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21/09/2023

On July 1st 1916:Battle of the Somme – The biggest battle of World War I opened with the Battle of Albert, with British forces capturing the French communes of Gommecourt, Mountauban and Mamtez on the same day.

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British aerial photograph of German trenches north of Thiepval, 10 May 1916, with the German forward lines to the lower left. The crenellated appearance of the trenches is due to the presence of traverses.

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Map of the Valley of the Somme in 1916.

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Despite considerable debate among German staff officers, Erich von Falkenhayn continued the policy of unyielding defence in 1916. Falkenhayn implied after the war that the psychology of German soldiers, shortage of manpower and lack of reserves made the policy inescapable, as the troops necessary to seal off breakthroughs did not exist. High losses incurred in holding ground by a policy of no retreat were preferable to higher losses, voluntary withdrawals and the effect of a belief that soldiers had discretion to avoid battle. When a more flexible policy was substituted later, decisions about withdrawal were still reserved to army commanders.

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Men of the 10th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment of the 31st Division marching to the front line, 28 June 1916.

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On June 30th 1916:Battle of the Boar's Head – The British launched a diversionary against the Germans at the French village Richebourg-l'Avoué prior to the Somme offensive.

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On 13 June, troops from the 2/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment (2/4th Berkshire) rehearsed a raid on the Ferme du Bois area in the afternoon and after a bombardment, attacked at 11:15 p.m. The raiders found that most of the German wire was uncut and only a small group got into the German front trench. The raiders returned to the British lines having suffered 38 casualties, more than a third of the party. On 29 May, German raiders got into the 39th Division lines, killed two soldiers and induced several others to cast away their rifles.An attack was planned by the 39th Division for the 12th and 13th (Southdowns) battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment, part of the 116th Southdowns Brigade to occupy the Boar's Head, a salient in the German front line.

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From 23 June to 14 July, XI Corps conducted 14 raids with mixed results. On the night of 20/21 June, a party of 32 men of A Company, 2/5th Gloucestershire Regiment crossed no man's land to identify units opposite. The British wire was found to be insufficiently cut, the troops were caught by German machine-gun fire in the bottlenecks and were forced back with many casualties.

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During March 1916, the month that the 39th Division (Major-General Gerald Cuthbert) arrived in France, Haking ordered divisional commanders to make lists of soldiers, NCOs and officers worthy of promotion, since quick advancement on merit encouraged efficiency and boosted morale.[2][3] Haking was also ready to remove officers and in April wanted the three brigadier-generals of the infantry brigades sacked and replaced with younger men. The German troops opposite XI Corps were not passive and on 26 May, the 39th Division was raided.

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On 1 June 1916, General Charles Monro, commander of the First Army, about 30 mi (48 km) north of the Somme, held a conference with the corps commanders for operations to be undertaken when the Fourth Army and the French Sixth Army began the offensive on the Somme. The First Army was to mislead the Germans, exhaust the forces opposite and reduce their efficiency during the preliminary bombardment on the Somme. On 7 June, the XI Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Richard Haking submitted the corps plan to fulfil the diversion policy, writing that saps had been dug towards the German lines and assembly trenches from 1915 had been refurbished. The divisions of XI Corps had plans for eight raids, to involve gas, smoke and wire-cutting bombardments each day, from 26 June until 10 July.

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On June 30th 1916:Since the start of 1916, 46 German airship sorties crossed the coast of England, and German airships have attacked London twice. British antiaircraft guns only shot down one German airship.

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On June 30th 1916:The first flight of an aircraft with all-metal stressed skin construction, the Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II, took place.

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On June 30th 1916:The Royal Flying Corps established the No. 66 Squadron.

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On June 30th 1916:German submarine SM U-10 struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Finland with all 29 crew lost.

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On June 29th 1916:The Italian air squadron 78a Squadriglia was established as the fourth of Italy's original fighter squadrons.

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On June 26th 1916:The royal commission released a report on the Easter Rising in Dublin that was critical of the way the authorities handled the crisis, citing: "Ireland for several years had been administered on the principle that it was safer and more expedient to leave the law in abeyance if collision with any faction of the Irish people could thereby be avoided." That same day, Roger Casement appeared on trial at the Royal Courts of Justice on a charge of treason for his involvement in the Easter Rising and was stripped of his knighthood.

16/09/2023

On June 25th 1916:Battle of Verdun – The German push towards the Verdun citadel was halted. German casualties were now at c. 200,000 men while French casualties reached c. 185,000.

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On June 25th 1916:The Imperial German Navy captured British ferry SS Brussels while it was bound for England and took Captain Charles Fryatt and his crew prisoner, where they were escorted to Bruges.

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On June 24th 1916:Australian soldier William Jackson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in a raid near Armentières, France. Jackson had captured one German prisoner and rescued several wounded comrades in no man's land before he was hit by a shell burst that blew his right arm off. Despite the loss of a limb, Jackson refused to return to the rear after receiving a tourniquet and returned repeatedly to no man's land to search for more wounded comrades until all members of his unit were accounted for. Jackson did not learn of his commendation until he returned to Australia on September 8, five days before his 19th birthday.

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On June 24th 1916:While flying en route to see a wounded comrade, French-American flight ace Victor Chapman was attacked and shot down over Douaumont by German fighter pilot Kurt Wintgens, becoming the first American airman to die in World War I.

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On June 24th 1916:Battle of Verdun – The joint British-French artillery barrage the German defense positions.

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On June 23rd 1916:Battle of Verdun – A large German assault covering 5 km (3.1 mi) of the Western Front allowed its forces to advance within 5 km (3.1 mi) of the Verdun citadel before they are stopped. The commune of Fleury-devant-Douaumont was overrun but would change hands sixteen times during the course of battle over the next two months.

30/08/2023

On June 22nd 1916:Battle of Verdun – The Germans gassed French artillery positions around Verdun, France, causing 1,600 casualties.

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The simultaneous deterioration of German-American relations while World War I raged made any escalation in Mexico undesirable and so negotiations followed.

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Pancho Villa survived, and small raids on American soil occurred while the expedition was in Mexico.

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General Pershing was furious at this result and asked for permission to attack the Carrancista garrison at Chihuahua. President Wilson, fearing that such an attack would provoke a full-scale war with Mexico, refused. The Battle of Carrizal marked the effective end of the Mexican Expedition.

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The cavalry's two officers (Charles T. Boyd and Henry R. Adair) and 10 other men were killed and 24 taken prisoner. The Mexican forces lost from 20 to 50 soldiers, including the commanding officer, Gen. Félix Uresti Gómez.

30/08/2023

On June 21st 1916:Battle of Carrizal – Close to 100 United States Cavalry and militia loyal to Venustiano Carranza clashed at the town of Carrizal, Chihuahua, Mexico, resulting in 14 Americans killed, 39 wounded and 24 captured, and 27 Mexicans killed and 11 wounded.

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On June 18th 1916:Died: Helmuth von Moltke, German military officer, Chief of the German General Staff from 1906 to 1914 (b. 1848)

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On June 18th 1916:The United States Army established the 103rd Infantry Regiment to bolster security along the Mexico–United States border.

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On June 18th 1916:Max Immelmann, the first German ace of World War I, was shot down and killed by an aircraft with the Royal Flying Corps No. 25 Squadron, a symbolic end to the "Fokker Scourge". He had scored 15 kills.

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On June 18th 1916:Sinai and Palestine campaign — The Royal Flying Corps bombed the Ottoman airstrip at El Arish on the Sinai Peninsula.

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On June 18th 1916:Royal Navy destroyer HMS Eden sank after colliding with transport ship SS France in the English Channel with a loss of 43 lives.

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On June 18th 1916:Brusilov Offensive – A delayed assault by the Russian Western Army Group under command of General Aleksei Evert, who had opposed the offensive plan made by General Aleksei Brusilov, cost the Russia momentum, as it gave time for the Central Powers to pull soldiers and equipment from the other fronts to counter the offensive. The initial successes of the campaign though caught the world's attention, with Brusilov being credited as the "hero of the hour" by The New York Times.

30/08/2023

On June 17th 1916:French-American pilot Victor Chapman of the Lafayette Escadrille was attacked and shot down by German fighter pilot Walter Höhndorf during the Battle of Verdun.

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On June 17th 1916: Jean Navarre, the first French ace of World War I, was shot down and wounded, ending his combat career with 12 confirmed kills.

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On June 16th 1916:Arab Revolt – The Ottoman garrison at the Red Sea port of Jidda surrendered to the Arabs.

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On June 16th 1916:The prototype of the Port Victoria aircraft first flew over Isle of Grain, England. Despite being planned as an interceptor fighter plane for German Zeppelins, mass production of the aircraft never happened.

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On June 15th 1916:The New Zealand Flying School conducted a test flight of the B & W Seaplane — William E. Boeing's first aircraft — setting a New Zealand altitude record of 6,500 feet (1,981 metres).

30/08/2023

On June 15th 1916:U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.

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