, using information from escaped prisoners of war, determined that Entente forces would engage in hostile actions west of lake Ohrid, in Monastir, Dobro Pole or Human. On 27 August, the 2nd and 3rd Bulgarian divisions stationed at Dobro Pole were ordered to make emergency preparations, as new evidence indicated a frontal assault on Dobro Pole along with a secondary attack on Human. By 7 September, Dobro Pole was reinforced by one machine gun company, six battalions and ten heavy howitzers, General Friedrich von Scholtz then stated that the defensive measures made the defense of the front feasible. Von Scholtz had, however, failed to take into account the departure of Bulgarian chief of staff Nikola Zhekov and his subsequent replacement by Georgi Todorov. Widespread insubordination and desertions also plagued the Bulgarian troops who refused to participate in fortification works. Poor rations and fatigue contributed to the low morale.

    A day prior to the Entente offensive, General Louis Franchet d'Espčrey laid out the final plan for the operation. The first phase consisted of a combined Franco-Serbian attack on the positions of the 2nd and 3rd Bulgarian Divisions, which was expected to create a breach of the frontline in the area of Dobro Pole, while also posing a danger to the Bulgarian supply lines on river Vardar. Τhe 1,875 metres (6,152 ft) Dobro Pole ("Good Field") peak dominated the region, providing excellent observation points for the defenders. Dobro Pole was surrounded by a well-developed system of trenches which, in combination with the rough terrain, made the area impassable for wheeled transport. Dobro Pole was, however, lower and less steep than the mountains on other parts of the front that averaged 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). A second Anglo-Franco-Hellenic force would then attack the 1st Bulgarian Army between Kožuf and Lake Doiran, preventing it from forming new defensive positions in the area. The initial advance would allow the Armée d'Orient to progress in support of other units first to Prilep, Disma and Borran. In the meantime, an Anglo-Hellenic force would strike Mount Belasica, occupying the Rupel Pass. D'Espčrey expected to march the Allied Army of the Orient through the towns of Demir Hisar, Rupel, Petrici, Blagusa, Gradec, Štip and Belessa finally seizing Skopje. Units stationed at Katsania and Tetovo would prevent a Bulgarian flanking maneuver, while the main body of the force would widen the breach both in Štip and Prilep. In case of a collapse of the front between Dobro Pole and Tzena, the 1st Bulgarian and 11th German armies would either be annihilated or, in less favorable circumstances, perform an organised retreat to a new defensive line on river Crna. The prevention of such a retreat was to be achieved by a rapid, penetrating attack on Gradsko, Dren Planina and Visoka.

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    At 8:00 a.m. on 14 September 1918, Entente forces commenced a 566-gun artillery barrage on enemy positions. Their aircraft also bombed enemy positions and strafed a 250-truck column moving towards Kozjak. On the same day, Scholtz sent Hindenburg a telegraph stating that "all indications point out that an enemy offensive will target the 11th Army on both sides of Vardar as well as Dobro Pole ..." The Bulgarian high command did not attempt to perform a spoiling attack as they lacked the necessary vehicles and pack animals. The barrage did not cause a significant number of casualties but severely affected the Bulgarian esprit de corps. On the night between 14 and 15 September, Franco-Serbian patrols reported that the artillery barrage had dealt sufficient damage to the barbed wire entanglements separating the trenches.

    At 5:30 a.m. on 15 September, the French 122nd and 17th (Colonial) divisions struck Sokol, Dobro Pole, Kravitski Kamene and Kravitsa while the Serbian Shumadia Division assaulted Kamene and Veternik. The Greek Archipelago, 3rd and 4th divisions under Panagiotis Gargalidis acted as a link between the Serbian and French troops without entering combat. The offensive immediately caused a wave of mass desertion among the Bulgarian units; the remaining infantrymen and artillery squadrons were not able to hold their ground. During the course of the battle, the 122nd Division broke into two columns and suffered heavy casualties. The left column managed to reach a position located 50 metres (160 ft) from Sokol at 6:30 a.m. and take the peak at the end of the day. At 4:00 p.m., the right column captured Dobro Pole after rushing a 200 metres (660 ft) segment of steep terrain. The 17th Division seized Kravitsa at 7:00 a.m., suppressing the last signs of resistance.Two Franco-Greek regiments attempted to storm Zborsko but were pushed back in the ensuing counterattack, as powerful pockets of resistance between the Sousnitsa and Bigrut streams facilitated its defense. Greek units then focused on Sousnitsa the fall of which created an opening in the Bulgarian rear and put the surrounding units to flight. Using dispersed bluffs as cover, soldiers of the Shumadia Division took over Veternik, Kamene and the western part of a nearby mountain range with considerable difficulty. Elements of the same unit successfully flanked Kravitski Kamene while the 17th Division was engaging in a frontal assault. At 4:00 p.m., the Serbian 1st Army's thrust on Sokol failed to produce intended results. An attack later that night did secure the peak. The two French divisions were then ordered to remain in position while the Serbian Timok and Yugoslav Divisions moved forward. By the end of the day, Bulgaria lost approximately 40–50 percent of the 12,000 soldiers involved in the battle, including 3,000 prisoners of war, 2,689 dead and 50 out of the initial 158 artillery pieces. Entente casualties amounted to 1,700 Frenchmen and 200 Serbians killed in action.

    On the morning of 16 September, the Serbians overran the Kozjak mountain range and the Golo Bilo peak. They were joined by the 35th Greek Regiment which crossed the Poroi river and later marching on Topolets. At 11:00 a.m., Franco-Hellenic units stormed Zborsko for a second time and were met by heavy artillery and machine gun fire. The attack was rebuffed with the loss of 158 Greeks and roughly the same number of French lives and attempts to take the area were suspended. Živojin Mišić's 1st Army and the Armée d'Orient performed a night attack on the Gradešnica fortified zone, suppressing the defenders. The 1st Division Group moved into a position on the Poroi river north of Brahovo in conjunction with the Timok Division. By the night of 16 September, the gap in what formerly constituted the front-line had extended to 25 kilometres (16 mi) in width and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) in depth. The Allied command ordered its air department to continue attacking all bridges on the river Vardar. At 4.00 a.m. on 17 September, Hellenic components of the 1st Division Group raided mount Preslap, a key position housing Bulgarian artillery. The Greeks rapidly descended from Golo Bilo and then began climbing the cliffs of Preslap with their bare hands. The Preslap garrison proceeded to abandon their positions and retreat eastwards. Having lost their artillery cover forces at Zborsko followed their comrades in retreat. The Timok Division conquered Topolets and advanced towards Studena Voda and Preslap while the Morava and Yugoslav divisions overran Koutskov Kamene. At the same time, the Drina and Danube Divisions seized Gradešnica along with the Poltsista and Besistsa peaks, then halted at Melinitsa. On 18 September, the 11th French Colonial Division and the 6th Greek Regiment occupied the villages of Zoviḱ, Staravina and Cebren, approaching towards the Cebren Monastery bridge on Crna. An Entente air raid destroyed another bridge north of Razim Bey. Bulgarian forces failed at putting a stop to the Allied offensive, abandoning their wounded and large quantities of military equipment. By the end of the day, Allied troops had advanced 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) into enemy territory while also seizing locales of strategic importance that would later enable them to continue pushing deeper into Vardar Macedonia.

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    Immediately following the battle, Entente forces were defeated in the Battle of Doiran at Lake Doiran on 18 September. However the breach of the defensive line at Dobro Pole, enabled the Allies to penetrate into Vardar Macedonia and send reinforcements to Doiran. The Bulgarians rushed to the defense of their homeland, abandoning Vardar Macedonia, in order to prevent a future occupation by the Entente. Having suffered heavy losses at Doiran, the Allied forces allowed the Bulgarians to peacefully withdraw over the border. A combination of multiple factors, including combat fatigue and poor supplies, led to the Radomir Rebellion. On 25 September, a band of Bulgarian deserters who had previously fled from Dobro Pole arrived at Kyustendil, looting the city and putting the Bulgarian High Command to flight. The mass of retreating Bulgarian mutineers then converged on the railway center of Radomir in Bulgaria, just 30 miles (48 km) from the capital city of Sofia. On 27 September, the leaders of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union took control of these troops and proclaimed the establishment of the Bulgarian Republic. About 4,000–5,000 rebellious troops threatened Sofia the following day.

    Under those chaotic circumstances a Bulgarian delegation arrived in Thessaloniki to ask for an armistice. On 29 September, the Bulgarians were granted the Armistice of Salonica by General d'Esperey. The Bulgarian downfall turned the strategic and operational balance of the war against the Central Powers. The Macedonian Front was brought to an end at noon on 30 September, when the ceasefire came into effect, and the Radomir Rebellion was put down, by Bulgarian forces, as of the 2 October. Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria abdicated and went into exile the following day. The British Army headed east towards the European side of the Ottoman Empire, while the French and Serbian forces continued north. The British Army neared Constantinople and, without a force capable to stopping the advance, the Ottoman government asked for an armistice (the Armistice of Mudros) on 26 October. In Serbia, "Desperate Frankie" (as the British nicknamed d'Esperey) continued to advance and the Serbo-French Army re-captured the country, overrunning several weak German divisions that tried to block its push near Niš. On 3 November, Austria-Hungary was forced to sign an armistice on the Italian Front ending the war there. On 10 November, d'Esperey's army crossed the Danube river and was poised to enter the Hungarian heartland. At the request of the French general, Count Mihály Károlyi, leading the Hungarian government, came to Belgrade and signed another armistice.

    The town of Kamuthi was looted by 1,000 rioters of neighboring Mukkulathor villages in Tamil Nadu, India in a reprisal against the Nadar people that made up the town. Local police fired on the mob and killed 50 to bring the riot under control, with two policemen also killed. Damages were estimated at 50,000 rupees and penalty tax was established to pay off property losses.

    German submarine SM UB-104 disappeared after being sighted in Lyme Bay, England, with all 36 crew missing

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    She was built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 1 September 1917. UB-104 was commissioned later the same year under the command of Oblt.z.S. Ernst Berlin. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-104 carried 10 torpedoes and was armed with a 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun. UB-104 would carry a crew of up to 3 officer and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,420 nautical miles (13,740 km; 8,540 mi). UB-104 had a displacement of 519 t (511 long tons) while surfaced and 649 t (639 long tons) when submerged. Her engines enabled her to travel at 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) when surfaced and 7.4 knots (13.7 km/h; 8.5 mph) when submerged.

    SOUTHERN FRONTS
    Macedonia: Franco-Serb breakthrough now 6 miles deep and 20 miles wide. General Ruser orders his Bulgar 2nd Division to retreat from 3rd line behind river Crna leaving 5-mile gap for Serbs to reach river. Two Bulgar 3rd Division regiments mutiny. Scholtz orders general retreat behind river Belasnica.
    Italian Front: After visit to Paris Diaz tells Prime Minister Orlando no premature autumn offensive until clear Allied success on Western Front.

    WESTERN FRONT

    Flanders: Localized fighting including British 55th Division capture of Canteleux Trench.
    Cambrai: *More German counter-attacks at Moeuvres beaten (until September 19), village falls on September 20.

    MIDDLE EAST
    Northwest Persia: Dunsterville recalled, GOC 14th Division Thomson replaces in command ‘Norper Force’, Enzeli to be held. Commodore Norris says Caspian Flotilla possible, plans 12 ships (September 27), first ready October 6.
    Palestine: DMC secretly concentrated in Plain of Sharon, betrayed by Indian Muslim sergeant deserter, but Liman believes him to be a plant.
    Trans-Jordan: Arab Army captures Tell Arar bridge north of Deraa. Lawrence gets slight bomb splinter arm wound; 350 Arab regulars then capture station 5 miles west of Deraa, drawing in reserve German troops from Afuleh

    The Air War

    Lieutenant Harold Toulmin MC (Loyal North Lancashire Regiment attached Royal Air Force) is killed in action at age 21 when his Sopwith Camel is shot down west of Bourlon Wood. He has previously served at Gallipoli and at Mesopotamia and lost a leg at the latter place and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.

    Second Liuetennt Richard Frank Hill MC (20 Squadron Royal Air Force - Bristol F2b) dies of appendicitis at age 19. He is a 7-victory ace.

    Military Cross (MC)
    T./2nd Lt. Richard Frank Hill, Gen. List and R.F.C.
    For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has carried out a great deal of useful observation work, and has proved himself an excellent fighting observer. On one occasion, when acting as observer on a photographic reconnaissance, he and his pilot shot down and destroyed two enemy scouts. He has also destroyed three other hostile machines.

    The following claims were made on this day

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    in total 15 British Airmen were lost on this day

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    The US Navy launched the USS Woolsey on this day

    The first USS Woolsey (DD-77) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Melancthon Taylor Woolsey.

    Woolsey was laid down on 1 November 1917 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works. The ship was launched on 17 September 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Elise Campau Wells. The destroyer was commissioned on 30 September 1918, Lieutenant Commander Frederick V. McNair, Jr. in command.

    After trials out of Bath and outfitting at the Boston Navy Yard and the Newport Torpedo Station, Woolsey headed for New York on 9 October to join the battleship Virginia before sailing for Europe. On 13 October, she and Virginia departed New York harbor in the screen of Convoy HX-52. After a relatively uneventful voyage, the convoy was turned over to a British escort force on 22 October. Woolsey then set course for Buncrana, located in the far northern portion of Ireland, and arrived there on 23 October. Two days later, she departed Buncrana and stood down the Irish Sea en route to Ponta Delgada in the Azores. After fueling at Ponta Delgada on 30 October, the destroyer continued her voyage home and reentered New York on 5 November. After about a month at New York, during which time hostilities ended under the armistice of 11 November, Woolsey left New York on her way back to Europe to join the American naval contingent assigned there for postwar duty. She arrived in Brest, France on 20 December and reported for duty to the Commander, Naval Forces Europe.

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    For the next seven months, she performed various missions for the United States' naval establishment in Europe. Her primary mission consisted of runs between Brest and ports in southern England — notably Plymouth and Southampton — transporting passengers and mail. On 11 March 1919, she was one of the four American destroyers to escort George Washington into Brest when that ship arrived with President Woodrow Wilson embarked. After a four-month return to cross-channel runs between England and France, Woolsey was honored a second time when she was assigned duty as one of George Washington's escorts for President Wilson's return voyage to the U.S. from the Versailles peace conference. She departed Brest late in June 1919 in company with George Washington and arrived in Hampton Roads on 8 July. Ten days later, Woolsey put to sea again bound for a new assignment — the Pacific Fleet. She reached Panama on 24 July, transited the Panama Canal, and headed for maneuvers in the Hawaiian Islands. At the completion of those maneuvers, she returned to the continental United States at San Diego. On 31 May 1920, the destroyer was placed out of commission at the Mare Island Navy Yard — probably for an extensive overhaul because she was recommissioned again on 20 October. For the remainder of her relatively brief career, Woolsey operated with the Pacific Fleet along the western coast of North America. While operating off the Pacific coast of Panama near Coiba Island early on the morning of 26 February 1921, Woolsey was cut in half during a collision with the merchant ship SS Steel Inventor and sank. There were 100 survivors, 17 injured, 15 lost, and 1 killed. Survivors were rescued by her sister ship, Aaron Ward.

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    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  47. #3597

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    18th September 1918

    The Battle of Épehy was a battle of the First World War fought on 18 September 1918, involving the British Fourth Army (under the command of General Henry Rawlinson) against German outpost positions in front of the Hindenburg Line. The village of Épehy was captured on 18 September by the 12th (Eastern) Division.

    Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, was not eager to carry out any offensives, until the assault on the Hindenburg Line, influenced by mounting British losses from previous battles that year, over 600,000 casualties since March, 180,000 of them in the past six weeks. Rawlinson was kept reined in and advised by Haig to ensure his men were well rested for the eventual attack on the Line. When news arrived of the British Third Army's victory at the Battle of Havrincourt, Haig's mind was changed. On the day following the success at Havrincourt, 13 September, Haig approved Rawlinson's plan to clear German outpost positions on the high ground before the Hindenburg Line and preparations began.

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    Very few tanks could be provided for the attack, so artillery would have to be relied upon to prepare the way but in the interests of surprise they would not be able to provide a preliminary bombardment. The 1,488 guns would instead fire concentration shots at zero hour and support the infantry with a creeping barrage and 300 machine-guns were also made available. All three corps of the Fourth Army were to take part, with V Corps of the Third Army on their left flank and on their right the French First Army (under Debeney). The objective consisted of a fortified zone roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) deep and 20 miles (32 km) long, supported by subsidiary trenches and strong points. The German 2nd Army and 18th Army defended the area. On 18 September at 5.20 am, the attack opened and the troops advanced. The promised French assistance did not arrive, resulting in limited success for IX Corps on that flank. On the left flank, III Corps also found difficulty when attacking the fortifications erected at "the Knoll", Quennemont and Guillemont farms, which were held determinedly by German troops, the village was however captured by the British 12th Eastern Division [7th Norfolk, 9th Essex and 1st Cambridge]. In the centre, General John Monash's two Australian divisions achieved complete and dramatic success. The 1st Australian Division and the 4th Australian Division, had a strength of some 6,800 men and in the course of the day captured 4,243 prisoners, 76 guns, 300 machine-guns and thirty trench mortars. They took all their objectives and advanced to a distance of about 3 miles (4.8 km) on a 4 miles (6.4 km) front. The Australian casualties were 1,260 officers and men (265 killed, 1,057 wounded, 2 captured). The battle saw the first mutiny of Australian forces, when 119 men of the 1st Australian Battalion refused to conduct an attack to help the neighbouring British unit. Rather than face charges of desertion in the face of the enemy, they were charged with being AWOL (with all bar one soldier having their charges dropped after the armistice).

    The attack closed as an Allied victory, with 11,750 prisoners and 100 guns captured

    Although Épehy was not a massive success, it signalled an unmistakable message that the Germans were weakening and it encouraged the Allies to take further action with haste (with the offensive continuing in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal), before the Germans could consolidate their positions. The failure of the III Corps to take their last objective (the outpost villages) would mean that the American forces involved in the next battle (the Battle of St. Quentin Canal) would face a difficult task due to a hurried attack prior to the battle. The Deelish Valley Cemetery holds the grave sites of around 158 soldiers from the 12th (Eastern) Division who died during this battle, the nearby cemetery of Épehy Wood Farm Cemetery also holds the graves of men who died in this battle and the previous battles around this area.

    The third Battle of Doiran was fought from 18–19 September 1918, with the Greeks and the British assaulting the positions of the Bulgarian First Army near Dojran Lake. The battle was part of World War I and took place in the Balkan Theatre. The battle ended with the Bulgarians repulsing all attacks.

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    The Greeks and the British set off from their base at Thessaloniki at the same time as the Serbs and the French. The Greeks and the British, under the command of George Milne set off the attack on the Bulgarian positions at Dojran while the Serbs and the French under the command of Franchet d'Esperey went to penetrate the Bulgarian defences in the Vardar Valley. The Greeks and the British were aiming to capture the Bulgarian positions in the hills above Dojran Lake. This was not the first time the Allies had attacked Dojran - in 1916, an Anglo-French attempt was repulsed by the Second Thracian Infantry Division; the British had twice failed to capture it in 1917. The fortifications were well built (by Bulgarian engineers), the Bulgarians having spent the first months of 1916 and early 1917 strengthening the positions. The terrain around the area was rough, the fortifications being surrounded with three miles of scrub and rocks. Part of the defences were the dangerous Pip Ridge and the Grand Couronné.

    On the left flank, the British XII Corps with the 22nd and 26th divisions, reinforced by the Greek Serres Division was to attack the difficult Pip Ridge. The British concentrated 231 pieces of artillery, including heavy 8-inch howitzers. The bombardment took place over two days, included gas shells and concluded with a rolling barrage, behind which the infantry was to advance. The British spent the time before the battle practising for the assault. Facing them was the Bulgarian 9th Pleven Division with 122 guns, in very well prepared defences, commanded by General Vladimir Vazov.

    On September 18, the British XII Corps attacked with the 66th and 67th Brigades of the 22nd Division and the Greek Serres Division. The Bulgarian first line of trenches was overrun and the Serres Division penetrated to the second line. The Bulgarians responded with heavy artillery fire and counter-attacks that recaptured the ground lost. Meanwhile, the British 66th Brigade's 7th Battalion, South Wales Borders lost heavily and failed in its attacks. Attacks by the 11th Welsh Regiment and 9th Border Regiment did not go well either. The British 67th Brigade's 12th Cheshire Regiment followed by the 9th South Lancashire Regiment and 8th Kings Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) advanced into Bulgarian artillery and machine-gun fire. the 67th Brigade lost 65% of its soldiers. At the end of the day the XII Corps was back at its starting point. On September 19, the XII Corps attacked again but because the XVI Corps attacks north of the lake had failed, the XII Corps would attack alone. The Greek Serres Division repeated the previous day's performance, taking some Bulgarian trenches, before being thrown back by heavy artillery, machine-gun fire and counter-attacks. The British attacked with the 77th Brigade, the weakened 65th Brigade, and later the 2nd French Zouaves. The 66th Brigades and 67th Brigades were fit only for defensive duties and did not participate. The 77th Brigade took some Bulgarian trenches but it was in an exposed position, being bombarded by artillery and eventually retreated before the Bulgarians counter-attacked. The brigade suffered about 50% casualties. The 65th Brigade's attack failed also, as did the French Zouaves.

    The Allies' losses totalled between 6,559 and 7,819 British and Greek soldiers, against 2,726 for the Bulgarians. Most of the British and Greek losses were to the XII Corps and Serres Division, with less than 1,000 coming from the XVI Corps and Cretan Division.

    Several days after the battle, the British realized the Bulgarian fortifications were quiet. The Greek and British armies advanced only to find the Bulgarian positions abandoned. The Serbs and French armies had defeated part of the Bulgarian army during the Battle of Dobro Pole in the Vardar valley and were advancing towards Doiran. This prompted the command of Army Group Scholtz to order the Bulgarian First Army to retreat so that it would not be cut off from the rear. The British were weary and pursued slowly, and Bulgarian rear guards fought well enough to allow the rest of their troops to get away. The British Royal Air Force did attack the retreating Bulgarian columns, inflicting some casualties.

    The Allies continued to advance into Bulgarian-held territory and some[who?] said the Bulgarian army had mutinied and were threatening Sofia. On September 30, the Bulgarians surrendered to the allies in Thessaloniki in order to avoid occupation. The British paid great honor to General Vladimir Vazov when in 1936 he arrived in Victoria Station in London, by lowering the flags of all their regiments who participated in the battle. The chairman of the British legion Major Goldy said in his speech: "He is one of the few foreign officers whose name features in our history".

    Meanwhile, also on September 18, the British XVI Corps attacked with the Greek Cretan Division and the British 84th Brigade in support. They faced the Bulgarian 1st Macedonian Brigade with 24 guns and 64 machine-guns. The Greek division attacked with two of its regiments up front and a third in reserve, supported on its flank by the 84th. Firing in support were six batteries of British artillery. The British 85th Brigade in reserve. At 05:00 the Greeks attacked, clearing out the Bulgarian outpost line. They then had to move across a long plain to attack the Bulgarian positions on a series of hills that overlooked the plain. The Greeks recklessly attacked across the plain, and penetrated the Bulgarian lines but were thrown back with heavy artillery, rifle, and machine-gun fire. The British artillery deployed behind them to provide fire support. The Greeks rallied and made several more attacks on the Bulgarian lines with the same result as the first time. By the evening the Greeks withdrew, followed a few hours later by the British artillery. The XVI Corps did not attack on 19 September due to casualties. The attack failed due to the lack of artillery support, problems with inter-unit communication and the reckless first attack by the Greeks.

    The 22nd and 26th Division in Salonika attack ‘Pip Ridge’ and the Grand-Couronne. The first assault is carried out with the support from a Cretan Division of the Greek army. As the the British are advancing up the hills they are caught in a crossfire coming from the slopes and driven back with heavy losses. The 12th Cheshire Regiment leads the attack on ‘Pip Ridge’. From the bunkers on the hills machine guns open fire with a horrific effect on the allies but those that survive continue on and capture the first two Bulgarian trenches. But by this stage the attack has become a massacre and those that remain alive are going on to almost certain death.

    Lieutenant Colonel ‘the Honorable’ Arthur Reginald Clegg-Hill DSO (commanding 12th Cheshire Regiment) is killed in action when his battalion is annihilated by the Bulgars at Pip Ridge, Doiran, Macedonia at age 41. He is the son of Rowland Clegg-Hill the 3rd Viscount Hill. He served during the Boer War with the Cheshire Regiment, which regiment he rejoined during the Great War, commanding the 12th Battalion for two and a half years. Captain Charles Henry Vigors MC (Cheshire Regiment) is killed in action. His brother was killed in September 1916.

    While this is happening the South Wales Borderers have reached ‘Grand Couronné’ which is the last line of defense. The bravery of the Welsh is extreme, they charge up the hill trying to get over the defenses of the ‘Grand Couronné’ only to be cut down. Of the entire battalion only one officer and eighteen men make it back to the camp

    South east of Havrincourt during an enemy counter-attack and throughout an extremely intense enemy barrage Second Lieutenant Frank Edward Young (Hertfordshire Regiment) visits all posts warning the garrisons and encouraging the men. In the early stages of the attack he rescues two of his men who have been captured and bombs and silences an enemy machine gun. Although surrounded by the enemy Lieutenant Young fights his way back to the main barricade and drives out a party of the enemy who are assembling there. Throughout four hours of intense hand-to-hand fighting he displays great valor and devotion to duty setting an example to his company. He is last seen fighting hand to hand against a considerable number of the enemy. For his actions this day Second Lieutenant Young will awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

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    The action for which Second Lieutenant Young was to be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross occurred in the aftermath of Allied success at the Battle of Havrincourt. Soon after he rejoined 1/1st battalion, it was moved into the front-lines south east of Havrincourt, near a copse named Triangle Wood. In the late afternoon of 18 September 1918, after an intense artillery barrage, German troops launched an assault against this position. Although the enemy gained an initial foothold, ultimately the battalion's line held and they were forced to withdraw. Young's actions and leadership in the successful defence resulted in his award of the medal, the full citation for which was published in the London Gazette on 14 December 1918 and read:

    "2nd Lt. Frank Edward Young, late 1st Bn., Herts. R. (T.F.).

    For most conspicuous bravery, determination and exceptional devotion to duty on 18th September, 1918, south-east of Havrincourt, when during an enemy counter-attack and throughout an extremely intense enemy barrage he visited all posts, warned the garrisons and encouraged the men. In the early stages of the attack he rescued two of his men who had been captured, and bombed and silenced an enemy machinegun. Although surrounded by the enemy, 2nd Lt. Young fought his way back to the main barricade and drove out a party of the enemy who were assembling there. By his further exertions the battalion was able to maintain a line of great tactical value, the loss of which would have meant serious delay to future operations. Throughout four hours of intense hand-to-hand fighting 2nd Lt. Young displayed the utmost valour and devotion to duty, and set an example to which the company gallantly responded.

    He was last seen fighting hand to hand against a considerable number of the enemy."

    Initially Young was listed as missing, however his body was found by a British patrol on 27 September at the edge of Havrincourt Wood. He was subsequently reburied nearby in Hermies Hill British Cemetery, Hermies

    Second Lieutenant Ernest Bristow Farrar (Devonshire Regiment) composer, pianist and organist is killed in action at age 33. He was the music teacher of Gerald Finzi who wrote ‘Requiem de Camera’ is his memory while Frank Bridge dedicated his famous Piano Sonata to his memory. He is the son of the Reverend C D Farrar. Despite his short life, Farrar wrote a large body of music for orchestra, voices and organ. His works include The Blessed Damozel, the Celtic Suite and his song cycle, Vagabond Songs. However, apart from a few songs his works are now rarely performed. Farrar’s death affected the young Finzi deeply, and from the very beginning, most of his music was elegiac in tone.

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    There were another five Victoria Crosses awarded on this day...

    Maurice Vincent Buckley, VC, DCM (13 April 1891 – 27 January 1921) was an Australian soldier serving under the pseudonym Gerald Sexton who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War.

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    Buckley was born at Upper Hawthorn, Melbourne, to Timothy Buckley, brickmaker, and his wife Agnes, née Sexton. His father was a native of Cork, Ireland; his mother was Victorian-born. Maurice Buckley was educated at the Christian Brothers' School in Abbotsford. He joined the 13th Light Horse Regiment on 18 December 1914 shortly after the outbreak of the First World War at Warrnambool, Victoria. In July 1915, he arrived in Egypt with reinforcements for his regiment, but in Cairo contracted the venereal disease chancroid. The following month he was sent back to Australia with 274 other VD-infected men on the Australian troopship HMAT A18 Wiltshire, and in late September 1915 was admitted to an Australian army medical isolation-detention barracks at Langwarrin, near Melbourne, that had been established earlier in 1915 to receive and treat VD-infected soldiers from Egypt. In January 1916 he escaped from Langwarrin, and was declared a deserter on 20 March. On 6 May 1916 he enlisted again, this time in Sydney, using the name 'Gerald Sexton' – comprising his recently deceased younger brother's first name and his mother's maiden surname. He was sent to France in early 1917, where he fought on the Western Front. Following the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal he was promoted to sergeant in August 1918 and involved in the advance on the Hindenburg Line.

    He was awarded the Victoria Cross in the name 'Gerald Sexton' for his actions on 18 September 1918, at Le Verguier near St. Quentin. His unit was advancing under cover of a creeping barrage but was held up by German machine gun posts. Buckley attacked them with his Lewis gun section and captured 30 German prisoners of war. When the advance was again held up by machine-gun fire, Sergeant Buckley, supported by another platoon, put the enemy guns out of action. Later, he again showed conspicuous initiative in capturing hostile posts and machine-guns. According to the citation, he was "to the fore dealing with enemy machine-guns, rushing enemy posts, and performing great feats of bravery and endurance without faltering or for a moment taking cover".

    The award of the VC was originally gazetted under the name 'Gerald Sexton', but he had disclosed his real identity by the time that it was presented to him by King George V at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 29 May 1919.[8] and was discharged in December 1919.

    Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Burges, VC, DSO (1 July 1873 – 24 October 1946) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross

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    Burges was educated at Winchester College. He was commissioned on 21 October 1893 as a second lieutenant in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was promoted to lieutenant on 8 July 1897.Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa in late 1899, Burges volunteered for active service and was in March 1900 selected for active service with the 2nd battalion Dorsetshire Regiment, which had been stationed there since December 1899. He left Southampton for South Africa on the SS Kildonan Castle in early March 1900. After arrival, he served as Acting Signalling Officer to the Mounted Company of Signallers attached to Headquarters, moving later to a staff appointment. He participated in the Relief of Kimberley, operations in the Orange Free State, actions at Poplar Grove, Driefontein, Vet River, Zand River, the operations in the Transvaal, Rhenoster Kop, operations in Orange River Colony and in Cape Colony. He received the Queen's South Africa Medal with four claps, and the King's South Africa Medal with two clasps. Burges stayed in South Africa until the end of the war in June 1902, and returned to Southampton on the SS Arundel two months later. Burges was promoted to captain on 25 October 1903. From 1908 to 1913 he was adjutant of the Punjab Volunteer Rifles. At the start of World War I he was with the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment with which he served at the Second Battle of Ypres where he was wounded and Mentioned in dispatches. After recovering from his wound he was appointed Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel to command the 10th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (the 'Hull Commercials') on 11 November 1915. The battalion had just arrived at Fovant on Salisbury Plain to undergo intensive battle training with 31st Division before embarking for service overseas. It served in Egypt, guarding the Suez Canal from December to February 1916, when it was transferred to the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.

    Over forthcoming weeks the battalion took its turn in the routine of trench holding, working parties, patrolling and trench raiding. The 10th Battalion was to be in support of 31st Division's assault on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July). It held the front line trenches during the British bombardment in the days leading up to the battle, suffering significant casualties from the German counter-bombardment (about 100 killed and wounded for 10th Bn alone). It is alleged that Lt-Col Burges was removed from his command the day before the battle for refusing to risk any more men after two failed attempts to recover the body of an officer (son of a well-known politician) from No man's land during the bombardment. Burges left 10th Bn East Yorks on 30 June to become an instructor at the Senior Officers' School. In September 1917 Burges took command of the 7th Bn South Wales Borderers at Salonika.

    He was 45 years old, and a temporary lieutenant-colonel in The Gloucestershire Regiment commanding the 7th (S) Battalion, The South Wales Borderers, British Army, during the First World War at the Battle of Doiran when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 18 September 1918 at Jumeaux, in the Balkans, valuable reconnaissance of the enemy front line trenches enabled Lieutenant Colonel Burges to bring his battalion, without casualties, to the assembly point, but later while some distance from the objective they came under severe machine-gun fire. Although he himself was wounded the colonel continued to lead his men with skill and courage until he was hit again twice and fell unconscious. He was taken prisoner by the Bulgarians, but was abandoned in a dug-out with one of his legs shattered.

    In retirement Burges served as Resident Governor and major of the Tower of London from 1 July 1923 to 1 July 1933. He later joined the British Fascists. He moved to Durdham Down, near Bristol, and from 1943 to 1945 he was county director of the British Red Cross. A marble plaque was unveiled at Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol, on 24 October 2006 (which was 60 years to the day after he died) by Les Turner.

    William Herbert Waring VC MM (13 October 1885 – 8 October 1918) was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross

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    He was born and lived in Welshpool, Montgomeryshire. He was 32 years old, and a lance-sergeant in the 25th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 18 September 1918 at Ronssoy, France, Lance-Sergeant Waring led an attack against enemy machine-guns and in the face of devastating fire, single-handed rushed a strong-point, bayoneting four of the garrison and capturing twenty, with their guns. The lance-sergeant then reorganized his men, leading and inspiring them for another 400 yards when he fell mortally wounded.

    Waring is buried at Ste Marie Communal Cemetery, Le Havre, Seine Maritime, France. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales.

    William Allison White VC TD (19 October 1894 – 13 September 1974) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    He was 23 years old, and a temporary second lieutenant in the 38th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (part of the 38th (Welsh) Division), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

    On 18 September 1918 at Gouzeaucourt, France, when the advance was held up by enemy machine-guns, Second Lieutenant White rushed a gun position single-handed, shot the three gunners and captured the gun. Later he attacked a gun position accompanied by two men, both of whom were immediately shot down. He went on alone to the gun, killing the team and capturing the gun. On a third occasion when the advance was again held up this officer collected a small party and rushed the position, inflicting heavy losses on the garrison. Subsequently he consolidated the position by the skilful use of captured enemy and his own machine-guns. The full citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 12 November 1918 (dated 15 November 1918)

    War Office, 15th November, 1918.

    His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Noncommissioned Officers and Men: —

    T. /2nd Lt. William Allison White, M.G. Corps.

    For most conspicuous bravery and initiative in attack.

    When the advance of the infantry was being delayed by an enemy machine gun, he rushed the gun position single-handed, shot the three gunners, and captured the gun. Later, in similar circumstances, he attacked a gun accompanied by two men, but both of the latter were immediately shot down. He went on alone to the gun position and bayoneted or shot the team of five men and captured the gun. On a third occasion, when the advance was held up by hostile fire from an enemy position, he collected a small party and rushed the position, inflicting heavy losses on the garrison.

    Subsequently, in consolidating the position by the skilful use of captured enemy and his own machine guns, he inflicted severe casualties on the enemy. His example of fearless and unhesitating devotion to duty under circumstances of great personal danger greatly inspired the neighbouring troops, and his action had a marked effect on the operations.

    James Park Woods, VC (4 January 1886 – 18 January 1963) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross.

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    James Park Woods, the son of a blacksmith, was born at Two Wells in South Australia on 4 January 1886. He was raised by a stepsister after the death of his parents and, after completing his schooling, worked on an orchard alongside his brothers. Of short stature (163 cm or 5 ft 4 ins), an attempt to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1914 failed. He and a brother, Will Woods, moved to Western Australia and for the next two years worked in cartage and fencing before taking up vineyard work. After further attempts to join the AIF failed, on 29 September 1916, after height restrictions were lowered, he successfully enlisted.

    Woods embarked for the Western Front from Fremantle on 23 December 1916 as a reinforcement for 48th Battalion, with the rank of private. He arrived in England in February 1917 but spent most of the next few months in hospital due to illness and did not join the battalion until September 1917. He continued to struggle with his health and had further periods in hospital, firstly in January 1918 due to pericarditis and later, in July 1918, with dysentery.

    By September 1918, the Allies were in the midst of the Hundred Days Offensive. As part of 12th Brigade, 4th Division, the 48th Battalion was advancing near Le Verguier, north-west of St. Quentin when Woods was part of a patrol scouting the location of flanking units. The patrol of four men identified a strongly defended German position with good fields of fire. While an attack in force on the position was being organised, Woods decided to lead his patrol against the German defenders. His foray was successful but then the Australians had to defend several counterattacks until reinforcements arrived. For his work, Woods was recommended for the Victoria Cross (VC). The citation was published on Christmas Eve 1918, and read:

    For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty near Le Verguier, north-west of St. Quentin, on 18th September, 1918, when, with a weak patrol, he attacked and captured a very formidable enemy post, and subsequently, with two comrades, held the same against heavy enemy counterattacks. Although exposed to heavy fire of all descriptions, he fearlessly jumped on the parapet and opened fire on the attacking enemy, inflicting severe casualties. He kept up his fire and held up the enemy until help arrived, and throughout the operations displayed a splendid example of valour, determination and initiative.

    — The London Gazette, 24 December 1918
    Woods' VC was the first to be awarded to a member of 48th Battalion. He survived the war, arrived back in Fremantle aboard the troop ship SS Königin Luise in August 1919, and was discharged from the AIF the following month.

    WESTERN FRONT

    Germany: Ludendorff warns Admiral Scheer of plans for abandoning Flanders coast.
    Somme – Battle of Epehy: British Third and Fourth Armies (1,488 guns and 300 MGs) attack from 0700 hours in heavy rain with 21 tanks on 16-mile front northwest of St Quentin; 6,800 Australians (1,260 casualties) advance 5,000 yards; capture 4,243 PoWs; 76 guns and 330 MGs and mortars in total of 9,000 and 100 guns. British 12th and 58th Divisions capture Epehy.

    EASTERN FRONT
    North Russia: Karelian troops beat German-led force at Ukhtinskaya and drive it back into Finland.
    South Russia: Red Southern Front created with Stalin as Military Council Chairmen (first meets on September 28 and forms Eighth* to Twelfth Armies).

    SOUTHERN FRONTS
    Salonika – Anglo-Greek attack astride Lake Doiran with 231 guns: Battle of Doiran (until September 19) at 0508 hours vs Bulgar 9th Division with 122 guns, British enter Doiran town and take Petit Couronne with 777 PoWs but British 65th brigade (22nd Division) has only 200 survivors (30 poisoned by British gas) from attempt to storm Grand Couronne, (thrice*-wounded commander 7th South Wales Borderers Lieutenant-Colonel Burges awarded Victoria Cross). Greek losses 1,232 men, British failure east of lake (900 Anglo*-Greek casualties) due to grass wildfire started by Bulgar artillery. Bulgar Deputy C-in-C Todorov cables Hindenburg pleading for at least 6 German divisions. Serb cavalry reach Polosko.

    MIDDLE EAST
    Trans-Jordan: Lawrence blows his 79th rail bridge north of Nisib Station south of Deraa as Arab Army turns east.
    Palestine: On Allenby’s east flank 53rd Division storms across Wadi-es-Samieh and advances 7 miles (night September 18-19).

    AIR WAR
    Salonika: RAF sends 372 calls for artillery fire until September 19, only 1 aircraft lost and shoots down 2 aircraft.
    Western Front: Rain and clouds restrict flying over Somme (until September 19), both sides’ aircraft losses much lower (September 17*-20).

    American naval pilot Roland Rholfs set a world altitude record of 34,910 feet (10,640 m) while flying a Curtiss 18 airplane

    The German ace Georg von Hantelmann shoots down and kills the French ace Lieutenant Maurice Boyau while Boyau is attacking German observation balloons. Boyau's 35 kills will make him the fifth-highest-scoring French ace of World War I.

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    Lieutenant Maurice Jean Paul Boyau Spa 77

    Well know for his skill at rugby, Boyau served in the infantry before the war. In 1915, while serving as a driver in the Army Service Corps, he requested a transfer to the French Air Service. Obtaining a Pilot's Brevet on 28 November 1915, he served as an instructor at Buc before being posted to N77 in September 1916. Before he was killed in action, Boyau downed 21 balloons and 14 enemy aircraft.

    FAMOUS AIRMAN MISSING.
    Paris, Friday.—It is reported that the aviator, Lieut. Boyau, is missing. He had to his record 35 victories.—Reuter.
    Boyau, who was one of the best-known athletes in France, having captained French Rugby teams against England, Wales, and Scotland, was recently made an officer of the Legion of Honour for his prowess. He was to have been presented on the 29th with a diamond and platinum Legion of Honour cross bought by a halfpenny subscription made among all the athletes of France.

    Médaille Militaire
    "Pursuit pilot of audacious bravery. Three times cited in orders, and has to his credit an aircraft and a balloon. On 5 June [1917] he destroyed another balloon. Forced to land in enemy territory, he repaired his plane and flew back over the lines at 200 meters altitude, under fire of enemy machine guns." Médaille Militaire citation

    Légion d'Honneur (Officier)
    "Pilot of remarkable bravery whose marvelous physical qualities are put to use by his most arduous spirit and fights at great heights. Magnificent officer with an admirable spirit of self-sacrifice, facing each day with the same smiling desire for new exploits, surpassing then succeeding. He excels in all branches of aviation; reconnaissance, photography in single-seaters, bombardments at low altitudes, attacks on ground troops, and is classed among the best pursuit pilots. He has reported twenty-seven victories, the last twelve in less than one month. Has downed sixteen balloons and eleven planes. Has the Médaille Militaire and Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur for feats of war. Eleven citations." Légion d'Honneur citation

    A second French ace was also lost on this day...

    Adjutant Paul Armand Petit
    Spa154

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    Petit entered the army on 8 October 1911 and served with the infantry before transferring to the French Air Service on 15 April 1917. After training, he was assigned to Escadrille N154 on 15 September 1917. After scoring 7 victories, he was killed in action on the Marne front.

    Also lost on this day was the American ace Lieutenant Joseph Frank "Fritz" Wehner 27th Aero Squadron, another victim of Georg von Hantelmann - 2 Aces in one day !!!

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    The son of Frank and Johanna Nelson Wehner of Everett, Massachusetts, Joseph Frank Wehner's athletic achievements as captain of the Everett High School football team earned him a scholarship to the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1914. Graduating in 1916, he left for Europe as an employee of the Y.M.C.A., living in Berlin and working in prison camps until the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany in April 1917. Returning home, he enlisted in the Signal Corps at New York during June 1917. While receiving flight training, Wehner's German ancestry led to an investigation followed by an unsubstantiated arrest for suspicion of treason by the Secret Service. Eventually, he was permitted to rejoin his unit and departed for England in February 1918. Assigned to the 3rd Aviation Instruction Centre at Issoudun, France, Wehner, now bitter and withdrawn over the question of his loyalty, became friends with another loner: Frank Luke. Both pilots were assigned to the 27th Aero Squadron under Harold Hartney on 25 July 1918. With six confirmed victories during September 1918, Wehner shot down one Fokker D.VII and five balloons in just three days of aerial combat. He was killed in action shortly after he and Luke downed two German balloons. Protecting Luke as he attacked a third balloon, Wehner's SPAD XIII was shot down by Georg von Hantlemann of Jasta 15.

    Other claims on this day included Hat tricks for William Barker and Franz Buchner and 4 kills for the American Frank Luke

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    2nd Lieutenant Frank Luke Junior - the 'Arizona Balloon Buster'

    Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the "Arizona Balloon-Buster" was the leading ace in the United States Air Service at the time of his death. After aerial combat training at Issoudun, France, Frank Luke, Jr. was assigned to the 27th Aero Squadron under Harold Hartney on 25 July 1918. Often flying alone or with his sidekick Joseph Wehner, he shot down 18 enemy balloons and planes in just 18 days. After flaming three German balloons on 29 September 1918, Luke's SPAD XIII (S7984) was shot down by ground fire. Resisting capture, he shot it out with approaching German soldiers and was killed near the crash site. After the war, Luke's remains were reburied at the Romagne Military Cemetery. Luke Field in Hawaii and Luke Air Force Base near Glendale, Arizona were named in his honor.

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    "Man, how that kid could fly! No one, mind you, no one, had the sheer contemptuous courage that boy possessed. I know he's been criticized for being such a lone-hander, but, good Lord, he won us priceless victories by those very tactics. He was an excellent pilot and probably the best flying marksman on the Western Front. We had any number of expert pilots and there was no shortage of good shots, but the perfect combination, like the perfect specimen of anything in the world, was scarce. Frank Luke was the perfect combination." Harold Hartney, Commanding Officer, 1st Pursuit Group

    "He was the most daring aviator and greatest fighter pilot of the entire war. His life is one of the brightest glories of our Air Service. He went on a rampage and shot down fourteen enemy aircraft, including ten balloons, in eight days. No other ace Britain's Bishop from Canada, France's Fonck or even the dreaded Richthofen had ever come close to that." Edward Rickenbacker

    24 British airmen were lost in total on this day, including...

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    A U.S. Navy air naval station was established at Ferrybank, Wexford, Ireland, but closed the following year.

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    Last edited by Hedeby; 09-18-2018 at 04:36.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

  48. #3598

    Default

    We are close to that next magic number.....can we do it by this weekend? Come on readers one final push....well until the next push that is.
    See you on the Dark Side......

  49. #3599

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    Judging by the fact that we are pegging on at about 150 a day, I would guess not Neil. However we will certainly do it before the Armistice. Most likely the end of this month.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  50. #3600

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    19th September 1918

    Sergeant Thomas Charles Benfield (Leicestershire Regiment) is killed by a sniper’s bullet at age 29. He was a footballer who played for Leicester being made famous for being the first person to score a goal at Arsenal Stadium netting an early goal in Leicester’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in a Second Division match on 6 September 1913. He was Leicester’s leading scorer in that season before moving on to Derby County where he helped them win the 1914 Second Division title.

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    Battle of Doiran – The Bulgarian First Army repulsed the British and Greek attack on Lake Doiran, inflict 6,559 British casualties and 7,819 Greek casualties, while only suffering 2,726 casualties.

    The Battle of Megiddo (Turkish: Megiddo Muharebesi) also known in Turkish as the Nablus Hezimeti ("Rout of Nablus"), or the Nablus Yarması ("Breakthrough at Nablus") was fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, on the Plain of Sharon, in front of Tulkarm, Tabsor and Arara in the Judean Hills as well as on the Esdralon Plain at Nazareth, Afulah, Beisan, Jenin and Samakh. Its name, which has been described as "perhaps misleading" since very limited fighting took place near Tel Megiddo,[4] was chosen by Allenby for its biblical and symbolic resonance.

    The Battle of Megiddo was the final Allied offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The contending forces were the Allied Egyptian Expeditionary Force, of three corps including one of mounted troops, and the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group which numbered three armies, each the strength of barely an Allied corps. The series of battles took place in what was then the central and northern parts of Ottoman Palestine and parts of present-day Israel, Syria and Jordan. After forces of the Arab Revolt attacked the Ottoman lines of communication, distracting the Ottomans, British and Indian infantry divisions attacked and broke through the Ottoman defensive lines in the sector adjacent to the coast in the set-piece Battle of Sharon. The Desert Mounted Corps rode through the breach and almost encircled the Ottoman Eighth and Seventh Armies still fighting in the Judean Hills. The subsidiary Battle of Nablus was fought virtually simultaneously in the Judean Hills in front of Nablus and at crossings of the Jordan River. The Ottoman Fourth Army was subsequently attacked in the Hills of Moab at Es Salt and Amman. These battles resulted in many tens of thousands of prisoners and many miles of territory being captured by the Allies. Following the battles, Daraa was captured on 27 September, Damascus on 1 October and operations at Haritan, north of Aleppo, were still in progress when the Armistice of Mudros was signed ending hostilities between the Allies and Ottomans.

    The operations of General Edmund Allenby, the British commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, achieved decisive results at comparatively little cost, in contrast to many offensives during the First World War. Allenby achieved this through the use of creeping barrages to cover set-piece infantry attacks to break a state of trench warfare and then use his mobile forces (cavalry, armoured cars and aircraft) to encircle the Ottoman armies' positions in the Judean Hills, cutting off their lines of retreat. The irregular forces of the Arab Revolt also played a part in this victory.

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    Allenby's plan

    Allenby intended to break through the western end of the Ottoman line, where the terrain was favourable to cavalry operations. His horsemen would pass through the gap to seize objectives deep in the Ottoman rear areas and isolate their Seventh and Eighth Armies. As a preliminary move, the Arab Northern Army would attack the railway junction at Daraa beginning on 16 September, to interrupt the Ottoman lines of communication and distract the Yildirim headquarters.

    The two divisions of XX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode, would make an attack in the Judean Hills beginning on the night of 18 September, partly to further distract Ottoman attention to the Jordan Valley sector, and partly to secure positions from which their line of retreat across the Jordan could be blocked. Once the main offensive by XXI Corps and the Desert Mounted Corps was launched, XX Corps was to block the Ottoman escape route from Nablus to the Jordan crossing at Jisr ed Damieh and if possible capture the Ottoman Seventh Army's headquarters in Nablus. The main breakthrough was to be achieved on the coast on 19 September by four infantry divisions of XXI Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin, massed on a front 8 miles (13 km) wide. The fifth division of XXI Corps (the 54th) was to make a subsidiary attack 5 miles (8.0 km) inland of the main breach. Once the breakthrough was achieved, the corps, with the 5th Light Horse Brigade attached, would advance to capture the headquarters of the Ottoman Eighth Army at Tulkarm and the lateral railway line by which the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies were supplied, including the important railway junction at Messudieh.

    The strategic move was to be made by the Desert Mounted Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel. Its three mounted divisions were massed behind the three westernmost infantry divisions of XXI Corps. As soon as XXI Corps had breached the Ottoman defences, they were to march north to reach the passes through the Carmel Range before Ottoman troops could forestall them, and pass through these to seize the communication centres of Al-Afuleh and Beisan. These two communication centres were within the 60 miles (97 km) radius of a strategic cavalry "bound", the distance mounted units could cover before being forced to halt for rest and to obtain water and fodder for the horses. If they were captured, the lines of communication and retreat for all Ottoman troops west of the Jordan would be cut. Finally, a detachment consisting of the Anzac Mounted Division, the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade, two battalions of the British West Indies Regiment, and two battalions of Jewish Volunteers in the Royal Fusiliers, amounting to 11,000 men commanded by Major General Edward Chaytor and known as Chaytor's Force, was to capture the Jisr ed Damieh bridge and fords in a pincer movement. This important line of communication between the Ottoman Armies on the west bank of the Jordan with the Ottoman Fourth Army at Es Salt, was required by Allenby before Chaytor could proceed to capture Es Salt and Amman.

    Entente deceptions
    Secrecy was an essential part, as it had been at the Battle of Beersheba the preceding year. It was feared that the Ottomans could thwart the preparations for the attack by making a withdrawal in the coastal sector. Laborious efforts were therefore made to prevent the Ottomans discerning Allenby's intentions and to persuade them that the next Entente attack would be made in the Jordan Valley. All westward movements of personnel and vehicles from the Jordan Valley towards the Mediterranean coast were made during the night while all movements eastwards were made during daytime. The detached Anzac Mounted Division in the Jordan Valley simulated the activity of the entire mounted corps. Troops marched openly down to the valley by day, and were secretly taken back by lorry at night to repeat the process the next day. Vehicles or mules dragged harrows along tracks to raise dust clouds, simulating other troop movements. Dummy camps and horse lines were constructed and a hotel in Jerusalem was ostentatiously commandeered for an Expeditionary Force headquarters.

    Meanwhile, the 2nd (British) Battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps joined Arab irregulars in a raid east of the Jordan. They first captured and destroyed the railway station at Mudawara, finally cutting the Hejaz Railway, and then mounted a reconnaissance near Amman, scattering corned beef tins and documents as proof of their presence. Lawrence sent agents to openly buy up huge quantities of forage in the same area. As a final touch, British newspapers and messages were filled with reports of a race meeting to take place on 19 September, the day on which the attack was to be launched.

    Though Allenby's deceptions did not induce Liman to concentrate his forces against the River Jordan flank, Allenby was nevertheless able to concentrate a force superior to the Ottoman XXII Corps by nearly five to one in infantry and even more in artillery on the Mediterranean flank, where the main attack was to be made, undetected by the Ottomans. Earlier in the year (on 9 June), units of the 7th (Meerut) Division had captured two hills just inland from the coast, depriving the Ottomans of two important observation points overlooking the Allied bridgehead north of the Nahr-el-Auja. Also, the Royal Engineers had established a bridging school on the Nahr-al-Auja much earlier in the year, so the sudden appearance of several bridges across it on the eve of the assault did not alert any other Ottoman observers.

    Entente air superiority

    These various deceptions could not have been successful without the Entente forces' undisputed air supremacy west of the Jordan. The squadrons of the Royal Air Force and the Australian Flying Corps outnumbered and outclassed the Ottoman and German aircraft detachments in Palestine.[49] During the weeks before the September attack, enemy aerial activity dropped markedly. Although during one week in June hostile aeroplanes crossed the British front lines 100 times, mainly on the tip–and–run principle at altitudes of 16,000–18,000 feet (4,900–5,500 m), by the last week in August this number had dropped to 18 and during the three following weeks of September it was reduced to just four enemy aircraft. During the 18 days before the start of the battle, only two or three German aircraft were seen flying.[50] Eventually, Ottoman and German reconnaissance aircraft could not even take off without being engaged by British or Australian fighters,[14] and could therefore not see through Allenby's deceptions, nor spot the true Allied concentration which was concealed in orange groves and plantations.

    On 16 September 1918, Arabs under T. E. Lawrence and Nuri as-Said began destroying railway lines around the vital rail centre of Daraa, at the junction of the Hedjaz Railway which supplied the Ottoman army at Amman and the Palestine Railway which supplied the Ottoman armies in Palestine. Lawrence's initial forces (a Camel Corps unit from Feisal's Army, an Egyptian Camel Corps unit, some Gurkha machine gunners, British and Australian armoured cars and French mountain artillery) were soon joined by up to 3,000 Ruwallah and Howeitat tribesmen under noted fighting chiefs such as Auda abu Tayi and Nuri es-Shaalan. Although Lawrence was ordered by Allenby only to disrupt communications around Daraa for a week and Lawrence himself had not intended a major uprising to take place in the area immediately, to avoid Ottoman reprisals, a growing number of local communities spontaneously took up arms against the Turks. As the Ottomans reacted, sending the garrison of Al-Afuleh to reinforce Daraa, the units of Chetwode's Corps made attacks in the hills above the Jordan on 17 and 18 September. The 53rd Division attempted to seize ground commanding the road system behind the Ottoman front lines. Some objectives were captured but a position known to the British as "Nairn Ridge" was defended by the Ottomans until late on 19 September. Once it was captured, roads could be constructed to link the British road systems with those newly captured. At the last minute, an Indian deserter had warned the Turks about the impending main attack. Refet Bey, the commander of the Ottoman XXII Corps on the Eighth Army's right flank, wished to withdraw to forestall the attack but his superiors Jevad Pasha, commanding the Ottoman Eighth Army, and Liman (who feared that the deserter was himself an attempted intelligence bluff) forbade him to do so.

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    A side view of the Handley–Page 0/400 of No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps frequently piloted by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith

    At 1:00am on 19 September, the RAF Palestine Brigade's single Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber dropped its full load of sixteen 112-pound (51 kg) bombs on the main telephone exchange and railway station in Al-Afuleh. This cut communications between Liman's headquarters at Nazareth and Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies for the following vital two days, dislocating the Ottoman command. DH.9s of No. 144 Squadron also bombed El Afule telephone exchange and railway station, Messudieh railway junction and the Ottoman Seventh Army headquarters and telephone exchange at Nablus.

    At 4:30am, Allenby's main attack by XXI Corps opened. A barrage by 385 guns (the field artillery of five divisions, five batteries of 60-pounder guns, thirteen siege batteries of medium howitzers and seven batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery), 60 trench mortars and two destroyers off the coast fell on the Ottoman 7th and 20th Divisions' front-line positions defending Nahr el Faliq. As the opening bombardment turned to a "lifting" barrage at 4:50am, the British and Indian infantry advanced and quickly broke through the Ottoman lines. Within hours, the Desert Mounted Corps were moving north along the coast, with no Ottoman reserves available to check them.

    From 10.00 hours onwards, a hostile aeroplane observer, if one had been available, flying over the Plain of Sharon would have seen a remarkable sight – ninety–four squadrons, disposed in great breadth and in great depth, hurrying forward relentlessly on a decisive mission – a mission of which all cavalry soldiers have dreamed, but in which few have been privileged to partake. According to Woodward, "concentration, surprise, and speed were key elements in the blitzkrieg warfare planned by Allenby." By the end of the first day of battle, the left flank unit of the British XXI Corps (the 60th Division) had reached Tulkarm[69] and the remnants of the Ottoman Eighth Army were in disorderly retreat under air attack by Bristol F.2 Fighters of No. 1 Australian Squadron, through the defile at Messudieh and into the hills to the east, covered by a few hastily organised rearguards. Jevad Pasha, the army commander, had fled, and Mustafa Kemal Pasha at Seventh Army headquarters was unable to re-establish control over Eighth Army's troops.[citation needed]

    Throughout the day, the RAF prevented any of the German aircraft based at Jenin from taking off and interfering with the British land operations. Relays of two S.E.5s from Nos. 111 and 145 Squadrons, armed with bombs, circled over the German airfield at Jenin all day on 19 September. Whenever they spotted any movement on the ground, they bombed the airfield. Each pair of aircraft were relieved every two hours, machine-gunning the German hangars before departing.

    More on this tomorrow...

    MIDDLE EAST
    Palestine – BATTLES OF MEGIDDO (until September 25): Bulfin’s XXI Corps (35,000 men) advances from 0430 hours behind 385-gun barrage. DMC follows by 0700 hours, takes’ 7,000 PoWs and 100 guns in 22*-mile ride. Turk Eighth Army headquarter at Tulkarm falls to 60th Division after 18-mile march.
    Trans-Jordan: Lawrence destroys Turk plane on ground and engages train in his armoured car.
    Egypt and Palestine: Egyptian Labour Corps 100,000 strong in 99 coys and 30 camps in Palestine.

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    AIR WAR

    Palestine: RAF strike Tulkarm-Nablus road, 2 army headquarters, telephone exchanges and 3 airfields. No 113 Squadron twice smokescreens XXI Corps’ advance. Jenin airfield captured on September 28 with 11 burnt German aircraft.

    SOUTHERN FRONTS

    Salonika: Renewed Anglo*-Greek attack fails in 6 bloody hours as some British caught in own shellfire. Milne tells d’Esperey British can do no more. Bulgar First Army Commander General Nerezov proposes counter-offensive to take Salonika but German-Bulgar (Steuben and Todorov) Prilep conference decides on gradual withdrawal prior to cutting off Allied salient. Franco-Greek attack storms Mt Dzena (7,000ft).

    POLITICS

    Belgium: Government rejects German peace offer.
    Britain: J Davis new US London Ambassador.

    The Canadian Air Force was established under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Billy Bishop, the leading war ace of the British Empire. However, the war ended within two months before the force could see action and funding was the following year forcing the force to disband. Canada's air force arm was revived in 1924 with the establishment of the Royal Canadian Air Force

    The Canadian Air Force (CAF) was a contingent of two Canadian air force squadrons – one fighter and one bomber – authorized by the British Air Ministry in August 1918 during the close of the First World War. The unit was independent from the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the British Royal Air Force (RAF). In addition to the two squadrons, a CAF Directorate of Air Services was formed, which was a branch of the General Staff of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada. The CAF's first commander, Lt. Col. W. A Bishop began setting up the squadrons in August 1918. The two squadrons never fought during the war, which ended on 11 November 1918. The squadrons were administered by No. 1 Wing CAF, which was formed in March 1919. Both squadrons were stationed in the United Kingdom at Upper Heyford and later, Shoreham-By-Sea, Sussex. All aircraft, equipment and training facilities were provided by Britain. Recruiting, pay and clothing, however, was a Canadian responsibility.

    The British government cut funding for the squadrons in June 1919. The Canadian government decided that a permanent peacetime air force was not needed and so both squadrons ceased operations: No. 1 Squadron on January 28, 1920, and No. 2 Squadron on February 5, 1920. Aircraft and associated equipment were sent back to Canada. The Directorate of Air Services was dissolved on 5 August 1920. This Canadian Air Force was Canada's second attempt at creating a relatively independent air force, the first being the creation of the Canadian Aviation Corps in 1914. Another Canadian Air Force would be established in 1920 as part of the Air Board in Canada and would exist until the Royal Canadian Air Force was established in 1924.

    No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron (or No. 81 Squadron RAF)
    No. 2 (Day Bomber) Squadron (or No. 123 Squadron RAF)

    The Sopwith Buffalo aircraft was first flown

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    The Sopwith Buffalo was a British armoured fighter/reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War. A single-engined biplane, two examples of the Buffalo were built by Sopwith to carry out reconnaissance missions low over the trenches while protected against machine-gun fire from the ground, but no production followed, with the end of the war removing the need for such an aircraft. In July 1918, the British Air Ministry requested Sopwith, who was already building the Sopwith Salamander armoured single-seat ground attack fighter, to build an armoured two-seat aircraft to carry out the dangerous contact patrol mission. This mission involved flying at low altitude over the battlefield to locate and keep in contact with attacking forces, therefore keeping commanders in touch with the progress of the battle. This exposed aircraft carrying out such missions to heavy small arms fire from enemy trenches, resulting in heavy casualties.

    Sopwith's design, the 3F.2 Buffalo, was a single-engined tractor biplane, with its two-bay wooden wings taken from Sopwith's earlier Bulldog fighter. Like the Salamander, the forward fuselage was made out of armour plate, weighing about 750 lb (340 kg), with the bottom of the fuselage 0.315 in (8 mm) thick, with the sides and front of 0.179 in (5 mm) plate. The armoured box reached back to the observer's cockpit, protecting the crew together with the fuel tanks and pipes, the carburettor and the magnetos. The first prototype flew on 19 September 1918, flying to France for evaluation in the field on 27 September. The second prototype, which had its armour extended further aft, flew in October. While tests showed that the Buffalo had good performance, and promised to be an excellent contact patrol aircraft, the end of the war ended plans for large scale production. The two prototypes were sent to No. 43 Squadron, serving with the British Army of Occupation at Bickendorf near Cologne, Germany, but were quickly damaged in crashes.

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    more to follow - need to disappear from editor's office for a few hours

    one riveting governor's meeting later...

    The Australian Ace Lieutenant Albert Victor Tonkin DFC 1 Squadron AFC was shot down and captured on this day.

    A grocer from Glenferrie, Melbourne, Tonkin served with the Australian infantry before he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps on 19 September 1917. Posted to 1 Squadron on 10 January 1918, he scored six victories flying the Bristol Fighter. During a ground strafing mission on 19 September 1918, he and his observer were shot down by ground fire and captured before Allied cavalry managed to rescue them.

    Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
    Lieut. Albert Victor Tonkin (Australian F.C.). (EGYPT)
    A gallant and determined officer who, in various engagements, has destroyed two enemy aircraft and driven down seven others. During recent operations he has been conspicuous for his boldness in attacking hostile troops on the ground. On three occasions Lieutenant Tonkin has been forced to land beyond our lines. On one of these, his machine being riddled with bullets, he was taken prisoner, but was subsequently recaptured by our advancing troops.

    There were limited aerial sorties today becasue of the weather, however the following claims were made on this day

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    Despite the lack of flying there were still 11 British airmen lost on this day

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    Last edited by Hedeby; 09-19-2018 at 15:44.

    Never Knowingly Undergunned !!

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