The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 907 of the Great War, January 22nd 1917

Romanian Campaign

Bulgarians cross southern arm of Danube near Tulcea (Dobruja).

United Kingdom

Britain announces that all men aged 18 years will be called up for home defense, lowering the age from the former 18 years & 7 months.

United States: Wilson’s “Peace Without Victory” Speech

Wilson’s peace note in December had largely been dismissed by both sides. As a result, Wilson decided that he would attempt to address “the people of the countries now at war,” in the form of a highly-publicized speech to the US Senate on January 22. Selections from the speech are reproduced below:

..It must be a peace without victory. It is not pleasant to say this….Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last….

No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not recognize and accept the principle that governments derive all their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that no right anywhere exists to hand peoples about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were property….There should be a united, independent, and autonomous Poland…. So far as practicable, moreover, every great people now struggling toward a full development of its resources and of its powers should be assured a direct outlet to the great highways of the sea.

I am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of President Monroe as the doctrine of the world: that no nation should seek to extend its polity over any other nation or people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own polity, its own way of development–unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful.

I am proposing that all nations henceforth avoid entangling alliances which would draw them into competitions of power, catch them in a net of intrigue and selfish rivalry, and disturb their own affairs with influences intruded from without. There is no entangling alliance in a concert of power. When all unite to act in the same sense and with the same purpose, all act in the common interest and are free to live their own lives under a common protection.

Wilson proposed that America would help to arrange peace now and to guarantee it in the future. To deflect isolationist criticism, Wilson framed the language in terms of the founders, saying it is merely an extension of the Monroe Doctrine, and that participation in his proposed “League of Peace” would not be an “entangling alliance” of the sort Washington had warned against in his farewell address.

Wilson’s speech was cheered worldwide by peace advocates, and even by some parties that had largely been committed to the war effort (such as the French Socialists). In the United States, Democrats hailed the speech, while most Republicans thought that Wilson’s speech was too idealistic, too interventionist, or (in the case of Teddy Roosevelt) outright traitorous. There was a small coterie of midwestern pacifist Republicans, however, who joined Robert LaFollette in praising it as “the greatest message of a century.”

German Ambassador Bernstorff welcomed the speech, and tried to use it as evidence of American good intentions; he sent desperate pleas back to Berlin to try to postpone the German U-boat offensive that he knew would wreck any chance for an American diplomatic solution.

Aerial operations: Deep under snow

The decision in October 1916 to establish an aircraft factory and training squadrons in Canada is finally starting to take shape. It has been decided that the squadrons formed in Canada will be known as 78 to 97 (Canadian) Reserve Squadrons, and that a nucleus Flight for each squadron will be sent to Canada from England.

Today, a small party of officers, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cuthbert Gurney Hoare arrived in Toronto to start the new organization.

This is not great timing as is the middle of winter and the country is deep under snow. The ground wIll not be visible until the end of March and this will complicate the selection of suitable aerodrome sites.

Nevertheless, Borden Camp, fifty miles north-west of Toronto has been selected and a contract was signed for clearing the ground and for the construction of additional buildings. Lieutenant-

Colonel Hoare cabled to England asking for two of the nucleus Flights to be sent at once, with three more to follow in the middle of February.

Naval operations: North Sea

Two destroyer actions by night in North Sea. One German destroyer sunk and one (V69) towed damaged into Ymuiden. One British destroyer lost.

Swedish freighter SS KAMMA, 1,516 tons, en route from Gävle to Rouen with a load of timber, hits a mine laid by Gustav Deuerlich in UC-40 off Blyth, Northumberland. This is Deuerlich's first sinking.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Carl-Siefried von Georg, commanding U-57, sinks three Allied ships southwest of Fastnet:
Belgian freighter SS EUPHRATES, 2,809 tons, travelling in ballast from Barry to New York.
Portuguese schooner MINHO, 179 tons, bound from Oporto for Cardiff with a load of pit props; burned.
British freighter SS TREVEAN, 3,081 tons, carrying a load of iron ore from Benisaf to Tyne. Master and two crew taken prisoner.
Von Georg's score is now 28 ships and 26,755 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Hans Rose, in U-53, sinks two Allied vessels near the west end of the Channel:
French schooner ANNA, 154 tons, carrying 204 tons of macadam for Sables d'Olonne to Le Treport; sunk with deck gun. The owner/master and crew are recovered by patrol boat HMS MYNA and landed at Guernsey.
Dutch freighter SS ZETA, 3.053 tons, travelling from New York to Amsterdam with a load of wheat; torpedoed.
Rose's score is now 8 ships and 26,774 tons.

Wilhelm Werneer, in U-55, stops and sinks British fishing smack ETHEL, 23 tons, with his deck gun. His score is now 8 vessels and 17,558 tons.

Dutch Tanker SS JUNO, 2,345 tons, route and cargo unlisted, hits a mine laid by Egon von Werner in UC-16 off Hastings. The damaged ship makes port safely.

Ralph Wenninger, in UC-17, sinks two Allied ships norht of Ushant:
French dandy GAULOIS, 76 tons, carrying a load of pit props; stopped and sunk with the deck gun.
Swedish freighter SS O.A. BRODIN, 1,798 tons, carrying a load of coal from South Shields to St. Vincent.
Wenninger's score is now 39 ships and 17,223 tons.

Wilhelm Kiel, in UC-18, stops and scuttles French sailing vessel AURELIE, 89 tons, bound from Palmpol for Cardiff with a load of pit props. His score is now 39 ships and 38,124 tons.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

U-76, commanded by Waldemar Bender, collides with a Russian trawler off Akkarfjord, Norway. The damaged u-boat sinks with the loss of one crew member. The rest of the crew, along with her captain, are rescued. Bender will return to service in U-43 in May.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Hellmuth Jürst, in U-43, stops and scuttles French barque DUC D'AUMALE, 2,189 tons, carrying a load of corn from Bahia Blanca to Pauillac. The entire crew are taken aboard U-43 for a day, then transferred to Norwegian freighter SS Storli.

Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, sinks three Allied ships:
French schooner BEARNAIS, 301 tons, travelling from Bordeaux to Barry with a load of pit props; scuttled.
French schooner PRECURSEUR, 364 tons, en route from Bordeaux to Martinique with a general cargo.
Greek freighter SS STENIMACHOS, 1,175 tons, Algiers to Bordeaux with an unlisted cargo.
Saltzwedel's score is now 22 ships and 36,389 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

Durban, South Africa:
HMFM TRENT reports five men still absent without leave. In the afternoon one man returns to the ship "drunk and knsolent".
1630 Two more men "broke out of the ship".
23:00 Two of the AWOL men retturn to the ship.

Day 909 of the Great War, January 24th 1917

Eastern Front

Further German advance in hard fighting near Lake Babit. Russians fall back.

Near Riga, German forces counterattack Russian lines, forcing them to retreat 1.5 miles. 1500 Russians are captured.

Romanian Campaign

In Romania, Russian troops counterattack and destroy the Bulgarian beachhead established across the Danube. 337 Bulgarians are captured.

East Africa Campaign

German force of 289 officers and men surrenders at Likuju (German East Africa).

Germany: German Winter Railway Chaos

The Hindenburg Program, implemented last month, called for a complete dedication of the German economy to the war effort. However, as with many central planning initatives, it was highly inefficient and failed to take into account the limits of Germany’s infrastructure and the needs of the civilian economy. A large amount of resources (especially coal), manpower, and rail capacity went towards the construction of new armaments factories, many of which could not even be completed.

The Hindenburg Program also did not account for the weather. The winter of 1917 was particularly harsh, freezing up canals vital for internal transportation. Ice also began affecting the railway system starting on January 24, preventing any extra traffic from using the rails. As war-related needs were prioritized, transport of civilian goods and food suffered. Food supplies were already low due to the Allied blockade and an exceptionally poor potato harvest last year; combined with incomplete rationing, resulted in deprivation, especially in the cities. The winter of 1917 would be known as the “Turnip Winter” in Germany, as turnips (largely seen as animal feed) began to be substituted for potatoes in German diets.

Hindenburg acknowledged the shortages, and appealed to agricultural workers to spare more food, especially meat, at least for munitions workers–but this appeal only resulted in an extra quarter-pound of meat (total) for each munitions worker in the country over the whole winter. Food began to be the chief preoccupation of city-dwellers. Many took off into the countryside as soon as they could on Fridays to buy (or steal) food from farmers at increasingly-exorbitant prices, increasing distrust between urban and rural populations.

In Austria, the winter was even worse, despite the lack of a similar “Hindenburg Program” there. Hungary largely kept its food supplies to itself, and Austrian harvests were poor as its main breadbasket in Galicia had been ravaged by war and Russian invasion; many of its inhabitants had fled to Vienna and other Austrian cities. As the winter continued, these hungry refugees (many of whom were Jewish) began to be used as scapegoats for the lack of food and high prices (now six times above pre-war levels).

Greece

Greek Government formally apologises to Allies for events of 1 December 1916.

United Kingdom: Allied Conference on Mediterranean Naval Strategy

British, French, and Italian admirals gathered in London in late January, 1917, to coordinate naval strategy in the Mediterranean. There, Allied ships engaged in a war-long blockade of the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the Adriatic, while also patrolling for Austrian and German submarines. Britain’s fleet guarded the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, with France in overall command of the theatre. The Italian fleet stayed relatively inactive at Taranto the whole war, to the annoyance of Royal Navy and French officers. Japanese destroyers joined the Allied patrols in April. No major fleet actions happened in the Mediterranean, but ships there partook in occasional battles with Austrian torpedo boats, or especially submarines.

Aerial operations: The carnage continues

After yesterday’s loss it was another tough day for 41 Squadron RFC. Just before midday, Sergeant Cecil S Tooms, shot down an Albatros Scout out of control east of Zonnebeke and about an hour later he claimed a Roland Scout. He did not live long enough to celebrate as at about 1550 he was shot down and killed in FE8 (6417). Vitzfeldwebel Alfred Ulmer from Jasta 8 made the claim.

His colleague Lieutenant A Denison was also shot down in FE8 6453. He was wounded in forearm, but made a forced landing and survived. He too had earlier claimed to have shot down a Roland Scout which crashed east of Ypres.

Ulmer then claimed another victory this time over Lieutenants Thomas Frederick Preston and Charles Melvill Buck from 53 Squadron RFC who were on a photographic mission in a BE2e (6308). The aircraft crashed near Warneton and both crew were killed.

A dogfight ensued between Jasta 11 and members of 25 Squadron RFC on a photography mission. Captain Oscar Greig and 2nd Lieutenant John Eric MacLennan in an FE2b (6997) were brought down behind enemy lines near Vimy and taken prisoner. Leutnant Manfred von Richthofen claimed the victory though it was probably more of a group effort. Their colleagues, 2nd Lieutenants William Drummond Matheson and Ernest George Green got a modicum of revenge when they shot down one of the attackers, an Albatros Scout. Later in the day, 2nd Lieutenants James Leith Leith and Alfred George Severs also from 25 Squadron claimed another Albatros Scout destroyed – Leith’s 3rd victory with three different observers.

Lieutenant Stanley Flamank Vincent from 60 Squadron RFC shot down an enemy two-seater out of control near Monchy.

Captain Harry Alison Wood and 2nd Lieutenant Alfred Edwin McKay from 24 Squadron RFC forced down an Albatros C behind the lines. The crew, Unteroffizier Max August Delklock and Leutnant Ernst Bury were taken prisoner.

8 Squadron RNAS got into a tangle with aircraft from Jasta 1. Flight Commander Colin Roy Mackenzie DSO failed to return and was claimed shot down by Leutnant Hans von Keudell of Jasta 1 for his 11th victory. Mackenzie had been at Winchester College with Charles Melvill Buck.

Sergeant Frederick Nicolas Slingsby from 6 Squadron RFC had a lucky escape when his pilot 2nd Lieutenant Eric Gordon Waters was shot dead during a dogfight. Luckily the BE2g (7175) he was flying had dual controls and he was able to land safely.

Aerial operations: Airships support the fleet

Grand Fleet Battle Orders were issued today by the Admiralty. For the first time, these included orders for naval airships in an attempt to counter German U-boats and Zeppelins

The orders provide that airships of the ‘Coastal’ or ‘North Sea’ type, should provide a screen whenever the the Grand Fleet leaves its bases in Scotland by daylight.

More specifically the Commander-in-Chief has ordered that all available airships from Scottish airfields Kirkwall, Longside, and East Fortune, are to rendezvous with the Fleet if the Fleet concentration is west of longitude 2° E.

The airships will be informed of the course and speed of the Fleet and are to scout ahead and to the flanks of the light cruiser screen. If U-boats are sighted, their positions are to be reported, and the airships are to attack with bombs if possible. If enemy airships are sighted, the British airships were to fall back on the light cruiser line.

Naval operations: North Sea

Heinrich Jeß, commanding U-79, takes Norwegian freighter SS NANNA, 1,125 tons, as a prize. It is later released by the Prize Court.

Ernst Rosenow, in UC-29, stops and scuttles Norwegian coaster SS SUNNIVA, 589 tons, bound from Göteborg for Hull with a load of wood pulp and iron. Rosenow's score is now 3 ships and 5,675 tons.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, sinks 6 Allied vessels of varying size:
Danish freighter SS DAN, 1,869 tons, carrying a load of phosphates from Sfax to Nantes.
French fishing vessels GLADIATEUR, 23 tons.
French pilot cutter LOIRE III, 27 tons.
French pilot boat MARIE 3, 25 tons.
French freighter SS QUEBEC, 3,346 tons; hit a mine laid by UC-21.
Danish brig VEGA, 195 tons, en route from Liverpool to Saint Nazaire with a load of pitch; scuttled.
Saltzwedel's score is now 28 ships and 41,874 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

Aboard HMFM TRENT the engine room hands refuse as a group to go on duty. When the captain musters the crew the deck hands also refuse duty until crew vacancies are filled. the engine room crew refuse to go back on duty until three more firemen can be signed on and the two imprisoned crew mambers are released.
That afternoon the prisoners are all released.

Naval operations: Atlantic Ocean

German raider SMS SEEADLER captures and scuttles French schooner PERCE, 364 tons. Seeadler's score is now 4 ships and 8,926 tons.

Day 911 of the Great War, January 26th 1917

YouTube (Nivelle's Spring Offensive - Royal Conspiracy In Greece)



Western Front

German troops attack several miles of trenches near Verdun, but most gains, except at Hill 304, are reversed by a French counterattack.

Mesopotamian campaign

British recapture lost trenches near Kut.

France

French government restricts the number of courses restaurants can serve to 4 (hors d’oeuvres or soup, 2 mains, and cheese or dessert).

Netherlands

Dutch government bans armed merchantmen in the Dutch colonies, unless they are carrying food.

United Kingdom

British labour unions unanimously adopt a resolution urging a creation of an “international league” to maintain peace after the war.

Russia: Russia Responds to Wilson’s Speech

The autocratic Russian regime was not viewed especially favorably in the United States, or by President Wilson. It was likely one of the reasons why Wilson had gone out of his way, in his both his recent speech to the Senate and his December note to the belligerents, to say that both sides were roughly equal in the loftiness (or lack thereof) of their cause and their war aims. On January 26, Russia responded, attempting to deflect these implicit criticisms.

Russia embraced Wilson’s proposal for a free Poland after the war, with territories drawn from Russia, Germany, and Austria, and with access to the sea. They especially embraced this last aspect, noting how Russia continued to struggle for proper access to the sea (hoping, perhaps, for Wilson’s endorsement of Russian access to the Turkish Straits). Russia also endorsed Wilson’s proposal to limit the arms race (which Russia had also favored before the war). Wilson’s more pointed statement, that “No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not recognized and accept the principle that governments derive all their just powers from the consent of the governed,” was left noticeably unanswered by the Czar.

Aerial operations: Buzz, buzz, buzz

The Royal Navy have been attempting to solve the problems of directing bombardments from ships.

The first problem, which had been brought out during the experiments made with Revenge in the previous year, was the need for wireless reception in the aircraft. This was overcome largely through the enthusiastic work of Lieutenant C. W. Nutting and his brother officers in the HMS Riviera.

The second was the need for a practical method of identifying the shots from each separate ship. This was solved following a simple suggestion made by Flight Lieutenant Harry Stewart, also of the Riviera.

He suggested that the air observer should buzz on his wireless at the precise moment when he saw the shell explode and then follow this signal with his spotting correction. In the ship the procedure was as follows. The control officer noted the time when his gun fired and, since he knew the time of flight, noted also when the shell might be expected to burst. When the buzz from the aeroplane was heard in the ships, each control officer compared the time it was received with his expected time of burst and, if they coincided, knew at once that the spotting correction which followed referred to his gun. To minimise the confusion which would result if two or more ships fired at the same moment, a slight time interval between the fire from each gun was essential. Twenty seconds proved sufficient and was normally adopted.

Today the system was deployed for the first time operationally as one observer registered fire for five monitors firing together in a bombardment of gun positions near Westende.

Naval operations: Ireland

British freighter SS AVA, 5,076 tons, departs Liverpool for Dakar with a load of coal and general cargo, and is not heard from again. Presumed torpedoed but there are no matching German claims. 92 crew lost.

Erich Sittenfeld, commanding U-45, captures British freighter SS TABASCO, 2,987 tons, bound from Halifax for Liverpool with a general cargo. After the crew abandon ship Tabasco is sunk with a torpedo. Sittenfeld's score is now 10 ships and 12,056 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Carl-Siegried von Georg, in U-57, sinks Italian freighter SS BISAGNO, 2,252 tons, travelling from Garrucha to Barrow with a load of iron ore. His score is now 29 ships and 29,027 tons.

Naval operations: Skagerrak

Willy Petz, in U-85, sinks Norwegian freighter SS DICAX, 923 tons. carrying a load of milled boards from Fredrikstad to Garston; west of Ryvingen. This is Petz's first sinking.

Naval operations: South Africa

British freighter SS MATHERAN, 7,654 tons, hits a mine laid by German raider SMS WOLF off Dassen Island.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

Aboard HMFM TRENT the naval guard is releaved by the ship's guard force. Ten men are released from prison and returned to the ship. On his return one man starts a quarrel with two men who did not refuse duty.
At 1620 Trent leaves the quay and moves to a mooring buoy in the bay.

Day 913 of the Great War, January 28th 1917

Eastern Front

Taking advantage of the cold weather, Russian troops manage to advance 2 miles against the Germans in Bukovina.

Mesopotamian campaign

Considerable progress by British on right bank of Tigris south-west of Kut.

United Kingdom

British government announces it has completed mining operations in a 100-mile zone along the entire German North Sea coast.

Germany/United States relations: Last-Ditch Effort to Stop the U-Boats

German Ambassador Bernstorff, in Washington, desperately wanted to keep the United States out of the war. He had been doing his utmost to further Wilson’s plan for a negotiated peace, and renewed his efforts after Wilson’s “Peace Without Victory” speech on the 22nd and subsequent meetings with Col. House. Bernstorff knew time was of the essence; he knew the submarines were to be unleashed on February 1, and any rapprochement with America was doomed to fail after that. On January 27, he sent a telegram to Foreign Minister Zimmermann:

If only we had confidence in him, the President was convinced that he would be able to bring about peace conferences. He would be particularly pleased if Your Excellency were at the same time to declare that we are prepared to enter peace conference on the basis of his appeal….If the U-boat campaign is opened now without further ado, the President will regard this as a smack in the face and war with the United States will be inevitable.

On the other hand, if we acquiesce in Wilson’s proposal and plans come to grief on the stubbornness of our enemies, it would be very hard for the President to come into the war against us even if by that time we begin unrestricted submarine war. It is only a matter of postponing the declaration for a little while….I am of the opinion that we shall obtain a better peace now by means of conferences, than we should if the United States joined the ranks of our enemies…. In spite of all statements to the contrary, American war resources are very great.

The message, sent on US State Department cables, was not received in Berlin until January 28. Zimmermann, however, was with the Kaiser in Pless. Foreign Office officials pleaded with him on the phone, and Chancellor Bethmann, departed personally for Pless that evening, arriving early the next morning.

Zimmermann, Bethmann, the Kaiser, Hindenburg & Ludendorff, and Navy representatives met at Pless the next day. The Navy informed them that postponing the submarines was at this point impossible; with only three days until the offensive, many had already left port and were on their way to their stations for the start of the offensive. It is dubious that there was no way to recall them by wireless (or manage the fallout if one or two could not be so contacted), but this was accepted by everyone at Pless. The Kaiser, who was by now committed to the U-boats, told them:

Now, once and for all, an end to negotiations with America. If Wilson wants war, let him make it, and let him then have it!

Aerial operations: Junkers J.I ground attack aircraft makes its first flight

The Junkers J.I ground attack aircraft makes its first flight. This is an armored all-metal aircraft, with the flying controls activated by push-rods rather than the usual cables. J.I is the military designation for the plane. The Junkers in-house model number is J.4, and it should not be confused with the model J.I monoplane that made its first flight in December 1915.

Aerial operations: Chief Test Pilot killed

Disaster struck at the Royal Aircraft Factory today when Chief test pilot Frank Goodden was killed in a flying accident. He was testing one of the first prototypes of the SE5, which he had designed with Henry Folland and John Kenworthy.

At the inquest a witness described how Goodden’s aircraft was seen to be making a slow turn when the wings on the left side appeared to collapse, the aircraft side-slipped, and then nose-dived vertically to the ground with the wings folded up. The coroner returned a verdict of Accidental Death. An inspection discovered that the wings had suffered failure in downward torsion. Plywood webs were then added to the compression ribs, curing the problem, and were standardized on all later versions of the aircraft.

Frank Goodden Had joined the staff of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough as a civilian test pilot on 7 August 1914, immediately after the declaration of war. He had previously been involved in balloon an heavier than air flying, getting his RAeC certificate on 3 June 1913.

He made the first flights of several aircraft, including the F.E.6 (14 November 1914), F.E.2a (26 January 1915), S.E.4 (25 June 1915), B.E.9 (14 August 1915) and F.E.8 (15 October 1915). In January 1916 he was appointed head of the Experimental Flying Department.

While remaining attached to the Royal Aircraft Factory Goodden was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the Royal Flying Corps on 13 February 1915, and appointed a flying officer the same day. He was confirmed in his rank on 5 March. On 15 February 1916 Goodden, now a lieutenant, was appointed a flight commander with the acting rank of captain, and on 23 October 1916 he was appointed a squadron commander with the acting rank of major.

In the late summer of 1916, reports had filtered back to the Factory that the F.E.8 was involved in a series of spinning accidents and that the type was acquiring a reputation as a dangerous aircraft. To disprove this, Goodden deliberately spun an F.E.8 three times in both directions from an altitude of no more than 3,500 feet (1,100 m) and recovered by applying what has since become the customary control inputs.

Naval operations: North Sea

Three ships hit mines laid by Matthias von Schmettow in UC-26:
Norwegian freighter SS ARGO, 1,261 tons, bound from Hull for Rouen with a load of coal.
Russian freighter SS EGRET, 4,055 tons, travelling from Achangelsk for London with a load of timeber.
Norwegian coaster SS HEIMLANDI, 505 tons, carrying a load of coal from Newcastle to Saint Nazaire.
Von Schmettow's score is now 65 ships and 98,182 tons.
Bay of Biscay:
Hans Rose, in U-53, sinks Spanish freighter SS NUEVA MONTANA, 2,039 tons, carrying a load of iron ore from Santander to Tyne Dock. His score is now 9 ships and 28,813 tons.

Hans Nieland, in U-67, sinks Danish freighter SS DAISY, 1,227 tons, travelling from Arzew to Preston with a load of esparto grass. His score is now 13 ships and 10,653 tons.

Naval operations: Spain

Hellmuth Jürst, in U-43, sinks Portuguese freighter SS FOZ DO DOURO, 1,677 tons, en route from Lisbon to the UK with a load of pit props. His score is now 16 ships and 35,845 tons.
Jürst also captures Norwegian freighter SS FULTON, 1,034 tons, travelling from Huelva to Nantes with a load of ore, and puts a prize crew on board.

Naval operations: Ionian Sea

Leading U-boat ace Walter Forstmann, in U-39, topedoes French passenger/cargo ship SS AMIRAL MAGON, 5,566 tons, carrying troops and supplies from Marseilles to Salonica, causing the laus of 203 lives. Forstmann's score is now 141 ships and 289,283 tons.

Photo: French passenger/cargo ship SS AMIRAL MAGON



Naval operations: Bulgaria

Russian river steamer SS IZMAIL, 393 tons, travelling the Danube River, is wrecked at Tshoroh Su during a storm.

Naval operations: Cape Town, South Africa

Old cruiser HMS HYACINTH returns to Simonstown, to take up patrol duties there.

Day 915 of the Great War, January 30th 1917

Western Front

South of Leintrey (Lorraine) French soldiers penetrate to German second line, destroying the garrison and taking prisoners. Further small success south-west of Leintrey.

Eastern Front

Between Tirul swamp and River Aa (Riga) strong German attack succeeds in one sector, 900 Russians taken prisoner.

East of Jakobeny (southern Bukovina) Russians assault and capture important hill fortifications taking over 1,000 prisoners.

Norway

Norway forbids submarines in territorial waters.

United Kingdom: Family Known For Hiding Draft Evaders Arrested for Conspiracy to Kill PM

Conscientious objectors were not treated well by the British Army; seen as shirking their national duty, those who found even non-combat duty in support of the war to be morally objectionable were subject to arrest and mistreatment. The Wheeldon family in Derby, avowed pacifists, began providing aid and shelter to conscientious objectors on the run from the draft. MI5 did not take kindly to this, and tried to form a case against them.

One of MI5′s agents, Alexander Gordon pretended to be a conscientious objector, and took refuge with the Wheeldons in December 1916; he apparently told them that the work camps for conscientious objectors were guarded by vicious dogs. Gordon’s testimony against them is presumably very unreliable; he had previously been declared criminally insane and had escaped from Broadmoor in 1914.

In late January, a package containing curare and strychnine being delivered to the Wheeldons was intercepted by MI5. They were arrested on January 30, under charges that they planned to use the strychnine to poison the guard dogs that Gordon had told them about. As for the curare, it was alleged that the Wheeldons planned to use it to murder PM Lloyd George, by shooting him with a poison dart fired from an air rifle while he was playing golf.

Aerial operations: 2 Squadron AFC arrive

2 Squadron Australian Flying Corps arrived in at Harlaxton in England today to begin their final training for service at the front.

The Squadron was formed on 20 September 1916 at the RFC training school in Kantara, Egypt from elements of 1 Squadron AFC and volunteers serving with local Australian forces there. Their commanding officer is Major Walter Oswald Watt.

Watt was the first Australian to get a flying certificate back in 1911. At the outbreak of war he was in Paris working for the Blériot Company and immediately offered his service and his Blériot IX to the French. He joined the Aviation Militaire section of the Foreign Legion as a pilot. He transferred to 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps in March 1916. Watt was appointed Co of 2 Squadron AFC on its formation in September 1916.

The Squadron joins 1 Squadron AFC (67 (Australian) Squadron RFC) serving in Egypt, 3 Squadron AFC (69 (Australian) Squadron RFC) currently training for the front in England and 4 Squadron AFC (70 (Australian) Squadron RFC) currently en route to England from Australia.

As with the other Australian squadrons, The RFC have dubbed them 68 (Australian) Squadron RFC – though again this title is not formally recognised by the Australians.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Wilhelm Werner, commanding U-55, sinks a British fishing fleet with his deck gun, just north of Cornwall:
Smack EUONYMUS, 60 tons.
Smack HELENA AND SAMUEL, 59 tons.
Smack MERIT, 39 tons.
Smack TREVONE, 46 tons.
Smack W.A.H., 47 tons.
Smack WETHERILL, 46 tons.
Also sunk is Belgian trawler MARCELLE, 219 tons.
Werner's score is now 17 vessels and 25,433 tons.

Day 917 of the Great War, February 1st 1917

Western Front

Near Wytschaete Germans in white overalls attack British positions, but are beaten off with heavy casualties.

Near Grandcourt (Somme) strong enemy attempt to rush British trenches driven off.

North-east of Gueudecourt (Somme) British raid enemy trenches, taking 56 prisoners.

Photo: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales addressing the 8th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment at an inspection near Beaussart on 1 February 1917



Photo: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales inspecting the 8th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment near Beaussart on 1 February 1917



Photo: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales watching the march past of the 8th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment near Beaussart on 1 February 1917



Eastern Front

15 miles south of Halicz (Galicia) Germans in white overalls break through Russian lines but are ejected by counter-attack.

Russian forces west of Riga are able to check German advances through the use of armored cars.

Mesopotamian campaign

Unlike in France, where winter stalled the largest operations, the cold months meant a resumption of fighting in the Middle East. In Mesopotamia, British and Indian forces probed the Ottoman positions on the Tigris. Newly led by Major-General Stanley Maude, the British hoped to recapture Kut, site of the humiliating surrender in 1916 of a British army in spring 1916. The fall of Kut would mean the renewal of an advance on Baghdad. Attacking from the low-lying plain of the River Hal, south of Kut, British forces bypassed most of the Ottoman forces on the Tigris and began methodically to drive the Turks up the river.

Map: Operations around Kut, late 1916/early 1917



Aerial operations: Burns day

In Mesopotamia, the British Forces have been carrying out an assault on the Hai salient. The Turkish front lines were captured on 25 January. On 27 January, ‘C Flight of No. 30 Squadron, which specializes in the artillery co-operation work moved forward to a landing-ground at Sinn Abtar to direct the fire of the artillery on the Turkish batteries and trenches and on fleeting targets, and report the progress of the operations.

Today, the troops were assembled ready to attack the Turkish third line. Lieutenant James Rattray Burns of 30 Squadron RFC was engaged in registering the artillery on enemy gun-pits preparatory to the assault when he was attacked by a German Fokker. He quickly dispatched the Fokker with only five shots, the aircraft crashing near the Turkish line, killing the pilot. Burns was unharmed.

By all accounts the victory was a tonic tot he troops about to advance.

Naval operations: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Begins

Only hours after its announcement, the U-boats began their campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking merchant ships without warning. The Germans and Austrians had 105 U-boats in service (though only 44 would be at sea at any one time), and with about the same number under repair or construction. Nearly three-quarters of these were in the Atlantic, based out of Germany or Belgium; the rest were continuing the successful campaign in the Mediterranean.

The first day of the campaign did not see any sharp uptick in the numbers or tonnage of ships sunk; six ships were sunk by submarines on February 1, compared to seven the previous day. However, the approach was more direct, and two neutral ships (the Dutch GAMMA and the Norwegian JERV) were torpedoed without warning. The new approach also made it more difficult for Q-ships to counter the submarine threat. In fact, one of the first victims of the submarine offensive was the former Q-ship INVERLYON, which had sunk a U-boat in 1915; now once again a fishing boat, she was quickly sunk by shellfire.

More effective, however, was the deterrent effect the campaign had on shipping, as Holtzendorff had hoped. Over the course of February, over 600 neutral ships simply refused to leave British ports, for fear of being torpedoed; others refused to depart neutral ports for Britain, as well. The cutoff in neutral trade added to the already-grave submarine threat. Eleven days prior, Jellicoe had already written the War Cabinet, saying:

The position is exceedingly grave….[We have] to determine how long we can continue to carry on the war if the losses of merchant shipping continue at the present rate.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Wilhelm Werner, commanding U-55, sinks three British vessels just north of Cornwall:
Fishing smack ADA, 24 tons; scuttled.
Smack INVERLYON, 59 tons; deck gun.
Coaster SS ESSONITE, 589 tons, bound from Carnarvon for Rochester with a load of stone.
Werner's score is now 23 vessels and 28,712 tons.

Friedrich Moecke, in UC-46, torpedoes Dutch freighter SS Gamma, 2,115 tons, en route from New York to Amsterdam with a load of linseed cake. His score is now 10 ships and 16,457 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Claus Lafrenz, in UB-18, attacks British sailing vessel WELLHOME, 113 tons, north of Ouistreham, France. According to Der Handelskrieg mit U-Booten, by Arno Spendler, Wellhome was sunk, but according to Lloyd's only damaged.

Naval operations: North Sea

Herbert Breyer, in UC-32, torpedoes Norwegian freighter SS JERV, 1,112 tons, travelling in ballast from Rouen to Tees, north of Flamborough Head. His score is now 5 ships and 5,686 tons.

Norwegian freighter SS PORTIA, 1,127 tons, carrying a load of coal from Sunderland to Bilbao, hits a mine laid off Flamborough Head by Paul Hundius in UC-47. His score is now 7 ahips and 9,582 tons.

Photo: HMS IRON DUKE taking in stores



Photo: A destroyer alongside British battleship HMS IRON DUKE. Two of IRON DUKE'S 13.5-inch guns are visible



Photo: A Destroyer alongside HMS IRON DUKE



Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Hans Nieland, in U-67, stops and scuttles Spanish freighter SS BUTRON, 2,434 tons, carrying a load of Iron from Bilbao to Cardiff. His score is now 15 ships and 14,129 tons.

French freighter SS SAINTE HELENE, 2,128 tons, en route from Port Talbot to Bordeaux with a load of coal, hits a mine laid off the Gironde Estuary near La Coubre by Reinhold Saltzwedel in UC-21. His score is now 30 ships and 46,633 tons.