Diary WWI

Diary for Wednesday, May 26, 1915: Western Front Flanders: ‘Two Years’ position warfare (i.e. completely stalemated, trench warfare) on Yser begun. Death of Captain Grenfell, British war poet (poem ‘Into […]

Diary for Tuesday, May 25, 1915: Sea War Dardanelles: U21 (Hersing) sinks British battleships Triumph (73 lost) off Gaba Tepe and Majestic (on May 27, 43 lost), capsizes in 7

Diary for Monday, May 24, 1915: Western Front Ypres – Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge (until May 25): 4 German divisions attack, capture Mouse-trap Farm, but lose other gains despite a

Diary for Sunday, May 23, 1915: Southern Fronts ITALY ENTERS WAR. Austrian guns in Carnic Alps fire first shots shortly before midnight. Politics ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA. See also:

Diary for Saturday, May 22, 1915: Sea War Black Sea: Russian battleship Pantelimon torpedoed but not sunk. Western Front Flanders: British advance south of Quinque Rue. Southern Fronts Austro-Italian frontier:

Diary for Friday, May 21, 1915: Southern Fronts Austro-Italian border: German Alpenkorps formed for Tyrol. Conrad to Emperor’s Aide-decamp ‘… an Italian offensive will have for its chief objective the

Diary for Thursday, May 20, 1915: Air War Western Front: First 2 German MG-armed Fokker EI’s with interrupter gear arrive. First FE2b flown to France; RFC No 6 Squadron has

Diary for Wednesday, May 19, 1915: Middle East Gallipoli: 17,356 Anzac troops repel 40,000 Turks. Armenia: Nikolayev enters Van, relieving Armenians who received Tsar’s thanks. Western Front Flanders: Virtual stalemate

Diary for Tuesday, May 18, 1915: Middle East Gallipoli: Hamilton gets pessimistic Kitchener telegram, interprets as instruction not to encourage evacuation. Eastern Front Galicia: Austrians re-occupy Galician oilfields northeast of

Diary for Monday, May 17, 1915: Western Front Ypern – Festubert: 450 Germans surrender during BEF shelling after which ‘Quadrilateral’ strong point captured, but rain and mist hamper exploitation. German

Diary for Sunday, May 16, 1915: Eastern Front Battle of the San (until May 23): Austro­-Germans cross river by 15 bridges, take Sieniawa on May 18. Western Front Ypern –

Diary for Saturday, May 15, 1915: Western Front Ypres – Battle of Festubert (until May 25) begins at 2330 hours: first British major night attack with 3 divisors takes 3

Diary for Friday, May 14, 1915: Eastern Front Galicia: German Guard Corps capture Jaroslav (93 miles (ca. 150 km) from Gorlice). English novelist Hugh Walpole becomes Russian officer in Otriad

Diary for Thursday, May 13, 1915: Western Front Ypres: Battle of Frezenberg Ridge ends. Heavy German bombardment. BEF MG crews get first primitive flannel-bag gas masks. French complete capture of

Diary for Wednesday, May 12, 1915: Eastern Front Poland: Woyrsch occupies Kielce in general Austro­-German advance. Western Front Artois: French 70th Division takes Carency with 1,000 PoWs. Ypres: British 1st

Diary for Tuesday, May 11, 1915: Middle East Mesopotamia: Nixon orders Tigris offensive (Viceroy of India outlines plan to London on May 23). Western Front Flanders: Germans bombard Ypres-Menin Road

Diary for Monday, May 10, 1915: Neutrals USA: President Wilson Lusitania speech: ‘There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight’. Germany assures US that neutral

Diary for Sunday, May 9, 1915: Western Front ALLIED SPRING OFFENSIVE begins: French estimate only 4 1/2 German Western Front reserve divisions (actually 7 1/2, but only 2 in north),

Diary for Saturday, May 8, 1915: Air War Britain: British airship SS1 snares telegraph wires and crashes in flames. First coastal station for anti-submarine patrol airships opened at Capel (Folkestone).

Diary for Friday, May 7, 1915: Sea War Irish Sea: Unescorted unarmed British Cunard liner LUSITANIA (32,000t) SUNK in 20 minutes, torpedoed from 765 yards (0.7 km) without warning off