October 7th, 1915

- Foch and d'Urbal meet today to discuss the resumption of the offensive in Artois.  Despite the withdrawal of III Corps Foch insists that 10th Army go on to the attack on October 10th alongside the planned British advance.  They agree that three corps in the centre of 10th Army will advance towards the crest of Vimy Ridge, still agonizingly out of reach, while IX Corps will assault Hill 70 in close coordination with the British to the north.

- With the most recent attack in the Champagne having failed to gain significant ground, and given Castlenau's reports that his armies would require time to prepare a further assault, Joffre reluctantly terminates the offensive late today.  The offensive that appeared to hold such promise after the first day on September 25th has thus ended in yet another failure.

- In the early morning hours the invasion of Serbia begins when lead units of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and German 11th Armies begin their crossing of the Save and Danube Rivers.  First into action is the German 208th Reserve Regiment, of 44th Reserve Division/XXII Reserve Corps, when it puts fifteen pontoons, each carrying ten soldiers, in the water at 330am.  Their objective is the cigar-shaped Big Zigeuner Island and the Serbian shore of the Save River west of Belgrade.  By dawn elements of four corps have swung into action, including all of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army: in addition to the German XXII Reserve Corps west of Belgrade, the Austro-Hungarian XIX Corps crosses further west and the Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps moves against Belgrade itself.  Of the German 11th Army, X Reserve Corps, easternmost of the army's three corps, crosses at Ram, the seizure of which is deemed a necessary precondition for the assault of the army's two other corps on October 9th.

The assaulting forces achieve mixed results over the course of the day's fighting.  Furthest west, infantry of the Austro-Hungarian XIX Corps is able to cross at Progar and Boljevci almost unopposed, but the swampy ground on the southern shore hinders the movement of the Austro-Hungarian infantry and the Serbian II Drina Division is able to halt their advance short of the town of Obrenovac, their initial objective.  The German XXII Reserve Corps is able to capture the western end of Big Zigeuner Island and push a regiment across to the southern shore of the Save, where heavy German artillery fire prevents a Serbian counterattack against the bridgehead.  However, the limited number of pontoons, plus the inevitable losses to mines and enemy fire, slows the pace of the crossings, while 43rd Reserve Division is tasked with clearing both Big and Little Zigeuner Island.  East of Belgrade the German X Reserve Corps has the easiest day - Serbian resistance is negligible at Ram, and by 10am two regiments of 103rd Division have secured the Gorica Hills, overlooking the corps' crossing points.  By this afternoon most of 101st and 103rd Divisions is on the southern shore, and a Serbian counterattack is repulsed with heavy losses to the attackers.

The German and Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, Oct. 7th to 17th, 1915.

At Belgrade the Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps has a difficult day; the Serbs have committed significant forces, including artillery to holding the city, and a light rain prevents spotter aircraft from observing friendly artillery fire.  After 4am pontoons carrying infantry from 74th, 84th, and 87th Regiments push towards the Belgrade shoreline, but are quickly illuminated by Serbian searchlights and come under heavy fire.  Only the latter regiment is able to get across largely intact while the commander of the former is awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa for extreme bravery in leading his soldiers in hand-to-hand fighting to gain a lodgement on the southern shore.  Over the course of the day's fighting two-thirds of the pontoons are sunk and by nightfall the surviving Austro-Hungarian infantry are clinging to the shoreline from the western edge of Belgrade to the confluence of the Save and Danube just below the old Ottoman fortress of Kalemegdan.

The German and Austro-Hungarian assault at Belgrade, Oct. 7th to 10th, 1915.

By nightfall the two German corps have achieved the most significant success, while the Austro-Hungarian VIII Corps in particular is clinging to its bridgehead at Belgrade.  Nevertheless, the first day of the Serbian campaign is a success for Mackensen's two armies - the amphibious crossings were the most dangerous part of the initial invasion, and each has been successful to varying degrees.

- Over the past two days 12 000 French and 3 000 British have disembarked at Salonika, but they lack transportation and supply units.  Moreover, it is becoming apparent that cavalry will not be able to operate in the region, given the mountainous terrain and lack of fodder.  Further, in places the narrow roads are insufficient to allow movement of the standard French 75mm artillery guns, necessitating their replacement by smaller and lighter 65mm guns.

- Fourteen Italian reconnaissance aircraft drop twenty-seven bombs totaling 350 kilograms on the town of Castagnevizza today, the first 'mass' bombing raid undertaken by the Italian airforce.

September 30th, 1915

- To the north side of Loos, efforts by the British 28th Division to recover the slap heap known as the Dump, lost on the 27th, are called off today.  A German counterattack, meanwhile, manages to regain 250 yards of Gun Trench, located between the Quarries and the Hulloch-Vermelles road.  To the south of Loos, the delayed relief of the British 47th Division south of Loos by the French IX Corps is completed overnight, and in turn 47th Division has shifted north and relieved 3rd Guard Brigade, the latter going back into reserve.  Given the delay, when General Foch and Field Marshall French meet today they agree to postpone the Anglo-French offensive at Vimy Ridge and Loos to October 3rd.

British dead lay before a captured German trench near Loos, Sept. 30th, 1915.

Ruined buildings in the village of Loos, Sept. 30th, 1915.

On the German side, the first train carrying the German XI Corps from the Eastern Front passes through Liège this morning en route to 6th Army.  Further, the situation has sufficiently stabilized from Falkenhayn's perspective to permit further relief of the battered VI Corps, sending in elements of I Bavarian Corps into the line in its place.  Falkenhayn also receives reports that ample ammunition remains for defensive artillery in the event of further Entente assaults.  The German chief of staff concludes today that while fighting on the Western Front continues, the armies have weathered the worst of the enemy attacks, and though the margin of victory was at times narrow, this has been accomplished without having to divert significant forces from the Balkans and delay the impending invasion of Serbia.

- As a result of the debacle in Champagne that ensued after the false report of a breakthrough by the French 14th Division, Castlenau informs Joffre today that several days will be needed to reorganize and recover from the earlier fighting before the offensive can be resumed.  Though a decision about timing has yet to be made, Joffre tells Castlenau to proceed as if another attack will be undertaken.

- As German and Austro-Hungarian forces finalize preparations for their invasion of Serbia, German aircraft have been conducting aerial reconnaissance of Serbian positions and key crossings of the Save and Danube Rivers.  In addition, a series of bombing raids have been carried out, principally against Požarevac, the main Serbian airfield, and Kragujevać, home to munitions factories.  By the end of September, the Germans have dropped approximately 2400 kilograms of bombs.  At this stage of the war, however, aerial bombardment is still primitive, and it is estimated that half of the bombs fail to detonate.  Only minimal resistance is faced by the German aircraft, though today Serbian air defenses score their only success of the campaign when they shoot down a German Albatross today, part of six-plane raid on Kragujevać.

September 23rd, 1915

- In Artois French aircraft bomb railways running between Lille, Valenciennes, Douai, and Cambrai in an effort to disrupt the movement of German supplies and reinforcements once the offensive begins in two days' time.

- The aviation subcommittee of the French Chamber of Deputies issues a scathing report condemning the state of French military aviation.  Describing the situation as 'grave,' the report highlights what its authors perceive to be the lack of close cooperation between the French army at the government's aviation directorate, and the inability of the latter to coordinate the expansion of the aviation industry and the deployment of labour.  Deputy Pierre Etienne Flandin in particular calls for massive production program of bombers and bomber escorts equipped with new, powerful engines to strike German industrial production.

- The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian 24th Division north of Lutsk yesterday evening forces the evacuation of Lutsk itself, which the Russians occupy this morning.  The remnants of the Austro-Hungarian XIV Corps pull back from the west bank of the Styr to the line Zaborol-Polonnaja Gorka, which permits the Russians to establish a bridgehead over the river.

The collapse and retreat of XIV Corps threatens the northern flank of the Austro-Hungarian forces to the south holding along the Ikwa River.  However, General Linsingen, commanding both the reinforcements moving south from the Army of the Bug as well as the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army itself, believes that the situation can be rescued not by a direct counterattack against the Russians at Lutsk, but rather by having the relief force, centred on the German XXIV Reserve Corps, drive southeast against the northern flank of the advancing Russian 8th Army, and the enemy to retreat to avoid envelopment.

The intervention of German forces under General Linsingen to rescue the faltering Austro-Hungarian 4th Army,
Sept. 23rd to 30th, 1915.

- Over the past two weeks German units assigned to the Serbian campaign have been arriving in Hungary; the German 105th Division, for example, completes its transfer to the Balkans today.  To preserve secrecy, the seventy trains needed to transport each division have been forbidden from moving south of Budapest in daylight.  After arrival near the Serbian frontier, the movement to staging areas is also conducted at night, German soldiers moving through unfamiliar terrain and surrounded by a civilian population that did not speak any German whatsoever if they got lost.

- In Paris the Council of Ministers convenes to debate the deployment of a French expedition to Greece to aid the Serbs, and the broader implications such an operation would have on grand strategy and the overall direction of the war effort.  Preserving Serbian independence, it is felt, is essential to the Entente war effort, in order to tie down significant enemy forces in the Balkans and prevent the opening of an overland route for German munitions and supplies to the Ottoman Empire.  However, a significant commitment of force to the Balkans potentially implies a lessening of emphasis on the Western Front, problematic due to the ongoing German occupation of French soil and the opposition of Joffre to any diminuation of forces under his command.

- Despite his pro-German sympathies, Greek King Constantine succumbs to his Prime Minister's arguments regarding the provision of 150 000 soldiers by the French and British instead of the Serbs, and agrees to issue a decree for mobilization.  Nevertheless, Constantine remains deeply uneasy about the course of events.

September 12th, 1915

- As naval Zeppelins continue their bombing campaign of British targets, Falkenhayn cautions the navy to avoid hitting residential areas in London and other cities, lest the British and French launched reprisal raids on German cities.

- To prepare for the artillery bombardment that is to precede the French fall offensive, gunners in Artois have been firing what are known as ranging shots, firing single rounds and observing where they land, afterwards adjusting their aim to ensure that when the bombardment begins, their shells land precisely on target.  Such ranging of the artillery is standard practice before major operations, but the landing of single enemy shells also serves as an unmistakable sign that a major artillery bombardment is imminent.  Thus today the German VI and I Bavarian Reserve Corps, which cover the front at Arras and Vimy Ridge, report to 6th Army headquarters that the French have been firing ranging shots on them, signalling an enemy attack is likely imminent.  As a response, 6th Army headquarters orders elements of a Saxon brigade in reserve to reinforce the left flank of 5th Bavarian Reserve Division, deemed the weakest point on the army's front.

- Despite Conrad's orders of the 10th for an immediate attack by 4th and 1st Armies, the exhaustion of their infantry prevented the advance occurring until today, when infantry from multiple divisions advances against Russian positions along the Stubiel River and south towards Dubno.  The advancing infantry encounter heavy artillery fire, however, and suffer greatly, and by this evening the attacks have clearly failed to gain any significant advantage.  Today's defeat dashes the last hopes for Conrad's grand offensive - both Südarmee and 7th Army are in full retreat, which has already forced 2nd Army onto the defensive, and it was clear that only prolonged operations at great cost could accomplish anything of note on the northern end of the line.  Moreover, intelligence has reached Conrad that the Russian XXX Corps will arrive within the next couple of days to reinforce 8th Army, rendering the prospects of success even more unlikely.  With utmost reluctance, Conrad signals his army commanders to abandon the offensive, with both 4th and 1st Armies sending reinforcements southwards.

Unfortunately for Conrad, the Russians, having gained the upper hand, have every intention of pressing their advantage to the fullest.  At the southern end of the line, the Russian XXXIII Corps attacks the scratch Austro-Hungarian corps under General Henriquez.  Having lost seven thousand infantry already in September, Henriquez's corps collapses under the weight of the Russian advance, and falls back in disorder to the Dniester River.

The Russian advance vs. Südarmee and the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army, Sept. 12th to 15th, 1915.

Further, after several weeks of falling back before the Austro-Hungarian advance, General Brusilov of 8th Army intends to go over to the counterattack, which will begin tomorrow with a thrust by XXXIX Corps across the Stubiel River at Klewan northwest of Rovno.  Meanwhile, XXX Corps, detraining at Rovno today, is to march north behind the front and descend on the north wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army.  Brusilov's objective is to turn the enemy flank and recover Lutsk.

June 15th, 1915

- The French have expanded their aerial bombardment of German industrial targets, creating additional squadrons to undertake these operations, and today twenty-three bombers attack the German city of Karlsruhe.

- In Galicia the German 11th Army endures another day of hard fighting as it continues its advance to the east.  Once again it is the Guard Corps making the greatest headway, with 2nd Guard Division pushing into the woods south of the village of Hruszow.  Both flanks also make progress, though to a lesser degree than Guard Corps.  Notably, on the northern wing X Corps is increasingly stretched as it seeks to remain in contact with the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army to the northwest and the rest of 11th Army moving further eastward.  To avoid a gap opening between the two armies, 8th Bavarian Reserve Division is taken from army reserve and inserted into the line alongside X Corps.  Over the past three days the right wing of 4th Army itself has managed to push northeastwards from Sieniawa, and by this evening the Austro-Hungarian XVII Corps moves through Dobra.  On the other flank of 11th Army the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army continues to encounter stubborn Russian resistance, and it is only with the greatest of difficulty that they are able to advance.

General Brusilov's 8th Army, along with the left flank of 3rd Army, has put up greater resistance than the Germans and Austro-Hungarians had expected, and the attacking armies are now behind schedule.  The Russians, however, have also suffered greatly: 34 000 were taken prisoner on the 13th alone, and several divisions have been reduced to only several thousand effectives.  Moreover, the German Guard Corps has punched a clear hole through the second defensive line and pushed the Russian defenders into the open.  To continue holding their present positions would require the Russians to fight a battle of maneuver in the clear, a prospect that held little prospect of success.  Brusilov instead concludes that his army must withdraw to the next prepared defensive line, running south from Rawa Ruska through Magierow and Grodek to the east bank of the Wereszyca River, and orders for the retreat go out this evening.

February 24th, 1915

- A meeting of the War Council in London today discusses aerial attacks on Germany, with alternatives such as distributing a 'blight' by air or dropping incendiaries on crops.  The rationale behind such suggestions is that it would be no worse that the recently-declared unrestricted submarine warfare.  The conclusion is to work out the details of such raids, but that they should be used only after extreme provocation.

- The eastern wing of Gallwitz's forces capture the town of Prasnysz today, capturing a number of artillery pieces and approximately half of the isolated Russian brigade that had attempted to hold off the attackers.  To the west of Prasnysz, however, a Russian division sits firmly entrenched on a line of hills, and has resisted a series of attacks both from Gallwitz's western wing and from the units that have just seized Prasnysz.  The desperate stand of the Russians has given time for North-West Front to rush reinforcements to the scene, which begin to arrive on the battlefield this evening.

Russian dead at Prasnysz, February 1915.

- Admiral Carden off the Dardanelles signals London today that though he does not intend to resume the bombardment of the Ottoman defences until the weather improves, he believes that the destruction of the outer Ottoman forts guarding the entrance to the straits can be accomplished in a single day.

- In German Kamerun, the French decision to concentrate their columns against Jaunde has allowed several German forces to threaten the line of communication of the French columns that had occupied Bertua after an advance from the east.  As a result, the French at Bertua have been forced to fall back towards the Lobaye River, and today the Germans reoccupy Bertua.

December 24th, 1914

- Three days after the first attempt to bombard England from the air, at 1045am a single German Friedrichshafen FF 29 seaplane appears over Dover, flying at fifty miles per hour.  At the limit of its fifty-mile range, it carries only four 2kg bombs, which it drops near Dover Castle.  Instead of striking the landmark, they fall nearby and destroy the vegetable garden of local auctioneer Tommy Terson, who suffers minor injuries.  For the first time enemy bombs have exploded on English soil.

A German Friedrichshafen FF 29 seaplane.

- At 5am this morning, Commodore Tyrwhitt's force, consisting of three seaplane carriers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers, sails from Harwich, bound for Heligoland Bight.  To maintain the secrecy of the raid, no preliminary warning was given to the warships before they sailed, and some have left behind stewards who had gone ashore to purchase turkeys and geese for Christmas Day.

- For the past six days the German 9th Army has been assaulting the Russian line west of Warsaw between Sochaczew on the Bzura River and Bolimov on the Rawka River, in an effort to break through to Poland's largest city.  Wave after wave of German infantry have crossed the two rivers, often in frigid water up to their chests, to assault Russian lines on the far bank.  Though in a few cases certain section of the Russian trench line were seized, at no time were the Germans able to pierce the enemy front.  9th Army has suffered over 100 000 casualties in failing to break through, and at one point a tributary of the Rawka River stopped flowing, blocked by a dam of German dead.  It now being obvious that Warsaw will not be in German hands for Christmas, Ludendorff calls off the attacks.

- In the Caucasus the occupation of Bardiz today by the Ottoman 29th Division of IX Corps masks growing problems with Enver's offensive.  Moving through heavy snow and in frigid conditions, thousands are already being lost to the elements; 17th Division of IX Corps reports that as much as 40% of its soldiers have fallen behind, some undoubtedly disappearing into the drifts of snow.  X Corps to the north, meanwhile is exhausted, but two of its divisions are pushed northwards towards Ardahan before Enver orders it to redirect itself westwards to cover IX Corps left flank.  29th Division, meanwhile, is given no rest - Enver instructs it to march immediately on Sarikamish, not only to complete the envelopment of the Russian forces facing XI Corps but because the Ottoman units need to seize Russian supplies if they are not to run out of food and starve.

On the Russian side, I Caucasian and II Turkestan Corps are in the line facing XI Corps when Enver begins his offensive, the former to the south of the latter.  The first response of General Bergmann, commander of I Caucasian Corps, had been to order his force to advance westward in an attempt to threaten the rear of the Ottoman IX and X Corps.  General Nikolai Yudenich, Chief of Staff of the Russian Caucasus Army, is better able to understand the threat the Ottoman advance poses to Sarikamish, and orders I Caucasian Corps to instead withdraw today while moving reinforcements to concentrate at the threatened town.

The Battle of Sarikamish, December 24th, 1914.

December 21st, 1914

- In Champagne today the French XII Corps of 4th Army launches its attack on the German lines.  However, just as with XVII and I Colonial Corps yesterday, XII Corps is unable to secure any gains; they find that the few gaps that exist in the German barbed wire are covered by enemy machine guns, making them killing zones as French infantry congregate at the gaps trying to get through to the enemy trench line.  After the day's fighting, the commander of 4th Army decides to temporarily suspend infantry assaults and instead have the soldiers conduct mining operations while artillery fire is directed on known German strongpoints.  It is hoped that after bombardment on the points that held up the initial advance, subsequent attacks will meet with greater success.

- For the first time in the war a German aircraft attempts to bombard England, reaching the coast at Dover and attempting to hit the port.  The raid, however, is unsuccessful - the two bombs dropped land just offshore in the Channel.

- Meanwhile the First Lord of the Admiralty gives approval to an operation that not only be the first of its kind against Germany, but the first of its kind in history.  On December 25th, three light cruisers and eight destroyers under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt of the Harwich Force will escort three seaplane carriers into the Heligoland Bight,  Here the seaplane carriers, which are converted cross-Channel passenger steamers, will lower their three seaplanes each into the sea, and the aircraft after takeoff are to proceed to the Nordholz airship base eight miles south of the German port of Cuxhaven.  Once over the target each will drop their three bombs on the air base, and especially the massive twin-hangar structure that holds two of the German Navy's four Zeppelins.  By bringing only a small number of warships into the Bight, and by launching the seaplanes before dawn, it is hoped that the aircraft can be recovered and the force depart the Bight before the German navy can respond.  Eleven submarines under Commodore Roger Keyes, who had planned the operation with Tyrwhitt, will also be present to recover the crew of any aircraft that is forced to ditch short of the seaplane carriers.  The raid, if successfully accomplished, will be the first time in history aircraft launched from sea attack a land-based target.

- In Galicia the Russians have halted their retreat and, thanks to reinforcements drawn from elsewhere on the front, are able to go on the counterattack.  While two corps hold the line of the Dunajec River, five more attack along the front between Tarnow in the west to Besko in the east, striking the right wing of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army and the left and centre of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army.

December 4th, 1914

- The Canadian soldiers encamped on Salisbury Plain continue to endure miserable conditions.  There is heavy rainfall almost every day, while cold was a constant companion and frost frequently occurred each night.  Today the weather offers a particular insult - as soldiers line up to receive their pay, a sudden storms blows the treasury bills away.

- The Operations Bureau at French army headquarters submits another assessment to Joffre, this time emphasizing the importance of railways and lines of communication.  Unfortunately from their perspective, the territory Germany occupies has a dense railway network, both laterally and reaching back across the Rhine, allowing the Germans to both bring reinforcements to the front quickly and move reserves between different parts of the line.  The assessment emphasizes the importance of major offensive operations targeting important rail connections to negate this German advantage.

- Today the French 1st Bombardment Group undertakes its first mission, striking the railway station at the German city of Freiburg.

- As the Serbian counteroffensive continues today, it is aided by a break in the weather.  In contrast to the wet and muddy conditions of late November, today begins a warm spell that drys out the ground and eases their advance.  The Serbs continue to hammer the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army, which falls back in disarray.

- Only this afternoon does the Russian 3rd Army realize that its southern flank is in danger and move reserves to counter the Austro-Hungarian advance.  Thus when Roth's infantry divisions shift their line of advance to the north to envelop the Russian 3rd Army, they encounter significant resistance for the first time.  This convinces the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army that his forces should be concentrated to the north, while only a small cavalry force is needed to screen Neusandez to the east.

It is also today that General Ivanov at South-West Front headquarters realizes that the Austro-Hungarians are undertaking a major counteroffensive south of Krakow against 3rd Army.  Moreover, General Ruszkii of North-West Front is insisting Ivanov needs to send reinforcements northwards to aid the defence of Poland.  Under these pressures, Ivanov has ordered General Brusilov of 8th Army to redeploy VIII  and XXIV Corps towards Neusandez and Gorlice, while the rest of 8th Army is to shift over to the defensive.

- At 5am this morning the detachment of Indian Expeditionary Force D assigned to move on Qurna departs the British camp and sails up the Shatt al-Arab, escorted by two warships and two armed steamers.  As the warships silence two Ottoman artillery pieces the soldiers land on the west bank and begin their advance northwards.  Their movement is slowed by a lack of cavalry, meaning reconnaisance on the unknown terrain had to be undertaken by infantry.  Coming up to an Ottoman position, the Indian infantry first perceived great enemy defenses, only to discover they had been a mirage and the Ottoman soldiers were only weakly-entrenched.  The retreating Ottomans are able to cross over to Qurna on the east bank, and for several hours the Indian and Ottomans exchange fire across the river.  As the British officers have no accurate maps of the region the width of the Tigris (200-300 yards) at this point comes as something of a surprise to them, and the British commander quickly concludes that his small force is insufficient to force a crossing.  He orders his detachment to fall back southward to where they had landed in the morning, while reinforcements are dispatched from the main IEF D camp at Basra.

November 23rd, 1914

- In France four squadrons of Voisin biplanes, totaling eighteen airplanes, are merged together into 1st Bombardment Group, the first French aerial unit devoted to strategic aerial attacks on Germany.

- For several weeks the British and Dutch governments have been negotiating an agreement regarding the importation of goods to the Netherlands deemed contraband by the British.  The concern of the latter is that such goods after arrival in the Netherlands could easily be shipped across the border to Germany, thus allowing the Germans to circumvent the blockade.  The Dutch, for their part, believe that as a neutral power their global trade should not be impeded.  Today the negotiations result in an agreement to create the Netherlands Oversea Trust, a company composed of Dutch private sector merchants who would help individuals wishing to trade in contraband goods.  A pledge would be extracted from such individuals that the contraband goods were for home or Dutch colonial consumption only, and the Netherlands Oversea Trust would then communicate the pledge to the British who would allow the trade based on the guarantee of the Trust's board of directors.  This system solves many of the concerns of both parties - the British gain a means by which Dutch trade in contraband goods can be regulated, while Dutch merchants gain some security that their goods will not be seized.  Moreover, as the Trust is civilian, the Dutch government is not worried about the arrangement appearing to violate their neutrality by leaning too heavily towards the British.

- East of Lodz the German XXV Reserve Corps and Guards Division is now pulling back northwards in an effort to escape from the Russian encirclement, marching over poor, icy roads.  To the west of the German force the Russian defenders at Lodz are too disorganized from the ongoing fighting with the bulk of the German 9th Army to interfere.  To the south, German cavalry covers the German retreat so successfully that the Russian commander there believes he has won an excellent defensive victory.  To the east Russian cavalry mistakes columns of thousands of Russian prisoners accompanying the retreating Germans as additional German soldiers, believe themselves vastly outnumbered, and do not bother to attack.  So far, then, the Russian army is demonstrating their usual level of competence in attempting to destroy the German corps and division.  Still, the Lovitch detachment from the Russian 1st Army has now advanced far enough to sit astride the line of retreat northwards of the German corps and division, leaving the latter still in great danger of envelopment and destruction.

- It is only today that the last units of the Austro-Hungarian army arrive by train opposite central Poland.  The two weeks it has taken the army to redeploy by rail from Galicia to east of Breslau is testimony to the poor state of Austro-Hungarian railways and the dysfunctional logistics that has plagued their armies in the field.

- For the past four days Count István Tisza, Prime Minister of Hungary, has been in Germany discussing the diplomatic relationship with Romania, meeting with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, General Falkenhayn, and others.  The Germans have been applying pressure on Austria-Hungary to cede territory to Romania in exchange for its entry into the war on their side, a stance that Tisza strongly opposes - though willing to give some concessions on language and education to Romanians within the Empire, the lands the Germans propose to yield come from the Hungarian portion of the Empire.  However, the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war and the initial progress made in the current invasion of Serbia have served to calm German fears regarding the situation in the Balkans, and Tisza returns home confident that he has convinced the German leadership to drop any suggestion of territorial concessions.

- A ceremony is held today in Basra today to formalize the British occupation of the city.  The British are eager to win the active support of Arab tribes in the region, and thus desire to show that as the Ottomans are never to return the Arabs need have no fear of Ottoman reprisals.  But if the Ottomans are not to return, what, exactly, is to become of the region.  Are the Arabs to 'enjoy the benefits of liberty', as the commander of Indian Expeditionary Force D proclaims at today's ceremony, or is the region to be annexed by Britain, as the same commander suggests he said to the assembled crowd in his report on the ceremony to the Secretary of State for India.  Neither option has been seriously discussed, and both raise important issues.  For the British it will prove to have been much easier to occupy Basra than decide what to do with it.

There is also the question of what IEF D ought to do next.  Its initial orders said nothing beyond the occupation of Basra, so are they now simply to stay put?  Sir Percy Cox, IEF D's political officer and an Arab expert, believes that Arab support will only be forthcoming if the British continue to advance up the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and demonstrate their complete dominance of the region.  To this end, he recommends in a letter to the Viceroy of India that IEF D advance to Baghdad, a much more significant undertaking that simply securing the Shatt al-Arab.  Even though the term has not yet been coined, the British campaign in Mesopotamia takes a first step towards becoming a textbook definition of mission creep.

- At 10am this morning the schooner Ayesha, carrying First Officer Helmuth von Mücke and his fifty-man detachment that escaped from Direction Island after the sinking of Emden, sights the Sumatra coast in the Dutch East Indies.  Ayesha has had an adventurious journey since they set sail two weeks ago.  Given that the schooner was built for a crew of five, sleeping arrangements were at a premium, and most had to sleep in the hold with scrap iron used for ballast, while two small cabins below deck, originally fitted out for sleeping, had to be abandoned to the huge cockroaches that patrolled them.  The water held in iron tanks aboard was discovered to have fouled, forcing the crew to rely on rainfall to avoid dehydration.  The old sails tore repeatedly, meaning much work was spent mending and patching the canvass.  Much of the wooden hull was rotten, so much so that when it was inspected with a knife they had to quickly desist in fear poking the wood would let in the Indian Ocean.

That the Ayesha has survived the nearly eight hundred mile journey from the Cocos Islands to Sumatra is nothing short of a minor miracle, but their tribulations are hardly at an end.  They have no charts of the Sumatra coast, and there is a constant worry of running aground upon some hidden reef or rock.  There is also a keen awareness that warships of the Entente are almost certainly searching the seas for them, and may anticipate them sailing to the Dutch East Indies.  First Officer Mücke, however, has no intention of being captured.  They still have the four machine guns they had brought with them when they had landed on Direction Island, and hole have been cut in the gunwales to mount them.  Though the aged schooner could hardly have looked less like a warship, Mücke has every intention of fighting if confronted by an enemy vessel.  Meanwhile, his intention is to sail up the Sumatra coast to the port of Padang, where he intends to avail himself of international law that allows warships to enter neutral ports for twenty-four hours, during which time he hopes to reprovision.

November 21st, 1914

- Today a flight of British Avro 504 aircraft take off from an airfield near Belfort, located in southeast France near the Swiss border.  The aircraft fly 125 miles across Bavaria to the city of Friedrichshaffen, the location of the Zeppelin works.  They drop several 20lb bombs that damages some machinery, though missing a new Zeppelin under construction.

- At and west of Lodz the German 9th Army has spent several days grappling with the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies without making any progress.  The situation to the east of Lodz, however, is completely different.  This was the one part of the line where the Germans arrived before the retreating Russians.  Here there was the German 25th Reserve Corps and Guards Division, and finding no significant resistance before them they had moved to implement Ludendorff's original plan - i.e. isolate Lodz to cut off the two Russian armies.  Thus over the past few days the German corps and division have marched first south past Lodz, and then west, believing themselves to be enveloping the Russian defenders.  In reality, it was the Germans who were being enveloped.  Today the westward movement of 25th Reserve Corps and Guards Division is halted by Russian reinforcements rushed from west of Lodz, while their path south and east were blocked by other Russian units.  Further, there were no German units to their north, which meant that the Russian 1st Army, sweeping south from the Vistula River, might be able to block the escape of the two German units.  After a promising beginning to his offensive, Ludendorff is now confronted with the potential envelopment and destruction of a significant part of 9th Army.

The Battle of Lodz, November 21st to 24th, 1914.

- Over four days of bitter fighting near Krakow, the Austro-Hungarian 4th and 1st Armies have failed to achieve any significant success.  Conrad, however, remains optimistic - the local victories that have occurred have been interpreted as signs of imminent strategic success, and radio intercepts appear to suggest the Russian commanders opposite are desparate for reinforcements.  Further, it was generally believed that the German advance on Lodz would force the Russian armies at Krakow to retreat.  Thus at 330pm Conrad issues orders to 4th and 1st Armies for continued vigorous attacks and a ruthless pursuit of the anticipated Russian retreat.  Again this is an instance of seeing what one wants to see - Conrad believes victory is at hand near Krakow because he must win this battle as quickly as possible.  To the southeast, the Russian 3rd Army is marching westwards south of the Vistula, and the Russian 8th Army has advanced into the Carpathian Mountains, and is on the cusp of seizing several key passes that would allow a Russian offensive into Hungary itself.  A rapid victory at Krakow is essential to allow for the redeployment of forces to the Carpathians to prevent a Russian march on Budapest.  Conrad is seeing at Krakow what he needs to happen to allow him to save the Carpathian passes - not unusually, his powers of perception are failing him.

- The French ambassador to Russia has an audience with the Tsar today, during which he elaborates on the war aims of France.  The recovery of Alsace-Lorraine is naturally essential, but the ambassador declares that France must extend its influence over the Rhineland, to ensure that Germany can never again pose a deadly threat to France.

- Though the news of the Ottoman abandonment of Basra reached Indian Expeditionary Force D yesterday evening, the occupation of Basra remains no easy task: the infantry have a thirty-mile march ahead of them, while movement by water is hindered by a number of ships sunk by the Ottomans in the Shatt al-Arab to block British vessels.  As several British ships attempt to manoeuvre past the obstructions, they are met by a steam launch carrying the leading citizens of Basra as well as British residents, both representing the large commercial community of the port.  They plead with the British vessels to occupy Basra as quickly as possible, as from the moment the Ottomans withdrew yesterday the inhabitants of Basra have been enthusiastically looting their stores.  Thus the initial occupation of Basra is as much to defend private property as for any other reason.  Several British sloops are able to make their way through the sunken Ottoman ships and anchor off Basra, sending landing parties ashore to dismantle the Ottoman field guns left behind and clear looters from the port area.  The initial landing has a limited effect - once the population realizes that the occupying force is only a few groups of sailors, not a large army, they eagerly resume looting.

September 22nd, 1914

The 1st Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in the front trench at the Aisne, September 22nd, 1914.  Note the
rudimentary nature of the trench, little more than a ditch in an open field - it is only over time that more complex and elaborate trench systems emerge.

- The French 2nd Army, consisting of four corps and several cavalry divisions drawn from elsewhere on the front, begins its advance towards the line Chaulnes-Roye-Lassigny north of the current end of the front near Noyon.  Immediately opposed to it is only the German II Corps, which had helped halt the attempted advance of the French 6th Army on the 18th.

The advance of the French 2nd Army east from Amiens, September 22nd, 1914.

- As the first units of the newly-formed German 9th Army begins to assemble near Crakow, Grand Duke Nicholas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, convenes a meeting at Cholm with General Ruzski of North-West Front and General Ivanov of South-West Front.  The Grand Duke's objective is to plan for an invasion westwards from Poland into German Silesia.  His front commanders, however, are focused on their particular responsibilities - Ruzski argues that no advance can be undertaken until East Prussia is neutralized, while Ivanov's concerns is with his armies in Galicia.  The Grand Duke's solution is to put Ivanov in charge of the invasion, leaving General Brusilov with 3rd, 8th, and 11th armies, the latter newly-formed to hold the line in Galicia.  Ivanov three remaining armies - 4th, 5th, and 9th - are to withdraw from the front and move northwards east of the Vistula River before crossing westward at Ivangorod and Warsaw in preparation to invade Germany.  Ivanov is also assigned a reconstructed 2nd Army from North-West Front to cover the northern flank of the advance.

- In Serbia, the Austro-Hungarian armies are struggling to advance out of their bridgeheads on the Save and Drina Rivers.  For the past three days, they have been in pitched battle with the Serbs for the hills around Jagodna.  Though by the end of today the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army has seized the heights, it has cost them 25 000 casualties, and broken their momentum.  Exhausted and demoralized, the two armies are unable to advance further.

- Off the Dutch coast is a region of the southern North Sea known as the Broad Fourteens, so named for its latitude.  Since the outbreak of the war, this part of the North Sea has been patrolled by the outdated armoured cruisers of the Bacchante class.  These patrols were designed to provide early warning of a German sortie into the Channel, but in practice the ships had no combat value - they carried only two 9.2-inch guns and eight 6-inch guns and were manned by reservists with little experience.  So questionable was their deployment that Admiral Keyes referred to them as the 'live bait squadron', and discussions had been held about withdrawing them.  However, as of this morning the patrols were still being undertaken, with three of the cruisers - Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy - on station off the Dutch coast.

The Broad Fourteens in the North Sea.

Unfortunately, the three British cruisers are not the only ships in the North Sea this morning.  Also present is the German submarine U-9, which has spent the night submerged.  When it rises to periscope depth, its captain is pleasantly surprised to spot the three British cruisers.  The latter are steaming at just ten knots and, not having been warned of any submarine threat, are steaming in a straight line.  U-9 is easily able to approach the British, and at 630am fires a single torpedo to the middle of the three.  It strikes Aboukir amidships, tearing a large hole and flooding the engine room.  The cruiser's captain assumes he has hit a mine, and warns the other two cruisers.  The flooding was uncontrollable, and twenty-five minutes after being struck it capsizes.

The British cruiser Aboukir, sunk today by the submarine U-9.

- Crucially, because the assumption is that Aboukir struck a mine, the other two cruisers take no precautions against enemy submarines.  Indeed, their response is to approach Aboukir and stop to pick up survivors.  This, of course, is the absolute worst thing these ships could have done.  The caption of U-9 can hardly believe his luck, and reloads his torpedo tubes for another attack.  At 655am, just as Aboukir sinks, two torpedoes strike Hogue, which sinks ten minutes later.  Cressy now understood that there was a German submarine in the area, and desperately signaled the Admiralty of its predicament.  Though it attempts to maneouver, a torpedo strikes Cressy at 715am, followed by a second at 730am.  It rolls over until it was upside down before sinking at 755am.  An hour later two Dutch steamers arrive and pick up survivors, and destoyers from Tyrwhitt's force arrive at 1045.  Overall, however, almost 1400 British sailors are lost.

In less than an hour and a half, U-9 sank three British cruisers, and returned to Wilhelmshaven to a hero's welcome.  It is the greatest German naval accomplished of the war to date - the submarine's captain is awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class, and the entire crew is awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class.  In Britain, there is shock at the sudden loss of the three ships.  The Times assumes that it had been the work of an entire group of submarines, as opposed to just one.  There is widespread condemnation of the Admiralty, and it inspires several policy changes.  In addition to halting patrols in the Broad Fourteens, ships are henceforth ordered not to stop to pick up survivors of ships that are torpedoed or strike a mine.  It also raises the anxiety of Admiral Jellicoe - if a single submarine can so easily dispatch three large armoured cruisers, what might they do if they catch the dreadnoughts of his Grand Fleet at sea?

- The German East Asiatic Squadron approaches Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, this morning.  There are five thousand tons of coal in the port, and Spee hopes to seize this and other supplies.  However, the French at Papeete have been warned by Bora Bora of the presence of the German ships, and by the time the squadron arrives they have set fire to the coal and fled to the hills.  Deprived of his coal, the squadron sinks a small French gunboat in the harbour and silences the few artillery pieces that fire on them.  They depart this afternoon, having fired off some of their ammunition for no benefit.

- Tonight the German light cruiser Emden approaches to within three thousand yards of the port of Madras in India.  Switching on its searchlights, the Germans fire 125 shells into the Burmah Company's oil tanks in thirty minutes, destroying almost half a million gallons of kerosene.  Emden then departs before the British can respond, disappearing once again into the Indian Ocean.

- In conformance with the Admiralty's instructions of the 18th, Rear Admiral Craddock departs the River Plate with the modern light cruiser Glasgow, the outdated cruiser Monmouth, and the armed liner Otranto, bound for the Magellan Straits.  Despite the Admiralty's assertions, however, Craddock still suspects that the German East Asiatic Squadron is coming east to South America.

- Today four airplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service, flying from an airfield near Antwerp, attempt the first bombing raid of the war against German Zeppelin sheds located at Cologne and Düsseldorf.  Two aircraft are assigned to each target, but in dense fog only one finds its target, dropping three 20-pound bombs at Düsseldorf.  Two failed to explode, and the third fell short, though it injured some German soldiers.  Even if all four had been successful in finding their targets, it is unlikely they would have been able to do significant damage, and they were unable to carry more than a few small bombs.  Moreover, they were slow - none flew over 100mph - and defenceless - if German aircraft were encountered, the only way the pilots could return fire would have been with pistols.  They had also lacked the range to reach their targets, having to refuel at an advanced airbase specifically set up for this purpose by armoured cars of the Belgian army.  However, from such humble beginnings strategic bombing would grow in importance over the years and decades.