The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 247 of the Great War, March 31st 1915

Arial operations: Russian Il'ia Muromets bomber

The Russian air force has lagged behind its opponents in innovation, with one very notable exception: the Il'ia Muromets bomber, a creation of the young and very talented designer Igor Sikorskii. This massive aircraft was an unparalleled marvel of technical engineering; propelled by four engines, it is capable of carrying a crew of three for a five-hour flight with two machine-guns and a half-ton of bombs. In a reconnaissance flight conducted today, one Muromets flies 533 kilometres at between 3200 and 3600 metres altitude.

Perhaps not surprising given the Russian war performance to date, the Muromets has been criminally underappreciated by army headquarters, including a ban on further production issued in October 1914. Only by circumventing the army was Sikorskii able to have a squadron of Muromets formed under the patronage of the owner of the Russko-Baltiiskii aircraft company, allowing for the true value of the Muromets to be demonstrated.

Photo: Sikorsky Ilya Muromets S-23 B series, fitted with four Argus engines, being inspected by Grand Dukes Mikhail Alexandrovich and Alexander Mikhailovich with a group of officers and aviators.



Eastern Front: main Russian attack over the past two days has fallen on the centre and right of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army

In the Carpathians, the main Russian attack over the past two days has fallen on the centre and right of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army. Crucially, they have broken through the front of XIX Corps, forcing 41st and 37th Honved Divisions to fall back (the former having suffered 60% casualties, the latter reduced to two thousand riflemen). The situation of 2nd Army is perilous - only fifteen hundred reserves remain available to plug holes in the line - and its commander orders preliminary planning for a withdrawal southwards out of the Carpathians if necessary.

Naval operations: Saudi Arabia

Around 1100 hours von Mücke's caravan arrives at the next watering hole. They find there a Turkish officer and seventeen soldiers sent from Jeddah to meet them. The Turks have brought a supply of water. The grateful Germans set up their straw mats for cover and settle in for the day. They are only one day from Jeddah and a garrison of more than three hundred soldiers.

At 1600 hours they break camp and start the final night's journey. The terrain consists of sand dunes overgrown with clumps of grass. Visibility is only about 400 meters. As they are riding along in the moonlight they catch sight of a group of twelve or so Bedouins, who immediately trot out of sight. The Turkish officer tells von Mücke that he believes them to be bandits, based on the rumors in Jeddah of a group of forty or so robbers roaming the area. Von Mücke had sent word from Al Lith that they were coming, and assumed that the whole area knew that they were not a merchant caravan but a group of fifty armed men with four machine guns.

Von Mücke divides his caravan into two columns and orders his men to have their weapons at the ready. As the sky starts to grow lighter they relax a little, having heard that the bandits never attack in daylight. He is riding down the columns to make sure everything is in order when a shrill whistle sounds, followed by a heavy volley of gunfire. Von Mücke and his mean leap from their camels and run to the front of the caravan. They cannot see the enemy, but can see the flashes from the rifles. They assume the bandits cannot see them either, lying prone in the sand, and conclude that their camels must be the intended targets.

With fire coming in from all sides, von Mücke decides the first order of business is to get the machine guns ready. They are tied to the backs of camels, two at the head of the caravan and two at the rear. After a few minutes the machine guns are ready and open fire. This unexpected turn of events silences the enemy's fire for the moment. The Germans take advantage of the lull to drag the camels to the ground where they will be a little safer. Once this is done the men organize themselves and prepare for the next round.

Taking stock of their weapons they count the four machine guns, thirteen German and three modern Turkish rifles, ten older Turkish rifles and twenty-four pistols. As the sky grows lighter von Mücke concludes that they might be facing as many as three hundred Bedouins. Von Mücke records that his men behave splendidly, mounting bayonets as a group without being ordered to do so. In the quiet a young sailor calls to his Captain. When von Mücke asks what he wants the boy says "How soon are we going at it, Sir?"
"Going at what?"
"Why, storming the enemy, sir."
"Exactly, my man. Up! March! March!"

The Germans leap to their feet and charge the bandits, who have never seen this type of tactic. They start to mill about in confusion, then begin to run. The bandits at the rear of the caravan also beat a hasty retreat, even though no one is rushing them. When the Bedouins are an estimated twelve hundred meters away the Germans return to their caravan to take stock. They have suffered only one man wounded. Their escort of Turkish gendarmes have mostly fled, leaving seven of the original twenty-four. Of these several have been wounded in the legs. They had attempted to hide behind the camels, which were the enemy's prime target. The Germans count fifteen Bedouin bodies. The rest are still visible in the distance.

Several of the camels are dead. Von Mücke and his men strip the supplies and distribute them among the uninjured camels. The machine guns are stripped and remounted to the camels. Von Mücke decides that they will be safer with the sea protecting one flank, and the caravan turns to its left, toward the coast. The caravan is divided into four rows, with a skirmish line of ten men walking 150 meters ahead. Leutnant Gerdts is in command of the advance guard, with Leutnant Schmidt in charge of the rear and Leutnant Gyssling commanding the flanks.

After marching no more than ten minutes the bandits again start firing from about four hundred meters' distance. Their new tactic is to appear ten or twenty at a time, fire a volley and disappear again. The main burden is on the rear guard. To everyone's surprise not one man is hit during all this. Von Mücke is with the rear guard when he receives a report of heavy fire from the front. When he gets to the head of the caravan he sees what he describes as "...the whole horizon was black with Bedouins." He then hears from Lt. Schmidt at the rear requesting additional camels, as one of the beasts carrying a machine gun has been shot. Then the sound of machine gun fire can be heard from the rear. Schmidt has taken it upon himself to set up the guns and start using them. On his way back to the rear von Mücke finds that one of his sailors, Rademacher by name, has been killed and that Lt. Schmidt is mortally wounded. Leutnant Wellmann, who had taken the two camels to the rear for the machine guns, is now commanding the defense.

Suddenly the enemy fire ceases, and von Mücke sees two of the Turkish gendarmes running toward the Bedouins waving a white flag. The Germans take advantage of this lull to dig trenches and fortify them with saddles and sacks of rice and coffee. The water bottles are buried in the sand to protect them from rifle fire. The camels are gathered in the middle and a protective wall built from empty cans filled with sand. Leutnant Schmidt is carried there on a litter and seaman Rademacher hastily buried.

The negotiations are conducted by the Turkish dragoman and his wife. They will not be seen again until the Germans reach Jeddah. The two gendarmes return from their parley with the bandits' demands. The Germans are to surrender all their arms, provisions, water and camels, and pay £11,000 in gold. Von Mücke sends his reply: "In the first place, we have no money; in the second, we are guests of the country - get your money in Djidda; thirdly, it is not customary with Germans to surrender their arms."

The attack begins anew. The Turkish gendarmes and camel drivers follow the dragoman's example and vanish into the dunes. A new problem begins - the store of ammunition that was rescued from the wrecked zambuk begins to misfire. Several more camels are shot, and the men make use of them for extra protection.

The running fight has lasted the entire day. In the hour between sunset and moonrise they can see nothing at all, and prepare for a possible assault. When the moon rises they can see about three hundred meters, and there is no enemy in sight. The Germans increase their fortifications and distribute water and the first food they have eaten in several hours. trenches are deepened and camel carcasses dragged downwind. Von Mücke sends an Arab who has been with him since Al Hudaydah, to try to get to Jeddah with news of their situation.

At about 2100 Leutnant Schmidt dies. They dig as deep a grave as the sand will allow, and he is buried around 2300. Guards are posted and everyone tries to get some sleep.

Naval operations: English Channel

Erich Wilke, commanding U-37, sinks the small French freighter EMMA, 1,617 tons, travelling in ballast from Dunkerque to Bordeaux.

Naval operations: North Sea

U-10, commanded by Fritz Stuhr, stops the Norwegian sailing vessel NOR, 544 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Fredrikstad to Hull. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the vessel scuttled.

Naval operations: Adriatic Sea

Egon Lerch in the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-12 rounds up a small fishing fleet and takes them back to his base as prizes. Tonnages are unknown.

Day 248 of the Great War, April 1st 1915

Germany: Walther Rathenau resigns today as head of Kriegsrohstoffsamt

The German industrialist Walther Rathenau resigns today as head of Kriegsrohstoffsamt (KRA), the government agency overseeing the allocation of raw materials in the German war economy. While the resignation is in part a reflection that the KRA is now fully functioning, and he is able to ensure the appointment of his hand-picked successor, Major Joseph Koeth, as his replacement, Rathenau has also been dogged by criticism of the KRA, both that he has utilized his position to benefit his own corporation (AEG) and more generally has prioritized large firms over small ones, while the KRA has been accused of facilitating profiteering. The range of criticisms reflects ongoing tensions within the German war economy, balanced between profits and patriotism.

Aerial operations

Over the first months of the war, the aerial combat that has occurred has been undertaken by pilots firing pistols or observers firing light guns. Such methods leave much to be desired, and make the shooting down of an aircraft a relatively rare event. Mounting machine guns facing forward would allow the pilot to aim and fire while still flying his aircraft, though at the expense of shooting off his own propeller. Both sides have been striving to develop a mechanism that would allow a machine-gun to fire through a propeller with no success.

One alternative, however, is to protect the propeller itself so that it is not damaged when hit by a bullet, and for several months French pilot Roland Garros, along with his mechanic Jules Hue, have been developing an armoured propeller that would allow a Hotchkiss machine gun to fire forward in his Morane-Saulnier Type L aircraft. He has been assigned to the squadron MS26 at Dunkirk, and today, flying his specially-modified Moraine, which includes channeled deflectors, Garros shoots down his first German aircraft using his forward-firing machine gun.

Eastern Front: situation continues to deteriorate for the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army

- In the Carpathians the situation continues to deteriorate for the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army; this morning the Russians force the right wing of XVIII Corps to fall back into the Wetlinka valley. At 2pm the commander of 2nd Army concludes that the only way to avoid disaster is to retreat behind the main crest of the mountains, yielding to the Russians the Uszok Pass but taking up new defensive positions to the south. Not surprisingly, both 3rd Army to the west and Conrad at army headquarters objects, but the reality on the ground is that 2nd Army cannot hold its current position, and further attempts to do so would court disaster.

- Meanwhile the Chiefs of Staff of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies are also concerned regarding the diplomatic situation with Italy. While Falkenhayn continues to urge his counterpart to pressure the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry to offer concessions, Conrad rejects the suggestion. In his opinion, giving territory to Italy now will only whet Italy's appetite, and increase, not decrease, the likelihood of an Italian attack in the long run.

Naval operations: English Channel

U-37, under Erich Wilke, sinks SS SEVEN SEAS, 1,194 tons, heading from London to Liverpool in ballast.

Naval operations: North Sea

Fritz Stuhr in U-10 captures and scuttles three British trawlers,GLOXINIA, JASON and NELLIE. This brings his score to 4 ships and 974 tons.

Naval operations: South Africa

HMS LACONIA arrives at Simonstown at 0754. At 0845 she goes into drydock. By 1145 the dock is drained. At 1515 the dock is refilled and the ship repositioned. At 1705 the dock is again empty and Laconia properly positioned.

Naval operations: German East Africa

HMS GOLIATH arrives at Zanzibar. At Kilindini Harbour, Port Reitz, Mombasa, the crew of HMS HYACINTH note that Sopwith S920 is airborne over the town and once circles their ship.

Naval operations: Saudi Arabia

With the coming of daylight the attacks resume. Von Mücke observes that in the distance he can see two large zambuks tied up at the shore. The enemy troops are being resupplied from the boats, and their camels are roaming free nearby, grazing in the grass there. A camel is killed outside the compound nearby. It is upwind, and as it rapidly decays in the fierce heat the Germans can do nothing but endure the smell. Then they are attacked by a new enemy when the camp is overrun by thousands of large beetles. These get under the men's clothes and crawl all over the bodies and faces of the wounded. The men cannot wear headcloths as they make good targets. Accidently touching the barrel of a rifle while firing brings burns to the hands. The camel saddles are coated with grease, and begin to smolder in the heat. To keep the smoke from spreading the saddles are covered with sand. The sand itself blows around the camp, sticking to the sweating men.

Two more sailors are severely wounded. One of them, a fireman named Lanig, dies that night. With darkness von Mücke sends to of the Turkish gendarms to Jeddah, dressed as Bedouins.

After dark the men are trying to get some sleep when one of their sentries opens fire, followed by several more. Von Mücke asks one of them where the enemy is. "Right here, at a distance of about forty meters some of them were creeping along. There goes one now!" The man then shoots at it. After some careful observation the officers determine that the "enemy" are a pack of hyenas feasting on the dead camels.

Day 250 of the Great War, April 3rd 1915

Western Front: French XII Corps attacks German lines

On the southern face of the St.-Mihiel salient, the French XII Corps, on the left of 73rd Division, joins the attack of the latter on the German lines.

Naval operations: General Colmar Freiheer von der Goltz

- For the past several months. the elderly German General Colmar Freiheer von der Goltz has been serving in Constantinople as a senior military advisor to the Ottoman sultan, but for the past several days has been meeting with Falkenhayn in Germany regarding the strategic situation in the Balkans. Goltz is an advocate of an operation to crush Serbia and open a land link to the Ottoman Empire, a proposition that Falkenhayn is generally supportive of - indeed, Falkenhayn prefers a Serbian campaign to the commitment of further German forces in the Carpathians. However, assembling the forces necessary for such an attack is impossible at present, given the Austro-Hungarian emergency on the Eastern Front and the continued neutrality of Bulgaria, whose armies and geographical position are seen as critical to success. Nevertheless, when Goltz departs German army headquarters today, he carries with him a letter from the Kaiser to the Sultan promising that an offensive against Serbia will be launched 'in the near future.'

- Since striking a mine in late December, the Ottoman battlecruiser YAVUZ SULTAN SELIM (Ex-GOEBEN) has been out of service as repairs were undertaken. Despite there being no drydock in Constantinople large enough to accomodate the damaged vessel, engineers sent from Germany have managed to complete repairs via the construction of two large cofferdams and sealing the leaks with concrete. These repairs have sufficiently progressed to allow YAVUZ to participate in an Ottoman naval operation in the Black Sea today, the objective of which is the destruction of a number of Russian transports assembled at Odessa, lest they be used to land a Russian force near Constantinople. The attack on Odessa is tasked to the elderly Ottoman protected cruisers MEDJIDIEH and HAMIDIEH, supported by four torpedo-boats, while YAVUZ and MIDILLI (Ex-BRESLAU) are to be off Sevastopol to cover the operation.

The operation comes apart, however, when MEDJIDIEH strikes a mine off Odessa this morning and sinks in shallow water. Though the torpedo boats are able to rescue the crew, they are unable to destroy the wreck, which falls into the hands of the Russians. As for YAVUZ and MIDILLI, they sink two Russian merchant vessels before the Russian Black Sea Fleet appears. The latter gives chase throughout the day, but YAVUZ and MIDILLI are able to use their superior speed to escape.

Photo: The Ottoman protected cruisers MEDJIDIEH and HAMIDIEH



Aerial operations: Adolphe Pègoud becomes a ace

Adolphe Pègoud, flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol, brings down an unidentified two-seater and later an Aviatik B.I. There is some debate over whether Pègoud had an observer firing the gun or was using a deflector plate system as Garros had done two days earlier. On the one hand it seems unlikely that he would have had such an apparatus so quickly, but if it was Saulnier and not Garros who had developed the device then he certainly might have shared it with more than one pilot.

After this double victory French newspapers begin calling Pègoud "L'As" ("The Ace"). The term will later be applied to any pilot scoring five victories or more, a practice still in use today.

Naval operations: German East Africa

HMS HYACINTH arrives at the Rufiji Delta to relieve HMS WEYMOUTH , which departs for Zanzibar. KINFAUNS CASTLE is patrolling up and down the coast, looking for possible German activity ashore.

Naval operations: Saudi Arabia

Hellmuth von Mücke and his group arrive in Jeddah, where the sick and wounded are taken into a military hospital. He has his theory about the Bedouins being hired by the British confirmed. From the city they can see the masts of Allied warships. Despite this von Mücke decides to take to the sea again. Assuming the presence of English spies he spreads the rumor that he is planning to continue to travel by land. He then hires a zambuk and a pilot. There will be a few days' delay while the wounded men recover. The plan is made to leave Jeddah on the 8th.

Day 252 of the Great War, April 5th 1915

Western Front: French VIII and XXXI Corps advance against the southern face of the St.-Mihiel salient

- Today the French VIII and XXXI Corps advance against the southern face of the St.-Mihiel salient, advancing on the left flank of XII Corps. With this attack, covering almost the whole line from St.-Mihiel east to the Moselle River, the French hope to draw German reserves southwards as the main offensive is launched simultaneously against the western face of the salient. Here the French attacks are directed against the northern end of the salient, aiming to drive through the German lines towards the Woëvre plain, compelling the evacuation of the German positions to the south. A key objective is the hill of Les Éparges, from which the Germans can overlook the main French to the north towards the Woëvre plain.

The morning sees heavy rain and poor visibility, which postpones the attack until conditions improve in the afternoon. After a preliminary artillery bombardment commencing at 11am, the infantry advance starting at 215pm. Everywhere the attack is a shambles, primarily due to inadequate artillery support. With insufficient time to plan the bombardment, many German positions have not been struck, while the rolling terrain has hindered artillery observers. Further, the soil, saturated from days of rain, absorbed numerous shells before they could detonate. Nowhere have the French secured any ground of significance.

Eastern Front: Conrad writes to Falkenhayn

- Conrad writes to Falkenhayn today, reemphasizing yet again the difficult situation faced by the Austro-Hungarian army in the Carpathians. Further, Conrad argues, another reverse there would only encourage both Italy and Romania to enter the war, and that should this occur, Austria-Hungary would need to withdraw ten divisions from the Carpathians to meet this three (seven against Italy and three against Romania). He seeks assurances from Falkenhayn that these divisions will be replaced by German units should their withdrawal be necessary.

- Unbeknownst to Conrad, Falkenhayn is considering his own arrangements: General Cramon, the German military attache at Austro-Hungarian army headquarters, inquires of Colonial Johann Straub, head of the Austro-Hungarian Railroad Office, of the rail situation in the Gorlice-Tarnow region. Straub informs Cramon that it would be possible to send one hundred trains into the area, each of one hundred and eight cars, of which forty would haul supplies and sixty available to carry soldiers. This suggests a German force of four corps could be deployed there in about eight days.

- Meanwhile, in the Carpathians themselves, Austro-Hungarian fortunes are beginning to turn thanks to the arrive of German reinforcements. By this morning 25th and 35th Reserve Divisions of the German Beskid Corps are now in the line between Lupkow and the Laborczra valley, and launch a counterattack on the Russian lines, aided by the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Division. By late afternoon, they have advanced and seized the heights of Javirska and Kobila.

Photo: The attack of the German Beskid Corps, Apr. 2nd to 5th, 1915.



Naval operations - Dardanelles campaign

Admiral Fisher once again writes to Churchill of his unease with the ongoing Dardanelles operation, which has only been heightened by the losses of March 18th: 'You are just simply eaten up with the Dardanelles and cannot think of anything else. Damn the Dardanelles! They will be our grave!' The fuse continues to burn . . .

Naval operations: English Channel

U-33, under the command of Konrad Gansser, captures and then torpedoes SS NORTHLANDS, 2,776 tons, traveling from La Goulette to Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore. Gansser now has 4 ships for 4,828 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Fritz Stuhr in U-28 stops the trawler ACANTHA, 322 tons. After allowing the crew to abandon ship Stuhr sinks the little vessel with a torpedo. Due to encountering only small coastal vessels this makes 5 ships for a total of only 1,296 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

HMS HYACINTH is patrolling the area around the Rufiji Delta while HMS WEYMOUTH replenishes at Zanzibar. Assisting them are the old iron gunboat HMS PICKLE and several hired trawlers.

Day 254 of the Great War, April 7th 1915

Eastern Front: Conrad today writes the German chief of staff with a new proposal for the Eastern Front

- Unaware that Falkenhayn is contemplating a major German operation in the Gorlice-Tarnow region, Conrad today writes the German chief of staff with a new proposal for the Eastern Front. He calls for the deployment of significant additional German forces in both East Prussia and East Galicia, from which they will launch simultaneous pincer offensives into Russian Poland, aiming to force a wholesale Russian withdrawal east of the Vistula-San-Dniester line. It is a proposal whose audaciousness is matched only by its insanity. The Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, undertaken by two entire German armies, had shown that an advance on the scale envisioned by Conrad was simply not possible; it would always be vulnerable to counterattacks on its eastern flank. Once again Conrad is seeking to impose his ambition on the battlefield without regard to such mere details as reality. Needless to say, Falkenhayn gives Conrad's suggestion the attention it deserves.

- Two days earlier, as the German 25th and 35th Reserve Divisions were successfully counterattacking between Lupkow and the Laborcza valley, 4th Division, the last of Beskid Corps' units to arrive, had entered the line west of the Laborcza valley. Attacking together, the three German divisions have continued to advance northwards, retaking ground lost by the Austro-Hungarian during the fighting of the prior weeks. The German success places the wider Austro-Hungarian line in the Carpathians on a more secure footing.

On the Russian side, news of the advance of Beskid Corps has yet to filter back to General Ivanov, commander of South-West Front. Instead his outlook on the fighting in the Carpathians is buoyed by the news from Grand Duke Nicholas that III Caucasian Corps is to be transferred to his command, and is en route to Lemberg.

Naval operations - Dardanelles campaign

Since the failure of the Entente naval assault on the Dardanelles on March 18th, the Ottomans and Germans have worked to repair the fortifications and augment the minefields, while the completion of repairs to the battlecruiser Goeben adds another element to the defense of the straits. The situation has sufficiently improved for Admiral Souchon to write today that the only way the Entente could conquer the straits was by landing an army of 200 000 men, which he thought clearly out of the question.

As Souchon muses on the size of the force needed to capture the Straits, the British and French are assembling precisely such an army. The process of doing so, however, has been complicated by transportation problems. The ships carrying the British 29th Division from England were loaded haphazardly, which would have made it impossible to unload the force in a combat situation (i.e. the combat equipment of one battalion would be on a different ship from the battalion's soldiers, etc.). Thus the division had to be initially diverted to Alexandria to be unloaded and reloaded, a process that has taken several weeks. Today, the first transports carrying 29th Division depart the Egyptian port, bound for Mudros on Lemnos where the Entente expedition is gathering.

Naval operations: German East Africa

HMS HYACINTH puts into Tirene Bay at Mafia Island and recoals from SS CYFARTHFA and loads ammunition from torpedo boat HMVS CHILDERS. She is joined there by KINFAUNS CASTLE, which coals from SS REICHENFELS , and WEYMOUTH.

Day 256 of the Great War, April 9th 1915

YouTube (The Armenian Genocide)



Western Front: 12th Division captures Les Éparges

A minor success is achieved by the French today when 12th Division captures Les Éparges on the western face of the St.-Mihiel salient. However, the achievement has no significant impact to the ongoing Battle of the Woëvre.

Photo: A combat action photo of French soldiers reaching the peak of Hill 346, the eastern spur of Les Éparges



Eastern Front: Falkenhayn once again refuses to send further direct aid to the Austro-Hungarians in the Carpathians

Writing in response to the latest plea from Conrad, Falkenhayn once again refuses to send further direct aid to the Austro-Hungarians in the Carpathians. He does, however, suggests a willingness 'to take advantage of any favourable opportunity that would appear in the East', which indirectly hints at his consideration of a German operation in the Gorlice-Tarnow area.

Mesopotamian campaign: General Nixon arrives at Basra

General Nixon, the newly-appointed commander of the Indian army corps in lower Mesopotamia, arrives at Basra today to take up his new command.

Naval operations: Red Sea

HMS GOLIATH arrives at Aden under orders to join the Dardanelles campaign.

Naval operations: German East Africa

All of Admiral King-Hall's ships are together at Niororo Island.

Naval operations: Indian Ocean

In an attempt to get supplies to the trapped SMS KONIGSBERG, the Admiralstab had designated the captured British freighter SS Rubens to attempt to sneak past the blockading British ships. On February 18th, under the command of Leutnant Carl Christiansen, the 3,850-ton Rubens departed Wilhelmshaven flying the Danish flag and carrying the name KRONBORG. She has on board 1,600 tons of coal, plus ammunition, food, medical supplies and new uniforms. The real KRONBORG is at Copenhagen, being closely watched by German spies. Christiansen and Rubens have travelled over ten thousand miles in two months, through the North Sea, past Iceland, down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to avoid British patrols and far south of Cape Town.

Now, on April 9th, Rubens arrives at Aldabra Island, just north of Mozambique and only 430 nautical miles from the Rufiji Delta.