World War I Day by Day Read online

  Western Front: German air sheds in Brussels are bombed by Allied airmen.

  20

  Western Front: Start of the First Battle of Champagne – the first major Allied offensive on the Western Front after the lines of trenches have been dug.

  21

  Western Front: BEF soldiers arrive to reinforce the Indian troops defending Givenchy. Together they hold the position against severe opposition.

  First German night bombing raid on Britain by a Farman MF-11.

  23

  Eastern Front: Siege of Cracow is abandoned by the Russians.

  Far East: Troops from New Zealand and Australia arrive in Cairo.

  Western Front: Belgian troops cross the Yser.

  24

  Africa: In South-West Africa German troops invade the Portuguese colony of Angola.

  Eastern Front: Russia claims to have captured 134,000 German and 225,000 Austrians.

  Western Front: A German FF29 seaplane makes the first air raid on Britain but drops the bombs in the water off Dover.

  Map of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli.

  Canadians carry wire to the front lines.

  Admiral Franz von Hipper led the German naval raid on Scarborough in December 1914.

  25

  Caucasus: In Armenia the Battle of Sarikamish starts as the Turks counter invade.

  Eastern Front: The Austro-German offensive ends as they are defeated at Tarnow.

  War at sea: British navy pilots supported by HMSs Arethusa and Undaunted bomb German warships off Cuxhaven.

  Western Front: Unofficial Christmas truces spontaneously develop between rival soldiers along the Western Front. German FF29 returns to Britain and drops two bombs near Cliffe railway station, Kent.

  26

  Caucasus: In Armenia Turkish forces try to recapture Sarikamish in the Caucasus.

  Eastern Front: Germans divert from attacking Warsaw to attack across Bzura.

  Western Front: At Frescati near Metz French pilots bomb the German airsheds.

  28

  Caucasus: The Turks begin a disastrous retreat from Sarikamish. Many die of exposure in the mountains.

  War at sea: In the North Sea freely drifting German mines destroy eight vessels.

  30

  Western Front: German planes attack Dunkirk.

  31

  General: The year ends with an estimated 753,000 Prussian losses.

  1915

  JANUARY

  First use of gas (on Eastern Front in Poland)

  January 1915

  On the Western Front both sides launch repeated assaults in an attempt to break the deadlock. Russian troops active in Galicia.

  French troops receive decorations.

  1

  General: Russia requests that Britain and France mount an attack on Turkey to relieve pressure on its southern flank.

  War at sea: HMS Formidable torpedoed in the English Channel.

  Western Front: Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne.

  2

  Africa: In German East Africa HMSs Fox and Goliath bombard German-held Dar-es-Salaam.

  3

  Eastern Front: Russians occupy Suczava.

  4

  Caucasus: Russians beat the Turks at Sarikamish in Russian Armenia and Ardahan in Transcaucasia.

  Western Front: After several days fighting French troops take Steinbach in Alsace.

  5

  Western Front: In the Argonne the French blow up half a mile of German trenches.

  8

  Eastern Front/Balkans: Germany forms a southern army to support the faltering Austrians.

  9

  Africa: Last South African rebels are caught.

  Western Front: German counter-attacks at Perthes and near Soissons fail in the face of stiff Allied resistance.

  German U-boat demands the surrender of a British merchantman.

  German field artillery in Champagne.

  The chalky soil of Champagne shows the zigzags of a French trench.

  12

  Western Front: The Germans are reported to have fired poison shells.

  13

  Africa: In East Africa Germans attack the British at Jasin.

  Caucasus: Battle of Kara Urgan in Armenia.

  Eastern Front: Germans take the heights of Vregny.

  14

  Africa: South African Union forces occupy Swakopmund, in German South-West Africa.

  Western Front: ermans claim to have taken 5,200 prisoners as they win the fight near Soissons.

  15

  Far East: Japan makes 21 demands on China.

  16

  Caucasus: In Armenia the Russians rout the Turks following the Battle of Kara Urgan. They take 4.000 prisoners.

  Eastern Front: Russians move along the Lower Vistula despite heavy resistance near Bolimov.

  Western Front: French artillery blasts Germans out of their trenches at Nieuport.

  17

  War at sea: In the Dardanelles the French submarine Saphir is sunk.

  Map of German East Africa.

  19

  Great Britain: Zeppelins belonging to the Imperial German Navy Airship Division make the first airship attack on Britain when they drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Five people are killed. The Royal Flying Corps flew its first night sorties to intercept the Zeppelins but failed to make contact.

  21

  War at sea: A German submarine sinks the British SS Durward near the Maas lightship. German submarine U-7 torpedoed off the Dutch coast in error by U-22. Only one survivor.

  22

  Eastern Front: Austrians prevail and win their attack on the Kirlibaba Pass (East Carpathians).

  Western Front: Heavy fighting continues on the Western Front, especially in the Argonne and in Alsace.

  24

  War at sea: Battle of Dogger Bank starts when Germans attack the Dogger Bank patrols protecting the fishing fleet. The raid is intercepted and the heavy cruiser Blöcher is sunk, battlecruisers Seydlitz and Derfflinger hit and damaged. British battlecruisers Lion (Vice-Admiral Beatty’s flagship) damaged, Tiger hit. Both sides claimed the encounter as a victory.

  25

  Eastern Front: Libau forts shoot down a Zeppelin.

  Hard fighting in the Carpathians between Russians and Austrians.

  Cheerful German soldiers march across the empty promenade at Ostend which in normal times would be thronging with holiday-makers.

  Exhausted British soldiers grab some rest from the stresses of the front line in temporary shelters.

  Albert, King of the Belgians.

  26

  Caucasus: Turkey attacks again in Armenia.

  War at sea: British announce the loss of HMS Viknor.

  27

  Western Front: In the Argonne the Allies prevail against German attacks.

  28

  Eastern Front: Trebizond and Rize bombarded by a Russian torpedo boat.

  Western Front: Night raid on Dunkirk by a German plane.

  29

  Africa: Cameroons the French take Bertua.

  War at sea: Skirmish off Cape Moen, Denmark: Russian submarine sinks a German torpedo boat.

  Western Front: Germans fail to cross the Aisne near Soissons.

  30

  Eastern Front: At Sufian the Russians beat the Turks and drive them from Tabriz.

  War at sea: Four British merchant ships are sunk off the Lancashire coast by German submarine activity.

  Western Front: French suffer a reverse in the western Argonne and lose 700 men taken as prisoners.

  FEBRUARY

  Palestine and Gallipoli Fronts open

  February 1915

  British casualties by this point of the war are estimated to be around 104,000. New fighting fronts open in Palestine and Gallipoli. The latter became notorious for the heavy loss of ANZAC (from Australia and New Zealand) troops. Gallipoli itself is a narrow peninsula on the northwestern side of the Canakkale straits that link the Aegean Sea wi
th the Sea of Marmara.

  Battle of the Dogger Bank, January 24, 1915. Blücher moments before she sank.

  1

  Eastern Front: The Russians gain the initiative and make ground.

  General: Flour and bread are rationed in Germany.

  Middle East: Turks start to advance in strength (c. 12,000 men) towards the Suez Canal.

  War at sea: German submarine attacks Asturias, a hospital ship, off Le Havre.

  2

  Middle East: Defense of the Suez Canal. Indian troops supported by Egyptian artillery repulse attacking Turks at the Suez Canal.

  4

  War at sea: Announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare in British waters by Germany with a submarine blockade as of 18 February. Neutral ships enter at their own risk.

  6

  Eastern Front: Second Battle of Masurian Lakes – aka the Winter Battle – the German armies are surrounded by the Russians.

  War at sea: The American liner Lusitania docks at Liverpool.

  7

  Eastern Front: The Germans advance 25 miles despite heavy fighting.

  Western Front: In the Argonne Germans launch a heavy assault at Bagatelle.

  Zeppelin leaving its hangar in front of an enormous crowd.

  Two German destroyers at quayside in Zeebrugge being loaded with mines before sailing to the North Sea where they will rendezvous and resupply submarines and mine layers.

  Reims, despite being severely damaged by German bombing was never taken by the enemy.

  8

  Far East: Turks in full retreat from the Suez Canal.

  War at sea: In the Crimea the Breslau bombs Yalta.

  Trebizond is bombarded by Russian cruisers.

  11

  Western Front: First Canadian soldiers land in France.

  12

  Eastern Front: Germans continue to make good progress in Poland and east Prussia.

  Western Front: Ostend, Zeebrugge and other German-held Belgian ports are raided by 34 British naval planes.

  13

  Eastern Front: Fierce fighting in the Carpathians.

  Middle East: A surprise attack by the British at Tor on the Gulf of Suez leave 60 Turks dead and 102 taken prisoner.

  14

  Eastern Front: The Russians are completely driven out of East Prussia.

  Western Front: Wins and losses for all sides on the Western Front as the battles fluctuate.

  15

  Balkans: Albanians are reported to have advanced into Serbia.

  French troops in early 1915.

  16

  Western Front: Fighting heavy in the Argonne and Champagne region.

  More Allied air raids on German-held Belgian ports.

  17

  Eastern Front: Heavy fighting at Kolomea on the River Pruth and Nadworna.

  18

  War at sea: German submarine blockade around the British Isles. They declare the waters around Great Britain and Ireland to be a ‘war region’ – meaning all vessels of any nation are a viable target.

  Western Front: Main fighting on the Western Front at Verdun, Arras and in Alsace.

  19

  Eastern Front: Russians start a counter-offensive on the East Prussian frontier.

  War at sea: In the English Channel the Norwegian SS Belridge is torpedoed, but not sunk.

  At the entrance of the Dardanelles three French and five British warships start to bombard the Turkish forts in preparation for an attack on Constantinople.

  Western Front: Heavy fighting in the Vosges.

  21

  Eastern Front: End of the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes with the Russians taking heavy losses. Elsewhere on the Eastern Front they make some gains.

  Great Britain: German planes bomb Colchester, Essex and area.

  Australian troops in front of the Sphinx.

  Australian troops, Egypt, 1915.

  The Eastern Front from Kovno in the north to the frontiers of Romania — showing the area over which the Russians made a fighting retreat in 1915. Inset: district around the Gulf of Riga.

  22

  Eastern Front: Intensive fighting, start of the battle around Dalina-Stanislau. Germans announce complete victory in East Prussia, claim 100,000 Russian prisoners.

  Western Front: Calais is bombed by Zeppelins.

  Reims is heavily bombed again.

  23

  War at sea: German submarine sinks the U.S. ships Carib and Evelyn and torpedoes the Norwegian ship Regin.

  24

  Eastern Front: The Germans take Przasnysz with 10,000 prisoners. Meanwhile the Russians take Mozelny.

  War at sea: British admit loss of auxillary cruiser Clan McNaughton.

  Allied bombardment continues on Dardanelles forts destroying some of the outer forts.

  After a week of the submarine blockade seven British merchant ships have been sunk.

  26

  War at sea: The entrance to the Dardanelles is cleared of Turkish defense.

  27

  Eastern Front: Russians retake Przasnysz, report 5,400 prisoners.

  War at sea: Admiralty announces a blockade of East African ports.

  First U.S. shipping loss. The William P. Frye taking wheat to England is stopped by a German cruiser and ordered to jettison her cargo. William P. Frye judged not to have complied is sunk in the South Atlantic off the Brazilian coast.

  German machine gunners in Poland, 1915.

  28

  General: U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

  31

  Eastern Front: Start of the Battle of Bolimov in Poland. Poison gas is used for the first time: Germans use xylyl bromide against Russian soldiers at Bolimov.

  MARCH

  Russian offensive in east; BEF attacks at Neuve Chappelle in west

  March 1915

  Fierce fighting in the Dardanelles. All the main battle fronts are reinforced with manpower and guns.

  1

  Eastern Front: German offensive collapses along the Niemen River.

  War at sea: British passenger liner Falaba sinks, claiming the first American casualty of the war.

  2

  Eastern Front: Russians reported to have taken over 10,000 German prisoners from the Niemen River front fighting.

  Middle East: Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles.

  3

  Eastern Front: Austrians involved in fierce fighting in the Carpathians.

  Western Front: Reims bombarded again.

  4

  Eastern Front: After taking Stanislau and Krasna the Russians claim to have taken 19,000 German prisoners.

  War at sea: In the English Channel German submarine U8 is sunk by destroyers and the crew rescued.

  German submarine rammed and sunk by SS Thordis.

  German prisoners hauling a machine-gun out of a captured dug-out in Arras.

  5

  Middle East: Forts in the Dardanelles narrows bombarded by HMS Queen Elizabeth.

  Western Front: German Zepplin destroyed near Tirlemont.

  6

  Eastern Front: Austrians retreating in the Carpathians.

  7

  Eastern Front: In north Poland the Germans retreat through Augustovo Woods from pursuing Russian forces.

  Western Front: Six British aviators bomb Ostend.

  8

  Eastern Front: Fierce fighting north of the Vistula – gains and losses for both sides.

  Middle East: Bombardments on Dardanelles forts are halted by bad weather.

  War at sea: Russian Black Sea Fleet bombards Turkish coastal positions.

  10

  War at sea: HMSs Ariel and Attack ram and sink submarine U-12 in Fife Ness. Ten survivors are captured.

  Western Front: Start of the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle when the BEF attack German lines. RFC makes its first bomb raids against enemy railroad installations. Also the first attack planned with the use of maps drawn only from aerial photo reconnaissance.

&n
bsp; After resting in billets, men from the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment make their way back to the front.

  11

  Eastern Front: Germans start new offensive near Przasnysz.

  Great Britain: Britain announces blockade of German ports and issues the Reprisals Order banning ‘neutral’ parties trading with Germany.

  War at sea: Off Scottish coast British auxiliary cruiser Bayona torpedoed and sunk.

  13

  Western Front: Ypres suffers bombardments again.

  14

  War at sea: Off Juan Fernandez in Chilean territorial waters British warships Kent, Orama, and Glasgow sink the German battleship Dresden.

  Western Front: Start of the Battle of St. Eloi as the Germans attack Ypres.

  16

  Western Front: French forces make good progress in Champagne, Argonne and to the north of Mesnil.

  18

  Eastern Front: Austrians still attacking without progress in the Carpathians.

  Middle East: Allied plan to invade the Dardanelles is drawn up following the failed naval attempt to force the Narrows in the Battle of Canakkale in which the Turkish fleet was victorious. HMSs Ocean and Irresistible and French warship Bouvet are sunk.