100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

October 1:

While his crews are enjoying R&R in the Marquesas, Maximilian von Spee reduces his supply train by sending SS Holsatia and O.J.D. Ahlers to Honolulu, each ship carrying a full set of reports for Berlin. They also carry messages to be forwarded to the German Consulate at San Francisco, giving his coal requirements for his planned stops at Juan Fernandez and Valparaiso, where he intends to refuel on his way to South America. He then sends SS Titania to Easter Island to make sure the area is safe for his planned rendezvous with his light cruisers. His only remaining support ships are the fast 14-knot transports Yorck and Göttingen.

Naval Command at Berlin sends a message to Captain Johannes Haun of SMS Leipzig, ordering him to give up his patrol off Peru and join SMS Dresden at Easter Island.

SMS Karlsruhe is having no luck prowling the Brazilian coast, so Captain Köhler sends his supply ship Crefeld to search forty miles to the east.

In the Indian Ocean SMS Emden will spend more than a week cruising slowly through the Maldives toward Diego Garcia. Her boilers and engines are in need of repair, and until they can find a safe shelter for a complete overhaul she will alternate her engines, running on one while what repairs can be made at sea are performed on the other. The gun crews are in constant training, and the boiler stokers are also trained in gunnery while half the boilers are down for servicing.

[Jimbuna]

2nd October 1914

Western Front

Battle round Arras: French hard pressed.

Antwerp: Belgians retire across the Nethe: Germans occupy Termonde.

Eastern Front

East Prussian Frontier: Russians recover Mariampol.

Southern Front

Bosnia: Serbians and Montenegrins renew their advance towards Sarajevo.

Naval and Overseas Operations

East Africa: British victory at Gazi.

Indian Expeditionary Force "E" formed in Egypt from details of Indian Expeditionary Force "A".

Dover Straits: B.3, submarine, B-class, Dover Patrol 4th Flotilla. Attacked by U-boat S of Goodwins, torpedo missed, may have been U.18 (Rn/Mn/D/ge)

H.M.S. "Cumberland" captures nine German liners, etc., in Cameroon River.

Thursday morning. H.M.S. Cumberland,' Captain Cyril Fuller, has captured no less than nine German liners (eight belonging to the Woermann Line and one to the Hamburg- Amerika Line) off the Cameroon River in West Africa. The total tonnage taken is thirty-one thousand. The vessels, we are told, were in good order, most of them containing general outward and homeward cargoes, including considerable quantities of coal. It is further announced that the German gunboat ' Soden ' has been captured and commissioned, and it is expected that the floating dock and another Government. vessel which had been sunk can be raised. No date is given for the capture, but it is assumed that this great haul was due to the fact that on the announcement of war all the German vessels on the West Coast took refuge in the Cameroon River.

Political, etc.

Great Britain: Mr Asquith's speech at Cardiff disclosing German proposals to Britain in 1912.

[Sailor Steve]

October 2:

Captain Haun of SMS Leipzig has heard nothing of Graf Spee's main squadron for almost two months. On her way to Easter Island to renezvous with Dresden, late in the evening they recieve a message from that very ship: "My position Mas a Fuera Island. Intend to proceed to Easter Island to get in touch with the Cruiser Squadron." Haun now knows that his appointment is not just with a fellow light cruiser, but with Spee himself. The message is very faintly heard by the wireless operator aboard Scharnhorst, so Spee also knows that his two Pacific cruisers are still at large.

[Jimbuna]

3rd October 1914

Western Front

Ypres occupied by the Germans.

Antwerp: Fall of outer defences: Legations leaving.

British army begins to leave the Aisne and to move northwards.

First units of British Royal Naval Division (Marine Brigade) arrive at Antwerp.

Limited blackout efforts are instituted in London as a defensive measure against zeppelin attacks.

Eastern Front

Beginning of First Austro-German invasion in force for capture of Warsaw.

Germans take over command of Austrians.

Retreat of Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia ends.

Maramaros-Sziget taken by Russian forces.

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea: British Admiralty notifies the laying down of a defensive mine-field.

First contingents of Canadian and Newfoundland Expeditionary Forces leave for England.

Ship Losses:

Dawdon ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 10 nautical miles (19 km) north west by west of the Wandelaar Lightship ( Belgium) with the loss of ten of her crew.
Kate B. Ogden ( United States): The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. Her crew were rescued by Margelisborg ( Denmark).

[Jimbuna]

4th October 1914

Western Front

Rapid German advance towards the Coast: Germans occupy Lens, Comines, Poperinghe, Bailleul, etc.

Lille bombarded by Germans.

First Battle of Arras ends.

Eastern Front

Poland: Rapid Austro-German advance against Russian centre.

Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive in Galicia begins.

Southern Front

Bosnia: Serbians and Montenegrins driven back from the Sarajevo region.

Political, etc.

France reports that the war has cost $7 million per day, or $420 million ($9.99 billion today) in the first 60 days.

Provisional Government under Essad Pasha set up in Albania at Durazzo.

Ship Losses:

Munin ( Norway): The cargo ship caught fire at Lisbon, Portugal and was beached.

[Sailor Steve]

October 4:

A British wireless station intercepts a very faint signal: Von Spee is in the central Pacific and is on his way to Easter Island.

[August]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Pte John Henry Hargreaves
Friday, 03 October 2014 00:00
...
3 October 1916

My great grandfather was KIA on the same day two years later.

[Jimbuna]

5th October 1914

Western Front

Antwerp: Germans force the line of the Nethe at Duffel.

Three British Naval Brigades reach Antwerp.

Aviation

Sergeant Joseph Frantz and Corporal Louis Quenault of the French Escadrille VB24 are the first aviators in history to shoot down another aircraft with gunfire, downing a German Aviatik B.II with machine gun fire from their Voisin III over Jonchery, Reims.

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea

Two Admiralty minesweeping trawlers sweeping in company near the North Hinder lightship, off the Belgian coast, disappeared with all hands, believed mined and sunk. Neither vessel was seen to sink, but other ships in the area reported an explosion at 1930, followed 15 minutes by another, perhaps when the surviving sweeper went to the assistance of the first.

DRUMOAK, Admiralty trawler, 208/1902, North of Scotland Steam Fishing, Aberdeen-reg A516, hired 8/14 as minesweeper, unarmed, Admiralty No.342, Skipper Robert Smith Ellington RNR. Believed mined and sunk (H/D/He - off Belgian coast; L/C/wi - off River Tyne estuary, in 55.01N, 01.22.45W); Skipper and 9 ratings lost. Note: “Wreck Index“ refers to discrepencies in WW1 records which place her loss off the Tyne as well as the Belgian coast.

PRINCESS BEATRICE, Admiralty trawler, 214/1912, North Shields-reg SN202, hired 8/14 as minesweeper, unarmed, Admiralty No.287, Skipper Alexander Hall RNR, serving with Dover Patrol. Mined, sank off Belgian coast; Skipper and 10 ratings lost.

Japanese government states it will continue to occupy the Shandong railway for the duration of the conflict despite Chinese protests.

Political, etc.

President Wilson calls for “Peace Sunday” to pray for an end to the current conflict.

President Poincare, accompanied by the Premier and War Minister, leaves Bordeaux to visit the front lines.

Kaiser Wilhelm promises a special decoration for the first aviator to attack London.

Albania: Essad Pasha nominated head of a Provisional Government.

Ship Losses:

Ardmount ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) east by south of the Wandelaar Lightship ( Belgium).
HMT Drumoak ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the West Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands).
HMT Princess Beatrice ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine an dsank in the North Sea off the West Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands).

[Sailor Steve]

October 5:

"Haggard, hollow-eyed, exhausted, craving the rest they may not have, these glorious heroes revive as if by magic under the knowledge that other troops are coming to help theirs in this gargantuan struggle for Antwerp. The yellow khaki seems to sweep along with the blue uniforms like sunlight."
-Australian Louise Mack, describing the arrival of British troops to aid in the defense of Antwerp, October 5th, 1914



Following in the wake of Louis Strange's failed attack with an armed Farman, others are making the effort. One such crew are pilot sergent Joseph Frantz and observer caporal Louis Quenault, who mount a Hotchkiss gun to their Voisin LA. Over a period of several weeks they attempt to attack German observation aircraft, eleven times in all with no luck. Finally, on October 5th, they manage to achieve the first aerial shoot-down in history.

Their victim is an Aviatik B.I flown by feldwebel Wilhelm Schlichtling with leutnant Fritz von Zangen (German two-seaters at the time had the officer in the rear seat, giving commands to the pilot, who was his subordinate). At a little after 08:00 hours they catch the Aviatik and begin their attack. Quenault empties both clips on his Hotchkiss, a total of 48 rounds. When von Zangen attempts to return fire with a carbine, Frantz keeps his plane below the enemy, out of his line-of-sight. After the machine gun is empty, and as Quenault is getting his own carbine ready, the Aviatik suddenly rolls over and plunges to the ground. Schlichtling and von Zangen are both killed in the crash, which is found by French troops who have been watching the fight from below.

Surprisingly Joseph Frantz and Louis Quenault both survived the war, Frantz dying in 1979 and Quenault at some earlier, but seemingly unknown, date.

https://imgur.com/lr9hCao


Following the interception of a wireless transmission giving Graf Spee's destination as Easter Island the admiralty is finally convinced that Spee plans to round Cape Horn and move to the Atlantic. For more than a month Rear Admiral Christopher 'Kit' Cradock has been trying to get the ships together to move into the Pacific after Spee. He had been promised the use of the old battleship Canopus and the newer armored cruiser Defence. At the last minute the decision was made to keep Defence at Malta. Cradock is waiting on Canopus to make her slow way to Port Stanley in the Falklands.



Off the Brazilian coast SS Crefeld sights a smoke column in the distance, and signals SMS Karlsruhe, some forty miles to the west. Captain Köhler rushes his ship to investigate, and after a two-hour chase catches SS Farn, carrying 6,000 tons of 1st-class Welsh coal. Since he has plenty of coal already Köhler puts a prize crew aboard Farn and sends her to join his supply ship Asuncion.



Off the coast of German East Africa the new light cruisers Dartmouth and Weymouth, along with the old protected cruiser Fox, join HMS Chatham in the search for SMS Königsberg.

[Jimbuna]

6th October 1914

Western Front

Arras heavily bombarded by the Germans.

Units of British 7th Division disembark at Ostend and Zeebrugge to co-operate with Belgian army.

Antwerp: Germans capture Lierre.

Eastern Front

Poland and Galicia: Russians fall back along the whole front in face of German advance.

Ship Losses:

Niceto de Larrinaga ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 100 nautical miles (190 km) south by west of the St Paul Rocks, Brazil by SMS Karlsruhe ( Kaiserliche Marine).
SMS S13 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S13-class destroyer suffered an on board explosion and sank in the North Sea.
SMS T116 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S90-class torpedo boat was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by HMS E9 ( Royal Navy) with the loss of eleven of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

October 6:

Off the coast of Brazil, SMS Karlsruhe has more success. SS Niceto de Larrinaga, 5018 tons, is en route from Buenos Aires to London with a cargo of wheat. She is stopped by Karlesruhe, her crew put aboard the supply ship Crefeld and the ship scuttled.

In his quest to find SMS Königsberg, captain Drury-Lowe assigns his newly-arrived ships to four different search areas covering more tha 1,500 miles of East African coastline. In an effort to fool any Germans who might see them, Drury-Lowe has all numbers, funnel stripes and names painted over, to make it hard to tell how many ships are in what area.

[Jimbuna]

7th October 1914

Western Front

Antwerp: Evacuation begun: Germans force the passage of the Scheldt and threaten the retreat of the Allies.

Eastern Front

Maramaros-Sziget retaken by Austrian forces.

Galicia: Russians forced back to the San.

Hungary: Withdrawal of Russian raiders.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Marshall Islands in Pacific Ocean occupied by Japanese.

German Pacific Possessions - Japanese forces occupied Yap island, in effect taking possession of the Caroline Islands, including such future bases as Truk.

Political, etc.

Belgium: Seat of Government moved from Antwerp to Ostend.

China sends another protest against Japan for violating its neutrality by occupying railway stations in Shandong.

Ship Losses:

La Correntina ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 320 nautical miles (590 km) east by north of Montevideo, Uruguay by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Lynrowan ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 90 nautical miles (170 km) south south west of the St Paul Rocks, Brazil by SMS Karlsruhe ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Sailor Steve]

October 7:

"As it exploded I shut my eyes, clenched my hands, and sank to the floor by my bedside, saying to myself, 'God, I'm dead!' And I thought I was too. The enormity of that sound-sensation seemed to belong to a transition from this world to the next. It scarcely seemed possible to pass through that noise and come out alive."
-Louise Mack, describing a shell which landed not far from her residence in Antwerp



In the mid-South Atlantic SMS Karlsruhe comes upon her second victim in as many days. This ship is the British ship SS Lynrowan, 3,384 tons, carrying a mixed cargo consisting mainly of wheat and oats, bound from Buenos Aires to Liverpool. The ship's master, Arthur Jones, and his crew are put aboard Crefeld and Lynrowan is sent to the bottom.



At Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands Sir Christopher Cradock is still waiting for Canopus to arrive when he recieves a message from the Admiralty. The message intercepted on the 4th was in code and had to be decyphered. On the 5th the news was sent to Cradock, and only now arrived. The decoding was possible because of the Australian capture of SS Pfalz back on August 5th (post #84).

The Admiralty message includes these instructions: "It appears that Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are working across to South America. You must be prepared to meet them in company, possibly with a 'Dresden' scouting for them. Canopus should accompany Glasgow, Monmouth and Otranto, the ships to search and protect trade in combination. If you propose Good Hope to go, leave Monmouth on east coast."

Cradock replied: "Have ordered Canopus to Falklands where I intend to concentrate and avoid division of forces. Have ordered Glasgow, Monmouth, and Otranto not to go north of Valparaiso until German cruisers located. Does Defence join my command?" It seems the Admiralty had not yet informed Cradock of their decision to keep HMS Defence on the east side of the Atlantic.

[Jimbuna]

8th October 1914

Western Front

General Foch takes supreme command of the Allied armies defending the Coast.

Fighting at Roye.

Antwerp: The city bombarded: Belgians and Naval Brigades leave (being cut off and losing 2,000 interned in Holland).

Sir John French's third despatch (published 19 October).

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russians take Lyck.

First Russian invasion of North Hungary ends.

Aviation

RNAS Sopwith Tabloid bombed and destroyed Army airship Z.IX/Z.9 (Production No. LZ.25) in shed at Dusseldorf.

Air Vice Marshal Reginald Leonard George Marix CB DSO (1889–1966) was a British aviator originally with the Royal Naval Air Service and later to reach a high rank in the Royal Air Force. He is credited with being the first pilot to destroy a Zeppelin, when in 1914 he bombed the airship sheds at Düsseldorf.
Marix joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1912 and was one of the early naval aviators he gained his aviators certificate in January 1913. On 8 October 1914 he was one of three Sopwith Tabloid aircraft that attacked the airship shed at Düsseldorf, Marix dropped a bomb from 500 feet onto the shed and succeeded in destroying Zeppelin LZ25 of the Imperial German Army, the first recorded destruction of dirigible by an aircraft. In 1916 he was testing an aircraft near Paris when it broke up in mid-air injuring Marix, he had to have his left leg amputated. Although no longer an active flyer he moved across to the newly formed Royal Air Force in 1918 when it was formed. During the second world war he rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshall until he retired in 1945.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Tsing-tau: Japanese capture "Prince Heinrich" hill.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British submarine E.9 sinks German destroyer S.126 at mouth of Ems.

Ship Losses:

Cervantes ( United Kingdom) The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 100 nautical miles (190 km) south by west of the St Paul Rocks, Brazil 0°40′S 29°40′W by SMS Karlsruhe ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Catfish]

^ Ah yes, LZ 25 tactical Z.IX, i have a report from Oberingenieur Max Elias about several flights in that Zeppelin, there were some hair-raising incidents like some finger-thick spurts of fuel running over the exhausts, leaking gas cells and almost-losses of the entire ship

Z.IX was not really a war ship, bit they had orders to bomb the fortresses, and since they had no aerial bombs yet they used modified artillery ammunition..
I have never heard though about L.9 bombing any royal palace (?)