As the war dragged on, Turkey joined the Central Powers in November 1914. The Turks were having problems in the Balkans and were worried about the Russians having designs on the Dardanelles, the exit from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea.
After declaring war on the enemies of the Central Powers the Turks sent an army of 100,000 men to its border with Russia. In extremely bad weather the Turks pushed the Russians further back into their territory. The Tsar of Russia appealed to France and Britain for assistance and as the New Year began the Russians counter attacked the Turks and gave them a hiding.
In England Lord Kitchener was worried that the Suez Canal might be the objective of a Turkish assault and was also looking to break the deadlock on the Western Front. He and the First Lord of The Admiralty, Winston Churchill, were convinced that to succeed on the Western Front they should attack Germanys Ally, Turkey. This would provide a supply route to Russia and draw German troops from the Western Front. It was decided that there was no need for soldiers to be used on this attack as it was considered that the Navy could do the job successfully.
A naval squadron of French and British ships headed for the Dardanelles, its objective to its way through the Sea of Mamara and bring their guns to bear on Turkeys Capitol, Constantinople. Three ships, one French and two British, were sunk and three others were damaged. The attack failed. Back in London the War Council decided that they needed soldiers to do the job and there were plenty in Cairo.
1915
What next? The British considered the German lines as a “Fortress that cannot be carried by
assault” (Churchill’s words). The Germans believed the wars would be decided in France. There were no ideas from either the British or French on how to break the line other than by frontal assault.
Britain had, since the beginning of this war lost 16,000 men killed, 10,000 at Ypres alone. The Brits needed more soldiers and by Christmas 1914 more than a million men had enlisted. Including troops from the Empire they now had over two million men to throw into battle.
Now that Britain had soldiers, they had a plan. Build a machine that could drive over trenches and throw even more soldiers at the German line. The Germans, on their part created Mustard Gas and fortified their front line with better trenches, barbed wire, pill boxes and machinegun nests. The German line, including reserve or “in depth” defences was over a mile deep. The British plan also included an attack on the Central Powers Eastern flank that resulted in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns.
Meanwhile the French were doing their bit. In February and March they lost 50,000 men attacking the German line at Lorraine, gaining just 500 metres of ground. In April they lost 64,000 men attacking the St Mihiel Salient.
Several Divisions of Canadian and Indian troops had arrived in France and the British Generals thought they would try a “break through”! The British Commander, General Sir John French chose Neuve Chapelle as his objective. On 10 March, after an intense Artillery bombardment, the Brits quickly seized the battered German trenches. This manoeuvre, being successful, was repeated immediately. However the Artillery Faltered, Command dithered and the moment was lost. The attack failed and the British force lost 7,000 men killed and the Indians 4,200.
Second Battle of Ypres. On 22 April 1915 Gas was used for the first time on a battlefield. This was during the beginning of the second Battle of Ypres. The first victims of the Gas attack were Algerians, serving with the French, and Canadians. These men came staggering back from the line coughing and holding their throats. This caused a four mile wide gap in the attacking forces which the Germans took advantage of. They advanced some two miles and dug in. A counter attack was ordered during which the Canadians suffered appalling losses. Allied Forces withdrew. On 27 May the battle was over with British and Empire soldiers losing 2 miles of ground and 60,000 men killed.
This is to introduce you to my War History blog. I am going to try and link various family historys with various activities and happenings through the various wars of the 20th century. This includes my Grandfather and his brothers involvement in WWI my father and his brothers involvement in WWII and my involvement in Vietnam. Any one else out in the wide world who would like to contribute is most welcome. Just leave a message and I will take it from there. My name is Paul Gannan.
Christmas Eve, 1914. Everything froze along the Western Front. The mud froze solid and the smell of rotting flesh in no-man’s land had abated. It was a clear, crisp and mostly quiet night. The Germans started celebrating first swapping Schnapps and cigarettes among themselves and a few candle-lit Christmas Trees and Chinese Lanterns showing above the trenches. The lights drew rifle fire from the British who ceased firing when it was seen that no attack was forthcoming.
The night became quiet again, until the Germans started singing “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” and the British retaliating with the “First Noel”, then the Germans replying with “ O Tannenbaum” and so it went on, until the British started singing “O come all Ye Faithfull” and the Germans joining in with the same hymn with the Latin words to “Adeste Fideles”. This type of activity carried continued at other places along the Western Front. Near Ypers in Belgium a soccer game was played between the German Royal Saxon Regiment and the Scottish Seaforth Highlanders. This truce lasted for up to a week in some places
The rains came again, the mud softened and the mood changed, the Commanders ordered their men back to the Trenches and the guns began firing again. The men at the front remembered that they and their enemies had, in a time of inhuman horror, reasserted their basic humanity.
Over The Top!!
The Allies, using French railways to move their forces northwards to outflank the Germans at the Somme, Arras and Ypres (pronounced Wipers by the Brits) found they could not break the German line. Neither could the Germans breakthrough the British Defences.
One of the Germans attempts was at Langemark. The British saw lines of uniformed men approaching and heard them singing. The men were marching arm in arm straight into British machine guns and shrapnel and were torn apart. It turned out that these people were German student volunteers with only 6 weeks training and had never been in action before. In three weeks, it has been said, 36,000 students died. The Germans referred to this action as “kindemord”, the Massacre of the Children. The numbers of students involved is subject to conjecture, as is the number of casualties.
The Western Front. On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The shot that killed Ferdinand has been touted as the “Shot that Started the Great War”. However it was not until 28 July 1914 that Austria declared war on Serbia. Suddenly Russia ordered a total mobilisation of its forces, which, on the 1st of August the Germans demanded be halted. The Russians refused and on that day in 1914 the Germans declared war on Russia. On the 3rd of August Germany declared war on France and the following day invaded Belgium. On behalf of itself and Empire, Britain declared war on Germany, thus dragging Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa into the stoush.
Suddenly there was a flurry of diplomatic telegrams flying back and forth across and around Europe with various countries declaring war on each other. By the end of August there were two distinct groups; Germany and Austria-Hungary versus France, Britain and Russia. Or Central Powers versus the Allies.
Between the invasion of Poland and the end of August 1914 the Germans had a series of victories that got them to the outskirts of Paris. The French and the British armies retreated from Belgium and the North of France to the Marne River. The Germans followed sensing a victorious entry into Paris. By now French reinforcements began to arrive and every available French soldier was being rushed forward to strengthen the line along the Marne River. Troops were moved mainly by train except for about 6000 men of a fresh division that had just arrived from Tunis. The train could only shift half of the division. On 7 September the Military Governor of Paris, with the aid of the police rounded up some 600 taxis and transported those men to the front line about 25 miles away. Meanwhile the Commander of the German 1st Army moved to a position to protect himself from an attack from the direction Paris. Unfortunately for the Germans this opened a gap of nearly 30 miles between the 1st Army and the 2nd Army which was along the Marne. The British advanced into the gap between the two German armies. At the Eastern end of the line the French held the Germans, firstly at Charmes then Nancy. The French Garrison at Verdun held firm. The result was the Germans began to withdraw. They withdrew to the Aisne River, blew the bridges and dug in. By 17 September 1914 the front extended and remained static right along the French Frontier. This was known as the Western Front .
Christmas Eve, 1914. Everything froze along the Western Front. The mud froze solid and the smell of rotting flesh in no-man’s land had abated. It was a clear, crisp and mostly quiet night. The Germans started celebrating first swapping Schnapps and cigarettes among themselves and a few candle-lit Christmas Trees and Chinese Lanterns showing above the trenches. The lights drew rifle fire from the British who ceased firing when it was seen that no attack was forthcoming.
The night became quiet again, until the Germans started singing “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” and the British retaliating with the “First Noel”, then the Germans replying with “ O Tannenbaum” and so it went on, until the British started singing “O come all Ye Faithfull” and the Germans joining in with the same hymn with the Latin words to “Adeste Fideles”. This type of activity carried continued at other places along the Western Front. Near Ypers in Belgium a soccer game was played between the German Royal Saxon Regiment and the Scottish Seaforth Highlanders. This truce lasted for up to a week in some places
The rains came again, the mud softened and the mood changed, the Commanders ordered their men back to the Trenches and the guns began firing again. The men at the front remembered that they and their enemies had, in a time of inhuman horror, reasserted their basic humanity.
My Grandfather served during World War I in the 5th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force. My Father joined the Royal Australian Air Force in in 1941 and served with 14 Squadron RAF in North Africa before being posted to England. I joined the Australian Army in 1963, became an infantryman and served in four battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment, various headquarters at home and oversea including Vietnam and Far East Land Force Singapore. I took my discharge in 1983.
Regimental Historys are by nature, very bland. They give just a basic look at what happened, on a daily basis for the duration of that regiments existence. They do not give the story from the soldiers point of view. That is left to diaries and letters to explain to families and loved ones of the soldiers concerned. Historians and family members then become the story tellers. There are many books written by people with many different experiences of war and I have found that they are mostly understated.
I have just finished reading a book called “Winged Promises” a history of 14 Squadron Royal Airforce. One story talks about an aircraft diverted to Malta because it did not have enough fuel to return to base. It arrived at Malta during a German Air Raid on the airfield it was due to land. The aircraft, a B26 Marauder, had to stay away from this fight and land when it was all over. My father, who was the wireless operator, tells of the fears held by the crew of running out of fuel before the air raid ended, would there be anything left to land on? As this was night-time would the defenders of the airfield mistake them for enemy aircraft? Would some alert German Observer see them? There was more to this activity than just flying around in circles waiting for an air raid to finish!
My intention is to try to link family stories to the war history and make it a bit more personal. Any assistance with stories or reminices would be appreciated. For the record, my name is Paul Gannan, my father: Gerald (Gerry), My Grandfather:(James) Jim.
