- Having received feedback from his subordinates and staff, and with the Chantilly conference at an end, Joffre issues an order today sketching in broad terms the autumn offensive the French army will undertake. In line with Castlenau's views, the primary attack will occur in Champagne by twenty-seven infantry divisions and two cavalry corps, which will attack along a front of forty-kilometres, far greater than prior operations. A secondary attack will be undertaken in Artois by twelve infantry and two cavalry divisions, directed towards Vimy Ridge. The objective is to 'rupture' the German line and squeeze off the Noyon salient by collapsing its flanks and forcing the Germans to retire eastward.
- After the successful assaults on both flanks of the front line on Cape Helles in late June, the British and French have decided to launch an attack in the centre using the same tactics of a concentrated artillery barrage coupled with modest objectives for the infantry. The British 52nd Division, as well as the French on its right, attack this morning and gain the first two Ottoman trench lines, followed by intense counterattacks that see the British and French barely holding on to their gains.
- One of the few locations in southern Persia still under British influence is Bushire, and today German consul Wilhelm Wassmuss with several hundred tribal allies approaches the port city. A British detachment advances to meet them, and in the resulting skirmish two British officers are killed.
- Since the fall the German light cruiser Königsberg has been blockaded in the Rufiji River in German East Africa, though the uncharted channels at the river estuary and the dense foliage has prevented the British from attacking it. After attempts to bombard by air and by the old pre-dreadnought Goliath failed, the shallow-draught monitors Mersey and Severn had been dispatched from Britain. Capable of sailing up the delta of the Rufiji, they are able to get within range of Königsberg today and in an exchange of fire sinks the German warship. It is the last German warship still active outside of European waters, and marks the end of the surface threat to Entente shipping overseas. In practice Königsberg had made little contribution to this campaign, its exploits paling in comparison to the far more successful Emden. However, simply by existing in an inaccessible location it has tied down disproportionate British resources for months, and even after its sinking its contribution to the war effort is not at an end; its crew is able to salvage the main guns from the light cruiser and transform them into artillery pieces for the defence of the colony.
Showing posts with label Königsberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Königsberg. Show all posts
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Thursday, October 30, 2014
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 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.
- 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.
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.
Friday, September 26, 2014
September 26th, 1914
- Though fighting continues south of Péronne, Rupprecht decides to use his II Bavarian Corps to outflank the French line from the north. The Bavarians, having entrained at Metz on the 18th and marched from the railhead at Valenciennes, seize Bapaume today, but collide with the French XX Corps moving in the opposite direction, and heavy fighting ensues.
Falkenhayn has also ordered attacks to be undertaken along the Aisne River to pin the Entente armies there and prevent the further movement of units north. Launched primarily by 7th Army, the attacks fail to make significant progress while suffering heavy casualties, especially in fighting with the British Expeditionary Force, and have no substantial impact on Joffre's redeployments.
- Winston Churchill today visits the headquarters of the British Expeditionary, and while there the First Lord of Admiralty discuss future operations with Sir John French. Churchill assures the Field Marshal that should the BEF be redeployed to Flanders and Belgium, it would be supported by the Royal Navy via the Channel. This assurance calms French's fears, and he now agrees that the BEF should be moved north.
- West of Verdun, the offensive of General Mudra's XVI Corps comes to a halt, having advanced approximately eight kilometres along a twenty kilometre stretch of the front over the past week. The Germans have captured the main town of the region - Varennes-en-Argonne - and more importantly have seized the heights at Vauqois. From this position artillery observers are able to keep watch on the Verdun to Paris railway line, and guns in the rear are now close enough to hit a portion of the tracks. Once observers have pinpointed the coordinates, it becomes possible for German artillery to hit trains attempting to pass to Verdun. This limits train movement to night, and only when the track has been repaired after prior bombardments. This effectively severs the last rail line to Verdun - though it can be reached by road from Bar-le-Duc, it strains the supply situation at the most important French fortifications on the Western Front.
- The Lahore Division of Indian Expeditionary Force A arrive in Marseilles today, having sailed from India via the Arabian Sea and the Suez Canal. IEF A also includes a second division - the Meerkut Division - and a cavalry brigade, which are scheduled to arrive in France in several weeks, their delay resulting from the presence of the German light cruisers Emden and Königsberg in the Indian Ocean. Each division consists of three infantry brigades, which in turn contain one British and three Indian battalions. These units are drawn from the peacetime Indian Army, and are being deployed to France to serve with the British Expeditionary Force.
- At Duala in German Kamerun, the small German garrison abandons the city and retreats inland. They well understand that holding the port in the face of British naval power is impossible, but they do not intend to retreat far, in order to continue to pose a threat to the anticipated British occupation of Duala and force the British to continue to maintain a significant presence to hold it.
- Along the Orange River on the southern border of German South-West Africa, an advance guard of Force A has crossed the river at Sandfontein, consisting of three hundred men and two artillery pieces. Though the South African government has learned that the main German force is not opposing the recent landing at Lüderitz but rather moving on the Orange River, but has not informed General Henry Lukin, commander of Force A. Thus his advance guard is unsupported, and the Germans today sweep down and, having encircled the South Africans, capture the entire force after a brief firefight.
The defeat reflects the hasty improvisations necessary to put the three forces into the field at an early date, and the lack of adequate communications between them. This is overshadowed, however, by Lukin's insistence that Force B ought to have advanced simultaneously, in order to divide the German defenders. General Maritz of Force B insists that his force is still unready to move, being insufficiently trained. Such disobedience does not reflect well on his loyalty to the South African government, despite the collapse on the 15th of the first acts of insubordination. Defense Minister Smuts now faces the prospect of dealing with a recalcitrant general with a body of soldiers under his command.
- The German East Asiatic Squadron today arrives at the island of Nuku Hiva in the French Marquesas Islands. With its lack of defenders and isolated position, Admiral Spee has his ships stop to coal and take on fresh provisions.
Falkenhayn has also ordered attacks to be undertaken along the Aisne River to pin the Entente armies there and prevent the further movement of units north. Launched primarily by 7th Army, the attacks fail to make significant progress while suffering heavy casualties, especially in fighting with the British Expeditionary Force, and have no substantial impact on Joffre's redeployments.
- Winston Churchill today visits the headquarters of the British Expeditionary, and while there the First Lord of Admiralty discuss future operations with Sir John French. Churchill assures the Field Marshal that should the BEF be redeployed to Flanders and Belgium, it would be supported by the Royal Navy via the Channel. This assurance calms French's fears, and he now agrees that the BEF should be moved north.
- West of Verdun, the offensive of General Mudra's XVI Corps comes to a halt, having advanced approximately eight kilometres along a twenty kilometre stretch of the front over the past week. The Germans have captured the main town of the region - Varennes-en-Argonne - and more importantly have seized the heights at Vauqois. From this position artillery observers are able to keep watch on the Verdun to Paris railway line, and guns in the rear are now close enough to hit a portion of the tracks. Once observers have pinpointed the coordinates, it becomes possible for German artillery to hit trains attempting to pass to Verdun. This limits train movement to night, and only when the track has been repaired after prior bombardments. This effectively severs the last rail line to Verdun - though it can be reached by road from Bar-le-Duc, it strains the supply situation at the most important French fortifications on the Western Front.
- The Lahore Division of Indian Expeditionary Force A arrive in Marseilles today, having sailed from India via the Arabian Sea and the Suez Canal. IEF A also includes a second division - the Meerkut Division - and a cavalry brigade, which are scheduled to arrive in France in several weeks, their delay resulting from the presence of the German light cruisers Emden and Königsberg in the Indian Ocean. Each division consists of three infantry brigades, which in turn contain one British and three Indian battalions. These units are drawn from the peacetime Indian Army, and are being deployed to France to serve with the British Expeditionary Force.
 |
| Indian soldiers parade in Marseilles, September 26th, 1914. |
- Along the Orange River on the southern border of German South-West Africa, an advance guard of Force A has crossed the river at Sandfontein, consisting of three hundred men and two artillery pieces. Though the South African government has learned that the main German force is not opposing the recent landing at Lüderitz but rather moving on the Orange River, but has not informed General Henry Lukin, commander of Force A. Thus his advance guard is unsupported, and the Germans today sweep down and, having encircled the South Africans, capture the entire force after a brief firefight.
The defeat reflects the hasty improvisations necessary to put the three forces into the field at an early date, and the lack of adequate communications between them. This is overshadowed, however, by Lukin's insistence that Force B ought to have advanced simultaneously, in order to divide the German defenders. General Maritz of Force B insists that his force is still unready to move, being insufficiently trained. Such disobedience does not reflect well on his loyalty to the South African government, despite the collapse on the 15th of the first acts of insubordination. Defense Minister Smuts now faces the prospect of dealing with a recalcitrant general with a body of soldiers under his command.
- The German East Asiatic Squadron today arrives at the island of Nuku Hiva in the French Marquesas Islands. With its lack of defenders and isolated position, Admiral Spee has his ships stop to coal and take on fresh provisions.
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