The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 38 of the Great War, September 3rd 1914

Royal Navy torpedo gunboat HMS SPEEDY struck a mine and sank in the North Sea along with a naval trawler, with the loss of one of her 91 crew (the other boat lost another five crew).

Photo: HMS SPEEDY before the war



SMS EMDEN approached the island of Simeulue during the evening hoping to meet the coaling ship ULM in Langini Harbour. The continued loud radio traffic from the British ship using the call sign QMD, puzzled the crew. The ship must have been in close proximity and later that evening they learned that evening had been the second time the EMDEN had escaped being located by enemy forces. The first had been in the Yellow Sea when EMDEN trailed the French squadron. The second was when QMD had apparently searched Langini Harbour as the EMDEN was navigating the islands to the North on the way to Langini. Luckily for EMDEN, QMD had been 24 hours too early.

SMS KARLSRUHE captures and scuttles SS Maple Branch, but not before removing part of a cargo of ship's stores and livestock.

Western Front: The French spot an opportunity

The German armies in France are continuing to charge across France. But they are outrunning their lines of supply and communication. Moltke has stayed back in Luxembourg and is unable to coordinate the actions of his armies. His subordinate commanders have to make their own decisions as to which way to march. They are choosing to pursue the retreating French and British to the south east rather than swing around Paris as originally envisaged in the invasion plan.

But as the German armies lurch along, a gap opens up between the 1st Army of Kluck and the 2nd Army of Bülow. French aircraft spot the increasing isolation of Kluck’s forces. Now Joffre starts contemplating a counter-attack that could surround and destroy the 1st German army.

Eastern Front: The Russians seize Lemberg

After suffering a series of defeats in eastern Galicia, the Austro-Hungarians fell back towards Lemberg. Now that important city falls to the Russians.

Battles of manoeuvre continue in Galicia. Conrad has sent troops from the south to reinforce Austro-Hungarian forces there, but Russia continues to enjoy the advantage.

German East Africa: KONINGSBERG in hidding

Off the coast of German East Africa, Captain Looff of SMS  KONINGSBERG hides his ship up the Rufiji River to overhaul her engines. This will take a very long time, as German supply ships have to elude the British patrol boat Pegasus. Fortunately for them Pegasus was the only ship the Royal Navy has in the vicinity, and she is old and worn out.

Map of the Rufiji Delta

   Lordroel

Day 40 of the Great War, September 5th 1914

Britain, France, and Russia pledge to make no separate peace with Germany or Austria-Hungary.

Kapitänleutnant Otto Hersing had just surfaced U-21 for a battery recharge off the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, when the light cruiser HMS PATHFINDER was sighted. He immediately dove the boat, but was forced to watch as the cruiser sailed away. Hersing surfaced and resumed charging the batteries. The weather worsened and the waves were rising when a ship was spotted. It was PATHFINDER , patrolling in a pattern that brought her right back into U-21's sights. Hersing waited until the right moment and fired a single torpedo. It struck Pathfinder behind the bridge and apparently set off a magazine. The ship sank in just four minutes and the era of modern submarine warfare had begun. HMS Pathfinder was the first ship ever sunk with a self-propelled torpedo.

A German incursion into northern Rhodesia is beaten back at Abercorn.

Russian forces continue to press the attack in Galicia.

In order to make desperately-needed engine repairs HMS DRESDEN puts into a secluded bay at Isla Hoste, at the very tip of South America, on her way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, where Kpt.z.s von Lüdecke hopes to join von Spee's squadron.

In Langini Bay at Simalur SMS EMDEN resumed coaling at 0600 hours. The job needed to be finished quickly as the Dutch regulations only allowed one 24-hour stop by beligerent warships every three months. At 0800 EMDEN was approached by a small steam yacht flying the Dutch flag. A local government official came on board and insisted that EMDEN leave immediately, as her 24 hours were long past. Captain von Müller called for senior engineer Friedrich Ellerbroek, and pointedly asked him when the engines would be ready for sea. Ellerbroek caught on immediately and said repairs would take at least two more hours. Von Müller invited the official in and offered him whisky and soda. The crew had the coaling finished by 1100 and Emden was on her way, steaming south-eastward until the island was completely out of sight, then turning north toward the trade routes from Khota Raja to Colombo.

Newspaper: Daily Opinion first picture of Lord Kitchener, drawn by Alfred Leete.



Western Front: Sir John French agrees to help the French

Joffre is preparing to counter-attack the Germans, hoping to surround and destroy Kluck’s 1st Army. General Gallieni of the Paris garrison has sent his troops forward to join those preparing to strike the Germans.

Joffre is ruthlessly sacking generals he feels are not up to the coming struggle. Lanrezac has been relieved of command of the 5th Army, replaced by his more aggressive subordinate Franchet d’Espèrey. But there is one general Joffre cannot sack: Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force. Joffre needs the British to join the counter-attack but they are not subject to his orders. So he travels to French’s headquarters, outlines his plan, and begs him to commit his soldiers to the desperate battle. “Monsieur le Maréchal, c’est la France qui vous supplie“, he says. “Marshal, France is begging you”. French tries to reply in French, but his attempts at the language are incomprehensible. He turns to a more linguistically competent staff officer. “Damn it, I can’t explain. Tell him that all our men can do our fellows will do”.

Day 42 of the Great War, September 7th 1914

Austrian troops begin their second invasion of Serbia, crossing the Drina with two armies.

Heavy fighting continues between the Russians and Austrians in Galicia.

The fortress of Maubeuge, well behind German lines on the Franco-Belgian frontier and besieged for two weeks, finally surrenders.

The BEF and the French Fifth Army advance across the Marne into a gap between the German First and Second Armies, while the attacking French Sixth Army is reinforced by troops brought forward from Paris in taxicabs.

The French are driven back near Nancy, while the Germans threaten to open a gap between the French First and Second Armies at St. Mihiel.

SMS EMDEN arrives at the Khota Raja-Colombo steamship route. After a day's cruising and seeing nothing, von Müller decides to move on to the Colombo-Rangoon route, crossing the Negabatang-Khota Raja line along the way.

East Prussia: the Germans turn on Rennenkampf

The Germans under Hindenburg and Ludendorff have destroyed one of the two Russian armies that had invaded East Prussia. Now they turn on the other, the Russian 1st Army under Rennenkampf. The Russians are in the vicinity of the Masurian Lakes complex and it is from them that this battle will take its name.

Moltke has sent two corps from the west to reinforce East Prussia, but Rennenkampf’s army still has a great numerical advantage. Nevertheless, the Germans push forward and launch a devastating attack on the Russians, initially concentrating against their southern flank.

Asian and Pacific Theatre of the Great War

A joint Australian army-navy expedition, the AN&MEF sailed for German New Guinea from Port Moresby embarked on board the auxilliary cruiser HMAS BERRIMA, escorted by HMAS AUSTRALIA, HMAS SYDNEY, HMAS ENCOUNTER, HMAS WAREGO, and HMAS YARRA, together with submarines HMAS AE1 and AE2.

SYDNEY, ENCOUNTER, BERRIMA and AOORGANI received orders to sail for Port Moresby where they arrived on September 4th to take on coal and oil and rendezvous with the remainder of the RAN fleet, the KANOWNA and several colliers. While in Port Moresby the ANMEF’s military commander, Colonel W. Holmes, inspected the men of the Kennedy Regiment who, although full of enthusiasm, were deemed to be unprepared and ill-equipped for active service. Consequently he recommended that they be returned to their home state. It transpired that the matter was resolved for him when the firemen in the ship in which they were embarked, the KANOWNA, mutinied, refusing to carry out their duties. This demonstration was centred on them having not volunteered for overseas active service. KANOWNA was subsequently ordered to proceed directly to Townsville, taking no further part in proceedings.

The rest of the force, then comprising SYDNEY, ENCOUNTER, PARRAMATTA, WAREGO, YARRA, AE1, AE2, AORANGI, BERRIMA, the oiler MUREX and collier KOOLONGA sailed on September 7th bound for Rossel Island and a rendezvous with HMAS AUSTRALIA which took place two days later. There Admiral Patey, Colonel Holmes, Captain Glossop, Commander Stevenson and Commander Cumberlege, of the destroyer flotilla, discussed the final plans for the attack on German New Guinea culminating in the release of an operational order for an attack on Rabaul.

Two points had been chosen for the landings, one at Rabaul, the seat of Government, the other at Herbertshöhe on the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain. It was decided that the naval contingent should undertake the landing at Herbertshöhe. Patey’s orders were that should a preliminary reconnaissance of Blanche Bay reveal it to be empty of enemy ships, PARRAMATTA was to examine the jetty at Rabaul and report whether BERRIMA could berth there. Sydney, which had embarked 50 men of the naval contingent prior to sailing from Port Morseby, would meanwhile transfer 25 of them to the destroyers WAREGO and YARRA for landing four miles east of Herbertshöhe. The remaining 25 remained in Sydney to be landed at Herbertshöhe along with a 12 pounder gun. From there they would proceed inland to locate and destroy the enemy wireless stations. Intelligence indicated that two enemy wireless stations were operating in the area, one inland from Kabakaul at Bitapaka and the other at Herbertshöhe.

Map: the north east part of the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain showing the area where the operation took place.



Photo: HMAS PARRAMATTA in Blanche Bay Rabaul, September 1914. Note her black painted hull and upper-works and splinter mats placed around the exposed bridge.



Elsewhere in the Pacific, a three funnelled warship flying the French flag, dropped anchor just off the North-West corner of Fanning Island, a low coral atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Two boatloads of men rowed ashore. they were from the German cruiser NURNBERG and the proceeded to wreck the cable station on the island. They harmed noone, but a demolition crew blew up the generators and accumulators and used axes to smash up the control room instruments and batteries. The landing party also looted all the gold sovereigns from the superintendent's safe where they found Alfred Smith's treasure map showing where he had hidden the spare instruments and the Fanning Island Volunteer Reserver's arms and ammunition. These were duly dug up and destroyed.

Day 44 of the Great War, September 9th 1914

A German force is defeated at Karonga, Nyasaland.

The battles in eastern Galicia continue; the Russians threaten to encircle the Austrians near Lublin.

In East Prussia, German troops make significant gains at the southern end of the Russian line, threatening to unhinge the whole Russian position.

The German Sixth Army abandons its offensive against the Grand Couronné.

En route to the Colombo-Calcutta freighter route, at about 2300, the SMS EMDEN spotted a white light to the North about 4 degrees to starboard. The EMDEN, pressed forward at high speed, ordering the MARKOMANNIA to follow at 14 knots. General quarters was sounded as the EMDEN did not know whether the light belonged to a warship, a freighter or some other vessel. It was some time before the ship they were chasing took shape in the darkness and what they finally saw as a merchantman with one funnel. With steam up, the crew were dismayed to find that their "smokeless" Hungshan coal issued a rain of sparks from the funnels spoiling their chance of remaining undetected until the last minute. The freighter however, did not seem to notice what was closing in on her stern. Two warning shots were fired by EMDEN and the cruiser signalled for her to stop engines and not use her wireless. Leutnant Lauterbach and his boarding party armed with rifles and pistols, pulled alongside the stationary freighter. A radioman and signaller were part of the boarding party and the EMDEN waited tensely as the minutes ticked by until the message "Greek steamer PONTOPOROS." was received. The signal continued: "Loaded with 6500 tons of Indian coal for the British en route from Bombay to Calcutta." Muller decided to seize the cargo as contraband. A prize crew for watch and engine duty was dispatched to the PONTOPOROS, where Lauterbach, on orders from Muller, proposed to the Greek captain that he join the EMDEN under a German charter with generous compensation. The captain heartily agreed to that. EMDEN now had a lot of coal, and her presence in the Indian Ocean would not be revealed. Unfortunately the PONTOPOROS could only make 9 knots.

Balkan Front: The Austrians suffer another reverse in Serbia

The Austro-Hungarians have crossed the Drina near Velino Selo, attempting another invasion of Serbia. But they are unable to advance from their bridgehead and are suffering terribly from Serbian fire. Now they withdraw back across the river, suffering more casualties as they do. Corpses will float downstream for days.

Asian and Pacific Theatre of the Great War

HMAS MELBOURNE landed a party of 4 officers and 21 petty officers, under LCDR M. A. Blanfield, on Nauru to dismantle the German wireless station on the island. They do not occupy the island.

Photo: a platoon of German Reservists in German New Guinea, after the outbreak of war and shortly before the arrival of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF). 



Western Front: The Belgians sortie from Antwerp

After the fall of Liège the Belgian army withdrew to the fortified city of Antwerp. The Germans left only a small force to screen the city while the bulk of their army moved south into France. Now the Belgian army breaks out. They are not planning to liberate territory and hold it against the invaders; rather they are trying to disrupt the Germans’ supply lines and remind them that they are uninvited guests in the country.

Western Front: Battle of the Marne - the Germans retreat, averting disaster but losing the war

Kluck continues to push his German forces to the west, unaware of the British and French forces threatening to descend on his rear. But now Colonel Richard Hentsch, an emissary from Moltke (still back in Luxembourg), arrives at his headquarters. Moltke has sent Hentsch to check up on situation at the front, but it has taken him five days to get to Kluck’s headquarters.

Hentsch quickly realises the danger in which Kluck’s army finds itself. On Moltke’s authority, he orders Kluck to retreat to the river Aisne. The other German armies follow suit

The German retreat averts immediate disaster, but a quick victory over France is now impossible. “We have lost the war,” Moltke reputedly exclaims when he hears the news. On the French side, Joffre is disappointed that he has not been able to destroy any of the German armies, but he knows that this battle has been a great (though bloody) victory, one that has saved France from ignominious defeat.

Map of positions on September 9th

Day 46 of the Great War, September 11th 1914

YouTube (Taxi To The Front – The First Battle of the Marne)



Fighting continues on the Drina.

The Germans are pushing the Russians out of East Prussia. Further south in Galica, their Austro-Hungarian allies are having less luck. Lemberg has fallen to the Russians. Conrad has been trying to stage his own counter-attack against the Russians, perhaps outflanking one of their advancing armies, but now he realises that his own forces are in danger of envelopment. He orders a withdrawal to the San river, which begins in some disorder. By now the Austro-Hungarians fighting the Russians have suffered some 350,000 casualties.

The Germans continue to attack the Russians in the vicinity of the Masurian Lakes. Initially things had not gone too badly for the Russians but by now they are in an increasingly desperate state. Rennenkampf, the Russian commander, realises that his men are in danger of being outflanked and encircled. Desperate to avoid the fate of Samsonov’s army at Tannenberg, he orders a general retreat back across the border.

Western Front: Battle of the Marne

At 4am, Moltke departs OHL to visit the headquarters of 3rd through 5th armies. At 5th Army, its commander Crown Prince Wilhelm assures Moltke that the situation is satisfactory, and paints an overly-rosy picture of the previous days' assault. At 11am he arrives at 3rd Army headquarters, where General Hausen argues that his force can hold its ground, despite several divisions being pushed back by Foch's 9th Army. Moltke, however, is concerned that the overstretched 3rd Army is barely combat effective. Just before 1pm Moltke arrives at 4th Army headquarters, where Duke Albrecht says he is confident he can hold his position and can loan units to 3rd Army to his west to shore up Hausen's line. While there, however, a message from Bülow arrives, stating that indications are the French are driving on Vitry-le-François, which poses a grave threat to 3rd Army. Moltke again gives in to his innate pessimism - fearing that 3rd Army is about to be shattered, he orders 3rd through 5th armies to retreat in conformity with 1st and 2nd Army. Thus the retreat of German forces now encompasses all those west of Verdun. Ground bitterly fought over and won in recent days is now yielded to the enemy and, his defeat now comprehensive, Moltke returns to the gloom of OHL.

The Germans are able to make good their retreat, as, despite a series of short, sharp fights between cavalry and German rearguards, the exhausted British and French forces remain unable to bring the bulk of the German armies to battle. A sudden rainfall and cold snap further impedes the Entente advance, deep mud slows horse-drawn carts and artillery. Clouds and mist, meanwhile, prevent aerial reconnaissance, leaving the Entente commanders in the dark as to German dispositions. Crucially they are in the dark as to whether the Germans are in a disorganized rout or are conducting a well-managed retreat and likely to halt and fight in the next couple of days. Overall, the British and French forces advance only fifteen kilometres

SMS EMDEN strikes again

The officers of SMS EMDEN oversee the division of the goods taken from SS INDUS the previous day. According to Prince Franz Joseph, first mate von Mücke "Sat like a Pasha on his treasures, and allotted them to the various divisions." They discovered that many of the articles were of no use, and since they were fast running out of room much of the haul was thrown overboard. As the crew was finishing their lunch another ship was sighted. SS LOVAT was a 6,012-ton British freighter equiped as a troop ship and bound for Bombay. The EMDEN now being loaded with supplies Captain von Müller took only newspapers from this fresh catch. As before the crew of the LOVAT were allowed to pack their possessions for transfer to the MARKOMANNIA, and the ship was sunk in the same manner as the INDUS had been. Like that ship, the LOVATt took a very long time to sink. So long, in fact, that she had still not quite gone down when darkness fell and EMDEN left her behind.

From the captured newspapers the crew of the Emden discovered that the war was almost over, Germany was on the verge of collapse and all that remained was the mopping up. Of course they recognized it for the propaganda it was, since they had previously read about the destruction of their own ship! On the other hand, a conversation overheard on MARKOMANNIA between the officers of Indus and LOVAT indicated that there were more empty troopships following behind the first two. EMDEN lay in wait, and sure enough at about 22:00 hours a ship was sighted heading their way, fully lit up as if there were no war.

It was SS KABINGA, 4,657 tons, bound for Bombay, Port Said and eventually New York. The cargo was mostly American, and sinking the ship would mean paying reparations for the lost goods. Also the captain of the KABINGA had his wife and children with him. These two factors convinced von Müller to take the ship as a prize rather than sink her. The growing fleet continued on its way.

Asian and Pacific Theatre of the Great War

Map: Location of Bita Paka, 1914. The highlighted area is shown in the map below.



The AN&MEF, supported by men from Australian warships, landed at Kabakaul, German New Guinea, (New Britain), to seize the German wireless station there. HMAS Ships AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY, ENCOUNTER, PARRAMATTA, YARRA, WARREGO, AE1 and AE2 supported this landing, and stood by to repel any German warships. The brigade forced their way inland, encountering strong resistance from German native troops lead by German Army Reserve officers, as the RAN advanced to seize the German wireless station. Five RAN and RN naval personnel were killed or died of wounds; LCDR C. B. Elwell, RN; AB W. G. V. Williams; AB J. E. Walker; AB H. W. Street; Signalman R. D. Moffatt; Also killed was Captain B. C. A. Pockley of the Australian Army Medical Corps. AB Williams was the first to be killed, and thus had the dubious honour of being the first Australian to be killed in action during WWI. LEUT T. A. Bond, RANR, distinguished himself in the advance by single handedly capturing 30 native troops, and was later awarded the DSO, which, although not gazetted until 1916, was technically the first decoration awarded to an Australian during WWI

The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) began recruiting on 11 August, consisting of a battalion of 1,000 infantry and a small battalion of 500 naval reservists and time-expired RN seaman. The force left Sydney on 19 August aboard the transport HMAT Berrima, a liner requisitioned from P&O, after a period of training near Townsville. The force sailed for Port Moresby to await the arrival of supporting RAN vessels. On 7 September the force, now including Australia, the cruisers Sydney and HMAS Encounter, the destroyers Parramatta, Warrego and Yarra, and the submarines HMAS AE1 and HMAS AE2, sailed for Rabaul. Meanwhile, on 9 September Melbourne landed a party on Nauru to destroy the wireless station, whereupon the German administrator promptly surrendered. On 11 September a force consisting primarily of naval reserve personnel was put ashore at Kabakaul to seize the wireless station located inland at Bitapaka. The landing force experienced strong initial resistance, and was forced to make small group attacks through the thick jungle to outflank the enemy. The wireless station was captured and destroyed. This attack resulted in Australia’s first combat casualties of the war—four sailors of the landing force and an attached Army doctor—Able Seaman Walker (he served as Courtney but was re-buried under his real name by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), Able Seaman Williams, Able Seaman Street, Able Seaman Moffatt, and Captain Pockley (Australian Army Medical Corps). The other fatal casualty suffered during the operation was Lieutenant Commander Elwell, Royal Navy.

Photo: outdoors group portrait of staff of the Royal Australian Naval Brigade, Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF), after the operations against the Germans. The three officers from left to right in the centre row are: Lieutenant (Lt) L S Bracegirdle; Commander J A H Beresford and Lt R G Bowen.



At 6:00 am, Australia escorted Berrima into Karavia Bay, where the former lowered her picket boats to sweep for sea mines. On completion Australia returned to sea to protect the approaches to the bay and cover the unfolding operation ashore.

The initial landings, in what would became Australia’s first joint force operation, took place at dawn on 11 September 1914 when 25 petty officers and men under the command of Lieutenant R.G. Bowen, RAN, were landed from the Australian destroyers at Kabakaul with instructions to seize the wireless station at Bitapaka. With Bowen were Midshipman R.L. Buller, RANR and Captain B.C.A. Pockley of the Australian Army Medical Corps. They were soon reinforced by Gunners S.T.P. Yeo and C.F. Bacon and ten men sent ashore from Warrego and Yarra who were put to immediate use maintaining communications between the advancing landing party and the beach.

Bowen’s party was soon striking inland through dense jungle to secure their objective when a scouting party, having deviated from the main road, found itself directly in the rear of the German first line of defence comprising three Germans and 20 native soldiers. The German in charge, Sergeant-Major Mauderer, was shot and wounded by Petty Officer G.R. Palmer, RANR, and after a short skirmish the enemy surrendered.

The wounded Mauderer was given first aid before being directed by Lieutenant Bowen to walk ahead of the main body of Australians and announce in German that 800 troops had landed and that his comrades should surrender. Bowen’s deception was rewarded, for word filtered back to the commander of the German defences, Captain von Klewitz, that a superior force had landed.

Believing himself outnumbered, Klewitz consequently ordered a withdrawal of his forces inland, resulting in the break down of the entire scheme of German coastal defence. This left only Bitapaka’s defenders offering active resistance. At this juncture Captain Pockley drew Bowen’s attention to the worsening condition of Mauderer who he subsequently treated in the field, resulting in the amputation of his badly wounded hand.

Following this initial skirmish Bowen reassessed his party’s position sending Midshipmen Buller back to Kabakaul with the prisoners and instructions to send up reinforcements. Fifty nine men were subsequently drawn from the two destroyers, 14 armed with rifles and the rest with cutlass and pistols under the command of Lieutenant G.A. Hill, RNR.

This force reached Bowen’s group at about 10:00 am to find them halted by a series of enemy trenches, under fire from snipers positioned in the trees and with two of their number lying mortally wounded.

The first to have fallen was Able Seaman W.G.V. Williams who formed part of the communications link between Bowen’s party and the beach. After observing natives in a coconut plantation beside the road Williams called up the man next to him, Stoker W Kember, to investigate. As Kember did so Williams covered him. The natives were found to be hoeing among the palms seemingly presenting no threat. Williams then went ahead and was shot in the stomach from a concealed position in the bush. Kember rushed to his aid, carrying him for nearly half-a-mile back along the road.

Captain Pockley had just finished treating Mauderer when he learned that Williams had been shot. Escorted by Officer’s Steward A.O. Annear, the two set off to find the injured sailor. On locating him he instructed Kember and another to evacuate the injured man to the rear, at the same time removing his red-cross brassard and tying it around Kember’s hat to afford him a measure of protection. Pockley and Annear then set about returning to the front but also came under fire. After taking cover Pockley tried to move forward again but was shot and seriously wounded. Some time later he was evacuated and transferred to the Berrima where both he and Williams died later that afternoon.

Meanwhile Bowen and Hill agreed on the next phase of the operation and set about outflanking the enemy. However, as the new advance began Bowen himself was seriously wounded by a sniper, leaving Hill to take command and renewing a call for reinforcements.

At Kabakaul, Hill’s request for support was received by Commander Beresford who ordered No: 3 Company (Lieutenant O.W. Gillam, RANR) and No: 6 Company (Lieutenant T.A. Bond, RANR) of the Naval Reserve as well as a machine gun section (Captain J.L. Harcus) to land. Beresford himself then relocated ashore and was accompanied by Captain R.J.A. Travers, an Army intelligence officer.

Lieutenant Commander C.B. Elwell, RN was also landed taking command of half of No: 3 Company and pushing ahead at best possible speed. Lieutenant Gillam followed with the other half in support. The conditions ashore were becoming increasingly difficult. The sun was high in the sky, the day windless, the heat stifling and the road dusty which made for hard going in the jungle terrain.

As Elwell’s party advanced Able Seaman J.E. Walker (who enlisted and was known at the time as Able Seaman Courtney) was shot dead near a sharp bend in the track becoming the first Australian to be killed in action during the Great War. Two of Gillam’s men, Signalman R.D. Moffatt and Able Seaman D.S. Skillen were also hit, Moffatt succumbing to his injuries the next day. It was around this time that Gillam’s men also discovered the presence of wires laid through the bush that was correctly assumed to lead to a land mine buried beneath the road on which they were advancing. The wires were subsequently cut and a serious threat to the advance removed.

At about 1:00 pm, Elwell’s party arrived at Hill’s position who was receiving enemy fire coming from a trench positioned ahead of him. There Elwell assumed command ordering Hill to take charge of a flanking movement on the left whilst he took charge of a similar movement on the right.

Elwell slowly led his men forward until they were less than eighty yards from the German positions. There they fixed bayonets and charged in the face of rapid enemy fire. Elwell, sword in hand, was shot and killed leading this charge, leaving Hill to continue the attack with Lieutenant Gillam, whose timely arrival with the remainder of 3 Company carried the day.

The now overwhelmed defenders reluctantly agreed to the unconditional surrender of both the German forces and the wireless station. This was negotiated by Lieutenant Commander Beresford who then called for Lieutenant Bond, with No: 6 Company to be brought up to advance with Captain Harcus and his machine gun section to secure the wireless station. Also in their company were Captain Travers, the intelligence officer, and two German prisoners, who preceded the party carrying a white flag of truce.

During their advance to the wireless station Bond’s party encountered a series of enemy trenches. They successfully used the German speaking captives to negotiate the surrender of two of these but met resistance at a third constructed at the top of a steep cutting at the side of the road. There, one of the German captives, Ritter, attempted to rally those who had already surrendered and a brisk exchange of fire followed during which two of Bond’s men, Able Seamen J.H. Tonks and T. Sullivan were wounded and Able Seaman H.W. Street killed. Ritter and several of the natives fighting for the Germans also died in this exchange.

Leaving Harcus and his machine gun section to cover his advanced Bond accompanied by Captain Travers, Corporal C.C. Eitel, an interpreter from the machine gun section, and the remaining German, Kempf, walked on towards the wireless station. On the way they captured a German cyclist carrying a message to the Bitapaka garrison and a horseman who was ordered to go ahead to the wireless station with news of the German surrender and a message that further resistance was futile.

At a police barracks 1000 yards from the wireless station a group of eight Germans and twenty native troops was encountered. The Germans were armed with magazine pistols and the latter with rifles. Through Kempf they were ordered to surrender but they refused to comply. At this point Lieutenant Bond warned Travers to stand by with his revolver before turning quickly towards the Germans and snatching their pistols from their holsters. So surprised were they by Bond’s sudden and daring action they were unable to defend themselves. The immediate surrender followed and the prisoners marched off toward the wireless station which was found to be abandoned.

For his courage and quick-thinking Bond became the first Australian decorated during World War I, receiving a Distinguished Service Order.

News of the successful capture of the wireless station did not reach Admiral Patey until 1:00 am on 12 September. At 3:00 pm on 13 September the British flag was hoisted at Rabaul. The ceremony was held in an open space overlooking the harbour where the Australian fleet could be seen riding at anchor.

Within a few weeks most of the German territories in the area, including Bougainville and the Admiralty Islands, had been occupied without further opposition, at a cost of six dead and four wounded.

Members of the Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) bringing Captain (Capt) Brian Colden Antill Pockley, the medical officer, on board HMAT Berrima, his face is covered by his pith helmet.

Capt Pockley was wounded after he set out to find Able Seaman (AB) W. G. V. Williams who had been wounded by enemy fire during an Australian advance. Capt Pockley found AB Williams with Leading Stoker W. Kember who had carried him for nearly half a mile. Capt Pockley removed his red cross brassard and tied it to Leading Stoker Kember's hat, sending him to the rear with the wounded man, as he was returning Capt Pockley was fired upon and wounded. He was later picked up by an ambulance cart and carried to HMAT Berrima, where he and AB Williams died during the afternoon. AB Williams was the first Australian shot in the First World War and Capt Pockley was the first medical officer of the Australian Forces killed in the course of his duty.

Day 48 of the Great War, September 13th 1914

E9 gets here first kill

The British sub HMS E9 sank the German aviso SMS HELA with all but two of her 178 crew captured.

Photo: HMS E9 before the war



Balkan Front: Battle of Drina River

The Austro-Hungarian 5th Army attempts a second time to cross the Drina River, hoping to take advantage of the success of XVI Corps to the south. Heavy rain hampers operations, and forces that do make it across the Drina find themselves under accurate fire from Serbian artillery.

Western Front: Battle of the Aisne

Map: The front lines along the Aisne River Sept. 13th to 14th, 1914.



After closing up to the Aisne River yesterday, today the British and Entente armies attempt to force a number of crossings. For the most part, the Germans do not defend at the river's edge, but rather are positioned on the heights to the north, and pouring accurate artillery fire down on advancing Entente forces. Most of the bridges over the Aisne have been destroyed, and the heavy rains have left the river deeper than usual, so much of the day is spent by engineers constructing and maintaining pontoon bridges over which infantry and artillery can pass. They do so under constant bombardment, and take heavy losses.

Nevertheless, at several places Entente units are able to secure bridgeheads across the Aisne. The French 6th Army faces the German 1st Army frontally and is unable to cross at Soissons due to artillery fire. They are, however, able to do so further west, about halfway between Soissons and the confluence of the Aisne and the Oise Rivers at Compiègne. To the east, by nightfall most of the BEF is across the Aisne and on the slopes leading up to the plateau to the north. Further upstream much of the French 5th Army had gotten across the Aisne, though the key crossing at Berry-au-Bac remained in German hands at nightfall. 5th Army also liberates Rheims today, cavalry patrols entering the city at 6am. Despite liberating several villages outside Rheims, the French advance is halted just north of the city, as 9th Army is unable to get across the Suippes River in strength. Crucially, Rheims remains in range of German artillery.

As the British and French get across the Aisne, the first units of the German 7th Army, transferred from Lorraine, arrive to man the front between 1st Army to its west and 2nd Army to its east. Thus the gap that had existed between the two German armies, and which played such a decisive role at the Marne, has been closed before the British and French were able to exploit its existence. The German retirement from the Marne has thus achieved its foremost objective - close the gap before the Entente can take advantage of it.

The open space to the northwest of the German 1st and French 6th armies appears to be the ideal place for cavalry to operate and potentially turn the flank of the enemy. In practice, cavalry proves unsuitable to this task. Crucially, the issue is not defensive weaponry, but the pace of operations. The first six weeks of the war in the west have demonstrated that cavalry divisions are all too quickly worn out. The rapid retreat in August, then the turn back northwards after the Marne, has left cavalry units, and in particular their horses, exhausted. Shoes for the horses frequently broke, stops for water were forbidden to maintain the pace of movement, and fodder was often nowhere to be found. Thus, even before the advent of trench warfare in the West, the cavalry was demonstrating that it could not execute the responsibilities it had been given - reconnaissance, flank protection, and screening. Today, General Sordet's Cavalry Corps, after an operation along the Oise River in the direction of Soissons, returns to French lines today exhausted and without having accomplished anything.

Western Front: The Belgians return to Antwerp

The Belgian army has sortied out of Antwerp. They have reached as far as Louvain and are shocked by the devastation inflicted there. Now they bring their great raid to an end, treturning to the security of the Antwerp fortifications.

East Prussia: the Russians flee from East Prussia

Less than a month ago two mighty Russian armies invaded East Prussia. Since then one of these has been destroyed by the Germans at Tannenberg. Now Rennenkampf leads the other back over the border into Lithuania. His army has been battered but at least he still has one. Nevertheless, the Battle of the Masurian Lakes is another triumph for the two German commanders, Paul von Hindenburg and his deputy Erich Ludendorff. Or rather, for Ludendorff, as Hindenburg is little more than a figurehead and a calming influence on his volatile subordinate.

Map: Eastern Front to September 26th 1914



Asian and Pacific Theatre of the Great War

The Union flag is hoisted over Rabaul for the first time as Admiral Patey took the official surrender from the German administration in Rabaul.

Australian forces capture Bougainville unopposed.

Photo: Raising the White Ensign at Madang



PROTECTOR Captures the MADANG

The former South Australian gunboat, HMAS PROTECTOR, captured the German merchant ship MADANG, off Herbertshohe, New Britain.

Drawing: PROTECTER in company with one of Australia's E class submarines during the expedition to seize German possession in New Britain.



SMS EMDEN strikes again

All of the EMDEN'S English captives, numbering well over 100 by now, are transferred from MARKOMANNIA to KABINGA, a laborious job requiring they be rowed in EMDEN'S cutters in a fairly high sea. Meanwhile scuttling charges have been laid in KILLIN and the seacocks opened. At about 1000 hours KILLIN was sunk. Hohenzollern gives vivid descriptions of mast and ventilators breaking loose in other ships, rising into the air with loud cracking sounds and then falling back into the sea. In KILLIN'S case it's the funnel which launches itself upward and then falls.

That same afternoon another ship is sighted, which turns out to be another English freighter, SS DIPLOMAT, 7615 tons. Von Müller decides to sink her immediately, and First Torpedo Officer Robert Witthoeft was given the job.

As DIPLOMAT was sinking yet another smoke plume was seen in the distance. This was found to be a neutral ship, the Italian steamer LOREDANO, bound for Calcutta. Captain von Müller tries to get the Italian Captain to take the English prisoners, now numbering 200 with the fresh captures, with him. Captain Giacopolo refuses to do so, even for money. Von Müller lets the ship go, and upon reaching Calcutta Giacopolo immediately alerts the British to EMDEN'S presence.

At 2200 hours that night EMDEN runs into another steamer. When this also turns out to be Italian, SS DANDOLO, von Müller wishes them well and sends them on their way.