May 13th, 1915

- Yesterday the British 28th Division, having suffered greatly in the recent fighting, was withdrawn from the eastern face of the Ypres salient, replaced by 1st and 3rd Cavalry Division fighting as dismounted infantry.  They gain a rapid initiation to the fighting at Ypres, coming under a heavy artillery bombardment early this morning that precedes another German attack.  Most of the British line holds, but 7th Cavalry Brigade is forced back hundreds of yards, and a subsequent counterattack by 8th and 10th Cavalry Brigades is unable to fully restore the position.

The front line at Ypres, May 13th, 1915.

Though desultory fighting will continue around the Ypres salient for several weeks, the 2nd Battle of Ypres has effectively drawn to a close.  In the context of major operations on the Western Front, the battle has undoubtedly been a German victory.  Not only were they able to advance several miles towards Ypres, but were also able to force the British to voluntarily yield ground, something virtually unheardof.  Moreover, while German casualties numbered 35 000, Entente casualties were in excess of 60 000, and the Germans accomplish this favourable casualty ratio while attacking, inverting the normal situation whereby attackers suffer more than defenders.  In a larger sense, however, the 2nd Battle of Ypres was a missed opportunity.  Because the operation had never been intended to be a major offensive, the Germans were not prepared when the initial gas attack proved more successful than anyone could have imagined.  The shock effect of gas literally blew a hole in the Entente line larger than any seen to date in the war, and with sufficient reserves the Germans might have been able to drive on Ypres and beyond.  In a familiar refrain, by the time the Germans realized the opportunity that existed, the moment to exploit it had already passed, and subsequent fighting was comparable to the static fighting seen in other major engagements - the vast majority of the ground captured by the Germans was achieved in the first hours after the gas attack.  The lost opportunity, however, is even greater than the specific context of the 2nd Battle of Ypres.  The most potent effect of gas is psychological: when it strikes soldiers who are unprepared, their willingness to stand and fight vanishes and resistance becomes impossible.  By definition this can only happen the first time gas is used; within twenty-four hours crude countermeasures were being developed, and in future soldiers who are gassed will have gas masks at hand.  This ensures that while gas still kills and has an impact on the battlefield, never again can it have the same psychological effect.  The most effective use of gas was always going to be the first time, and the Germans threw away this opportunity by not being prepared to exploit the situation.  The Germans have also earned the opprobrium of being the first combatant to use asphyxiating gas on the battlefield.  Though all countries will soon make extensive use of gas, and work to develop ever more lethal chemicals, 2nd Ypres becomes, in the eyes of many, yet another example of German 'barbarism', in line with the Rape of Belgium and the sinking of Lusitania.  For many in both Entente countries and neutrals such as the United States, it is yet another reason why Germany and 'Prussian militarism' must be crushed; one cannot compromise with barbarism.  Finally, the battle has been the baptism of fire for 1st Canadian Division.  The resiliency (if not sheer stubbornness) of the Canadians in the first days of the German offensive, holding their lines despite gas and overwhelming attacks until British and French reserves could arrive, was vital to preventing a greater German breakthrough, and becomes a celebrated feat of arms.  It is the first of many such accomplishments for the Canadians on the Western Front.

- In Artois French pressure forces the Germans to abandon most of the village of Ablain, but otherwise French attacks are unsuccessful today.  Nevertheless, Crown Prince Rupprecht, commander of the German 6th Army, believes that three of his front-line divisions are completely worn out and must be replaced, and requests further reinforcements from Falkenhayn.  The German Chief of Staff agrees, transferring 2nd Guard Reserve Division and two brigades from OHL control to 6th Army's sector.

- The battered Russian 3rd Army completes its retreat to the San River, taking up positions north of the fortification of Przemysl.  Its northern wing is entrenched on the east bank from Jaroslau almost to the junction with the Vistula River, where 4th Army covers both sides of the Vistula itself.  The southern wing of 3rd Army, between Jaroslau and Przemysl, is actually deployed on the west bank; because the west bank is much higher than the east, holding the river line itself here is not possible.  South and east of Przemysl sit 8th and 11th Armies, the latter connecting with 9th Army still conducting its offensive in the Bukovina.  Reinforcements are also en route; General Alexeyev has begrudgingly allowed XV Corps, formerly part of Northwest Front, to redeploy southwards, and it is to come into the line between 4th and 3rd Armies.

The German and Austro-Hungarian advance towards Jaroslau and Przemysl, May 13th to 16th, 1915.

- In east Galicia the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army continues its retreat to the Pruth River, and by nightfall most of its elements are across.  The west and centre wings were able to pull back relatively unmolested, but the east wing came under heavy attack, especially by the Russian XXXIII Corps, as it did so.  Here at least the Russians are having some success in the Carpathians, and the offensive has forced the Austro-Hungarians to divert III Corps, initially intended to garrison the frontier with Italy, to Bukovina.  Beyond this, however, it has had no impact on the larger strategic picture; Falkenhayn for one knows that if Mackensen and 11th Army continues to achieve success, and in particular force the San River line, the Russian position in the Bukovina will be outflanked and nothing that happens there will matter.

The Battle of Dniester, May 13th, 1915.

- At 5pm the Italian cabinet reconvenes, and since yesterday's meeting Salandra has met with party leaders over the question of peace or war.  He reports to the cabinet that only one - Leonida Bissolati of the moderate Socialists - supported intervention.  The cabinet then spends the next four hours debate the issue back and forth.  One concern is that if the cabinet, and by convention the king, endorses war, but then is repudiated by parliament, a constitutional crisis may ensue.  To clear the air and force the issue, Salandra proposes the government's resignation; his hope is that efforts to cobble together an alternative anti-war government will fail, and thus by default committing Italy to war.  At 9pm the cabinet agrees, and Salandra immediately drives to the royal palace at Villa Savoia to offer their resignations.  At 1030pm news of the resignation becomes public; the moment of decision is at hand.

- Today the German submarine U21 arrives at the Austro-Hungarian naval base of Cattaro, after several weeks at sea.  Due to its lengthy journey from Germany it had only barely made it to port, with only 1.8 tons out of the original 56.5 tons of fuel remaining.  Once refueled and resupplied, the Germans will have their first active ocean-going submarine in the Mediterrean (UB-8 is a much smaller coastal submarine).

- For weeks Entente warships have pounded Ottoman positions on Gallipoli with impunity, as none of the shore batteries could fire shells capable of penetrating the armour of the old pre-dreadnoughts.  Given their numbers, the Entente fleet has also shown no real concern with naval opposition, and largely assume they may sail and anchor as they please.  Overnight, the Ottomans do their best to disabuse the British and French admirals of their misplaced faith in their invulnerability.  With a full moon and heavy mist reducing visibility, the Ottoman destroy Muavenet, captained by a German, snuck through the straits and moved up the European coast of Gallipoli.  In Morto Bay, not a hundred yards offshore, the destroyer comes across the British pre-dreadnought Goliath at anchor, where it is waiting to continue its shore bombardment at dawn.  Surging forward, Muavenet fires three torpedoes and disappears back into the night and through the straits before anyone can react.  The torpedoes strike home, and within minutes rolls over and sinks.  Because the current here is four to five knots and moving away from shore, none of the British sailors in the water can swim ashore.  Five hundred and seventy drown, and only one hundred and eight survive.  It is a striking accomplishment for the Ottomans: the Sultan awards each sailor on Muavenet a gold watch and a purse filled with gold.

The sinking of Goliath shows that the waters off the Dardanelles are now contested, and the aftershocks of the loss of the pre-dreadnought reach London this afternoon, where news of the sinking prompts a passionate outburst from Admiral Fisher.  For months he has worried over the potential loss of warships during the Dardanelles campaign, and in particular is concerned about Queen Elizabeth, Britain's newest and most advanced battleship.  The loss of Goliath stokes these fears to a fever pitch, and Fisher insists that Queen Elizabeth be ordered to return to home waters immediately.  Churchill accedes to the First Sea Lord's demand, but later this evening the argument is joined by Kitchener when he visits the Admiralty on a different matter.  When the Secretary of War learns of Queen Elizabeth's recall, he goes into a rage, accusing the navy of abandoning the army after the army had come to the aid of the navy after the latter's failure to force the Dardanelles.  Fisher, never one to back down from a fight, fires right back at Kitchener, declaring that Queen Elizabeth will sail for home this instant or he would resign on the spot.  Kitchener returns to the War Office and pens an aggressive note to Asquith, but for now Fisher has won the argument: the orders for Queen Elizabeth's recall stand.  The crisis over the Dardanelles, however, is just beginning.

- In German South-West Africa the advance of South African forces from Swakopmund on the coast and from the south has been slow and irregular, disrupted by supply difficulties more than German opposition.  After several months, however, today the northern detachment, under the direct command of Prime Minister Botha, enters Windhoek, the capital of the German colony.  In doing so the South Africans also seize the main wireless station, disrupting communications between the remaining German forces in the colony, now retreating northeast along the lone railway, and the outside world.

May 9th, 1915

- German attacks on the eastern face of the Ypres salient continues today, and under heavy pressure the British centre is forced backwards.  Several battalions suffer grievous losses, with 1st Suffolks reduced to a mere seven men.  Though the Germans do not break through, they do manage to secure Frezenberg ridge.

The Ypres salient after the German gains near Frezenberg, May 9th, 1915.

- The weather having cleared, the postponed offensive by the French 10th Army is launched today.  At 6am French artillery targets the enemy's wire and the first two trench lines, and at several points stop briefly to lure the Germans out, expecting an attack, only to resume the bombardment.  The artillery also benefits from the first use of aerial wireless, whereby observers in aircraft above are able to radio artillery batteries regarding the targeting and effectiveness of their salvos.  At 10am the French infantry go over the top.  On the northern wing of the attack, XXXIII Corps is able to advance only a few hundred metres on the eastern spur of Notre-Dame de Lorette, while on the southern wing XVII and X Corps encounter intact German defences and make no progress.  In the centre of the line, however, it is a much different story.  Here XXXIII Corps, commanded by General Pétain, undertakes the main attack, aiming towards Vimy Ridge.  On his left Pétain uses 70th Division to secure the corps' flank while sending 77th Division in his centre and the Moroccan Division on his right to drive eastward into the defensive position of the German 5th Bavarian Division.  It is here that the French offensive finds success; the Bavarians are pushed back out of their trenches, and within an hour elements of 77th and the Moroccan Divisions have advanced four miles and reached the summit of Vimy Ridge.  It is an astonishing achievement, and for a moment the prospect of decisive victory appears possible.

As in prior battles, however, the prospect is fleeting.  Having occupied the heights of Vimy Ridge, it was necessary to hold it.  The French and Moroccan infantry that had accomplished this success were exhausted and had lost most of their officers, leaving them ill-prepared to defend their gains.  Pétain immediately orders his reserves forward to hold Vimy Ridge, but when the order goes out the reserves are eight miles behind the front lines, positioned there to keep them out of range of German artillery.  It takes hours for them to make their way to the front and then move across the shattered ground of the morning battlefield.  Meanwhile, the Germans are able to move reserves much quicker to the front.  As soon as the attack had begun Crown Prince Rupprecht, commander of the German 6th Army tasked with holding the line between Lens and Arras, had requested and received two divisions from OHL as reinforcements, and 115th Division in particular was rushed to the front.  By midday the first German reserves were arriving on the battlefield, and soon the French infantry on Vimy Ridge find themselves under heavy pressure.  Supported by intense machine-gun and artillery fire, strong German counterattacks in the early afternoon drive the French off Vimy Ridge.  Here the ability of the defence to move reserves to a threatened point faster than the attacker could move reserves to reinforce success once again proves decisive, and the initial French success is nullified.  Nevertheless, Pétain's XXXIII Corps has managed to advance two kilometres, taken several thousand prisoners, and capture a number of German artillery pieces.  This notable success, even if not the complete victory that appeared possible in the morning, still stands in contrast to the failure on either flank, and adds to the reputation of Pétain as an effective military commander.  The accomplishment here, however, also convinces General d'Urbal of 10th Army that further attacks will make further progress, and so the operation will continue.

The French attack in Artois showing the gains of XXXIII Corps, May 9th, 1915.

- To the north of the French offensive the British launch their own attack.  Undertaken by General Haig's 1st Army, it consists of attacks north and south of the ruined village of Neuve Chapelle, and aims to seize Aubers Ridge to the east, the original objective of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March.  It is hoped that not only will the attack draw off German reserves, but that seizing the high ground at Aubers, when combined with the anticipated French capture of Vimy Ridge, will force the Germans to pull their entire line in Artois back.  Haig attempts to duplicate the tactics of the March battle in the hope of achieving similar success: once again there will be a short artillery bombardment followed by a rapid infantry assault in an effort to surprise and overwhelm the Germans.  However, the Germans had learned lessons from the March battle as well, and were not to be taken by surprise a second time.  Further, the attack was along a broader stretch of the front than at Neuve Chapelle without an equal rise in the number of artillery pieces, which meant that each part of the German line being attacked received a lower amount of shells than the prior bombardment.  The result was that when the British IV and Indian Corps attack this morning, it is a complete failure.  The infantry find the German barbed wire intact, and as they attempt to navigate through it come under murderous machine-gun fire, and fall by the thousands.  Only to the north of Neuve Chapelle, near Fromelles, do British infantry manage to reach the German trench line, and after vicious hand-to-hand fighting the German 6th Bavarian Reserve Division is able to throw the British back.  Nowhere does the British 1st Army achieve any lasting success; indeed, the greatest indictment of the British effort can be seen in the decision of the German 6th Army to begin moving reserves opposite the British south to face the French even as the Battle of Aubers Ridge is ongoing.

As Sir John French, commander of the BEF, receives news from the front of the failure at Aubers Ridge, he inwardly seethes.  He has long looked upon the Dardanelles operation as a dangerous diversion of manpower and munitions from the vital Western Front, the only place where a war-winning victory can be accomplished, and is particularly incensed at what he sees as an inadequate supply of artillery shells.  As reports come in of British infantry being slaughtered on German barbed wire that was supposed to have been cut by the preliminary bombardment, French concludes that if the BEF had been given a greater allotment of shells the battle would have been a success.  French also blames the government in general and Lord Kitchener in particular for a perceived lack of support for the BEF on the Western Front and the failure to supply it with a sufficient amount of munitions.  At BEF headquarters today there is present Colonel Charles à Court Repington, the famed military correspondent of The Times and the press empire of Lord Northcliffe.  Field Marshal French informs Repington in no uncertain terms just why the attack has failed and who is responsible.  A fuse is lit.

The Battle of Aubers Ridge, May 9th, 1915.

- Another day in Galicia brings further German successes.  On the northern wing of 11th Army the Wislok River is crossed by the German Guard Corps, which also seizes the heights just beyond.  On their right VI Corps pushes east from Krosno for several miles, isolating the Russian garrison in Kombornia.  After a brief fight the latter surrenders, and three thousand Russians march into captivity.  The southern wing of 11th Army is equally successful: 11th Bavarian Division is also across the Wislok while 119th Division consolidates its control of the town of Besko.  However, the advance of the former has drawn it to the northeast, pulling away from the latter to the south.  It is also here where General Dimitriev has ordered the Russian XXI Corps to launch its delayed counterattack, on which he knows the fate of 3rd Army depends: if the German advance cannot be unhinged here, a dire situation will only worsen.

- One of the reasons for the continued optimism at Russiam army headquarters (Stavka) despite the steady accumulation of disasters in west Galicia has been the planned offensive of the Russian 9th Army in east Galicia, which aims to cross the Dniester River, recapture Czernowitz, and occupy the Bukovina.  In addition to the seizure of territory, it is hoped that the operation will force Austria-Hungary to shift reserves to the east and also encourage Romania to enter the war on the side of the Entente.  The Russians have assembled 120 000 soldiers in the region for the attack, outnumbering the 80 000 men of the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army (formerly Army Group Pflanzer-Baltin) opposite.  The latter also has to contend with ongoing supply problems, as everything has to be transported along a single narrow-gauge railway snaking its way through the Carpathians.

At 4am today the Russian offensive begins when XXXIII Corps attacks across the Dniester at a bend in the river at Kopaczynce.  The defenders are quickly overwhelmed, and the Russians are able to secure a bridgehead and hold off Austro-Hungarian counterattacks by 8th Cavalry Division and half of 42nd Honved Division.  Further west, the Russian 71st Infantry and 2nd Rifle Division strike the Austro-Hungarian 15th Division, and make significant progress towards Obertyn.  General Pflanzer-Baltin scraps together spare companies to send to the threatened points, and these reserves are able to retake some of the lost ground north of Obertyn this evening.  Nevertheless, the Russians remain in control of the high ground north of Chocimierz as well as their bridgehead over the Dniester.

The Battle of the Dniester, May 9th to 12th, 1915.

- Given its diplomatic weakness, the Chinese government signals today its willingness to accept the revised version of the Twenty-One Demands submitted by the Japanese government on the 7th.

May 8th, 1915

- After several days of artillery bombardment by both sides, the German XXVII Corps launches an attack at 1030am this morning against the British 28th Division holding the eastern face of the Ypres salient.  Though the Germans are able to get into the forward British trench, the attack grinds to a halt.

- It is during lunch today that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson is first informed of the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania yesterday afternoon.  By evening the president knows that over a thousand lives have been lost, a number that includes over a hundred American citizens.  The attack calls for a response from the American government, a burden that Wilson takes entirely as his own.  This evening he slips out of the White House and walks along Pennsylvania Avenue alone in a light rain.  For his entire adult life Wilson has been driven by a stern and absolute Presbyterian faith, one that has inspired his life of public service and is the foundation of his political creed.  How the sinking of Lusitania fits with his moralistic view of the world is the question the American president now grapples with.  Later this evening Wilson returns to the White House and retreats to his study, deep in thought.

- In a sharp attack today the German 11th Army seizes the heights between Besko and Frysztak just to the west of the Wislok River in Galicia, while to the north the German Guards Corps secures a bridgehead across the Wislok and to the south X Corps threatens to drive a gap between the Russian XXIV and XXI Corps.  The loss of the high ground in particular deprives the Russian 3rd Army of its best defensive positions in the area, prompting General Dimitriev to once again request permission to withdraw his battered army behind the San River.  Once again, however, Russian army headquarters refuses, despite the fact that the line they had ordered 3rd Army to hold is now in German hands.  Dimitriev thus turns to the planned counterattack of XXI Corps as the only hope to relieve the pressure on his army, though the corps will not be in position to advance until tomorrow evening.

- This morning General Hamilton orders yet another attack towards Krithia on Cape Helles.  The warships offshore have done their best to destroy the Ottoman defences, but in the roughed terrain it is practically impossible to precisely strike well-concealed positions; in one case, naval fire practically cut off the top of the cliff at Gully Spur, but the machine guns the bombardment was aiming for remained in place.  This time it is the New Zealand Brigade that bears the brunt of the fighting, advancing against withering fire and suffering heavily.  By early afternoon the attack had collapsed, but another is ordered at 4pm, in which the entire Entente line, spearheaded by 2nd Australian Brigade, was to fix bayonets and charge the enemy line.  The attack, like the others before it, is a dismal failure, and by nightfall the survivors are ordered to entrench where they are.

The aftermath of the attack of 2nd Australian Brigade at the 2nd Battle of Krithia, May 8th, 1915.

Today's futile attacks are the last gasp of the 2nd Battle of Krithia.  The Entente forces have suffered 6500 casualties over three days of fighting, and nowhere have advanced more than 500 yards, and Krithia remains out of reach.  Tonight Hamilton cables Kitchener, begs for reinforcements, and offers his appraisal of the situation on the peninsula:

The result of the operation has been failure, as my object remains unachieved.  The fortifications and their machine-guns were too scientific and too strongly held to be rushed, although I had every available man today.  Our troops have done all that flesh and blood can do against semi-permanent works and they are not able to carry them.  More and more munitions will be needed to do so.  I fear that this is a very unpalatable conclusion, but I can see no way out of it.

May 4th, 1915

- East of Ypres the British successfully complete the evacuation of the most exposed portion of the salient, pulling back to a more defensible line anchored on the Frezenberg ridge (as with Hill 60, 'ridge' is a generous description) south through Hooge.  The withdrawal has been accomplished without significant interference from the Germans; as battalions retreated, picked riflemen remained behind to maintain appearances, before themselves retreating at the last moment.  Indeed, the Germans are sufficiently unaware of what is transpiring as to shell the old British positions for several hours today before discovering they were no longer inhabited.  Nevertheless, however successful the withdrawal it is still the voluntary yielding of terrain, an occurence of extreme rarity on the Western Front, and reflects the German success in the initial attack of the Second Battle of Ypres.

The line at Ypres after the withdrawal of May 4th, 1915.  The ground
yielded was roughly south of the line Fortuin-Grafenstafel.

- In west Galicia the advance of the German 11th Army continues today.  The farthest penetration is achieved by X Corps, and by the end of the day 11th Bavarian Division is over halfway to the town of Zmigrod.  To the north, the Russian 21st and 52nd Infantry Divisions of III Caucasian come into the fight today.  The former engages advancing German and Austro-Hungarian forces near Bednarka, but by evening has been broken, its remnants retreating eastwards with what little remains of 9th Division.  The latter arrives northeast of Biecz, and gives a better account of itself, managing to at least slow the advance of the German Guards Corps.

Despite this, the intervention of III Caucasian Corps has not saved the position of 3rd Army, and this evening General Dimitriev reports that the entire front of his army facing west amounts to the equivalent of five divisions.  Of great concern is the German drive towards Zmigrod, as a successful breakthrough here leads to Dukla and the supply link to XXIV and XII Corps to the south and southwest.  To avoid encirclement and to reinforce the shattered line, both corps are ordered to abandon their current lines and redeploy northwards, XXIV to the area west and south of Zmigrod and XII to the vital Dukla Pass.

- This afternoon the Italian ambassador in Vienna presents his government's formal denunciation of the Triple Alliance to the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Count Burián.  The latter's reaction is muted, and only expresses dismay that Italy would take such a step just as the Austro-Hungarian government is preparing further proposals for discussion.  His imperturbability is based on the fact Austro-Hungarian cryptographers had intercepted and decoded the message from Rome to the Italian ambassador beforehand, allowing Burián to know what the ambassador was going to say before he had said it.

May 3rd, 1915

- Yesterday evening the German XXVI Reserve Corps, having assembled sufficient gas cylinders, launched an attack between Pilkem and St. Julien northeast of Ypres.  However, the effectiveness of the gas was limited by gusting winds and the primitive gas masks now available to the British and French soldiers, and the attack was repulsed.  Nevertheless, the continued German pressure has convinced the British that the Ypres salient, now squeezed from the north by the German gains of the past two weeks, cannot be held on present lines.  The decision is made to evacuate the easternmost portion of the salient stretching from Fortuin east to Grafenstafel, south to the Polygon Wood, and west to almost Hooge.  The orders having gone out, the withdrawal begins tonight.

The line at Ypres prior to the British withdrawal.

- At 530am this morning just over a thousand French artillery pieces, including almost three hundred heavy guns, open fire on German positions in Artois between Lens and Arras.  This bombardment is the first phase of the next major French offensive on the Western Front.  Despite earlier failures in the 1st Battle of Champagne, 1st Battle of Artois, and the Battle of the Woevre, Joffre believes that the French army has learned important lessons regarding the conduct of operations in the conditions of trench warfare, and has now acquired the proper weaponry, such as heavy artillery, to mete out sufficient damage to ensure success.  The objective of the offensive is to break through the German lines and seize the high ground at Vimy Ridge, followed by a pursuit that would force the Germans to abandon Douai.  To accomplish this, the French 10th Army, under newly-appointed General d'Urbal, has been assigned six infantry and one cavalry corps.  Three of these corps - XXXIII, XX, and XVII - will undertake the primary advance towards Vimy Ridge, while XXI Corps will attack and seize the heights at Notre-Dame de Lorette.  D'Urbal had argued for a brief preliminary bombardment of four hours to preserve the element of surprise, but the lesson Joffre believes the failed offensives earlier in the year has shown is that a prolonged and thorough artillery bombardment is essential to achieve success.  The artillery is thus to fire for four days until the infantry attack goes in on the 7th.  Sir John French has also agreed that the BEF will launch an co-ordinated attack to the north to draw off German reserves and support the French offensive.

- Today the American tanker Gulflight, carrying a load of oil from Texas to Rouen, is torpedoed by a German submarine.  Though it does not sink, two panic-stricken crew members jump overboard and drown, and tonight the tanker's captain dies of a heart attack.  It is the first American ship attacked since the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare.  It will not be the last - at the same time Gulflight is struck, the Cunard passenger liner Lusitania is two days out from New York, en route to Liverpool.

- In Courland the German 6th Cavalry Division reaches the town of Mitau in Courland.  Here the retreating Russians have halted and established strong defensive positions.  Unable to ouflank the enemy, here the German advance halts, and the front settles down along the Dubissa River.  However, in addition to the ground won, the German advance has achieved its larger strategic purpose - General Alexeyev of North-West Front has sent several divisions from elsewhere to Courland to contain the enemy advance.

The German advance in Courland towards Mitau, late April and early May, 1915.

- The German and Austro-Hungarian advance at Gorlice-Tarnow continues today, and by this evening the Germans have advanced eight miles.  Given the ongoing success, Mackensen sets new objectives further east, instructing his commanders to reach the Wisloka River.  At this point the primary impediments to the German advance are the management of the large number of prisoners taken and the difficulties hauling supplies over the ground destroyed by the artillery bombardment.

On the Russian side, both IX and X Corps of 3rd Army have been severely battered: over the two days of fighting the available strength of the latter has fallen from 34 000 to 5000, while to the north a second-line division of IX Corps has simply disintegrated.  A five-mile gap has opened between the two corps, and the Russian survivors are falling back in disorder.  The meagre reserves available nearby have been pushed into the battle to no effect, and two regiments force-marched into the gap simply disappear.  General Radko Dimitriev (interestingly, a Bulgarian), commander of the Russian 3rd Army, hopes to hold the heights at Biecz to use as the springboard for the intervention of the approaching III Caucasian Corps, and sends in half of 63rd Division to reinforce the Russian defences.  All this accomplishes is the destruction of the division, and by this evening the heights are in German hands.

German officers in the ruins of Gorlice, May 1915.

- In the Hungarian Parliament the opposition has brought forward a motion to grant the right to vote to all soldiers over the age of twenty, in an effort to encourage the rank-and-file of the Austro-Hungarian army and give them more of a stake in the fighting.  Prime Minister Tisza, however, rejects the proposal outright, seeing in it the first step to universal suffrage, which is entirely unacceptable.  Today Tisza is denounced in parliament by Mihály Károlyi, a leading figure of the Independence Party, who argues that the realities of modern war require a recognition of the sacrifices being asked by the men of Hungary.  It is just one example of the tin ear of the leadership of Austria-Hungary towards the importance of public morale in modern war.

- In Libya ongoing resistance to the imposition of Italian rule over the colony seized from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 has limited Italian control to coastal regions.  To prevent a complete collapse, Chief of Staff Cadorna orders today the dispatch of ten thousand soldiers to Libya.  The necessity comes at a very inopportune moment, given that the Italian army is supposedly preparing and concentrating for a war against Austria-Hungary.

- Overnight the ANZAC attack at Gallipoli has continued, and though isolated units are able to gain some ground, elsewhere the Ottomans stop the attack cold.  At 130am, despite having no indications that the operation was proceeding satisfactorily, the local commander commits two reserve battalions from the Naval Division, which only succeeds in raising the casualty total.  Soon the stream of wounded coming back down Monash Gully impairs efforts at any further advance.  A few men manage to scale the heights to the east, but are driven back after coming under friendly fire.  By mid-afternoon all of the ANZAC forces are back to their starting line of the night before, having accomplished nothing of any importance.

April 27th, 1915

- At Ypres the commander of the German XXVI Corps decides that there are too few gas cylinders available for immediate use, and thus calls off further offensive operations for the time being until additional gas cylinders can be installed.  Though occasional British and French counterattacks occur (accomplishing nothing), a pause ensues in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

- The northern end of the Eastern Front has been comparatively quiet over the past few months, in contrast to the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes just to the south and the terrible fighting in the Carpathians beyond.  Falkenhayn, however, has issued orders for OberOst to conduct diversionary operations prior to 11th Army's attack at Gorlice-Tarnow, and Ludendorff has decided that the most substantial of these operations is to occur here.  Three cavalry divisions - 3rd, 6th, and Bavarian - are to spearhead the advance, supported by 6th, 36th, and 78th Reserve Division.  These forces have been formed into Army Group Lauenstein, named for its commander, General Otto von Lauenstein.  Their objective is the conquest of Courland, a sparsely populated region west of Riga and north of the Niemen River.  Here, with an almost complete lack of infrastructure, the front has been sparsely held by both sides, and the Russian defence is anchored around strong-points scattered about ten miles apart.  The lack of defence in depth gives space for cavalry to operate, and when the German advance begins today both 3rd and Bavarian Cavalry Divisions in particular are able to make rapid progress into the gaps in the Russian line.

- General Ivanov of South-West Front submits his plan to Russian army headquarters today for a resumption of offensive operations in the Carpathians.  He intends to insert 11th Army between 8th and 9th Armies, and advance along the line Turka-Nagy-Verecke.  Grand Duke Nicholas insists on several changes to Ivanov's plan, including the deploying of XXXIII Corps closer to the front.  Ivanov complies, and states that the attack will be scheduled to begin May 3rd.  As it turns out, a day too late.

- The negotiations that led to the Treaty of London between Italy, Britain, France, and Russia, as well as the signing ceremony yesterday, were undertaken in secret.  However, the French delegation in particular has leaked like a sieve, news of the agreement spreading from cabinet members to friends and journalists - indeed, the dressmaker to the wife of President Poincaré is even in on the secret.  Thus it is little surprise that the French newspaper Le Temps announces today that 'the London negotiations have virtually terminated in an accord.'  Nothing like giving the enemy four weeks' notice of an impending declaration of war.

Meanwhile, reverberations from the Treaty of London ripple across Europe.  In Serbia the national parliament debates rumours of the agreement amidst concerns that Serbia's allies have sold out its interests in yielding to Italy's territorial demands along the Adriatic coast.  The most Premier Nikola Pašić can say is that he has no information on the matter, which hardly reassures the parliamentary deputies, and criticism mounts that he has failed to defend Serbian interests.

- On the Austro-Hungarian side of the frontier with Italy, construction begins on the defensive line along the Isonzo River, which will be much-utilized in the years to come.

- On the Asiatic shore of the Dardanelles, the French evacuation from Kum Kale is completed before daybreak.  French casualties for the two days of fighting amount to 780, and while Ottoman losses were greater, the landing did not otherwise impact the course of the fighting on Gallipoli.  At Cape Helles, General Hunter-Weston had hoped that the French reinforcements ordered yesterday by General Hamilton to land at X Beach would arrive before noon today, allowing for a general advance towards the village of Krithia and the heights at Achi Baba, which was supposed to have been captured on the first day of the operation.  However, a shortage of steamboats delay the landing, which in turn forces a postponement of the advance until tomorrow.

As the Gallipoli operation is already significantly behind schedule, General Hamilton concludes that reinforcements will be necessary to secure control of the peninsula.  Late this evening he sends a message to Lord Kitchener asking for 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, currently in Egypt defending the Suez Canal, to be reassigned to his command, which the Secretary of War enthusiastically endorses.  On the other side, German General Liman Sanders, commander of the Ottoman 5th Army tasked with defending Gallipoli, has been rushing forces to meet the Entente landings.  By this evening all of the Ottoman forces that had been defending the beaches near Bulair on the northern end of the peninsula have been sent southwards.  Reinforcements are also en route from the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, and two fresh divisions - 15th and 16th - have departed Constantinople for the front.  Closer to the front than Entente reinforcements, and able to arrive without having to co-ordinate shipping, the Ottomans are able to get new forces to the lines on Gallipoli faster than the British and French.

- After a reconnaissance of Qurna and conferring with officers there, General Townshend reports to General Nixon that the latter's original plan for an attack north of Qurna via a tactical outflanking maneouver was not feasible due to the flooded terrain.  Instead, Townshend suggests advance through Ahwaz, which would force the Ottomans out of their position to avoid encirclement.  Such an operation, however, would require traversing Persian territory, which does not endear it to Nixon.

April 26th, 1915

- At Ypres the French line near the Yser Canal has been reinforced by elements of 152nd and 153rd Divisions, and a French counterattack against the German bridgeheads over the Yser Canal is able to retake the village of Het Sas, though the Germans remain in control of the locks.  To the east a major British counterattack by the Lahore Division and the Northumberland Brigade is launched at St. Julien, but the infantry quickly run into a hail of German rifle and artillery fire.  The British take heavy losses - the Northumberland Brigade alone suffers almost two thousand casualties - and are able to make no progress.  There is also heavy fighting near Grafenstafel, while German attacks are able to make incremental gains near Broodseinde.

The line at Ypres at midnight, April 26th, 1915.

- For the past several months, squadrons of the British Royal Flying Corps undertaken increasingly frequent bombing attacks on German railways and supply depots, though not without losses.  Today Lieutenant W. B. Rhodes-Moorhouse, the RFC's first Victoria Cross winner, attacks the railway station at Courtrai from 300 feet with a 100-pound bomb.  Flying at such low altitude left him vulnerable to ground fire, and he is severely wounded.  He manages to fly the thirty-five miles back to his aerodrome and insists on reporting the results of his mission to his CO before receiving medical attention.  He will die tomorrow.

- Despite every attempt at secrecy, the German buildup near Gorlice and Tarnow has simply been too substantial to hide completely.  Further, the local population in the region is strongly pro-Russian; indeed, Colonel Seeckt, Chief of Staff of the German 11th Army, has wanted to deport the entire population to prevent news reaching the Russians.  Nevertheless, the chief of staff of the Russian 3rd Army reports to South-West Front today that indications are that German forces intend to break through east of Krakow, or exactly where they intend to attack.

- At 3pm this afternoon, the ambassadors of France, Russia and Italy meet British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey at the Foreign Office in London, where they sign the treaty that pledges Italy to join the war on the side of the Entente.  Territorially, the Italian government has achieved its aims - in exchange for entering the war within one month, Italy is to receive the Trentino and South Tyrol up to the Brenner Pass, the city of Trieste and the surrounding region, including all of Istria, northern Dalmatia, and a number of islands off the coast, as well the Albanian city of Valona.  Further, the rest of the Dalmatian coast, though it is to be awarded to Serbia, is to be militarily neutralized, leaving Italy the dominant power in the Adriatic.

At the ceremony, the Russian ambassador is particularly somber, as he recognizes that the treaty is a defeat for Slavic interests in the Balkans, and thus by extension a blow to Russian prestige.  However, both Britain and France have stated in secret notes to the Russian government that Italy's entrance into the war does not effect their pledge of the Straits to Russia, and this, from the Russian perspective, is the more important war aim.

Having reaching the diplomatic agreement, the Italian government is now faced with ensuring that parliamentary and public opinion will support the decision for war.  This will be no easy task - former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti supports neutrality, and reports received today by current Prime Minister Antonio Salandra from fifty prefects indicate that a solid majority of the Italian public, especially in the south, backs continued neutrality.

The territories of Austria-Hungary promised to Italy in the London Treaty.

- At Gallipoli the ANZACs are able to turn back a heavy Ottoman counterattack, with heavy naval gunfire decimating enemy infantry advancing down the face of Battleship Hill.  Otherwise, however, the ANZACs are unable to expand their narrow beachhead, and they take their commander's words to heart and dig trenches into the rough terrain.  To the south, the landing at Y beach has come to grief; advancing inland, they are taken in flank and fall back to the shore.  The decision is taken to evacuate Y beach, which is successful under the covering fire of the pre-dreadnoughts offshore.  However, the failure to advance rapidly at Y beach yesterday had thrown away a golden opportunity to strike behind the Ottoman defences holding the British at the tip of Cape Helles, and the evacuation allows the Ottomans to concentrate against the remaining beaches.  Furthest south at V beach, the news is somewhat better; after a terrible day of fighting, the Dublin and Munster Fusiliers are able to seize the Ottoman trenches at 2pm and capture Sedd el Bahr and Hill 141 to the north.  The British infantry, however, are exhausted, and General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, commander of the British 29th Division, orders them to entrench against a feared Ottoman counterattack.  In practice, the halt gives the Ottomans time to bring up additional reinforcements.

As for the Asiatic shore, at 740am General Hamilton instructs General Albert d'Amade, commander of the French forces assigned to the Gallipoli invasion, to send those of his units not committed to the diversionary landing at Kum Kale to land at X Beach on Cape Helles.  D'Amade, who had hoped that the Kum Kale operation might be expanded, now realizes that it has accomplished all it possibly (i.e. very little), and at 1130 requests that the French force on the Asiatic show be withdrawn, to which Hamilton agrees.

April 25th, 1915

- Early this morning the newly-arrived British 10th Brigade attempts a counterattack against St. Julien in the Ypres salient.  The British infantry are able to advance right up to the edge of the houses, but are halted by heavy machine-gun fire.  To the east, after five hours of constant fighting, 8th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry is forced to yield its position at Grafenstafel at 7pm, but the extra day has allowed further reinforcements to arrive, and the fall of Grafenstafel does not imperil the British line.  The right wing of the German XXVII Reserve Corps is able to push forward against 2nd Canadian Brigade, but does not break through.  By this evening, sufficient reinforcements have arrived to pull the battered 2nd and 3rd Canadian Brigades out of the line, replaced by elements of the Lahore Division and numerous British battalions.  The British have also reestablished a continuous front from the Yser Canal east to just south of Grafenstafel.  The Germans for their part recognize that the opportunity for further significant gains is slipping away; 4th Army commander issues orders this afternoon to abandon further attempts to push west of the Yser Canal as now beyond their capabilities, and instead concentration on collapsing the salient east of Ypres.

The line at Ypres at midnight, April 25th, 1915.

- The decline of the Austro-Hungarian army is such that an incident today shows that some of its soldiers cannot even surrender correctly.  The entire 28th Regiment, composed largely of Czechs and on the Carpathian front, attempts to surrender to the Russians opposite.  Instead, when they enter the 'enemy' trench announcing their surrender, they find it full of German soldiers.  One can imagine the reaction of the Germans to the surrender of their allies.  Afterwards, eight officers will be executed for treason and every tenth men in regiment shot to teach the others a lesson.

- In the dark of night the British and ANZAC landing forces approach the Gallipoli shores, and at 1am the boats are lowered from the steamers and the soldiers begin to transfer to their landing craft.  These boats are not landing craft in any sense of the word; in most cases, they are simple rowboats, which are to be towed close to the beaches by steamers or destroyers.  They wait until the full moon sets just before 3am, and begin their run into shore.

The Entente Landings at Gallipoli, April 25th, 1915.

On the southern end of Gallipoli the British conduct their landings at five beaches: Y, X, W, V, and S running counterclockwise around the tip of Cape Helles.  At Y, X, and S beaches, the initial landings have gone well, but the other two are nearly disastrous.  At W beach, the shore is crisscrossed with barbed wire and Ottoman trenches, and the naval bombardment has not succeeded in clearly them away.  When the Lancashire Fusiliers land, they take terrible casualties fighting their way up the beach.  The worst, however, is at V beach.  Here the British attempt an innovative means of landing two thousand infantry from the Hampshire Regiment and the Munster Fusiliers.  The infantry are packed aboard the collier River Clyde, and the plan is for the ship to ground itself near the shore, at which point the soldier will pour out of several specially-cut exits in the side of the ship, make their way down gangplanks, and move ashore.  In addition, eight rowboats towed by small steamers are to carry the Dublin Fusiliers to shore.  When the landing is launched, it is a complete disaster.  There are three complete lines of barbed wire and several Ottoman trenches and machine guns positions.  When River Clyde hits bottom and the infantry begin to move out of the hull, Ottoman fire is concentrated on the exits, and fearful casualties are suffered, most never reaching shore.  A similar fate befalls the men landing by boat, caught in the wire and shot down.  Those who survive are pinned to the beach throughout the day, unable to make any progress.  The debacle at V beach imperils the entire landing, and forces from S beach in particular attempt to push inland and dislodge the Ottoman defenders at V beach from landward, but are unable to reach their beleaguered comrades.

British Landings at Cape Helles, April 25th, 1915.

The merchant ship River Clyde aground off V Beach at Cape Helles.  Note the 'sally ports' cut in the side
of the ship and the gangway leading from them.

To the north the ANZACs are landing as well.  In the run into shore, the first wave had gotten lost in the pitch darkness, and a midshipman commanding one of the rowboats decides, entirely on his own responsibility, to shift northwards and the others, lacking higher direction, simply follow suit.  The landing boats also bunch together, and come ashore north of their target beach near Gaba Tepe.  Instead, they land around the lesser point of Ari Burnu and the small cove to the south, which will shortly be rechristened Anzac Cove.  The first wave hits the beach at 430am, and encounter little defensive fire from the Ottomans, the latter unable to target effectively in the darkness.  The ANZACs quickly move inland, finding themselves facing steep cliffs and rough scrub which slows the advance; if they march along hilltops they are highlighted against the sky and are easy targets, whereas if they descent into the gullies and ravines they are hidden but also entirely lost.  The outnumbered Ottomans, meanwhile, fall back and use the terrain to maintain an effective harassing fire.  Nevertheless, the ANZACs are ashore, and despite casualties and the difficult terrain, elements are pushing inland, and by 930am a half company of 11th Battalion is reaching towards the high ground at Chunuk Bair to the northeast of the landing beach.

The Anzac landing on April 25th, 1915.

Infantry unloading on the beach at Anzac Cove, April 25th, 1915.

It was at this point, with the Australians, in spite of difficulties, advancing towards the centre of the peninsula, that the situation is transformed by the intervention of one man - Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal.  Indeed, if ever a man was matched to the hour, it is he, and his actions this day will make his reputation and launch him on the path to become the most important figure in the history of 20th-century history.  Today, Kemal is commander of 19th Division, inland east of Gaba Tepe.  At 8am he receives orders to send a battalion against the ANZAC landing, but Kemal perceives that this is no mere diversion, but rather a substantial force whose advance must be checked if Gallipoli is to be held.  He thus orders an entire regiment, along with a battery of artillery, to move against the ANZACs as quickly as possible.  Kemal accompanies the force, and when he encounters other Ottoman soldiers fleeing and without ammunition, he orders them to fix bayonets and return to the fight.  The imperative at the moment was to halt the ANZAC advance, and nothing else matters.  He gives to his commanders the order that will become famous:

I don't order you to attack - I order you to die.  In the time that passes until we die, other troops and commanders can take our places.

After midday Kemal's force drives into the advance elements of the ANZAC force moving towards Chunuk Bair.  The ANZACs had hardly expected an Ottoman counterattack, and the complete disorganization of the landing forces, with fragments of battalions mixed up with each other, prevent any overall direction for their advance.  Kemal's counterattack has been perfectly timed, hitting the ANZACs before they could entrench and sort out the organizational chaos, and the ANZACs are shattered.  They are pushed back from Chunuk Bair and lose their intermediate positions on Battleship Hill and Baby 700, yielding the high ground to the enemy.  The Ottomans are only barely held at the Nek, which nevertheless leaves most of the beach now under Ottoman fire.  The ANZACs have committed all of their reserves, and the numbers of wounded grow.  Indeed, some of the wounded 'evacuated' to the beach are shot a second time as they wait to be taken offshore.  This evening the ANZAC commander warns General Hamilton that their position may not be tenable if the Ottomans push hard again tomorrow.  Hamilton's response is that the ANZACs must hold on - an evacuation would surely be a greater catastrophe - and famously writes 'You have got through the difficult business, now you have only to dig, dig, dig, until you are safe.'  In future the ANZACs will come to call themselves 'diggers'

The disposition of Ottoman forces during the Entente landings, April 25th, 1915.

On the Asiatic shore the French diversionary attack goes ashore at 930am, far too late to actually distract the Ottomans from the main landings which are already underway on Gallipoli.  The French skirmish with Ottoman forces and take five hundred prisoners, but otherwise accomplish nothing of significance.  On Gallipoli itself, the British and ANZACs are ashore, but otherwise their situation is tenuous at best.  At Cape Helles the failure at V beach has completely upset General Hamilton's plan; instead of pushing inward, they are still struggling to get off the beach itself.  To the north, the ANZACs have been pushed back into a narrow beachhead, contained by the perfectly-timed counterattack led by Mustafa Kemal.  It is only the first day and the Entente plan has gone badly off the rails.

- As the British and ANZACs land and die at Gallipoli, the Russian navy decides to make an appearance, bombarding the Ottoman forts at the entrance to the Bosphorus.  The attack makes no real difference, in line with the Russian contribution to the Dardanelles campaign to date.

- Meanwhile, amidst growing concern over the situation in the Aegean, and increasingly frustrated with the hesitancy of the Austro-Hungarian navy, the German navy has decided to dispatch U21, an ocean-going submarine, to the Mediterranean to attack the British and French warships off the Dardanelles.  As U21 does not have the range to reach the Aegean on its own, a supply ship has been been chartered from a port in northern Spain and will rendezvous with the submarine to allow it to refuel.

April 24th, 1915

- After a short artillery bombardment, the Germans at Ypres launch a second gas attack, releasing the deadly clouds to drift over the British and Canadian lines at and north of St. Julien.  From 5am the Germans launch a series of heavy assaults on the battered 3rd Canadian Brigade.  Gassed for the second time, it has reached the limits of its endurance, and under overwhelming pressure fall back.  After midday they withdraw 700 yards south of St. Julien, yielding the village to the enemy.  To the east 2nd Canadian Brigade, commanded by General Arthur Currie, has to pull back its left wing, much as 3rd Canadian Brigade had done two days earlier.

The line at Ypres at midnight, April 24th, 1915, showing the ground yielded by 3rd Canadian Brigade today.

Still, though the Canadian line bends and ground is yielded to the enemy, it does not shatter.  Even though it is only two days since the first gas attack, already countermeasures are being improvised.  Soldiers quickly learn that chlorine gas, heavier than hair, clings to the earth, and that remaining in low ground is fatal.  Similarly, running from the gas, by making one breath more heavily, simply makes one more susceptible to its effects.  Finally, cloths soaked in urine negate much of the effect of the gas.  Though the chlorine gas still causes casualties, it is not the completely unknown terror it was on the 22nd.  Never again will a gas attack have the same psychological impact.  At Gravenstafel in particular, the Canadian 8th Battalion makes a valiant stand and, though heavily outnumbered, fights the Germans to a standstill, preventing a breakthough that could have swept behind the British 28th Division east of Ypres and unhinged the entire defence of the salient.  Again, though the Germans have gained additional ground, they have not won a decisive success, and further Entente reinforcements are en route.

French soldiers using improvised gas masks in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

- In the St.-Mihiel salient the German counterattack shifts focus slightly to advance southwest of Les Éparges, and achieves a notable success: the capture of four kilometres of the French first trench line, two kilometres of the French second trench line, and even a battery of 75-mm artillery pieces.  General Dubail of the Provisional Group of the East reports to Joffre that the German success was due to the profligate use of artillery and trench mortars.

- At a meeting of the German and Austro-Hungarian leadership at Conrad's headquarters today, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg warns Foreign Minister Count Burián that the Austro-Hungarians can not count on any German military aid to fight Italy should the latter enter the war, and that such a circumstance could lead to defeat.  The one hope those assembled cling to is that impending German offensive near Gorlice and Tarnow, if successful, will perhaps convince the Italians to hold back.

The ongoing arrival of elements of the German 11th Army east of Krakow, April 24th, 1915.

- Today the harbour at Mudros on Lemnos in the eastern Mediterranean is barely-controlled chaos as final preparations are completed for the landings on Gallipoli.  One by one the transports leave the anchorage, bound for a rendezvous either at the island of Imbros or Tenedos.  The two destinations are a reflection of the plan adopted by General Sir Ian Hamilton, which calls for two main landings to be undertaken tomorrow.  The first, assigned to the ANZACs assembling at Imbros, is to land on the western side of the peninsula north of Gaba Tepe, where resistance is expected to be light.  After securing the beaches the ANZACs are to advance eastward to control part of the Sari Bair range before seizing the hill at Mal Tepe and taking Kilid Bahr, the high point on Gallipoli, on the second day.  Meanwhile, the British 29th Division and the Plymouth battalion of the Royal Naval Division, assembling at Tenedos, will be landing at a number of beaches around the Helles tip of the peninsula.  Though these positions were known to be well-defended by the Ottomans, it is hoped that naval gunfire will be able to overcome resistance.  By the end of the first day these forces are to have seized the heights at Achi Baba behind the village of Krithia, and on the second will join the ANZACs in capturing Kilid Bahr.  Once the high ground along the centre of the peninsula is seized, the Dardanelles coast can be clearing of enemy artillery and the minesweepers can finally complete their work.  At the same time as the main landings, diversionary attacks will be made by the French at Kum Kale on the Asiatic shore and elsewhere to confuse and distract the Ottomans.  It is a complex operation, and Hamilton hopes that by conducting so many landings simultanously the Ottomans will be unable to concentrate overwhelming force against any of them.  In practice, what Hamilton has done is divided his own force such that none will be able to achieve its objectives.

- Cevdet Bey reports to Constantinople today that the Armenian rebels in the city of Van number four thousand, have barricaded themselves in the Armenian quarter, and are proving impossible to dislodge.  As artillery is brought in to bombard Van, the Ottomans allow fifteen thousand Armenian civilians escaping massacres in the countryside to join the besieged rebels.  This is not done out of any sense of mercy, of course; rather, the hope is that the more mouths there are to feed in Van, the quicker they will all starve to death.

With the rebellion continuing in Van, the Young Turk leadership moves to implement further measures against the Armenian population.  Talat Pasha, the Minister of the Interior, issues orders for the arrest of all prominent Armenians in Constantinople, while Enver Pasha, the Minister of War, sends orders to army commanders in eastern Anatolia to deport the Armenian population in those regions where they are in open revolt.  The key dispatch, however, is a second message written by Talat Pasha, sent to the commander of 4th Army in the Caucasus.  The Minister of Interior states that deporting Armenians to the Konya region, as has been done in the past, is no longer feasible, since concentrating substantial numbers of Armenians in such a location would simply create further problems.  Instead, those Armenians 'whose expulsion from places like Iskenderun, Dörtyol, Adana, Haçin, Zeytûm, and Sis has been deemed necessary, to the southeast of Haleb, Zor, and Urfa'.  The vilyats named by Talat are to be found in the Syrian interior; in other words, Talat is ordering the Armenian population in the region of Van to be relocated into the desert and left to their own devices.

April 23rd, 1915

- Bouyed by the success achieved at Ypres yesterday, the German 4th Army orders further attacks today towards new objectives in an attempt to exploit their breakthrough.  Meanwhile, this morning the first British reinforcements, drawn from reserve companies and battalions of 28th Division, arrive in the gap in the line northeast of Ypres, where they join the two Canadian battalions fighting since last night.  Further reinforcements, including the Indian and Cavalry Corps, are en route.

Along the Yser Canal, French survivors launch several counterattacks that, while not regaining lost ground, prevent the Germans from exploiting the bridgeheads won yesterday over the canal.  The Canadian 3rd Brigade, with its left bent back ninety degrees, is attacked on three sides.  It has already suffered heavy casualties and is still feeling the effects of yesterday's gas attack.  German forces continue to work their way forward, especially against the exposed flank of the Canadians, and in bitter fighting the latter is slowly driven back to a new line northeast of St. Julien.  In the gap itself, the mixed British and Canadian battalions fight desperate engagements with the Germans, and at 630pm attempt a counterattack.  Again no lost ground is regained, but the forward momentum of the German XXVI Reserve Corps is broken.  Still, the British and Canadians have been unable to restore a continuous front line, and gaps remain.

The line at Ypres at midnight, April 23rd, 1915. 

- German forces in the St.-Mihiel salient launch a surprise counterattack today against Les Éparges, though the French are able to initially hold the line.

- Among the soldiers of the Royal Naval Division assembled to participated in the planned landings at Gallipoli was the 27-year-old poet Lieutenant Rupert Brooke.  Perhaps more than most Brooke had been enamoured with the romance of the British operation in the eastern Mediterranean, seeing in it a grand adventure among the battlefields and ruins of ancient Greece.  He had come down with severe blood poisoning three days ago, however, and today dies.  His friends bury him in an olive grove high on the island of Skyros, where the Royal Naval Division has been undergoing final training.  The romantic and poetic Brooke thus passes almost on the eve of the landings which themselves will be a bitter and disillusioning experience for so many.  The symbolism can hardly be understated.

- Today a new commanding officer arrives at Basra for 6th Indian Division: General Charles Townshend, equally ambitious and self-assured.  General Nixon, commander of Indian forces in lower Mesopotamia, issues orders for Townshend to take his division upriver, clear the Ottomans from their position near Qurna, and advance northwards to seize Amarah.

April 22nd, 1915

- For the past two days, German artillery has been shelling the town of Ypres, but otherwise there has been little activity in the salient.  It has been a pleasant spring day, clear with only a light breeze blowing from the northeast.  However, the idyllic conditions are also ideal for the long-planned German gas attack, and a new terror is about to be unleashed on the modern battlefield.

At 6pm the gas canisters are opened along the front held by the German XXIII and XXVI Reserve Corps, and in the evening breeze the yellow-green cloud slowly rolls towards the enemy line between the Yser Canal and Poelcappelle.  Here the trenches are held by the French 87th Territorial and 45th Algerian Divisions.  The French and colonial soldiers have no idea what the strange cloud approaching them is, and when it begins to seep into their trenches, pandemonium ensues.  The chlorine gas blinds and chokes, the lungs blistering and filling with fluid until the victim, unable to breath, dies.  The French and Algerians pay the price for the earlier dismissal of warnings regarding the German attack; the only choices they have is die or flee.  Survivors flee southward, choking and half-blinded, presenting a terrifying spectacle to the British and Canadian soldiers they pass by.

German chlorine gas drifts towards Entente lines during the 2nd Battle of Ypres, April 1915.

At 615, the German infantry attacks, following in the wake of the gas clouds.  In front of XXIII Corps, the gas attack was not entirely successful, and 45th and 46th Reserve Divisions have a hard fight before they are able to seize the village of Steenstraate, though later in the evening German forces are able to push across the Yser Canal at Het Sas.  On the other side of the German attack, the gas is largely ineffective in front of 51st Reserve Division of XXVI Reserve Corps, and the right of 45th Algerian Division and the left of 1st Canadian Dvision are able to put up stiff resistance before the Germans are able to seize the village of Langemarck.  In between, however, the attack has been completely successful.  Here the gas completely routed the French and Algerians, and when 52nd Reserve Division advances, they encounter no resistance.  By 640pm, or less than thirty minutes after their advance had begun, 52nd Reserve Division reaches the hills near Pilkem.  They have advanced almost three kilometres, a stunning gain on the Western Front, and reflects the extent of the German accomplishment.  The use of chlorine gas has completely shattered the Entente line, blowing a hole several kilometres wide between the Yser Canal and Poelcappelle.  Before the Germans are little more than the fleeing remnants of the French and Algerian divisions.  It is a breakthrough that dwarfs those accomplished on two occasions during the First Battle of Ypres.

However, again like those two desperate moments during the first battle, when the outcome hung in the balance, the Germans are unable to fully exploit their advantage.  Here the problem is simply a lack of forces: only a couple of brigades are available to send through the breach in the enemy line.  No further reserves are immediately for two reasons.  First, the impact of chlorine gas has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations of the Germans; quite simply, no one thought its use would open such an enormous gap.  Second, the operation was never intended to be a major offensive designed to win a decisive and strategic victory.  Instead, the attack at Ypres was primarily designed to test the combat utility of chlorine gas and distract the British and French from the flow of German forces from west to east to support the upcoming Gorlice-Tarnow offensive.  Indeed, Falkenhayn had refused the request of the commander of 4th Army for an additional division to be held in reserve near the line; the thinking of the Chief of Staff was that given how the gas attack was dependent on the weather, he could not afford to have a valuable division tied up waiting for the attack to happen, and a significant exploitation of any success was not the point anyway.  It is one of the few occasions during the war when either side will underestimate the potential for an offensive to succeed, and as a result the opportunity to drive to Ypres and inflict a crushing defeat slips away.

Regardless, the surviving Entente forces still find themselves in a desperate struggle to hold back the Germans who are advancing.  Along the Yser Canal the remnants of the French 87th Territorial Division, aided by the Belgians to the north, struggle to prevent the Germans from exploiting their bridgehead at Hen Sas.  East of Langemarck, 3rd Canadian Brigade of 1st Canadian Division, on whose flank the Algerians had formally held the line, bends its left wing back until it runs south towards St. Julien in an effort to prevent the Germans from turned their flank and driving further eastward.  Despite suffering from the gas, the Canadians recover from the initial shock of the attack, and in places are able to recover lost ground.  In the gap, the first reinforcements to arrive are two Canadian battalions, the reserve of 1st Brigade and stationed nearby when the attack began.  They plunge into woods near St. Julien and, massively outnumbered, engage in desperate combat and briefly check the Germans before being forced back.  Other reinforcements have already been ordered to the front, but they are still en route at midnight, and the hole in the Entente line remains, a gaping wound that, to the eyes of French and British commanders, threatens disaster.

The position at Ypres at midnight on April 22nd, 1915, showing the extent of the German breakthrough seized this evening.

- As the date for the German offensive in the Gorlice-Tarnow region approaches, Falkenhayn believes that surprise is vital to the operation's success.  Should the Russians anticipate the German attack, he explains to Conrad today, the operation may fail.

April 17th, 1915

- In March Sir John French had refused Joffre's request for the British Expeditionary Force to take over the defence of the Ypres salient, citing a lack of manpower.  By the beginning of April, two new divisions have arrived in France, including 1st Canadian Division, and the BEF commander has decided that he now has the strength to extend the British line northwards.  For the past two weeks, the three divisions of the British V Corps have replaced three French divisions, a process that ends today when 1st Canadian Division comes into the line.  The Ypres salient is now held, north to south, by the French 47th Colonial Division (from the Ypres Canal to east of Langamarck), 1st Canadian Division (from east of Langmarck to north of Broodseinde) 28th British Division (from north of Broodseinde to Polygon Wood) and 27th British Division (from POlygon Wood to south of Zillebeke).

- As the British finish taking over much of the Ypres Salient, they also launched an attack just to the south, from a section of the line the BEF has held since the fall.  In the flat terrain of Flanders, any rise in the land, however slight, becomes of great importance, given whoever holds in the ability to observe into and behind enemy lines and direct artillery fire accordingly.  Thus it is with the optimistically-named Hill 60, which in reality is nothing more than a pile of earth taken from cuttings during the construction of the Ypres-Lille railway in the previous century.  The Germans have held the 'hill' since the end of the 1st Battle of Ypres, and today, in an effort to dislodge them, the British explode seven mines under the hill this evening.  Large craters are formed as a section of the German trench line is destroyed, and an immediate attack by 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent and 2nd Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers regiments manages to seize the hill and the craters from the stunned German defenders.

The Ypres Salient after the British take over most of the line, April 1915.  Hill 60 is visible at the bottom of the map.

- The first units of the German 11th Army begin their redeployment by rail to the Eastern Front in preparation for the Gorlice-Tarnow offensive.

- With yesterday's rejection of Italy's demands, the Austro-Hungarian foreign minster glumly informs Conrad today that negotiations will be continued only in the hope of delaying an Italian declaration of war as long as possible.