March 5th, 1915

- As the major combatants seek to increase the production of war material, one means that comes to the fore is 'dilution', whereby skilled labourers are replaced by unskilled labourers working on industrial machinery.  The advantage of dilution is that it allows for the expansion of the industrial workforce without significant training or prior experience.  For the workers, however, dilution is seen as a means by which employers can replace higher-wage jobs with lower-wage jobs, and those many trade union leaders are extremely reluctant to agree to dilution on any terms.  In Britain today, though the Engineering Employers' Federation and the Amalgamated Society of Engineers agree to accept the principle of dilution, it is only for the duration of the war and only in factories producing munitions.  Moreover, it is an agreement that is not matched in other industries.

- After two days of attack and counterattack, the French have regained the ground on the Lorette Spur lost to the Germans on the 3rd, while the latter have suffered 1800 casualties.

- A French assault at Hartsmannswillerkopf seize a portion of the enemy's first trench line, though the Germans remain in control of the summit of the peak.

- In the Carpathians, VII Corps and the left wing of X Corps of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army attacks the Russian lines opposite, but suffering a shattering defeat.  The capability of 3rd Army to undertake offensive operations has been crushed; VII Corps alone has lost 60% of its strength over the past five days.  The commander of 3rd Army thus orders his formations to go over on to the defensive, though this calls into question the viability of 2nd Army's offensive and indeed the entire concept of a continued Austro-Hungarian effort to relieve Przemysl.

- Though the Admiralty sent the new dreadnought Queen Elizabeth to the Dardanelles to participate in the operation, they have forbidden it from sailing into the straits themselves, lest it strike a mine and sink.  Instead, Queen Elizabeth today anchors off the Aegean coast of Gallipoli and fires 15-inch shells over the peninsula at the Ottoman forts in the straits.  Though the sudden bombardment from an unexpected direction and from an unseen foe confuses the Ottomans, without accurate spotting the shells fail to hit anything of significance.

- While the Entente focus is on the Dardanelles operation, other operations in the region are also the subject of attention.  One such attack begins today when the pre-dreadnoughts Triumph and Swiftsure and the armoured cruiser Euryalus, accompanied by minesweepers and smaller craft, commence a bombardment of the port of Smyrna, the largest Ottoman port on the Mediterranean.  There were concerns that Smyrna might be used as a base by German or Austro-Hungarian submarines, so its neutralization was seen as desirable.  The task force is to destroy the forts protecting the harbour to facilitate a close blockade and leave the port itself open to attack at any time.  In many respects, it is a miniature version of the Dardanelles operation, and also shares its problems; the pre-dreadnoughts cannot close to destroy the forts until protective minefields have been cleared, but these are protected by mobile guns.  One difference, however, is an attempt to negotiate with the Ottoman governor of Smyrna, who is believed to be synmpathetic to the Entente and potentially willing to surrender his small craft to the British and allow them to sweep the minefields.  Thus the operation beginning today is two-pronged: a military attack on the harbour defences and a diplomatic approach to render such an attack unnecessary.

- Admiral Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian navy, writes today to Admiral Souchon at Constantinople, responding to the German desire for naval support for the Ottomans at the Dardanelles.  Haus states that only two Austro-Hungarian submarines have even the potential range to reach the Dardanelles in ideal conditions, while they are required instead to defend the key naval base at Cattaro and remain available should the Italians come into the war on the side of the Entente.  He also pours cold water on the idea of sending a fast light cruiser to the Ottomans to deliver munitions.  Why should his navy, he wonders, sacrifice a valuable warship to deliver, at most, three hundred tons of ammunition.  The letter shows that the Ottomans will not be able to rely on any Austro-Hungarian support against the Entente naval assault on the Dardanelles.

March 3rd, 1915

- At 7am elements of three regiments of the German XIV Corps attack French positions on the Lorette Spur north of Arras.  Advancing in the wake of the detonation of several mines, the German infantry push forward six hundred metres and occupy the French trench line, taking eight hundred prisoners.

- Despite agreeing to the deployment of the January reserves to the Eastern Front, Falkenhayn remains convinced that victory can only be achieved through a successful and decisive offensive on the Western Front.  To date, the issue for Falkenhayn has been finding the forces to undertake such an operation - the portion of the German army currently in the West is sufficient only to defend the current line, while Hindenburg and Ludendorff jealously guard their units on the Eastern Front.  However, on February 22nd Major-General Ernst von Wrisberg, director of the General War Department, had submitted a proposal to Falkenhayn that offered the prospect of creating a new reserve force that could be utilized in major offensives.  While sufficent new recruits have now been trained to form several new reserve corps, as had been done in October 1914 and January 1915, Wrisberg's proposal was to instead to assign approximately 2400 recruits to each existing division while simultaneously detaching one regiment from each division.  The detached regiments, meanwhile, would be combined into new reserve divisions.  Thus unlike prior occasions, these new reserve divisions would be comprised of experienced soldiers capable of undertaking complex operations.  Wrisberg expected that this reorganization would allow for the creation of twenty-four reserves, and Falkenhayn has eagerly embraced the proposal, seeing in it the means by which his desired offensive in the West could be undertaken.

Orders have already been issued for the formation of the first six of the new divisions, and today Falkenhayn orders the formation of a new 11th Army, which he intends to use as the core of his offensive on the Western Front.  Its commander will be General Fabeck, who brings to the position his experience in the fighting around Ypres in October and November, while as Chief of Staff Falkenhayn appoints Colonel Hans von Seeckt, an experienced and successful staff officer on the Western Front.

- Meanwhile, this evening Falkenhayn arrives at the headquarters of 3rd Army in the Champagne to discuss the ongoing French offensive.  He emphasizes the importance of not yielding an inch of ground, which corresponds with the opinion of General Einem, 3rd Army's commander.

- In northern Poland the German 8th Army has failed to make any progress in its siege of the Russian fortress at Osowiec.  The land around the fortress is marshy and criss-crossed with streams, slowing the movement and deployment of German heavy artillery, while Russian maneouvers outside Osowiec have kept the Germans off-guard.  Thus the Germans have been unable to bring their full firepower to bear on the Russian defences, in contrast to sieges at Liège and Antwerp earlier in the war.  Frustrated, and challenged by the strength of the Russian 12th Army to the west, 8th Army abandons the siege and withdraws to the northwest.

A siege gun deployed by the Germans at Osowiec.

- Over the past two days the Russian VII and XII Corps have undertaken fierce counterattacks against the left flank of 2nd Army and the right flank of 3rd Army opposite, but the Austro-Hungarian defenders have managed to hold their positions.  From Conrad at AOK comes renewed exortations, urging all armies to advance in Galicia and relieve Przemysl.  To the German command staff of Südarmee, given the heavy casualties and terrible weather, such pleas appear little more than delusional.

- Another attempt to sweep the Ottoman minefields in the Dardanelles fails tonight when the minesweepers yet again retreat under heavy fire.  Significantly, Admiral de Robeck, commanding the forward assault forces of the Entente fleet, concludes today that the straits cannot be forced until the shore batteries are silenced by the occupation of one shore or the other.

- After four weeks in Sanaa, the sailors of Emden's landing party have sufficiently recovered from their various ailments to allow for the column to depart today.  Their destination is once again Hodeida, from which they had left on January 27th; with a march overland ruled out by the climate, First Officer Mücke has resolved to attempt to continue their journey by sea.

- The detachment of Indian Expeditionary Force D sent to Ahwaz on February 11th is encamped across the Karun river from the town.  The scratch force has arrived too late to prevent hostile Arabs from cutting the vital oil pipeline to Abadan in several places, ostensibly the detachment's original mission.  Moreover, a large number of Ottoman soldiers and Arab irregulars have gathered to the north at Ghadir, and the commander of the detachment has decided to attack the enemy encampment at dawn.  His plan is to bring his artillery pieces within range of the enemy, at which point their high rate of fire would induce the Ottomans and Arabs to retreat or disperse.  When the shelling begins, however, the enemy came 'buzzing out like a disturbed wasps nest' and, instead of retreating, attacked the British column.  The latter was then forced to undertake a fighting retreat, only escaping destruction due to the unwillingness of the Arab cavalry to close up to the British lines and the steadfastness of the Dorsets infantry.

- The captain of the German light cruiser Königsberg receives a wireless signal, via the transmission tower at Windhoek in German South-West Africa, that he should communicate with the disguised merchant ship Rubens on April 1st.