Year 1916

Diary for Tuesday, January 25, 1916: Middle East Armenia: Russian battalion seizes key Kargapazar (‘Crow Bazaar’) Ridge (c.9750 ft); 15 miles northeast of Erzerum. Whole 4th Caucasus Rifle Division concen­trates […]

Diary for Monday, January 24, 1916: Sea War North Sea: Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer becomes C-in-C German High Seas Fleet in succession to Pohl (resigns January 19, dies in February of

Diary for Sunday, January 23, 1916: Air War First Royal Flying Corps all-FE2b two-seat pusher squadron (No 20) reaches France (No 25 on 20 February; No 23 on 16 March;

Diary for Saturday, January 22, 1916: Southern Fronts Montenegro: Austrians occupy Antivari and Culcigno on coast. Albania: ­Austro-Bulgarian troops take Berat. Sea War Montenegro: Allied evacuation at San Giovanni di

Neutrals Switzerland: Severely wounded Franco­-German PoW exchange. Politics US ‘Colonel’ House in Paris, at Berlin on January 26, returns to Paris on February 2. Eastern Front Renewed Russian attack in

Diary for Thursday, January 20, 1916: Middle East Gallipoli: 36,000 Turkish soldiers (more than 2 divisions) leave for Mesopotamia. Western Front Verdun: Castelnau, Joffre‘s deputy, inspects defences, puts improvements in

Diary for Wednesday, January 19, 1916: Southern Fronts King Nicholas of Montenegro flees to Scutari, thence sails to Brindisi. Middle East Mesopotamia: Lieutenant-General Sir P Lake succeeds Nixon as C­-in-C.

Diary for Tuesday, January 18, 1916: Occupied countries Serbia: Tsar Ferdinand arrives in Nis, greets Kaiser off new ‘German Balkan Express’; town hall banquet, Ferdinand made German Field Marshal. Sea

Diary for Monday, January 17, 1916: Middle East Mesopotamia: Nixon vetoes Aylmer’s suggestion that Townshend break out from Kut and is invalided to India following day. Viceroy of India agrees

Diary for Sunday, January 16, 1916: Southern Fronts Salonika: General Sarrail takes formal joint Allied command (including 3,000 Serb troops), but British retain veto over anything but defensive measures. Middle

Diary for Saturday, January 15, 1916: Sea War Germany: Chief of Navy Staff Holtzendorff claims new U­-boats can put Britain out of war in 6-7 months, pressing Kaiser on January

Diary for Friday, January 14, 1916: Home Fronts France: Colonel Estienne and Creusot engineer Brillie design Schneider tank with 75mm gun and 10mm armour, Joffre wants 400. Ireland: Lord Lieutenant

Diary for Thursday, January 13, 1916: Middle East Mesopotamia – Battle of Wadi (until January 14): Aylmer (1,613 casulaties) takes Turk position but fails to cut Turk retreat (2,000 casualties)

Diary for Wednesday, January 12, 1916: Air War Western Front: Immelmann and Boelcke first German airmen (8 air victories each) to receive Pour le Merite. Gallipoli: Turco­-German Fokker Es (3

Diary for Tuesday, January 11, 1916: Sea War East Atlantic: Raider Möwe sinks 8 British ships (until January 20), including 3 on 13, totalling 27,888t almost matching January U-boat sinkings

Diary for Monday, January 10, 1916: Middle East Armenia – Yudenich‘s winter offensive: Battle of Köprüköy (until January 19) during Russian Christmas. Turk Third Army driven back on Erzerum, losing

Diary for Sunday, January 9, 1916: Southern Fronts Montenegro: Austrians storm 4850ft Mt Lovcen (‘the Gibraltar of the Adriatic’); Montenegrins retreat 12 miles to capital Cetinje and begin talks for

Diary for Saturday, January 8, 1916: Southern Fronts Montenegro – Austrian offensive: General Webenau‘s 50,000 troops including 5,000 Bosnian Muslims and 3 Kaiserjäger battalions from Italian Front begins at dawn

Diary for Friday, January 7, 1916: Middle East Gallipoli, Helles bridgehead: Garrison of 19,000 men, 63 guns after all French gone (January 1-4), repulses half-hearted Turk attack at Gully Spur.

Diary for Thursday, January 6, 1916: Sea War Atlantic: Battleship King Edward VII sunk west of Scapa Flow off Cape Wrath on mine, one of the 252 laid by Möwe.