https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/battle-on-a-grand-scale-zsktwwq8l
April 10, 1917
The opening of the bombardment in the grey of the dawn was as stupendous a spectacle as anything ever seen in war. The heavy shelling of the last few days had portended the advent of operations on a large scale, but hardly anybody was prepared for the magnitude of the artillery concentration which we brought to bear this morning. In an instant, it seemed, the whole of the enemy line broke into flame. Beyond the flicker of our guns, and amid the flash of our bursting shells, the enemy’s rockets, calling for help, rose from the whole circuit of the horizon — red, white and green fountains of golden rain. Between our guns and the front trenches, from a small wood a great flight of rooks rose into the dawn air and swung in panic round and round, silhouetted against the background of flames like a devil’s dance above the eternal fires. Then other birds came, slowly droning, from behind us, flying very low, and headed straight for the enemy’s country — our aeroplanes, hardly visible against the grey sky, but going serenely through the storm as if there was neither wind around nor death ahead of them.
As daylight grew, the outlines of Arras on the right and the vague line of Vimy Ridge on the left began to define themselves. Before 6 o’clock, however, the light drizzle changed to a heavy storm of rain, which later became mixed with snow, and all the battlefield was sheeted in flying mist. It was not the weather for the attack we had hoped for, and the surface of the ground again became slippery and shining with moisture. We are under no misapprehension as to the strength of the position which we are attacking. Behind the enemy’s front line system, strengthened in every possible way, extends a network of trenches and strongholds, line beyond line. Such a battle as has begun this morning cannot be fought without heavy casualties. We must be reconciled to that. But the enemy will suffer, more than we, and we shall break him here as we broke him on the Somme.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-08/register/battles-for-air-supremacy-tvksfj87d
During the days and nights of 5th and 6th our aeroplanes have been very active, harassing the enemy’s communications, and seeking out his fighting machines at a considerable distance behind his lines. Large tracts of country were photographed, over 1,700 photographs being taken behind the enemy’s lines. Cooperation with artillery continued during daylight, although repeated attempts were made by the enemy to prevent this important work. Seventeen successful bomb raids were carried out on enemy aerodromes, ammunition depots and railways a long distance behind the lines, in addition to numerous small raids. A total of over eight tons of bombs were dropped. All the time intense fighting between large formations took place. Our casualties are 28 machines missing, a large number of which are known to have been shot down in combat over the enemy’s country. The enemy suffered very heavy casualties. In one case an observer was seen to fall out of his machine, which went down out of control in a spin, and in another the fighting was so close that the enemy pilot was seen to fall forward, his machine nose-diving out of control. Fifteen hostile machines were driven down and seen to crash, while 31 others were driven down damaged, a very large proportion of which must have been destroyed. Two hostile balloons were brought down in flames.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-07/register/us-declares-war-sxjv5zjlw
The size of the pacifist vote and the length of the debate were due to the unexpected revolt of Mr Kitchen, the Democratic floor leader — a provincially minded Southern politician, who before now has plagued the President by his obstinate stupidity. His followers consisted of ignoramuses like himself, Socialists, extreme Radicals, and a few normally innocuous people apparently intimidated by pacifist demonstrations.
The debate in the House of Representatives has shown that American foreign affairs are no longer at the mercy of honest but bucolic politicians, a fact that time and again has handicapped the Government for a generation past. By the declaration of war the United States has found not only her place in the world, but herself. Your readers should not place too much reliance on speculation that a break with, if not a declaration of war against Austria is imminent. Anything may happen as the situation develops, but for the moment the President will probably rest upon the triumphant skill with which he has made public opinion recognise the necessity of war.
The same caution is necessary regarding the discussion about an Expeditionary Force. The administration has not yet made up its mind, but the best information is that any such adventure is at present unlikely. The Regular Army, if not called upon to keep the peace on this continent, could be better employed helping to train new formations than in supplementing the reserves of the Allies in Europe. The same applies to Mr Roosevelt’s project of taking a volunteer division across the Atlantic. Many trained officers, and the best material for new officers, would then be absorbed.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-06/register/desolation-of-the-somme-vd307m3gc
Over the whole surface of the country as far as the eye can reach there is not one yard of level land, of green, or of the original surface of the ground; nothing but one expanse of mud churned by terrible iron footprints, each full of the dreadful brown liquid in which lie half-submerged or floating all horrid leavings of the battlefield. It is indescribable, and inconceivable until one has seen it; this same utter and sickening ruin spreads over all this region, mile after mile. There are no positions left, no trenches and no defences: only this endless ooze of mud and slime on which by day and night our guns kept stamping, stamping, until the moment came when our bayonets arrived.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-05/register/the-tsar-a-poor-man-qn7dscqv9
Daily revelations regarding the private life of the ex-Sovereigns in connexion with the Rasputin scandal have brought about a sweeping change of feeling against the re-establishment of the Monarchy. Practically all the newspapers now entertain the possibility of adopting the Republican form of Government, and if the Constituent Assembly could be convoked within the next few months the result would unquestionably favour a Republic. But, as M Kerensky remarked some days ago, a Constituent Assembly is impossible without victory over the Germans, for the simple reason that so long as Russia remains under the threat of invasion a Constituent Assembly could not deliberate with the requisite freedom. Moreover, the actual holding of the elections involves preliminary work requiring at least nine months. If women are also to have the vote, the electoral mechanism would be all the more complicated.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-04/register/america-draws-the-sword-3lt85wzp6
The scene at the Capitol was extraordinary. The day had been disturbed and anxious. As soon as Mr Champ Clark had been re-elected Speaker in the afternoon, rumours began to fly that the President was starting for Congress. Thousands of pacifist agitators, many with guttural accents, began to congregate about the Capitol. Everywhere there was restlessness and excitement. As night fell the crowds began to think that the address would be postponed till the next day. Hence when, shortly after 8, the President came clattering up to the Capitol with an escort of cavalry the way was fairly clear. Outside cordons of troops were skilfully disposed, and inside secret service men were successful in their efforts to clear the pacifists and pro-Germans out of the President’s way.
The President’s entry into the Chamber produced an outburst of applause such as none of his former visits had ever evoked. The Senators, Congressmen, and Judges of the Supreme Court, nearly all decorated with small American flags, rose to their feet. The address started, there arrived a profound silence. But soon what can only be called roars began to shake the building. At last everybody knew that the period of anxious waiting was really over and that for better or for worse the United States had made common cause with the liberal Powers of Europe, and that the Pan-German intrigue within her gates had been brought to naught.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-03/register/air-losses-at-the-front-9fbqjgstf
British airmen accounted for 81 German machines, officially classified as follows: Destroyed, 14; driven down, damaged, 34; and out of control, 11; brought down, 22; fell in our lines, 3. Of the 58 British machines, eight were brought down in air fights or by anti-aircraft guns, and 50 were returned as “missing”. The 81 to 58 compared with 41 to 23 in February, 41 to 15 in January, 35 to 10 in December, and 57 to 32 in November. In September of 1916 the proportion was at least 100 to 48, and of the 100, 53 were specifically reported as having been destroyed.
The French secured 49 German aeroplanes: Destroyed, 10; fell in French lines, 4; brought down in air fights, 27; by anti-aircraft fire, 7; captured, one.
German Main Headquarters, for the first time, acknowledged losses in its daily reports. But the admissions were obviously only intended to magnify their successes, and cannot be taken seriously.
Several new French airmen won official recognition during the month — Lieutenant Piussard, who brought down a “Rampler” (the first German machine of this name recorded); Adjudant Douchy, Adjudant Ortoli, who, first named on March 23 for his fifth victory, had, by March 25, brought down his sixth, seventh, and eighth German machines, and Captain Matton. The veteran Guynemer still keeps pride of place. With a triple victory on March 16, followed by a “single” the next day, he has now 35 enemy aeroplanes to his credit. Two new names appeared in the German report — Lieutenant Baltamus, who was suddenly thrust on public notice on March 1, as the winner of 15 victories, and Lieutenant Voss who, though never officially mentioned before March 24, was declared to be the hero of 17 fights.
April 10, 1917
Battle on a grand scale
A new battle on a grand scale began this morning. At half-past 5, when it was not yet half-light, we attacked on a wide front between Lens and St Quentin. It was like the beginning of the Battle of the Somme again, and the Battle of Arras, if that is what it is to be called, may prove no less disastrous to the Germans.The opening of the bombardment in the grey of the dawn was as stupendous a spectacle as anything ever seen in war. The heavy shelling of the last few days had portended the advent of operations on a large scale, but hardly anybody was prepared for the magnitude of the artillery concentration which we brought to bear this morning. In an instant, it seemed, the whole of the enemy line broke into flame. Beyond the flicker of our guns, and amid the flash of our bursting shells, the enemy’s rockets, calling for help, rose from the whole circuit of the horizon — red, white and green fountains of golden rain. Between our guns and the front trenches, from a small wood a great flight of rooks rose into the dawn air and swung in panic round and round, silhouetted against the background of flames like a devil’s dance above the eternal fires. Then other birds came, slowly droning, from behind us, flying very low, and headed straight for the enemy’s country — our aeroplanes, hardly visible against the grey sky, but going serenely through the storm as if there was neither wind around nor death ahead of them.
As daylight grew, the outlines of Arras on the right and the vague line of Vimy Ridge on the left began to define themselves. Before 6 o’clock, however, the light drizzle changed to a heavy storm of rain, which later became mixed with snow, and all the battlefield was sheeted in flying mist. It was not the weather for the attack we had hoped for, and the surface of the ground again became slippery and shining with moisture. We are under no misapprehension as to the strength of the position which we are attacking. Behind the enemy’s front line system, strengthened in every possible way, extends a network of trenches and strongholds, line beyond line. Such a battle as has begun this morning cannot be fought without heavy casualties. We must be reconciled to that. But the enemy will suffer, more than we, and we shall break him here as we broke him on the Somme.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-08/register/battles-for-air-supremacy-tvksfj87d
April 8, 1917
Battles for air supremacy
The battle for supremacy in the air is being waged on the Western front with unprecedented intensity. In two days’ operations 103 machines were brought down as the result either of combats or gunfire. We lost 28 and shot down 46 German aeroplanes, of which certainly 15 were destroyed. The Germans claim to have accounted for 57 “enemy” machines. There have been no two successive days with fighting of such magnitude and with such losses since the war began. Taking the period from the opening of the Battle of the Somme, when the aerial services of the Allies and of the Germans first assumed large-scale proportions, the losses now reported are larger than those for the whole of June (72), December (94), January (88), and February (89), and are more than half of those for July (165), August (189), October (171), and November (148). The figure of 103 machines lost in two days is without a parallel.During the days and nights of 5th and 6th our aeroplanes have been very active, harassing the enemy’s communications, and seeking out his fighting machines at a considerable distance behind his lines. Large tracts of country were photographed, over 1,700 photographs being taken behind the enemy’s lines. Cooperation with artillery continued during daylight, although repeated attempts were made by the enemy to prevent this important work. Seventeen successful bomb raids were carried out on enemy aerodromes, ammunition depots and railways a long distance behind the lines, in addition to numerous small raids. A total of over eight tons of bombs were dropped. All the time intense fighting between large formations took place. Our casualties are 28 machines missing, a large number of which are known to have been shot down in combat over the enemy’s country. The enemy suffered very heavy casualties. In one case an observer was seen to fall out of his machine, which went down out of control in a spin, and in another the fighting was so close that the enemy pilot was seen to fall forward, his machine nose-diving out of control. Fifteen hostile machines were driven down and seen to crash, while 31 others were driven down damaged, a very large proportion of which must have been destroyed. Two hostile balloons were brought down in flames.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-07/register/us-declares-war-sxjv5zjlw
April 7, 1917
US declares war
President Wilson this afternoon signed the joint resolution of Congress declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and Germany. Messages were immediately telegraphed notifying the Fleet and land forces. For the past 24 hours mobilization had been held in readiness for execution on receipt of the news of the signing. The Senate passed the resolution on Wednesday by 82 votes to six, and the House of Representatives, after a debate of more than 17 hours, voted the resolution in the small hours of this morning by 373 to 50.The size of the pacifist vote and the length of the debate were due to the unexpected revolt of Mr Kitchen, the Democratic floor leader — a provincially minded Southern politician, who before now has plagued the President by his obstinate stupidity. His followers consisted of ignoramuses like himself, Socialists, extreme Radicals, and a few normally innocuous people apparently intimidated by pacifist demonstrations.
The debate in the House of Representatives has shown that American foreign affairs are no longer at the mercy of honest but bucolic politicians, a fact that time and again has handicapped the Government for a generation past. By the declaration of war the United States has found not only her place in the world, but herself. Your readers should not place too much reliance on speculation that a break with, if not a declaration of war against Austria is imminent. Anything may happen as the situation develops, but for the moment the President will probably rest upon the triumphant skill with which he has made public opinion recognise the necessity of war.
The same caution is necessary regarding the discussion about an Expeditionary Force. The administration has not yet made up its mind, but the best information is that any such adventure is at present unlikely. The Regular Army, if not called upon to keep the peace on this continent, could be better employed helping to train new formations than in supplementing the reserves of the Allies in Europe. The same applies to Mr Roosevelt’s project of taking a volunteer division across the Atlantic. Many trained officers, and the best material for new officers, would then be absorbed.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-06/register/desolation-of-the-somme-vd307m3gc
April 6, 1917
Desolation of the Somme
Today I have covered by motor-car or on foot a wide range of country in the Bapaume area, through one continuous wilderness of utter desolation. We climbed the Butte de Warlencourt and looked out on a landscape which surely can have no parallel in the world. The Butte, as we used to see it through glasses last summer, was then a symmetrical tumulus of green, smooth-sided and tempting to the eye. As the battle wore on, we saw the green change to brown as our guns broke through the turf; and then white spots began to appear in the brown, where we had shattered the outer crust so that the inner limestone peered through. Now it is all white. Nor is it any longer symmetrical and smooth, but it is beaten and battered out of shape till it looks like some huge lump of dough kneaded by clumsy fingers. The surface is so ploughed and sifted that nowhere is there a yard of stable footing, but your feet slide and slither in it as you climb. On the top of the dreadful pile stands now a monument to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Durham Light Infantry who fell in the attack on November 5, 1916: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. It is a noble site for a monument, and the Durhams deserve it. When the present wooden cross is replaced by permanent marble or granite, there should be grouped around it memorials to all the other troops who took part in the desperate fighting here. Standing beside the cross, one can see only too clearly how completely the machine-guns in the Butte, and the larger guns behind it, dominated the long gully by which it had to be approached.Over the whole surface of the country as far as the eye can reach there is not one yard of level land, of green, or of the original surface of the ground; nothing but one expanse of mud churned by terrible iron footprints, each full of the dreadful brown liquid in which lie half-submerged or floating all horrid leavings of the battlefield. It is indescribable, and inconceivable until one has seen it; this same utter and sickening ruin spreads over all this region, mile after mile. There are no positions left, no trenches and no defences: only this endless ooze of mud and slime on which by day and night our guns kept stamping, stamping, until the moment came when our bayonets arrived.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-05/register/the-tsar-a-poor-man-qn7dscqv9
April 5, 1917
The tsar a poor man
M Titoff, the commissary appointed by the Provisional Government to take charge of the affairs of the ex-Tsar and his family, has applied for a grant to cover their immediate expenses. According to a rough estimate of their private fortunes, it appears that Nicholas II owns not more than £100,000 in cash and securities. His wife’s fortune amounts to about £110,000. Young Alexis is wealthier, as his allowance has been accumulating. He possesses about £550,000. The fortunes of his sisters are estimated as follows: Olga, £530,000 Tatiana, £400,000 Marie, £370,000; Anastasia, £330,000. Since 1906 the Civil List has amounted to £1,600,000 annually, but enormous revenues were derived from mines, forests, and lands belonging to the Emperor’s Cabinet. The expenditure of the Court swallowed up these vast sums on maintaining Imperial residences, shooting boxes, and a host of retainers. Hence, in spite of his great possessions, the Tsar appears to be a poor man, inasmuch as the real estate belonging to the Cabinet will become State property. The position of the Grand Dukes and others of the Romanoff family will also have to be considered. Some of them, like Nicholas Nicolaievitch and the heirs of the late Grand Duke Constantine, own large private properties. Other kinsmen had little besides an annual grant, which will also revert to the State.Daily revelations regarding the private life of the ex-Sovereigns in connexion with the Rasputin scandal have brought about a sweeping change of feeling against the re-establishment of the Monarchy. Practically all the newspapers now entertain the possibility of adopting the Republican form of Government, and if the Constituent Assembly could be convoked within the next few months the result would unquestionably favour a Republic. But, as M Kerensky remarked some days ago, a Constituent Assembly is impossible without victory over the Germans, for the simple reason that so long as Russia remains under the threat of invasion a Constituent Assembly could not deliberate with the requisite freedom. Moreover, the actual holding of the elections involves preliminary work requiring at least nine months. If women are also to have the vote, the electoral mechanism would be all the more complicated.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-04/register/america-draws-the-sword-3lt85wzp6
April 4, 1917
America draws the sword
Come what may, the United States is now our Ally until the end of the war, and afterwards she will be an effective partner in the work of restoring the world to a permanent basis of peace and decency. Nobody who heard the President’s address last night, nobody who read today’s newspapers can doubt that. Yesterday the United States was distracted by cross currents of opinion, prejudice, and tradition. A large section of her people was dazed by the clamour of pacifists and led astray by the propaganda of pro-Germans. Today the tide of national thought sets on a steady stream of patriotism. From one ocean to the other newspapers and public men proclaim that the President’s address made an irresistible appeal to every impulse and instinct of democracy. The country, in fact, has been given the lead which it wanted.The scene at the Capitol was extraordinary. The day had been disturbed and anxious. As soon as Mr Champ Clark had been re-elected Speaker in the afternoon, rumours began to fly that the President was starting for Congress. Thousands of pacifist agitators, many with guttural accents, began to congregate about the Capitol. Everywhere there was restlessness and excitement. As night fell the crowds began to think that the address would be postponed till the next day. Hence when, shortly after 8, the President came clattering up to the Capitol with an escort of cavalry the way was fairly clear. Outside cordons of troops were skilfully disposed, and inside secret service men were successful in their efforts to clear the pacifists and pro-Germans out of the President’s way.
The President’s entry into the Chamber produced an outburst of applause such as none of his former visits had ever evoked. The Senators, Congressmen, and Judges of the Supreme Court, nearly all decorated with small American flags, rose to their feet. The address started, there arrived a profound silence. But soon what can only be called roars began to shake the building. At last everybody knew that the period of anxious waiting was really over and that for better or for worse the United States had made common cause with the liberal Powers of Europe, and that the Pan-German intrigue within her gates had been brought to naught.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-04-03/register/air-losses-at-the-front-9fbqjgstf
April 3, 1917
Air losses at the front
Only once since the beginning of the Battle of the Somme have the monthly losses of aeroplanes on the Western front exceeded those which were officially recorded in March. That was in September, when the figure for the French, the Germans, and ourselves was 322. Last month the losses numbered 262, made up as follows: British (acknowledged by General Headquarters in France), 58; French (on the assumption that the German reports are trustworthy), 71; German (based on the British and French daily communiqués), 133.British airmen accounted for 81 German machines, officially classified as follows: Destroyed, 14; driven down, damaged, 34; and out of control, 11; brought down, 22; fell in our lines, 3. Of the 58 British machines, eight were brought down in air fights or by anti-aircraft guns, and 50 were returned as “missing”. The 81 to 58 compared with 41 to 23 in February, 41 to 15 in January, 35 to 10 in December, and 57 to 32 in November. In September of 1916 the proportion was at least 100 to 48, and of the 100, 53 were specifically reported as having been destroyed.
The French secured 49 German aeroplanes: Destroyed, 10; fell in French lines, 4; brought down in air fights, 27; by anti-aircraft fire, 7; captured, one.
German Main Headquarters, for the first time, acknowledged losses in its daily reports. But the admissions were obviously only intended to magnify their successes, and cannot be taken seriously.
Several new French airmen won official recognition during the month — Lieutenant Piussard, who brought down a “Rampler” (the first German machine of this name recorded); Adjudant Douchy, Adjudant Ortoli, who, first named on March 23 for his fifth victory, had, by March 25, brought down his sixth, seventh, and eighth German machines, and Captain Matton. The veteran Guynemer still keeps pride of place. With a triple victory on March 16, followed by a “single” the next day, he has now 35 enemy aeroplanes to his credit. Two new names appeared in the German report — Lieutenant Baltamus, who was suddenly thrust on public notice on March 1, as the winner of 15 victories, and Lieutenant Voss who, though never officially mentioned before March 24, was declared to be the hero of 17 fights.
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