100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

August 20:

Spee's squadron puts into Eniwetok for coal. SMS Nurnberg is sent to Honolulu for supplies.

SMS Emden arrives at Palau Island intending to rendesvous with a collier, but expected collier is not there and Emden is forced to use some of the precious supply on board Markomannia. That same day the mail packet Princess Alice arrives, and supplies are exchanged. That evening Emden, Markomannia and Princess Alice depart Palau. In the night Princes Alice falls behind with boiler problems. Von Müller attempts to tell Spee's squadron about the Japanese attitude via wireless. They get no answer from Spee, but are surprised to receive a reply from the old small cruiser SMS Geier. Geier had been at Singapore when the war started, and her commander, Korvettenkapitan Grasshof, had been hoping to meet with Spee's squadron. Von Müller instructed Grasshof to meet Emden, which was closer. They were close enough that they expected to find each other the next day.

[TarJak]

SMS Emden and SMS Geier meet near Palau. After a brief conference between the captains, the two ships went on their separate ways, Emden towards the Molucca Straits and Geier towards Angaur.

Belgians forced to abandon their trenches at Namur.

Battle of Charleroi, between Mons and the Meuse, between French and German troops begins.

British move towards Mons. A squadron of 120 cavalrymen belonging to the 4th Dragoon Guards were sent forward to reconnoitre the land ahead of the advancing British Expeditionary Force. The Dragoons spent a largely quiet night close to a main road that ran through the Belgian village of Casteau, just north east of Mons. There was only one scare when, at 2am, a horse was heard to approach. With orders to fire on anyone suspicious, the Dragoons readied themselves to shoot, only to discover, at the last moment, that the man was one of their own, unconcernedly smoking a cigar as he returned from a patrol.

Advance of Second Army under Samsonov; occupation (August 21-23) of Allenstein, Neidenburg, Soldau, Johannisburg, etc.

South Africa invaded by German troops.

Total solar eclipse seen across western Asia and northern Europe.

[Bilge_Rat]

august 21, 1914:

total solar eclipse occurs over Russia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...ugust_21,_1914

[Jimbuna]

British Government issue orders for the raising of the first New Army of six Divisions.

The Battle of Charleroi (21st - 23rd August 1914) was fought at the town of Charleroi between the French Fifth Army and the German Second and Third Armies. The French were moving north to the Sambre river and the Germans were continuing their advance to the south-west after the fall of Namur. The French Fifth Army could not hold on and a general withdrawal was ordered.

Brussels occupied by German forces.

The planned French thrust into Lorraine, totaling 19 divisions, started on August 14 but was shattered by the German 6th and 7th armies in the Battle of Morhange-Sarrebourg.

Longwy invested by German forces.

L/141916 Private John Parr, 4th Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment, was the first British soldier to die on the Western Front when he was killed while on patrol near Obourg. His battalion was in the hot of the action at Mons two days later when among many acts of great bravery were two that were sufficient for an award of the Victoria Cross.

Empire of Japan institutes stricter censorship as it prepares to declare war against Germany.

General Joffre’s headquarters at Vitry-le-François is abandoned and moved to Bar-sur-Aube.

[Sailor Steve]

August 21:

"The Grand Duke is determined to advance with full speed on Berlin and Vienna, more especially Berlin, passing between the fortresses of Thorn, Posen and Breslau."
-Maurice Paléologue, French minister to Russia, speaking of the confidence of Russian Chief of Staff Grand Duke Nicholas concerning a quick Russian victory.

Fighting with the 6th Württemberg Infantry Regiment in France, Leutnant Erwin Rommel sees his first action.

Late in the afternoon SMS Emden rendesvous with SMS Geier and her collier, SS Bochum. In a meeting between the captains von Müller and Grasshof decide that Geier is just too old and slow to be of any use. Her guns are too light and she can only make 12 knots, which is slower than many of the merchants that would be her targets. Grasshof reluctantly agrees and Geier is last seen steaming to the northeast as Emden resumes her course for the Indian Ocean. Von Müller later tells his officers that if Princess Alice's boilers had been in better shape they could have transfered Geier's guns and made an Armed Merchant Cruiser out of her.

Two Zeppelins are shot down by French ground fire. Z VII (Zeppelin factory number LZ 22) makes it back to Germany before crashing, but Z VIII (LZ 23) comes down immediately and is looted by French troops. This is the third German airship to be downed in August, Z VI (LZ 21) having been shot down on the 6th while conducting the very first Zeppelin raid, bombing Liège.

SMS Karlsruhe and SS Patagonia find a secluded harbor on the island of Maracá, off the coast of Brazil, and spend a leisurly three days coaling the cruiser.

[TarJak]

22 August 1914

HMAS' SYDNEY and BERRIMA rendezvous off Sandy Cape north of Brisbane. The two ships then proceeded north towards Palm Island.

the French Fourth Army advanced up a forest road through the Ardennes which led through the village of Bellefontaine. One regiment, led by Charles Mangin, headed onwards until, as they approached Tertigny, the Germans opened fire from neighbouring woodland. Bitter fighting followed; Mangin led a bayonet charge, while street fighting developed in Bellefontaine, which came under heavy shellfire. That evening, French survivors retired to the edge of the forest, having lost eight company commanders and more than a third of the regiment.

The fighting on this one day, the 22nd, cost the French army 27,000 men killed, in addition to wounded and missing in proportion. This was a much larger loss than the British suffered on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, which is often wrongly cited as the First World War’s high-blood-mark.

Elements of the 4th Dragoons were told by a farm worker of a German mounted patrol. An ambush was prepared, but the game was given away when one of the Dragoons horses was spotted by the Germans. The Dragoons gave chase and a short skirmish ensured with three Germans taken prisoner and no casualties on the British side except for a horse that was shot in the stomach. This was the first land action of the war for British troops in Europe for the war.

The SMS EMDEN sighted the straits of Molucca.

[Sailor Steve]

Dragons? Sighed? At least use a spell-checker.

Good information, by the way.

[TarJak]

I really shouldn't do updates from my phone. The auto spell function provides endless rubbish and unintended gibberish.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by TarJak

I really shouldn't do updates from my phone. The auto spell function provides endless rubbish and unintended gibberish.

Rather, you should have attended school more often

[Jimbuna]

22nd August

Belgium: Evacuation of Namur begun; French defeated at Charleroi.

Alsace-Lorraine: French defeat, Luneville lost; General withdrawal.

Poland: Russians evacuate Kyeltsi.

Shabats and Loznitsa recovered by Serbians; Austrians defeated on Drina.

French General HQ reports “no serious opposition need be anticipated” in the Ardennes forest.

French 3rd Army, due to faulty intelligence, encounters unexpected heavy resistance at the Ardennes.

French guns are silenced by German artillery and the French army is routed. The Battle of Ardennes results in a decisive German victory.

The French 3rd Colonial Division suffers heavily, with 11,000 casualties out of the original strength of 15,000 men.

Italy orders general mobilization of its armed forces.

Austria-Hungary declares war on Belgium.

[Sailor Steve]

August 22:

German General Karl Wilhelm Paul von Bülow confirms reports of civilian executions when he posts the following statement around the city of Liège: "The population of Andenne, after manifesting peaceful intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous manner. With my authorisation the general who commanded these troops has reduced the town to ashes and shot 110 persons." Meanwhile 50 people are executed in the village of Seilles and in Tamines 384 men, ranging in age from 13 to 84, are shot.

SMS Emden crosses the equator. Due to wartime the traditional 'crossing the line' ceremonies are not held.

The first significant contribution from aircraft in the war comes when RFC pilot Lieutenant Vivian Hugh Nicholas Wadham and observer Captain Lionel Evelyn Oswald Charlton bring back information about German troop strength and movement near Mons, enabling Sir John French to begin to withdraw his troops to a better defensive position. They were flying a parasol version of the Bleriot IX-2 and returned home with between 30 and 40 bullet holes in their aircraft. Wadham would be killed in action in January 1916 while Charlton would go on to achieve the rank of Brigadier General.

Lt. Louis Strange and his observer, Lt. L. Penn-Gaskell (I have not been able to confirm his first name) fitted a Lewis gun to the front of their Henri Farman F.20. On August 22 they were alerted to a flight of six German machines approaching at an altitude of 5,000 feet. Strange and Penn-Gaskell took off to intercept them, but due to the extra weight of the gun the Farman refused to climb higher than 3,500 feet, allowing the German patrol to fly off unscathed, and probably never even knowing they had been "attacked".

[TarJak]

Great update Steve.

[TarJak]

23 August 1914

Extract from a letter by Lance Corporal F.C. Mulvey, 2nd Light Horse, AIF, 23 August 1914.

I know no more than that I have sworn “to obey the King’s commands and fight his enemies wherever I am required”. I sincerely trust that you will look at my move in the right light, as you do most things, and recognise that out of a family of three sons, one can be spared for the defence of Australia and Australia’s fate is going to be decided on the continent and not out here. Of course we may never see the front; there are rumours and conjectures that we are bound for India or some such place to take the place of the regular troops there. I know that I have taken a serious step but this war is a serious matter and I feel convinced in my own mind that being suited in physique and occupation and being prompted by a sense of duty and spirit of adventure I can hardly do anything else but volunteer.
Private record: AWM 2DRL/0233

Japan formally declares war on Germany.

[Jimbuna]

23rd August

Battle of Mons begins: general German attack on the French from Charleroi to Dinant.

French begin to fall back from Sambre and Meuse; also in northern Alsace.

East Prussia: Germans evacuate Insterburg; at the Battle of Frankenau, Germans driven back.

Galicia: Russians take Brody and Tarnopol.

Tsing-tau blockaded and bombarded by the Japanese.

Germany: Hindenburg receives command in East Prussia.

Canada passes the War Measures Act which allows the government to intern “enemy aliens.” Nearly 4000 Ukrainians from Austria-Hungary, including women and children, will be interned in the camps.

The first test for the British Expeditionary Force: German troops begin assaulting British positions at Mons-Condé canal.

German airship "Z.-8" shot down in the Vosges.

[Sailor Steve]

August 23:

At the town of Dinant in Belgium, German soldiers are fired upon, apparently by civilians. In reprisal 612 citizens of Dinant are executed, the youngest being a 6-week-old baby held by its mother. An international outcry condemning Germany ensues.

The battle of Mons opens with a frontal attack by the Germans. The French are forced to withdraw, and the British, their left flank exposed, retreat as well.

In the East, Austro-Hungarian troops sweep out of Galicia into Poland, driving the Russians back.

SMS Emden meets a Japanese passenger ship. Knowing of the Japanese ultimatum to Germany, but unaware of whether war has been declared yet, Captain von Müller takes the reluctant decision to let the ship go. Just before dark Emden enters the Straits of Molucca.