The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 458 of the Great War, October 30th 1915

Serbian campaign: German reconnaissance discover that the formidable Serbian fortifications General Lochow had feared yesterday are nothing more than hastily dug trenches

- Reconnaissance by elements of the German III Corps this morning discover that the formidable Serbian fortifications General Lochow had feared yesterday are nothing more than hastily dug trenches. Realizing the mistake, both the German III and the Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps are ordered forward, where they find the Serbian line manned only by rear guard formations which quickly fall back. The main Serbian forces retreated southward overnights, and though the two corps have gained ground they have failed in their primary objective of pinning the Serbian defenders at Kragujevać north of the city.

Map: The German and Austro-Hungarian advance in Serbia, Oct. 30th to Nov. 22nd, 1915



Italian front: Third Battle of the Isonzo

Due to the heavy losses sustained over the past two days at Görz, Cadorna realizes that large-scale operations cannot be undertaken for the third straight day; instead, small assaults are ordered on particular points while elsewhere artillery is left to do their work. Again the Podgora Heights just west of Görz are the scene of heavy fighting on the same pattern as before: several Italian battalions break into the Austro-Hungarian lines, but are unable to withstand enemy counterattacks. To the south, an Italian attack captures a small stretch of the enemy trench line at Peteano, and manage to hold the ground in the face of several Austro-Hungarian counterattacks.

Day 460 of the Great War, November 1st 1915

Serbian Campaign: Serbian forces, after destroying the arsenal, have withdrawn south of the city

At Kragujevać Serbian forces, after destroying the arsenal, have withdrawn south of the city, and a municipal delegation arrives today at the headquarters of General Lochow of the German III Corps, offering the surrender of the city. Kragujevać is subsequently occupied by the German 168th Regiment of 25th Reserve Division, supported by elements of the Austro-Hungarian 57th Division. Because the railway connection had been severed, the Serbians were forced to leave behind large amounts of war material, as well as 2100 wounded soldiers.

The victory, however, is at best partial, as Mackensen's two armies have failed to envelop the Serbian 1st and 3rd Armies before them. The failure of the German III and Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps to pin the Serbs north of the city allowed them to withdraw to the south, while the western flank of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army has been slowed by poor weather - while the Austro-Hungarian XIX Corps today reaches the West Morava River at Čačak, while the German XXII Reserve Corps has yet to reach the Čačak-Kragujevać road. Instead of the army's western flank pushing ahead of the corps opposite Kragujevać, they are still in line with them. Mackensen and Seeckt, however, still hoping to destroy the Serbian armies in the field, orders their increasingly exhausted forces forward - the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army is to push south to Kraljevo while the German 11th Army is to capture the confluence of the Morava and West Morava Rivers.

Greece: chief of the Greek General Staff, General Victor Dousmanis, and the assistant chief, Colonel Ioannis Metaxas, are staunchly monarchist, and side with King Constantine's policy

The chief of the Greek General Staff, General Victor Dousmanis, and the assistant chief, Colonel Ioannis Metaxas, are staunchly monarchist, and side with King Constantine's policy of neutrality as opposed to the dismissed Venizelos' pro-Entente stance. Given the substantial Entente presence at Salonika, the possibility exists that circumstances may draw Greece into the war on the side of Germany - for example, if the French forces in southern Serbia cross back into Greece, the latter, as a neutral, by international law ought to disarm them, but the Greek General Staff is under no illusions what would follow such an act. With Constantine's blessing, the pair, while emphasizing that continued neutrality is their preferred policy, approach the German military attaché in Athens regarding the extent and nature of German support in the event of war. Metaxas is particularly concerned about naval support - with its long coastline and many islands it is particularly vulnerable to British seapower, while sea transport, especially of food from southern Greece to northern, is essential to Greek survival. Metaxas inquires of the German military attaché whether German submarines would be able to protect coastal trade and limit Entente access to the Aegean Sea. He also requests, in the event of war, artillery batteries and munitions for coastal defence.

Italian front: Third Battle of the Isonzo

After a two-day lull, the Isonzo front from Plava in the north to Mt. dei sei Busi in the south is again the scene of heavy fighting as Italian infantry again fling themselves against the Austro-Hungarian defences. At Zagora the Italians launch a attack at dawn without a preliminary bombardment and under cover of rain and fog which catches the Austro-Hungarians by surprise; the Italians take the enemy position and capture many prisoners. This evening two Austro-Hungarian battalions counterattack, forcing the Italians to abandon part of the thoroughly-ruined village.

Opposite Görz itself, after a heavy bombardment Italian infantry advance at 7am. A brigade of 10th Division attempts to seize the summit of Mt. Sabotino, but is repulsed by the Austro-Hungarian 60th Brigade. To the south, the inner wings of 11th and 12th Divisions make initial headway on the Podgora and Hill 184, but the rapid deployment of Austro-Hungarian reserves allows for most of the lost trenches to be regained this evening.

To the south, the Italian 3rd Army has received 22nd Division from reserves, and heavy attacks are launched from north of Mt. San Michelle to Mt. dei sei Busi. South of St. Martino, regiments from 28th and 19th Divisions break into the Austro-Hungarian trenches, but counterattacks force them to relinquish most of the ground gained. Elsewhere, the attacks of 3rd Army accomplish nothing.

Day 462 of the Great War, November 3rd 1915

United Kingdom: Prime Minister Aristide Briand addresses the Chamber of Deputies

Prime Minister Aristide Briand addresses the Chamber of Deputies today for the first time since the appointment of his government on the 29th, during which he pledges not to abandon Serbia. This promise, however, is particularly ill-timed, given that at this very moment the Serbian army is itself abandoning Serbia, falling back to the southwest while the French Army of the Near East has been unable to either break through the Bulgarian 2nd Army to relieve the Serbs or distract the enemy to allow the Serbs time to rest and regroup.

Macedonian front: General Sarrail now feels that he has sufficient forces to go on the attack

At Salonika, the third French division - 122nd - began landing on the 1st, and with its first brigade now available for servicee General Sarrail now feels that he has sufficient forces to go on the attack. North of Krivolak, Bulgarian forces have crossed the Vardar River and are advancing southwest with the Tcherna River on their left. Sarrail orders the French 57th Division along with the first brigade of 122nd Division to cross the Tcherna and hit the Bulgarians in their flank. To the southeast, however, Bulgarian forces launch heavy attacks on French forces at the Strumica rail station.

Italian front: Third Battle of the Isonzo

- Along the Isonzo River the Italian II Corps launches eight separate attacks at Plava from noon until dark. The Austro-Hungarian defenders suffer heavy losses - the four most heavily engaged battalions have lost up to 40% of their strenght - but several reserve battalions are brought forward to hold the line. As a result, the Italians are unable to break through.

At Görz, the Austro-Hungarian 37th Landsturm Brigade, the last available reserve, counterattacks the Italian 11th Division at Oslavija this evening and drives the enemy back out of the village, regaining the trenches lost yesterday and capturing several hundred prisoners. A further series of assaults are launched by the Italians against the heights at Podgora, and after several attempts elements of 12th Division gain the summit of Heights 184. By this point, fighting here had devolved into small-unit fighting, with hardly any higher commanders able to influence the course of events, and infantry fought over shell holes filled with up to a metre of mud into the night.

South of Görz, the Austro-Hungarian 39th Brigade on the northern slope of Mt. San Michele is relieved overnight by three battalions from 6th Division. During the transfer, however, one of the battalions became separated from its guides, and unfamiliar with the ground stumbled past the position it was to occupy and walked right into the Italian line. Taking fire from three sides, the battalion takes severe losses before extricating itself. As a result, the Austro-Hungarians are forced to evacuate a small stretch of their own line due to the soldiers who would have guarded having been killed on the Italian line. Still, the Austro-Hungarians are able to form a new defensive line a mere fifty yards to the rear, and Italian attacks against this new position today fail to make any progress. A general Italian assault by VII Corps north and south of St. Martino also fails completely.

Aerial operations: RFC is a gentleman club

At the outbreak of war, the British Royal Flying Corps had been a small unit whose pilots were drawn from the upper classes. To date applications to join the RFC have outpaced positions, allowing it to be selective in who it admits, with the result that the RFC have continued to draw from the same social classes as before the war. There is a strong and ingrained belief among the pilots of the RFC that 'gentlemen' officers, graduates of prestigious public schools and Oxbridge, make the pilots. Given this makeup, it is not surprising that British pilots at this stage of the war approach it as a sport and a grand adventure in the skies, one that stands in sharp contrast to the masses in the mud below. Character and background count for more than skill, and thus when the The Aeroplane magazine suggests today that pilots should enter the RFC as noncommissioned officers and be promoted on the basis of merit, the notion is rejected out of hand. To the current pilots of the RFC, its social exclusivity is not accidental but rather a deliberate approach to recruitment designed to ensure that future pilots meet the 'proper' standards - social as much as anything else - to be an officer of the RFC.

Naval operations: North Sea

British freighter SS FAIRGATE, 264 tons, carrying a cargo of loam from London to Middlesbrough, hits a mine laid by Matthias von Schmettow and UC-6, bringing his score to 18 ships and 14,486 tons.

British iron trawler FV DOMINICAN, 134 tons, goes missing while on a fishing trip out of Grimsby. No trace has ever been found.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Waldemar Kophamel, commanding U-35, sinks British freighter SS WOOLWICH, 2,936 tons, bound from Port Sudan to Plymouth with a load of phosphates and zinc. Kophamel's score is now 25 ships and 51,221 tons.

Max Valentiner, in U-38, sinks British freighter SS WOOLDFIELD, 3,584 tons, travelling in ballast from an unlisted port to Salonica; and Japanese freighter YASUKUNI MARU, 5,118 tons, carrying petroleum products and railway materiel from Newport News to Salonica, both north of Morocco just inside the Strait of Gibraltar. Valentiner's score is now 55 ships and 89,284 tons.

Day 464 of the Great War, November 5th 1915

YouTube (The Third Battle of the Isonzo - French Despair On The Western Front)



Macedonian front:Bulgarian forces occupy the de facto Serbian capital of Niš

- As the Serbs pull back to the southwest, Bulgarian forces occupy the de facto Serbian capital of Niš today.

- At Salonika the second British division committed to the expedition beings to unload.

- In Greece the government of Alexandros Zaimas, appointed by Constantine a month ago when the monarch split with the pro-Entente former Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos, has been unable to securing a working majority in the Greek parliament, dominated as it is with supporters of Venizelos. As a result, Zaimas' government tenders its resignation today, and while a new government of 'national unity' (though excluding Venizelos' supporters) under Stephanos Skouloudis is appointed, Constantine also dissolves parliament for new elections.

Naval operations: Sea of Marmara

On October 30th, the French submarine TURQOISE, the first to operate in the Sea of Marmara, had run aground and captured intact. Admiral Souchon had been shocked by the state of TURQOISE, and writes to his wife today 'how the French commander could come into the Marmara in the defective boat is incomprehensible.' However, aboard the French submarine the Germans had discovered papers that referred to a planned rendezvous today with the British submarine E20. This allowed the German submarine UB14 to set a trap, and when E20 arrives for the supposed rendezvous it is instead torpedoed and sunk.

Photo: A French postcard of TURQOISEon the surface, 3 April 1913



Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Waldemar Kophamel, commanding U-35, sinks British armed boarding steamer HMS TARA, 1,862 tons, and Egyptian coast guard vessel ABBAS, 298 tons. Kophamel puts the survivors into lifeboats with some on the deck of the u-boat, and tows them to the port of Suliman, where they are made prisoner by Libyan officials. Later they will be handed over to the local Senoussi tribe.

Kophamel attacks another Egyptian coast-guard boat, NOUR-EL-BAHR, but she is only damaged. His score is now 27 ships and 53,381 tons.

Max Valentiner, in U-38, sinks British freighter SS BURESK, 3,673 tons, traveling in ballast from Malta to Barry, and French freighter SS SIDI FERRUCH, 2,797 tons cargo and route unlisted. Valentiver becomes the second u-boat captain to pass the hundred thousand mark with 60 ships and 101,355 tons.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

Johannes Spieß, commanding U-9, torpedoes Russian auxiliary minesweeper DAGO. His score is now 13 ships and 9,715 tons. This is U-9's last sinking. Spieß will go on to command U-19.

Day 466 of the Great War, November 7th 1915

Serbian Campaign: Elements of the German IV Reserve and X Reserve Corps seize the Serbian city of Kruševa

Elements of the German IV Reserve and X Reserve Corps seize the Serbian city of Kruševac. Over the past two days, the Germans have captured six to seven thousand prisoners, as well as fifty locomotives and 1100 loaded railcars immobilized by the collapse of the Serbian rail network.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Waldemar Kophamel, commanding U-35, sinks British freighter SS MOORINA, 4,994 tons, bound from Bombay to Marseille with an unlisted cargo. His score is now 31 ships and 62,460 tons.

Three days after sinking the French transport CALVADOS, the German submarine U38 strikes again today, and ignites a diplomatic firestorm. Off Bizerte it intercepts the Italian passenger liner ANCONA en route from Messina to New York. Initially the liner attempts to escape, but shelling from U38 brings it to a halt. The captain of U38 gives the crew and passengers of Ancona forty-five minutes to abandon ship, but when he sees smokes on the horizon he decides that ANCONA may have summoned a warship to its rescue, and orders a torpedo fired into the liner. Quickly sinking, over two hundred passengers are lost, several of whom are Americans.

Photo: liner ANCONA



The loss of American life by itself is contentious, given the crises provoked by the sinking of Lusitania and Arabic in earlier this year. Further complicating matters is that U38 flew the Austro-Hungarian while surfaced, standard practice for German submarines when attacking Italian-flagged ships, given that Germany and Italy are not at war. This means, of course, that diplomatic protests by the Americans over the sinking of Ancona are directed at Austria-Hungary, not Germany, and the navies of the two allies have to ensure they have their stories straight to appease the Americans.

Newspaper: Front page of the The Evening World. November 10, 1915



Naval operations: Cape Arkona

German cruiser UNDINE is attacked by the British submarine E19, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Francis Cromie. E19 launched a pair of torpedoes at UNDINE at a range of 1,000 m, both of which hit. The second torpedo detonated her ammunition magazines and blew up the ship.

Photo: The German light cruiser UNDINE underway

Day 468 of the Great War, November 9th 1915

Serbian Campaign: Serbian army once more slipped the noose.

Though the seizure of Kraljevo on the 6th had raised hopes that the Serbian army could be enveloped, once more they have slipped the noose. This time, blame can be apportioned between the Bulgarians and Austro-Hungarians - the Bulgarian 1st Army had advanced slowly west from Niš, allowing the Serbs before them to disengage and retreat to the southwest, while General Kövess had permitted most of his army two days of rest after the fall of Kraljevo. The result is a blistering telegram from Mackensen to Kövess, asking how he had misunderstood the necessity for haste.

Naval operations: North Sea

British lighthouse tender IRENE, 543 tons, hits a mine laid by Econ von Werner and UC-1, with 21 casualties. Von Werner's score is now 8 ships and 8,162 tons.

British destroyer HMS MATCHLESS, 1,010 tons, is damaged by a mine.

Russian schooner SV POLAR, 200 tons, travelling from Arkhangelsk to Yarmouth, is lost and drifts ashore at Portmahomack, Scotland.

Swedish freighter SS SKANDIA, 4,336 tons, is lost after colliding with Norwegian SS Freikoll.

Norwegian freighter SS KRAASTAD, 1,390 tons, departs Port Talbot for Bordeaux with a load of coal and is not heard from again. Her crew of 18 are all lost.

Naval operations: English Channel

Ralph Wenninger, in UB-17, mistakes French fishing vessel JESUS MARIA, 74 tons, for a destroyer in the darkness and torpedoes the small craft. The crew of 6 are all lost. Wenninger's score is now 7 vessels and 539 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Waldemar Kophamel, commanding U-35, finishes his seventh war patrol with the sinking of British freighter SS CALIFORNIAN, 6,223 tons, travelling in ballast from Salonica to Marseille. His score is now 34 ships and 75,866 tons.

Max Valentiner, in U-38, sinks Italian freighter SS FIRENZE, 3,960 tons, bound from Genoa to Port Said with a general cargo. His score is now 67 ships and 125,790 tons.

Day 470 of the Great War, November 11th 1915

Serbian campaign: Mackensen argues that while the original objectives of the Serbian operation have been accomplished, the campaign remains incomplete as long as the Serbian army has not been destroyed

Writing to Falkenhayn today, Mackensen argues that while the original objectives of the Serbian operation have been accomplished, the campaign remains incomplete as long as the Serbian army has not been destroyed. This can be best accomplished, in his view, by a vigorous pursuit by the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army down the Ibar River valley towards Kosovo while the German 11th and Bulgarian 1st Armies advance towards Priština. Here, it is hoped, the Serbian army can be brought to a final battle, made all the more decisive given the historical and cultural significance of the region to Serbian nationalism and identity. Mackensen's hopes are bouyed by intelligence reports today that the Serbian army has lost over half its strength since the beginning of October.

Map: The front lines in Serbia, November 11th, 1915



Italian Front: Fourth Battle of the Isonzo

On the Italian Front the second day of the latest Italian offensive along the Isonzo River hardly differs from the first. Opposite Görz, the southern wing of the Italian 2nd Army advances between Oslavija and the heights at Podgora, but by the end of the day have only heavy losses to show for their attacks. To the south, the Italian 3rd Army attempts a repeat of the prior day's operations, with a three-hour artillery bombardment preceding infantry assaults at noon. However, a similar effort leads to similar results: most of the attacks break down before even reaching the Austro-Hungarian positions, and in those few cases where the infantry manage to enter the first trench line - mainly near Peteano - counterattacks are able to drive them back out.

Mesopotamian campaign: British 6th Indian Division begins its advance towards Baghdad

The British 6th Indian Division begins its advance towards Baghdad today, over two weeks since General Townshend was ordered to capture the city and more than a month since the victory at the First Battle of Kut-al-Amara. The significant delay has been the result of severe supply shortages resulting from the difficulties in bringing sufficient food, fodder, and munitions forward along the Tigris River from the main base at Basra far to the southeast. Even today 6th Indian Division is hardly well-supplied, as soldiers continue to suffer from a range of illnesses related to poor food.