8th May 1916
Western Front
Battle of Verdun: Germans repulsed at Hill 304, severe fighting at Thiaumont Farm.
Inside Fort Douaumont, a cooking fire accidentally sets off grenades, flamethrower fuel, & ammunition, causing 800 to 900 German deaths.
Anzacs in line in France.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres
Turks claim victory over Russians at Pirnakapan (Armenia).
Air raid on Port Said.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Ocean liner SS Cymric is torpedoed three times by the German U-20 (which sunk the Lusitania), killing 4 crew.
German attack repulsed at Nhika (Portuguese East Africa).
Political, etc.
Due to the war, the British Royal family substitutes pheasants’ eggs instead of plovers’ eggs during meals.
Thomas James Macnamara, financial secretary of the Admiralty, discloses to the House of Commons that Britain is building a zeppelin fleet.
U.S.A. Note to Germany on submarine warfare.
Four more Irish rebels shot.
Ship Losses:
Cymric (United Kingdom) The ocean liner was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 140 nautical miles (260 km) west north west of the Fastnet Rock by
U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of five lives.