The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 950 of the Great War, March 7th 1917

Mesopotamian campaign: British Troops Reach Outskirts of Baghdad

After capturing Kut and avenging last year’s defeat, Britain’s Mesopotamian army, commanded by General Frederick Maude, advanced on its primary objective, Baghdad. With 50,000 Indian and British troops, Maude advanced on the Ottoman Sixth Army. The Ottoman force was half as large as its enemy and had suffered greatly after slipping away from Kut, although General Khalil Pasha had done a good job avoiding being surrounded. British soldiers crossed the Diyala River on March 7, near where Khalil had chosen to make his defense of the city.

Photo: British soldiers near Baghdad, March 1917



Italy

Italy will begin arming merchant ships and give award money prizes to those who sink or disable submarines.

United States

Recruiting for W.A.A.C. temporarily completed. 114,803 enrolled for National Service to date.

France

National manifestation at Sorbonne, Paris, for triumph of right.

Austria-Hungary

Austrian Minister of War orders 17 and 18 year-old males to report immediately for military service.

Aerial operations: No aeroplanes will be fired at

Such is the demand for trained personnel at the front, that the War Office continues to explore ways and means still further to reduce the number of pilots and aeroplanes allotted to home defence.

Despite the continuing threat from enemy airships and now aircraft, extraordinary order was issued today by Lord French, Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, Home Forces. The order stated that:

“No aeroplanes or seaplanes, even if recognized as hostile, will be fired at, either by day or night, except by those anti-aircraft guns situated near the Restricted Coast Area which are ‘specially detailed for the purpose.”

The result of this order is that defences, outside the coastal areas, no longer need to be manned by day, and it is possible to make a considerable reduction in the home-defence
gun-detachments.

It appears that many commanders did not expect this to last once the weather improved. For example, the Anti-Aircraft Defence Commander, London, continued to prepare his plans to meet possible aeroplane attacks for immediate issue if and when the order not to fire should be cancelled.

Aerial operations: A bridge at Sumaika

Out in Mesopotamia 30 Squadron RFC today attempted to cut the railway north of Baghdad in order to prevent the enemy from evacuating his guns and military stores towards Samarra.

Lieutenants John Stephen Windsor and Robert Kay Morris flew two officers of the Royal
Engineers, carrying charges of dynamite, to a bridge at Sumaika, forty miles north of Baghdad.

They landed safely near the bridge, but Arab horsemen appeared before the engineers could reach the structure. They quickly realized that the charges of explosive they carried would be insufficient to destroy the bridge, which was made of reinforced concrete, and the Arabs riding down on them there wasn’t much chance of reaching the bridge in any case. They therefore rushed back to the aeroplanes, which got safely into the air. The two pilots then scattered the party of Arabs with machine-gun fire.

Naval operations: North Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland

Paul Wagenfür, commanding U-44, torpedoes French freighter SS OHIO, 8,719 tons, bound from New York for Le Havre with a general cargo, inluding copper, cotton, meat and vehicles. His score is now 15 ships and 47,988 tons.

Erwin Sebelin, in UC-43, sinks British freighter SS BARON WEYMSS, 1,605 tons, carrying a general cargo from Huelva to Clyde. His score is now 11 ships and 13,131 tons.

Naval operations: Ireland

Kurt Tebbenjohanns, in UC-44. sinks Norwegian freighter SS ADALANDS, 1,577 tons, en route from Rufisque to Hull with a load of ground nuts; off Fastnet.
Meanwhile British freighter SS WESTWICK, 5,694 tons, hits a mine laid by UC-44 off the Roche's Point Lighthouse.
Tebbenjohanns' score is now 9 ships and 9,283 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Berndt Buß, in U-48, attacks Norwegian freighter SS NAVARRA, 1,261 tons, en route from Goteborg to Nantes with aload of paper and wood pulp. First he fires a torpedo, which misses, then he sinks her with his deck gun. The ship is listed as Missing until March 13, when a lifeboat washes up on the Scilly Islands. All 19 crew lost. His score is now 21 ships and 52,613 tons.

British freighter SS ANTONIO, 2,652 tons, carrying a load of hay from Barry to Cherbourg, hits a mine laid off Dartmouth by Ralph Wenninger in UC-17. His score is now 55 ships and 47,560 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Wilhelm Barten, in UC-76, opens his U-Boat career with the sinking of two British trawlers off the Orkney Islands:
NAAMAH, 269 tons.
VULCANA, 219 tons.
Barten's opening score is 2 vessels and 488 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

After six days at sea HMFM TRENT arrives at Durban with the one surviving lighter in tow. At 1108 a harbour pilot boards the liner and tugboat ESCOMBE takes over the task of towing the lighter into the harbour. At 1240 TRENT ties up at 'A' Shed for coaling.

Day 952 of the Great War, March 9th 1917

YouTube (The Russian February Revolution 1917)



Western Front: D’Esperey Begs Nivelle To Let Him Attack Withdrawing Germans

By early March it had become obvious to many on the front that the Germans were withdrawing on a large scale. In addition to small-scale retreats in their most vulnerable positions, attacks by the British had met with little resistance. This convinced General Franchet D’Esperey, commanding French forces on the Somme, that they should attack immediately, allowing them to easily break through the weakened German lines, cause extensive chaos, and capture whatever artillery had not yet been withdrawn. He also (incorrectly) believed that this would throw off German plans for an upcoming (nonexistent) offensive in Lorraine.

From March 4th onwards, Franchet D’Esperey begged Nivelle for permission to attack. On March 9th, he pleaded with Nivelle for the few tanks the French had, knowing that they could be deployed quickly, cause havoc, and, as the German artillery was withdrawing, be far less vulnerable than normal. This request was denied by Nivelle, who was stubbornly attached to his current plan and refused to change it in any fashion or be drawn into another attack on the Somme. He had written two days earlier, in response to a previous request by Franchet D’Esperey:

There is no material indication which allows one to conclude that the voluntary withdrawal of the Germans will extend to this region. There seems little likelihood that the enemy will abandon without fighting, and indeed without resisting to the utmost…the line nearest Paris….In any case it is impossible to base a decision on a hypothesis.

Despite this, Nivelle, realizing that his planned offensive might not end the war immediately, ordered on March 9th 1000 light tanks of a new design to be constructed by Renault. These light tanks would hopefully not run into the same difficulties that the British tanks had had on the Somme.

Mesopotamian campaign

Passage of Diala forced: British advance on Baghdad.

Persian campaign

Russians attack retreating Turks near Sivas (Asia Minor).

Russian scouts advance south-west from Sakis; Sinnah (Persian Kurdistan) captured.

General retreat of Turks in Persia.

Russian troops invite Persian Government to resume possession of towns occupied by Russians in Persia.

France

World shortage of wheat foreshadowed by French Chamber.

United Kingdom

Lord Devenport sanctions maximum food prices.

Russia

Food problem at Petrograd becomes urgent.

Around 200,000 protestors flood the streets of St. Petersburg, demanding the end to the war and overthrow of the Tsar.

Netherlands/German relations

Dutch authorities officially notified by Germany that safety is guaranteed for shipping along a strip of North Sea from Holland to Norway.

Aerial operations: 40 Squadron mauled

40 Squadron RFC were on the end of what was clearly a pre-planned joint operation by Jasta 11 and anti-aircraft gunners on the ground near Oppy. The RFC communiqué reported:

“…nine FE8s of 40 Squadron, whilst patrolling over Oppy in the morning, were unusually heavily fired at by anti-aircraft guns for about five minutes. Two hostile aircraft appeared well to the east of the patrol. The anti-aircraft fire suddenly ceased and eight or more hostile machines dived from above the clouds onto the FE patrol. Apparently the two machines, the anti-aircraft and the formation of hostile aircraft were working in accordance with a pre-arranged plan. In the combat that ensued at least one hostile machine was destroyed. Three of our machines failed to return and the remainder were badly shot about. One FE just succeeded in reaching our lines when it burst into flames. The pilot, who had been twice wounded, jumped from the machine. The fight lasted for about half an hour.”

The first to go down was 2nd Lieutenant T Shepard in FE8 6456 who was claimed by Leutnant Kurt Wolff. He landed behind enemy lines and was taken prisoner. Shortly after this, Leutnant Karl Allmenroder severely damaged 2nd Lieutenant Rupert Ernest Neve’s FE8 6399. He fled for the lines and had just crossed them when the aircraft burst into flames and Neve was forced to jump from the aircraft. Remarkably he survived through he was seriously injured.

After this, Leutnant Karl Schaeffer shot down 2nd Lieutenant William Brading Hills in FE8 6397 and then Lieutenant Geoffrey Frank Haseler in FE8 A4874. Both men were taken prisoner.

A hostile machine was claimed by 2nd Lieutenant Henry Cuthbert Todd before his FE8 6425 was shot up and he made a forced landing behind the lines. Lieutenant William Morrice in FE8 7836 suffered a similar fate.

Manfred von Richthofen made up for failing to score in this battle by shooting down in flames 2nd Lieutenant Arthur John Pearson MC from 29 Squadron in DH2 A2571. Pearson was killed.

The disaster resulted in the immediate replacement of the remaining FE8s with Nieuports. 41 Squadron RFC was the only unit left flying the obsolete FE8.

Naval operations: Scotland

Erwin Sebelin, in UC-43, sinks Danish schooner LAURITS, 183 tons, bound from Valencia for Copenhagen with a load of oilcake. His score is now 12 ships and 13,314 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Deep

Otto Wünsche, in U-70, captures British barque INVERLOGIE, 2,347 tons, en route from Barry to Archangelsk with a load of coal, and sinks her with a torpedo; off the Smalls Lighthouse. His score is now 44 ships and 61,724 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Victor Dieckmann, in U-63, stops Norwegian barque SPARTAN, 2,287 tons, heading from New York tp Liverpool with a load of petroleum, and sinks her with a torpedo. His score is now 12 ships and 13,585 tons.

Hans Rose, in U-53, sinks two Allied ships:
Italian freighter SS CAVOUR, 1,929 tons, steaming from Clyde to Genoa with a load of coal.
Norwegian freighter SS LARS FOSTENES, 2,118 tons, carrying a general cargo from New York to Rotterdam.
His score is now 23 ships and 49,440 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Berndt Buß, in U-48, sinks two ships:
British schooner ABEJA, 174 tons, travelling in ballast from Granville to Fowey, is sunk with the deck gun 20 miles southwest of Start Point.
British freighter SS EAST POINT, 5,234 tons, en route from London to Philadelphia with a general cargo. U-48 torpedoes EAST POINT off the Eddystone Lighthouse. The ship will later sink, with no casualties, but for now continues on her way. Buß returns to periscope depth and U-48 is rammed in the conning tower by EAST POINT, apparently accidentally. The conning tower hatch is forced open and the torpedo officer and one sailor drop into the control room. Buß and Steuermann Adolf Bergmann are both rendered unconscious and nothing can be done as the sea is pouring into the control room. The lower hatch is sealed and the two offiers are drowned when the boat sinks and the conning tower floods. U-48 sinks out of control and hits bottom at 70 metres. After some repairs the crew, now led by Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve Hinrich Hermann Hashagen, manage to get her to 50 metres. In the evening they surface and make repairs as best they can. Berndt Buß and Adolf Bergmann are buried at sea. On a test dive it is discovered that the conning tower is still flooding, but at a slow enough rate that the boat is controllable under water. The voyage home is begun.
Buß' final score is 21 ships and 52,613 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

British destroyer HMS ALBACORE, 440 tons, hits a mine laid by Kurt Tebbenjohanns in UC-44. The damaged ship makes port and is repaired.

Wilhelm Barten, in UC-76, sinks British freighter SS DANA, 753 tons, carrying a load of condensed milk from Christiania to Hull, off Sumbrough Head in the Shetland Islands. His score is now 3 ships and 1,241 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

No sooner is HFMF TRENT back in harbour than one of her crew deserts. Meanwhile the local police return two other deserters and arrest two more men. At 1047 TRENT is dispatched to aid SS BARON MINTO, which has run afoul of the lighter which was lost and believed sunk four days earlier.

Day 954 of the Great War, March 11th 1917

Western Front

Continuous air fighting; loss of 26 Allied and enemy machines reported.

Eastern Front

Russian gas attack east of Mitau.

Mesopotamia campaign: The Fall of Baghdad

Since the British crossed the Tigris above Kut in late February, the Turks had been conducting a fighting retreat back to Baghdad. They were heavily outnumbered, however, and without the advantage of well-prepared positions, and the loss of Baghdad seemed inevitable. The only thing that could spare them at this point would have been British political misgivings; Maude’s orders did not allow him to make an advance on Baghdad, recognizing that Townshend’s premature push in 1915 had caused the disaster at Kut. Even if Maude could take Baghdad, they feared that he would later be pushed out, to great embarrassment. However, the British realized that Maude had the advantage and that the time to take advantage of it was short. They were also worried about competition with the Russians; the Turks in Persia had been rapidly falling back, and there were concerns (probably exaggerated) that if the British did not take Baghdad, the Russians would.

On March 6, Maude’s forces reached Ctesiphon again, but found it, and the trench works there, abandoned. On March 10, the British forced their way across the Diyala, the last river before Baghdad, and threatened to outflank the last Turkish positions. Realizing that any further attempt to defend the city would require a disorganized retreat through the city itself, Halil Pasha abandoned the city on the night of the 10th, headed north and west to Samarra and Fallujah. The Turks and Germans destroyed what they could, but there was a limit to what they could do in a single night.

The British entered Baghdad unopposed (though wary) on the morning of March 11. With the sudden departure of Turkish authority, there were outbreaks of looting in large parts of the city, which the British would try to bring to a halt, often with draconian measures. Maude himself entered the city later that day. He issued a statement that was widely distributed in Baghdad, though it was written entirely by Mark Sykes (of Sykes-Picot fame), at the insistence of the cabinet:

Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or as enemies, but instead as liberators….Since the days of [the Mongol Khan] Hulagu your city and your lands have been subject to the tyranny of strangers, your palaces have fallen into ruin, your gardens have sunk in desolation, and your forefathers and yourselves have groaned in bondage. Your sons have been carried off to wars not of your own seeking, your wealth has been stripped from you by unjust men and squandered in distant places.

It appears that Sykes’ grandiose language failed to impress the locals, just as it would not 86 years later.

For the entering soldiers, Baghdad was a huge change from the hardships of campaign up the Tigris. To many, it seemed that they had entered an oriental fantasy from out of the Arabian Nights: “a feeling of mystery and beauty…in the realm of dreams and fancies, where stand the gates of horn and ivory,” in the words of one officer. Others were less impressed: “The narrow, filthy, evil-smelling streets are blocked in places by tumble-down houses and heaps of garbage.” Regardless, all were pleased that the German ambition of the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway seemed to be ultimately denied to them.

Photo: Sir Frederick Stanley Maude leads the Indian Army into Baghdad



Photo: Indian troops march into Baghdad, 11 March 1917



Cavalry occupy Kazimain, four miles north.

Russia

Strikers' food demonstrations and rioting increase in Petrograd; Government agrees to hand over good question to local bodies.

Fourth Company of the Pavlovski Replacement Regiment becomes the first military unit to mutiny in Petrograd, but are quickly disarmed.

Aerial operations: Tulo Tulo

Following the travails of Lieutenant George William Thomas Garrood and the crashes yesterday, 26 (South African) Squadron has really been having a trying time in German East Africa.

Today, Lieutenants Amyas Hanbury Bottrell and William Pringle Brown were finally found by native scouts after wandering around the bush for the last 10 days.

They had gone missing on 1 March when they failed to arrive at Tulo having flown from Morogogo. On 4 March their aeroplane was found 45 miles south-east of Tulo, but the officers were nowhere to be seen,

Searches from the air continued, and on 6 March they were discovered, having progressed about fifteen miles towards Tulo. As the search aircraft could not land, food and quinine and instructions about the route to be followed were dropped.

The officers then disappeared without trace until found today.

Naval operations: Ireland

Hans Rose, in U-53, sinks two ships off the south coast:
British freighter SS FOLIA, 6,705 tons, bound from New York for Avonmouth with a general cargo.
Spanish freighter SS GRACIA, 3,129 tons, travelling from Liverpool to Havana with a general cargo.
Rose's score is now 26 ships and 61,400 tons.

Naval operations: Cornwall

Ernst Hashagen, in U-62, uses his deck gun to sink British fishing smack THRIFT, 40 tons, off Trevose Head. His score is now 13 vessels and 10,918 tons.

Paul Hundius, in UC-47, sinks two ships off Pendeen Lighthouse:
French freighter SS CHARLES LE COUR, 2,352 tons, en route from Cardiff to Nantes with a load of coal.
British coaster SS G.A. SAVAGE, 357 tons, carrying a load of pitch from Workington to Swansea.
Hundius' score is now 17 ships and 24,796 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UC-66, attacks Q-Ship HMS BAYARD, 220 tons, with his deck gun. BAYARD suffers two men wounded, and does not have enough firepower to endanger UC-66. U-Boat and Q-Ship both escape.

Naval operations: North Sea

British freighter SS KWASIND, 2,211 tons, carrying a load of iron ore from Bilbao to Hartlepool, hits a mine laid by Georg Reimarus in UC-4 off Southwold. His score is now 6 ships and 4,592 tons.

Day 956 of the Great War, March 13th 1917

Western Front

British occupy Loupart Wood and Grevillers, 1.5 miles from Bapaume.

Enemy abandons ground east and north-east of Gommecourt.

Lively fighting north-east of Soissons.

Germans fail to retake Hill 185.

Fighting in St. Mihiel region (south-east of Verdun).

Romanian Campaign

Bulgarians bombard Galatz from the Danube.

Macedonian front

Field hospitals at Vertekop (Serbia) bombed: two British nurses and others killed.

British line south-west of Doiran advanced 1,000 yards.

Persian campaign

Russians take Kermanshah (Persia) after two days' fighting.

Another column approaches Bana (140 miles north-west of Kermanshah).

British 30 miles north of Baghdad.

Australia

The explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, while speaking in Sydney, states he seeks war service, as all able-bodied Britons should fight.

France

Political crisis in France grows serious, as the Opposition Party refuses to vote due to disagreements with PM Briand on military decisions.

United Kingdom

General Smuts sworn of the Privy Council.

Statement on mastery of air in House of Commons.

Government intends to stand by new Indian cotton duties.

United States

New York City mayor urges its citizens to sign a declaration of “unconditional loyalty” to the United States.

Austria-Hungary

Impending cabinet crisis in Austria.

China

China breaks off relations with Germany.

Russia

Revolutionary movement at Petrograd continues. Tsar Nicholas II leaves the front and attempts to enter Petrograd, but is unable to enter the city due to revolutionaries controlling the city.

Naval operations: Ireland

Victor Dieckmann, commanding U-61, sinks two ship just off the west coast:
British freighter SS NORTHWAITE, 3,626 tons, bound from Sfax for Dublin with a load of phosphate.
British Q-Ship HMS WARNER, 1,273 tons, torpedoed at 0845. The ship sinks in just a few minutes. One lifeboat drifts away, and the other is sucked down with the ship. The captain, navigator and three sailors are taken aboard U-61 as prisoners. At 1300 British submarine D-3 rescues several of the crew, but 11 were lost.
Later in the day U-61 torpedoes British tanker SS LUCILLINE, 3,765 tons, en route from New York to Le Havre with a load of naphtha, but the damaged ship is beached and later refloated.
Dieckmann's score is now 15 ships and 22,781 tons.

Otto Wünsche, in U-70, sinks three ships off the south coast:
Russian schooner ALMA, 335 tons, en route from Faro to Liverpool with a load of locust beans; sunk by deck gun off Wexford.
British schooner ELIZABETH ELEANOR, 169 tons, carrying a load of iron ore from Malaga to Bristol; sunk by deck gun off Trevose Head.
Russian sailing ship PERA, 1,737 tons, travelling from Rosario to Swansea with a load of Maize. Pera was stopped on the 12th, and the crew abandoned ship. U-70 then spotted British freighter Winnebago, chased her down and torpedoed her. Winnebago survived, and on the 13th U-70 comes across Pera again, now drifting unmanned, and scuttles the empty ship.
Wünsche's score is now 49 ships and 64,167 tons.

British freighter SS NORWEGIAN, 6,237 tons, carrying a general cargo from New York to Liverpool, hits a mine laid by Erwin Sebelin in UC-43 off Clonalkitty Bay, on the coast of County Cork. His score is now 13 ships and 19,551 tons.

Naval operations: North of Ireland

Raimund Weisbach, in U-81, sinks British freighter SS CORONDA, 2,733 tons, en route from Clyde to South Georgia with a general cargo. His score is now 19 ships and 52,593 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Ernst Hashagen, in U-62, stops and scuttles Swedish sailing ship DAG, 250 tons, carrying a load of logwood from Laguna to Queenstown; off Fastnet. His score is now 17 ships and 16,611 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

French Naval Trawler ELISABETH, 302 tons, hits a mine laid by Ernst Steindorff in UB-12 off Calais. This is Steindorff's first sinking.

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UC-66, sinks British fishing smack TRY, 34 tons, with his deck gun. His core is now 71 vessels and 91,632 tons.

Ernst Voigt, now commanding UC-72, uses his deck gun to sink British schooner REWARD, 172 tons, en route from Falmouth to Guernsey with a load of coal. Hia score is now 40 ships and 13,071 tons.

UC-68, commanded by Hans Degetau, goes missing. Previously recorded as having been blown up by one of her own mines, her fate is now listed as "unknown".

Naval operations: North Sea

Max Viebeg, in UB-32, sinks three fishing vessels off Smith's Knoll, Norfolk:
COMRADES, British, 58 tons, deck gun.
DE TIEN KINDERS, Dutch, 44 tons, deck gun.
GOLD SEEKER, British, 62 tons, deck gun.
Vieberg's score is now 7 vessels and 1,695 tons.

Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, sinks two ships off the Ile d’Oleron, near La Rochelle:
Norwegian freighter SS GIRDA, 1,824 tons, carrying a load of coal from Glasgow to La Pallice.
Spanish freighter SS VIVINA, 3,034 tons, en route from Newport, Wales to Horta with a load of coal.
Saltzwedel's score is now 49 ships and 70,975 tons.

Kurt Tebbenjohanns, in UC-44, captures two British trawlers near Rattray Head, in the north of Scotland:
NAVENBY, 167 tons; scuttled.
NUTTALLIA, 229 tons, taken as a prize.
Tebbenjohanns' score is now 13 vessels and 11,666 tons.

Rudolf Seuffer, in UC-50, begins his career with the sinking of Dutch tanker SS LA CAMPINE, 2,557 tons, travelling in ballast from Rotterdam to New York.

Day 958 of the Great War, March 15th 1917

YouTube (The Tsar Abdicates - Baghdad Falls)



Western Front

British progress on 2.5 mile front between St. Pierre Vaast Wood and Saillisel (north of Somme).

German attack east of Achiet-le-Petit.

French progress between Avre and Oise.

Mesopotamia campaign

Turkish concentration in Asia Minor contemplated.

British take Mushaidiya; Turks in full flight towards Samarra (Tigris).

United Kingdom

Despite German submarine warfare, British Board of Trade announces overseas trade in February increased by £4.5 million.

Vote of Credit in Commons.

Germany

Sixth German War Loan floated.

German Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg states Germany will give more power to the people after the war.

France

French Army agrees to send 5 of its officers to the U.S. to help train American soldiers.

French Chamber pass summertime bill.

United States

U.S. railway men threaten strike.

Russia: The Czar Abdicates

By late on March 14, Russia’s military leaders and even the Czar himself had reached the conclusion that the revolution in Petrograd was a fait accompli; there would be no use in crushing it by force, especially not while they also faced the German threat. They hoped that if the Czar recognized this and handed over political power to the Duma, that the situation could be salvaged, Nicholas could remain as Czar, and the war against Germany could continue. Nicholas had been attempting to reach Petrograd himself, but as the direct lines there were clogged with Ivanov’s stalled expedition to the city, on the night of March 14 he found himself in Pskov, along with General Ruzski, commander of the Northern Front.

Drawing: The abdication of Nicholas II. In the royal train: Minister of the Court Baron Fredericks, General N. Ruzsky, V. V. Shulgin, A. I. Guchkov, Nicholas II



Overnight, Ruzski was in contact with Mikhail Rodzianko, one of the moderate Duma leaders:

It is obvious that His Majesty and you do not realize what is going on here….The troops are completely demoralized, they not only disobey but kill their officers. Hatred of Her Majesty has reached extreme limits, and the dynastic question has been raised point-blank….Troops everywhere are joining the Duma and the people and there is a definite, terrible demand for abdication…

Ruzski informed Alexeyev at Stavka of this conversation, who in turn informed the other army and navy leaders. Ruzski also talked to the Czar, who after some reflection said “If it is necessary, for Russia’s welfare, that I step aside, I am prepared to do so.”

At around 2PM, Ruzski informed the Czar that it was the unanimous opinion of the commanders of the Army Fronts that the Czar would have to step down. At 2:50 PM, the Czar announced that he would, and drew up a note that he would abdicate in favor of his son, the hemophiliac Alexei.

Later that afternoon, however, he changed his mind; worrying for his son’s health, and not wanting to be parted from him if he was forced to go into exile after abdicating, he decided to leave the throne to his brother Michael, instead. This was of dubious legality, as the crown was “not the Emperor’s private property nor his patrimony to dispose of according to his will.” A few minutes before midnight, after meeting with representatives from the Duma, he signed a formal letter addressed to Alexeyev (backdated to 3:05 PM), announcing his abdication in favor of his brother, and giving the Duma free reign to establish the principles of the state.

After consulting with the Provisional Government (which was divided on the matter, but largely opposed to his succession), Michael decided the next day to refuse the crown unless offered it by an elected government. This would never come to pass; the Russian monarchy had come to an end.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Otto Wünsche, in U-70, torpedoes two French freighters travelling together, far southwest of Bishop's Rock:
SS BALAGUIER, 2,293 tons, route and cargo unknown.

SS CIRCE, 4,133 tons, carrying 5,700 tons of coal from Barry to Bizerte. The crew abandons ship but the chief engineer is left behind. The ship doesn't sink right away and at 1100 hours the next day is sighted by British freighter SS GORDANIA. The chief engineer is rescued at this time.
Wünsche's score is now 51 ships and 70,593 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Claus Lafrenz, in UB-18, sinks French sailing vessel ADIEU VA, 64 tons, off Start Point. His score is now 37 vessels and 36,433 tons.

Egon von Werner, in UC-16, sinks British freighter SS COONAGH, 1,412 tons, carrying a load of steel billets and iron ore from Middlesbrough to Rouen, off Saint Valery en Caux. All 10 crew are lost and the ship is listed as missing until after the war. His score is now 48 ships and 53,344 tons.

Paul Hundius, in UC-47, sinks two Norwegian freighters northwest of Ushant:
SS SOLFERINO, 1,155 tons, en route form Oporto to Stavanger with passengers and general cargo.
SS WILFRED, 1,121 tons, carrying a load of coal from Newport, Wales to Gibraltar.
Hundius' score is now 30 ships and 31,067 tons.

British destroyer HMS FOYLE, 550 tons, hits a mine laid off Plymouth by Hans Degetau in UC-68. Her bow blown off, the ship is taken under tow, but founders on the way. This is Degetau's last sinking, UC-68 being missing after March 13. His final score is 3 ships and 3,909 tons.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, sinks four ships in the Saint Nazaire area:
French schooner EUGENE ROBERT, 98 tons, carrying coal from Swansea to Bordeaux; deck gun.
French fishing vessel FLEUR D'ESPARANCE, 24 tons; deck gun.
French fishing vessel PETIT JEAN, 21 tons; scuttled.
British freighter SS FRIMAIRE, 1,778 tons, travelling in ballast from Saint Nazaire to Bayonne.
Saltzwedel's score is now 55 ships and 73,983 tons.

Day 960 of the Great War, March 17th 1917

Western Front

British take Bapaume and seven other villages after hard fighting; advance south of Somme and occupy Fresnes and six other villages.

Germans abandon line between Andechy and Oise held by them for two years.

French enter Roye and Lassigny.

Mesopotamian campaign

British stated to be 35 miles north of Baghdad.

Russians occupy Kerind on Tehran road after heavy fighting and continue to pursue Turks.

Germany

Germans send many prisoners into war zone as "reprisal".

Switzerland: In Swiss Exile, Lenin Gets Word of the February Revolution

Like many leading Russian revolutionaries, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov had spent a good part of his life in prison, in Siberia, and in exile. Since 1903, the man who went by the pseudonym Lenin spent his time as en emigré in Western Europe, after publishing his most famous political treatise What is to be Done? In March 1917, he found his quiet Zurich study suddenly disturbed. A fellow traveler rushed in waving a newspaper: “Haven’t you heard the news? There is Revolution in Russia!”

France: French Government Resigns

Briand’s government in France had been only barely holding onto power for several months, often commanding only a slim majority in the Chamber of Deputies. This had resulted in the downfall of Joffre as overall commander-in-chief in December. Joffre’s replacement in metropolitan France, Robert Nivelle, did not have the same authority that Joffre had had, and was subordinate, to an unspecified extent, to General Lyautey, the Minister for War. PM Briand had full confidence in Nivelle, but Lyautey did not, thinking that his planned offensive would be disastrous. However, Lyautey was constrained from sacking Nivelle for political reasons, and began to take his frustrations out on the politicians, becoming uncooperative even in closed sessions.

On March 15, addressing the chamber as a whole, he said:

You will excuse my not going into technical details for, even in secret committee, I consider that in view of my responsibilities it would be to expose National Defense to dangerous risks.

He was immediately shouted down by the chamber, who were offended by his implication that they could not be trusted on matters of national security. Lyautey then cursed at them before leaving the rostrum and politics altogether. Briand was unable to find a replacement for Lyautey, and resigned on March 17. Two days later, he would be replaced by Alexandre Ribot.

United States

Loretta Perfectus Walsh becomes the 1st woman to enlist in the U.S. Navy and also the 1st woman to join the US military in a non-nurse role.

Aerial operations: Zeppelins are back

In the first raid since November 1916, five Zeppelins attempted to attack London overnight. One of them, L42, was the first of the ‘s-class’, Zeppelins, but L42 had to return early with engine problems.The remaining Zeppelins, L35, L39, L40 and L41, were modified ‘r-class’ models, with an engine removed for greater height.

Strong winds forced the raiders south. L39 arrived first over Margate in Kent at 2220. Unfortunately thick cloud from 3000ft to 9000ft made target identification impossible and L39 dropped bombs more or less blind. In the event L39 only dropped seven bombs, none of which caused any serious damage. L39 reached the coast at St. Leonard’s at 2340 and then flew westward along the coast as far as Pevensey Bay and then went out to sea. Strong winds forced her south across the English Channel to Dieppe. Battling the wind across France, L39 passed to the north of Paris, but then stopped over Compiègne around 0530. Three batteries of French AA guns opened up and eventually they hit their target. L39 burst into flames and crashed at about 0555a with the loss of the entire crew.

About 20 minutes after L39 appeared over Kent, L35 appeared over Broadstairs, Kent. In the end 20 bombs in all were dropped, none of which caused any serious damage. L35 went out to sea at 0015 near Dover. L35 was also blown off course and flew over Calais. Strong winds prevented her reaching her home base at Ahlhorn near Bremen. Instead she managed to find a berth at Dresden, many miles to the south-east, but was damaged entering the shed.

The second wave arrived at 0100 over Herne Bay with L40, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Erich Sommerfeldt, led a second wave, arriving over Herne Bay on the north Kent coast at about 1.00am. 23 bombs fell causing little damage, though four sheep were killed. L40 went out to sea at New Romney at about 0215, and eventually got back to her base at Ahlhorn.

L41 arrived 20 minutes later at Cliff End near Pett, south of Winchelsea. L41 dropped 23 bombs over the Rye and Camber Sands area again causing minor damage L41 went out to sea at Dungeness at 0205 and crossed the French coast at Boulogne eventually reaching the base at Ahlhorn after a mission lasting almost 27 hours.

YouTube (Wreck of L. 39 - 1917)



Aerial operations: Mass brawls

There was intense activity in the air today.

This morning the biggest scrap involved 18 aircraft – 43 Squadron RFCwere on a photo reconnaissance mission over Beaumont covered by 25 Squadron RFC- and 17 enemy aircraft including 9 from Jasta 11. The British claimed six aircraft downed, but the German’s did not report any losses. The RFC lost three aircraft. Manfred von Richthofen claimed his 27th victory in Lieutenant Arthur Elsdale Boultebee and 1st Class Air Mechanic Frederick King from 25 Squadron, though accounts at the time suggested their FE2b (A5439) was actually crippled by AA fire before von Richthofen finished it off. Both men were killed. 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Leslie Constable and 2nd Lieutenant Charles Duncan Knox from 43 Squadron were shot down in their Sopwith Strutter (A1097) by Leutnant Kurt Wolff from Jasta 11. Their colleagues, 2nd Lieutenant James Cook Rimer and 2nd Lieutenant Reginald Herbert Lownds in Sopwith Strutter A1111 were shot down by Leutnant Karl Allmenroder. All four were killed.

Late in the day around 1600, Manfred von Richthofen claimed a second victory when he claimed to have shot down 2nd Lieutenant George Macdonald Watt and Sergeant Ernest Adam Howlett from 16 Squadron RFC in BE2c 2814. Both men were killed.

It wasn’t all scout victories as Wilhelm Hippert and Heinrich Klose from FFA227 shot down Lieutenant W Anderson and Lieutenant Duncan B Woolley from 20 Squadron in their FE2d (A27). They were taken prisoner.

11 Squadron RFC and Jasta 2 clashed with Jasta 2 getting the better of the fight. Lieutenant Archibald Campbell Woodman and 2nd Lieutenant Reginald Charles Cox claimed to have shot down one enemy aircraft but were in turn shot down in their FE2b (4979). They crashed near Grevillers and totalled the aircraft, Cox was wounded but Woodman was unhurt. Lieutenant Norman Hatfield Read and 2nd Lieutenant Larry William Nevile-Smith in FE2b 7694 were also brought down but escaped unhurt. Their colleagues 2nd Lieutenant Russell Wilfred Cross and Lieutenant Christopher Fryers Lodge were less lucky as they were shot down and taken prisoner in their FE2b (7695). Werner Voss and Heinrich Gontermann both made claims but there is some confusion as to who did what though Cross and Lodge is traditionally attributed to Voss.

Voss also made a later claim to have shot down Lieutenant Theodore Algernon Cooch from 32 Squadron RFC in his DH2 (A2583). The aircraft was completely wrecked near Bapaume and Cooch was wounded in the back.

4 Squadron RFC were up on an artillery patrol when 2nd Lieutenant John Thwaytes and 2nd Lieutenant Gerald Hugh Temple Bourne in BE2c 2755 were brought down, most likely be anti-aircraft fire. Their plane was totally wrecked and both were killed. Their colleagues 2nd Lieutenant Norman Hay Colson and 2nd Lieutenant Harold Bagshaw Mann in BE2d 6740 were attacked by 6 enemy aircraft and shot down. Colson was injured but Mann escaped unhurt.

Jasta 18 made 2 claims. At around 1020, 2nd Lieutenant Alex Ivan Gilson from 1 Squadron RFC was shot down in spinning nosedive near during a combat with 8 enemy aircraft. Leutnant Paul Strähle claimed the victory. Two hours later, 2nd Lieutenant Aaron Appleton and Corporal Albert Cooper from 6 Squadron RFC were shot down in flames in their BE2d (6241) following an attack by 5 enemy aircraft. Oberleutnant Heino Grieffenhagen claimed the victory. All four were killed.

Naval operations: Ireland

Kurt Ramien, commanding UC-48, sinks two ships off the Coningsbeg lightship, near St. George's Channel:
British passenger/freighter SS ANTONY, 6,466 tons bound from Para for Liverpool with a general cargo. Fifty-five lives are lost.
British fishing vessel GUARD, 38 tons.
Ramien's score is now 20 ships and 29,372 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UC-66, sinks two ships south of Fastnet:
American passenger liner SS CITY OF MEMPHIS, 5,252 tons, travelling in ballast from Cardiff to New York.
Nritish freighter SS MAGNONETTE, 1,250 tons, hits a mine laid by UC-66 off the southwest coast of Ireland.
Pustkuchen's score is now 73 ships and 98,134 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Claus Lafrenz, in UB-18, sinks two French sailing vessels with the same name:
Schooner MARIE LOUISE, 291 tons, en route from Le Havre to Briton Ferry with a load of old iron.
Schooner MARIE LOUISE, 426 tons, carrying a load of coal frm Swansea to Fécamp.
Lafrenz's score is now 40 ships and 37,235 tons.

Gustav Buch, in UC-36, sinks Danish freighter SS RUSSIA, 1,617 tons, travelling from Tyne to Montevideo with a load of coal; northeast of Ushant. His score is now 3 ships and 3,005 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Rudolf Seuffer, in UC-50, stops and scuttles four ships in the Longstone area:
British trawler CALEDONIA, 161 tons.
British motor fishing vessel GOWAN, 25 tons, being towed by Caledonia.
Norwegian freighter SS EXPEDIT, 680 tons, travelling in ballast from Fraserburgh to Hull.
British trawler Kestrel, 181 tons.
Seuffer's score is now 6 ships and 5,464 tons.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Werner Fürbringer, in UC-70, scuttles a fishing fleet off the Girond River:
ALCIDE MARIE, 26 tons.
CAMILLE EMILE, 20 tons.
DIEU TE GARDE, 30 tons.
JULIETTE, 29 tons.
LOUIS XIV, 44 tons.
NOTRE DAME DU PERPETEUL SECOURS, 29 tons.
NOZAL, 34 tons.
RENEE ISLANDER, 25 tons.
RUPELLA, 38 tons.
British freighter SS TASSO, 1,859 tons, carrying war material from Manchester to La Pallice, hits a mine laid by UC-70 off Ile de Groix.
Fürbringer's score is now 67 ships and 54,205 tons.

Naval operations: Portugal

Karl Neumann, in UC-67, scuttles four Portuguese fishing vessels off Cape Roca:
PRIMEIRA FLOR D'ABRIL, 20 tons.
RESTAURADOR, 25 tons.
RITA SEGUNDA, 27 tons.
SENHORA DO ROSARIO, 22 tons.
Neumann's score is now 21 vessels and 15,491 tons.

Naval operations: Tyrrhenian Sea

Robert Moraht, in U-64, uses his deck gun to sink Italian freighter SS TRIPOLI, 658 tons. His score is now 11 ships and 21,618 tons.

Naval operations: South Africa

While at sea between Beira and Dar-Es-Salaam, one of the native troops aboard HMFM TRENT comes down with smallpox. He is isolated in a cabin and the process of disinfecting the ship is begun.

Day 962 of the Great War, March 19th 1917

Western Front

40 more villages in British hands; over 170 taken by Allies in three days.

French advance beyond Ham (Somme) and take Chauny (Oise).

Heavy German attacks between Avocourt Wood and Hill 304 (Verdun) repulsed.

Macedonian front

Continued fighting near Monastir.

Germans re-occupy railway station at Poroj, previously entered by British.

Italian front

Renewed activity in Pass of Tonale, in areas of Pasubio, Asiago, Tolmino, east of Gorizia and on Carso.

Mesopotamian campaign: British Capture Fallujah

The British had entered Baghdad unopposed on March 11. While the defeated Turkish armies posed no immediate threat, many were concerned that in the long run Baghdad was extremely vulnerable, and its loss would be a major political blow to the British. One reason for its vulnerability were the Tigris and Euphrates, as the Turks still had control of the sluice gates further up the rivers. During the upcoming flood season, they could turn Baghdad into “an island surrounded by a vast lake.” As a result, the British needed to advance up both rivers to ensure this could not happen.

On March 19, the British entered Fallujah; the Turks declined to fight for the town, and fell back. In their retreat, they breached a major dam, threatening the feared flooding, though a barrier was thrown up just in time, preventing the floodwaters from reaching Baghdad. This ended the immediate threat from the Euphrates, though there were dams further up river that could still isolate Fallujah if breached.

At around the same time, the British entered Najaf and Karbala on the Euphrates to the south of Baghdad, where they were greeted coolly by the local Shia authorities. Other columns pushed north along the Tigris and towards Persia, hoping to cut off the Turkish forces retreating from Persia from those retreating from Baghdad. This would require the cooperation of the Russian forces in Persia; whether such cooperation would be forthcoming after the revolution in Russia was as yet unclear.

Capture of Feluja (Euphrates), Deltawa and Sindia.

United Kingdom

British Government opens relations with M. Miliukov, but Government not officially recognised.

Russia

Committee of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates orders resumption of work in Petrograd.

Attempted murder of M. Kerenski.

United States

President Wilson settles U.S. railway strike; eight hours day legalised.

Aerial operations: Hotting up

Early this morning, aircraft of the 9th Wing dropped 48 bombs on the ammunition depot at Aulnoye from a height of 6,000 feet. Jasta 3 attacked 27 Squadron and brought down three aircraft. Lieutenant William Samuel Caster in Martinsyde G100 7499 force landed at Brie inside the lines and was unharmed. 2nd Lieutenant James Gerald Fair was killed in Martinsyde G100 7503. 2nd Lieutenant Tom Webster Jay was taken prisoner after being shot down in Martinsyde G100 7508 by Leutnant Georg Schlenker.

Leutnant A Mohr from Jasta 3 was credited with having shot down Fair, but it is more likely that he actually shot down another aircraft – an RE8 (A79) with 2nd Lieutenant John MacGeorge and Lieutenant AA Murray from 34 Squadron on board. Their colleagues Lieutenant Harold Robert Davies and 2nd Lieutenant Basil Farmer went to their aid in RE8 (A88) when they saw them being attacked. Murray was hit in the head and later died of his wounds, and Farmer suffered a minor wound. Both pilots escaped unhurt and were able to get back over the lines, though Macgeorge crashed 100 yards from his aerodrome.

Two RE8s of 59 Squadron were on a photo mission when they were attacked hit by AA fire. Jasta 2 then swooped in and finished two of them off. Leutnant Werner Voss did for Captain Eldred Wolferstan Bowyer-Bower and 2nd Lieutenant Edwin Elgey in RE8 A4165. The aircraft crashed and burst into flames. Leutnant Fritz Otto Bernert took down Captain Claude Peregrine Bertie and Lieutenant Frederick Henry Wilson in RE8 A4168. Bertie was killed in the cockpit and the plane crashed. All four were killed.

Later in the evening, Werner Voss made another claim when he shot down 2nd Lieutenant Charles Robert Dougall and 2nd Lieutenant Sydney Harryman in their BE2c (5784) east of the lines. They were both taken prisoner but Harryman later died of his wounds.

19 Squadron were up on patrol in their SPADVIIs when they ran into Jasta 5. 2nd Lieutenant Stanley Stewart Beattie Purves was taken prisoner when his engine failed and he was forced to land. He tried to restart but was unable to do so. Lieutenant Arthur Trevor Hope was shot up in SPAD VII A6633. Captain William Jameson Cairnes in SPAD VII A312 suffered the same fate. Both force landed inside the lines but escaped unharmed.

Naval operations: North Atlantic Ocean

Raimund Weisbach, commanding U-81, sinks two British freighters 300 miles west of Bishop Rock:
SS ALNWICK CASTLE, 5,900 tons, bound from London for Table Bay, South Africa with passengers and a general cargo. Forty lives lost.
SS FRINTON, 4,194 tons, carrying government stores from Cartagena to Tees.
Weisbach's score is now 25 ships and 70,877 tons.

Naval operations: English Channe;

Ralph Wenninger, in UC-17, stops French fishing dundee RHODORA, 38 tons, with his deck gun, allows the crew to abandon ship and the scuttles her. His score is now 56 vessels and 47,598 tons.

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UC-66, uses his deck gun to sink French schooner ARMORICAIN, 261 tons, travelling in ballast from Treport to Cardiff. His score is now 75 ships and 99,645 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Wilhelm von Fircks, in U-59, sinks Dutch tanker SS CHARLOIS, 2,786 tons, carrying a load of petroleum from New York to Rotterdam. His score is now 7 ships and 10,869 tons. Lost with all hands, listed as Missing.

Hubert Aust, in UC-45, torpedoes Norwegian freighter SS POLLUX, en route from Tyne to Bergen with a load of sulphate, general cargo and passengers. This is his first sinking.

Naval operations: France

Gustav Buch, in UC-36, sinks two Norwegian freighters off Brest:
SS KONG INGE, 867 tons, en route from Glasgow to Marseille with a general cargo.
SS BRODE, 2,363 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Gibraltar.
Buch's score is now 5 ships and 6,244 tons.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Two ships hit mines laid by Werner Fürbringer in UC-70 near Chassiron (southwest of La Rochelle):
Norwegian freighter SS BERGSLI, 2,133 tons, carrying a load of coal from Penarth to Blaye.
French freighter SS MICHEL, 1,773 tons, en route from Newport to Bordeaux.
Fürbringer's score is now 73 ships and 58,238 tons.

Naval operations: Tyrhennian Sea

Johannes Klasing, in U-34, starts his career by torpedoing Italian freighter SS ANGIOLINA, 3,541 tons, between Elba sn the Italian mainland. The ship is damaged but beacched ad repaired later.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Robert Moraht, in U-64, torpedoes French Battleship DANTON, 18,300 tons, south of San Pietro Island (southwest of Sardinia), with the loss of 296 lives. His score is now 12 ships and 39,918 tons.

Photo: battleship DANTON as she was in 1912



Naval operations: South Africa

HMFM TRENT, carrying troops for Dar-Es-Salaam, is forced to stop when a steering-gear motor fails. Three hours later the motor is repaired and the ship is again underway.