December 8th, 1914

- Further attacks by the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army against the Russian 3rd Army fail to make any significant gains, while the situation on the southern flank of Roth's group around Limanowa worsens - in addition to the advance of the Russian VIII Corps, the Russian XIV Corps is a mere two days march away.  Conrad urges the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army to hasten his attacks, and the latter decides that, as he does not have sufficient force in position to both attack Bartfeld and advance towards Neusandez, the latter operation should take priority.  Two division and assorted battalions that had been assembled to attack Bartfeld are placed under the command of General Szurmay and ordered to move northwest against Neusandez.

- The Austro-Hungarian 6th Army today falls back across the Kolubara River, having been shattered in the fighting of the prior five days.  Many of its battalions are down to two hundred men, supply columns have been destroyed by Serbian units that have broken through, and some units have now completely run out of ammunition.  At Valjevo, the Austro-Hungarian 50th Division hastily retreats before scouting elements of the Serbian I Dunav Division, and the latter are able to temporarily enter the city.  The episode convinces General Potiorek that 6th Army is no longer combat effective, and will be unable to hold the line of the Kolubara.

- In Mesopotamia the Ottoman defenders of Qurna are disheartened by the British success in occupying the opposite river bank, and more than half the garrison retreats northwards in the early morning hours.  The remainder believe they have been outmaneouvred again when a small British force commandeers two sailboats and effects a river crossing just north of Qurna.  At 1140pm, a small steamer carrying three Ottoman officers approaches one of the British sloops and they offer to surrender Qurna if the garrison is allowed to march out.  The commander of the sloop refuses, and is soon able to badger the Ottomans into an unconditional surrender.

- For the past several weeks, the shattered remnants of C. F. Beyers' commando has been on the run since it was defeated on November 16th, and today it disintegrates when Beyers drowns attempting to cross the Vaal River.  Beyers' death removes a leading rebel figure from the scene, and eliminates the last major rebel commando within South Africa - the only significant forces now are those commanded by Maritz and Kemp just over the border with German South-West Africa.

- At 2am this morning the warships of the German East Asiatic Squadron first sight the Falklands Islands on the northern horizon, and at 530am Admiral Spee splits his force - Gneisenau and Nürnberg will sail into Port Stanley to send landing parties ashore and bombard the town while Scharnhorst, Dresden, and Leipzig remain just out of sight over the horizon, ready to assist.  The weather is perfect, with clear skies and only a slight breeze, making visibility ideal.  The German warships have no idea that they are sailing into mortal danger.

The approach of the German East Asiatic Squadron to the Falklands Islands.

At 7am Gneisenau and Nürnberg sight their first target, a radio mast on Hooker's Point.  The harbour at Port Stanley itself is masked by the line of hills on which the radio mast sits and which reaches out to Cape Pembroke, but the Germans can see the mastheads of a number of ships in Port Stanley and smoke rising as they get underway.  Gneisenau's gunnery officer, up in the spotting top of the foremast, reports that he sees tripod masts - ominous news, as tripod masts mean dreadnoughts.  Gneisenau's captain dismisses the report - there are obviously no dreadnoughts or battlecruisers in the South Atlantic, as they are all in the North Sea facing the High Seas Fleet.

At 920am, just as Gneisenau and Nürnberg are about to open fire on the wireless station, two explosions are sighted a thousand yards to port, followed shortly by two more eight hundred yards away.  The size of the detonations clearly indicate 12-inch shells, a stunning surprise to the Germans.  Such large-calibre gunnery means they are facing warships larger than cruisers, and deduce that a pre-dreadnought battleship must be at Port Stanley.  They are correct - the shells are coming from Canopus, beached in the harbour as a defensive battery, its fire directed by gunner observors on land such that it can fire without the ship actually seeing the enemy.  Thus the first shots of the Battle of the Falklands Islands are fired by the warship that was left behind prior to the Battle of Coronel.

The Battle of the Falklands Islands, December 8th, 1914.

Spee decides to abort the attack on Port Stanley, as 12-inch guns could wreck havoc on his squadron and there are more enemy warships that appear to be preparing to exit Port Stanley to engage the Germans.  However, Spee's squadron can also easily outrun a pre-dreadnought, so Gneisenau and Nürnberg are ordered to sail east to rejoin the rest of the German East Asiatic Squadron.

When Gneisenau and Nürnberg were first sighted by British observers ashore just after 730am, they caught Admiral Sturdee and his squadron completely by surprise.  There had been no indication or intelligence to suggest that the Falklands Islands themselves might be a target of the German East Asiatic Squadron.  The British warships are not prepared for action - only the armoured cruiser Kent is able to immediately steam out of the harbour, as the rest are in various stages of coaling or undergoing repairs.  Sturdee quickly issues orders for all warships to raise steam to prepare to sail as soon as possible - his initial fear is that if the Germans sail up to the harbour entrance they might be able to devastate his squadron while it is still at anchor and cannot maneouvre.  Spee's order to retreat alleviates that concern, however, and now Sturdee realizes his advantage. He knows his two battlecruisers can make 25 knots, while Spee's warships can only make 20 knots at most.  Sturdee knows that he will inevitably catch up to the Germans, and then the larger main armament of Invincible and Inflexible will surely guarantee the annihilation of the enemy.  Spee's only chance of escape is poor weather, but the day is exceptionally calm and there is no change of fog or rain in which the German squadron could hide.  By 1030am all of Sturdee's warships have sailed out of Port Stanley and round Cape Pembroke in pursuit of the enemy.

As the German East Asiatic Squadron sails eastwards at its top speed, it can see in the distance British warships in pursuit, and all eyes strain to identify the enemy.  They can see two larger warships that gradually but inexorably overtake the other enemy vessels and begin to close the gap between the two squadrons.  It soon becomes clear that their pursuers include two battlecruisers.  It is a bitter moment for the German East Asiatic Squadron - every sailor knows the overwhelming superiority battlecruisers have over their own ships, and that the day will likely end in their destruction.

The view from the maintop on Invincible as it overhauls the German warships, whose smoke is visible on the
horizon.

For several hours the British pursue the Germans, the battlecruisers drawing ever closer.  At 1255pm, the first shot of the battle is fired by Inflexible, targeting the light cruiser Leipzig.  Invincible soon joins in, and within fifteen minutes British salvos are straddling the German ship.  Spee decides that he must try to save at least part of his squadron.  He orders his three light cruisers to separate and attempt to escape, while Scharnhorst and Gneisenau will turn to fight the battlecruisers.  The latter maneouvre is undoubtedly doomed, but Spee hopes it will prove a sufficient distraction to allow the light cruisers to escape.  Sturdee had anticipated this, however, and the armoured cruisers Kent and Cornwall as well as Glasgow are sent after the German light cruisers while Inflexible and Invincible focus on the two enemy armoured cruisers.

Inflexible opens fire on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

By 130pm the British battlecruisers and German armoured cruisers open fire on each other.  The Germans live up to their reputation as crack shots, their salvos consistently straddling the British, while British fire is widely inaccurate - in the first thirty minutes, of 210 rounds fired only four hit the target.  Still, the larger shells of the British guns mean each hit is significantly more damaging than several from the German guns.  For the next two hours damage accumulates on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - the former has several main guns knocked out, and the latter has two boiler rooms flooded and its speed reduced to 16 knots.  Just before 4pm, its upper deck completely wrecked and three of four funnels shot away, Scharnhorst ceases fire.  Sturdee signals the German warship to surrender, but there was no reply.  Spee's last signal is instead to Gneisenau, conceding that he had been wrong to order the attack on the Falklands.  Scharnhorst's bow sinks ever deeper into the waves until it rolls onto its side and sinks at 417pm.  Of the eight hundred man crew, including Admiral Spee, there are no survivors.  For the next hour and a half, the already-battered Gneisenau endures what amounts to target practice by the British battlecruisers.  At 540 its captain orders the ship scuttled, and it sinks at 6pm.  Between two and three hundred survivors are in the water, and the battlecruisers begin rescue efforts, ultimately pulling 176 from the frigid waters.

Inflexible standing by to pick up survivors from Gneisenau.  The photograph is taken from Invincible.

The three German light cruisers hardly fare better.  As they sailed south in an attempt to escape, they are pursued by the light cruiser Glasgow and the armoured cruisers Kent and Cornwall.  After four months at sea the Germans are several knots below their design speed, which allows the British to slowly close the distance.  At 345pm the three light cruisers go their separate ways - Dresden to the southwest, Nürnberg to the east, and Leipzig to the south.  The pursuing British have to choose how to continue the pursuit, and with Dresden maintaining a fractionally greater speed than the other two light cruisers, the decision is made by the captain of Glasgow to let Dresden go to ensure the destruction of the other two.  While Dresden slips away, Nürnberg and Leipzig are chased down over the next several hours and, once the armoured cruisers are in range, battered into submission - the former sinking at 727pm, and the latter at 923pm.  Only seven survivors are saved from Nürnberg and eighteen from Leipzig.

Damage on the upper deck of Kent.

By nightfall the annihilation of the German East Asiatic Squadron is complete.  Only Dresden survives, fleeing the scene as rapidly as possible westward, its only hope to return to the Pacific.  Admiral Spee, as well as two of his sons who were serving aboard his warships, are lost.  British casualties are negligible - one on Glasgow, four on Kent when a gun position was hit - as the vast majority of German hits failed to penetrate the armour of the British warships.  The Germans had fought well, scoring a much higher hit rate than their counterparts, but it hardly mattered.  For the British, it is a matter of concern that only 5% of their shots, but it is overshadowed by the sheer scale of the victory - the Battle of the Falklands is as decisive victory for the British as the Battle of Coronel was for the Germans.  It does much to restore the luster of the Royal Navy after early setbacks, and is celebrated throughout Britain as a restatement of naval hegemony.  The victory is seen as a particular vindication for the First Sea Lord, Admiral Fisher.  It was his vision that brought the battlecruiser to life, and at the Falklands it fulfilled its strategic role perfectly - have the speed to catch anything it can sink.

December 6th, 1914

- Joffre sends a reply today to Grand Duke Nicholas' telegram of the 3rd, assuring the commander-in-chief of the Russian army that the French will shortly resume major offensive operations, once weapons appropriate to the new conditions resembling siege warfare are assembled.  At the same time he receives another report from the Operations Bureau recommending attacks in Artois and either Champagne or near Verdun.  This encapsulates the basic framework of the operation Joffre and his staff now begin to plan - a drive by the French 10th Army from the vicinity of Arras towards Cambrai, and an advance in Champagne east of Rheims by the French 4th Army from Suippes to Rethel.

- Overnight Russian forces at Lodz have abandoned the city and retreated eastward, and when wireless intercepts reveal the situation to the Germans, elements of 9th Army occupy the city.  The retreat, however, is not a precipitate withdrawal - the advance of the right wing of the German 9th Army and the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army had resulted in Lodz forming a bulge in the front, and by retreating the Russians can shorten their line and establish themselves on defensible positions on the Bzura and Rawka Rivers west of Warsaw.  Indeed, for the past several days the centre and left of the German 9th Army has been battering itself against the Russian positions on the lower Bzura to no avail.  Further, the Russian forces opposite the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army remain in place, frustrating the hope for a further advance.  By abandoning Lodz, the Russians are in a better position to defend the remainder of Poland.

German soldiers marching through Lodz, December 6th, 1914.

- Southeast of Krakow further Austro-Hungarians attacks by Roth's forces on the Russian defences fail to achieve a breakthrough or turn the enemy's southern flank.  However, the continued pressure convinces the commander of the Russian 3rd Army to pull back the two corps that still faced westward between Wisniowa and Wieliczka.  Meanwhile reconnaissance reports from elements of the 10th Cavalry Division report significant Russian forces in Neusandez, but General Roth's focus remains the attack northwards - he has been ordered to continue the offensive in this direct irregardless of the threat to his own flank.

Operations of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army during the Battle of
Limanowa-Lapanow, December 6th to 9th, 1914.

- To the southeast the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army is planning an operation aimed at recapturing Bartfeld, lost on the 1st.  Though his army is exhausted, the apparent redeployment of elements of the Russian 8th Army westwards has opened a window of opportunity to go over to the attack.  However, today Conrad orders the left wing of 3rd Army to advance on Neusandez to support the offensive of 4th Army.  The commander of 3rd Army knows his force is not capable of attacking Bartfeld and moving to Neusandez simultaneously, so he asks Conrad which operation he should undertake first.  In an evasion typical of Conrad, he replies that the choice is at 3rd Army's discretion.

- Romanian Prime Minister Bratianu refuses today an Entente request to guarantee the independence of Greece against Bulgarian aggression.

- A small Ottoman force of twenty-four Russian-speaking cavalrymen attempt a raid today near Odessa on the Black Sea coast.  Landing at Akkerman and dressed in Russian uniforms, their objective is to cut a key railway before escaping into neutral Romania.  The attempt is a complete failure as every Ottoman soldier is rounded up shortly after making landfall.

- Early today reinforcements reach the detachment of Indian Expeditionary Force D encamped just south of Qurna on the opposite bank.  Reconnaissance has revealed that Ottoman soldiers numbering over a thousand have reoccupied the trenches to the north that the British had captured and then evacuated on the 4th.  The local British commander decides that these Ottomans will need to be defeated to secure the west bank of the river, the necessary prerequisite to then crossing the river to seize the town of Qurna itself.

- Admiral Spee convenes a meeting of his captains as the German East Asiatic Squadron continues to anchor off Picton Island.  Believing that the Falklands Islands are unprotected, de proposes an attack on Port Stanley to destroy the wireless station, burn any stocks of coal (the bunkers of his ships now being full), and capture the British governor to balance the British seizure of the governor of German Samoa.  Only the captain of Nürnberg supports the plan - the other captains wish to avoid the Falklands and pursue Entente shipping off the River Platte.  Spee, however, overrules his captains and they sail this afternoon to attack Port Stanley on the morning of December 8th.  It is a fateful, and for many a fatal, decision.

December 3rd, 1914

- Today Joffre receives a message from Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander in Chief of the Russian Army.  The latter complains that inadequate pressure by the French on the Western Front has allowed the Germans to transfer significant forces to the Eastern Front, and that if further redeployments occurred the Russian army would have to cease offensive operations and dig entrenchments similar to those in the West.

- In central Poland the Russian III Caucasian Corps begins to move northwards towards Belchatow, occupied today by Austro-Hungarian cavalry, in order to strike the southern flank of the advance of the right wing of the German 9th Army and the left wing of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army.  Radio messages indicating the planned counterattack are intercepted, however, which allows the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army to plan an attack of its own to pre-empt the Russian operation.  As the front north of Krakow has settled into trench warfare, the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army is able to order the redeployment of its 27th Division northwards to assist 4th Army.

- South of Krakow today the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army, under the overall command of General Joseph Roth and consisting of XIV Corps and Nagy's cavalry divisions, push eastward today after defeating the Russians at Dobra yesterday, and capture Limanowa.  However, though the southern flank of the Russian 3rd Army has given way, its centre stymies further Austro-Hungarian attacks today.

The Battle of Limanowa-Lapanow, December 1914.

- When the Serbian counteroffensive is launched this morning, it strikes the Austro-Hungarian armies at a particularly opportune moment.  The occupation of Belgrade has stretched it to the northeast, leaving 6th Army with a longer front to cover.  Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian supply situation is dire, as both food and ammunition are scarce, and the infantry are tired from the constant advance of the past month.  The destruction of bridges and roads by the retreating Serbs has also held up heavy artillery, and thus most of the line cannot count on artillery fire for support.

Thus when the infantry of the Serbian 1st Army attack out of the morning mist at 7am, they are able to immediately shatter the lines.  By nightfall all three corps of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army are on the retreat.  The response of General Potiorek is sluggish, as information is scarce and he believes only one corps of 6th Army has been seriously engaged.

The Serbian counteroffensive, December 3rd to 12th, 1914.

- Today the troop convoy from Australia and New Zealand arrives at Alexandria.  The soldiers begin to disembarck, and the first move by train to Cairo where their encampment is located.

Australian soldiers arriving at Alexandria, December 3rd, 1914.

- Having rounded Cape Horn, yesterday the German East Asiatic Squadron came across and seized an English sailing vessel with 2800 tons of coal, and this morning the squadron anchors off Picton Island.  Admiral Spee, cognizant of the uncertainty of access to coal in the Atlantic, decides to take the time to parcel out the seized coal among his five ships.

November 26th, 1914

- Near Krakow the Russian 3rd Army, concentrated to the east of the city and south of the Vistula River, forces the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army to fall back westwards towards Krakow.  3rd Army's commander believes, given the apparently-shattered state of the Austro-Hungarian army, that his army may be able to seize the forts at Krakow by a coup de main.  However, his superiors at Stavka are less sure - the bulk of the Russian army to the north is exhausted from the fighting of November, and today they learn of the imminent arrival of three German corps, having been transferred from the west, and for which they have no reserves available to counter.

- At dawn the British battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible arrive at the Abrolhos Rock, where they meet Rear-Admiral Stoddart's squadron of four armoured cruisers and two light cruisers, the latter including Glasgow.  Vice-Admiral Sturdee aboard Invincible takes overall command of the assembled British warships, and coaling is undertaken in preparation for the pursuit of the German East Asiatic Squadron.

- Sturdee's target meanwhile departs Bahía San Quintín this afternoon.  While they had anchored and coaled at Bahía San Quintín Admiral Spee had received a message from the German Naval Staff, informing him of provisional, though potentially unreliable, arrangements made for colliers in the Atlantic, and gave him discretion in deciding whether to try to break for home.  By today Spee has decided to do just that, but as always the coal situation remains of mind.  He has also heard a report that Port Stanley in the Falklands Islands is undefended, a message that will be of decisive importance in determining the fate of the German East Asiatic Squadron.

- At dawn this morning the crew of the Ayesha sights the port of Padang in the distance, but the wind has died to almost nothing, leaving them practically adrift.  Given that they still sit in international waters and in a major shipping lane, they have no desire to wait lest a hostile cruiser stumble upon them.  In order to make at least some progress, the crew resort to rowing - two lifeboats are lowered into the water and attached to the bow, while spare oars onboard Ayesha itself are used by the remaining crew.  Through these means they are able to approach Padang at one mile per hour.

Later in the morning Ayesha is approached by the Dutch destroyer Lynx.  As the appearance of all fifty of the German crew aboard Ayesha would give the game away, all but First Officer Mücke and the dirtiest, wildest-looking sailor disappear below deck.  Mücke's intention is to give the impression of being just a run-down schooner, hardly worthy of attention.  The Dutch warship passed slowly at a distance of fifty metres, each of its officers inspecting Ayesha through binoculars and carrying on a lively conversation.  The Dutch make no attempt to hail Mücke, but follow Ayesha for several hours as it approaches Padang at an agonizingly-slow speed, before returning to the port itself in the evening.

November 19th, 1914

- Flanders sees the first serious snowfall of the year, adding to the misery of the soldiers dug in along the front line.  Though German shelling continues, Entente commanders notice a sharp decline in the frequency and intensity of German infantry assaults.

- Today the French XI Corps of 2nd Army, on the front near the Somme River, attacks the German line in an effort to pin enemy reserves to this sector and demonstrate the continued vitality of the French army.  The operation accomplishes absolutely nothing.

- Desperate fighting has continued along the front in Serbia since the 17th, as the Austro-Hungarians seek to break the Serbian defensive line.  They achieve their first success today, forcing the Serbian 1st Army backwards and taking high ground on the opposite bank of the Kolubara River.  General Potiorek's plan is for his 6th Army to occupy the Serbian forces while 5th Army drives on and enters Belgrade to the north.

- On November 8th the Prime Minister of Hungary published correspondence between himself and Romanian religious figures, in which he pledged a series of concessions to the Romanian population of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary, including language rights and electoral reform.  These reforms were designed not only to mollify the Romanian population within Hungary, but also the Romanian government, whose neutrality the Hungarian Prime Minister was eager to maintain.  Given the multiethnic composition of the Empire, however, concessions to one group are eagerly highlighted by other groups - today the newspaper of the Slovak committee of the Social Democratic Party publishes a call for the same concessions to be extended to the Slovak population of Hungary.  This highlights the possible lethality of any effort to reform Austria-Hungary - concessions to one group lead other groups to demand the same, a vicious circle that has the potential to destroy the Empire itself.  And yet, in a war for survival in which each ethnic group is represented among the soldiers of the Habsburg army, is a policy of repression, not reform, any more viable?

- The German East Asiatic Squadron today sails into the Gulf of Penas on the Chilean coast three hundred miles north of the Straits of Magellan, and anchors in Bahía San Quintín.  Here they coal once again, while Admiral Spee names and congratulates three hundred of his officers and men who have been awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class by the Kaiser, ecstatic at their victory at Coronel (the medals themselves await the recipients in Germany).

November 15th, 1914

- Though German shelling continues there are no significant infantry actions today in Flanders.  The reorganization of the Entente line pursuent to the agreement on the 13th between Foch and French begins, and a reconstituted British IV Corps, consisting of 7th and 8th Divisions and again commanded by General Rawlinson, enters the line today between III and Indian Corps.  The German army, meanwhile, begins to lay the groundwork for a public explanation of its failure in Flanders, issuing a communique today stating that bad weather has impeded operations over the past few days.

- In Poland only today does General Ruzski of the Russian North-West Front realize that the advance of the German 9th Army is not only the main German offensive, as opposed to a diversion, but that it is poised to seize Lodz and drive into the rear of 2nd and 5th Armies.  He issues orders today for both armies to retreat eastwards and fall back on Lodz.  The battle is now a race between the German 9th Army and the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies to see which can reach Lodz first.

Meanwhile, Conrad is planning an offensive of his own.  In the retreat after the Battle of the Vistula River over the past several weeks, the Austro-Hungarian 1st and 4th Armies have fallen back upon the fortress of Krakow, the former just to the north and the latter just to the northeast.  Conrad orders call for 4th Army to lead with an attack on the Russian 9th Army opposite, to be followed almost immediately by 1st Army advancing into the Russian flank.  Should everything go according to plan, the Austro-Hungarian advance will form a southern pincer that will meet with the German 9th Army east of Lodz to isolate three entire Russian armies.  Like many of Conrad's plans, it ambitious and hopelessly unrealistic.

Further, for the past nine days the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army has been transferring from the front in Galicia to Prussian Silesia.  The ostensible reason for this redeployment, as Conrad told Hindenburg, was to aid the German 9th Army in its offensive.  In reality, Conrad did not want the Germans to undertake their offensive by themselves, as it would allow Hindenburg and Ludendorff to act without reference to Conrad; instead, if the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army aided the German 9th Army, Conrad could assert the right to have a say in the progress of the fighting.

The transfer of 2nd Army, however, has been painfully slow, a reflection both of poor Austro-Hungarian staff work and the lack of sufficient railways in Galicia.  Just 12 trains per day are bringing one of 2nd Army's two corps north, while the trains carrying the other have to detour through Budapest.  This stands in stark contrast to the rapid redeployment of the German 9th Army achieved earlier in November, and such logistics are yet another way in which the Austro-Hungarian army is significantly weaker than its ally.

Of crucial importance to the Battle of Lodz is that the slow arrival of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army means that it has not come to grips with the Russian 5th Army, which is what allows the latter to disengage and retreat eastward relatively unhindered.  At the same time, the removal of 2nd Army from the Galician front means that Conrad's offensive at Krakow is under a time constraint - he needs to defeat the Russian 4th and 9th Armies before the Russian armies to the east can reach the Carpathians and seize the mountain passes through it, which would give the Russians access to central Hungary.

The line in northern Poland, November 15th, 1914.  Note the advance of the German 9th Army southeastwards between
Lodz and the Vistula, and the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army slowly coming into the line north of Army Group Woyrsch,
a small German formation designed to cover the gap between 9th Army and the Austro-Hungarians to the south.

- Socialist Benito Mussolini starts a campaign agitating for Italy's entry to the war on the side of the Entente through his newspaper Il Populo d'Italia.  His call for war is based on his belief that it is necessary to fulfill 'Italy's national destiny.'

- Austro-Hungarian forces reach the town of Valjevo in northwestern Serbia today, resulting in celebrations in Vienna.  The successful advance to date, in contrast to the two prior failures, lead General Potiorek to believe that the Serbian army has been thoroughly crushed and no longer posed a significant threat.

The reality is that while it has retreated and suffered losses, the Serbian army is far from finished.  As the withdrawal had been planned in advance, losses were lighter than if the Serbs had fought to the end to hold their advanced position.  Further, the defensive positions on the Kolubara River, which the Serbian army has now retreat to, had been under preparation for several months, and they constituted a formidable obstacle to a further Austro-Hungarian advance.

- Near the Shatt al-Arab several battalions of Indian Expeditionary Force D sortie from their camp at Sanniya and attack an Ottoman force of approximately two thousand that had approached to within four miles of the British camp.  Attacking early in the morning, the Ottoman force is dispersed, the British suffering sixty-two casualties while inflicting one hundred and sixty and taking twenty-five prisoners.  The battle, the first significant engagement with Ottoman forces in Mesopotamia, gives IEF D time to finish disembarking its reinforcements unmolested while also teaching valuable lessons on combat in a desert environment.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron departs Más Afuera today, heading south.  Admiral Spee has decided not to break up his squadron to raid Entente merchant shipping, feeling that to do so would waste valuable coal.  Instead, the five ships of the squadron will stay together as they sail down the Chilean coast.

November 6th, 1914

- At Ypres German attacks are concentrated along the front on both sides of the Ypres-Comines Canal on the southeastern face of the salient, while elsewhere there was the now-regular steady artillery bombardment.  Taking advantage of a thick morning fog, the Germans attack into the woods west of Hollebeke, pre-empting a French attack scheduled for later today.  In the confusion caused by the fog several French cavalry battalions panic, and the Germans are able to advance almost a mile, seizing the entire woods west of Hollebeke, allowing the Germans to advance to within three thousand yards of Ypres.  On the north side of the Canal, the Germans take the French by surprise and pierce the line in three places, allowing the Germans to seize the village of Zwarteleen a mile southeast of Zillebeke.  It takes a counterattack by the British 7th Cavalry Brigade to restore the line.  Though the Germans have not broken through, they have driven a wedge into the junction of the French and British lines, and Haig is now concerned that his I Corps is at risk of having its southern flank turned.

- The Admiralty issues a public statement today on the Battle of Coronel.  It emphasizes that the engagement appears to have been fought with the most bravery, but that without Canopus Craddock’s squadron would have been significantly outgunned.  It establishes what will be the Admiralty line on Coronel - depicting Craddock as epitomizing the bravery and courage of Royal Navy officers, while simultaneously implying that he alone bears responsibility for the defeat by deciding to accept battle without Canopus present.  This, not coincidentally, absolves the Admiralty leadership themselves of responsibility by denying the very significant role their confused signals to Craddock played in the weeks leading up to Coronel.

- General Oskar Potiorek issues orders today for another attempt at invading Serbia, the third of the war to date.  The continued existance of Serbia, to say nothing of the terrible defeats the Austro-Hungarians have suffered at their hands, have undermined the prestige of the Dual Monarchy, potentially decisive in the ongoing efforts to convince the other Balkan states to join the war on their side.  Potiorek's plan is similar to the first two invasions - 5th and 6th Armies will cross the Drina River in the northwest of Serbia, with the aim of advancing to initially Valjevo and ultimately Niš, dividing Serbia in two.

One advantage the Austro-Hungarians would have is that the condition of the Serbian army was deteriorating.  The soldiers were exhausted, food was in short supply, and munitions were even scarcer, such that most of the time the Serbian infantry was fighting with no artillery support at all.  While Britain and France were eager to aid the Serbian defence, the difficulties of sending supplies to a landlocked combatant prevented significant aid from getting through.  General Putnik's strategy was thus to place 'the Serbian national mud between the enemy's fighting line and his supplies.'  Even before the invasion, he has withdrawn his forces in the northwest of the country to the foothills of the Cer mountain range, so as to be out of range of Austro-Hungarian artillery fire.

The third Austro-Hungarian Invasion of Serbia, November to December 1914.

- The Ottoman frontier with Russia is guarded by 3rd Army, consisting of three corps - IX covers the northern portion of the border and XI the southern, with X in reserve further west.  Today elements of XI Corps assembling at Hasankale and Köprüköy launch a counterattack against the Russian column advancing on the former.  However, given the heavy snow and rain and the lack of reconnaissance, they were unable to turn the Russians back.

- From August the Admiralty has been expressing concern about the security of its oil supply from Persia, which reaches the Persian Gulf by pipeline at Abadan Island and where the major refinery is located.  Abadan Island is on the far western portion of Persia's coast, adjacent to the Ottomen Empire's outlet to the Persian Gulf at the Shatt al-Arab.  In the event of war with the Ottomans, Abadan Island would be an obvious target.  Moreover, concern had also been raised by the India Office regarding the importance of demonstrating British hegemony in the Gulf and not allowing an Ottoman challenge to undermine the authority of British rule over its Muslim subjects.  As such, Indian Expeditionary Force D had been formed, consisting of an infantry brigade, and was dispatched to the Gulf in October, arriving in Bahrein on the 23rd.  As war became increasingly likely, it planned to undertake a landing at the Ottoman fort of Fao on the Shatt al-Arab where it meets the Persian Gulf.

This morning the transports carrying IEF D are off Fao, escorted by the pre-dreadnought Ocean.  The small Ottoman garrison puts up a brief resistance, exchanging fire with Ocean for an hour before, being heavily outnumbered, they withdraw northwards from Fao.  By this afternoon landing parties have secured the village and fort at Fao, the first step in the Mesopotamian Campaign.

The opening moves of the Mesopotamian Campaign, 1914.

- The British landing at Fao is not the only Entente move of concern to Persia.  Today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov states that Russia will continue to occupy Persian Azerbaijan, suggesting that the easiest route by which the Ottomans can invade the Russian Caucasus is through Azerbaijan, as opposed to the mountain passes on the Ottoman-Russian frontier.  The war thus makes Russian involvement in Persia even more essential in the view of Petrograd.

- The German East Asiatic Squadron returns to Más Afuera in the Pacific.  While Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Nürnberg had called at Valparaíso, Leipzig had stayed offshore, and had managed to seize a French merchant with 3600 tons of Cardiff coal.  The sailors start working on distributing the coal to each of the warships of the squadron.

November 3rd, 1914

- At Ypres General d'Urbal orders another French attack between Zonnebeke and Langemarck, to be undertaken by the 17th, 18th, and 31st Divisions.  Unfortunately for the French, the Germans opposite have been reinforced by units that formerly were along the Yser, but whose presence there is no longer required due to the flooding.  Not only is the French advance halted, but at Bixschoote they are actually forced backward, the village falling to German hands once more.

For the BEF there are no major enemy attacks today, though there is the usual sniping and shelling.  General Haig attempts to compose a corps reserve, but so thin is his line that only three hundred men can be found.  He also pulls some of his artillery back from the fighting, as there is no point in exposing them to shellfire when they lack sufficient ammunition to return fire.

On the German side Prince Rupprecht of 6th Army concludes that unless Army Group Fabeck is reinforced, no decisive success could be achieved at Ypres.  To this end, he transfers more heavy artillery to Army Group Fabeck and allots it all of the ammunition assigned to 6th Army as a whole.  He also issues orders for further reinforcements - 2nd and Bavarian Cavalry Divisions from 6th Army reserve are reassigned immediately to Army Group Fabeck, while several units elsewhere on the Western Front are instructed to redeploy to the Ypres battlefield.

- The Kaiser's edict that the High Seas Fleet is to remain on the defensive in the North Sea, issued in the aftermath of the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, does not extend to the battlecruisers, and thus an operation is ordered for four light cruisers to lay mines along the Norfolk coast, escorted by four battlecruisers under Admiral Franz von Hipper.  The warships departed yesterday afternoon, and by dawn are are off the port of Yarmouth.

Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast of Britain.

As the light cruiser Stralsund lays a line of mines, the German force stumbles upon the British minesweeping gunboat Halcyon, on patrol off Yarmouth.  The Germans immediately open fire, and indeed all four battlecruisers target Halcyon and the destroyer Lively that comes to her aid - this is the first time any have sighted an enemy ship in wartime, and are eager to get their shots in.  The problem is that with all of the shell splashes, it is impossible to tell which shells were fired from which ship, making accurate spotting impossible.  At 740am Hipper decides that he is wasting his time going after such small warships, and turns to disengage.  The battlecruisers fire a few shells in the direction of Yarmouth, but succeed only in rearranging sand on the beach.  The only achievement of the raid comes when a British submarine strikes one of the German mines and is lost.

The response of the Admiralty to the initial report from Halcyon is to do nothing - no one can believe that the battlecruisers of the High Seas Fleet would sail into danger just to lob a few shells onto an English beach.  The prevailing assumption is that it must be a diversion from another, more significant German operation.  Thus for several hours no warships are ordered to pursue the Germans as they wait for the other shoe to drop.  By the time they realize there is no other shoe, Hipper and his force have made their escape.  There is no small amount of public commentary on the apparent ability of the Germans to sail to the English coast and escape.  At the Admiralty it is decided to redeploy the Grand Fleet back to Scapa Flow - if it stays in its bases on the west coast of Scotland and the north coast of Ireland, it is simply too far away to respond to German action in the North Sea.

On the German side, the results were disappointing - when the Kaiser awards Hipper an Iron Cross for the operation, the latter declares, 'I won't wear it until I've done something.'  The apparent ability of the German force to escape without being intercepted, however, is encouraging should further such operations be undertaken in the future.

- At the Admiralty Fisher convenes a meeting of naval officials and private shipbuilders to launch an emergency shipbuilding effort.  Fisher's focus is on increasing the number of orders to the greatest amount possible, and in particular wants a significant expansion of the submarine force.  To the Director of Contracts he threatened 'to make his wife a widow and his house a dunghill if he brought paper work or red tape into the picture; he wanted submarines, not contracts . . . if he did not get them within eight months, he would commit hara-kiri.'  Commodore Roger Keyes, present at the meeting, laughs at Fisher's remark, at which point the latter turns on Keyes with a ferocious glare, saying 'If anyone thwarts me he had better commit hara-kiri too.'  Such are Fisher's management techniques.

- Ludendorff begins today to plan for the next phase of operations in Poland.  Falkenhayn believes that the chief of staff of Ober Ost is merely developing a local counter-attack, but such mundane operations are beneath Ludendorff, who only plans campaigns of sufficient breadth and audacity as suits his genius - at least, that's how Ludendorff sees it.  His plan is to shift the bulk of 9th Army from the Krakow area to between Posen and Thorn to the northwest of Russian Poland, and attack towards Lodz, taking in flank the anticipated Russian invasion of Germany.

- In an effort to dissuade the Ottomans from entering the war on the side of German, the British government decides on a display of naval power, to illustrate Ottoman vulnerability should they stand against the Entente.  Two British battlecruisers and two French battleships steam to the entrance to the Dardanelles and bombard the Ottoman fort protecting it, destroying its magazine.  The effort makes no difference, however, as the war party are now in control in Constantinople.

- At dawn Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Nürnberg of the German East Asiatic Squadron enter the harbour at Valparaíso, while Leipzig and Dresden remain at sea escorting colliers.  Admiral Spee and the men of his ship receive a rapturous welcome from the German community in the city, including from hundreds of German sailors on merchant ships who volunteer to join the squadron.  Spee, however, is aware that, despite the crushing victory two days ago, there are still obstacles before his squadron.  Both of his armoured cruisers used half of their ammo at Coronel, and there is no possibility of resupply short of returning home.  Moreover, there could be no doubt that the British would redouble their efforts to hunt down and destroy his squadron.

Meanwhile, today the telegram from the British consul at Valparaíso, reporting the presence of the German East Asiatic Squadron but not of the battle, arrives at the Admiralty.  Fisher urges reinforcements for Craddock's squadron, and a signal is sent to Craddock informing him that Defence was en route to join his warships.  It was the order Craddock had long waited to receive, but of course it was no use to him now.  As Churchill was later to write, 'we were already talking into the void.'

- Near Tanga the disorganized landing of Indian Expeditionary Force B continues this morning - the beach is a mass of confused and demoralized soldiers, battalions being hopelessly mixed up.  An attempt begins at 430am to advance on Tanga with the first units landed, but co-ordinated progress in the dense bush proves impossible, and they are back at the beachhead by 10am.

At the same time, inland Indian Expeditionary Force C attempts its advance on German positions at Longido just south of Mount Kilimanjaro.  After initial fighting checks IEF C short of its objective, it is forced to withdraw after its supply arrangements collapse and the soldiers are left without water.

The failure of IEF C allows Colonel Lettow-Vorbeck to deploy all but three of his companies of Schütztruppen to Tanga.  By this evening Lettow-Vorbeck has arrived himself at the port and undertakes a personal reconnaissance of the British beachhead by bicycle.  With seven companies now available, and a further two scheduled to arrive tomorrow, he decides to hold a line east of Tanga before the British while positioning his reserves on his right to take the enemy in their flank.

- For the past month, the Japanese force beseiging Tsingtao has been steadly advancing in the face of determined German resistance.  In conducting their offensive, they apply the lessons learned during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 - instead of throwing their men against the German defences, they have conducted a methodical artillery bombardment, digging trenches as close to the enemy lines as possible, and attacking at night.  The result is that the stout defences of Tsingtao are falling one by one.  After seizing Prince Heinrich Hill earlier in October, since the 31st the Japanese have been bombarding the inner defences and the port itself, and today an assault carries the Japanese forces into position to assault the inner line of trenches protecting the last German forts on three hills just northeast of Tsingtao itself.

The defenses of the German naval base at Tsingtao in China.  As of today the besieging Japanese are just before the
'Inner Line of Trenches' marked on the map.

- Today the 'Manifesto of French Universities' is published in the French press.  Endorsed by the faculty councils of all French public universities, the Manifesto is a line-by-line repudiation of the German appeal of October 4th, posing provocative questions including: Which nation had wanted war?  Which nation had violated Belgian neutrality?  Which nation had burned Louvain and bombarded Rheims cathedral?  It is another salvo in the dispute over the origins and conduct of the war, in which the academic and intellectual elite vie with the most strident nationalists in their condemnation of the enemy.

November 2nd, 1914

- At Ypres there is further hard fighting today as Army Group Fabeck continues to push into the Entente lines.  Its most notable success today is retaking the village of Wytschaete, which had been gained and lost the day before, while they also manage to nearly annihilate a British battalion near Gheluvelt.  Still, however, there is no breakthrough, and the ground gained is merely of tactical, not strategic, advantage.

The French, meanwhile, continue to take over more responsibility for the Entente line at Ypres.  By today, in addition to the northeastern portion of the Ypres salient, they hold five miles of the front to the southeast between I Corps to the north and the Cavalry Corps to the south.  Once again a series of French attacks are ordered by Foch for today, including to regain Messines, and once again they are unsuccessful, and indeed it was the French who were pushed out of Wytschaete today - generally, the German attacks were launched before the French, so the latter never got the opportunity to advance.

- At dawn the ships of the German East Asiatic Squadron find themselves alone, the surviving British warships having fled the scene and only the distant shore of Chile on the horizon.  Meanwhile, the British consul at Valparaíso learns today of the presence of the German squadron, though not of the naval battle, and sends a telegram to the Admiralty informing them of the enemy ships nearby.

- Indian Expeditionary Force B arrives off the port of Tanga in German East Africa this morning, and at 705am the captain of the light cruiser Fox lands in the town to inform the German district officer that the British no longer consider the prior agreement on neutralization regarding Tanga and Dar es Salaam to be in effect.  The hope is that the German official will surrender Tanga rather than face a British invasion.  Instead, the district officer gives no response, and after waiting for three and a half hours Fox signals the convoy carrying IEF B to begin landing.  The operation, however, is already a debacle - the pre-dreadnought Goliath, which was supposed to provide fire support, broke down in Mombasa and was left behind, while the captain of Fox refuses to sail into the harbour at Tanga for fear of mines.  Thus instead of landing at Tanga itself, IEF B is landed on an unfamiliar beach sufficiently far away from the town to be undefended.  The soldiers of IEF B, moreover, have been aboard their ships for almost a month, and as a result are in no shape to conduct a landing with any speed or discipline.  Thus the first battalions only begin landing at nightfall, and as the operation continues the landing area is a scene of confusion and delay.

When the British first arrived this morning, there was only a single company, composed mainly of ex-police officers, at Tanga for its defence.  The district officer, however, immediately informed Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of the Schütztruppen, or colonial infantry, of German East Africa.  He is with the bulk of his Schütztruppen companies to the northwest at Moshi near Mount Kilimanjaro, expecting the main British attack to be overland.  The railway connecting Moshi and Tanga, however, makes the rapid redeployment of his forces possible, and three companies are immediately sent to reinforce Tanga.

The frontier between British Kenya in the north and German East Africa in the south, including the
port of Tanga and the town of Moshi.

- In light of the increasing likelihood of war with the Ottoman Empire, British officials in Egypt today declare martial law, so as to maintain public order once the conflict begins.

October 31st, 1914

- Between Nieuport and Dixmude the waterlogged soldiers of the German III Reserve Corps make their way eastward back across the flooded fields and over the Yser River to dry land.  Due to the battered state of the Belgian army the Germans are able to undertake the retreat without significant losses, but there is no masking the bitter taste of the outcome of the Battle of the Yser.  At the moment when a breakthough appeared to be at hand, the Germans have victory snatched from their grasp, not by the enemy army, but by the sea, the one remorseless enemy they cannot overcome.  By letting in the sea, the Belgians have created an impenetrable barrier from Dixmude to the Channel.  This gives the Belgian army the opportunity to rest and recover, and indeed it can be said that the flooding saves the army from destruction and Belgium from complete occupation.  As a result, a tiny corner of Belgium will remain in Belgian hands for the duration of the war.  Of course, just as the Germans cannot advance across the flooding, the Belgians cannot counterattack either.  Knowing this allows the Germans to move forces south to reinforce the fighting elsewhere in Flanders.

- Just after midnight, General Foch arrives at BEF headquarters at St. Omer, asking to see Field Marshal French.  The heavy attacks of yesterday have plunged the BEF commander again into pessimism, giving Foch the impression of panic and telling him 'We are for it.'  Attempting to buoy French's spirits, Foch replies: 'We shall see.  In the meantime, hammer, hammer away, keep on hammering, and you will get there.'

Army Group Fabeck today resumes its attacks on the British line from Gheluvlet to Messines.  At the latter, the first advance comes before dawn, catching the British in the middle of relieving the companies holding the front line.  After initially overrunning two companies of Indian infantry after their British officers had been killed, nearby cavalry rallied to push the Germans back.  This, however, was only a prelude - a heavy artillery bombardment at 8am preceded an attack by twelve German battalions at 9am that outnumbered the defenders by more than six to one.  The Germans break into the village of Messines, and advance house to house, using artillery at point-blank range to demolish British positions.  Reinforcements from II Corps are fed into the battle, as well as the first Territorial battalion to see combat.  Counterattacks suffer heavy losses, but relieve some of the pressure on the British defenders in Messines at by nightfall they remain entrenched in the southern portion of the village.

To the north, the British 2nd Cavalry Division comes under attack from the German 3rd Bavarian Division and 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.  Though German artillery opened their bombardment at 6am, German infantry did not advance until just before 3pm, giving enough time for reserves to be deployed, and the Germans are repulsed.

The most serious situation of the day develops at Gheluvelt, where the line was held by I Corps' 1st Division.  The first attack by the German XXIV Reserve Corps is mostly repulsed, but small elements manage to reach an orchard from which the defenders are unable to eject them.  Under an increasingly intense artillery bombardment and fire from the orchard, part of the 2nd Battalion, Welch Regiment falls back, opening a gap in the line which the Germans find.  Within minutes the British position has collapsed, the 2nd Battalion, Welch Regiment suffering 530 casualties in being effectively annihilated.  British soldiers flee to the rear individually or in small groups, and attempts to rally them by officers fail.  A company of 1st Battalion, Gloucestershires is sent to plug the gap, but under German shellfire it is reduced from eighty soldiers to thirteen by the time they arrive in the line.

Further German attacks are launched north and south of the Menin Road at 10am, and despite enduring intense fire are able to push the British back.  By 1130am the Germans have taken Gheluvelt and broken the British line.  Further, the British command structure is dealt a severe blow at 115pm when the chateau at which the commanders and staff of 1st and 2nd Divisions are struck by artillery shells, killing or wounding almost everyone present.  As time has to be taken to find new commanders for both units, Haig at I Corps HQ informs Field Marshal French, General Foch, and General Dubois that 1st Division has been broken and issues orders for a last line of defence to be prepared to the rear.  One of I Corps' intelligence officers returned from the front and provided a vivid description of the situation:

You cannot imagine the scene.  The road was full of troops retreating, stragglers, wounded men, artillery and wagons, a terrible sight.  All the time there was the noise of a terrific bombardment.  It was impossible to get any clear idea of the situation.  Nobody knew anything except what was happening on his immediate front and that was always the same story.  The Germans were attacking in overwhelming strength and our men were being driven back . . .

A decisive moment of the battle is at hand - if the Germans can exploit the breakthrough, the entire British line could be outflanked and forced back, allowing the Germans to seize Ypres and secure victory.  At I Corps HQ Haig organizes the orderlies and mess servants to make a last stand.  When Sir John French arrives they discuss the breakthrough in what the BEF commander will later describe as the worst half-hour of his life.  French then motors to Foch's headquarters to plead for reinforcements, stating, according to Foch's recollection, that the only men he had left were the sentries at BEF HQ and that he would take them 'where the line is broken, and the last of the English will be killed fighting.'  Foch replied: 'We must stand firm first, we can die later.'  He promises an attack by IX Corps and lends a cavalry brigade and three battalions to the British.

Meanwhile, west of Gheluvelt all of 1st Division's reserves had been committed to the fighting, and only three companies of 2nd Battalion, Worcesters, consisting of seven officers and 350 men, remained as 2nd Division's reserve.  A brigade commander from 1st Division orders them to counterattack, and by 145pm they are moving on Gheluvelt Chateau, on the northeast side of the village.  They have dropped their packs and grabbed extra ammunition to be able to advance as quickly as possible.  The last mile is open ground, and the battalion loses a hundred men as they race across.  When they reach the Chateau, they find Bavarians from three regiments who, in the aftermath of seizing Gheluvelt, have relaxed in the afterglow of victory.  The Worcesters smash into them and the Germans are driven from the Chateau.  The shock of the counterattack leads other German units to abandon Gheluvelt, and with stragglers from other units the Worcesters are able to establish a thin defensive line.  For the loss of three officers and 189 men, the Worcesters had regained Gheluvelt and shattered German momentum.

Subsequent counterattacks on either flank by disparate and already-mauled British units are able to stem the German tide, though at the cost of over a thousand casualties.  By the slimmest of margins, I Corps is able to restore its line and hold the Germans.  Not for the first nor the last time the Germans manage to achieve a breakthrough, only to have it closed before it can be exploited.

- To the south of the main fighting at Ypres today the period of the heaviest fighting has come to an end, as the German 6th Army is no longer attempting to break through the British line between Armentières and La Bassée; daily skirmishes continue, however, mainly comprised of spoiling attacks by the Germans to keep the British opposite from redeploying northward.  Since coming into the line, the British III Corps has suffered 5779 casualties, while II Corps was down to 14 000 infantry after arriving in Flanders with 24 000.  The withdrawal of II Corps from the line is also completed today, with its place taken by all of the Indian Corps.

- When the First World War broke out, Portugal remained neutral, but declared its 'support' for the Entente.  This awkward position arose out of Portugal's longstanding alliance with Britain that stretched back to the Middle Ages, but which did not require Portugal to actually go to war.  Moreover, the British had such little regard for the Portuguese military that they saw no advantage to be gained by Portugal actually participating in the war.  Thus Portugal stands in 1914 as unfriendly but not openly hostile to Germany.

The place of Portugal in the war has ramifications in Africa, considering the non-insubstantial Portuguese colonial empire, and in particular both Angola and Mozambique are adjacent to German colonies (German South West Africa and German West Africa respectively).  In September Portugal had dispatched 1500 soldiers to each to buttress their garrison against potential German aggression.  These forces would also aid in maintaining Portuguese rule over their colonies - parts of Angola in particular were in a state of near-perpetual revolt by the indigenous population.

To their German neighbours, however, these reinforcements could be interpreted as a prelude to a Portuguese invasion.  Moreover, since the fall of Togoland in August direct communications with Germany had been severed,  Thus the governor of German South West Africa is uncertain whether or not Germany and Portugal are at war.  Tensions were heightened on October 19th when a German patrol (according to the Portuguese) or mission (according to the Germans) was arrested at a Portuguese border fort, and in the ensuing scuffle three Germans were killed.  The event appears to confirm suspicions that the Portuguese are an active combatant, and the German governor decides to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the ongoing Boer Rebellion temporarily halting South African operations to the south to deal with the Portuguese to the north.

Today a German detachment approaches the Portuguese post at Cuangar, whose garrison is oblivious to the events of October 19th.  Taken by surprise, the Portuguese defenders are overwhelmed and massacred by the Germans.

- The commanders of Indian Expeditionary Force B and C meet today in Mombada with Kenyan and other British officials to finalize their plan for the invasion of German East Africa.  It is decided that IEF B will land at Tanga on November 2nd, while IEF C will attack across the border in the interior on the 3rd.  Crucially, the naval commander of the force escorting IEF B insists that given the prior agreement to neutralize Tanga and Dar es Salaam, it is necessary to inform the Germans that the British have abrogated the agreement before IEF B can land.

- The British light cruiser Glasgow continues to sit off Coronel today.  Despite the volume of intercepted German wireless traffic, no German warships have appeared, so the captain of Glasgow receives permission from Admiral Craddock to enter Coronel, which it does at dusk.  The ship's intelligence officer goes ashore to collect mail and messages from the British consul, who warns of a large German ethnic community, which means the presence of Glasgow in Coronel may have already been reported to the German East Asiatic Squadron.  In fact, one of the squadron's supply ships was in harbour when Glasgow arrived, and had reported its presence to Admiral Spee at 7pm.  An increase in the volume of German wireless traffic convinces the captain of Glasgow that German warships are approaching, so he decides to sail by 9am tomorrow morning.  Further, Admiral Craddock is bringing the rest of his squadron to Coronel to rendezvous with Glasgow - all of the German signals have had the call sign of the light cruiser Leipzig, and Craddock believes that it is operating in isolation from the rest of the German East Asiatic Squadron, providing an opportunity to sink it in isolation.

That all of the German wireless traffic has had the call signal of Leipzig, of course, is a deliberate ruse by Admiral Spee to mask the presence of his entire squadron off the Chilean coast.  When he learns of Glasgow's presence in Coronel, he decides to trap the British warship when it departs Coronel tomorrow; by law a warship that spends more than twenty-four hours in a neutral port is to be interned.  Thus the commanders of both squadrons believe that they are moving to engage a single warship of the other.

October 30th, 1914

- General Beseler of III Reserve Corps believes that the final breakthrough against the Belgians is imminent, and orders 5th and 6th Reserve Divisions to assault the enemy line along the railway embankment.  The Belgians are clearly at their breaking point - as of today the Belgian 2nd Division has only sixty shells per artillery piece - and one more push might shatter the enemy.  The ground is increasingly inundated and the German find water up to their ankles in places, but they attribute this to recent rains and think nothing more of it.  In the course of the day's fighting the Germans reach the embankment, and in several places pierce the Belgian line, most significantly by seizing the village of Ramscappelle to the west of the railway.  By this evening Beseler fully intends to resume the attack tomorrow, exploiting the breaches to move past the embankment and into open country.

At the supreme moment of crisis for the Belgian army, as it sits on the brink of defeat, the flooding begun on the 28th finally takes effect.  Water that was at the ankle this morning is at the knee this evening, making rapid movement impossible.  Those Germans who have reached the embankment look back on the fields they have crossed over the past few days to find instead nothing but water behind them.  German trenches are flooded, and soldiers cannot lay down in the face of machine gun and artillery fire, for to do so would mean drowning.  Not only is further advance impossible, but bringing up ammunition and provisions to resupply the Germans at the embankment is also out of the question.  With great reluctance, Beseler bows to the inevitable and just before midnight orders 5th and 6th Reserve Divisions to give up the ground captured at such great expense and retreat back across the Yser River.

The Battle of the Yser, October 1914, showing the area flooded between the
Nieuport-Dixmude railway embankment and the Yser River.

- The attack of Army Group Fabeck opens with a diversionary attack at Zonnebeke by XXVII Reserve Corps, intended to compel the British and French to commit their reserves there before the main attack is launched to the south.  After a preliminary bombardment at 600am, German infantry advance at 630.  They face elements of the British 1st and 2nd Divisions, which crucially have had time to entrench effectively, including lines of barbed wire.  The German attacks fail to break through the British lines at any point, and realizing the German threat was being contained, no reserves of I Corps are committed to the fight here.  Thus not only does the attack not capture Zonnebeke, but it fails as a diversionary effort as well.

- The main offensive begins at 645 with a heavy artillery bombardment of British positions from Zandvoorde to Messines, held by 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division around Zandvoorde, 2nd Cavalry Division around Hollebeke, and 1st Cavalry Division at Messines.  The British defensive position is weakest at Zandvoorde, where again 7th Division is holding trenches on a forward slope in clear view of German artillery, and by 8am the Germans had overrun the line, and at 10am occupy the village itself.  Situated on a small ridge, the capture of Zandvoorde allows the Germans pour enfilade fire on British positions nearby, including by artillery brought up to fire over direct sights.  Reserves from I Corps, Cavalry Corps, and 3rd Cavalry Division are brought forward, but, having to advance over open ground, suffer heavy losses and are unable to recapture Zandvoorde.  The best that can be done is to create a new defensive line northwest of Zandvoorde, and Haig, aware of the weakness of his position, asks General Dubois of the French IX Corps for aid.  Despite the latter continuing to attempt attacks northeast of Ypres, to his great credit Dubois instantly dispatches several battalions south.  The new defensive line northwest of Zandvoorde holds, not least because the Germans are again reluctant to keep pressing forward - indeed, by the end of the day German divisional commanders were protesting that due to heavy losses further attacks should be curtailed.

Elsewhere, at noon a heavy bombardment commences against the British 2nd Cavalry Division, and by 1230 the destruction of their meager trenches forces them to withdraw, and Hollebeke falls to the Germans.  Further south, however, German attacks against 1st Cavalry Division at Messines fail to break through.  Overall, despite tactical gains, the Germans have not achieved the decisive breakthrough desired.  The German command leadership, however, is determined to continue the advance tomorrow.  For the British, though the German attacks have been contained, the sheer strength of the German offensive, combined with the continued inability to determine the size and identity of the German formations opposite, lead to growing concerns about the continued ability of the BEF to hold on.  Sir John French gives up the idea of further attacks, ordering his forces to simply hold on, and instructing General Smith-Dorrien of II Corps to the south to send reserves northward to reinforce the British line.

The Battle of Ypres, October 30th and 31st, 1914, showing the gains achieved over these two
days by Army Group Fabeck.

- As the fighting at Ypres intensifies, Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn meets in Berlin with General Ludendorff.  The latter seeks the redeployment of significant forces from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, to allow for another, more substantial offensive operation against the Russians after the indecisive fighting of October.  Falkenhayn, however, insists that a decisive victory can still be achieved in the West, and refuses Ludendorff's request.

- Today Admiral Sir John 'Jackie' Fisher is announced as the successor to Prince Louis of Battenberg as First Sea Lord.  The seventy-three year old Fisher already served a term as First Sea Lord from 1904 to 1910, during which he transformed and modernized the Royal Navy, overseeing the dreadnought revolution, refocusing the fleet in home waters to meet the German threat while retiring hundreds of outdated warships to reduce expenses, and revolutionizing the education of officers and the methods of promotion.  It is no exaggeration to say that the Royal Navy that entered the First World War is the creation of Jackie Fisher.

In bringing Fisher out of retirement to serve again as First Sea Lord, Churchill is hoping to tap into the admiral's famous drive and work ethic.  Despite his age, Fisher remains perhaps the textbook definition of a 'mad genius'.  He is absolute in his opinions and convinced of his own intellectual superiority - thankfully for the Royal Navy, most of the time he is right.  He is ruthless with subordinates, expecting each to perform up to Fisher's expectations or be discarded.  Not surprising, there are a legion of sworn enemies of Fisher within and without the navy, and the division of the officer corps into pro- and anti-Fisher factions was one of the contributing factors to his partially-forced retirement in 1910.  Fisher for his part relishes conflict with his foes and is merciless to those who oppose him and who he deems to have failed, while his sharp tongue and vitriolic language is legendary.  As an example, Fisher had long been dismissive of Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, and when the latter as commander of the Mediterranean Fleet permitted the escape of Goeben and Breslau Fisher declared to a friend that the 'serpeant' 'Sir Berkeley Goeben' should be shot.

The appointment of the elderly Fisher is generally received with favour among the press and the public, being seen in a similar light to Kitchener by bringing authority and drive to the senior service.  It is hoped that he will ensure that the navy more vigourously pursues the enemy, while reigning in the wilder impulses of Churchill.  In reality, the two heads of the Royal Navy - the First Lord and the First Sea Lord - are both impulsive forces used to getting their own way.  For now, the two, who for several years have been friends, recognize each other as kindred spirits.  Should there ever be a clash between the two, however, the explosion promises to be epic.

- In the aftermath of yesterday's bombardment of the Russian Black Sea coast, the British ambassador delivers an ultimatum to the Ottoman government in Constantinople, demanding that the German crews be removed from Goeben and Breslau.  He receives no response, as the Ottoman government is divided itself about what has transpired.  The Grand Vizier is outraged that he was not consulted about the attack and threatens to resign, while a majority of the Cabinet wishes to disavow Admiral Souchon's action.  However, the counter of Enver Pasha and his supporters is simply that the die has been cast; that the logical outcome of the secret German alliance was always war with the Entente - Souchon has merely hastened the inevitable.

- For the past several weeks, the German light cruiser Königsberg has been hiding in the Rufiji River Delta in German East Africa, attempting to fix engine trouble and waiting for additional coal.  Today British warships discover the hiding place of Königsberg by sighting its masts from the mouth of the delta.  However, having discovered Königsberg, the British find themselves unable to do anything about it.  The German light cruiser is sufficiently far up the river delta to be beyond the reach of the British cruisers offshore.  Moreover, the delta itself covers 1500 square miles of islands, marshes, swamps, and channels, and only the Germans have ever charted them, leaving the British unsure of the proper path through the delta to Königsberg, or where it could emerge to go back to sea.  The only alternative at present is for the British to blockade all the exits of the Rufiji Delta, requiring the permanent deployment of twenty-five warships that can be ill-spared from other theatres.  Thus Königsberg, simply by continuing to exist, has a noticeable impact on the operations of the Royal Navy.

- Off the Chilean coast, Admiral Spee decides to send his supply ships into Valparaíso and Coronel to take on coal and other supplies.

October 29th, 1914

- West of the Yser the Germans inch closer to the Belgian line along the railway embankment, approaching to within several hundred yards.  Meanwhile, a shortage of artillery shells prevents a resumption today of the artillery bombardment of Dixmude, though Minenwerfers are used to keep the enemy trenches east of Dixmude under fire.

- The German attack today against Gheluvelt is aimed in particular at the crossroads just east of the village where the Menin Road crosses the road connecting Kruiseecke and Poezelhoek.  Here the British line is held by the left flank of the already much-damaged 7th Division and the right flank of 1st Division, and the trenches here are emblematic of many of the difficulties encountered with British defenses during the battle.  Here the trenches are deep and narrow, and not all are connected.  There is only a single strand of wire protecting the trenches, connected to tins with pebbles to warn of a German attempt to rush the trenches.  No sandbags have been used - indeed, the first large shipment from Britain arrived in France only yesterday.  Observation from the trenches is impeded by the continued existence of buildings and trees, and a lack of communication trenches meant that one position could be overwhelmed without its neighbours realizing it.

- The German artillery bombardment begins at 530am, and the three battalions of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment advance shortly thereafter.  In the morning fog visibility is limited to forty yards, delaying the British response, and crucially two British machine guns near the crossroads jam.  By 630 the Germans have penetrated the line north of the crossroads, but the British south of the line have no idea the enemy has broken through - indeed, the reserves covering that portion of the line were sent to the rear for breakfast in the belief that no further German advance would be forthcoming.  At 730 four German battalions attack, and after hand-to-hand fighting break through here as well.

Poor communications and the morning fog prevent 7th Division's commander from learning of the defeat until 1015.  As British reserves are finally sent forward, the Germans, instead of advancing into the gap they have formed, turn north and south and attempt to roll up the British lines.  Only at 1130 do the Germans move westward from the crossroads, by which time almost all of I Corps reserves have been committed to rebuilding a British line, and a further five squadrons have been sent by the Cavalry Corps to the south.  The German attack peters out, but a British counterattack in the afternoon fails utterly to regain any of the lost ground.

The result of the day's fighting is that though the Germans are halted short of Gheluvelt itself, the crossroads to the east of the village have been secured, which, due to a dip in the ground there gives the Germans a favourable position for a further attack.  The attack did not accomplish everything that General Fabeck desired, but it did suffice for the major offensive.  For the British, though Haig of I Corps is now focused on holding his line, Sir John French still believes that they and the French should be on the offensive, optimism that he shares with Foch.  They are about to be violently disabused of their hopes.

A British trench near Ypres, October 1914.  Note its rudimentary nature, with no barbed wire, sandbags, trench supports
to prevent collapses, or communication trenches.

- An Order in Council issued today by the British government is another step in the tightening of the blockade against Germany.  It declares a number of items that had previously been conditional contraband - i.e. seizure was discretionary - are henceforth to be absolute contraband, meaning that any ship carrying such goods and destined for Germany will be seized with no exceptions.

- Two days after departing Constantinople, Admiral Souchon and his squadron undertake the real purpose of his sortie - ensuring Ottoman entry into the war on the side of the Germans.  Souchon does this in the most direct way possible - with Goeben and Breslau as the core of his squadron, he sails to the Russian Black Sea coast and proceeds to bombard Odessa, Sevastopol, and Novorossisk this morning.  In addition to damage ashore, a Russian gunboat, minelayer, and six merchant ships are sunk, all done by ships flying the flag of the Ottoman Empire.  As the Ottomans hesitate to join the war willingly, Souchon has decided to force their hand by provoking Russia to declare war on the Ottomans themselves.

- In German Kamerun, the French column that had advanced westward from French Equatorial Africa and occupied the village of Carnot has been experiencing supply problems - the African porters so essential to the movement of equipment have been on half rations, and on the 21st the Europeans were reduced to two-thirds rations.  To avoid starvation, the commander of the column hits on the only real option possible - given the utter impossibility of shipping supplies through the jungle to his present location, he moves the column to where they can scavenge for food.  The column moves further westward into German territory where fertile agricultural lands can be plundered.

-  Off the Chilean coast, while Admiral Craddock and Good Hope, Monmouth, and Otranto depart their anchorage near the Huasco River, Glasgow approaches the port of Coronel.  This afternoon the wireless room aboard Glasgow starts to pick up signals in German code, indicating an enemy warship was nearby.  The captain of Glasgow hesitates to take his ship into Coronel, for fear the sudden arrival of German warships could blockade him in port.  He receives permission from Admiral Craddock to delay entering Coronel to ascertain if the arrival of the German East Asiatic Squadron was imminent.