100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

8th December 1918

Western Front

Belgians occupy Urdingen (left bank of Rhine, north-east of Crefeld).

Americans enter Coblenz.

British 1st Cavalry Division reaches Rhine and secures crossings.

Eastern Front

Bolshevik forces advancing in Estonia; reach point 40 miles from frontier.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Naval action in Caspian between British and Bolshevik vessels.

Ship Losses:

Minola (United States) The cargo ship foundered in Lake Ontario.
North West (United States) The cargo ship foundered in Lake Ontario.

[Sailor Steve]

December 8, 1918


The National Progressive Party of Finland is established.

The St Patrick's Basilica Catholic Church in Oamaru, New Zealand is completed, 25 years after initial construction. The church's architect, Francis Petre, is commemorated in the opening; he will die two days later.

The silent film period drama Arizona, starring Douglas Fairbanks and directed by Albert Parker, was released through Famous Players-Lasky. The film is adapted from the play of the same name by Augustus Thomas.

Born Today:

Gérard Souzay, French opera singer, best known for his collaborations with the Aix-en-Provence Festival, in Angers, France (died 2004).

Len E. Blaylock, American politician, active member of the Republican Party of Arkansas including state chair, in Little Rock, Arkansas (died 2012).

Sam Zoldak, American baseball player, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, and Philadelphia Athletics from 1944 to 1952, in New York City (died 1966).

[Jimbuna]

9th December 1918

Western Front

After advancing for several days, Americans reach Rhine from Brohl to Rolandseck (between Coblenz and Bonn).

French enter Mainz.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Lahej (southern Arabia) re-occupied by British.

Turkish garrison surrenders.

Ship Losses:

Eva C. (Dominion of Newfoundland) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean (42°00′N 86°00′W). Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

December 9, 1918


The Young Finnish Party splits, and the National Coalition Party is created as the liberal conservative arm in Finland.

The first secondary school was established in independent Latvia.

The sports club Fossum IF is established in Bærum, Norway, with groups devoted to cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, alpine skiing, Nordic combined, orienteering and association football.

[Jimbuna]

10th December 1918

Western Front

Americans occupy strips of left bank of Rhine (either side of Coblenz): from Andernach to Rolandseck and from Trechtingshausen (north of Bingen) to Boppard.

Political, etc.

Mr. Lloyd George announces six "points" of his election programme.

Ship Losses:

Benito Juarez (United States) The cargo ship foundered in the Pacific Ocean off Molokai, Hawaii.
Moto (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with a warship and sank in the North Sea 20 nautical miles (37 km) north of the mouth of the River Tyne. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

December 10 1918


Ships of the Royal Australian Navy sail into the Black Sea to assist the White Army in the Russian Civil War

Some 200 soldiers with the ANZAC Mounted Division enter the Arab village of Surafend, Palestine and massacre an estimated 40 men in retaliation for the supposed death of a member of their unit by the villagers. Despite an investigation by General Edmund Allenby, the unit refused to name the key perpetrators in the massacre and no courts-martial were carried out,

Max Planck is chosen as a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics and German chemist Fritz Haber for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. No other awards are handed out that year.

The Salangen Airport is established in Salangen, Norway.

The Melrose Symphony Orchestra holds its first concert at Melrose, Massachusetts. It remains the oldest, continuous, all-volunteer symphony orchestra in the United States.

[Jimbuna]

11th December 1918

Western Front

Sir C. Fergusson, Military Governor, reaches Cologne and hoists Union Jack.

Americans occupy Coblenz, and hold Rhine back from Trechtingshausen to Rolandseck.

Eastern Front

Odessa occupied by Ukrainian revolutionary forces.

Political, etc.

Speech by Mr. Lloyd George at Bristol, principally on conscription, indemnities, and punishment of Kaiser.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (future Nobel Prize laureate author) is born to Taisiya Zakharovna, a widow, in the midst of the Russian Civil War. His father Isaakiy Semyonovich Solzhenitsyn was killed in a hunting accident.

[Sailor Steve]

December 11, 1918


King Ferdinand I of Romania signed into law the Union of Alba Iulia proclamation, allowing Transylvania, Banat, Crişana, and the Satumare and Maramureş regions to unite with Romania.

The Socialist Party of Romania is established as a successor to the Social Democratic Party.

The Cleveland Orchestra, founded by Cleveland philanthropist Adella Prentiss Hughes, holds its first concert, with Nikolai Sokoloff conducting.

Died Today:

Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer, member of the modernism movement in Slovenia, author of Hiša Marije Pomočnice (born 1876).

Francis Petre, New Zealand architect, best known for his Gothic revival designs for New Zealand churches including Sacred Heart Cathedral in Wellington and Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch (born August 27, 1847)

[Jimbuna]

12th December 1918

Western Front

British Cavalry cross Rhine and begin occupation of Cologne bridgehead.

American sector contracted, extending now from Brey to Rolandseck.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British naval squadron arrives at Reval.

Aviation

An airplane is launched from an airship for the first time, when the U.S. Navy blimp "C.1" drops a Curtiss JN-4 into flight over Fort Tilden, New York.

Political, etc.

Publication of order for demobilisation of men over 41 called up under British Military Service Act of 1918.

Ship Losses:

Helen Stewart (United Kingdom) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean 12 nautical miles (22 km) north of Graciosa, Canary Islands, Spain. Her eight crew survived.

[Sailor Steve]

December 12, 1918


General Karl von Mannerheim replaces Pehr Svinhufvud ad the head of the provisional government of Finland.

Armenian forces attack the towns of Sanahin, Alaverdi, Vorontsovka and Privolnoye, which are defended by the Georgian Army.

Born Today:

Joe Williams, American jazz singer, who became famous fronting the Count Basie Orchestra, in Cordele, Georgia (died 1999).

Emmett Smith Davis, American air force officer, commander of the 35th Fighter Squadron during World War Two, recipient of the Silver Star, Legion of Merit four Air Medals, and two Distinguished Flying Crosses, in Roosevelt, Utah (died 2015).

Oleg Gazenko, Soviet space engineer, member of the Sputnik 2 mission and trainer of Laika the dog, the first animal to go into Earth's orbit, recipient of the Order of Lenin, in Stavropol, Soviet Union (died 2007).

[Jimbuna]

13th December 1918

Western Front

British Infantry (29th, 9th and 2nd Canadian Divisions) complete occupation of Bonn bridgehead. 1st Canadian Division cross at Cologne.

Americans cross Rhine and occupy Coblenz bridgehead.

Armistice prolonged to 17 January 1919.

Political, etc.

Prolongation of armistice with Germany for one month (to 17 January) agreed upon.

Due to the famine and continuing Allied naval blockade, milk is only limited to the children and the sick. Up to 763,000 German civilians are estimated to have died due to starvation in 1918.

Further announcement regarding conscription by Mr. Lloyd George.

President Wilson and the American peace delegation arrive at Brest aboard the "George Washington". The president, whose name has 13 letters, has delayed his arrival until today because he believes that 13 is his lucky number.

Ship Losses:

Rudmore (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Crown of Galicia ( United Kingdom) and sank in the River Thames at Purfleet, Essex. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

December 13 1918


The first flight from England to India begins when a Handley-Page V/1500 bomber takes off from Martlesham Heath, piloted by Major A.S.C. MacLaren and Captain Robert Halley, navigated by Sergeant Thomas Brown with Flight Sergeants Crockett and Smith as fitters. Brigadier General Norman MacEwen rides along as a passenger. The previous July MacLaren had piloted the first flight from England to Egypt in a Handley-Page 0/400.

[Jimbuna]

14th December 1918

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Hodeida (southern Arabia) occupied by British.

Political, etc.

General Election in United Kingdom.

President Wilson arrives in Paris.

Assassination of Senhor Paes, President of Portuguese republic.

Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse renounces the throne of Finland due to his German birth and the rise of antimonarchic sentiment in Europe. He never set foot in Finland.

[Sailor Steve]

December 14, 1918

Great Britain holds its first national general election since the end of The Great War. The coalition government of David Lloyd George and Bonar Law is re-elected by a landslide. This is the first national election at which women were entitled to vote or stand for office.

Ireland also holds a general election in which the Sinn Féin defeats the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party with close to 47 per cent of the vote and setting the stage for Irish independence.

The Armenian army forces the Georgians out of Sanahin, Alaverdi, Vorontsovka and Privolnoye. A Georgian force under command of Abel Makashvili holds off an attack against Armenia in Akhalkalaki, Georgia.

Sidónio Pais, President of Portugal, was shot and fatally wounded by left-wing political activist José Júlio da Costa at the Lisbon train station.

Pavlo Skoropadskyi is replaced as leader of the Ukrainian State and replaced by Volodymyr Vynnychenko, which will lead to the country becoming a Soviet republic.

Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse renounced his claim for the throne of the Kingdom of Finland, awarded to him on October 9, due to uncertainty whether the Finnish population would support a monarchy that had been associated with the dissolving of the German Empire.

Composer Giacomo Puccini debuts his opera collection Il Trittico at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Born Today:

James T. Aubrey, American television producer, creator of 1960s comedy hits The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island in LaSalle, Illinois (died 1994).

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, Indian yoga guru, founder of Iyengar Yoga, in Mysore State, British India (died 2014).

[Jimbuna]

15th December 1918

Political, etc.

Bessarabia votes for union with Romania.

President of Portugal Sidónio Pais is assassinated by a left-wing activist José Júlio da Costa. Pais’ presidency was divisive, acquiring the nickname “President-King.”

Pavlo Skoropadskyi resigns as the Hetman (head of state) of Ukraine and flees to Germany. He was seen as a puppet installed by the Germans.

Ship Losses:

Grecian Prince (United Kingdom) The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of six of her eight crew.
Sehome (United States) The passenger ship collided with General Frisbie ( United States) and sank in San Francisco Bay with the loss of two of her crew.