Year 1916

Diary for Sunday, May 7, 1916: Western Front Verdun: Violent German attacks gain ground at Hill 304 (attacks fail following day) and Fort Douaumont. Eastern Front Austria: Military intelligence discovers […]

Diary for Saturday, May 6, 1916: Middle East Mesopotamia – Death march from Kut begins: 2,592 British soldier PoWs (Kurd cavalry regiment escort) start 1,200-mile forced march to Anatolia; reach

Diary for Friday, May 5, 1916: Western Front Verdun: German gain at Hill 304. French 135th Infantry Regiment sergeant writes ‘… how could anyone cross the zone of extermination around

Diary for Thursday, May 4, 1916: Air War Eastern Front: IM heavy bomber Ilya Murmometz II (Pankratiev) flies first of 5 successful armed reconnaissance missions during May over Yazlovetch-Bugatch and

Diary for Wednesday, May 3, 1916: Western Front Verdun: French storm positions northwest of Mort Homme, but 500 German guns on a mile front shell Hill 304 (until May 5);

Diary for Tuesday, May 2, 1916: Air War Britain: 8 Zeppelins cause 39 casualties in Yorks, Northumbria and Scotland (night May 2-3); storm wrecks L20 near Stavanger, Norway on return

Diary for Monday, May 1, 1916: Home Fronts Ireland, Easter Rising – REBELLION ENDS: British casualties 521, rebels 58, civilian 736; 16 rebel leaders shot (until May 8), 79 jailed.

Diary for Sunday, April 30, 1916: Home Fronts Ireland, Easter Rising: 707 Dublin rebels surrender. France: Building reconstruction service set up for occupied territory. Western Front Flanders: British artillery defeat

Diary for Saturday, April 29, 1916: Middle East Mesopotamia – FALL OF KUT: 13,309 surrender including 3,248 non-combatants after 146-day siege (with 3,776 casualties). 1,136 badly wounded and 1,450 sick

Diary for Friday, April 28, 1916: Sea War Italy: Navy commissions its first of 10 wartime monitors (mainly converted captured Austrian barges or lighters). Middle East Mesopotamia, Kut: ­Townshend offers

Diary for Thursday, April 27, 1916: Sea War North Sea: UC5 (Mohrbutter) captured by destroyer Firedrake while stranded on Shipwash Shoal, towed into Harwich. Mediterranean: British battleship Russell (124 crew

Diary for Wednesday, April 26, 1916: Sea War Irish Sea: British gunboat Helga destroys Liberty Hall, Dublin during Easter Rising. Middle East Mesopotamia, Kut: After Kitchener cable authorizes talks, Townshend

Diary for Tuesday, April 25, 1916: Home Fronts Ireland, Easter Rising: Martial law in Dublin. Britain: Parliament secret session postpones call up of married men 27-35. Western Front Aisne: After

Diary for Monday, April 24, 1916: Home Fronts Ireland: EASTER RISING (­until April 30). Russia: Tsar approves tax on incomes over 850 roubles per year (from January 1, 1917). Southern

Diary for Sunday, April 23, 1916: Western Front Verdun: German gains at Caurettes Wood. Middle East Sinai: 3,655 Turks (Kress) destroy Yeomanry posts at Oghralina and Katia, take 280 PoWs,

Diary for Saturday, April 22, 1916: Western Front Verdun, East bank: Mangin’s French 5th Division reaches Ft Douaumont, but MGs drive it off. Somme: BEF XV Corps (Horne) formed, takes

Diary for Friday, April 21, 1916: African Fronts East Africa: Lettow decides to concentrate 20 companies (2 mounted) against South African advance, leaving Kraut to face Smuts and Wahle against

Diary for Thursday, April 20, 1916: Air War Western Front: American volunteer fighter unit N124 Escadrille Americaine formally incorporated in French Aeronautique Militaire. Based at Luxeuil-les­-Bains (Haute Saone) 16 of

Diary for Wednesday, April 19, 1916: African Fronts East Africa: 3 Belgian battalions (Olsen’s Southern Brigade) invade near Shangugu, Belgian Northern Brigade (Molitor) invades Ruanda on April 25. Belgians have

Diary for Tuesday, April 18, 1916: Middle East Armenia: Lyakhov occupies Trebizond (Turks evacuated night April 15-16) and engages Turk rearguard 15 miles south next day. Sea War Black Sea: