The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 1153 of the Great War, October 4th 1917

Western Front: Battle of Broodseinde

On October 4, the British planned to launch their next assault, following their successes at the Menin Road Ridge and Polygon Wood. In an attempt to remain unpredictable, there would be no preliminary bombardment. In fact, still unsuspecting, the Germans were planning a small-scale attack of their own, and their preliminary bombardment opened only twenty minutes before the British advance was set to begin. The Australian soldier W.J. Harvey recalled:

Map: Anglo-French objectives, 4 October 1917



They pounded our position with high explosives, including minenwerfers and eight-inch shells, and we had tremendous casualties. It was the heaviest shell-fire the battalion had ever encountered on the jumping-off line….We had forty killed, including two of our platoon officers, and taking into account the wounded a third of our men were put out of action. Everyone kept their nerve, although it was a terrible strain to lie there under that sort of fire without being able to do a thing about it, knowing that there was a terrible struggle ahead and that we’d be going into it well under strength. It seemed an eternity before our own guns opened up and we got the order to advance.

Photo: Two 9.2 inch howitzers of the Royal Garrison Artillery at Guillemont about to fire, 4 October 1917



When the British artillery did open fire, the Germans who were about to launch their own attack suffered even worse. A German official divisional history states:

At 5:55 AM, shortly before our infantry was due to march in, a firestorm unlike any previously experienced erupted. The whole earth of Flanders shook and seemed to be on fire…What were the horrors of Verdun and of the Somme in comparison to this hugely increased exertion of force?

Photo: Crew of 2 Gun, Royal Marine Artillery working on and loading, 'Granny', a 15 inch Howitzer (heavy artillery gun), in position near the Menin road, in the Ypres sector, one of the enormous weapons used to support the Australians in their advance of 4 October 1917, and the attacks which preceded it



The troops slated for the German attack were essentially wiped out in the bombardment and the subsequent ANZAC advance, with some companies suffering 95% casualties.

The British secured their first objectives within two hours, mopped up a few strongpoints they had bypassed, then advanced to their second objective by 1PM, for a total gain of 700 to 1200 yards. Drizzle and low cloud cover prevented reliable aerial spotting, but also helped deter German counterattacks. In some cases, the muddy ground also helped absorb German shellfire during the advance over no-man’s land, without being so muddy as to prevent any movement whatsoever. Some German counterattacks were launched, but these were quickly repulsed; the Germans were apparently in little mood to repeat the bloodbaths of September.

Map: Results of the attack, compared with objectives



Ludendorff was despondent after hearing news of the battle, and realized some change needed to their tactics. He proposed that more machine gunners be scattered throughout the first 500-1000 yards in front of the British, similar to tactics used in the later stages of the Somme. These machine gunners, if they were not wiped out by the creeping barrage, would hopefully slow down the British advance enough to detach them from the creeping barrage and let German artillery take its toll. Unsurprisingly, however, it was difficult to find men willing to isolate themselves in no-man’s-land and to stay out there when an attack seemed imminent.

Germany

German government orders cities in Western Germany to darken their lights at night to limit British air raids.

Naval operations: ship losses

BYGDONES (Norway) The cargo ship was captured in the Atlantic Ocean by SM U-151 ( Kaiserliche Marine). She was scuttled the next day 65 nautical miles (120 km) north west of Porto Santo Island, Madeira, Portugal. Her crew survived.

CITTA DI BARI (Italy) The passenger ship was sunk in the Ionian Sea 37 nautical miles (69 km) off Paxos, Greece by SM UB-48 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

CONTANTINOS EMBIRICOS (Greece) The cargo ship was sunk in the Gulf of Lyon off the Île du Planier, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (42°47′N 4°10′E) by SM U-32 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

NICOLAOS ROUSSOS (Greece) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Lyon (42°46′N 4°11′E) by SM U-32 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

PERSEVERANCE (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 15 nautical miles (28 km) west of the Eddystone Lighthouse by SM UB-35 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

RUPEE (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was shelled and sunk in the Bristol Channel 10 nautical miles (19 km) north of Lundy Island, Devon by SM U-96 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four crew.

STELLA (French Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine laid by UC 67 (Karl Neumann) and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Bougaroni, Algeria.

YOUNG CLIFFORD (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was shelled and sunk in the Bristol Channel 12 nautical miles (22 km) north of Lundy Island by SM U-96 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Day 1155 of the Great War, October 6th 1917

Western Front

German attack penetrates trenches at Hill 344 (Verdun), but French drive them out again.

Enemy attack at dusk on Polygon Wood (Ypres) repulsed; British take 380 prisoners.

Eastern Front

Heavy fighting 25 miles south of Czernovitz; no change, Russians take 750 prisoners.

Italian Front

Feldmarschall-leutnant Artur von Mecenseffy is killed on the frontlines with Italy, the highest ranking Austro-Hungarian officer to be KIA.

East Africa campaign

Mbemkuru column (East Africa) reaches point 30 miles from Nangano; Belgian troops engaged north and north-east of Mahenge; British troops in close touch with enemy 50 and 25 miles further South.

United States

Insurance premiums for American vessels traveling across the Atlantic is reduced by 25% due to successful measures against U-boats.

United States: Pershing Promoted to Full General

Pershing had been in France for months, and now had well over 60,000 personnel under his command in Europe. He was still trying to carve out a role for role for American troops, and was preparing for the first of them to enter the front lines, which they planned to do in a matter of weeks. A minor obstacle to the American goal of having its Expeditionary Force be considered on equal footing to the British and French armies in Europe was Pershing’s rank. While the other belligerents had field marshals and a bevy of full (four-star) Generals by this point in the war, Pershing was still a Major (two-star) General. In fact, there had been no actively serving Lieutenant (three-star) Generals in the US Army since 1906, and no full Generals since the death of General Sheridan in 1888.

To make up for this discrepancy, Congress promoted Pershing, as well as Chief of Staff Bliss, to the rank of full General. They would be only the fourth and fifth people to hold the rank in the US Army (after Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan), and would be the first to hold it simultaneously.

France

Socialist Conference at Bordeaux.

Russia

Georgia starts a separate Army.

Ottman Empire/Germany relations: Kaiser Visits Constantinople

Eager to show Turkey that Germany remained committed to their alliance and the war, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople on October 6, 1917. There he met with Mehmed V, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan mentioned his worries about Germany’s troubles: a recent naval mutiny, pacifist inclinations in the Reichstag, and defeat at Ypres. The Kaiser pointed more confidently to the imminent victory of hte Central Powers on the Eastern Front, where at the moment more than one million Russian railway workers had gone on strike, making resupply or reinforcement for the Provisional Government’s army impossible.

Photo: Sultan Mehmed V of Turkey greeting Kaiser Wilhelm II on his arrival in Istanbul. On Sultan'sleft is Hakki Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador in Berlin



Aerial operations: Aprons

Today saw another attempt at improving the defence of London as the first balloon apron was put into operation.

Major-General Ashmore had put forward his scheme for a London balloon barrage on 5 September.

“It is also shown that guns, defending machines, and such lights as we have at present, are quite ineffective as a reply. This being the case it will, I think, be necessary to divert production from other objects to meet the new danger.”

He went on to suggest the balloon barrage and he proposed that between the balloons a cross cable should carry weighted wire streamers to form a so-called apron. He asked that as many observation balloons of the Caquot type as could be spared should be sent home from France, and that orders should be given for one hundred small balloons. He proposed to use the latter, each on a single light cable, over the water- ways of the Medway and of the Thames.

The scheme was approved by the Government, and on the 19 September, Ashmore announced that he was arranging to install two balloon aprons on the easterly borders of London. Each apron would consist of five Caquot balloons disposed in a straight line 2,000 yards in length, with the balloons linked together by cable and anchored to the ground at three points: wire streamers, 1,000 feet long, were to be suspended from the horizontal connecting cables.

On the 22nd of September, in orders issued to home defence pilots:

“Balloon Aprons and other obstructions will be established on the line: east side of Lewisham—east side of Plumstead—one mile east of Barking—east edge of Ilford, east edge of Wanstead—north edge of Tottenham. No machines are to fly across this line during operations at a height less than 10,000 feet.”

The order went on to say that in the London area anti-aircraft guns would fire, by sight and by sound, on all enemy aircraft within the Apron Line.

At a War Cabinet meeting on 1 October Major-General Ashmore stated that the maximum height of the balloons was, at that time, 7,000 feet. The aprons, he said, would each be let up nightly to heights varying between 7,000 and 10,000 feet and thus present a line of streamers 1,000 feet deep over a distance of 20,000 yards.

Approval was later given for 20 aprons, though only 10 were in place by the wars end.

Naval operations: ship losses

BEDALE (United Kingdom) The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 25 nautical miles (46 km) south east by south of Mine Head, Cornwall by SM U-96 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of three of her crew.

CIVILIAN (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 15 nautical miles (28 km) north of Alexandria, Egypt by SM UC-74 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two of her crew.

LAMARTINE (France) The barquentine was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 60 nautical miles (110 km) south west of The Lizard, Cornwall by SM UC-69 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

SMS T54 (Kaiserliche Marine) The S7-class torpedo boat struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea with the loss of seven of her crew.

VICTORINE (France) The barque was shelled and damaged in the Atlantic Ocean 96 nautical miles (178 km) north west of Cape Ortegal, Spain (44°50′N 9°30′W) by SM U-89 ( Kaiserliche Marine).She sank the next day.

Day 1157 of the Great War, October 8th 1917

Western Front

Aisne front: both German and French attacks round Craonne fail.

Germans claim to have broken up French attack south-west of Beaumont (Reims).

Russia

Railway strike begins in Russia.

Ukraine inaugurates autonomous Government.

Russia: Trotsky New Chair of Petrograd Soviet

The Bolsheviks had been growing in strength in the Soviets across Russia, as the only party firmly committed to putting governmental power in the hands of the Soviets. On October 2, they gained a majority in the Moscow Soviet, and did the same in Petrograd on October 8. Trotsky, only released from prison a few weeks before (and only technically a Bolshevik since a few weeks before that), was elected as its new chairman.

The Petrograd Soviet, the body most associated with the revolution that brought down the Czar, was now in the hands of a party that unequivocally opposed the Provisional Government and any further compromise with Kerensky or any liberal parties. Its chairman was one of the Bolsheviks’ best orators, who would speak to packed houses almost every night for the next month, against the Provisional Government and the other socialist parties who continued to cooperate with him. Trotsky and many other Bolsheviks now hoped that with enough Soviets under their control, the Bolsheviks could seize power under the guise of giving all power to the Soviets. Not all of the Bolsheviks backed Trotsky’s tactics here, however. Lenin advocated a more immediate uprising (though, still in exile in Finland, his arguments were largely dismissed), while Zinoviev and Kamenev urged caution.

Spain

Martial law ends in Spain, as “revolutionary disturbances” are suppressed in Catalonia and other provinces.

United States

247 Puerto Ricans are selected to be trained as officers in the U.S. military, and 12,000 men will also be drafted.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

Russian encounter with enemy scouting-vessels between Oesel Island and north-west Courland.

Aerial operations: Bristol Fashion

Back on 5 October, the Palestine Brigade was formed to manage all of the forces East of the Suez Canal.

At the same time new Bristol F2bs started arriving to reinforce the RFC squadrons. Yesterday, five of these were on strength with 111 Squadron RFC and they carried out their first patrol.

Success for the new machines quickly arrived as today Lieutenant Robert Crawford Steele and Lieutenant John Jordan Lloyd Williams were up in A7194, succeeded in forcing down an enemy Albatross DIII in the desert.

The aircraft was captured and the Australian Light Horse successfully towed in the back to 111 Squadron’s base.

Naval operations: ship losses

AYLERROO (United Kingdom) The coaster was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off Ballycottin Island, County Cork (51°45′N 7°51′W) by SM U-57 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of all twenty crew.

GRELDON (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in St. George's Channel 7 nautical miles (13 km) east north east of the North Arklow Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-96 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of 28 crew.

MEMPHIAN (United Kingdom) The cargo liner was torpedoed and sunk in St. George's Channel 7 nautical miles (13 km) east north east of the North Arklow Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-96 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of 32 crew.

RICHARD DE LARRINAGA (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 15 nautical miles (28 km) south east of Ballycottin Island by SM U-57 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of 35 crew.

Day 1159 of the Great War, October 10th 1917

Western Front

French extend their hold up Corverbeck Valley (Ypres).

Germans gain footing in first line trenches north of Chaume Wood (Verdun).

East Africa campaign

Portuguese capture German post at Mauta, 26 miles north of Rovuma River (East Africa).

Germany

Von Kuhlmann Peace proposal says Germany will never give back Alsace-Lorraine; French press virulent on the subject.

Canada: Canadian PM Robert Borden Forms Unionist Party

1917 was a difficult year for Canada. In Europe, the Canadian Expeditionary Force had taken serious casualties and needed replacements. Back home, however, the stream of volunteers had dried up. Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden pushed hard for conscription, but met with serious resistance from French Canadians, who opposed the war.

The Canadian election of 1917 was called to decide the issue. Borden offered a political alliance to Liberal Party leader Sir Wilfred Laurier. Laurier refused, as to accept meant abandoning the French Canadian vote. However, the right-wing of the Liberal Party split to join with Borden, creating a coalition, the Unionist Party.

Borden also passed several acts that would make the election easier. The first was the Wartime Elections Act, which disenfranchised conscientious objectors and Canadian citizens born abroad before 1902. This stroke eliminated two blocs less likely to vote for the Unionists. The second act was the Military Voters Act, which established that the votes of Canadian soldiers could be counted in whichever constituency their party decided, allowing Borden to shore up his votes where they were most needed. The Military Election Act also allowed Canadian women to vote for the first time, although only those in uniform. The election was held on December 17, 1917, and Borden’s party, and conscription, won a large majority.

Sinai and Palestine campaign: British Arrange for Fake Battle Plans to be Captured by Turks

Throughout the summer, Allenby and his staff had been preparing for a new offensive in Palestine. The previous attempts to take Gaza had failed to break through the substantial Turkish lines there, and simultaneous efforts to outflank them failed due to a lack of available water. Allenby’s plan rested on taking the wells at Beersheba, around 30 miles southeast. The ground there was difficult, but taking the city seemed to be the only viable way of outflanking Gaza. To make sure the Turks did not counter this by heavily reinforcing Beersheba, the British conducted an extensive misinformation campaign to suggest that the British would simply be attacking Gaza a third time. A naval buildup off the coast also hinted at a possible amphibious operation just behind the Turkish lines at Gaza.

The most successful part of this intelligence campaign occurred on October 10, when a Capt. ACB Neate rode within range of a Turkish patrol, seemingly by accident. The Turks fired at him, and Neate, feigning a wound, dropped a haversack covered in (horse’s) blood before escaping. The Turks found the haversack, which contained various documents, including a fake agenda for a meeting of Allenby’s staff. The documents suggested that the upcoming attack on Beersheba would be a feint, and that the main attack would still be at Gaza, supported by an amphibious landing. Many of the Turkish staff officers were rightfully suspicious of this find, but apparently Kressenstein, in overall command in the area, was taken in, and Turkish preparations for the remainder of the month focused on Gaza and the coastline rather than the area around Beersheba.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

Germans bomb Russian transports at southern end of Oesel Island (Riga).

Naval operations: ship losses

HMS BOSTONIAN (Royal Navy): The escort ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel, 34 nautical miles (63 km) south by east of Start Point by SM U-53 (Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four crew.

GOWRIE (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 14 nautical miles (26 km) north east of Cherbourg, Seine-Maritime, France by SM U-53 (Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

TRANSPORTEUR (France): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 30 nautical miles (56 km) off Malta (35°29′N 14°58′E) by SM U-32 (Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.

Day 1161 of the Great War, October 12th 1917

YouTube (Operation Albion - Passchendaele Drowns In Mud)



Western Front: Battle of Passchendaele

A ferocious downpour started on October 12. So did the Battle of Passchendaele, the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres and the name that has become synonymous with the whole offensive. Haig, certain that the Germans were on their last legs, decided to continue the push for the town of Passchendaele, ten miles east of Ypres.

Passchendaele is situated on a small ridge overlooking the Ypres salient. An American might find it ridiculous to call it a ridge at all; but at 200 ft the gently sloping hill-town was an important strategic feature in the flat Flanders battlefield.

Two Anzac corps from the Second Army jumped the bags on the morning of October 12. Their advance was slow and costly. It had rained all night, and continued to come down in torrents. The troops literally waded through mud, while German artillery plunged down overhead and hidden machine guns raked the flanks. That the Australians and New Zealanders took their first objective in the morning and pressed own is a testament to their high motivation and esprit de corps. But by afternoon they had been ordered to dig in, their officers sure that nothing else could be done. One small party made it to the village of Passchendaele itself but was annihilated by a German counter-attack.

The Fifth Army to the north did not fare much better. Part of the problem was the mud. British artillery shells splashed harmlessly into the soft earth while the Germans in their concrete pillboxes remained safe to shoot back. Everywhere the fighting was vicious and taking prisoners the exception, not the rule. Later it was claimed that Haig’s Chief of Staff, Sir Launcelot Kiggell, broke down when he visited the battlefield. “Good god, did we really send men to fight in that?” Apocryphal or not, many on both sides felt the same way. Yet the battle continued.

Photo: NZ artillery in action, 12 October 1917



Photo: Men on fatigue duty with mud-scoops at Saint Julien, Ypres, 12 October 1917



Photo: Ammunition pack-horses passing the remains of a German concrete blockhouse at Saint-Julien, 12 October 1917



Eastern Front

Germans land at Tagga Bay north of Oesel Island (Riga) and on Dago Island. Part of Oesel Island occupied and traversed to east end; attempt to capture pier on Moon Island repulsed.

Italian Front

Austrian attack repulsed in region of Mnt. Costabella.

Argentina

COUNT LUXBURG is interned in Argentina.

Canada

Sir Robert Borden forms Coalition Government in Canada.

Aerial operations: Heavy Losses

The British attempted another advance between the Ypres-Roulers railway and Houthulst Forest today. However heavy rain made ow lying areas impassable and the advance was mostly a failure.

The RFC committed 10 squadrons to assist the advance carrying out low-altitude machine-gun and bombing attacks, contact and counter-attack patrols, and zone calls to the artillery for fire on active batteries, troops, transport, and machine-gun posts.

Concentrations of German troops were reported in the Passchendaele area were reported by air reconnaissance at 1300 and were severely shelled by the British artillery. In the end though no counter attacks developed most likely because the British advance had been so limited.

The concerted effort by the RFC proved very costly however. 66 Squadron lost three of its Sopwith Pups from an offensive patrol. 2nd Lieutenant Martin Newcomb (A635), 2nd Lieutenant Robert William Brownlee Matthewson (B1830) and Lieutenant Alfred Wylie Nasmyth (B1836) were all shot down by pilots from Jasta 36. Newcomb and Matthewson were taken prisoner but Nasmyth was killed.

45 Squadron RFC also lost two of its Camels when they were shot down by aircraft from Jasta 35 and their pilots killed on an offensive patrol – Capt Horace Bertram Coomber (B2375) and 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth Hugh Willard (B2386). Captain James Humphrey Cotton Minchin and 2nd Lieutenant Clifford Gordon Vandyk from 21 Squadron RFC, were hit by AA fire in their RE8 (A3768). The plane crashed on the British side of the lines but both were wounded.

Lieutenant Samuel Hall Allen and 2nd Lieutenant Graeme Cecil East Smithett from 57 Squadron RFC (in DH4 A7515) failed to return from a bombing mission on Hooglede after being shot down by Leutnant Harry von Bulow-Bothkamp from Jasta 36. Both were killed. Later in the day, their colleagues 2nd Lieutenant George Wheeler Armstrong 2nd Lieutenant Hubert Pughe-Evans were taken prisoner when their DH4 (A2135) was shot down by Leutnant Fritz Kieckhäfer from Jasta 29. Sergeant H L Clear and 2nd Lieutenant Frederick William Talbot from 25 Squadron RFC were also taken prisoner when their DH4 (A7426) – failed to return from a bomb raid on Beythem.

2nd Lieutenant Harry Ronald Hicks from 19 Squadron RFC was killed on a ground attack mission in his SPADVII (B3574). Finally 2nd Lieutenant Wilfrid Gilbert Morgan and Lieutenant James Morgan Atkinson from 4 Squadron RFC were shot down in their RE8 (B5040) on a counter attack patrol and photography mission. Morgan was badly injured and later died of his wounds and Atkinson was taken prisoner.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea - Operation Albion

On October 11, the much-rumored German operation to seize the islands in the Gulf of Riga got underway. Troop transports, accompanied by ten dreadnoughts and various other ships of the High Seas Fleet, sailed from Libau [Liepāja] that morning. They approached Ösel [Saaremaa] Island that night; maneuvering a whole fleet at night was difficult, and there were some delays, but the Russian fleet, preoccupied with its own morale problems, did not find detect them. Despite being preceded by a large number of minesweepers, two of the dreadnoughts (along with one of the transports) struck mines just off the coast. Neither of the dreadnoughts were critically damaged, however, and both were still able to assist the landings and were eventually returned to service.

The landings began at dawn on the 12th. The German dreadnoughts engaged the shore batteries at Tagga Bay, one of the few suitable landing sites on the island, and quickly knocked them out, and the landing German troops secured the beaches quickly. They then quickly moved south from the beaches in two main columns. The first was bound for the Sworbe Peninsula, which dominated the entrance to the Gulf of Riga, and which other German ships were busy bombarding. The other headed towards Arensburg [Kuressaare], the island’s capital.

The Russian commander quickly concluded it would be impossible to hold the bulk of Ösel against the Germans, and, early in the evening of October 12, before leaving the island by boat, ordered all troops not on the Sworbe peninsula to head for the only route off the island, the causeway to Moon [Muhu] Island. However, the Germans had realized the importance of this causeway, and had tasked a brigade of bicycle soldiers to secure it. On October 12, they biked over 30 miles from their landing beach and seized the causeway, and prepared to defend it from the retreating Russians coming their way.

Photo: German battleship GROSSER KURFUST photographed during Operation Albion in October 1917. Above is the Schütte-Lanz company naval airship S.L.20 (Type 'f')



Naval operations: ship losses

CAPE CORSO (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and damaged in the Irish Sea 9 nautical miles (17 km) off the St. Govan Lightship (United Kingdom) by SM U-57 (Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of thirteen crew. Although she subsequently broke her back, she was repaired and returned to service.

GEORGIOS MARKETTOS (Greece): The cargo ship was sunk in the Irish Sea 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the St. Govan Lightship (United Kingdom) by SM U-57 (Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

PEEBLES (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 14 nautical miles (26 km) off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire by SM UB-18 (Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

THEMIS (Norway): The cargo ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 22 nautical miles (41 km) north of Cape Bon, Algeria (37°26′N 11°04′E) by SM UB-51 (Kaiserliche Marine).

W. M. BARKLEY (United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea 7 nautical miles (13 km) east of the Kish Lightship (United Kingdom) by SM UC-75 (Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her crew.

Day 1163 of the Great War, October 14th 1917

Eastern Front

Tserel and Arensburg in flames.

Russians guarding Irbek Strait cut off on Sworbe Peninsula.

United Kingdom

More drastic measures taken in Great Britain to compete with growing shortages of foodstuffs, petrol and coal.

Ukraine

Ukraine declares itself an autonomous nation and claims participation in future Peace Conference.

United States: Trading With the Enemy Act

Earlier in the month, Congress had passed and Wilson had signed the Trading With the Enemy Act, and on October 14, Wilson signed an executive order putting its provisions into practice. The act gave Wilson new broad powers, mostly relating to foreign trade and exchange. It was designed to ensure that no American trade could in any fashion benefit Germany, including and especially trade with Germany’s allies, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, with whom the United States was not at war. German-owned property in the US could be seized, and German-owned patents could be used by American citizens during the war. Treasury Secretary McAdoo would also have extensive powers over the exchange of gold and securities between the United States and foreign countries. Additionally, the Postmaster General was given extensive powers of censorship over the non-English-language press, and severe restrictions were placed on international communication by telegraph.

Unlike many wartime laws, the act was not repealed after the war, and has had a lasting impact after the war. The provisions relating to gold served as the legal basis of the ban on gold bullion enacted during the Depression (and lasting through the 1970s). Today, the provisions of the act apply to Cuba, serving as part of the enforcement mechanism for the US embargo on that country.

Aerial operations: Indecisive in the North Sea

As well as the patrols in the English Channel, RNAS seaplanes along the East Coast are carrying out patrols for u-boats.

Today, a Short 184 seaplane (N1661) from the RNAS station at Dundee with Flight Sub-Lieutenant Algernon Holland and OSL Leonard Ritson was on patrol when they spotted a submarine on the surface. They dropped a bomb on the submerging submarine, with apparently little effect (No losses were reported that day).

On the way back they suffered from engine trouble and were forced to crash land. Both crew escaped with minor injuries.

Aerial operations: 64 Squadron RFC

64 Squadron RFC was formed at Sedgeford in Norfolk on 1 August 1916. Initially, it was equipped with a variety of types for training purposes, including Henry Farmans, Royal Aircraft Factory FE2bs, Avro 504s and Sopwith Pups. In June 1917, the squadron re-equipped with its intended operational equipment, the DH5 fighter, and began to work up ready for operations. The DH5 had poor altitude performance, and so the squadron extensively practiced low-level flying.

Today the Squadron moved to France to take up a role in fighter patrols and ground attack.
Major Bernard Edward Smythies is the commanding officer.

Naval operations: Baltic Sea

German warships land detachments on Islands of Runo and Abro (Riga).

Russian T.B.D.'s repel German effort to force passage of Moon Sound (Oesel Island).

Naval operations: ship losses

BARBO (Norway): The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 13 nautical miles (24 km) north north west of the Île de Batz, Finistère, France (48°55′N 4°14′W) by SM UC-48 with the loss of two of her crew.

CASTRO (Greece): The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 10 nautical miles (19 km) north north east of Brignogan, Finistère by SM UC-48. Her crew survived.

HMT CLYDE (Royal Navy). The naval trawler collided with another vessel and sank in the English Channel off Sidmouth, Devon.

ECATERINI C. D. (Greece): The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean (46°49′N 12°21′W) by SM U-105.

EAST WALES (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 8 nautical miles (15 km) south by west of Daunts Rock (51°40′N 8°13′W) by SM U-57 with the loss of three crew.

GROM (Imperial Russian Navy): The Azard-class destroyer was shelled and damaged in the Gulf of Riga by SMS V100 and was abandoned. She was taken in tow by V100 but consequently foundered.

LIDO G. (United Kingdom): The coaster was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea north east of Misrata, Libya by SM UC-73.

SEMANTHA (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 10 nautical miles (19 km) north west by north of Cape St. John, Crete, Greece by SM UC-74 with the loss of 32 of her crew.

SM UC-62 (Kaiserliche Marine): The Type UC II submarine struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Zeebrugge, West Flanders, Belgium with the loss of all 26 crew.

VALPARAISO (Italy): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk off Marsa Susa, Libya (36°56′N 21°58′E) by SM UB-48. The wreck was raised in 1928 and sold for scrap in January 1930.