August 17, 1914:
Russia invades East Prussia
Russia invades East Prussia
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August 18, 1914:
Russia invades Galicia
Belgian Troops try Desperatly to Stop the German AdvanceComment
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August 19/20 1914
German troops execute 173 civilians in my hometown of Aarschot and burn 400 houses down..Comment
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August 21, 1914
Lt. von Richthofen leads 14 Uhlans into the Belgian village of Etalle. They move through the ville to a hilltop nearby. The route ahead looks peaceful through his binos. They move out into a thick forest, horses have passed this way recently. They move along, then, trees across the path! Rocky hill to the right and a creek and open meadow to the left. A volley rifle shots from 3 sides. He has led his men into a classic ambush. Possibly 100 French cuirassiers are on them. He orders retreat. As would happen so many times, he escapes without a scratch. Ten of his men are captured or killed. He wrote his mother that it was "a miracle" he lived and that the French had "beautifully" surprised him. He has been on both fronts and the war is barely 2 weeks old.
WilhelmComment
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Aarschot massacre
Dear Belgian Friends,
that had been a very sad and not justifiable reprisal.
Aarschot had surrendered to German troops on the 19th and Oberst Stenger
addressing his 8th Infantrie Brigade from the town hall's balcony was shot
dead by a sniper !
That's our commitment not to let things like that happen again !
WolfComment
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Originally posted by herkules View Post
Thanks, Wolf for your kind words.
A lot of Belgian civilians were shot for vengeance, even a 3-month old baby.
In Dinant more than 600 civilians were shot.Comment
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August 24 through September 2 the Germans continue their rapid advance through the low countries and into France. The "Great Retreat" has begun. On the evening of Sept 2 the German infantrymen make camp near Chantilly, some 40 km from Paris.
WilhelmComment
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Last night the AMC channel they ran Apocalypse WW1 show from the beginning causes to the end of WW1Comment
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On this day August 26 1914 – the Battle of Tannenberg began and the Battle of Le Cateau took place.Comment
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August 26, 1914
First known Australian killed in action
Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm from Sydney, serving with Britain's 1st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, is wounded in the Battle of Le Cateau, France during the retreat from Mons and dies the following day.
Cheers,
JamieComment
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On 29 August 1914,
In Australia’s first coalition operation, a New Zealand Expeditionary Force of 1400 troops landed at Apia, Western Samoa, covered by the guns of Australia, and the cruisers HMAS Melbourne, HMS Psyche, HMS Pyramus, HMS Philomel and the French Montcalm. With no troops to defend the islands, the German Administrator surrendered on 30 August. The wireless station and harbour facilities were thereafter denied to Von Spee’s squadron.
Cheers,
JamieComment
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You are quite correct. This declaration of war was the first domino to fall. Austria sent Serbia a telegram in French on 7/28/14, to declare war. French was still the language of diplomacy in 1914.Originally posted by Peter J. View Post
When I was an undergraduate at UCLA in the middle 60s, I remember the professor telling us that in the pre-1914 world, "mobilization meant war." If any nation really started WW1, it was Russia. For reasons which never made sense to me, Nicholas mobilized his western military districts upon Austria's declaration of war. Germany immediately told the Czar to demobilize or war would be declared. Nicky ignored the warning, Germany declared war. Because of the Schlieffen Plan, which called for an invasion of Belgium to enter France, bringing the UK into the war because of England's 1839 Treaty with Prussia, guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality and Germany's central position between France and Russia, what could have been a local Europeon war between Austria and Serbia, turned this local war into World War 1.Last edited by Gary Symonds; 09-04-2014, 04:48 PM.Comment
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September 5, 1014
First allied ship sunk by a German U-Boot.
Kptlt. Otto Hersing commanding the tiny U-21 is cruising on the surface deep in the Firth of Forth. Lookouts spot black smoke on the horizon. He orders the boat to dive. The smoke is headed straight for them. The HMS Pathfinder, an armored cruiser, fills his periscope view. He orders 1 torpedo fired. Seconds later the sub is tossed and pitched by a huge explosion! There are broken gauges, light bulbs, and some flooding. When he looks through the periscope again the warship is gone. Just a black cloud hangs in the sky. The torpedo must have hit the main magazine. The Pathfinder goes down with the loss of 270 men. He orders a silent escape and avoids the other ships coming to look for him and pick up survivors. They return to Heligoland as national heroes. History has been made and a new weapon has come of age.
WilhelmComment
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September 4, 1914: German Army takes French city of Rheims.
September 5, 1914: The Miracle at the Marne.Comment
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September 11, 2014.
Australian forces take New Guinea.
The day was still, hot and steamy as Able Seaman John Courtney landed on the northern tip of New Britain island in the early days of World War I.
It was September 11, 1914, and Courtney was part of an Australian mission to the New Guinea island to destroy a German wireless station which was passing intelligence to the German East Asia Cruiser squadron in the Pacific.
As Courtney made his way inland just before 11am with a scouting party, the men reached a bend in the road.
Shots rang out and Courtney was hit and killed.
And so, according to Australian War Memorial historian Michael Kelly, young Able Seaman Courtney (also known as John Edward Walker) became the first Australian serving in an Australian force killed in World War I.
Five other Australians died in or as a result of that fighting and today the little-known but historically significant action which marked Australian forces entering the war will be commemorated in a service at the Bita Paka War Cemetery, near Rabaul, on East New Britain.
On Sunday there will be services in Rabaul and Australia to commemorate the loss of Australia’s first submarine AEI on September 14, 1914, during the same operation.
The submarine disappeared without a trace, taking with it 32 sailors and three officers.
A number of searches have been mounted since its loss, with the latest this week by HMAS Yarra.
The mission to New Britain in 1914 was launched after a request by the British government, which had declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, bringing Australia into the conflict alongside the mother country.
On August 6 the Australian government formed the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force.
It was made up of 1500 militia infantry and 500 naval reservists and former sailors and was raised separately from the Australian Imperial Force, which would soon leave to see action at Gallipoli.
The ANMEF shore parties landed unopposed on New Britain, but as they pushed inland towards the wireless station at Bita Pika, they encountered a force of German reservists and local New Guineans.
By 7pm the fighting was over and the Australians occupied the radio station.
The action left one German dead and one wounded and 30 New Guineans were killed and 11 wounded.
Other German forces on the island held out until September 17 before formally surrendering.
AE1’s last known position was near Duke of York Island, near New Britain.
The fate of the submarine has been the subject of much research and debate.
The most probable explanation is that AE1 hit a reef somewhere around Duke of York Island and sank nearby.
HMAS Yarra has been searching for the submarine this week using sonar in an area of about five square nautical miles.Comment
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