The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 696 of the Great War, June 25th 1916

Western Front

Continued fighting north of Arras and on the heights of the Meuse.

French airmen bomb railway station at Douai.

Eastern Front

Russians fight a rearguard action at Bobrka.

Italian Front: Austrians Abandon Asiago

A week earlier, the Austrians had been forced to call off their offensive in the Trentino due to Russia’s Brusilov Offensive. Cadorna had quickly ordered a counter-offensive to retake the lost ground. Progress had been slow so far, but the Austrians knew they could not afford to waste resources fighting to preserve every inch of their gains as their armies were collapsing in the east.

On the night of June 25, they largely abandoned Asiago and Arsiero, which they’d taken four weeks prior, withdrawing the bulk of their forces two to three miles back to prepared lines in the mountains. These still preserved the majority of their gains in the offensive, as well as a significant amount of territory on the Asiago plateau on the Italian side of the pre-war frontier. Cadorna was determined to retake these areas for political reasons, and would attempt to do so with little success for the next month.

Photo: The ruins of Asiago, destroyed by the fighting and by Austrian looting



Aerial operations: New weapons assault German Balloons

Following the losses of British balloons to storms, the RFC attempted to get their own back on the Germans today with a concerted attack on 15 of the 23 enemy balloons in the hope of disrupting enemy observations during the preparations for the offensive.

Four balloons were shot down using Le Pieur rockets and one was destroyed by phosphorous bombs. One of the attackers, 2nd Lieutenant Beaufoi John Warwick Moore of 1 Squadron attacked in his Nieuport 16 (A116) and noted that the balloon went down in about 10 seconds after being hit by the rockets.

The rockets were invented by Lieutenant Yves Le Prieur of the French Navy and arrived at the front in April 1916. The rockets are a cardboard tube filled with 200 grams of black powder with a wooden conical head attached (by doped paper or linen tape) with a triangular knife blade inserted in a slot across its apex forming a spear point. A square wooden stick (usually pine) is taped to the rocket with about 5 feet extending back from the base of the rocket and fitted snugly into a launch tube attached to the aircraft interplane struts. The rockets are then fired electrically from the struts via a cockpit switch which launches all the rockets consecutively. The curved trajectory of the rocket means that the pilot must close to under 400 feet before firing them.

The first phosphorous bombs only arrived at the front on 16 June. They were invented by the RFC Experimental Section by Lieutenant Robert Benedict Bourdillon in co-operation with Captain Percy Henry Linthune and Major Bertram Hopkinson using converted phosphorus, the invention of Messrs. Allbright and Wilsons, of Birmingham.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

German freighter SS NORDERNEY, 4,867 tons, carrying a load of iron ore from Sweden to Germany, is sunk by a mine off Cap Arkona, Rügen Island, Germany.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, commanding U-35, has moved eastward again from the Balearic Sea into the northern Mediterranean, where he sinks two more ships:
Italian freighter SS CLARA, 5,503 tons, bound from Portoferralo for Norfolk with an unnamed cargo.
French freighter SS FOURNEL, 2,047 tons, carrying a general cargo from Slt. Louis du Rhône to Algiers and Oran.
Von Arnauld's score is now 41 ships and 87,065 tons.

Naval operations: Russia

Photo: A MORZH class submarine tows the captured Turkish brig BELOUZAR to Sevastopol. The BELOUZAR was captured on June 25, 1916 while carrying a load of Kerosene

Day 698 of the Great War, June 27th 1916

Western Front

Battle of Verdun: Heavy fighting at Fleury and Hill 321; Germans repulsed north-west of Thiaumont.

Photo: British troops carrying 2 inch mortar bombs ("Toffee Apples") by hand, Acheux, Somme, France



Photo: Troops of the 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (29th Division) resting, on their way to the trenches. Note wire cutters attached to rifles; Acheux-en-Amiénois, 27 June 1916. The Bois de Warnimont wood is in the background



Eastern Front

Heavy fighting on Lutsk salient; Austrians defeated on 25-mile front east of Kolomea; 10,000 prisoners reported; Germans repulsed in Riga district. Despite German use of gas, Russian troops repel German attacks south of Riga and on the Dvina River.

Italian Front: Austrians Abandon Asiago, Italians Reclaim Territory

While Verdun held off German attacks, the Entente started to gain ground elsewhere. The Russian offensive in the East continued to hammer the Austro-Hungarians. In Italy, General Luigi Cadorna’s army began to reclaim the ground it had lost to the Austro-Hungarian Trentino Offensive.

The Austrians were forced to give up their prize of Asiago on June 26. By the night of June 27, the Italians had retaken a third of the ground lost in the whole offensive, after which the Austrians had stood terrifyingly close to Milan. The Austrians responded with a viscous bombardment of hydrocyanicde gas shells on the night of June 27, killing or horribly hurting more than 6,000 sleeping Italian troops. By June 28, however, the Italians, despite their loss, re-conquered the trenches they had been forced to abandon, with help from the wind blowing the gas back into Austrian lines. More than 1,000 Austrians were injured and a further 416 taken prisoner.

Photo: A lithograph shows Italian troops going over the top. Fighting in the rocky Alps and Dolomites had an added danger, as shells striking the hard surface blew thousands of sharp rock splinters into the air



Mexican Border War

Mexican government orders the release of 23 U.S. Army troops in an attempt to defuse U.S.-Mexican tensions.

United States: Roosevelt Offers Division for Service if War Declared on Mexico

After the Battle of Carrizal, an American declaration of war on Mexico seemed imminent to many on both sides. American nationals crossing back into Arizona at Nogales reported rumors that Mexican recruiters were saying that “No fighting will be necessary. Our brave troops will simply march northward, brushing the gringos aside until our glorious tricolor floats from the dome of the Capitol at Washington.” Theodore Roosevelt, denied the Republican nomination yet again earlier in the month, saw a war with Mexico as an opportunity, as the war with Spain had been eighteen years earlier.

Sources within the Roosevelt camp made it clear on June 27 that in the event of war, Roosevelt would have at his disposal a division of 12,000 men to be offered to the government “for practically immediate service”–that is, fighting in Mexico within a month of the declaration of war. The division would be primarily cavalry, recruited, like his Rough Riders before, primarily from the Southwest and West (though with a number of scions of rich Eastern families, as well). Horses, machine guns, artillery, and airplanes would be provided by Roosevelt and his associates; rifles, ammunition, clothing, and officers would probably have to come from the regular Army, however.

Mexico would release the prisoners taken at Carrizal the next day, largely removing the immediate threat of war; however, Roosevelt kept working on plans for a division of his own, in the event tensions with Mexico flared up again, or if the United States found itself embroiled in the war in Europe.

Naval operations: North Sea

British dredger MERCURIUS, 129 tons, hits a mine laid by Kurt Ramien in UC-1, bringing his score to 6 ships and 15,934 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Battleship HMS VENGEANCE leads an attack on Kilwa Kivinje.
0740 Monitor HMS MERSEY and whaler PICKLE stop off Jewe Reef to wait for Vengeance.
0800 VENGEANCE and HMS MANICA join MERSEY and Pickle.
0940 VENGEANCE and MANICA anchor at Kilwa Kivinje.
1035 MERSEY opens fire on Gingwera camp.
1040 MERSEY ceases fire and joins Vengeance.
1115 Manica launches seaplane for spotting. VENGEANCE opens fire with 12" and 6" guns.
1120 MERSEY opens fire again.
1220 Ships cease firing.
0330 HMS MANICA puts up seaplane to assess damage.
1530 MERSEY departs.
1630 VENGEANCE and MANICA depart.

Day 700 of the Great War, June 29th 1916

Western Front

Champagne: German first and second line trenches taken at Tahure; German attack on Hill 304 (Verdun), repulsed.

Photo: A mass of men, horses and equipment at Mailley-Maillet



Photo: General Beauvoir De Lisle, GOC 29th Division, in conversation with another General; Mailly-Maillet, 29 June 1916



Eastern Front: Battle of Kolomea

On the same day that Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement was condemned to death by hanging for his role in planning the Easter Rising, Russian soldiers conquered the city of Kolomea in what is nowadays eastern Ukraine. Whereas German reinforcement were launching desperate counter-attacks to stall the Russian advance, its Austro-Hungarian ally continued to reel in defeat. More than 10,000 prisoners were taken by the Russians at Kolomea, many of them green Austrian conscripts who had gotten drunk and surrendered at their first opportunity.

Photo: Russian artillerymen load a trench mortar during the Brusilov campaign. Brusilov emphasized coordination between infantry and artillery, and on the quality and precision of artillery support over larger but less effective barrages. The system lead to a mighty victory for the Russian army in the summer of 1916



Italian Front: First Gas Attack on the Isonzo

Although the Austrians were for the most part preoccupied with Russia’s offensive in the east, Boroević’s Fifth Army along the Isonzo still needed to guard against any renewed Italian push there. While the Italians were still focused on the aftermath of Austria’s aborted offensive in the Trentino, Boroević hoped to make some small local gains on the Karst plateau to deny the Italians good jumping-off positions for their next inevitable attack.

Gas had so far not been used on the Italian front; the mountain winds and climate made it difficult to use properly, with severe risk of gas just blowing back onto one’s own lines. However, by the summer, gas warfare experts were convinced that it could be done in the correct conditions. These were rare to come by, and the Austrians had to wait over two weeks for the winds to be in their favor.

At 5:15 AM on June 29, phosgene gas canisters were opened. The Italian soldiers on the front line, unprotected by gas masks and with many asleep, were killed almost to a man. Those further back panicked at the sight of the approaching gas and fled. At 5:45, Hungarian infantry in gas masks quickly advanced, taking the first line with no resistance. Those Italians who remained in the second line fought fiercely but were soon overwhelmed. The Hungarians took their objectives by 7 AM, and Austrian shelling of Italian reserves allowed them to quickly consolidate their gains.

The Italians lost 6900 men, mostly to gas; the Austrians under two thousand, some from the blowback of gas onto their own positions. The Italians along the Isonzo were outraged by the use of gas and determined to have revenge; it became far more commonplace for Italian soldiers to simply shoot individual surrendering Austrians after this battle.

Aerial operations: The Wire

One of the primary roles for the RFC, other that directing artillery fire, is reconnaissance and photography and in particular the impact the British artillery is having on the barbed wire the Germans have in front of their trenches. The wire was an obstacle that Rawlinson and his subordinate commanders are keenly aware of and its destruction is one of the most important missions assigned to the artillery to accomplish before the Fourth Army attacked.

Despite the poor weather, thousands of photographs have been taken were taken during the final week before the start of the offensive. On the afternoon of 26 June there was in fact a pause in the bombardment to allow RFC aircraft to photograph the entire area. The photographs were sent back to RFC HQ for analysis.

One of Rawlinson’s corps commanders reported:

“The aeroplane photographs showed admirably the effect of the bombardment both on the wire and on the trenches and were of the greatest value.”

However in reality, the wire was mostly intact and the limitations of the new science of aerial photography and its interpretation, particularly in poor weather, were exposed.

Naval operations: North Sea

His Majesty's Trawler HIROSE, 275 tons, runs on a mine laid by Otto Ehrentraut in UC-6, bringing his score to 8 ships and 5,072 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, commanding U-35, sinks three more ships:
Italian sailing ship CARLO ALBERTO, 312 tons.
Italian barquentine GUISEPINA, 214 tons.
British freighter SS TEANO, 1,907 tons, bound from Hull for Naples with a load of coal and general cargo.
Von Arnauld's score is now 48 ships and 107,657 tons. This finishes a record patrol of 40 ships sunk for 57,131 tons in 18 days.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Light cruiser HMS CHALLENGER continues the previous day's attack at Kilwa Kivinje, sinking several dhows in Ginwera Creek with gunfire directed by seaplanes from HMS MANICA and HIMALAYA.

Day 702 of the Great War, July 1st 1916

Western Front: The First Day on the Somme

After a weeks’ bombardment, the great Allied offensive on the Somme was set to begin on the morning of July 1st. Mines were detonated in many places under the German lines at 7:28 AM (and in one notable case, 7:20), and the infantry advanced at 7:30. The majority had crept out into no-man’s land before zero hour, but still needed to make it across a substantial portion of it and through the German wire.

Map: British objectives, 1 July 1916



The artillery bombardment had, on most of the line, been entirely ineffective at its goals. The German wire was still intact in most places, German dugouts remained intact and machine guns were able to resume firing even before 7:30. Except in the south, where the French had prioritized it, German artillery was scarcely interfered with and was able to keep up a steady barrage of shrapnel into no-man’s land by 7:25. An account of the ‘Sheffield Pals’ Battalion describes:

They had to pass through a terrible curtain of shell fire, and German machine guns were rattling death from two sides. But the lines growing even thinner, went on unwavering. Here and there a shell would burst right among the attackers….Whole sections were destroyed; one section of 14 platoon was killed by concussion, all the men falling to the ground without a murmur. The left half of ‘C’ Company was wiped out before getting near the German wire….The third and fourth waves suffered so heavily that by the time they reached No-Man’s-Land they had lost at least half their strength….The few survivors took shelter in shell-hols in front of the German line and remained there until they could get back under cover of darkness. What torture the troops endured in the shell holes they alone knew.

Photo: a 6-inch gun firing. July 1916



Photo: 12-inch howitzer elevated ready for firing, shell ready for hoisting, 1st July 1916



Photo: Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers fixing bayonets prior to the attack on Beaumont Hamel. They are wearing ‘fighting order’, with the haversack in place of the pack, and with the rolled groundsheet strapped to the belt below the mess-tin which contained rations. The officer in the foreground (right) is wearing other ranks’ uniform to be less conspicuous. Comment : Trench sign indicates 'King St'



Confusion reigned in the first hours of the attack. Officers and NCOs, leading their men, were often the first killed. Commanders behind the line, with little reliable telephone communication with the front and extremely limited visibility, tried to make sense of the situation. Trained after the failures at Loos (and Gallipoli) to try to exploit success where it came, they sent additional troops where they believed they were making gains. The 29th Division HQ believed they were making substantial gains, when, in fact, only a few had made it through a gap in the German wire, briefly capturing the first line of trenches before being forced back into no-man’s land. The Newfoundland Regiment was sent forward to reinforce the supposed gains; they were not ordered out alone, but were the only ones to even make it to the British wire. At that point:

Photo: Men of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on a dump of 2-inch trench mortar ammunition, Acheux, Somme, France



Photo: Holt caterpillar tractor of the Royal Garrison Artillery drawing an 8-inch Mark V howitzer through Becordel, July 1916



Machine gun fire from our right front was at once opened on us and then artillery fire also. The distance to our objective varied from 650 to 900 yards. The enemy’s fire was effective from the outset but the heaviest casualties occurred on passing through the gaps in our front wire where the men were mown down in heaps….In spite of losses the survivors steadily advanced until close to the enemies’ wire by which time very few remained. A few men are believed to have actually succeeded in throwing bombs into the enemy’s trench.

None made it there; the Newfoundland Regiment suffered 90% casualties, 38% of them dead. None of the attacks on the northern two-thirds of the British line made any gains of note that lasted the day. Up to a third of British casualties were suffered behind the British front lines, where German artillery and machine gun fire could still easily reach

Further south, the Allies had some successes. The German line had a 90-degree turn around Fricourt, allowing the British artillery to attack from two sides. They also had help further south from the French, who although they could only conduct a relatively limited infantry assault due to the fighting at Verdun, had artillery to spare for the British effort. The creeping barrage, where the infantry advanced behind a steadily advancing line of shellfire, seemed to work in many places, with some battalions in the 7th Division reaching the German trenches without suffering a single casualty. (Elsewhere, the creeping barrage had advanced too quickly, leaving the advancing soldiers without cover.) The furthest advances were made on the extreme right of the British lines, where they seized the village of Montauban at around 10:40, having advanced just over a mile.

Photo: A dump of 18 pounder shell cases used in the bomdardment of Fricourt. Extraordinary quantities of ammunition were used in successive bombardment



Attacks died down in the afternoon, except a few attacks on the fortified town of Fricourt; the attacks had either largely achieved their objectives or (more commonly) completely fallen apart well before then. The British lost 57,000 men on the day, just under 20,000 of them killed, for a gain of three square miles around Fricourt. The Germans lost only around 10,00, though they suffered greatly where British did make gains, even after surrendering. The official War Diary of the Manchesters described:

Considerable enjoyment was given to our troops by Lt. Robertson who made the prisoners run across the open through their own Artillery barrage, upon reaching our line these men were kept out of our dugouts by the sharp end of a bayonet.

Photo: German prisoners captured during the first day of the Somme offensive, resting by the roadside. Note a sword bayonet Pattern 1907 Mark I with a hook quillon. 1st July 1916



Photo: German prisoners cleaning captured German guns at Querrieu, Somme, France. In the right foreground is a 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. (field gun). In the background are "Albrecht" mortars



Eastern Front

River Pruth Russians advance north-west of Kolomea.

Austro-Germans progress north-west of Tarnopol

Italian Front

Vigorous Italian attacks continued north of upper Isonzo.

Aerial operations: Somme

Today the British Fourth Army began its long awaited offensive. The Fourth Army is supported by nine RFC squadrons totaling 167 aircraft and another five squadrons in support as required. The overall strength of the RFC at this point has increased to 27 squadrons, consisting of 421 aircraft and four kite balloon squadrons consisting of a total of fourteen balloons available for observation duties.

The RFC outnumbers the German Army Service which only has 129 aircraft, and at this point the new allied aircraft types are giving the British technical superiority too.

The RFC pilots have been flying since 0400. At 0600, two DH2’s from 32 Squadron RFC piloted by Major Lionel Rees and Lieutenant John Simpson intercepted ten German bombers crossing the lines at Festubert. Simpson and Rees became separated but Simpson attacked the German formation anyway. Within seconds three enemy aircraft attacked him in turn. After a fierce exchange of machine-gun fire, Simpson’s DH 2 descended more than 5,000 feet, apparently under control. Actually Simpson was dead, having been hit eight times in the head by the accurate fire from one of the German gunners.

Rees did not witness the attack but shortly after he spotted the German formation and attacked. He held his fire until within 100 yards, then opened fire disabling two German aircraft. The remaining German aircraft turned back towards their lines. Rees gave chase and the faster DH2 soon overtook the German bombers. Rees continues the story:

“I closed, just as I was about to open fire, a shot struck me in the leg putting the leg temporarily out of action. I fired another drum, but not having complete control of the rudder, I swept the machine backwards and forwards. I finished firing about 10 yards away, and saw the observer sitting back firing straight up in the air. . . . I then recovered the use of my leg and saw the leader going towards the lines. I got within long range of him. He was firing an immense amount of ammunition. Just before he reached the lines I gave him one more drum. Having finished my ammunitions I came home.

Subsequently, contact patrols have been reporting progress back to headquarters. For example, 9 Squadron aircraft observed the 30th Division had broken into the German front line and faced little opposition. They also witnessed the 18th Division occupy Pommiers Trench and then capture Pommiers Redoubt. Another aircraft observed the flashes from mirrors on the packs of the advancing British soldiers near Montauban. The crew, Captain J. T. P Whittaker and Second Lieutenant T. E. G. Scaife, then attacked a German artillery battery and German troops occupying trenches east of the woods before breaking off the attack to observe the 16th Manchesters enter and capture Montauban.

Aerial observers, have been locating German artillery batteries who are laying down an intense barrage of their own on the advancing British infantry. The airmen sent hundreds of requests for fire, but with hundreds of bursting shells landing seemingly everywhere below them, it was impossible to give more than general corrections.

At 1400, six aircraft attacked the rail center at St. Quentin. All six were shot down, but at least they managed to damage the station and prevented a German Division from reinforcing the front.

British aircraft have flown nearly 108 hours between aLL told but there were only nine air combats between British and German aircraft with losses of 1 killed, 4 wounded and 9 missing.

Day 704 of the Great War, July 3rd 1916

Western Front

Fierce fighting continues; British capture La Boiselle and part of Ovillers. French capture Chapitre Wood, Feuilleres, Buscourt, Flaucourt; also Assevillers to the South. Allied forces at the Somme have managed to push in 6 miles in some areas and have captured 10,000 Germans.

Photo: “Y” Wood & German trenches at the Somme. Snow-like appearance on ground is due to bombardment



Joffre and Haig Dispute Over Strategy

The leaders of the British and French armies met at Montreuil-sur-Mer, the site of Britain’s General Headquarters (GHQ), on July 3 for a meeting to discuss strategy that turned into an argument and a clash of personalities.

Intelligence had indicated that, except north of Thiepval in the British Fourth Army’s sector, the Somme offensive had so far succeeded in breaking into the German lines. The French Sixth Army had done particularly well, and the French Colonial division pressed on to Flaucourt and the German second and third lines. Sir John French, the former commander of the BEF, sent a telegram of congratulations to Joffre. But coordination between the two allies now proved more difficult. Joffre mused that perhaps French was “unwise to address congratulations to the commander-in-chief that he cannot address to his successor”.

Joffre was the superior of the two, officially the chief of the Anglo-French military alliance. But Haig chafed under Joffre’s orders, while the French general aggressively attempted to tell the British army how to conduct its affairs. The meeting between the two generals became a major row. Joffre lost his temper, and according to Ferdinand Foch, the chief of the French general staff (and future Entente commander-in-chief), Joffre “simply went for Haig… and was quite brutal.” Haig responded angrily that “I am solely responsible to [the British government] for the action of the British army; and I had approved the plan, and must modify it to suit the changing situation as the fight progresses.”

The chief cause of the dispute was Joffre’s irritation at the British army’s failure to do better on July 1. Like most French officer, he believed that France was yet again being forced to do the heavy lifting by a British partner unwilling to commit to major battles. Joffre wanted to shift the focal point of the Somme battle south, to where his French Sixth Army was doing well, Haig preferred to retain the focus of the battle on Rawlinson’s British Fourth Army.

The squabble ended inconclusively. Joffre finished that the British army was under his orders and must obey them. Haig did not demur but defiantly responded he would stick to his own plan anyway, or do nothing. It was an unfortunate meeting with serious consequences for operations on the Somme. Haig continued the British attacks between Fricourt and Montauban, while giving up the more northerly ones. The French continued theirs to the south of the River Somme. The battle turned from one joint Allied offensive into two diverging ones.

Photo: Battle of Albert. Escort of 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment bringing in German prisoners captured during the attack on La Boisselle, 3rd July 1916



Photo: caption : "The steps leading down to a huge German underground shelter at Bernafay Wood, near Montauban. The picture gives a good idea of the size and depth of many German dugouts on the Somme"



Eastern Front

Battle of Baranovichi continues south of Vilna.

Macedonian Front

French air-raid on Sofia from Salonika.

Caucasus campaign

Russians again resume offensive in Armenia, west of Erzerum.

Aerial operations: Somme Day 3 (Cambrai)

Early morning reconnaissance suggests that German reinforcements are arriving in the rail depot at Cambrai. RFC aircraft from 4, 5, 13 and 16 Squadrons were sent out to bomb the station. Fighter support was provided by 27 and 60 Squadrons.

The raids caused some disruption, but losses were high with 5 BE2s shot down and a number of support aircraft including a Morane N (A175) piloted by Major Ferdy Walderon the CO of 60 Squadron who was shot down badly wounded and taken prisoner.

The poor performance of the BE2 meant that it often had to be flown single handed on bombing missions to save weight – which left it virtually defenceless. In addition most flew alone to the target with the nominal air cover. It was well established by now that GErman aircraft tended to avoid formations ans attack single planes. After this Trenchard removed BE2s from these raids,

United States occupation of the Dominican Republic: US Marines Defeat Opposition Forces in Dominican Republic

While the American media was focused more on what nearly became a war with Mexico, US Marines continued to expand their occupation of the Dominican Republic. The US occupation had replaced the rule of President Jimenes in Santo Domingo, but the opposition forces that had been opposed to his rule–and whose imminent coup attempt the Marines had landed to forestall–continued to resist the Americans further inland.

On July 3, a Marine Battalion defeated opposition forces at Guayacanas thanks to the machine guns they had at their disposal. One machine gun operator, Cpl. Glowin, received the Medal of Honor for continuing to operate his machine gun while wounded. Two days later, American forces reached Santiago, the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and a stronghold of the opposition. Desiderio Arias, the opposition leader, agreed to cease resistance, and the Marines entered the city peacefully. New resistance groups would soon emerge, however, and would combat the US occupation for the next five years.

Day 706 of the Great War, July 5th 1916

Western Front: The Somme: French Advance Continues, But German Resistance Stiffens

French Colonial Corps advanced seven kilometres and recaptured the largest tract of French land since the trench war began in 1914. Henry Wilson, a British officer visiting French Army Group Nord headquarters on July 5, reported that spirits were high:

“Foch… was well pleased with his attack… he has captured first and second systems, he has advanced 4000-5000 yards, he has taken 9,000 prisoners and sixty guns, and all this at a loss of under 8,000 men. It is the finest attack performance of the war, and Foch and Weygand can well be proud of themselves. Result is very high moral tone in his men.”

French I Colonial Army Corps (CAC) continued its advance on July 5, attacking beyond the loop of the Somme river towards broad Combles plateau, where the terrain rose from the slow river towards the village of Rancourt, whose church spire was visible just in the distance. So was the third German defensive line, along which bands of busy German pioneers could be seen working manically to deepen and prepare their trenches. Briefly, the trench war had given way to a mobile one like in 1914. The village of Péronne and the road that ran through it represented the most important prize. However, it became clear that the momentary onset of panic in the German army had started to subside.

French troops attacked forward again on July 5, towards the villages of Barleux and Belloy-en-Santerre. Foreign legionnaires from the Morrocan Division spearheaded the attacking, charging over No-Man’s Land cheering “Vive la Legion! Vive la France!” However, the spirited legionnaires failed to break in to the town. Four new German regiments had arrived to plug the gap, and the fighting broke down into small skirmishes. Moreover, the French reinforcement routes were starting to get choked with supplies, men, and guns. The hoped for break-through looked to be slowing down.

Photo: A German machine-gun crew on the Somme. Allied troops told a rumor that German soldiers were chained to their machine-guns to prevent them from retreating



Eastern Front

the Riga and Baranovichi fronts, fighting continues.

In Galicia, Russians continue their attacks south of Dniester.

Macedonian Front:Guerrilla Attacks Begin in Occupied Serbia

Quelling of supposed partisans and “francs-tireurs” had been the stated reason for much of the harsh treatment of Belgium and other areas occupied by the Central Powers. Largely, however, there had been little to no such activity actively attacking or sabotaging German or Austrian military efforts. The first effort of real note did not begin until July of 1916 in Serbia, which had been occupied by the Austrians and Bulgarians since late last fall. The Austrians in the north of the country had been gradually drawing down their garrisons since the winter, moving troops north to fight Italy, or, more recently, scarping together whatever forces they could to halt the Brusilov offensive.

On July 5, Serbian partisans attacked an Austrian barracks in northern Serbia. The Serbians had a long history of armed resistance to foreigners, with similar chetniks having fought against the Turks a decade earlier. Similar hit-and-run attacks would continue in both Serbia and Montenegro until the final days of the war, though it would take nearly another year for the partisans to pose a threat to the Central Powers’ control of the area.

Aerial operations: Heavy losses

Yesterday and today have been plagued by poor weather on the western front. Low clouds, rain and thunderstorms have made flying all but impossible, though a few aircraft were able to get up this evening.

The casualties in the air are of course miniscule compared to those on the ground, but nevertheless the RFC has suffered significant losses over the first three days of the offensive with 24 aircraft lost and 39 crew members killed or missing.

Naval operations: North Sea

Erich Sittenfeld, commanding U-45, sinks Dutch drifter GEERTRUIDA, 140 tons, on her way home fully loaded from her first fishing trip. Sittenfeld's score is now 5 vessels and 8,172 tons.

Ernst Voigt, in UB-23, stops and scuttles British fishing smack ANNIE ANDERSON, 77 tons, and drifter Peep O'Day, 52 tons. His score is now 5 vessels and 1,335 tons.

UC-7 (Georg Haag) is lost, presumed to be by a mine. Last seen heading home from her latest patrol, by UB-12. All 18 crew members are lost. The bodies of Haag and one other are recovered by Dutch fishing boats, while two other bodies washed ashore at Flanders.

Day 708 of the Great War, July 7th 1916

YouTube (The Battle of the Somme - Brusilov On His Own)



Western Front

British again advance; portion of Leipzig Redoubt carried on Thiepval Plateau. Fighting at Ovillers and east of La Boiselle. Contalmaison won but not held.

Photo: 3-ton "FWD" lorry built by the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, Wisconsin, towing a British army 6 inch 30 cwt howitzer along an improvised "corduroy" track, near Mametz. Bracketed steel tyres have been clamped onto the gun carriage's wooden wheels



Photo: Indian bicycle troops at a crossroads on the Fricourt-Mametz Road, Somme, France



Eastern Front

Russians reach Manevichi station on Kovel-Sarni railway in northern Lutsk salient.

Italian Front

Italians continue advance between Brenta and Adige; they carry two enemy positions north of Asiago.

East Africa campaign: British Indian Troops Enter Tanga

Smuts’ South African-led force had slowly been progressing south into German East Africa from Kilimanjaro, and by July had reached Handeni, about halfway between the Kenyan frontier and the major German railway. Disease ravaged both the African and European troops, and supply troubles meant food was short as well. Most major transportation routes in German East Africa ran east-west, while the South Africans were advancing from the north without a similar advance along the coast.

The obvious target on the coast would be Tanga, the major port in the north of German East Africa. However, the British were wary of assaulting the town, for understandable reasons–landings made there in November 1914 were repulsed in an embarrassing rout, a defeat that had essentially ceased major offensive operations for a year and a half. By July 1916, they were ready to try again, taking all required precautions. Warships bombarded the town, and 500 troops from the 5th Indian Light Infantry (which had mutinied in Singapore last year) landed and slowly approached the town.

On July 7, after four days of carefully advancing, the Indians entered the town. The Germans had all left; there had been no resistance. The British could now use the port to supply the South African advance.

Photo: Indian soldiers pictured just outside Tanga on July 7



Naval operations: North Sea

British freighter SS GANNET, 1,127 tons, bound from Rotterdam for London with a general cargo, hits a mine laid by Otto Ehrentraut in UC-6. His score is now 9 ships and 6,199 tons.

U-77, under the command of Erich Günzel, is lost while on a minelaying mission to Kinnaird Head, Scotland. All 33 crewmembers lost.

German trawler WILHELSMHAVEN, 170 tons, departs Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, for a fishing trip and is not heard from again.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Cruiser HMS TALBOT and monitor HMS SEVERN carry a raiding party to Tanga Island, along with gunboat THISTLE, armed whalers STYX and CHARON, and seaplane/balloon tender MANICA.
0600 the ships anchor off Kwawa Reef.
0620 HMS MANICA hoists out seaplane for scouting work.
0645 Seaplane is sent to scout over Tanga.
0730 Seaplane lands next to TALBOT with information. Apparently the plane made a bad landing. Nothing is said of this but later log records speak of salvaging the damaged plane.
0915 HMS MANICA hoists up balloon.
0955 MANICA lowers and stows balloon.
1020 Party of native scouts transfers from TALBOT to SEVERN.
1057 SEVERN lands scouts at Red Cliffs.
1115 TALBOT passes damaged seaplane off to THISTLE.
1153 MANICA enters Tanga Bay.
1200 British force occupies Tanga village.
1255 Landing party re-boards SEVERN.
1300 MANICA joins THISTLE to recover wrecked seaplane.
1305 SEVERN departs to rejoin other ships.
1500 Remains of seaplane hoisted aboard MANICA.
It is not said whether the landing party met any resistance.