Diary December 9, 1914

Sea War

Britain: Commissioning of first purpose­-built (from keel up) seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal II (launched September 5). First carrier with hangars below deck, but unable to fly off or land her 5 float planes and 2 land planes which are lowered and raised over ship’s sides by pair of cranes.

Southern Fronts

Serb Second Army reoccupies Lazarevac, while other pursuers retake Uzice. Potiorek orders general Austrian retreat in evening. Putnik orders continuation of offensive.

Western Front

Joffre rejects British proposal that BEF be transferred to extreme left of Allied line to permit combined operations along Belgian coast, as a ‘mouve­ment eccentrique’.

Eastern Front

Poland: Heavy fighting around Mlava and Petrokov.
Galicia: First Przemysl sortie until December 10.

Middle East

Mesopotamia: Subhi Bey surrenders Qurna (1242 PoWs and 9 guns taken since December 4); British 331 casualties

Secret War

Colonel Newcombe, TE Lawrence, L Woolley and G Lloyd sail for Egypt from Marseilles to join Cairo GHQ Intelligence.

African Fronts

Southeast Cameroons: 610 French soldiers force Germans to evacuate Baturi.

Air War

Eastern Front: Warsaw bombed by German aircraft, US Consulate damaged.

Home Fronts

Britain: Ahlers, the ex-German consul of Sunderland, sentenced to death but reprieved on December 18.