The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 787 of the Great War, September 24th 1916

Western Front

Krupp's works at Essen bombed by two French airmen; 12 bombs dropped.

South of the Ancre enemy made three attacks on Allied lines, west of Lesboeufs, all failed.

Photo: Staff of the 32nd Infantry Division, first row on the left, Major General Rudolf Ritter von Willerding, Commander of the 32nd Infantry Division, second first row from the left, Major Janda, Chief of Staff of the 32nd Infantry Division, 3rd Colonel Rabl, Commander of the 32nd Field Artillery Brigade



Eastern Front: Brusilov Offensive Ends

Advancing in the aftermath of a gas attack in late September, Imperial Russian soldiers were surprised to hear through their gasmasks that enemy troops were speaking Turkish. The Ottoman soldiers, recently arrived to shore up crumbling Austrian defenses, beat back the Russian soldiers after a fierce fight. After months of incredible success on the Eastern Front, the Brusilov Offensive was all but run out of steam.

Since June, the Russian Army’s Southwestern Front, brilliantly commanded by General Alexei Brusilov, had reconquered hundreds of miles of lost territory and captured thousands of enemy prisoners. Historians rightly consider the Brusilov Offensive one of the Triple Entente’s finest victories of the war. Brusilov improved Russian tactics, ditching crude frontal assaults for advanced coordination between infantry and artillery, fire-and-move, small unit tactics. He had also pioneered the use of storm troopers who sneaked into enemy lines ahead of an assault, an invention later used (and claimed) by the Germans.

Unfortunately, for all its tactical brilliance, the Brusilov Offensive left Russia drained and weary. Its production of artillery shells could not keep up with demand, and by the end of September Russian soldiers were once again going into battle without proper support. Their assaults had been daring and brave, but also costly in human lives, and reinforcements were trickling in at barely a snail’s pace.

The Russian Army had certainly given much better than it got - inflicting a staggering 1,350,000 casualties on the Central Powers, including 408,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners - but its own losses of half a million men were casualties that the Russian Empire could no longer replace. For all its success, the Brusilov Offensives losses would play apart in the collapse of the Russian Empire the next year.

Aerial operations: Two Zeppelins Shot Down in Essex

One of the largest attacks so far was carried out overnight on England. Twelve German Navy Zeppelins (L13, L14, L17, L21, L22, L23, L31, L32 and L33 attack Nottingham, Grimsby and London killing 40, injuring 130, and causing widespread damage. Three others also turned back without reaching the coast. This time however, the RFC gained a modicum of revenge by shooting down two of the Zeppelins.

L32, arrived at Dungeness at 2250 and dropped six bombs wrecking two houses. At 2345pm the ship set course for London arriving at Ide Hill, near Sevenoaks by 0030. At 0050am a searchlight at Crockenhill caught the ship and six bombs were dropped in an attempt to shut it down.

L32 flew on northwards through mistly skies reaching Purfleet by 0100. At this point the skies cleared, local searchlights locked on, and the two guns at Tunnel Farm and the single gun at Belhus Park opened fire. L32 offloaded 59 bombs with little damage. As the ship continued north the guns at Tilbury, Shonks and Fobbing also opened fire. By now, pilots from 39 Squadron were closing in. At a height of about 13,000 feet L.32 was intercepted by 2nd Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey in a BE2c aircraft. At the third attempt he managed to set the envelope on fire in several places. L32 then burst into flames and smashed into the ground at Snail’s Hall Farm, just south of Billericay. The entire crew were killed.

L33 arrived over Foulness at 2240 dropping 11 bombs on the way to West Ham in London at 0010. At this point, searchlights locked on the the airship and guns in the vicinity opened fire. Immediately the L33 began dropping bombs, killing 6 and injuring 11 on St. Leonard’s Street and killing another 5 and injuring 6 at the Black Swan’ public house at 148 Bow Road. At 0015 a shell hit a propeller which sent fragments into the gas cells, rupturing 5 of them. L33 released water ballast and dropped the rest of the bombs to gain height causing major damage at the British Petroleum Company’s works and at Judd’s Match Factory.

L33 was by now losing height and the gun at Kelvedon Common scored another hit at 0025. The crew started throwing everything out to gain height. At the same time 2nd Lieutenant Alfred de Bathe Brandon, also from 39 Squadron attacked the ship in his BE2c (4544) albeit unsuccessfully. L.33 crossed the coast near West Mersea at around 0105, but the captain realised that the ship would never cross the channel so he turned back and crash landed at Little Wigborough in Essex. Luckily for the crew, they only suffered minor injuries and were soon arrested by the local police.

The skeleton of L33 remains largely intact and should provide insights into Zeppelin construction for British intelligence.
Photo: The wreckage of L33 after its crash landing and German attempts to destroy it; they were not entirely successful



Arab revolt

Sherif of Mecca reports he has forced Taif (60 miles south-east of Mecca) to surrender; garrison Turkish, many prisoners, guns and stores.

France

Photo: The French battleship COURBET with LA FRANCE in the background in Toulon, 24 September 1916



Romanian Campaign

Photo: A company of cyclists, lined up at a standstill



Greece

Photo: Fournet Artige sitting in a French Navy Nieuport VI.H hydroaeroplane in the harbour at Athens



Naval operations: English Channel

Hans Valentiner, commanding UB-37, scuttles French trawler Oceanien, 60 tons. His score is now 29 ships and 16,118 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Carl-Siegfried von Georg, in U-57, sinks Norwegian freighter SS LAYLA, 807 tons, bound from Arkhangelsk for Hull with a load of pit props. Von Georg then encounters a British fishing fleet. Scuttled are trawlers:
ALBATROSS, 158 tons.
APHELION, 197 tons.
BRITON, 134 tons.
DEVONSHIRE, 148 tons.
MARQUERITE, 151 tons.
OTTER, 123 tons.
OTTERHOUND, 150 tons.
SUNSHINE, 185 tons.
TARANTULA, 155 tons.
Trawler RANEE, 194 tons, is only damaged by the scuttling charges, and makes her way safely to port.
Von Georg's opening score is 10 ships and 2,208 tons.

Karsten von Heydebreck, in UB-6, captures Dutch freighter SS Batavier II, 1,328 tons, en route from Rotterdam to London, as a prize. His score is now 6 ships and 2,130 tons.

Naval operations: Balearic Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks three more Allied ships:
1000 Italian freighter SS NICOLO, 5,466 tons, travelling in ballast from Genoa to Norfolk.
1200 Norwegian freighter SS BUTJORD, 2,284 tons, carrying a load of coal from Blyth to Genoa.
1330 British freighter SS BRONWYN, 4,250 tons, bound from Barry for Marseille with a load of coal. Bronwyn's master and two gunners are taken prisoner aboard U-35.
Von Arnauld's score is now 119 ships and 216,525 tons.

Day 789 of the Great War, September 26th 1916

Western Front: British Take Thiepval

While the British and French were attacking around Morval on the 25th, British, ANZAC, and Canadian forces were preparing for an assault around Thiepval to the northwest. The town had been a target on the first day of the Somme, but was still securely in German hands. Most of the town had been destroyed by months of artillery fire, but German machine gun nests remained in the town’s cellars and around the ruins of the château. Haig had pushed off the attack around Thiepval for a day to allow the tanks to attack at dawn, when German artillery spotting would be less effective in the low light. However, the attack ultimately launched at 12:35 PM on the 26th, for reasons that are still unknown.

The tanks were again of mixed effectiveness. At Mouquet Farm, straddling no-man’s land, a set of German machine gun nests ensconced in cellars were resistant to the barrage and would need to be cleared out. Two tanks were sent forward but both “went into a large shell hole on our side of the farm and remained stuck there.” It took more than five hours to clear out the farm with grenades and smoke bombs–an entire brigade was ultimately necessary to clear out a garrison of 56 men. In the meantime, their guns had inflicted havoc on the Canadians advancing on the right.

In Thiepval itself, the advance was incredibly difficult, usually coming down to grenades and hand-to-hand fighting, with no quarter given. Col. Frank Maxwell recalled:

It was an extraordinary difficult battle to fight, owing to every landmark, such as a map shows, being obliterated–absolutely and totally. The ground was, of course, the limit itself, and progress over it like nothing imaginable. The enemy quite determined to keep us out as they had so many before. And I must say that they fought most stubbornly and bravely. Probably not more than 300-500 put their hands up….I have no shame in saying so–as every German should in my opinion be exterminated–I don’t know that we took one. I have not seen a man or officer yet who did anyway.

At the château itself, a tank proved critical, taking out multiple machine guns set up to defend the position. By early the next morning, Thiepval was in Allied hands and they were looking to the Schwaben Redoubt beyond. To the Germans, the loss of Thiepval was, in the words of a German soldier serving on the Somme, “absolutely crushing…every German soldier from the highest general to the most lowly private had the feeling that now Germany had lost the first great battle.”

Map: battles of Morval and Thiepval Ridge



Romanian Campaign

Vulkan Pass regained by Romanians.

East Africa Campaign

General Sir C. Crewe occupies Igalulu, east of Tabora (East Africa).

Aerial operations: Back, back again

Despite the loss of two zeppelins the German Navy decided to press ahead with another raid on England overnight.

Caution was exercised however by the captains of the two ‘super-Zeppelins’, L.30 and L.31, who were to attack London. Both avoided the area in the end due to clear skies. L30 claimed to have bombed Ramsgate and Margate never actually appeared inland. L31, attempted to attack Portsmouth but was located by the searchlights and attacked by AA fire. L31 released bombs but these all fell in the sea and L31 then flew back over Dover before returning home.

The other Zeppelins attacked the Midlands and the North. L14 arrived off the Yorkshire coast at about 2205 and steered towards York. At around 2245 L14 arrived on the outskirts of York and dropped seventeen bombs at various locations around the city. A woman died of shock near Heworth but other than that there was only minor injuries. At 2300 a searchlight located L14 and the ship steered away towards Ripon. At about 2340 L14 dropped bombs on Newby with Mulwith, Wormald Green, Dunkeswick and Harewood. L14 was then caught again in a searchlight at Collingham, and a nearby AA gun fired nine rounds. L14 then dropped three bombs at the light and severed the telephone line between the gun and the searchlight. L14 went out to sea at Scarborough at about 0130.

L.16 also reached Yorkshire near Bridlington Bay at about 2205. The ship flew around for two hours dropping only three bombs in total before going out to sea near Speeton on Filey Bay just before midnight.

L21 arrived further south off the Lincolnshire coast at 2145 and flew west over the Peak District and Pennines. At around 2225 L21 began dropping bombs around Lancashire causing minor damage but without any major injuries.

L.21 then dropped bombs on Bolton – thinking it was Derby, killing 13 people and destroying houses and other properties. L21 then flew over Blackburn, Burnley, Skipton, Ripon and Thirsk and over the North Yorkshire moors and out to sea near Whitby at 0305.

L22, arrived off the Lincolnshire coast around 2230 and also flew west dropping various bombs on the way to Sheffield. At around 0025 L22 began dropping bombs on the city. These caused widespread damage, killing 28 people and damaging over 80 houses. The ship then flew over Doncaster at 0045 and north of Scunthorpe at 0120, flying out to sea near the village of Garton at 0205.

The RFC had only two aircraft airborne due to the fog but neither saw either L21 or L22.

Naval operations: Athens

Greek ships have joined the Allied fleet under Admiral du Fournet, the French Commander-in-Chief.

Naval operations: North Sea

Walther Schwieger, commanding U-20, sinks British freighter SS THELMA, 1,002 tons, bound from Clyde for Göteborg with a load of coal plus general goods. Schwieger's score is now 33 ships and 137,005 tons.

Hans Walther, in U-52, sinks three British vessels off Fair Isle:
His Majesty's Trawler SARAH ALICE, 299 tons, hit by a torpedo aimed at yacht Conqueror II.
HM Yacht CONQUERORII, 526 tons, torpedoed while trying aid Sarah Alice.
SS ST GOTHARD, 2,788 tons, carrying a load of coal from The Shetlands to Forth. Captured and then sunk by torpedo.
Walther's score is now 16 ships and 24,594 tons.

Robert Moraht, in U-64, takes British trawler LOCH RYAN, 186 tons, as a prize.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

Helmuth Jürst, in U-43, sinks two Norwegian freighters off Nordkyn, at the northern tip of Norway:
SS DANIA, 862 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Onega to Leith.
SS KNUT HILDE, 1,632 tons, bound from Petschora for West Hartlepool with a load of timber.
Jürst's score is now 4 ships and 8,801 tons.

Naval operations: Balearic Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks three more British freighters:
1200 SS STATHE, 2,623 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Livorno.
1220 SS NEWBY, 2,168 tons, bound from San Rafael for Larne with a load of minerals.
1710 SS RADDAM, 3,218 tons, travelling in ballast from Savona to Barry Roads.
Von Arnauld's score is now 123 ships and 228,378 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

British patrol boat Royal Fleet Auxiliary STIRLING CASTLE, 271 tons, his a mine laid by an unknown vessel west of Malta.

Day 791 of the Great War, September 28th 1916

Western Front

British attack Schwaben Redoubt on crest of Thiepval Plateau; most of it taken. They advance north and north-east of Courcelette, and between Martinpuich and Gueudecourt.

French make progress between Fregicourt and Morval.

Photo: A 12 inch howitzer Mk II, its shell daubed 'For Fritz', preparing for action near Aveluy Wood



Greece

Former Greek Premier Venizelos establish a provisional government in Greek, stating he will revolt unless Greece enters the war.

United kingdom: UK Declares Three-Day Munitions Holiday

The “Munitions Crisis,” the supposed lack of shells for the British Army, had been a major political scandal in 1915, forcing the creation of a coalition government. A Ministry of Munitions was formed, and munitions production vastly increased. This meant hard work for munitions laborers, however, who had to work overtime and without holidays for most of 1916. By the end of the summer, this was taking its toll; traditional Whitsun (Pentecost) and August holidays had been postponed by the government. After nearly eight months without a holiday, workers began taking them unofficially. At the end of September, with the major planned offensives on the Somme over for now, the government finally agreed to a “munitions holiday” on the last three days of September, letting the workers take a much-needed (if brief) five day’s rest.

Poster: British propaganda poster celebrating the lack of holidays for munitions workers



United Kingdom: David Lloyd George Announces War will only end with “Germany’s Complete Downfall”

Secretary of State for War David Lloyd George gave an interview to an American correspondent on September 28, 1916, which became famous immediately as his “Knockout blow”. The Welshman, humorously using deliberately simple language and sporting terms “which are pretty well understood wherever English is spoken” to talk to “the real United States”, announced that Britain’s final war aim was nothing but the total downfall of Germany.

The interview doubled as a sharp warning to American President Woodrow Wilson, who was keen to mediate an end to the war. Britain was now fully in the fight, said the War Secretary, and it “was not disposed to stop because of the squealing done by Germans or done for Germans by probably well-meaning but misguided sympathizers or humanitarians.” The game had changed, and even if it took “twenty years, like the Napoleonic Wars”, the Allies were determined that it would never happen again, and so they had decided on “the infliction of such punishment upon the perpetrators of this outrage that the temptation to emulate their exploits will be eliminated from the hearts of the evil-minded among the rulers of men.”

This stern message was made behind the back of Sir Edward Grey, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, who protested at this unfriendly message to the American president. Grey worried that American mediation would no longer be possible if the Allies were not sure of victory. With such incredibly forceful and charismatic members, the Asquith administration was beginning to come apart towards the end of 1916

Aerial operations: Foot’s fourth

Captain Ernest Leslie Foot from 60 Squadron scored his fourth victory today when he shot down an Albatross two-seater over Avesnes Les Baupame. The victory was obtained in a SPAD VII (A253), the first issued to the RFC, which had arrived with the Squadron on 20 September for testing.

The SPAD VII is the result of the French government seeking designs to take advantage of the new Hispano-Suiza 8A inline engine The design was produced quickly by modifying the design for the unsuccessful SPAD SA pulpit fighter. The result was a strong, fast but not particularly manoevrable fighter, which made up for this by having a very fast dive speed – something the Nieuports were unable to replicate. The French had been flying the aircraft since early August and scored the first victory on 26 August.

Photo: a SPAD VII



Naval operations: North Sea

Erich Sittenfeld, commanding U-45, stops British trawler FUCHSIA, 145 tons, and sinks her with his deck gun. His score is now 6 ships and 8,317 tons.

Richard Hartmann, in U-49, scuttles two ships off the Longstone lighthouse:
Swedish barque BENGUELA, 688 tons, carrying a load of pit props from Fredrikshald to West Hartlepool.
Norwegian sailing ship EMANUEL, 246 tons, travelling from Tønsberg to West Hartlepool with a load of pit props.
Hartmann's opening score is 2 ships and 934 tons.

Wilhelm Werner, in U-55, sinks His Majasty's Trawler ORSINO, 172 tons, with his deck gun. His score is now 4 ships and 6,377 tons.

Georg Gerth, in UB-12, scuttles British fishing smack MARJORIE, 55 tons, off Smith's Knoll, in Norfolk. His score is now 3 small vessels and 1,022 tons.

Heino von Heimburg, in UC-22, sinks Russian schooner EMMMA, 279 tons, carrying a load of deals and battens, off Slyme Head in the Shetland Islands. His score is now 7 ships and 24,822 tons.

British freighter SS CYDONIA, 3,085 tons, bound from Methil for Brest with a load of coal, runs aground on Castle Rock, at Holy Island.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

Helmuth Jürst, in U-43, sinks Norwegian freighter SS ROLF JARL, 11,265 tons, travelling from Lerwick to Arkhangelsk via Ålesund with a load of salted herring, off the Kola Peninsula. His score is now 5 ships and 10,066 tons.

Day 793 of the Great War, September 30th 1916

Western Front

Thiepval ridge (except part of Schwaben Redoubt) all occupied.

Advance south of Eaucourt l'Abbaye.

Eastern Front

Great battle in Galicia (near Zlota Lipa and Brzezany) commences.

Russians advance in Brody region.

Romanian Campaign

Falkenhayn in Transylvania attacks the Roter Turm pass.

Romanian 1st Army retreats over Fogaras Mts.

Macedonian front

British cross Struma river at Orliak and capture villages left bank.

Towards Florina, Serbs capture Mt. Kaymakchlan (25 miles east south-east of Monastir).

Greece: Venizelos Arrives in Crete

A group of Greek officers, outraged that the Greek government had let the Bulgarians occupy portions of Macedonia and send several thousand Greek soldiers to PoW camps in Germany, had staged a coup in Salonika last month in opposition to the Bulgarians. It had succeeded only because of French intervention, and enjoyed little support or credibility outside of the Allied-occupied areas around Salonika.

The leading pro-Allied politician, ex-PM Eleftherios Venizelos, had continued to denounce the Bulgarian occupation despite opposition from the King and the Orthodox Church, but remained in Athens and did not associate himself with the “National Defense Committee” in Salonika. On September 25, however, he snuck out of the city, avoiding tails and making his way to a French car, taking him to a boat in the harbor. Along with Admiral Koundouriotis (a hero of the Balkan Wars), he made his way to his home island of Crete.

There, among his most committed supporters and away from both the King and the French, he could rally Greeks to the defense of the country from the Bulgarian invasion, declaring on September 30, “We claim the support of every Greek citizen who feels that further toleration of disaster and humiliation would mean the death of the nation.” Most other Aegean islands declared their support for Venizelos in the coming days, and more and more officers (and even some naval vessels) came to join him in Crete, including General Danglis, who had served as Chief of Staff during the Balkan Wars.

Aerial operations: Haig

Douglas Haig wrote to the War Office today, setting out the impact of the new gernam Jastas on the RFC and the requirement for better aircraft.

“I have the honour to request that the immediate attention of the Army Council may be given to the urgent necessity for a very early increase in the numbers and efficiency of the fighting aeroplanes at my disposal. Throughout the last three months the Royal Flying Corps in France has maintained such a measure of superiority over the enemy in the air that it has been enabled to render services of incalculable value. The result is that the enemy has made extraordinary efforts to increase the number, and develop the speed and power, of his fighting machines. He has unfortunately succeeded in doing so and it is necessary to realize clearly, and at once, that we shall undoubtedly lose our superiority in the air if I am not provided at an early date with improved means of retaining it. Within the last few days the enemy has brought into action on the Somme front a considerable number of fighting aeroplanes which are faster, handier, and capable of attaining a greater height than any at my disposal with the exception of one squadron of single-seater Nieuports, one of F.E. Rolls Royce, and one of Sopwiths,-the last mentioned being inferior to the enemy’s new machines in some respects though superior in others. All other fighting machines at my disposal are decidedly inferior. The result of the advent of the enemy’s improved machines has been a marked increase in the casualties suffered by the Royal Flying Corps, and though I do not anticipate losing our present predominance in the air for the next three or four months, the situation after that threatens to be very serious unless adequate steps to deal with it are taken at once. I have directed the G.O.C. Royal Flying Corps in France to put forward a statement of our estimated requirements.”

He also wrote to Sir William Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, highlighting ther impact on operations.

“we were now doing less distant fighting with the result that an increasing number of German machines now come up to the lines, and a few cross them, whereas practically no German machines crossed the line in the first two months of the battle. It is the fighting far behind the enemy’s lines that tells most.”

Aerial operations: French Army Retires Airships, Tranfers them to Navy for Anti-Submarine Work

The infamous German zeppelins dominate in the public memory of the First World War, but the Allies used airships too, albeit for different purposes. Both Britain and France attempted to find uses for airships in the early months of the war, but when a French dirigible was destroyed over the Western Front, unable to fly as high as the massive German zeppelins, French High Command forbid further sorties in the combat zone.

Instead they took part in strategic bombing raids, mounting over 60+ sorties through to 1916, when, after some further casulties, the French Army retired them from duty. The airships were redeployed to the Mediterranean to serve as spotters for U-boats, which the British also used their airships for in the Atlantic. In this role they proved much more useful to the Allies, scouting for submarines, clearing mines, and protecting naval convoys. With Germany’s defeat in 1918 the age of the airship as a bomber was over.

Naval operations: English Channel

Erwin Waßner, commanding UB-38, sinks two ships just inside the west end of the Channel:
French freighter SS IRMA, 844 tons, bound from Newport for Montagne with a load of coal - stopped and sunk with the deck gun.
British schooner PEARL, 144 tons, carrying a load of coal from Preston to Truro.
His score is now 17 ships and 20,315 tons.

British freighter SS MAYWOOD, 1,188 tons, carrying a load of coal and coke from Newport to Le Havre, hits a mine laid by Matthias von Schmettow in UC-26 in Le Havre Rosds. Meanwhile, 100 miles away off Cap la Hague, von Schmettow stops British schooner WILLIAM GEORGE, 151 tons, travelling from Wansea to St-Valery-en-Caux with a load of coal, and sinks her with his deck gun.
His score is now 40 ships and 50,529 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Wilhelm Werner, in U-55, takes two Swedish freighters as prizes:
SS ATLE, 1,725 tons, travelling from Göteborg to London with a general cargo.
SS TALAVERA, 1,741 tons. Talavera is later released by the Prize Court, leaving Werner with a score of 5 ships and 8,102 tons.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

Helmuth Jürst, in U-43, sinks Norwegian freighter SS FANCY, 1,612 tons, carrying a load of herring from Lerwick to Arkhangelsk. His score is now 8 ships and 14,357 tons.

Leo Hillebrand, in U-46, sinks two Norwegian ships off the Rybachy Peninsula:
SS HAFNIA, 962 tons, en route from Lerwick to Arkhangelsk with a load of salt herring.
SS HEKLA, 950 tons, also with a load of herring from Lerwick to Arkhangelsk.
Hillebrand's score is now 13 ships and 12,541 tons.

Day 795 of the Great War, October 2nd 1916

Western Front

Germans regain footing in Eaucourt.

Photo: Somme, France. Men of the Black Watch resting by the roadside by Contalmaison Wood



Eastern Front

Zlota Lipa furious fighting continues.

Russians take 1,000 prisoners, but front remains unchanged.

Brody-Zloczow road enemy claim recapture all positions lost on 30th.

Romanian Campaign: Romanians Briefly Cross the Danube

The fall of Turtucaia and Silistra to Mackensen’s force from Bulgaria within a few days of Romania’s entry into the war had shocked the Allies. On September 15, the Romanian crown council ordered that roughly half of the army should be transferred south to meet the Bulgarian threat. General Averescu devised a plan in which many of these forces would cross the Danube by a pontoon bridge at Flămânda, outflanking the Bulgarian forces approaching the port city of Constanta. This would, he hoped, force the Bulgarians out of Dobruja and put the Romanians back on the offensive. The Russians, who were assisting in the defense of northern Dobruja, were less enthusiastic about the plan. Alexeyev sent a “long and sad” telegram to Averescu, begging him to call it off.

On the night of September 30, two infantry divisions crossed the Danube by boat, and his engineers completed a pontoon bridge by the afternoon of the 1st, letting more troops cross. The maneuver had taken the Central Powers entirely by surprise; the Germans had noticed the buildup on the other side but had assumed they were there in order to defend nearby Bucharest. That night, however, the Danube rose and storms came in, damaging the bridge. The rise in the water level also allowed Austrian gunboats to pass over river obstacles and begin attacking the bridge. Although the damage was minor, it seriously unnerved both the crossing Romanian troops and Averescu. His mood was not improved by the continued Romanian reverses in Transylvania, which had been stripped of troops for this offensive. On the night of October 2, the Romanians began withdrawing back across the river.

Photo: The crossing on the Danube



Macedonian front

In Kaymakchlan region Bulgars retire north in direction Monastir.

Bulgars evacuate Mt. Starkov Grob.

Bulgar counter-attack on Struma front repulsed by British.

Aerial operations: L31 destroyed

Eleven Zeppelins set out to bomb England. Four turned back early but L14, L21, L16, L17, L24, L31 and L34 made it to England. The raid was relatively unsuccessful though quite a lot of property was damaged. The RFC got revenge once again shooting down one of the raiders.

L31 arrived over the Suffolk coast near Lowestoft at around 20.00 flew southwest towards London. At 21.45 the searchlight at Kelvedon Hatch caught L31 causing the ship to turn North. At 2310 L31 arrived over Hertford and shut off its engines hoping to drift silently with the wind over London’s outer defences. However this was not successful and at 2330 the engines were restarted. At 23.40pm the AA guns at Newmans and Temple House near Waltham Abbey opened fire on L31. In return L31 dropped 56 bombs over Cheshunt. There was severe damage to four houses and minor damage to 343.

The ship then flew west pursued by four pilots from 39 Squadron RFC. The first to reach L31 was 2nd Lieutenant Wulstan Tempest in his BE2c who was able to climb to 12,700 feet despite the cold and a dodgy fuel pump which required him to hand pump the whole time. After three bursts from his Lewis gun, L31 caught fire and crashed into the ground near Potters Bar. The entire crew of 17 were killed. Tempest was nearly engulfed in the flames but got out of the way at the last minute. He was so tired from the pumping that he crashed on landing but escaped with a cut head.

Photo: The wreckage of L31



Naval operations: North Sea

His Majesty's Drifter GIRL EVA, 76 tons, hits a mine laid by Paul Günther in UC-6. This is Günther's first sinking.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

Berndt Buß, in U-48, sinks British freighter SS LOTUSMERE, 3,911 tons, carrying a load of coal from Barry to Arkhangelsk. His score is now 2 ships an 6,034 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, torpedoes French Navy sloop RIGEL, 1,250 tons, bringing his score to 128 ships and 241,878 tons.

Naval operations: Aegean Sea

Cäsar Bauer, in UB-46, torpedoes British freighter SS HUNTSFALL, 4,331 tons, carrying a load of hay from St Louis du Rhône to Salonica. His score is now 8 ships and 15,299 tons.

Day 797 of the Great War, October 4th 1916

Western Front

Germans driven out of Eaucourt.

French carry German line between Morval and St. Pierre Vaast wood.

Eastern Front

Battle west of Lutsk still in progress, enemy obstinately holds positions on Zlota Lipa (Galicia).

Macedonian front

Allied forces reach Kenali (10 miles from Monastir).

East of Monastir, Serbs cross Cherna.

British make progress (Struma) towards Seres.

Italian Front

Italian success in the Travignolo Valley (Avisio region, Trentino).

Romanian Campaign

Romanian Second Army retreating, Fogaras evacuated.

Romanians progress in Dubruja.

Troops who crossed Danube at Rjahovo withdrawn.

Photo: Bulgarian infantry attack in the Monastir area



Aerial operations: Relentless

The poor weather continues to stymie a lot of flying. Despite this the RFC has continued to carry out its Corps work registering artillery fire and photographing the front, and bombing the enemy trenches.

Army squadrons have not got much to do as few enemy aircraft are up interfering with the work.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Matthias von Schmettow, commanding UC-26, sinks Norwegian freighter SS RISHOLM, 2,550 tons, bound from Blyth for Bordeaux with a load of coal. His score is now 44 ships and 56,249 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Walther Becker, in UB-19, stops and scuttles three fishing vessels near the Spurn Head lightship:
Motor fisher JENNIE BULLAS, 26 tons.
Steam fisher JERSSEY, 162 tons.
Steam fisher RADO, 182 tons.
Becker's score is now 9 vessels and 6,493 tons.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

Leo Hillebrand, in U-46, sinks British freighter SS BRANTINGHAM, 2,617 tons, bound from Arkhangelsk for Leith with a load of pit props. Hillebrand's score is now 14 ships and 15,158.

Berndt Buß, in U-48, sins Norwegian freighter SS BRINK, 1,391 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Onega to Hull. His score is now 3 ships and 7,425 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks two Allied ships:
1100 Norwegian freighter SS BIRK, 715 tons, carrying a load of barley and cork from Philippeville to Marseille.
1400 French armed merchant cruiser GALLIA, 14,996 tons, transporting troops from Marseille to Salonika.
Von Arnauld is now the hightest-scoring u-boat ace with 131 ships and 258,749 tons.

Wolfgang Steinbauer, in UB-47, sinks British troopship SS FRANCONIA, travelling in ballast from Alexandria to Marseille. There are no troops on board at the time. Her displacement of 18,510 tons effectively doubles Steinbauer's score to 5 ships and 37,044 tons.