Saturday 20th October 1917
Today we lost: 609
ˇ A member of the clergy
ˇ The son of a member of the clergy
ˇ A family that will lose five sons in the Great War
ˇ Multiple families that will lose two and three sons in the Great Wwar
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
ˇ Lieutenant Charles Cedric Gordon Allom (Royal Field Artillery) dies of wounds received in action at age 21. He is the only son of ‘Sir’ Charles Allom.
ˇ Lieutenant the Reverend David Stewart Dawson (Gordon Highlanders) dies of wounds at age 27.
ˇ Second Lieutenant Harold Greatwood (Royal Field Artillery) dies of wounds at age 30. His older brother was killed in March of last year.
ˇ Driver Jonah Booth (Royal Field Artillery) is killed in action at age 21. His brother will be killed in March 1918.
ˇ Acting Bombardier Thomas Finnerty (Royal Field Artillery) is killed in action. His two brothers have been previously killed in the Great War.
ˇ Private Charles Reeve Beechey (Royal Fusiliers) dies of wounds at age 39 in East Africa. He is the fourth of five sons of the Reverend Prince William Thomas Beechey who will be killed in the Great War.
ˇ Private Stephen Morris (Durham Light Infantry) dies of wounds at age 40. He is the first of three brothers who will lose their lives in the Great War.
Air Operations:
The “Silent Raid” 19-20th October
A crowd gathers around the captured L49 in France.
October 19 1917, London–The British had gotten much better at shooting down German Zeppelins, and the Germans had to resort to new tactics to avoid the British defenses. Eleven Zeppelins crossed the North Sea on October 19, arriving after sundown. They rose to a height of over 21,000 feet to avoid British fighters and anti-aircraft guns. Unfortunately for them, winds were much higher at that altitude, blowing up to 60 miles an hour, and the fleet was scattered and sent off course. The crews were also not used to operating at such an altitude, and the lack of oxygen hampered the crews’ abilities.
Only one of the eleven Zeppelins, L45, actually bombed London, causing 83 of the 91 casualties from the raid, mostly around Piccadilly Circus. The British defenses did not fire on the Zeppelin, possibly because they did not see it through the mist, or because they knew they could not possibly hit it at that altitude and did not want to give the Zeppelin any clues as to its location. As a result, the raid would be known as the “Silent Raid” in Britain.
The Zeppelins were scattered over Britain, and struggled to make their way back home to Germany. Four of them made it back with little incident, returning over the North Sea, Belgium, or the Netherlands. The remainder were blown over Northern France, almost paralleling the Western Front in places. L55 seemed to realize it was heading to far south, as it was approaching Paris, and made a hard turn to the left; they made it back to Germany, but crashed on landing. L52 and L53 only reentered German airspace permanently over Alsace-Lorraine. L44 was destroyed by French anti-aircraft fire over Lorraine at an altitude of 19,000 feet, killing all aboard. L49, attacked by French fighters, was forced to the ground and captured intact by the French north of Besançon.
L45, which had bombed London, was blown far to the south and eventually ran out of fuel, made a rough landing in Provence; the crew burned their craft and surrendered to local authorities. L50, quite lost, thought they were in luck when they saw L49 landed below. They soon realized that the French had captured her, and tried to rise as quickly as possible, before attempting to land again in an extremely steep dive of around 30 degrees. The Zeppelin grazed some woods, shearing off the main gondola; most of the men on board were thrown off or took the opportunity to jump off at this point; they were soon captured by the French. Without the main gondola, the Zeppelin was propelled upwards again. Of the four men left on board, two were thought to have been killed in the crash, but the other two were likely left trapped on an uncontrollable airship drifting southward. They passed over the captured crew of the L45 in southern France, sporadically pestered by French fighters. At 5:30PM, the Zeppelin drifted out to sea and was never seen again.
Royal Flying Corps Losses today: 6
A Mech 1 Day, V.E. (Victor E.), Dunkerque Naval Air Station, RNAS.
Lt Falkner, W.H. (William Harold), No 2 Aircraft Depot, RFC.
2Lt Herald, T. (Thomas), 17 Training Squadron, RFC.
A MEch 2 King, P.H.T. (Percy Henry Thomas), No.2 Aircraft Repair Section, RFC.
2Lt Latham, E.R. (Edgar Retief), 72 Squadron, RFC.
2Lt Solomon, H.P. (Herbert Philip), 33 Squadron, RFC.
Claims: 13 confirmed (Entente 12: Central Powers 1)
Raymond Brownell #4.
Richard Minnifie #15.
A picture of Minnifie in action
William Barker #1.
Edward Booth #3.
Andrew McKeever #23.
William Rogers #5.
Edward Denman Clarke #6.
Sidney Platel #2 & #3.
Thomas Stephenson #2 & #3.
Howard John Thomas Saint #7.
Fritz Kieckhafer #4.
Western Front:
Violent artillery action on Aisne front.
Tunstills Men Saturday 20th October 1917:
In bivouacs at Railway Dugouts and Zillebeke Bund.
The Battalion marched three miles south to ‘C’ Camp, near Kruistraathoek (H.30.c.4.2)
Pte. Bertie Thurling (see 16th January) was admitted to 71st Field Ambulance, having suffered bruising to his abdomen; he would re-join the Battalion a week later.
It seems to have been around this date, though the exact date is unknown, that an (unnamed) officer wrote to the parents of Cpl. Joseph Smith (12748) (see 18th October) who had been killed in action on 18th October. “It is with deepest sorrow that I have to inform you of the death of your son, Corpl. Joseph Smith. The enemy were heavily shelling the front line trenches and a shell burst in the trench close to where your son and two others were standing, killing all three instantaneously. He was buried where he fell by his comrades. Your son’s death is keenly felt by all who knew him. He was most highly respected and a very reliable NCO. Please accept the deepest sympathy of all ranks in this Company in your sad bereavement”. (I am most obliged to Edward Wild for the information on Joseph Smith).
L.Sgt. Albert Earnshaw (see 24th September), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20th September was transferred to Netherfield Road Auxiliary Hospital in Liverpool.
In accordance with the recommendation of an Army Medical Board held three weeks previously, Pte. Sam Appleyard (see 29th September) who had suffered a fractured left shoulder and other wounds on 7th June, was formally discharged as no longer fit for military service. He was awarded a pension of 27s. 6d. per week.
A payment of Ł2 1s. 7d. was authorised, being the amount due in pay and allowances to the late Pte. John Coltman (see 7th June), who had been killed in action on 7th June; the payment would go to his mother, Elizabeth. His mother was also sent a ‘religious book’ which was the only surviving item from among her son’s personal effects.
The weekly edition of the Keighley News carried a report of the wounding of Cpl. Edwin Lightfoot (see 28th September), who had been wounded on 20th September.
Corporal Edwin Lightfoot, West Riding Regiment, of 11 Marlborough Street, Keighley, has been wounded. Before enlistment in September 1914, he was employed as a butcher by the Keighley Co-Operative Society. His father has also been in the Army nearly three years.
Eastern Front:
Islands of Dago and Schilden captured by Germans.
Germans retire to Skuli-Lemburg line 30 miles east of Riga to prepared positions.
Southern Front:
Germans report French attack repulsed between Skumbi valley and L. Ochrida (Macedonia).
Asiatic, African, Egyptian Front:
Turkish troops driven across Diala river (Mesopotamia).
Naval Operations:
British submarine unsuccessfully attacks German transport in Gulf of Riga.
Shipping Losses: 12 (4 to mines & 8 to U-Boat action)
Political:
Archbishop of Athens degraded for "Anathema" ceremony of 25 December 1916.
Allies recognise Polish National Committee.
Anniversary Events:
480 BC |
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The Greeks defeat the Persians in a naval battle at Salamis. |
1587 |
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In France, Huguenot Henri de Navarre routs the Duke de Joyeuse’s larger Catholic force at Coutras. |
1709 |
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Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy take Mons in the Netherlands. |
1714 |
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George I of England is crowned. |
1805 |
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Austrian general Karl Mac surrenders to Napoleon‘s army at the battle of Ulm. |
1818 |
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The United States and Britain establish the 49th Parallel as the boundary between Canada and the United States. |
1870 |
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The Summer Palace in Beijing, China, is burnt to the ground by a Franco-British expeditionary force. |
1903 |
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The Joint Commission, set up on January 24 by Great Britain and the United States to arbitrate the disputed Alaskan boundary, rules in favor of the United States. The deciding vote is Britain’s, which embitters Canada. The United States gains ports on the panhandle coast of Alaska. |
1904 |
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Bolivia and Chile sign a treaty ending the War of the Pacific. The treaty recognizes Chile’s possession of the coast, but provides for construction of a railway to link La Paz, Bolivia, to Arica, on the coast. |
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