The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 772 of the Great War, September 9th 1916

Western Front: The Somme: Battle of Ginchy, Somme Campaign at a Tipping Point

A heavy British bombardment fell on the town of Ginchy the morning of September 9, leaving an eerie silence in its wake for the rest of the day until early that evening, when Irish Tommies of the 16th Division leapt out of their trenches and attacked the German line. The battle fell three days after Guillemont was taken, and moved the rest of the Fourth Army up to forward positions where it could prepare for a new wave of attacks in September. The French Tenth and Sixth armies to the south were also conducting their own offensives. The decision to launch the battle in the evening successfully denied the Germans time to organize a counter-attack in the vital period immediately after the redoubt was lost.

The battles marked the continuing success of Entente tactics on the Somme. These were “bite-and-hold” attacks, which struck parts of the German line and isolated them, holding off counterattacks, always preparing for more attacks somewhere else. The effect of this strategy was like a boxer in the ring, constantly moving and jabbing where his opponent was weakest. The exhausted German armies had trouble responding; prisoners showed the Germans were already calling up conscripts from the class of 1917. However, despite their successes, Haig and Joffre still were not getting along. Joffre accused the British of a slow and overcautious temperament, while Haig wrote in his diary that French soldiers lacked offensive spirit.

Photo: Battle of Ginchy. Supporting troops moving up to the attack near Ginchy, 9th September 1916



Photo: British stretcher bearers at the Battle of Ginchy, Somme, France : Carrying wounded across the battlefield under shell fire



Eastern Front

Fall of Silistria (Danube).

Germany: Hindenburg & Ludendorff Discuss Full Economic War Mobilization

Already back in Pless after their brief visit to the Western Front, Hindenburg & Ludendorff began meeting with a series of German industrialists and financiers. This began on September 9 with Carl von Duisberg (of IG Farben) and Gustav Krupp, chemical and munitions magnates, respectively. They had been convinced during the political intrigue leading up to Falkenhayn’s dismissal that Hindenburg & Ludendorff would better serve their interests, and they appropriately curried favor with Hindenburg at Pless now that he was in the ascendant. They also seriously discussed economic matters with Ludendorff, who was convinced that the German economy was not producing what was necessary for the war effort. The economy needed to be fully mobilized for the war, just as young men had been for the Army; there was still untapped labor that could be used on the home front. Krupp and Duisberg were very interested in this sort of talk, especially if it led to political changes that curtailed workers’ victories of the past few decades.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Otto Steinbrinck, commanding UB-18, attacks four vessles off Castle Rock.
French schooner GEORGES ANDRE, 229 tons, bound from Bordeaux for Port Talbot with 220 tons of pit props, scuttled.
French dandy MYOSOTIS, 64 tons, carrying 70 tons of pit props from Vannes to Cardiff, scuttled.
Norwegian freighter SS LODSEN, 1,247 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Lisbon, scuttled.
British Q-Ship HMS CARRIGAN HEAD. Steinbrinck engages the disguised warship with his deck gun and wins the fight. CARRIGAN HEAD survives the encounter and makes port safely.
Steinbrinck's score is now 71 ships and 50,595 tons.

Ernst Voigt, in UB-23, sinks two vessels off Wolf Rock.
Italian freighter SS GEMMA, 3,111 tons, travelling in ballast from Civitacchia to Barry.
French sailing dandy REMORA, 92 tons, carrying a load of pit props from Pauillac to Newport, Walses.
Voight's score is now 32 vessels and 9,058 tons.

Werner Fürbinger, in UB-39, sinks two vessels.
French schooner EUROPE, 356 tons, travelling in ballast from Saint Nazaire to Cardiff, scuttled.
Norwegian freighter SS PRONTO, 1,411 tons, carrying a load of salt fish from Pasajes to Bristol.
Fürbinger's score is now 48 ships and 37,312 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UB-29, attacks a small British fishing fleet off Start Point, Devonshire, scuttling four smacks.
CONSOLATION, 47 tons.
DORADO, 36 tons.
FAVOURITE, 38 tons.
MURIEL FRANKLIN, 29 tons.
His score is now 45 vessels and 54,184 tons.

Day 774 of the Great War, September 11th 1916

Western Front

Somme: British heavy artillery caused large fires in enemy ammunition depot, Grandcourt, north of Pozieres.

Romanian Campaign: German Army Enters Transylvania

Erich von Falkenhayn’s German Ninth broke through Romanian defenses on the 11,555-foot Rotenturm Pass on September 26 and 27 to pass into Transylvania, Entering the heart of the country, Falkenhayn’s troops captured the town of Hermannstadt, and with it 3,000 Romanian prisoners. Less than a month after joining the Entente, Romania’s hopes of gaining new territory in Hungary had been quashed, and now the country’s capital of Bucharest was in serious danger.

Photo: Romanian POWs are herded to a holding camp. They wear French-style Adrian helmets



Mesopotamian campaign

British defeat Turkish columns at Az Sahilan (Nazariya, Euphrates R.).

Japan

Photo: Imperial Japanese Navy battlecruiser HARUNA at Yokosuka, Japan



Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Otto Steinbrinck, commanding UB-18, sinks three Allied ships:
Greek freighter SS ASSIMACOS, 2,898 tons, bound from Glasgow for Genoa with a load of coal, scuttled 45 miles south of the Seven Stones.
Norwegian freighter SS KONG RING, 1,611 tons, carrying a load of fruit from Almeria to Glasgow, sunk 30 milse southwest of the Scilly Isles.
Spanish freighter SS LUIS VIVES, 2,160 tons, travelling from Valencia to Liverpool with a load of fruits and vegetables, captured and sunk by torpedo off the Scilly Isles.
Steinbrink's score is now 77 ships and 65,265 tons.

Werner Fürbinger, in UB-39, sinks Norwegian freighter SS FREDAVORE, 1,577 tons, en route from Port Talbot to Nantes with a load of coal, 28 miles north of Ushant. He ends this patrol with 50 ships and 42,667 tons.

Day 776 of the Great War, September 13th 1916

Western Front

French carry by assault L'Abbe Wood farm, and trench system south of Le Priez farm, south-east of Combles, big success.

Macedonia Front: French & Serbians Launch First Offensive from Salonika

The Romanians had entered the war in part because they were expected the Allies at Salonika to distract the Bulgarians to their rear. The French had intended to do so, but they had been preempted by the Bulgarians, who had launched their own offensive in Macedonia on August 17; this had ground to a halt by the end of the month, but it had delayed the Allies. Over two weeks after Romanian entry into the war, they had yet to attack, and the Bulgarians, undistracted, had captured two key Romanian border forts.

At long last, however, on September 12, Sarrail was ready to attack towards Monastir. The ground chosen was mountainous and unforgiving, at the extreme western end of the Greek-Serbian border. However, if he broke through the mountains, the way would be open to Veles and Skopje, and from there northwest to Nish or northeast to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. A more direct advance, along the Vardar river valley or into the Greek territory recently occupied by Bulgaria, was dismissed as it was guarded by crack German troops.

Two main forces advanced after a 6AM bombardment. Serbian forces attacked from Lake Ostrovo towards the summit of Kajmakcalan. They were determined to take the mountain, for beyond was Serbia. Their commander, General Mišić, told his men that “The valor, skill and fighting qualities which you have already shown bear you up in this battle…Our cause is just. Go forward with confidence, brave fighters, filled with hope in God.” Such hope still had to summit the 8300-foot peak of Kajmakcalan, however. The Serbians had great success in taking the foothills on the first day, but progress up the mountain was slow.

To the west, the French, along with one Russian brigade, attacked in an attempt to outflank the Bulgarians. Many of the French troops had been force marched to the area, and were exhausted and low in morale, and their gains were understandably minimal. Sarrail was increasingly impatient with the French commander in the area, at one point sending him the message: “March ahead. March ahead. March ahead.”

Photo: Observers of the 63rd Infantry Regiment 400m from enemy lines



Central Powers: Germans Given Ultimate Command of All Central Powers’ Armies

As the war had gone on, Germany had become more and more dominant among the Central Powers. German troops had begun taking over significant portions of what had been Austrian or Bulgarian lines. Austria, in particular, had been severely crippled by the Brusilov Offensive, leaving them essentially incapable of conducting independent operations. Conrad was fiercely independent and distrustful of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, but the Romanian invasion of Transylvania required German reinforcements and a better command structure.

On September 13, Hindenburg & Ludendorff, along with the Kaiser, met with Tsar Ferdinand, Enver Pasha, and Austrian representatives. Tsar Ferdinand was excited that the war against Romania would finally allow his aims of a Greater Bulgaria to be established. Enver was less optimistic as to the prospects on his fronts, expecting further Russian pushes in Armenia and renewed British attacks in Mesopotamia and the Levant. However, he told the Germans that “whatever may happen in Asia, this war will be decided in Europe, and for that reason I put all my available divisions at your disposal.” More Turkish troops would arrive to reinforce Mackensen in the coming month.

It was also decided that Hindenburg & Ludendorff would have ultimate command of all of the Central Powers’ armies, allowing them to shape the overall strategy of the war and move reserves to where they were needed the most. The Austrians were the least enthusiastic about the plan, but it received approval from Franz Joseph nonetheless.

Greece: Eleutherios Venizelos Arrives to Take Charge of Greek Splinter Government in Thessalonika

Elected as Greek Prime Minister but dismissed by the king because of his anti-monarchist and pro-Allied views, Eleutherios Venizelos waited and watched uncomfortably in Athens when Greek army officers in Salonika rebelled and formed their own schism government, the Provisional Government of National Defence. It was natural for Venizelos to come to Salonika to take charge of the movement, but he bided his time in Athens to make sure the coup would succeed before he risked breaking with the king so openly.

Fortunately for the Liberal politician, the Allied commander in Salonika, General Maurice Sarrail, welcomed the coup plotters and deported loyalist Greek troops south. Venizelos went north to Thessalonika, where he established himself as head of the coup, and began organizing troops to fight the Central Powers, and, if necessary, Greece’s royal government.

Photo: The former Greek premier reviews a formation of the coup government



Aerial operations: Italy

22 Italian Caproni aeroplanes drop 172 bombs on the city of Trieste, targeting an arsenal and a seaplane hangar.

Aerial operations: Machine Gun Training

The ‘Machine Gun School, R.F.C, based at Hythe, was today renamed ‘The School of Aerial Gunnery, Royal Flying Corps’.

Despite its name its primary role is in fact to train observers in machine gun use. The recent arrival of synchronised guns enabling pilots to fire directly at the enemy has not yet really been catered for.

As part of this training the school has developed an innovative approach with the Hythe Gun Camera. It’s purpose is to mimic the action of the Lewis Gun and provide the prospective gunner with a feel for using a gun in the air.

The camera was developed by the chief instructor 2nd Lieutenant Henry Chaney with the Thornton-Pickard Manufacturing Company.

The box contains the film and a glass reticule that has a ‘target’ imprinted on it. When the trainee fires the gun at a target plane the reticule’s grid is imprinted on the film with the photo of the targeted plane.

In addition, the trainee has to change the magazine (in flight) after each shot. There is a pin that pierces the film each time the magazine is changed. If a photo appears without the ‘pinhole’ it indicates the magazine was not changed.

Naval operations: English Channel

Otto Steinbrinck, commanding UB-18, has moved from the Celtic Sea into the eastern end of the Channel, where he sinks four vessels:
French ketch ARIEL, 49 tons, scuttled off Sept Iles, Brittany.
Danish freighter SS J.N. MADVIG, 1,762 tons, carrying a load of coal from Tyne to Civitavecchia.
Danish freighter SS HANS JENSEN, 1,824 tons, bound from Blyth for Genoa with 2600 tons of coal. At 1620 Steinbrink stops HANS JENSEN and the crew abandon ship. Scuttling charges are detonated at 1645, and the ship sinks at 1720.
Norwegian freighter SS TOLOSA, 1,833 tons, out of Bilbao for Middlesbrough with a load of iron ore. They watch the scuttling of HANS JENSEN, after which UB-18 stops TOLOSA and the crew abandon ship, along with the crew of J.N. MADVIG. The boats from all three ships reach the French coast safely.
Steinbrinck's score is now 82 ships and 78,688 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

At Dar-Es-Salaam light cruiser HMS CHALLENGER guards the bay while troopships add to the forces there and naval personnel construct a new pier.

Meanwhile HMS HYACINTH and TALBOT lead a group of whalers to secure the town and harbor at Mikindani, 240 miles to the south. The town is taken without resistance.

Day 778 of the Great War, September 15th 1916

YouTube (Beasts of Steel - The First Tanks On The Battlefield)



Western Front: First Use of Tanks in Battle

The day for the introduction of the tank, the supposedly war-changing weapon, had finally arrived. It was hoped that 49 tanks, sent in ahead of the infantry, could crush barbed wire, cross and clear enemy trenches with machine guns, destroy fortified strongpoints, and generally terrorize the Germans. Artillery tactics, honed over the course of the Somme, were modified to accommodate the tank, with mixed results. To allow the slow-moving tanks to precede the infantry, and to avoid creating new shell craters that could impede their progress, 100-yard-wide lanes were left in the bombardments for the tanks. An aerial observer described:

We found the whole front seemingly covered with a layer of dirty cotton-wool – the smoking shell-bursts. Across this were dark lanes, drawn as it might be by a child’s stubby finger in the dirty snow. Here no shells were falling. Through these lanes lumbered the tanks.

Outside these lanes, the barrage (where it was targeted correctly) was devastating. One German survivor recalled:

A sea of iron crashed down on all the front…The noise was terrible. Impact after impact. The whole of no man’s land was a seething cauldron. The work of destruction grew and grew. Chaos! It was impossible to imagine that anyone could live through it…It was like a crushing machine, mechanical, without feelings; snuffing out the last resistance with a thousand hammers.

Photo: Four Mark I tanks filling with petrol, Chimpanzee Valley, 15 September 1916



Inside the lanes, however, the German defenders were unscathed. In some places, the tanks worked as intended and these positions were overrun. In others, tanks broke down, became stuck on tree stumps or (in one embarrassing case) to each other, leaving the Germans in the lanes free to fire on the infantry advancing on either side. This caused a complete failure of the right flank of the assault, along with a failure in spotting that left a German position known as the “Quadrilateral” completely untouched by the bombardment. Lt. Raymond Asquith, the PM’s son, was killed while leading an attack in this area.

Elsewhere, where the tanks worked properly or lanes were not left for them, the attacks succeeded, gaining a few thousand yards and the villages of Flers and Courcelette. D-17 was the first tank into Flers; her gunner recalled the difficulties of being one of the first tanks in combat:

Having crossed the front German line I could see the old road down into Flers…We made our way down the remnants of this road with great difficulty. Just as we started off our steering gear was hit and we resorted to steering by putting the brake on each track alternatively…

We were fired on by German machine guns. First of all they were firing on the starboard side and the impact of their bullets was making the inside of the armour plate white hot. And the white hot flakes were coming off and if you happened to be near enough you could have been blinded by them. Fortunately, none of us on the starboard side caught it. But there was a gunner, Gunner Sugden, on the port side who was wounded that way. We went on and Percy Boult was rather upset about this machine gunner and he said, “I can spot him, I think, he is up in the rafters!” He was a pretty good shot and he scored a bull’s eye on the target and brought him down.

Having steered the engine by using the brakes up to this point, the engine was beginning to knock very badly and it looked as if we wouldn’t be fit to carry on very much further. We made our way up the main street, during which time my gunners had several shots at various people who were underneath the eaves or even in the windows of some of the cottages. We went on down through the High Street as far as the first right-angle bend. We turned there and the main road goes for a matter of 200-300 yards and then turns another right angle to the left….But we did not go past that point. At this point we had to make up our minds what to do. The engine was really in such a shocking condition that it was liable to let us down at any moment. So I had a look round, so far as it was possible to do in the middle of a village being shelled at that time by both sides. I could see no signs of the British Army coming up behind me. So I slewed the tank round with great difficult on the brakes.

Photo: a Mark I series tank and crewman at Thetford in "Solomon" camouflage



They found the infantry soon after that, but the engine gave out shortly after getting it off the road. The machine guns, mounted especially for the tank, could not be effectively taken out of the tank and used elsewhere. Note that it had taken quite a lot of damage to put it out of commission, however, which frustrated the Germans considerably. Lt. Braunhoffer, defending the area around Flers, wrote of his troops’ difficulty with another tank:

A tank appeared on the left front of my company position which I immediately attacked with machine-gun and rifle fire and also, as it came closer, with hand grenades. These unfortunately caused no real damage because the tank only turned slightly to the left but otherwise just carried on. He crossed the trenches in the area of the company on my left, caused us heavy losses with his flanking machine gun fire on trenches which had to a large extent been flattened, without my men being able to do anything about it.

Despite the considerable British successes on the day, they still fell short of Haig’s overoptimistic goals, and the troops, having taken nearly 30,000 casualties, were in no condition to push further with anything but sporadic attacks the next day. The tanks had not opened up the way for the cavalry, but now had made their presence known to the Germans.

Photo: The Mark I 'Male' tank 'C19' 'Clan Leslie' in Chimpanzee Valley preparing for the advance on Flers



Photo: ammunition pack horses going up between Guillemont and Ginchy. 15 September 1916



Photo: Troops of the 2nd Canterbury Battalion, New Zealand Division, rest in a shell hole, Battle of Flers-Courcelette



Photo: French heavy mortar and crew during the Battle of the Somme, 15 September 1916. The weapon is a Mortier de 370 Filloux



Italian Front

Lower Isonzo: Italians take San Grado, strong entrenchments towards Loquizza, and over 1,800 prisoners.

Day 780 of the Great War, September 17th 1916

Western Front

Southern Somme: French attack, taking Vermandovillers and Berny, Deniecourt surrounded, German reserves much cut up, many prisoners.

Photo: The Battle of Flers Courcelette: The Mark I tank (D 17) surrounded by some of the infantry from 122nd Brigade (41st Division) whom it led into eastern part of Flers



Photo: Despatch riders of the 9th Hodson's Horse (Bengal Lancers), Indian Army, coming in from Flers, 17th September 1916



Eastern Front

Romanians between Petrozseny and Hatszeg (Western Transylvania).

Italian Front

Italian success on the Carso.

Photo: Italian Army: Seventh Battle of the Isonzo - Italian reinforcements



Sinai and Palestine campaign

British attack and occupy Mazar (northern Sinai).

Turks withdraw to El Arish.

Aerial operations: Richthofen Scores First Confirmed Victory

Oswald Boelcke, Germany’s top fighter pilot, had been working to re-establish the German air superiority over the Western Front that had been lost early in the summer. This included the formation of dedicated fighter squadrons (Jagdstaffeln or “Jastas”) and promotion of improved aerial combat tactics. He also quickly embraced the new Albatros D.II fighters, quicker than their predecessors and armed with twin machine guns. Boelcke and his Jasta 2 squadron first used these in combat on September 17, using them to intercept a British bombing raid returning from an attack on a railway station on Marcoing.

Boelcke’s squadron was able to shoot down 5 of the 8 bombers. Manfred von Richthofen was able to shoot down one of the fighter escorts. He recalled: “I was animated by a single thought: the man in front of me must come down.” Approaching the plane from below as it tried to escape, Richthofen fired his machine guns at point-blank range, killing the plane’s gunner/observer and taking out the engine. The pilot was grievously wounded but was able to land the plane safely at a German airfield; he would die of his wounds later that day. This was Richthofen’s first confirmed victory over an enemy aircraft; it is likely that he had had two earlier in the year, but as they occurred over French lines, they could not be confirmed.

Aerial operations: Meanwhile in the Med

As the fighting has intensified on the Western Front, things have also got rather hot for the RNAS Seaplane Carriers serving in the Mediterranean Sea.

Today, the BEN-MY-CHREE was sent out to spot for the Espiègle and monitors M15 and M31, which were set 10 miles apart. Commander Charles Rumney Samson had requested that they simplify on one target but he was over-ruled.

The BEN-MY-CHREE arrived at El Arish at dawn. The seaplanes split into two flights. One Short seaplane with Flight Lieutenant Percy Herbert Maskell and Sub-Lieutenant James Leslie Kerry) and two Schneider seaplanes with Flight Lieutenant John Thearsby Bankes-Price and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Alfred James Nightingale, spotted for the monitors. Another Short seaplane with Flight Commander Tom Harry England DSO and Sub-Lieutenant King) and two Schneider seaplanes with Commander Samson and Flight Sub-Lieutenant William Man) for the Espiègle. The second flight found no targets and returned to the BEN-MY-CHREE where the Short seaplane landed and the two Schneider seaplanes flew on to reinforce the first flight. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Man had engine trouble and crashed but was rescued by a trawler. Commander Samson found the monitors were not firing and flew inland to search for the first flight but without success and returned to the ship. Pas it turned out, the first flight had just started spotting when a German aircraft separated the Short seaplane from its escorts. Bankes-Price engaged the enemy aircraft but without warning his Schneider seaplane burst into flames killing hIm. The Enemy aircraft then forced down the other Schneider seaplane. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Nightingale was subsequently picked up by a monitor and his aircraft by a trawler. The Short seaplane was then attacked but Flight Lieutenant Maskell flew under the German landplane and Sub-Lieutenant Kerry fired a long accurate burst hitting the enemy aircraft. It then flew off, but the Short seaplane was too slow to give chase. Whilst all this was going on, the Ben-my-Chree was attacked by three German aircraft who dropped eight bombs without damage. The whole force then returned to Port Said.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Hans von Mellenthin, commanding UB-43, sinks two ships near Malta:
British freighter SS DEWA, 3,802 tons, travelling in ballast from Toulon to Port Said.
British freighter SS LORD TREDEGAR, 3,856 tons, bound from New York for Bombay with a general cargo.
Von Mellenthin's score is now 3 ships and 10,321 tons.

Naval operations: German East Africa

Monitor HMS SEVERN moves to Mohoro Bay, balloon ship HMS MANICA in company.
0845 SEVERN anchors in Mohoro bay and 6" gun crews prepare to fire on a German camp near Marendego Village.
0855 MANICA sends up an observation balloon.
0925 After half an hour of observation the balloon observer has been unable to see the enemy position. SEVERN secures her guns.
0950 SEVERN and MANICA depart the area for Selo Shoal.

Day 782 of the Great War, September 19th 1916

Western Front

Bad weather hinders both British and French operations.

Eastern Front

Desperate fighting on Narajowka river, Halicz region. Germans claim success here and on Stokhod (Pripet); many prisoners.

In Galicia, heavy fighting for three days past.

Romanian Campaign

Romanians in Dobruja, holding the Rasova-Tuzla position, defending the railway Bucharest-Constanza, heavily engaged.

Heavy fighting in defile of Merisor (Transylvania) west of Petrozseny. Battle lasts two days. Romanians successful.

Macedonia Front

The Serbo-Russian-French Army advances, making great turning movement in their march on Monastir.

Allied blockade of the Greek Macedonian Coast, from River Struma to River Mesto.

East African campaign: Belgian Offensive Captures Tabora

Belgium may have lost more than 90% of its land in Europe to Germany, but they still had their overseas empire in the Congo. Although the defense of what remained of their homeland was the top priority, the Belgian administration in the Congo was eager to strike the Germans where they still could–at German colonies in Africa. They had contributed some small forces to the conquest of Kamerun [Cameroon], but an attack against German East Africa had been beyond their capabilities until 1916, held up in part due to Belgian distrust of Britain’s colonial aims in Africa. That summer, in conjunction with Smuts’ advance from Kenya, a force of 10,000 under General Tombeur advanced through what is now Rwanda and Burundi to Kigoma, the western terminus of the Central Railway, taking it on July 28.

Over the next month and a half, Tombeur’s forces pushed east along the Central Railway towards Tabora, the German provisional capital in the colony after the Governor left Dar es Salaam. From the north, British forces advanced from Lake Victoria, and the Germans arrayed their troops to defend against the British. After ten days of fighting in September, the Belgians outflanked and dislodged the Germans from the west. On September 18, realizing that the Belgians now occupied hills overlooking Tabora, the Germans evacuated the city. A decoy force headed east along the Central Railway, while the Governor and most of the troops headed southeast through largely uncharted territory to join Lettow-Vorbeck’s forces.

The Belgian flag was raised over the city at 10:30 AM on September 19; the British were still six days away. They liberated 200 Allied POWs that had been kept there, as well. Smuts wanted the Belgians to pursue the retreating Germans, which Tombeur did not do. Smuts believed this was for political reasons (the Belgians hoping to annex the region after the war), but Tombeur could not have advanced had he wanted to. The Belgians had taken heavy casualties, a meningitis outbreak had caused many deaths among his porters, and German scorched earth tactics meant that supplies were difficult to come by.

Photo: The takeover of Tabora by the Belgian army



Germany: Hindenburg Orders “Semi-Permanent” Defense Line Constructed in Depth

Field Marshal Hindenburg issued instructions for a “semi-permanent” new defensive line to be constucted behind the Western Front, five to thirty miles in places behind the current front lines. This was the genesis of the Hindenburg Line, a massive defensive complex of trenches, wire, and bunkers in a great array of depth, designed to slow the Allied advance. The German Army would retire from its pounding on the Somme later to these positions, giving up useless ground and forcing the Allies to prepare to drive them out of an even stronger position.

Naval operations: Tyrrhenian Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, commanding U-35, is back in action, sinking two ships between Sardinia and Sicily:
0715 Italian barque DORIDE, 1,250 tons, travelling in ballast from Milazzo to Pensacola. Sunk with deck gun.
1800 Italian schooner TERESA C., 270 tons, no other details available.
Von Arnauld's score is now 104 ships and 197,461 tons.

Naval operations: Toulon

Photo: The French cruiser JURIEN DE LA GRAVIERE at Toulon, prior to drydocking