The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 1378 of the Great War, May 16th 1918

Western Front

Big-gun duel still in progress; few infantry actions; successful British raid near Beaumont Hamel (Ancre River).

Sharp air fights.

Saarbrucken raided.

Germans bomb hospitals at Hoogsbade and Calais.

Photo: 13 pounder 9 cwt AA gun at Lievin, 16 May 1918



Photo: The Battle of the Lys. Sentry of the 2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Lievin by a notice saying that no one is allowed past this point in daylight, 16 May 1918



Finnish Civil War: Finnish Civil War Ends with White Victory

On May 16th the Finnish Civil War ended. Official victory was pronounced when nationalist White troops occupied a Russian coastal fortress in Karelia. The White leader Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim claimed liberation had been achieved from foreigners. While the Finnish revolution was an offset of the October revolution, in truth the Bolsheviks had been uninvolved.

Photo:  Photograph of the victory parade in Helsinki at the Senate Square, in front of the University main building, May 16 1918



Photo: The White Army parade on Senate Square after the conquest of Helsinki on May 16, 1918



United Kingdom

U.S.A. delegates received by King and Queen.

United States: Sedition Act Enacted in US

Antipathy towards Germany had grown strikingly in the United States in the year since the declaration of war, with both the press and private citizens lashing out against many of German origin deemed insufficiently patriotic, and demanding that the US government do the same. On May 16, President Wilson signed a bill, commonly referred to as the Sedition Act, that extended the Espionage Act of the previous year. For the duration of the war, any form of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the government, its flag, or its armed forces, or any speech that interfered with the sale of war bonds, was punishable by long terms of imprisonment. The bill passed the House with only one dissenting vote (from the lone Socialist member), but attracted more opposition from many Senate Republicans, who variously thought that the bill was a distraction from Wilson’s inability to use the Espionage Act effectively, or that it compromised free speech to an unacceptable degree. Ultimately, only several hundred convictions were handed down as a result of the Sedition Act–mainly it was used as a catch-all way to prosecute socialists, anarchists, or IWW members who fell afoul of the Justice Department.

German occupied Belgium: Underground Belgian Newspaper Network Libre Belgique Brought to Trial

For three years in Belgium an underground newspaper named Libre Belgique had been printed and circulated throughout the occupied country. It countered a collaborationist newspaper named La Belgique and totaled 171 copies during the war, documenting the Allied war effort and German atrocities and outrages against Belgians, proving immensely popular and hard for German authorities to stop. The paper called the German military-governor “a bird of prey sent to live on the palpitating flesh of Belgium,” and the Kaiser “His Satanic Majesty.” Many editions were even smuggled into internement camps in Germany.

In January 1918, however, the German occupiers had broken the underground network and arrested all 61 of the paper’s distributors. They were brought to trial on May 15 and sentenced to ten to twelve years in prison. Yet soon the paper began appearing again, printed by a Catholic churchman who single-handedly churned out 7,000 copies and arranged to have them reprinted in Antwerp.

Aerial operations: France

Photo: U.S. Navy sailors man lines to an HS-2L flying boat manufactured by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Inc., during operations at an unidentified location in France



Aerial operations: Bombs

A massive bombing exercise was conducted by the RAF today. During the day,

over 23 tons of bombs were dropped on important railway centres including Douai, Courtrai, Chaulnes and Saarbrucken as well as aerodromes and billets behind the enemy’s lines.

During the night a further 10½ tons of bombs were dropped on the railway stations at Lille, Douai, and Chaulnes, billets in the neighbourhood of Bapaume, Peronne, and Rosieres, and the docks at Bruges.

Despite 27 different squadrons being involved, losses were minimal. During the day, one of the 12 DH4s sent by 55 Squadron RAF to attack Saarbrucken was shot down in flames, and three others shot up. 2nd Lieutenant Roland Charles Sansom and Air Mechanic G C Smith in A7477 were both killed. The Squadron claimed three enemy scouts forced down.

Overnight a Handley Page 0/100 (3132) from 214 Squadron RAF was shot down by AA fire during the attack on Bruges Docks. Captain Cecil George Rushton, Major James Ingleby Harrison and Lieutenant Wilfred John King were all killed.

Naval operations: Germany

The Imperial German Navy recommissions the light cruiser "STUTTGART" after her conversion into a seaplane carrier.

Naval operations: ship losses

FYEDOR CHIZHOV (Russia) The coaster was sunk in the Barents Sea off Vaidaguada by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

HERON BRIDGE (United Kingdom) The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 320 nautical miles (590 km) east by north of São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal (38°49′N 18°26′W) by SM U-62 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.

LLANCARVAN (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 370 nautical miles (690 km) east of São Miguel Island (38°24′N 17°18′W) by SM U-62 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

MMANSOURA (France) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea north of Port Said, Egypt (32°15′N 31°35′E) by SM UB-51 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

MARIE FREDERIQUE (French Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine laid by UC 54 (Heinrich XXXVII Prinz Reuß zu Köstritz) and sank in the Mediterranean Sea north of Cap de Garde, Algeria (37°02′N 7°52′E) with the loss of eighteen of her crew.

POLARSTROMMEN (Norway) The trawler was sunk in the Barents Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) north of Vaidaguada, by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

TAGONA (Canada) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) west south west of Trevose Head, Cornwall, United Kingdom 50°29′N 5°07′W) by SM U-55 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of eight crew.

TARTARY (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea 8 nautical miles (15 km) east north east of the Skulmartin Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-86 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

YTURRI BIDE (Spain) The coaster was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean north east of the Tuskar Rock, Ireland (52°27′N 5°35′W) by SM UB-118 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Day 1380 of the Great War, May 18th 1918

Western Front

Successful raid by Australians west of Morlancourt; in the night they capture Ville-sur-Ancre, take 360 prisoners, 20 machine guns.

Daylight raid by B.A.F. on Cologne; 33 bombs dropped, all machines return safely.

Photo: Royal Artillery gunner asleep under a lorry-mounted anti-aircraft 13-pounder gun at Hinges, 18 May 1918. Note a method of packing ammunition



Photo: French and British officers by the German A7V tank "Elfriede", captured near Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918. Saleux, 18 May 1918



Italian Front

Air fights in Upper Adriatic, west of Pola, between Italian and Austrian seaplanes.

Caucasus campaign

Alexandropol (Georgia) occupied by the Turks.

Ireland

Proclamation by Lord French (Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland) re: pro-German conspiracy.

Aerial operations: British Bomb Cologne

After nearly a year of Gotha raids on London, the British were determined to retaliate against Germany. Although Berlin was out of reach for the Allies, Western Germany was not. On May 18, six British DH4s attacked Cologne in daylight, dropping 34 bombs and causing well over 100 casualties. The attack took the Germans by surprise, and the British even managed to shoot down two German fighters on the return trip. This was not to be an isolated attack–the British were already making plans for a dedicated strategic bombing force, to be led by former RAF head Hugh Trenchard.

Naval operations: convoy

Photo: Destroyer USS HENDERSON making e smoke screen at sea, to protect a convoy, 18th May 1918



Photo: Convoy of American troopships and escorts at sea - leading GEORGE WASHINGTON, AMERICA, and DR KALB. Taken from aboard USS WHIPPLE, 18th May 1918



Naval operations: ship losses

CATAPULTE (French Navy) The Arquebuse-class destroyer collided with Warrimoo ( United Kingdom and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Bône, Algeria.

HMS CHESTERFIELD (Royal Navy) The fleet messenger was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 42 nautical miles (78 km) north east by east of Malta (36°17′N 15°13′E) by SM UC-52 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her crew.

DENBIGH HALL (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 90 nautical miles (170 km)) west south west of the Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly (49°00′N 8°02′W) by SM U-55 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

HURUNUI (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 48 nautical miles (89 km) south by east of The Lizard, Cornwall (49°08′N 5°00′W) by SM U-94 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.

JOHN G. Mccullough (United States) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay 8 nautical miles (15 km) south of the Île d'Yeu (46°35′N 2°16′W) by SM UB-74 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.

MABROUKA (France) The 25-ton sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea north of Port Said, Egypt by SM UB-51 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

MARIA (France) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea north of Port Said by SM UB-51 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

MENEWAR (France) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by SM UB-51 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

NINETTA (Italy) The sailing vessel was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 22 nautical miles (41 km) south east by south of Cape Passero, Sicily by SM UC-52 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

SCHOLAR (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 90 nautical miles (170 km) west south west of the Bishop Rock (48°53′N 8°04′W) by SM U-55 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two crew.

TEWFIG EL BARI (France) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by SM UB-51 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

USS WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER (United States Navy) The tanker was sunk in the North Sea off Kinnaird Head, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom (57°44′N 1°23′W) by SM UC-58 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of three of her crew.

Day 1382 of the Great War, May 20th 1918

Western Front

French carry out successful operation east and north-east of Locre, 400 prisoners; also big raid near Bermericourt, penetrating enemy's third line.

Local fighting north of Albert; successful operations north-west of Merville by a Surrey battalion.

Coblenz bombed.

Italian Front

Italian seaplanes bomb Durazzo and Lagosta (off Dalmatia).

Macedonian Front

British airmen bomb Cattaro, return undamaged.

Russian Civil War: Germany Sends Aid to Russian White Forces

The Russian Civil War is a baffling topic for historians. Although in collective memory it is often seen simplistically as a battle between monarchist Whites and communist Reds, in reality it was an anarchic conflict with many factions that constantly switched sides. One example: the White movement was a loose confederation of governments, armies, and warlords who all wanted to topple the Bolsheviks. Rather than re-instating the Tsar the initial reason for many of the White armies to form was rejection of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and a continued desire to fight the Germans.

Meanwhile the Germans had encouraged Lenin’s revolution from afar and then made peace with the Bolsheviks. By May 1918, however, socialist revolution looking likely to spread through Russia and into the Central Powers’ empires. Suddenly the Bolsheviks became more potential threat than ally. At the same time, the Allies considered whether the Bolsheviks might make more useful allies against Germany than the scattered and poorly-organized Whites. In May Germany send thousands of rifles and fifteen million roubles to the Volunteer Army, a warband of officers and Cossacks in South Russia. Before the sides of the Russian Civil War had even taken shape they are already being mixed up.

Austria-Hungary: Revolts Among Former PoWs in Hungary

The end of the war in the East meant that German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war were now slowly being repatriated to their home countries. This was a major source of manpower for the struggling Austro-Hungarian armies, as more than 2.1 million men prepared to return. However, the Army was highly concerned that the PoWs might bring back Bolshevik ideas with them from Russia, and established a quarantine system for them. They were held in camps with poor rations and little or no new clothing for several weeks while the authorities determined whether they had deserted or were Bolsheviks, before being eventually granted four weeks’ leave at home. This pervasive message of mistrust towards the returning PoWs did not increase their enthusiasm for the war effort. This was compounded by the continuing food shortage, which did not spare the regular army.

In the late spring, there were many mutinies among units with high proportions of returned PoWs. On May 12, a group of 1200 Slovene soldiers (normally some of the Empire’s most loyal troops) ransacked the town of Judenberg. One of the ringleaders rallied others in the barracks to the cause:

Come on lads, get dressed. We’re going home. We’re doing it not just for us but as a favor to the comrades at the front. The war has to be ended now….Whoever’s a Slovene should come with.

On May 20, around 1500 troops of the 6th Infantry Regiment, which contained many returned Serb PoWs, refused to be sent to the front seized the arsenal and food stores in Pécs. The local miners armed themselves and joined the revolt as well; it would take three loyal Hungarian regiments to suppress them.

Aerial operations: France

Photo: Air mechanics of the Royal Air Force tuning up a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c biplane at Acq Aerodrome, 20 May 1918. Note a splinter-proof revetted sandbag wall in foreground



Naval operations: ship losses

AGIOS DIONYSIOS (Greece) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea (36°39′N 22°18′E) by SM U-32 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy). Her crew survived.

ANGELIKI (Greece) The sailing vessel was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea (36°39′N 22°18′E) by SM U-32 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy). Her crew survived.

KHATITON LEPTEV (Russia) The auxiliary brigantine was sunk in the Barents Sea off Murmansk by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

NEW SWEDEN (Sweden) The cargo ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 20 nautical miles (37 km) off the Sabinal Lighthouse, Spain[121] (36°24′N 2°40′W) by SM UB-50 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Day 1384 of the Great War, May 22nd 1918

Western Front

Liege and Metz railways bombed by British airmen; Mannheim again attacked.

Raid attempted on Paris by about 30 German machines, but only one reaches capital.

Italian Front

Increased artillery fighting along Piave; an attack at Capo Sile bridgehead repulsed.

Allied airmen active.

East Africa campaign: British Capture German Baggage Train in Mozambique

Since crossing into Mozambique in November, the German forces under Lettow-Vorbeck had been doing their best to raid the Portuguese and capture their supplies while avoiding the British forces sent to pursue them. His area of operations was too thinly settled to maintain his whole force as one unit, so he divided it into multiple columns to fan out and secure supplies individually. On April 12, the British caught up with Captain Koehl’s column at Medo, engaging it for seven hours before the Germans were able to slip away. On May 22, they engaged them again in the rocky hills near Korewa, nearly managing to trap the whole column this time. The Germans were able to escape, but had to abandon all of their animals and porters, over 100,000 rounds of ammunition, all of their mountain gun ammunition, and large quantities of food and medical supplies. This left the Germans critically short on supplies overall, and Lettow-Vorbeck planned to push south of the Lurio River, in the direction of Quelimane, for more supplies.

The governor of German East Africa, Heinrich Schnee, had been left in an awkward situation when the Germans abandoned the colony; he was now a governor with no colony left to govern, and could no longer claim any authority over Lettow-Vorbeck. Schnee lost all of his baggage at Korewa, and had to scrounge what he could; Lettow-Vorbeck gave him a pair of blue socks which, he said, Schnee’s “wife had made for me at the beginning of the war, but which unfortunately had faded.”

France

U.S. Army in France announces it will issue its troops 0.4 ounces of tobacco and 10 rolls of cigarette papers as part of daily rations.

Aerial operations: Belgium

Air-raids on Zeebrugge; a German destroyer sunk in harbour.

Naval operations: ship losses

MERAN (Norway) The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea off Songvår, Vest-Agder by SM U-86 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

RED ROSE (United Kingdom) The coaster was sunk in the English Channel approximately 30 nautical miles (56 km) north of Cap d'Antifer, Seine-Maritime, France (50°04′N 0°20′W) by SM UB-57 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of eleven of her crew.

Day 1386 of the Great War, May 24th 1918

YouTube (Bombs Away - German Thirst For Caucasian Oil)



Western Front

Many raids by both sides.

British at Nieppe Forest bombed by gas shells.

Caucasus campaign: Armenians Defeat Turks at Sardarabad

The Turks, after presenting expanded demands to the Transcaucasian Federation, launched a renewed offensive on May 15, quickly seizing the key rail hub of Alexandropol [Gyumri] and pushing on from there. The Turkish advance posed a grave threat to the Armenian population in the area–the Turks would likely now expand their genocide of the Armenians to formerly Russian territory, or at the very least cut off the Armenians’ food supplies to much the same effect. On May 21, the Turks attacked the main Armenian force around 25 miles west of Yerevan, but the Armenians held on. In the following days, the Armenians counterattacked, and by May 24 had inflicted a serious defeat on the Turks, driving them back west nearly ten miles. The Armenians were then able to free up forces to stop Turkish attacks elsewhere. The Turks then decided to turn their attention towards the Georgians instead; the Armenian victory at Sardarabad likely saved their country from destruction.

Photo: Armenian forces before the battle



Russian Civil War

General Semenov makes steady progress, organising anti-Bolshevist forces in Siberia.

North Russia intervention: British Prepares to Send Troops to Russia

In April a small force of Royal Marines had landed at the Arctic city of Murmasnk, with the local soviet’s approval, to defend munitions stores in the city against potential German attack. Relations between Lenin and the Allies had been cordial then; now they were downright frosty. In towns like Murmasnk and Archangel in northern Russia the British had left tons of war supplies to help the Russian military between 1914 and 1917. With the Tsar gone, the British asked the Bolsheviks to pay up, demanding £757 million pounds in total for war goods. Lenin repudiated all his debts. Furious and also horrified that all these weapons might fall into enemy hands, the British sent troops to Russia. In May the War Cabinet OK’d sending a further 600 to Murmasnk and 500 men to Archangel.

Llloyd George wrote in his memoirs that he meant this force to “prevent the military stores at Murmansk, Archangel, and Vladivostok falling into enemy hands; to succour the Czecho-Slovak troops in the Urals and Vladivostok, and enable them to reconstitute an anti-German front in combination with the pro-Ally Cossacks and other Nationalist forces in Russia, or to withdraw safely and join the Allied forces in the West.“

Austria-Hungary: Czech Soldiers in the Hapsburg Army Rebel

While their expatriate comrades were fighting through Siberia, Czech soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army mutinied in the town of Rumburg in Bohemia. The men were former POWs released after the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk, and refused to go to the front-lines unless they received pay for the time they had spent in prisoner camps. They occupied the town with the support of local Czech citizens, and threatened to march on Prague. Some boarded trains for the city and announced their intention to “put and end to the war,” but loyalist soldiers disarmed them beforehand.

Ten were shot and 560 arrested, but the territory governor warned Vienna that “had the rebels succeeded in advancing southward and had they found support - and this was by no means impossible - among the civilians in these regions, we might by now have faced a regular revolution several parts of Bohemia.”

United Kingdom

Government issues statement exposing Sinn Fein intrigues with Germany and the revolutionary movement in Ireland.

Canada

Canada passes an Act granting women the right to vote in federal elections. Asian and aboriginal women are excluded.

Aerial operations: US Army Air Service formed

Today, the United States Army Air Service was formed following an executive order signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

It superceded the Division of Military Aeronautics, which had existed as the sole aviation contingent for all of four days following the transfer out of the Aviation Section from the US Signal Corps. The Signal Corps had been the original home of aviation in the US Army, the Aviation Section’s predecessor the Aeronautical Division being set up 1907.

The new Air Service was made up of the Division of Military Aeronautics and the Bureau of Aircraft Production.

The important point about this order is that for the first time, US army aviation had an independent organisational structure and identity. However the Division of Military Aeronautics and the Bureau of Aircraft Production remained separate entities who reported independently to the Secretary of State for War. Consequently the new head of the DMA, Major General William A Kenly had little control over the Bureau which remained under the control of John D. Ryan (who had been in charge of its predecessor the Aircraft Board). This anomaly remained until after the war.

Naval operations: ship losses

HMT GABIR (Royal Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine laid by UC 17 (Nikolaus von Lyncker) and sank in the North Sea of Pakefield, Suffolk with the loss of two of her crew.

RUTH HICKMAN (United Kingdom) The schooner was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 60 nautical miles (110 km) north north west of Graciosa, Azores, Portugal (40°05′N 28°30′W) by SM U-62 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

HMT YUCCA (Royal Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine laid by UC 17 (Nikolaus von Lyncker) and sank in the North Sea off Pakefield (52°26′N 1°48′E) with the loss of seven of her crew. by SM UC-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Day 1388 of the Great War, May 26th 1918

Western Front

No infantry actions of importance; increased artillery activity at certain points north and south of the Avre.

Italian Front

Good progress made by Italian troops in mountain passes between Lake Garda and Swiss frontier (Monticello and Adamello region).

East Africa Campaign

In Portuguese East Africa Germans driven south towards Upper Lurio river.

Caucasus campaign: Battle of Karakilisa

After the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk saw Russia drop out of the war, the Ottoman Empire gained territory on its Caucasus border. In spring 1918 it kept pressing for more by attacking eastward into the heartland of Armenia, intent on finishing the destruction of the Armenian populace. Armenian nationalists put up an intense fight over the course of May, but on May 26 were handed a heavy defeat at Karakilisa. 5,000 Armenian troops escaped through the mountain passes, hoping to keep their dreams of national liberation alive. The Ottomans massacred 4,000 civilians who did not flee.

Russia

Transcaucasian Federal Government dissolved.

Georgia: Georgia Declares Independence

The newly-independent Transcaucasian Federation ultimately lasted less than a month. Georgia, facing defeat from the advancing Turkish armies, sought out the only country that could reliably protect it–Turkey’s own ally, Germany. The Germans had an interest in securing the oil supplies at Baku, and hoped the Georgians could help open the way for them–even if it meant getting in the way of Enver Pasha’s ambitions in Azerbaijan. General Kressenstein (no longer in Palestine after his failures led to the fall of Jerusalem) had been negotiating with the Georgians, and even raised a force of German volunteers (mainly comprised of PoWs that had been held in the area) to assist the Georgians. Help from the German Army itself was also a possibility–whether transported across the Black Sea or making their way directly by land; the Germans had already pushed out of the Ukraine and taken Rostov in early May).

On May 26, Georgia declared its independence from the Transcaucasian Federation. Germany immediately recognized the new republic and announced that it was under German protection. The Turks were undeterred, however, and continued their plans to march on Tblisi. Without the Georgians, the Transcaucasian Federation soon fell apart, with Armenia and Azerbaijan declaring independence within days and opening their own negotiations with the Turks.

Photo: National Council meeting, May 26, 1918



Armenia

Armenian National Council takes charge of Armenian affairs.

Naval operations: ship losses

DAYSPRING (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was shelled andsunk in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk by SM UB-40 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

ECLIPSE (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was shelled and sunk in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk by SM UB-40 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

FORTUNA (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk by SM UB-40 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

JANVOLF (Norway) The cargo ship was sunk in the Irish Sea 28 nautical miles (52 km) north west of Bardsey Island, Pembrokeshire by SM U-98 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four crew.

KYARRA (United Kingdom) The passenger ship was sunk in the English Channel 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south south east of Anvil Point, Dorset by SM UB-57 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of six of her crew.

LE GARD (France) The passenger ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 88 nautical miles (163 km) north west of Cape Bengut, Algeria by SM UB-49 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of fourteen lives.

PRINCESS ROYAL (United Kingdom) The passenger ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) west north west of St. Agnes, Cornwall (50°19′24″N 5°19′54″W) by SM U-101 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of nineteen crew.

THAMES (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) south east by east of Seaham, County Durham by SM UC-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her crew.

SM UB-74 (Kaiserliche Marine) The Type UB III submarine was depth charged and sunk in Lyme Bay (50°32′N 2°32′W) by HMY Lorna ( Royal Navy) with the loss of all 35 crew.

Day 1390 of the Great War, May 28th 1918

Western Front

Enemy cross the Aisne on 18-mile front; battle of plateau between Aisne and Vesle, Allies fall back, Germans force passage of Vesle. Allies left and right wings make stand at Vregny plateau and heights of St. Thierry.

Line restored south of Ypres.

Big British R.A.F. raids into Germany.

Western Front: First American Battle of the War

The Americans had been in the war for over a year, and in the front lines for over seven months, but never beyond quiet sectors of the front. Delays stemming from Pershing’s insistence on keeping American forces together as a cohesive army meant that (beyond a handful of engineers who happened to be in the area) the Americans did not participate in the defense against the major German offensives of March and April. Eventually, seeing the need for the Americans to do something, if only to boost Allied morale, Pershing allowed the 1st Division to be deployed near Cantigny, on the southern flank of the German salient created by Operation Michael. If the Germans made another push towards Amiens, the Americans would attack on their flank. Such an offensive never came, but the Americans went forward with plans for a more limited attack–taking a small German salient centered around the town of Cantigny.

The American plan for the battle was drawn up by the division’s assistant chief of staff, Lt. Col. George C. Marshall, and called for a heavy preparatory artillery fire, followed by a rolling barrage to cover the infantry advance. Once the infantry had secured the town, the artillery would continue counter-battery efforts so that the infantry could dig in and hold the town without molestation from German artillery fire. Although all the attacking infantry would be American, they did not have enough heavy weaponry to do it themselves, and would thus rely on artillery, a dozen tanks, and flamethrowers provided and manned by the French. A day before the attack was schedule to go forward, however, the Germans attacked and broke through on the Aisne, leaving the French scrambling for reinforcements. It was decided that the attack on Cantigny would go ahead, but the French would pull their forces out after the town was taken in the early morning; the Americans would be on their own to defend against any counterattacks.

The bombardment began at 5:45 AM on the 28th, and the infantry attacked an hour later. Although they suffered significant casualties in areas where the German machine guns had not been knocked out, the Americans were able to secure the German front line and the town of Cantigny as planned within two hours. The German survivors in the basements of the destroyed town itself surrendered or were killed by the French flamethrowers. Although the withdrawal of the French artillery soon thereafter meant that the Americans took heavy casualties to German fire, they were not subjected to an organized German counterattack until nearly 6PM, by which time they had been able to successfully entrench beyond Cantigny.

Although overshadowed by the ongoing German offensive on the Aisne, the American victory at Cantigny was an important moral victory for the Americans and their allies–the Americans were coming, and they could defeat the Germans in battle. It came at a heavy cost, however; over a third of the Americans participating in the battle were wounded, and another 199 were killed.

Ukrainian War of Independence

The Cossacks of the Don notify Ukraine Government of their opposition to the Soviets and of independence of the rest of Russia.

Russian Civil War

Colonel Semenov forced by Bolsheviks to retire to right bank of Onon (Mongolia).

Italian Front

Two Austrian counter-attacks repulsed at Capo Sile.

British aeroplanes bomb Cattaro.

Sinai and Palestine campaign

Severe fighting near Alexandropol (90 miles south of Tiplis).

British advance two miles north from Jaffa.

German/United Kingdom relations

British Government opens negotiations with Germany for direct exchange of prisoners on lines of Franco-German Convention.

Further revelations of brutal treatment of British prisoners.

Aerial operations: Peregrine’s wings clipped

The former naval squadrons in the coastal areas continued their attempts to block the locks at Zeebrugge today.

At 0225 a Handley Page from 214 Squadron RAF flown by Captain Cecil Hill Darley, glided over Zeebrugge from the sea with engines silent, arriving over the lock-gate at a height of about 200 feet. The Handley Page then dropped three 520lb bombs, one of which exploded close to the northern gate, while

Ten minutes after the Handley Page had bombed, Lieutenant-Colonel Peregrine Forbes Morant Fellowes (the commander of 61 Wing) and Observer Sergeant H. Pritchard, left their aerodrome in a DH4 (A8065) for another attack on the lock-gate from a low height. They dropped two

230lb bombs, one of which appeared to hit the lock. Unfortunately the aeroplane was shot down by ground fire and the crew were both taken made prisoner. Fellowes was also wounded.

The attack does not seem to have made that much difference as the port remained open and the RAF continued to attack it.

Naval operations: ship losses

CAIRNROSE (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 110 nautical miles (200 km) west north west of Flores Island, Azores by SM U-62 (Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

CORONATION (United Kingdom) The fishing vessel was scuttled in the North Sea 13 nautical miles (24 km) east south east of Flamborough Head, Yorkshire by SM UC-70 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

DRONNING MARGRETHE (Denmark) The coaster was sunk in the North Sea 140 kilometres (76 nmi) east of Dundee, Forfarshire, United Kingdom (56°30′N 1°54′E) by SM U-111 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

FLORA (France) The sailing vessel was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) off Tintagel, Cornwall, United Kingdom (50°46′N 4°41′W) by SM U-101 ( Kaiserliche Marine).