100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

19th December 1915

Western Front

Intense artillery activity on whole French front.

German troops conduct the first phosgene gas attack against British troops at Wieltje, Belgium. The gas attack causes over a thousand casualties, but subsequent German attacks and bombardment fail to dislodge the British.

Eastern Front

Enemy columns dispersed with great losses north of Lake Miadzol (Dvinsk).

Southern Front

British attack at Cape Helles (Gallipoli) won 200 yards of trench.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Naval simultaneous bombardment Turkish front Cape Helles.

Aviation

Captain M.M. Bell-Irving,No.1 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, achieves the first aerial victory by a Canadian when he shot down a German aircraft.

Political etc.

Former BEF Commander Sir John French arrives in Paris from the front after his resignation.

Sweden halts all parcel post from Britain to Russia in retaliation against Britain halting of Swedish-U.S. mail.

U.S. Federal agents begin investigating evidence of German spies in the banking system and police force.

President Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt marries.

[Sailor Steve]

December 19:

Air War:
Canadian RFC pilot Malcolm McBean Bell-Irving, flying Morane L 5069, attacks a German two-seater over Quesnoy. He reports the enemy "Went into a steep dive and lost to sight at 7,000 feet."

It is the first reported victory by a Canadian pilot.

[Jimbuna]

20th December 1915

Western Front

Battle of Givenchy continued.

Furious German attacks on Indian troops.

Eastern Front

Poland: Russians holding the Bzura against heavy German assaults.

Germany renames the fortress town of Novogeorgievsk to its old Polish name Modlin.

Galicia: Russians begin to counter-attack and to recover the Carpathian Passes.

Southern Front

Suvla and ANZAC cove at Gallipoli are completely evacuated without alerting Ottoman troops. Soldiers remain at Cape Helles.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Armenia: Russians defeat the Turks near Lake Van.

Naval and Overseas Operations

South Africa: Captain Fourie shot; his brother's sentence commuted.

Political etc.

David Lloyd George urges 80,000 skilled workers and 200,000 to 800,000 unskilled workers to work at munition factories.

$450,000 worth of opium is seized onboard a Japanese vessel Seiyo Maru at San Francisco. It is the largest seizure of drugs in the U.S.

President Wilson and Edith Wilson arrive at Hot Springs, Virginia after their wedding yesterday.

Carl Locher, Danish realist painter, has passed away. His “Numerous sailing ships at sea:”


Ship Losses:

Belford ( United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel off Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France by SM UB-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Huntly ( United Kingdom)(Flag of the Red Cross): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel off the Boulogne Lightship ( France) by SM UB-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

December 20, 1915:

English Channel:
Otto Steinbrinck, commanding UB-10, torpedoes British freighters SS Belford, 516 tons, riding at anchor off Boulogne while en route from Cardiff to Calais with a load of patent fuel; and SS Huntly, 1,153 tons, bound from Portishead to Boulogne with a load of petol. His score is now 27 ships and 13,362 tons.

United States:
American schooner SV Richard Cromwell, 112 tons, sinks at the mouth of the Patasco River off Baltimore, Maryland.

Pacific Ocean:
Japanese freighter Hokoku Maru, 5,038 tons, sets out from Singapore for London with a load of wheat, and is not heard from again.

[Jimbuna]

21st December 1915

Western Front

French success Hartmannsweilerkopf, 1,300 prisoners.

Southern Front

Turks claim evacuation of Gallipoli as great "Turkish victory, heavy British losses". Fact: three wounded.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Mangeles (Cameroons) taken by Colonel Mayer, 3 days' fighting.

Italian destroyer sinks large Austrian ship laden with arms, and rams attacking submarine.

U.S. General Board of the Navy recommends to make the navy “equal to the most powerful maintained by any other nation in the world” by 1925.

Political etc.

Sir William Robertson appointed Chief of Imperial General Staff (succeeding Sir Archibald Murray - to Egypt).

President Wilson bans photographers and cameramen from recording his honeymoon and sends guards to scatter them.

Former President Roosevelt threatens to support Wilson if the G.O.P. panders to the Germans.

Irish MP John Dillon criticizes Asquith: “We are traveling the road that leads not to victory but to financial ruin and loss of the war.”

Premier Asquith asks the House of Commons for a million more troops to reinforce the 1.25 million currently in the field.

Ship Losses:

Knarsdale ( United Kingdom): The collier struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 2.75 nautical miles (5.09 km) east by south of Orfordness, Suffolk with the loss of a crew member.
HMS Lady Ismay ( Royal Navy): The auxiliary minesweeper struck a mine laid by UC 7 (Georg Haagand) sank in the North Sea 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) north west of the Longsand Lightship ( United Kingdom) (51°48′N 1°39′E) with the loss of eighteen of her crew.
Yasaka Maru ( Japan): The passenger ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 60 nautical miles (110 km) off Port Said, Egypt by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew and all 120 passengers were rescued by a French Navy gunboat.

[Sailor Steve]

December 21, 1915:

North Sea:
British auxiliary minesweeper Lady Ismay, 495 tons, hits a mine laid by Erwin Waßner in UC-3, bringing his score to 10 ships and 10,010 tons.

British freighter SS Knarsdale, 1,641 tons, carrying a load of coal from Blyth to Sheerness, hits a mine laid by Georg Haag in UC-7. His score is now 3 ships and 4,463 tons.

Swedish barque SV Henriette, 891 tons, leaves Hartlepool for Uddevalla with a load of coal. The ship was never heard from again.



Medterranean Sea:
Max Valentiner, commanding U-38, is back in action, beginning his fifth war patrol with the sinking of Japanese passenger ship Yasaka Maru, 10,932 tons, bound from Tees for Yokohama via the Suez Canal. His score is now 68 ships and 136,722 tons.



Atlantic Ocean:
On December 20, British sailing ship SV Queen Elizabeth left Liverpool for Santos, Brazil, with a load of coal. On the 21st she reported her position, and was not heard from again.

[Jimbuna]

22nd December 1915

Western Front

Germans active on Yser and Ypres sectors; positions wrecked by Allies.

Enemy regained footing at Harmannsweilerkopf.

Southern Front

Bulgarians occupy strategic positions along Greek frontier: strength about 120,000, with heavy guns from Varna.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Sir Archibald Murray appointed to Egypt (vice Sir J. Maxwell) to command in the Mediterranean.

Political etc.

House of Commons passes a bill to increase the British Army by a million men.

Canadian Premier: “Canada…are as firmly resolved as is England that the European war shall not be terminated by any inconclusive peace.”

Greek Premier: “Greece is to be ravaged by a cruel relentless war because the Entente Allies have badly blundered…”

German Kaiser Wilhelm is forced to postpone a planned trip to the Western Front due to cellulitis.

Captain Franz von Papen, military attaché in the U.S., is recalled back to Germany.


German General Otto von Emmich dies in Hanover due to arteriosclerosis.

[Sailor Steve]

December 22, 1915:

North Sea:
German freighter SS Dearne, 984 tons, is torpedoed and sunk, by whom is not clear.

Swedish freighter SS Uddeholm departs Gothenburg for Christianssund and is not heard from again.



Kumano Sea:
Japanese coastal freighter Kaikoku Maru, 445 tons, travelling from Osaka to Tokyo, founders off Shima.



Caribbean Sea:
American schooner SV Tarrantine, carrying a load of coal from New York to San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic, is wrecked on Isla Saona.

American schooner SV Thomas Winslow, travelling from Philadelphia to Casilda, Cuba with a load of coal, is abandoned.

[Jimbuna]

23rd December 1915

Western Front

French success at Harmannsweilerkopf.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Kut, violent attack by Turks: a number penetrated north-east corner of fort, but ejected by Oxf. L.I., etc.; afterwards, blockade only.

Southern Front



Naval and Overseas Operations

HMHS "Britannic", which will be the largest British ship lost in WWI (though with only 30 fatalities), departs Liverpool on her maiden voyage as a hospital ship.





Political etc.

Mr. Choate urges America to be prepared to "render whatever aid we can to our neighbour".

Britain prohibits neutral countries from sending hospital supplies to Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

Ship Losses:

SMS S177 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S138-class destroyer struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea with the loss of seven of her crew.
Skiblander ( Norway): The schooner was driven ashore and wrecked at Johnshaven, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom with the loss of one of her seven crew.

[Sailor Steve]

December 23, 1915:

North Sea:
British trawler Empress, 104 tons, founders in a gale while entering Aberdeen Harbour.

British barge SS Moor, 89 tons, founders at the mouth of the River Tay.

British coaster SS Northumbria, 856 tons, sets out from Leith for London with a cargo of coal and is not heard from again.

Norwegian schooner SV Goodwin, 299 tons, bound from Leith to Arendal with a load of coal, founders off Lillesand. The entire crew of 10 are lost.

Norwegian coaster SS Lihaug, 110 tons, travelling in ballast from Göteborg to Ålesund, goes missing.

(The above losses may all be due to the same storm)



Baltic Sea:
German destroyer S-177 is sunk by a Russian mine in the same field that claimed SMS Bremen and V-191 six days earlier.

Swedish brigantine SV Silva, 104 tons, travelling in ballast from Kjeteminde, Denmark to Stettin, Germany, is wrecked at Nobbin, Rugen.



Mediterranean Sea:
French freighter SS St. Pierre & Miquelon, 803 tons, carrying a general cargo from Oran, Algeria to Kenitra, Morocco, runs aground on Mehedia Bar and is lost.



Atlantic Ocean:
American freighter SS Orleanian, 2,293 tons, departs New York for Malta with a load of case oil, and is not heard from again.

[Jimbuna]

24th December 1915

Eastern Front

Heavy fighting on the River Strypa.

Southern Front

Salonika in state of defence; Germans disturbed at Allied occupation.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French liner "Ville de la Ciotat" torpedoed Mediterranean, 80 lives lost.


Political etc.

Premier Asquith announces that 528,227 British soldiers have been killed, wounded, or captured so far in the war.

Great Britain announces that it will not release foreign nationals over the age of 21 who enlists in the British Army.

Kaiser Wilhelm goes to Potsdam Palace to spend Christmas with his family.

Richard Melville Hall, a U.S. volunteer ambulance driver, is killed in France by an artillery shell.

Europe sells its assets in the U.S. in order to raise cash. More than $600 million worth of stocks are bought back by Americans.

Pope Benedict states he will delay canonizing Joan of Arc until after the war’s end to avoid accusations that the Vatican supports France.

Ship Losses:

HMT Carilon ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Margate, Kent. Her crew survived.
Embla ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and was damaged in the Thames Estuary 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) east south east of the Tongue Lightship ( United Kingdom). She was beached but was declared a total loss. Her crew survived.
Envermeu ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground on the Goodwin Sands, Kent and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued.
Lady Iveagh ( United Kingdom): The collier was wrecked at St. Quentin Point, Somme, France,
Moor ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship sank at Dundee, Perthshire.
Ville de la Ciotat ( France): The passenger ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 105 nautical miles (194 km) south west of Cape Matapan, Greece (35°10′N 21°26′E) by SM U-34 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of 81 lives. Survivors were rescued by Moroe ( United Kingdom).
Yeddo ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Mediterranean Sea 122 nautical miles (226 km) south west by south of Cape Matapan by SM U-34 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were rescued by Natal ( Denmark).

[Sailor Steve]

December 24, 1915:

Norwegian Sea:
British coaster SS Morning, 452 tons, travelling from Queenstown to Arkhangelsk, founders near the Faroe Islands.



North Sea:
His Majesty's Trawler Carilon, 226 tons, hits a mine laid by Egon von Werner and UC-1. British freighter SS Embla, 1,172 tons, carrying a load of jute, paper and oil from London to Dunkerque, also hits a mine laid by UC-1. The ship is beached safely, but later written off as a total loss. Von Werner's score is now 12 ships and 10,251 tons.

British wooden steam freighter SS Active, 353 tons, departs Leith for Arkhangelsk with a general cargo and is not heard from again.

British trawler Cameo, 231 tons, is wrecked at Rattray Briggs, Aberdeenshire, with the lose of all 12 of her crew.

Norwegian freighter SS Heidrun, 972 tons, leaves Swansea for Rouen with a load of coal and is not heard from again.

Norwegian schooner SS Skibladner, 180 tons, travelling from Fredrikshald to Sunderland with a load of pit props, is wrecked off Johnshaven, Scotland, with the loss of 1 crewmember.



Skagerrak:
Danish shooner SV Lyra, 452 tons, travelling in ballast from Halmstad to Porsgrund, is wrecked off Lyngoer.



Kattegat:
Swedish coaster SS Export, 159 tons, carrying a load of coke from Emden to Gothenburg, is abandoned near Horns Rev, Denmark.



English Channel:
British coaster SS Cecil, 229 tons, is wrecked off Calais.

British coaster SS Envermeu, 348 tons, travelling from Caen to Newcastle in ballast, is involved in a collision and run aground on Goodwin Sands. The ship is a total loss.



Bristol Channel:
Collier SS Lady Ivaegh, 2,286 tons, is carrying coal from Penarth for the fleet when wrecked at St Quintin Point.



Atlantic Ocean:
Norwegian barque SV Ragnvald, 797 tons, bound from Pugwash, Nova Scotia to Brest with a load of timber, is abandoned in a storm.



Mediterranean Sea:
Claus Rücker, commanding U-34, Sinks French passenger liner SS Ville de la Ciotat, 6,431 tons, bound from Shanghai to Marseille; and British freighter Yeddo, 4,563 tons, carrying a general cargo from Calcutta to New York. His score is now 16 ships and 39,431 tons.

[Jimbuna]

25th December 1915

Western Front

The King sends Christmas message to his troops and thanks Indian troops, through the Prince of Wales, on their departure.

Army HQs on both sides warn their soldiers not to repeat the Christmas truce that occurred last year.

Raids & artillery bombardments are carried out in the Western Front to discourage soldiers. Regardless, minor truces are recorded.

Southern Front

Ottoman artillery heavily bombard Allied trenches in the Dardanelles to prevent another unopposed withdrawal.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Principal Arab force attacked and dispersed near Matruh.

Rebel force routed near Teheran.

Prince Firman Firma, pro-Ally, nominated Premier.

Political etc.

Chinese general Cai E launches a rebellion against Emperor Yuan Shikai, starting the National Protection War in China.

Herr Ballin's definition of "Freedom of the Seas" published in "Vossische Zeitung".

Ship Losses:

Lovspring ( Norway): The barque was driven ashore and wrecked on the coast of Northumberland, United Kingdom.
Nereus ( Sweden): The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea. Her crew were rescued.
Van Stirum ( United Kingdom): The passenger ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 8 nautical miles (15 km) south south west of the Smalls Lighthouse (51°55′N 6°16′W) by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two crew.
Yrsa ( Denmark): The cargo ship ran aground in Aalebeks Bay. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

December 25, 1915:

Celtic Sea:
Rudolf Schneider begins his sixth war patrol in U-24 with the sinking of British passenger ship SS Van Stirum, 3,284 tons, bound from Rouen to Liverpool. His score is now 23 ships and 78,430 tons.



North Sea:
Norwegian barque SV Lovspring, 561 tons, travelling from Kristiania to Tyne with a load of pit props, is abandoned in a storm.

Swedish freighter SS Nereus, 1,233 tons, bound from Boston, Lincolnshire, UK for Copenhagen, founders 35 miles east of Spurn Head. At least one source claims Nereus hit a mine.

Norwegian freighter SS Rigi, 1,912 tons, carring a load of oilcake from Charleston, South Carolina to Göteborg, hits a mine 47 miles northwest of Texel, Holland.



Pacific Ocean:
Chilean barque SV Ivanhoe, 1,250 tons, carrying nitrate of soda from Antofagasta, Chile to Port Allen, Kauai, Hawaii, runs aground at Port Allen and is written off as a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

26th December 1915

Western Front

German artillery fire and probing attacks cause concerns in France that a German offensive will soon be launched.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German steamers sunk on Lake Tanganyika.

A fire on an U.S. freighter causes the loss of $100,000 worth of sugar that was destined for the Allies.

German surface raider "Moewe" makes first sortie from Bremen.


Political etc.

King George sends his Christmas message to his troops, hoping “under God’s guidance lead to victory and an honourable peace.”

Treaty of Darin is signed between the United Kingdom and Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who agrees to fight against the Ottomans.

Chinese revolt against Emperor Yuan Shikai spreads to three more provinces. Government troops are dispatched to put them down.

Ship Losses:

Cottingham ( United Kingdom): The coaster was shelled and sunk in the Bristol Channel 16 nautical miles (30 km) south west of Lundy Island, Devon by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of seven crew.
HMS E6 ( Royal Navy): The E-class submarine struck a mine laid by UC 5 (Herbert Pustkuchen) and sank in the North Sea off Harwich, Essex with the loss of 31 of her crew.
Ministre Beernaert ( Belgium): The cargo ship was sunk in the Bristol Channel 40 nautical miles (74 km) west by south of Lundy Island (50°50′N 5°33′W) by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
HMT Resono ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south east by east of the Sunk Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of thirteen of her crew.