100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

August 24:

Air War: Lanoe Hawker is awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on July 25th.





North Sea: Rudolf Schneider, commanding U-24, takes Norwegian freighter SS Sinsen, 1,925 tons, bound from Archangelsk to Bayonne with a load of wheat, as a prize. The ship is later released.

Ralph Wenninger, in UB-17, takes Belgian sailing vessel Leon Mathilde as a prize, details, including displacement, are unknown, making it difficult to record Wenninger's tonnage score.

[Jimbuna]

25th August 1915

Western Front

British line extended: French positions taken over.

French bomb Dillingen iron works; air raids in Woevre, Argonne and Artois.

Eastern Front

Storming and fall of Brest-Litovsk.

Southern Front

Brescia bombed by Austrians.

Account published of operations in Gallipoli since 6 August.

Fighting at Cattaro between Austrians and Montenegrins.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Coast of Asia Minor and Syria declared in state of blockade.

Horrible Armenian massacres reported.

Political etc.

U.S. Department of Justice arrests Gutav Kopsch on charges of spying for Germany. He had photographs and maps of Fort Monroe, VA.

Russia consider abolishing the Pale of Settlement, which would allow Jews to settle freely in the Russian Empire.

Foreign Minister of Japan expresses hope that Japan would see closer relations with Britain, France, and Russia after the War.

German message to the US over the sinking of the Arabic, which cost 3 American lives.


Ship Losses:

Disa ( Sweden): The coaster struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 5 to 6 nautical miles (9.3 to 11.1 km) north by east of the Shipwash Lightship ( United Kingdom) (52°09′N 1°39′E). Her crew survived.
Petshora ( Russia): The cargo ship was sunk in the Gulf of Finland by SM U-26 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Young Frank ( United Kingdom): The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea 38 nautical miles (70 km) north by east of Lowestoft, Suffolk by SM UB-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

[Sailor Steve]

August 25:

North Sea: Hans Nieland, commanding UB-12, scuttles fishing smack Young Frank, 49 tons, bringing his score to 9 vessels and 437 tons.



Gulf of Finland: Egewulf von Berckheim, in U-26, sinks Russian freighter SS Petshora, 1,982 tons. Ship's destination and cargo unknown. Von Berckheim's score is now 4 ships and 14,206 tons.

[Jimbuna]

26th August 1915

Western Front

French bomb poison gas factory Dornach.

Eastern Front

Germans occupy fort of Olita on Niemen and advance south-east and north-east of Brest-Litovsk.

Southern Front

Italian progress in Val Sugana (Trentino).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Rustam (north-west India) column defeats Brunerwals at Surkhabi.

Aviation

62 French planes bomb Saar-louis, and another squadron of 60 British, Belgian, and French planes bomb German positions in Flanders.



Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea
JASPER, Admiralty-owned trawler, 221/1912, previously Kingston Steam Trawling, purchased by Admiralty pre-war, 1-6pdr, Admiralty No.164, commissioned as minesweeper, Lt William St Clair Fleming RNR. Taking part in sweeping field laid by German auxiliary minelayer Meteor in Moray Firth, mined at 0935 and sank quickly (He - 58.13N, 02.22W; wi - in 58N, 03W); 8 ratings killed (He – 7 died; wi - 11).

Political, etc.

French Navy declares it had started the blockade of Ottoman Asia Minor and Syria from the island of Samos to the Egyptian frontier.

Letter published from Sir Edward Grey in answer to German Chancellor's speech.

French Chamber of Deputies votes 539 to 1 in support of Premier Viviani and Minister of War Millerand.

Lord Selborne addresses agricultural representatives.

Ship Losses:

HMT Jasper ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
Sahina Noria ( Italy): The sailing vessel was sunk in the Aegean Sea off Orak, Rabbit Islands, Turkey by SM UC-13 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Sailor Steve]

August 26:

"I am being kept very busy out here. Last night there was a comic raid on the Forest of Houthulst. It is six or seven miles behind the lines near Dixmude, and the Huns use it as a rest camp - boucoup de stores and ammunition there too. The French idea is to set it on fire with incindiary bombs. Over forty machines took part, including self - perfect weather conditions - no clouds but very hazy, so when one got high up one was almost invisible. I got to just over 11,000 feet, but even then had one or two shots near me. Below me the air was simply a mass of bursting shrapnel. French artillery also opened fire on the place. There must have been beaucoup de noise in the forest. Most amusing - a really soft job as some one remarked."
Harold Rosher, letter to his mother, August 26, 1915

"What do you think of the 40 warships bombarding Zeebrugge? We were all due out there, of course, some spotting, and fighters to protect the spotters. As luck would have it, the weather was dud - clouds at 1,500 feet - with the result that no one got there except a solitary fighter, and he was rewarded by a scrap with a German seaplane. I got just past Ostend, but gave it up as engine was running none too well.

By the way, Bigsworth this morning dropped a 60 lb. bomb bang on top of a German submarine and completely did it in - Jolly good work."
Harold Rosher, letter to his father, August 26, 1915

(Note: there is no German record of a U-boat being lost this day, to aerial bombing or any other cause)



Air War: Max Immelmann of Germany scores his second victory. The victim's type is unknown, but described as a bomber.



Aegean Sea: Johannes Kirchner, commanding UC-13, sinks Italian sailing vessel Sahina Noria, 37 tons, near Orak, Turkey.

[Jimbuna]

27th August 1915

Western Front

British line extended: French positions taken over.

French bomb Dillingen iron works; air raids in Woevre, Argonne and Artois.

Eastern Front

Storming and fall of Brest-Litovsk.

Southern Front

Brescia bombed by Austrians.

Account published of operations in Gallipoli since 6 August.

Anzac forces again attempt to take Hill 60 at Gallipoli, but only make limited gains due to strong Ottoman defenses.

Fighting at Cattaro between Austrians and Montenegrins.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Coast of Asia Minor and Syria declared in state of blockade.

Horrible Armenian massacres reported.

Political etc.

US Department of Commerce releases findings that the US has become the world leading exporter for the first time in history.

French President Poincare, War Minister Millerand, & General Joffre issue a joint telegram expressing confidence in Russia despite defeats.

Russian Minister of War announces it will raise another 2 million men and that the fate of the war will not be decided this year.

Hans Hartwig von Beseler is made the military-governor of German-occupied Poland.


Political cartoon about Theodore Roosevelt’s belligerent attitude, titled “White House or Bust”

[Sailor Steve]

August 27:

Air War: Austro-Hungarian observer Otto Jindra, riding in Albatros B.I 22.06 with an unnamed pilot, shoots down a Morane parasol for his third kill.

[Jimbuna]

28th August 1915

Western Front

Air-raid on Compiegne.

Southern Front

Italians carry and hold Monte Cista (Val Sugana, Trentino).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Bunerwals again defeated, Malandri Pass (north-west India).

Aviation

Six German aircraft raid Paris, who are challenged by French planes. One German plane is shot down while attempting to return.

Naval

North Sea
DANE, Admiralty trawler, 265/1913, 'D' Line Steam Fishing, Grimsby-reg GY947, hired 4/15 as auxiliary patrol vessel, Admiralty No.1446, believed Harwich-based, Lt Parker RNR. Mined at 0750, laid by UC.6 (Matthias Graf von Schmettow), sank about 1 mile NW of North Aldeburgh Napes buoy, off Suffolk (wi - 2½m ESE of Thorpe Ness, in 52.10.08N, 01.41.06E); 4 ratings lost and 1 more DOW (wi - 8 killed).

Irish Sea
DOLORES, naval motor boat, ex-high speed pleasure motor boat, 12grt, hired 1914, serving with Motor Boat Reserve as HM Motor Boat No.55 (number also used by motor boat Arabian), armed with rifles/small arms, manned by RNVR crew, Sub‑Lt Harold Bishop Mylchreest RNR in command. Caught fire, burnt to the waterline and sank alongside the quay in Douglas Harbour, Isle of Man (wi - in 54.08.45N, 04.28.05W); no lives lost.

Political, etc.

President Roosevelt criticizes Wilson, stating no American lives were lost in war while he was in office.

Kaiser Wilhelm confers with his minister over the unrestricted submarine campaign due to increasing US pressure.

Official casualty lists of Prussia show 1,740,836 names. This does not include casualties from other German states or the Navy.

Ship Losses:

HMT Dane ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, Suffolk with the loss of five of her crew.
HMY Dolores ( Royal Navy): The naval yacht was destroyed by fire at Douglas, Isle of Man.

John Davis Long, former Massachusetts Governor and Navy Secretary during the Spanish-American War, has passed away.

[Sailor Steve]

August 28:

North Sea: His Majesty's Trawler Dane, 265 tons, strikes a mine laid by Matthias Graf von Schmettow in UC-6. This is the fourth vessel lost to this minefield, giving von Schmettow a score of 1,567 tons.

[Jimbuna]

29th August 1915

Western Front

Violent artillery duel in Argonne.

Eastern Front

Enemy nears Grodno and Vilna. Lipsk (Grodno) stormed, Sidra section evacuated.

Germans attack bridgehead of Dvina at Friedrichstadt.

German and Austro-Hungarian offensive breaks Russian forces north of Kovno (Kaunas) in their push towards Vilnius.

Southern Front

The Battle of Hill 60, the last major assault of the Gallipoli Campaign, ends in Anzac failure, with 1100 casualties.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Swat natives repulsed at Sandaki (north-west India).

Naval

North Sea
C.29, submarine, C-class, c290/320t, 1909, 2‑18in tt with 4 torpedoes, 13/7½kts, 16 crew, Pennant No.I.59, Rosyth-based 7th Flotilla, Lt William Schofield, on anti-U-boat patrol with decoy trawler Ariadne, submerged, in tow and in telephone contact with Ariadne. Underwater explosion and tow rope went slack, mined off the Humber near Outer Dowsing LV (bw - 53.59N, 01.25E), accidentally towed into British minefield laid in January; 2 officers and 15 ratings lost (He – all 16 crew lost), no survivors.

USS F-4, the 1st commissioned US submarine to be lost at sea, is raised from the ocean bottom.


Ship Losses:

HMS C29 ( Royal Navy): The C-class submarine struck a mine and sank in the Humber Estuary with the loss of all sixteen crew.
Sir William Stephenson ( United Kingdom): The passenger ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the Cockle Lightship with the loss of two lives.

Political etc.

Bishop Flavianus Michael Malke is arrested by Ottoman authorities and is killed for refusing to convert to Islam.

[Sailor Steve]

August 29:

"As things stand at present I understand I am not going out to the Dardanelles. I must say I am awfully disappointed, as I was always rather keen to go out there, but I may possibly have a better job. For all I know it may be to rejoin Babington.

Went out to Furnes yesterday afternoon to collect more of my gear. While out there, a German machine came over and dropped six bombs on us. One went right into our tent and three fell within forty yards of me. No one was hit. We all ran like stags."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, August 29, 1915



North Sea: SS Sir William Stephenson, 1,540 tons, bound from Tyne to London with a general cargo, becomes the latests victim of the minefield laid by UC-6. Matthias von Schmettow's score is now 5 ships and 3,107 tons.



Adriatic Sea: Georg von Trapp, commanding Austrian U-5, takes Greek freighter SS Cefalonia, 1,034 tons, as a prize off Durrazzo (Durrës), Albania. The ship was heading from Saloniki to San Giovanni de Medua with a load of grain. Von Trapp's score is now 3 ships and 13,665 tons.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Bishop Flavianus Michael Malke is arrested by Ottoman authorities and is killed for refusing to convert to Islam.

The 32 year old bishop, his own mother and parishioners having been killed in previous massacres (1895) by the Islamic authority, bravely refused to desert his followers during the Assyrian Genocide' In the summer of 1915, during the height of the Assyrian Genocide,(also ongoing with the Armenian Genocide) in the rural region Tur Abdin, Malke at the time, returned to Gazarta upon hearing news of an impending massacre against the Christians there and refused to flee despite being advised so by local Muslim leaders. Unlike the Armenians, there were no orders to deport Assyrians. The attacks against them were not of standardized nature and incorporated various methods of massacre; in some cities, all Assyrian men were slain and the others were forced to flee. These massacres were often carried out upon the initiatives of local politicians and Kurdish tribes, and Assyrian collaboration with Russians prompted some of them. Exposure, disease and starvation during the flight of Assyrians increased the death toll, and women were subjected to widespread sexual abuse in some areas. The death toll stands at 300,000!! Bishop Malke was arrested by Ottoman authorities on 28 August 1915, alongside the Chaldean bishop of the city, Philippe-Jacques Abraham. According to Muslim eyewitnesses they were given choice between death or conversion to Islam the next day, upon their refusal, Jacques Abraham was immediately shot dead, Bishop Malke was beaten until he became unconscious and was afterwards beheaded. Abraham's corpse was dragged through the city. When it comes to 'one-day' justice...the Islamic Ottomans didn't 'talk turkey'....literally and deny it ever took place...to this day.
In 2010 the Syriac Catholic Patriarch launched a request for the beatification of Bishop Malke. He was declared Servant of God by the Holy See, which is the first step towards sainthood. On Sunday, 30 September 2012, a report was submitted to Rome by the Syriac Catholic Patriarch for Bishop Malke's beatification.
On 8 August 2015 his beatification was approved after Pope Francis determined that Bishop Malke was killed in hatred of his faith. Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on behalf of the pope - presided over the beatification in Lebanon on 29 August 2015. [wiki]

[Jimbuna]

30th August 1915

Eastern Front

Russian victory on Strypa (southern Galicia), taking 4,000 prisoners and 30 guns.

Southern Front

Italians eject Austrians from Monte Maronia (Julian).

French aeroplanes bomb Akbachi Sliman and Chanak (Gallipoli).

Naval

British training ship Cornwall is hit by a tug in the Thames, resulting in the deaths of an officer and 16 boys.


Berlin: The government orders U-boats not to sink merchant ships or passenger liners without first giving warning and providing time for the crews and passengers to disembark. No neutral ships to be sunk unless taking cargo to Britain.
A surfaced U-boat sunk with its deck gun a merchantmen after the crew has previously left the ship in lifeboats.


Political, etc.

British authorities capture German baron Otto von Gumppenberg, who they claim incited Arab revolts in Italian Libya and British Egypt.

German Ambassador's account of his last interview with Sir Edward Grey republished from German press.

Britain agrees to relax its rules on its blockade of Germany. US Cargo worth millions have been held up in Rotterdam due to the blockade.

Letter from Mr. Balfour gives total deaths from Zeppelin raids as 89 - all civilians.

Tsar Nicholas of Russia agrees to expand the cabinet by 10 members, in an effort make the government more representative.

British Foreign Minister (Sir E. Grey) informs M. Supilo that, provided Serbia agreed, the Allies could guarantee the eventual freedom and self-determination of Bosnia, Herzegovina, South Dalmatia, Slavonia, and Croatia.

Ship Losses:

Bretwalda ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struc a mine and was damaged in the North Sea 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) east of the Longsand Lightship ( United Kingdom). She was beached but was later refloated, repaired and returned to service.
Honiton ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and was damaged in the North Sea 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) east of the Longsand Lightship. She was beached at Shoeburyness, Essex but was declared a total loss.
Zemlya ( Russia): The coaster was sunk in the Baltic Sea off Worms Island (59°02′N 23°02′E) by SM U-26 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Sailor Steve]

August 30:

Air activity over France:





Baltic Sea: Near the Straight of Hari Kurk, Egewold von Berckheim, in U-26, sinks the Russian freighter SS Zemlya. This is von Bercheim's last sinking, and his final score is 5 ships and 15,075 tons. U-26 was not heard from again. Nothing was left but speculation for 99 years, until the wreck of U-26 was discovered in May 2014.
http://badewanne.fi/a-hundred-year-o...as-been-found/



German East Africa: At 1248 HMS Severn sends a landing party to Simaya Island, looking for signs of German activity. The island is deserted.

[Jimbuna]

31st August 1915

Western Front

Germans claim successes in the Vosges.

Eastern Front

Russians beat Germans near Lutsk (Upper Styr River). 7,000 prisoners.

Russian counterattacks in Galicia reverse recent German gains. Russia claims they have captured 3000 men, 30 cannons, and 34 machine guns.

Southern Front

Serbian troops at Durazzo.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Rustam column again drives Bunerwals back.

Aviation

Adolphe Pégoud, French aviator & 1st fighter ace in history, is shot down and killed by his prewar German student.


Political, etc.

Dispute in South Wales Coalfield officially ended.

Analysts estimate that British insurance companies have paid £5.5 million due to losses caused by the war.

Ship Losses:

Edith ( United States): The cargo ship foundered in the Pacific Ocean 47 nautical miles (87 km) east of Cape St. Elias, Alaska. Her crew were rescued by Mariposa ( United States).

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc. in the month - 122 ships of 196,000 tons gross (Lloyd's War Losses).