The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 741 of the Great War, August 9th 1916

Western Front: The Somme: Haig and Rawlinson show signs of strain

Haig recently wrote to the Cabinet War Committee telling them that the Battle of the Somme is going very well. Those doing the fighting might see things a bit differently. True, the Australians have managed to push on and take the higher ground beyond the village of Pozières, but the general rule is that British Commonwealth troops are taking heavy casualties and making little gains.

Yesterday British troops had another crack at taking the village of Guillemont. Once again the British swept through the village but were then forced back by flanking fire from machine guns and snipers hiding in the village’s cellars. Haig insists that the attacks be renewed today, but the British are repulsed with more heavy casualties.

The repeated failures are beginning to grate with the British commanders. Rawlinson, the local Some commander, blames the attacking troops for the lack of success: they just do not seem to have the necessary offensive spirit.

Haig, however, is starting to blame Rawlinson. He sends a message to Rawlinson demanding that future assaults be more carefully planned. Yet Haig’s instructions are contradictory. He wants careful planning, which suggests that there should be a wait before the next attacks. However he also wants the Germans to be kept under pressure by continuous assaults, which means that the British should be attacking without careful preparation.

Rawlinson begins preparations for another assault on Guillemont in the next few days, this time to take place on a broader front with more troops.

Photo: The view from Centre Way trench towards Mouquet Farm, August



Eastern Front

Russians gain junction of Chryplin (Stanislau).

Italian Front: Austrians Fall Back From Isonzo

The Italians entered Gorizia in a spirit of jubilation; they had finally taken their long-sought-after objective. On August 9, church bells rang throughout Friuli for the first time since the first Sunday of the war. Austrian troops were falling back from Gorizia towards their second lines behind the city. On the Karst, Boroević ordered the troops to hold on one more day to help cover the withdrawal from Gorizia. The Italians were in a position of great strength at the moment–they outnumbered the Austrians over seven-to-one, and the Austrians were no longer in prepared defenses. Capello and Badoglio had prepared cavalry (pictured above) and bicyclists for exactly such an opportunity.

However, Cadorna had an uncharacteristic moment of caution and reined Capello and Badoglio in. Worried about his left flank, he attempted another breakout from their bridgehead at Plava, with no success. On the Karst, the Italians did not go on the offensive on the 9th, letting the Austrians withdraw that evening relatively unmolested. Cadorna realized his mistake the next day, but by that point the Austrians had reached their fallback positions, and could move in reserves faster than the Italians could, the latter now having the Isonzo between their front lines and their staging areas.

Photo: Italian cavalry enters Gorizia



Sinai and Palestine campaign

Turks press back British cavalry east of Romani (Suez), but are repulsed and lose heavily.

Aerial operations: Zeppelins back in Hull

Naval Zeppelins made another raid overnight. Eleven set off, but only nine reached England.

Eight of these came in between, Berwick and the Humber. The most northerly, the L14 arrived south of Berwick, made a sweep inland and went out again at Alnmouth. Eight bombs fell harmlessly in fields. Six other Zeppelins plied the coast from Tynemouth to Whitby (L11, L13, L21, L22, L30, and L31) operated, but they penetrated only a slight distance inland. Seventy-six bombs in total were dropped over land, damaging a house and an office. The casualties were five people injured at Whitley Bay. Anti-aircraft guns fired in response but scored no hits.

L24 bombed Hull with more success. Forty-fourbombs fell on the town and killed ten people and injured eleven, also damaging houses and shops. Approaching the city from the north-west, at 1.20am, L24 dropped bombs on the golf course and tracks south of Spring Bank Junction on the Hull and Barnsley Railway. Eight bombs then fell on Sandringham Street, Granville Street, Walliker Street and Selby Street, causing considerable damage and injuring Mr and Mrs Broadley and killing their three-year-old son John Charles Another in Walliker Street killed Charles Lingard and Emma Evers. Mary Louisa and Emmie Bearpark and Rose, Elizabeth and Mary Hall were killed in Selby Street. Three other residents of Hull died from shock brought on by the bombs. Ground mist effectively blinded the Hull anti-aircraft gunners, and only eight rounds were fired without success.

L16 dropped 36 bombs on villages south of the Wash but these were ineffective.

The ground mist which hampered the anti-aircraft defenders, also prevented aeroplanes from going up except at Redcar, where Flight Lieutenant B. P. H. de Roeper took off, in a BE2c soon after midnight. He found a Zeppelin over Saltburn caught in the beams of a searchlight, but he could not get high enough to attack. He pursued the Zeppelin out to sea, dropping his bombs in the water to get more height, but he failed to get near enough to attack, and finally lost the Zeppelin in the mist twenty miles from the coast.

L17 and L23, were engaged by the armed trawler ITONIAN off the coast and were driven off without attacking.

Aerial operations: Imperial German Air Service Reorganized, Fighter Squadrons Formed

For a long stretch of 1915 German airplanes dominated the skies above the Western Front, during the so-called “Fokker Scourge”. Single-seat Fokker monoplanes, used as fighters by the Imperial German Air Service, destroyed their British and French opponents with ease. However, the Allies re-organized their air units in the summer, deploying new fighters like the French Nieuport 11 and the two-seater pusher plane the British FE2.B, one of which killed German fighter ace Max Immelman. As the Battle of Verdun wound down and the Somme began, Allied pilots started to rack up kills. French Captain René Fonck scored his first kill in August - by the end of the war he would be the Allies’ top ace and the second-highest scorer of the conflict.

Germany decided to re-shuffle its squadrons to compete again. The Imperial German Air Service became the Deutschen Luftstreitkräfte, the German Air Force, demonstrating a greater independence from the Army, although it still remained an Army-controlled formation. With this new name came a restructuring to form dedicated fighter squadrons, called Jagdstaffels, hunting squadrons. Called “Flying Circuses” by the British, these units of elite flyers had one mission only: establishing air superiority over the Western Front, opening a new, fiercer dimension to the air war.

Naval operations: English Channel

Otto Steinbrinck, commanding UB-18, stops and scuttles French freighter SS HENRI ELISA, 822 tons. His score is now 59 ships and 41,293 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Hans Valentiner, in UB-37, sinks Danish freighter SS DANEVANG, 1,247 tons, bound from Karlsberg for Hull with a load of sawn timber. His score is now 23 ships and 13,400 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Cäsar Bauer, in UB-46, sinks Greek sailing ship BASILEIOS, 488 tons, returning from Egypt to the Adriatic. His score is now 7 ships and 10,968 tons.

Naval operations: Gulf of Lyon

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks three more Allied ships:
1000 Spanish freighter SS GANEKOGORTA MENDI, 3,061, carrying a load of coal from Newcastle to Savona.
1600 Italian freighter SS SEBASTIANO, 3,995 tons, from New York to Genoa with a load of flour.
1700 British freighter SS ANTIOPE, 2,973 tons, travelling in ballast from Marseille to Rosario.
Von Arnauld's score is now 75 ships and 167,652 tons.

Naval operations: Italy

British submarine HMS B-10 is caught in an Austro-Hungarian air raid on the Naval Arsenal at Venice. The burnt-out hulk is later sold for scrap.

Photo: B10 after being salvaged on 23 August; the bomb damage can be seen to the right of the diving plane



Naval operations: Ionian Sea

Gustav Sieß, in U-73, stops and scuttles Italian schooner LORENZO DONATO, 140 tons. He now has 8 ships and 22,995 tons.

Day 743 of the Great War, August 11th 1916

YouTube (Italy Breaks Through - Cadorna's Triumph)



Western Front

French capture German trenches south of Maurepas.

Long distance British air-raids into Belgium.

Photo:  Captured 10 cm (100 mm) German gun in Mametz Wood



Photo: King George V with Major-General Havelock Hudson (commanding 8th Division) walking through the streets of Fouquereuil, where the King was cheered by the men of the 25th Infantry Brigade, 11th August 1916



Italians Front

Italians land at Salonika.

Italians cross the Vallone and make progress on the northern edge of the Carso (Isonzo).

Sinai and Palestine campaign

Turks attack at Bayud (Sinai), and evacuate it.

Aerial operations: Oswald Boelcke gets command of Jagdstaffel 2

Oswald Boelcke arrives at Kovel, on the Russian front, as part of his inspection tour, but also to visit his elder brother Wilhelm, commanding officer of Kampfstaffel 10, Kagohl 2. Upon his arrival he finds a telegram waiting for him from Feldflugchef Lieth-Thomsen: "Return to Western Front as quickly as possible to organise and lead Jagdstaffel 2 on the Somme." Boelcke is given permission to recruit any pilots he thinks will be an asset to his new command. He takes two Kasta 10 pilots with him: 37-year-old Erwin Böhme and 24-year-old Manfred von Richthofen.

Aerial operations: A loss in the desert

Back in Sinai, British troops are mopping after the Turkish retreat from Romani. Aircraft from 14 Squadron RFC are continuing to reconnoitre. Today Second Lieutenants E. W. Edwards and Lieutenant J Brown got caught out by a rare enemy aircraft. Brigadier-General E. W. C. Chaytor witnessed the attack while making a reconnaissance on horseback of Bir el Abd.

‘Suddenly the anti-aircraft firewas switched off and an enemy aeroplane swooped down on ours which was apparently badly damaged, but shortly steadied and came down about threequarters of a mile south-east of my head-quarters. Captain Rhodes, my aide-de-camp, went off to locate the plane to give first aid, and I to head-quarters to send an ambulance. On finding the plane Captain Rhodes found that the pilot, Second Lieutenant E. W. Edwards, who was very badly wounded—I think seven bullets had hit him, one of which broke his lower jaw on both sides, another his shoulder—had gone off to get help for the observer who was shot through the chest and could not move. The observer. Second Lieutenant Brown, though in great pain, refused to have his wounds attended to until he had made his report, as he said they had some important information and he was afraid he would faint if his wound was touched. He very gallantly held himself together until he had dictated his report and verified it and then, his duty done,fainted and died two hours later.’

Naval operations: North Sea

Thorwald von Bothmer, in U-66, sinks Norwegian barque INVERDRUIE, 613 tons, travelling from Sandefjord to Hartlepool with a load of pit props. His score is now 10 ships and 23,461 tons.

Hans Valentiner, in UB-37, sinks Norwegian brig RUFUS, 202 tons, carrying a load of pit props from Fredrikshald to Sunderland, bringing his score to 23 ships and 13,400 tons.

British freighter SS F. STOBART, 801 tons, bound from Goole for Jersey with a load of coal, hits a mine laid by Kurt Ramien in UC-1. His score is now 11 ships and 21,305 tons.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

German minesweeper M-27, while still on trials, is lost following a collision with German freighter SS PARANAGUA, north of Cape Arkona.

Naval operations: Ligurian Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière has moved U-35 to a position near Savona, Italy. At 1000 hours he sinks Spanish freighter SS PAGASARRI, 3,287 tons, carrying a load of coal from Barry to Genoa, raising his score to 77 ships and 174,299 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Old 2nd class cruiser HMS CHALLENGER and Australian light cruiser HMAS PIONEER are patrolling off Ras Kankadya when, at 1530 hours, they are fired upon by a shore battery. They return fire from 1535 to 1600.

Day 745 of the Great War, August 13th 1916

Western Front

Grenade attacks in progress at Fleury (Verdun).

French progress south-west of Estrees.

Eastern Front

German attack repulsed in region of the Stokhod (Volhynia).

Italian Front

Italian advance further on northern edge of Carso, and take 800 prisoners.

Caucasus campaign: Russian Advance Stopped in the Caucasus

Setbacks on the Caucasian front in August 1916 marked the end of the Imperial Russian advance in that theater. Mustafa Kemal (the future Ataturk, now a Brigadier-General thanks to his heroics at Gallipoli) once again held the line in a desperate hour, checking the Russian advance and reconquering the towns of Bitlis and Mus on August 6. Fighting stalemated in the mountains, ending the prospect of a greater Armenian client state to the Tsarist Empire, although the deep penetration of Russian troops into the Caucasus would have fateful results after the Bolshevik Revolution.

United States: Threatened US Railroad Strike Endangers Allied Munitions Supplies

While labor disputes had largely been set aside for the duration of the war among belligerent countries, the same was certainly not true among neutrals. In the United States, railroad workers pushed strongly in the summer of 1916 for an eight-hour workday, with time-and-a-half overtime for time worked over eight hours. Although they worked directly in interstate commerce, current federal legislation provided little protection to railroad workers, apart from a maximum 16-hour workday. By mid-August, a general nationwide railroad strike was looming. The Allies were greatly worried by such a prospect, as it would prevent the shipment of munitions from most US factories to Europe.

Wilson was also understandably worried, as a railroad strike would have a dire impact on the economy. It also had an impact on the US Army, which on August 15 had to suspend troop movements to the Mexican border as a result. On August 14, Wilson sat down with labor and railroad leaders in an attempt to work out a deal agreeable to both sides. He proposed that the eight-hour workday should be made standard, but thought that the overtime demand should be dropped. The railroads thought this would prove too expensive to implement, while the workers thought that without overtime the railroads would simply ignore the eight-hour provision. Ultimately, the workers refused to budge and in early September Congress passed the Adamson Act, granting the workers’ demands.

Naval operations: North Sea

Gustav Buch, third captain of UB-10, scores his first sinking when he torpedoes British destroyer HMS LASSOO, 1,010 tons.

Hans Valentiner, in UB-37, sinks three small vessels:
Norwegian sailing vessel FEMAD, 104 tons, carrying pit props from Iltvedt to Hartlepool. No casualties.
Swedish brig PEPITA, 261 tons, bound from Göteborg to Sunderland with pit props. Stopped and scuttled.
Norwegian barque RESPIT, 473 tons, carrying a load of pit props from Brevik to Hull.
Valentiner's score is now 26 ships and 14,238 tons.

Naval operations: Ligurian Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, has moved further up the Italian coast to the area off Genoa. Here he sinks four more Allied ships.
0400 Italian barque BALMORAL, 2,542 tons, travelling from Genoa to Baltimore. The ship is stopped and scuttled off Porto Maurizio.
0700 Danish freighter SS IVAR, 2,139 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Genoa.
0800 Italian sailing ship EURASIA, 1,898 tons, out of Philadelphia bound for Genoa. Stopped and scuttled.
1820 Italian brigantine FRANCESCO SEVERIO D, 214 tons, travelling from Giragenti to Ceti with a load of sulphur.

Naval operations: German East Africa

British monitor HMS MERSEY, anchored at Zanzibar, has the following note in her log: "8.30am: Lt Ward RNVR (Intelligence officer) joined ship with 6 native spies."

Day 747 of the Great War, August 15th 1916

Western Front: French Successes on the Somme

Although the French involvement in the initial action on the Somme was limited, due to the continuing fighting at Verdun, they had steadily been increasing their activity on the front. In the last month, the French had made steady gains to the south of the Somme. On August 16, French attacks on both sides of the Somme captured German trenches along twelve miles of the front, along with 1300 PoWs. These successes came at a cost, however; General Fayolle, commanding the Sixth Army, informed the British to his north that, due to the condition of his troops, he could only help with a single division for an upcoming attack on Guillemont scheduled for the 18th.

Eastern Front: Germany takes over the Austro-Hungarian army

In Galicia Brusilov’s offensive against the Austro-Hungarians continues. Brusilov brought Austria-Hungary to the brink of collapse, advancing on a broad front, inflicting a great many casualties and taking vast numbers of prisoners. Now though the going is harder for the Russians. As the battle continues, their soldiers are increasingly worn down by the fighting. Worse, they are facing stronger enemies. The Austro-Hungarians have sent every man they can spare to block the Russian advance. The Germans have also come to the aid of their ally, sending considerable numbers of men to stiffen Austro-Hungarian resistance. Combined with British efforts at the Somme, this has forced Falkenhayn to halt German attempts to take Verdun from the French.

The Russians continue to press their offensive, but the fighting is becoming more attritional, with Russian men fighting against German and Austro-Hungarian guns. This is not the kind of battle Brusilov wanted to fight, but after the failure of Evert’s offensive to the north he has had to continue his efforts.

Germany’s assistance to the Austro-Hungarians does not come without a price. Falkenhayn has insisted that German officers be appointed to command and administer the combined armies on the Eastern Front. The Germans are effectively taking over the Austro-Hungarian army, removing its operational independence and turning it into an adjunct of their own army. The Austro-Hungarians went to war in 1914 to preserve the independence and integrity of their ancient empire. Now it is becoming little more than a client of their neighbour to the north.

Photo: Parade of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions in front of the commander of the 11th Bavarian Division, General Friedrich von Bernhardi



Italian Front

Italians take more trenches east of Gorizia.

East Africa campaign

British clear of Nguru Mts., drive enemy force southward and eastward.

Aerial operations: “There was unfortunately a war on”

On 27 July, the seaplane carrier HMS BEN-MY-CHREE, captained by Charles Rumney Samson returned to Port Said for a boiler clean. Yesterday, the ship left Port Said with a French destroyer escort to carry out an extended reconnaissance of the lines of communication behind the Turkish forces in Sinai, covering 165 miles of coast line to a depth of twenty miles.

Today off Haifa, three Short seaplanes took off on reconnaissance/bombing missions. A Schneider seaplane was unable to get airborne.

One Short seaplane flew inland and dropped three 16lb bombs and one 65lb bomb on the El Afuleh rail junction where the crew spotted six engines, 30 passenger coaches and 40 goods wagons. Two engines and a store were hit and one coach set on fire.

The second aircraft flew south to Athlit, crossed the mountains and bombed a camp at Jeida. The third bombed Tubaun camp causing considerable damage.

HMS BEN-MY-CHREE then sailed south with seaplanes making further reconnaissance flights over Ramleh and El Shellal, and the area between El Arish and Bir El Mazar.

Captain Samson also received a letter from the Admiralty asking why BEN-MY-CHREE had used so much ammunition in the last three months compared with earlier periods. Samson replied ‘that there was unfortunately a war on’.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

Heinrich Metzger, commanding U-47, begins his career with the capture of Swedish freighter SS PRESTO, 1,046 tons. The prize court later releases the ship back to her owners.

German destroyer V-162, screening minesweepers attempting to clear the Irben strait, hits a mine near Windau (moder Ventspils) and sinks along with 15 of her crew.

Naval operations: Tyrrhenian Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks three more small vessels:
1100 Italian coaster SS AUGUSTA, 523 tons, scuttled off Cape Figari.
1400 Italian brigantine VERGINE DI POMPEI, 146 tons, scuttled east of the southern tip of Corsica.
1800 Italian sailing vessel CANDIDA ALTIERI, 282 tons, scuttled off the the east coast of Sardinia.
Von Arnauld's score is now 99 ships and 190,641 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

The attack on Bagamoyo proceeds:
0115 Monitor HMS SEVERN departs early from Chumbe for Bagamoyo.
0130 Battleship VENGEANCE, cruiser CHALLENGER, monitor MERSEY and balloon ship MANICA get underway from Chumbe Island.
0255 SEVERN arrives at Bagamoyo.
0324 VENGEANCE, Challenger and Manica anchor off Bagamoyo.
0345 MERSEY arrives at Bagamoyo.
0430 CHALLENGER sends two cutters with sailors for landing party to VENGEANCE.
0440 VENGEANCE dispatches landing party - 24 marines, 123 sailors, 11 natives.
0500 Landing party boats assemble alongside MERSEY.
0530 Boats are sent ashore. Monitors and whalers open fire on beach. Return fire from shore. VENGEANCE and CHALLENGER open fire on north side of town.
0545 Boats begin landing.
0550 German shore batteries open fire.
0555 CHALLENGER engages battery north of town and on a barracks near the French mission.
0600 Shore parties land.
0650 Balloon and aeroplane sent aloft.
0715 Landing party occupies fort and Governor's House and hoists Union Flag. Reports capture of 11 prisoners and one 4.1" (8.8 cm) gun from SMS KONINGSBERG.
0740 SEVERN moves close ashore to recieve wounded.
1000 Three wounded natives, one marine, one sailor and one captured German on board SEVERN for treatment.
1015 Body of dead marine captain transferred from SEVERN to VENGEANCE.
1040 Wounded transferred from SEVERN to whaler CHILDERS.
1200 VENGEANCE buries at sea Royal Marine Captain Francis Hastings Thomas, killed during occupation.
1330 German prisoners taken aboard MERSEY.
1530 German prisoners transfered to VENGEANCE and CHALLENGER.

Day 749 of the Great War, August 17th 1916

Western Front

Violent artillery fighting north and south of the Somme.

Determined German attack on broad front, north-west of Pozieres, beaten off.

Eastern Front

Strong enemy attacks beaten back by Russians on Zlota-Lipa (Galicia) front.

Russia announces that they have taken 358,602 Germans and Austro-Hungarians prisoners during the Brusilov offensive.

Italian Front

Lively and artillery action on upper and lower Isonzo. Sixth Battle of the Isonzo ends in an Italian victory. Italy suffered around 51,000 casualties, Austria-Hungary suffered 41,000 casualties.

Macedonian front: Bulgarians Launch Offensives into Greece

The Allies around Salonika had been preparing an offensive against Bulgaria, and over the past week had been conducting small-scale bombardments and attacks over the border as part of the leadup. The offensive from Salonika was hoped to ease a prospective Romanian entry into the war, safeguarding Romania’s southern frontier by distracting the Bulgarians. On August 17, the Romanians at long last agreed to enter the war within 11 days.

On the same day, however, the Bulgarians seized the initiative on the Salonika front by entering Greece themselves. The Second Army entered the portion of Macedonia east of the Struma, an area not occupied by the Allies. The Greek Army, demobilized at the insistence at the Allies, provided no resistance to the Bulgarian advance, and they had occupied most of the area within a week. The 7000 regular Greek soldiers there were interned by the Central Powers for the remainder of the war.

Further west, the Bulgarians attacked Allied positions near the town of Florina in the wee hours of the 17th. They quickly overwhelmed the outnumbered Serbian defenders in the area and pushed nearly 20,000 men into Greek territory, eager to have a great victory of their own. The Allies rushed reinforcements to the area, in an attempt to prevent an overall collapse of their left flank.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, has moved south into the passage between Sicily and Tunisia. There he sinks British freighter SS SWEDISH PRINCE, 3,712 tons, travelling in ballast from Salonica to Bizerta, bringing his score to 101 ships and 195,018. This puts him in second place for tonnage sunk. He has been in first place for number of ships for some time.

Wolfgang Steinbauer starts his career in UB-47 with the sinking of Itlalian freighter SS STAMPALLIA, 9,000 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

British cruiser HMS CHALLENGER and monitors MERSEY and SEVERN spend the night cruising up and down the coast, lighting up the area with searchlights. They then spend the day evacuating German prisoners, as well as women and children.

Day 751 of the Great War, August 19th 1916

Western Front

Heavy fighting on Somme front. British continue to gain ground.

German attacks at Fleury (Verdun) repulsed.

Germany: Bread riots in Hamburg

Germany and Austria-Hungary are increasingly short of food. War mobilisation has taken agricultural workers from the land. Both countries have attempted to make up the shortfall with prisoners of war, but still a shortage of farm labourers has contributed to falling production. However, a larger factor in the Central Powers’ food crisis is the British naval blockade. Before the war, Germany imported food from overseas. It also imported nitrates from Chile to fertilise its land. Neither of these are accessible now, so the land is less productive and the shortfall cannot be replaced by American wheat.

The authorities in both countries are attempting to ensure that people have enough to eat, but their efforts are not always successful. In Austria-Hungary, problems are compounded by the reluctance of Tisza’s Hungarian government to supply Austria with food. Thriving black markets have arisen as those with the means to do so try to circumvent rationing rules. Rations have shrunk and black market prices have climbed to levels unaffordable to many.

In Hamburg, potatoes have been only intermittently available for most of the summer. Now tensions boil over as angry crowds (mostly women, youths and children) in working class districts smash their way into bakeries and loot the contents. The civil authorities have to call in the army to restore order, declaring a nightly curfew for unaccompanied minors.

Order returns to Hamburg, but the incident is a worrying sign of how social order and solidarity are breaking down under the pressures of war.

Naval operations: North Sea

On August 18 the German High Seas Fleet put to sea with the intention of bombarding Sunderland. Part of the plan was to draw the British Grand Fleet into a group of 24 German u-boats. In Britain the code group at Room 40 intercepted the German signals and the Grand fleet put to see, aware of the Germans' positions but not of the u-boats.

On the afternoon of the 18th 5 British battleships, 6 battlecruisers, 5 light cruisers, 20 destroyers and 25 submarines were ordered to intercept the German group.

At 0600 hours on the morning of August 19th Hans Walther, commanding U-52, fires three torpedoes at British light cruiser HMS NOTTINGHAM, 5,400 tons. Two of them hit, leaving NOTTINGHAM with no power. The other cruisers, believing they have wandered into a minefield, move away from the area. Then they realize that it is likely a u-boat, and HMS DUBLIN begins cruising up and down the area at high speed in an attempt to draw the u-boat's fire. At 0626 Walther fires a fourth torpedo, and at 0710 NOTTINGHAM sinks. When he recieves the signal about NOTTINGHAM, Admiral Jellicoe turns the Grand Fleet northward, away from the German fleet. At 1315 Hans Rose, in U-53, reports the British fleet's position to Admiral Scheer, and the German fleet turns homeward. Hans Walther's score is now 13 ships and 21,341 tons.

Photo: HMS NOTTINGHAM sinking



At 1323 HMS MINOTAUR reports a u-boat sighting, and at 1338 HMS BOADICEA signals another sighting. Jellicoe turns away again.

At 1530 another u-boat sighting is reported, and again Jellicoe turns away from it. "It seemed fairly certain to me that the enemy would leave a trap behind him in the shape of mines or submarines, or both; and indeed numerous submarines already sighted made it probable that the trap was extensive."

At 1652 Thorwald von Bothmer, in U-66, sights the Grand fleet and fires two torpedoes at the nearest ship. HMS FALMOUTH, 5,250 tons, is seriously damaged, but a depth-charge attack by screening destroyers forces von Bothmer to dive deep and run before he can fire again.

On the British side, Jellicoe later wrote "The enemy's submarine commanders were no doubt increasing in efficiency, and risks which we could afford to run earlier in the war were now unjustifiable."

German Admiral Scheer was aware that only the timely signal from U-53 had saved him from disaster, but was unaware of the positive result of his venture. On September 13th Jellicoe ordered that the Grand Fleet would be restricted to the north end of the North Sea, which left most of the eastern British coastline unprotected.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Max Valentiner, in U-38, sinks Italian brigantine DEA, 167 tons, bringing his score to 88 ships and 193,840 tons.

Naval operations: Adriatic Sea

Austro-Hungarian coaster SS POZSONY, 498 tons, is sunk by a mine off Durrës, Albania. Thirty-one lost, 139 saved.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Cruiser HMS CHALLENGER spends the hour from 0545 to 0650 cruising near Ras Kankadya trying to draw enemy fire.
0659-0710 CHALLENGER fires briefly on trenches in the area.

Day 753 of the Great War, August 21st 1916

Western Front: Australians in Action Beyond Pozières

Australian troops were in action beyond Pozières in the third week of August, having captured the previously captured the town in a weeks-long battle that had left the ridge, in the words of official Australian historian Charles Bean, who witnessed the aftermath, “more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth.”

Fighting on the 21s, Lieutenant Bert Crowle was badly wounded by a bullet. Bleeding heavily, he began a letter to his wife and son: “Just a line you must be prepared for the worst to happen any day. It is no use trying to hide thing. I am in terrible agony. Had I been brought in at once I had a hope. Now gas gangrene has set in and it is so bad that the doctor could not save it by taking it off as it had gone too far and the only hope is that the salts they have put on may drain the gangrene out otherwise there is not hope.”

Crowle told his wife how he had been brought back four miles from No-Man’s Land by stretcher bearers who had waved a Red Cross Flag to walk in front of German lines. He continued: “The pain is getting worse. I am very sorry dear, but still you will be well provided for I am easy on that score. So cheer up dear I could write a lot but I am nearly unconscious. Give me love to dear Bill and yourself, do take care of himself and him. Your loving husband Bert.” He died a few hours later.

Photo: Australian gunners load a howitzer



United Kingdom/Sweden relations: UK Bans Almost All Exports to Sweden

Sweden was Germany’s largest remaining neutral European trading partner. Swedish resources (particularly iron) could be shipped with ease across the German-dominated Baltic. The only real threats were the small British and Russian submarine fleets in the Baltic. Under German pressure, Sweden mined the Øresund in late July 1916 in order to prevent further British submarines from sneaking into the Baltic. Britain protested this, calling Sweden “neutral with reservations.” Partially in response to this, on August 21, Brtain banned essentially all exports to Sweden. This effectively tightened the blockade of Germany, preventing explicit or implicit transhipment of goods via Sweden. This had a deleterious effect on Sweden’s economy, which only got worse over the winter.

Aerial operations: Formation

Since the introduction of the Fokker Monoplanes, the British have been attempting to combat their effectiveness by using formation flying tactics.

Today pilots of 21 Squadron were practising this when disaster struck. Lieutenant Charles Inglis Jameson and John Watson Yuile were flying their new BE12s (6555 and 6559). The two planes collided, and Jameson’s went to a spinning nose dive and crashed into the ground. Jameson was killed. Yuile managed to get his plane down suffering only minor injuries.

In a day of accidents, Alfred Reginald Boeree of 42 Squadron hit a tree on take off for a practice flight in a BE2d (5753).

An FE8 (6399) piloted by Lieutenant William Kerr Magill Britton from 29 Squadron collided with another FE8 (6402) on landing from a patrol but was unhurt.

2nd Lieutenant Roland Edmund Dangerfield and Sergeant Pathe from 16 Squadron crashed soon after take off on an engine test and landed in nearby haycocks.

Lieutenants Philip Clarke Garratt and William Oliver Thomas from 70 Squadron suffered minor injuries when the engine seized on their Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (A894) during gun camera practice.

2nd Lieutenant Hugh Granville White and Private J Gibbon from 20 Squadron hit a hedge on return from photo escort in their A21 (FE2d).

Captain Alfred Garnet Moore and 2nd Lieutenant Leslie Tilden Smith from 34 Squadron hit a cow in their BE2e (5816) and overturned on landing at Allonville from an artillery patrol.

Naval operations: North Sea

British submarine HMS E-54 torpedoes UC-10 off the Schouwen Bank. Werner Albrecht is lost along with all of his 17 crew.

Naval operations: Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea

Russian destroyer DOBROVOLETS, 660 tons, is sunk by a German mine in the Irbe Strait.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Claus Rücker, commanding U-34, begins a new patrol with the sinking of Italian barquentine MARIA, 242 tons, bound from Livorno for Tobruk with a load of wood. Rücker's tally is now 45 ships and 124,467 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Another attack is launched at Dar-Es-Saalam.
From 0710 to 0900 HMS VENGEANCE fires at German gun positions with her 12" guns. A seaplane and balloon from HMS MANICA are spotting the fall of shot.
From 0710 to 0814 HMS CHALLENGER shells a German 10.5cm gun positon at Bagamoyo.
From 0820 to 0850 HMS TALBOT fires on a German camp at Lindi.
Monitors MERSEY and SEVERN transport marines to and from the Bagamoyo area.