100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

3rd April 1915

Western Front

French take Regnieville (Woevre).

Eastern Front

Russian attacks repulsed in the Carpathians.

Severe fighting north of Czernowitz.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

French expeditionary force begins to land at Alexandria.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Dover Straits barrage completed.

Turkish cruiser "Medjidia" sunk by a mine off Odessa; Russian Black Sea fleet engages the "Goeben" and "Breslau".


South African forces occupy Warmbad (German south-west Africa).

Aviation

The French pilot Adolphe Pégoud scores his fifth aerial victory, becoming history '​s first ace.


Political, etc.

General Joffre, French Commander-in-Chief, predicts that the war will end soon in an Allied victory.

Greece: Publication of a memorandum of 24 January 1915 by M. Venizelos to King Constantine on Greek foreign policy.

American military mission, attached to the German Staff, recalled.

Shipments of food by parcel post from Chicago to Germany and Austria have increased in the last two weeks from 115 packages per day to 1200.

Ship Losses:

Childwall ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship collided with Trinculo ( United Kingdom) in the Bristol Channel off Lundy Island, Devon and sank. Her crew were rescued by Trinculo.
Douro ( Portugal): The cargo ship was reported to have been torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. Her crew survived.
Mecidiye ( Ottoman Navy): The cruiser struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Odessa. She was later salvaged by the Russians and entered service with the Imperial Russian Navy as Prut.

[Sailor Steve]

April 3:

Air War: Adolphe Pègoud, flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol, brings down an unidentified two-seater and later an Aviatik B.I. There is some debate over whether Pègoud had an observer firing the gun or was using a deflector plate system as Garros had done two days earlier. On the one hand it seems unlikely that he would have had such an apparatus so quickly, but if it was Saulnier and not Garros who had developed the device then he certainly might have shared it with more than one pilot.

After this double victory French newspapers begin calling Pègoud "L'As" ("The Ace"). The term will later be applied to any pilot scoring five victories or more, a practice still in use today.



German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth arrives at the Rufiji Delta to relieve HMS Weymouth, which departs for Zanzibar. Kinfauns Castle is patrolling up and down the coast, looking for possible German activity ashore.



Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke and his group arrive in Jeddah, where the sick and wounded are taken into a military hospital. He has his theory about the Bedouins being hired by the British confirmed. From the city they can see the masts of Allied warships. Despite this von Mücke decides to take to the sea again. Assuming the presence of English spies he spreads the rumor that he is planning to continue to travel by land. He then hires a zambuk and a pilot. There will be a few days' delay while the wounded men recover. The plan is made to leave Jeddah on the 8th.

[Jimbuna]

4th April 1915

Western Front

French make progress south of St. Mihiel (Meuse) and in the Woevre district.

Germans take Driegrachten.

Eastern Front

Russian hospital bombed at Radom (Poland).

Russians occupy Cisna and reach Sztropko (Carpathians).

Fierce battle at Okna (nezr Czernowitz).

Russian troops move into the Beskid Mountains and claim they are capturing 5000 Austria-Hungarian troops a day.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians defeat Turks at Olty (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Goeben" and "Breslau" withdraw to Bosporus.

Political, etc.

Greece: Publication of a further memorandum by M. Venizelos, dated 30 January 1915, on Greek foreign policy.

Japanese government abandons a proposal to send a volunteer army to fight in the Europe.

Ship Losses:

City of Bremen ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 20 nautical miles (37 km) south by west of the Wolf Rock, Cornwall by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her seventeen crew. The survivors were rescued by Fanny ( United Kingdom).
Flora ( Netherlands): The cargo ship was driven ashore 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of Hartland Point, Devon, United Kingdom and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.
Hermes ( Russia): The sailing ship was sunk in the English Channel 35 nautical miles (65 km) south of St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight United Kingdom (50°17′N 0°55′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Olivine ( United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 30 nautical miles (56 km) south of St. Catherine's Point (50°26′N 1°12′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

[Sailor Steve]

April 4:

Atlantic Ocean, off Cornwall: Rudolf Schneider, commanding U-24, torpedoes SS City of Bremen, 1,258 tons, bound from Port Talbot to Nantes with a load of coal.

English Channel: U-33, under Konrad Gansser, sinks Russian sailing ship Hermes, travelling in ballast from London to Port Arthur. She thin sinks the British steamer SS Olivine, 634 tons, carrying a load of granite from Guernsey to Calais.



Valletta Harbour, Malta: The three monitors and their tugs are ready to travel, but heavy seas in the region force them to delay their departure.

[Jimbuna]

5th April 1915

Western Front

Belgians repulsed at Driegrachten.

French make progress east of Verdun, but are repulsed in the Argonne.

Eastern Front

Russian forces make steady gains in the Carpathian passes, capturing Cisna station from Austira-Hungary.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Union forces occupy Kalkfontein and Kamus (German south-west Africa).

Political, etc.

King George V prohibits use of alcoholic drinks in any of the royal households.

Report shows that manufacturers in Leeds, England are producing 15 uniforms a minute for the British Army.

Great Central Railway Company in Britain begins employing women in limited roles; other companies will soon follow.

Mr. John Redmond addresses the National Volunteer Convention at Dublin.

In the U.S. note to Britain, it states that the Allies have no justification for the illegal act of blockading Germany.

Germany deports Gifford Pinochet, an American working for relief efforts in Belgium, as his sister wed an Englishman.

Ship Losses:

Acantha ( United Kingdom): The trawler was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km) east by north of the Longstone Lighthouse (55°41′N 1°00′W) by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her thirteen crew were rescued by Tord ( Sweden).
Northlands ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 24 nautical miles (44 km) south west of Beachy Head, East Sussex (50°03′N 0°16′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 24 crew were rescued by Topaz ( Belgium).
SMS T57 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S43-class torpedo boat struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea.

[Sailor Steve]

April 5:

English Channel: U-33, under the command of Konrad Gansser, captures and then torpedoes SS Northlands, 2,776 tons, traveling from La Goulette to Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore. Gansser now has 4 ships for 4,828 tons.

North Sea: Fritz Stuhr in U-28 stops the trawler Acantha, 322 tons. After allowing the crew to abandon ship Stuhr sinks the little vessel with a torpedo. Due to encountering only small coastal vessels this makes 5 ships for a total of only 1,296 tons.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth is patrolling the area around the Rufiji Delta while HMS Weymouth replenishes at Zanzibar. Assisting them are the old iron gunboat HMS Pickle and several hired trawlers.

[Jimbuna]

6th April 1915

Western Front

French make progress east of Verdun and in Alsace.

Indecisive fighting on the Meuse front.

Eastern Front

Russian advance in the Niemen district.

Southern Front

Serbian artillery silence bombardment of Belgrade.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians enter Artvin (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Battleships and aeroplanes bombard Smyrna.

Germans defeated at Karunga (German East Africa).

Warmbad taken.

Political, etc.

Greek Note to Bulgaria and Bulgarian Note to Serbia on the Komitadjt outrages.

British Government appoint a committee on munitions of war.

German embassy: U.S. should ask Britain for reparations when U.S. citizens are killed on British ships sunk by German submarines.


A single soldier on his horse, during a cavalry patrol in World War I. At the start of the war every major army had a substantial cavalry, and they performed well at first. However, the development of barbed wire, machine guns and trench warfare soon made attacks from horseback far more costly and ineffective on the Western Front. Cavalry units did prove useful throughout the war in other theatres though, including the Eastern Front, and the Middle East.

[Sailor Steve]

April 6:

Valletta Harbour, Malta: With the weather growing worse the planned move for the monitors is cancelled. The remaining tugs return to towing lighters to the Dardanelles.



Cape Town, South Africa: HMS Laconia leaves drydock and moves from the shipyard at Simonstown to the main harbor at Cape Town.



Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke hires a motorboat to spy on English warships in the area. He finds none.

[Jimbuna]

7th April 1915

Western Front

Indecisive fighting near St. Mihiel.

Eastern Front

Further Russian advance in Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Skirmish between Turks and British north-east of El Kantara (Egypt).

Political, etc.

German Minority Socialists publish a manifesto against the war.

Appeal by the Churches for restraint in use of alcohol is followed by a memorial by business men to the same effect.

Italy conducts secret negotiations with Serbia on how to divide up the Adriatic coast of Austria-Hungary.

In an interview, Sultan Mehmed V declares that the Allies will be unable to force the Dardanelles Straits.

Ship Losses:

Zarina ( United Kingdom): The trawler was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 72 nautical miles (133 km) north east by north of the Spurn Lightship ( United Kingdom) by an unidentified Kaiserliche Marine submarine with the loss of nine of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

April 7:



It is my opinion that, lacking any records of U-boat attacks from German sources, Zarina was more likely to have hit a mine.



German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth puts into Tirene Bay at Mafia Island and recoals from SS Cyfarthfa and loads ammunition from torpedo boat HMVS Childers. She is joined there by Kinfauns Castle, which coals from SS Reichenfels, and Weymouth.

[Jimbuna]

8th April 1915

Western Front

French attacks in the Woevre district repulsed.

Eastern Front

Indecisive fighting in the Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Deportation and massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire begins.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Prinz Eitel Friedrich" interned at Newport News.


Political, etc.

Attempted assassination of Hussein Kamel, Sultan of Egypt.

Italian Note to Austria, demanding territorial concessions in return for neutrality.

Germany agrees to pay for the sinking of the U.S. cargo ship William P. Frye, but maintains the attack was justified.

Military expert of the Italian newspaper Avanti! estimates that there have been 6 million causalities in the war so far.

French Women’s Automobile Club starts recruiting women motorists, aviators, and balloonists to help the French Army in support roles.

Louis Pergaud, French writer, is killed by French artillery when he was captured by Germans & brought behind lines.


Ship Losses:

Châteaubriand ( France): The four-masted full-rigged ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 25 nautical miles (46 km) south east of Beachy Head, East Sussex, United Kingdom by SM U-32 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 25 crew survived.

[Sailor Steve]

April 8:

Italy has been a member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary since 1882. Because the Alliance was supposed to be for mutual defense, Italy declined to enter the war with the others. On April 8th, 1915, Italy offers to come into the war on the side of the Central Powers if Austria will grant Italy the territory of Trentino, the Dalmatian Islands, and the towns of Gorizia and Gradisca, and recognize Italy's control of Albania.



"I inform you that I intend to intern S.M.S. Prinz Eitel Friedrich. The relief I expected appear not to arrive in time, so number and force of enemy cruisers watching the entrance of the bay makes to me impossible the dash for the open sea with any hope of success. I have decided not to deliver the crew and the ship to fruitless and certain destruction. Being obliged for the courtesy shown by all the United States authorities, I am expecting your orders. I have sent same information to Rear-Admiral Helm, of the United States ship Alabama."
-Captain Max Therichens, letter to Newport News, Virginia port authority

Prinz Eitel Friedrich has been in Newport News since March 11th.



Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim in U-32 scores his first victory. He stops Chateaubriand, 2,247 tons, travelling from London to New York with a cargo of chalk, allows the crew to depart, then sinks the French sailing ship with a torpedo.




Saudi Arabia: Late in the evening of the 8th Hellmuth von Mücke and his crew depart Jeddah in a large zambuk, bound northwestward for Al Wajh, some 330 nautical miles to the north.

[Jimbuna]

9th April 1915

Western Front

French completes the capture of Les Eparges.

Germans bombard Reims.

Indecisive fighting on the Meuse.

Eastern Front

Russians make progress near Suvalki.

Continued indecisive fighting in the Carpathians.

Falkenhayn decides to divert eight of his fourteen divisions to the Eastern Front for a major spring offensive against the Russians. He places Mackensen in charge of the new Eleventh Army.


Naval

Indian Ocean: The Kronborg, formerly the British steamer Rubens, arrives at Aldabra Island carrying guns and supplies for the Königsberg, which had made its way to the delta of the Rufiji River in preparation for making a break for the open sea and escape.


Auxiliary Patrol - British order for 50 American-built motor launches (ML.1-50) placed with Elco of Bayonne, NY through Canadian Vickers; further orders reached ML.580.

Political, etc.

General Sir John Nixon relieves General Sir Arthur Barrett as Commander-in-Chief Indian Expeditionary Force "D" Mesopotamia.

Possibility of implementing prohibition in Britain comes under attack in Scotland, where spirits consumption is 3 times higher than England.

Greece: M. Venizelos temporarily retires from public life.

[Sailor Steve]

April 9:

Red Sea: HMS Goliath arrives at Aden under orders to join the Dardanelles campaign.



German East Africa: All of Admiral King-Hall's ships are together at Niororo Island.



Indian Ocean: In an attempt to get supplies to the trapped SMS Königsberg, the Admiralstab had designated the captured British freighter SS Rubens to attempt to sneak past the blockading British ships. On February 18th, under the command of Leutnant Carl Christiansen, the 3,850-ton Rubens departed Wilhelmshaven flying the Danish flag and carrying the name Kronborg. She has on board 1,600 tons of coal, plus ammunition, food, medical supplies and new uniforms. The real Kronborg is at Copenhagen, being closely watched by German spies. Christiansen and Rubens have travelled over ten thousand miles in two months, through the North Sea, past Iceland, down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to avoid British patrols and far south of Cape Town.

Now, on April 9th, Rubens arrives at Aldabra Island, just north of Mozambique and only 430 nautical miles from the Rufiji Delta.

[Jimbuna]

10th April 1915

Western Front

French success in the Bois de Montmare (Woevre).

Eastern Front

Severe fighting for the Uzsok Pass (Carpathians).

Southern Front

Austrian gunboat shells Belgrade.

Albanians bombard Durazzo.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British steamer Harpalyce, which was carrying relief supplies for Belgium, is sunk by a submarine UB-4 (Oblt. Karl Groß), resulting in 26 deaths.


Political, etc.

White Book published, containing correspondence between the British Government and the U.S. Ambassador on German treatment of prisoners of war and interned civilians.

German Note to U.S.A. protesting against the unneutral conduct of America.

Pope Benedict XV orders prayers for peace.

Charles Henry Wilcken, German-American soldier (and great-great grandfather to Mitt Romney), has passed away.


Ship Losses:

Harpalyce ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 7 nautical miles (13 km) off the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM UB-4 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of seventeen of her 44 crew. Survivors were rescued by Elizabeth ( Netherlands).
The President ( United Kingdom): The coaster was stopped and scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 14 nautical miles (26 km) south by west of The Lizard, Cornwall by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine).[26] Her ten crew were rescued by the fishing smack Pencaer ( United Kingdom).