100 Years Ago - Battle of Cambrai

IRISH TROOPS IN GERMAN TRENCHES BEFORE CAMBRAI

TANK CROSSING A TRENCH

A GERMAN AEROPLANE BROUGHT DOWN ON THE CAMBRAI FRONT

CAVALRY ON THE MOVE: A TANK IN THE. DISTANCE


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-swift-sudden-blow-3zf9gl2w2?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=118_November%2029,%202017&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_2584853_118

A swift, sudden blow

There are tales of Tanks which chased the crews of 5.9 gun batteries round their own guns and captured the battery, and there is another tale of a Tank which fell into the Canal, and the commanding officer was surprised to find it did not float

November 22, 1917

We believe we have sprung today as sharp and bitter a surprise upon the Germans as they have ever experienced. When all attention was concentrated on the Flanders front, and the Passchendaele ridge in particular, we have suddenly struck at the main Hindenburg Line in the old Somme area, beyond Bapaume. There is every reason to believe the blow, when it fell, was completely unexpected by the enemy.
Next to the secrecy with which this attack was planned, the great feature of the operation was the overwhelming share played in the earlier stages of the advance by the Tanks. The condition of the ground here, which is little cut up by shell-holes and is dry, made their use possible, as it has not been possible of late in Flanders. His Majesty’s landships have at last had a real opportunity, and they seem to have made magnificent use of it. The strength of the positions selected for attack was enormous, what is known as the Hindenburg Line consisting, in effect, of three elaborate trench systems, each perfected with every detail known to German military science and defended witli tier after tier of the stoutest wire. That wire had not been cut, for there was no preliminary bombardment, or any warning to the enemy that an attack was impending. It was the Tanks’ first duty to roll out that wire, so that the infantry could get through, and they seem to have done it everywhere, and the infantry poured through after them.

Our line has been practically stationary all the summer, running some hundred yards northeast of the village of Trescault and about 1,000 yards on the same side of Beaucamp and Villers-Plouich. Thence it turned southwards to pass 300 yards on the cast side of Gonnelieu, and then on to nearly a mile on the east of Villers-Guislain. The first German line, or Hindenburg Advanced Line, has run roughly parallel to this at a distance of from 200 to 500 yards, the space growing wider to the south. The main Hindenburg Line, the strongest of the three, was, perhaps, 1,000 yards behind the advanced line, the village of La Vacquerie, for instance, being behind the advanced line, but in front of the main line. The third line, or Hindenburg Support Line, was about the same distance behind the main line. These three lines together made an enormously formidable obstacle, but, so far as we know now, our attack, led by the Tanks, seems to have penetrated it at many points. We hear joyous reports of Tanks, singly or in droves, romping about at all sorts of places in the neighbourhood of the support line, and showing the infantry the way towards various villages. But at this stage of the battle it would be useless to try to give punctilious details. We have gained initial success by an extraordinarily bold manoeuvre, and it is impossible to define the limits of that success today.
I have said that British cavalry has been taking part in the great coup, and it has been a brilliant part. In at least two places I know that cavalry have charged batteries, sabred gunners, and captured guns. I know that they have taken villages and, having dismounted, have held them till the infantry came up. This happened at Marcoing and Masnieres, two places of critical importance by reason of their positions at the crossing of the canal. “Where the cavalry is rollicking now, or what pranks it is planning I do not know. One must, however, have misgivings that in such weather, where the going is getting so slippery and heavy, horses may well be growing tired.
As to the part played in the operation by the Tanks, it was overwhelming. A whole grand fleet of them was engaged, and they were led by their distinguished Commanding Officer in person, who flew his Admiral’s flag at the peak of his Tank and sent a message to all his captains on the eve of the engagement which ran: “England expects that every Tank today will do its damnedest.” Every Tank seems to have done it. There are tales of Tanks which chased the crews of 5.9 gun batteries round their own guns and captured the battery, and there is another tale of a Tank which fell into the Canal, and the commanding officer was surprised to find it did not float.

An interesting detail of the operation is that we have penetrated so deep into the enemy’s territory that we have found and taken villages full of their civilian population. It is said that we have freed over four hundred in Masnieres and nearly 1,000 in another village. This alone would show the completeness of the surprise to the Germans and how far they were from anticipating any such move, for the first evidence that the Germans are growing fearful of any threat on a particular region is the evacuation of all civilians. I understand that some of the newly-released cried unaffectedly with joy at their awakening from the three years of nightmare.

100 Years Ago - Russia, France, Palestine

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/hindenburg-main-trenches-v309gcxb7

november 30, 1917

Hindenburg main trenches

The main trench of the advanced line of the Hindenburg system was deep, narrow, very cleanly cut, and well built, with numbers of strong points, snipers’ posts, and so forth, but apparently without dug-outs. The main trench of the second line, 500 to 1,000 yards behind, is of immense width, 16ft in most places, presumably for the purpose of checking the Tanks. Both at the front and rear the trench descends perpendicularly some five feet to a broad bench or fire step, which is four or five feet above the level of the trench bottom. At places there are trench-mortar positions, where the trench widens out into a great chamber of some 30 by 40ft. Everything is on the same colossal scale. The third main trench is built on a similar plan. Besides these the whole area, to a depth from one and a half to two miles, is intersected with support and communication trenches, besides barbed wire in quantities almost incredible. The dugouts indicated that they were meant to be held by a considerable permanent garrison. Everywhere there are signs of this expectation of permanent possession, and of the suddenness of the evacuation.

The barbed wire entanglements were of extraordinary strength, not merely in depth and complication, but also in the character of the individual strands, some of which were so thick as to be very difficult to cut with hand nippers, and so densely set with barbs over an inch in length as to be almost impossible to take hold of. Barbs like great acacia thorns were so close together as to be almost continuous, and there was not even room to grasp the wire with the thumb and finger. Before the great main line, a deep belt of this wire was set well forward, some 50 yards from the trench, then between it and the trench a further deep belt, broken into islands and built in cunning patterns, with openings through which the defenders could sally. When the attackers penetrated the front belt they would be herded to the openings, which, of course, were swept by machine-guns.
The amount of labour expended on the Hindenburg defences is simply tremendous and most craftily planned. That we should have broken through with the suddenness we did will remain one of the most extraordinary feats of this war.

Charles Saatchi's Great Masterpieces: James McNeill Whistler's apparently simple study that electrified American art

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/charles-saatchis-great-masterpieces-james-mcneill-whistlers/


In 1891, James McNeill Whistler’s portrait of his mother was the first painting by an American artist to be bought by the French government. It would have been hard to predict that a moody, temperamental young boy, whose parents had discovered that the best way to soothe him was to hand him pencils and crayons and let him draw, would end up with such a distinguished honour.
His engineer father had been commissioned by Tsar Nicholas I to design a railroad, taking young James and his family to live in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1842. There, the precocious 11-year-old insisted that he be allowed to show his drawings to the Tsar’s court artist, who was impressed enough to assist James’s acceptance into the Imperial Academy of Fine Art.
Four years later, after his father died, Whistler was back in America and grudgingly enrolled in West Point Military Academy: this part of his education was to be short-lived, as he was promptly expelled for poor conduct and dismal academic results.
Keen to fulfil his artistic ambitions, Whistler decided that Paris was the place to be. Here he was free to become the epitome of a bohemian painter, adopting the casual air of a stylish young man who spent freely on clothes and drink. He funded his somewhat louche lifestyle by selling his copies of works by French and Spanish masters in the Louvre. Soon, his circle of friends included many artists on the brink of greatness, including Henri Fantin-Latour, Édouard Manet and Gustave Courbet, whose earthy, realistic approach to painting influenced Whistler’s early works.

The Times History of the War CHAPTER CCXXXV -THE RUSSIAN " PEACE."

100 Years Ago - Cambrai

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/the-glorious-battle-of-cambrai-whvmxhzpp

november 23, 1917

The glorious battle of Cambrai

The ground won in the first phase of the battle of Cambrai is being successfully consolidated, except that we have not been able to hold the village of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, which lies two-and-a-half miles west of the town of Cambrai. The big Bourlon wood, however, should soon be untenable for the enemy. We are now able to estimate more carefully the results already achieved. The Germans say in their bulletin that we have gained “a little ground”. As a matter of fact, our progress has been so rapid that in two days the Third Army has gained at least half as much ground as was captured during the whole battle of the Somme; and we are inclined to think that the total is nearer three-fifths.
It must not be forgotten that the Germans have at their disposal four lines of railway which converge upon Cambrai and therefore enable them to concentrate reinforcements rapidly. Should Cambrai fall, the results may be very far-reaching indeed. But enough has been accomplished already to warrant all the gratitude which is pouring forth to Sir Douglas Haig and Sir Julian Byng upon a battle which has immensely heartened the Army, the country, and our Allies. No victory in the war has ever come at a more welcome moment. It has made a deep impression, not only by its magnitude, but because it contains, in a signal degree, the elements of prescience and imagination. The enemy boast of casualties inflicted upon the Tanks. Casualties were expected, but it was the Tanks that made triumph possible. They levelled the wire, and thus obviated the necessity of a long artillery preparation. Without their aid we should not have taken ten thousand German prisoners, and we are entitled to feel fresh pride in this purely British development of the mechanical side of warfare. Of the work of the cavalry we have still to learn full details, but we believe their casualties have so far been light. Our airmen have never surpassed their exploits on Tuesday and Wednesday, when many of them were repeatedly flying at the astonishingly low level of fifty feet from the ground.

The battle is not yet over, and its full fruits have still to be gathered. If it fulfils further expectations, it may materially alter the whole position on the Western front. We await later developments with confidence.

Truls Egil Wyller, Hva er tid – Трюльс Вюллер, «Що таке час?»

Це зовсім невеличка книжечка, менш від півтораста сторінок. Власне, така була ідея закладачів норвезької книжкової серії, «Hva er», тобто дослівно «Що таке...», норвезького видавництва «Universitetsforlaget» (що в свою чергу запозичили ідею в англійського «Oxford University Press» та їхньої серії «Very Short Introductions» («Дуже короткий вступ»). «Oxford University Press» видало, починаючи з 1995 року, коли вони започаткували цю серію, більш як півтисячі таких коротких але всеохоплюючих книжок на окремі теми з самих різних галузей науки, від фізики елементарних часток до проблем сучасної політики. Книжки ці адресовані широкому читацькому загалові, але написані провідними фахівцями з тих питань, яким вони присвячені. Книжки серії «Very Short Introductions» виявилися дуже успішними комерційно, тому їх перекладено на більш ніж 25 мов ссвіту. Але норвезькі видавці «Universitetsforlaget» у 2003 році вирішили, що краще ніж перекладати щось вже написане, вони створять аналогічну серію, але написану для читачів саме їхньої країни. Судячи з того, що серія успішно видається й досі, відносно невелика ємність норвезькомовного книжкового ринку  (а Норвегія минулого року налічувала аж цілих 5 мільйонів 233 тисячі жителів) не стала їй на заваді.

Charles Saatchi's Great Masterpieces: Piero della Francesca was the neglected genius who showed Christ in a new light

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/charles-saatchis-great-masterpieces-piero-della-francesca-neglected/


The overwhelming greatness of Piero della Francesca has only become clear during the past 100 years. Unlike Masaccio, who was also working in Italy in the early 15th century, Piero was never considered a pivotal artist.
Masaccio’s paintings had been scrutinised by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael – the titans of the High Renaissance – and clearly had a resonating influence on their thinking. Piero, by comparison, was thought of by his contemporaries as a mathematical theorist specialising in geometry, rather than as a painter of electrifying power.
Now, of course, his achievements have been fully recognised by scholars. Today, there are Piero Trails to view his masterpieces across Italy.
Few facts are available about Piero’s early life. He was born in Sansepolcro in the early 1400s and is known to have worked as an assistant to Domenico Veneziano, painting frescoes in Florence. The early Renaissance style was beginning to develop here and Piero would have studied the sculptural works of the brilliant Donatello, as well as the revolutionary paintings of Masaccio and Fra Angelico. These would form the foundation of Piero’s artistic methodology: his serene, disciplined exploration of perspective, colour and light.
Although he travelled to intellectual centres like Ferrara and Rimini to complete a number of important commissions, he would regularly return to his home in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, and its relative calm. It was here that he produced his greatest masterpieces, and the tiny town is now an important port of call for visitors wanting to see some of the most exquisite art ever created.

Ще один діалог

А за два роки до щойно викладеного діалогу я мав ще один, на тій самій ділянці, і здається з тим же співбесідником (хоча тут можу помилятися). Він теж достатньо характерний, щоб викласти його тут ще раз


Співбесідник 1. Ваша фраза: "Украинцы не испытывали никакого неудобства в СССР если не выёживались и не пытались вести себя как отличающиеся от русских". Но ведь в СССР жила масса народов, чьи т.с. "житейские привычки" вызывали куда большую оторопь у русских (кавказ например). При этом на государственном уровне эти народы старались преподносить как гордых, смелых и т.д. При чем все понимали что это ложь и бред. Я даже как то задумался чем украинцы вели себя как иначе от русских, кроме того что на Украине больше процент сельского населения с причитающимися деревенскими повадками. И ещё Вы говорите: "при этом "украинский акцент" неизменно вызывал насмешку (ну или добрую улыбку, что ещё хуже)". Вы серьезно считаете, что подобная реакция на украинский говор (вполне нормальная по сути) серьезно раздражала украинцев в многонациональном СССР?

Співбесідник 2 (я). Даже и не знаю что ответить... Вот, собственно, именно о такой реакции, как Ваша, я и говорил

Співбесідник 1. Вы родились и выросли на Украине? На западной? Вам тоже не нравилась реакция русских на украинцев? Честно интересная тема. Вопрос - что не устраивало Украину в совместном проживании с Россией меня мучает давно и ответа я не вижу )))

Співбесідник 2. В "совместном проживании" не устраивала позиция подчинённой стороны, которая должна выполнять то, что решит старший партнёр

Співбесідник 1. А как вы считаете могло бы быть еще в многонациональном государстве? На республиканском уровне же ИМХО не было такого отношения. Те же песни С.Ротару на украинском были весьма популярны в СССР. И опять же почему второго сорта, если кроме Украины язык и культура были не понятны большей части страны? Везде была своя культура и ИМХО вполне пропорционально весу республик распределялось и внимание к каждой... так мы дойдем до того, что несколько национальностей вообще не способны жить в одном государстве и если они компактно проживают, то раздел неизбежен...

Співбесідник 2. Отношение как к культуре второго сорта было именно в УССР, когда постоянно сокращалось количество школ с украинским языком обучения (якобы по пожеланиям родителей, хотя их никто не спрашивал), когда практически не было высшего образования на украинском за пределами анклавов украинской филологии, когда культивировалось отношение к украискому языку как к языку деревенщины (или опасных вольнодумцев). Когда можно было освободить ребёнка от изучения украинского языка в школе "по состоянию здоровья" (ни с каким иным предметом такое не прокатывало) И в общем, речь идёт об отдельной довольно большой стране, населённой в абсолютном большинстве одним народом, которая поставлена в подчинённое положение к многонациоональной формально и руссской по факту империи. Что касается опыта 20-го века, то раздел таки оказывался, к сожалению, неизбежен

До четвертої річниці Початку

Просто викладу сюди свій діалог із одним співбесідником


Діалог відбувався якраз коли етап, що почався чотири роки тому, закінчився, але ще вже стало повністю ясно, що все лише починається...


26.02 10:51 Співбесідник 1 - Добрый день.
Хочется у вас узнать относительно событий в Украине. Мне честно сепаратизм регионов, российский Крым и прочая фигня пофигу. Больше интересует причина взрыва национализма и ненависти к коммунизму.
Как бы Украина 23 года независима. Выросло целое поколение людей никогда в жизни не живших при коммунизме или живших в весьма молодом возрасте. В чем теперь на 23 году незалежности памятники Ленину виноваты?? Если бы это происходило в 92г я бы понял, но тогда было все тихо. Более того в 90-е годы отношения между Украиной и РФ были наверное наиболее хорошими за весь период взаимоотношений двух стран. Никакие националисты и близко за пределы Галичины не высовывались.
У меня просто складывается мнение, что весь этот накал злости копился все эти годы и теперь выплескивается. И причина не в Евроинтеграции и ценах за газ при таком варианте. Причина злость на то что Украина не смогла стать экономически сильной и независимой державой. Но все равно непонятно... На Украине 6 раз были президентские выборы и 5 раз побеждал кандидат главной фишкой предвыборной кампании которого были более тесные отношения с РФ. Никаких бунтов на З Украине по этому поводу не было. Что на 23 году независимости случилось?


26.02 19:31 Співбесідник 2 (я) - Добрый день! Как Вы правильно заметили, причина не в евроинтеграции, она стала только поводом. Да, причина в злобе на оборзевшее чиновничество (разной партийной принадлежности), на казнокрадов, доведших страну до нынешнего плачевного состояния. Напомню что если в начале пути ВВП Польши и Украины было примерно равным, емнип около $80 миллиардов, то сейчас у Польши 600, а у Украины чуть выше 150. Я слежу за событиями во мнрогом по мордокниге, и там регулярно повторяется мысль что - с этого момента взяток не даём и не берём. Насколько получится - не знаю, но хочется верить что чиновничество будет достаточно напугано или по крайней мере взбудоражено Майданом чтобы быть осторожнее. Что до России, русофобии, ущемления русского языка и прочего - вопос кмк был создан сознательно и искусственно. На Майдане было много киевлян (в моменты массовых манифестаций - так подавляющее большинство) и у них нет никакой проблемы с русским языком. Насчёт "националисты не высовывались за пределы Галичины" - кого считать националистом? Если сторонников независимости украины, то таковых в стране всегда было большинство, как минимум за пределами Крыма и отдельных мест в Донбассе. Этнические националисты и сейчас не имеют поддержки - те кем сейчас пугают как минимум изменили риторику поняв что она не пользуется поддержкой, а может и изменили взгляды (но даже если нет, уже хорошо что они их не высказывают, это о чём-то свидетельствует). Что до памятников Ленину - да, запоздалый катарсис, когда показалось необходимым совершить символический жест очищения от прошлого и настоящего укоренённого в прошлом. Что до сравнения 90х и нынешнего времени - да, в 2004 Россия взяла курс на потивостояние с Ющенко, предсказуемо вызвав противодействие. Доступность российских ТВ каналов в Украине очень помогла в плане нелюбви к российскому государству - кому приятно когда выливаются потоки всякого разного. Радует что далеко не все россияне разделяют официальную точку зрения

Несколько сумбурно, но как получилось

A battering ram to drive through German lines

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-11-18/register/a-battering-ram-to-drive-through-german-lines-56lkp80rw

The Battle of Cambrai gave the Tank Corps the chance to lift low morale and prove the worth of new fighting machines designed to crush enemy defences

Allan Mallinson

A tank breaks through the wire of enemy lines during the Battle of Cambrai

“Just a line. A big battle has begun and we are taking the leading part. In fact, it could not have taken place without us,” wrote Lieutenant-Colonel JFC “Boney” Fuller, on the staff of the Tank Corps, to his mother on November 20, 1917. “I believe the attack was one of the most magnificent sights of the war, great numbers of Ts forging ahead in line of battle followed by infantry . . . Elles our General led the battle in a T, flying our colours. I am glad to say he has returned safely, though the flag has been shot to tatters.”
The Battle of Cambrai was born of the disappointments of Third Ypres (Passchendaele). In July, just before the opening of his great offensive to break through at Ypres and capture the Channel ports, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, a cavalryman, told his army commanders that “opportunities for the employment of cavalry in masses are likely to offer”.

Meanwhile, on the other side of no man’s land, the German chief-of-staff, General Erich Ludendorff, an infantryman, was convinced that “trench warfare offered no scope for cavalry”. He wanted to dismount them and give their horses to the artillery and transport: “The wastage in horses was extraordinarily high, and the import from neutral countries hardly worth the consideration.”
While Ludendorff saw the Western Front as siege warfare on an industrial scale, Haig, as a fellow general put it, regarded it as “mobile operations at the halt”. Having succeeded Sir John French (also a cavalryman) as commander-in-chief in December 1915, Haig had sought a return to the war of movement of 1914. As Field Service Regulations — the army’s bible — stated, “Decisive success in battle can be gained only by a vigorous offensive”, the chief factor in which was “a firmer determination in all ranks to conquer at any cost”.
In Haig’s view this meant an offensive leading to breakthrough and then rapid exploitation, with cavalry of the utmost importance.

Both sides had tried to break through in 1915, but without success. Their cavalry was left champing at the bit in frustration. It was the same in 1916. First the Germans at Verdun, and then the British and French on the Somme. Fortunately, away from the front, minds had been at work on the problem of how to penetrate the German lines.

100 Years Ago

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/the-fight-for-petrograd-0zs8rgjsk

november 20, 1917

The fight for Petrograd

The comparative ease with which the Bolshevist party accomplished the downfall of the Provisional Government was mainly due to the passive attitude of the troops of the garrison. The precipitate flight of M Kerensky at the first signal of danger told its own tale, and the last stand on behalf of his Government was made by a force of women and boys — cadets of the Military School garrisoned in the Winter Palace.
Last weekend reports reached Petrograd that M Kerensky had collected an army and captured Tsarskoe Selo, and that Cossacks had advanced within five miles of the city. It was generally believed that the star of the Bolshevists was on the wane and that the forces of the Provisional Government would soon appear in the streets. The friends of the former regime took heart, and on Sunday the Military Cadets made bold to reoccupy the Hotel Astoria and to assume the protection of the girls in the Central Telephone Station. Both places were soon attacked with machine-guns by the “Red Guard”. The lads defended themselves bravely, but were compelled to yield. The Astoria was recaptured by a storming party of blue-jackets. The Bolshevists then attacked the Military Schools, which surrendered after a spirited defence, and the boys were taken to the Fortress of St Peter and St Paul. The rattle of machine-guns continued throughout the day, but by 6pm all was quiet. I was accidentally present at one of these engagements, when my cabman, seized with panic, insisted on being paid off and abandoned me. Fortunately I found a guide who conducted me to the British Embassy. The Military Cadets everywhere were hunted down and murdered. Most of the victims had taken no part in the fighting. ln one of the canals 11 bodies of these unfortunate lads were found together. The killed and wounded on both sides during the day probably numbered 300.

Since Sunday the city has been tranquil and no further attempt was made to dispute the authority of the Bolshevists, whose position, however, was still extremely precarious, in view of the refusal of all the other Socialist parties to cooperate with them, and of the widespread indignation aroused by Sunday’s events both in the Army and among the civil population.

This Week in History - The Siege of Tarawa (21-27 November)

https://ospreypublishing.com/thisweekhistory/

The island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll was defended by the elite troops of the Special Naval Landing Force, whose commander, Admiral Shibaski, boasted that 'the Americans could not take Tarawa with a million men in a hundred years'. In a pioneering amphibious invasion, the Marines of the 2nd Division set out to prove him wrong, overcoming serious planning errors to fight a 76-hour battle of unprecedented savagery. The cost would be more than 3,000 Marine casualties at the hands of a garrison of some 3,200. The lessons learned would dispel forever any illusions the Americans had about the fighting quality of the Japanese.

Campaign 77: Tarawa 1943 describes the strategic location of Tarawa:

Lying some 2,500 miles (4,020km) southwest of Hawaii and 1,300 miles (2,100km) southeast of Truk, Tarawa had a unique location. To the north and west lay the Marshall and Caroline Islands, while south and east were the Allied-held bases. As the most southerly point in Japan's outer defense ring it held a pivotal position on the lifeline from Hawaii and the United States to the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. It was vital that this lifeline be maintained and most Allied operations in 1942 and early 1943 were conducted to that end. The invasion of Guadalcanal in 1942 and the operations in Papua New Guinea steadily rolled back the Japanese forward positions that threatened Australia.
Initially the Marshall Islands were to have been the first objective in the central Pacific drive. Ceded to Japan after the First World War, little was known of their defenses, but they were believed to have been strong and the garrison large. The relatively close proximity of Truk posed a threat of land and naval intervention and Spruance and his planning team were reluctant to take the risk in what was to be the Marines' pioneering amphibious assault against the enemy. America was frantically rebuilding its navy after the Pearl Harbor attack, but it was still not strong and the landing force would rely heavily on obsolete ships for support. The decision was made to assault an island that could be readily taken with whatever resources were available at the time; a flawed decision as events were subsequently to prove.
The Gilberts had until recently been British territory and the Americans had access to a wide range of up-to-date information about the islands from British and Commonwealth expatriates. At a conference in Hawaii in September 1943, Operation Galvanic: the invasion of Tarawa, Makin and the small island of Apamama, was formulated and the first 'island hopping' operations were approved.
At this stage of the war nobody knew if such a complex and perilous undertaking would succeed at all or at what cost. It was the task of the Marine Corps 2nd Division to find out.


Further Reading

Campaign 77: Tarawa 1943
Provides a detailed account of the US Marines’ invasion of Tarawa, a 76-hour battle of unprecedented savagery.

Essential Histories Specials 3: The Second World War—A World in Flames
Tells the stories of the men and women who lived and died during the Second World War and assesses the political, military and historical significance of the war.

Battle Orders 7: US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1943–44
Examines the development of the structure of the Marine Corps in the period 1943–44, its training, tactics, weaponry, and command infrastructure as well as the battles fought in the Southwest Pacific on New Britain, and in the Central Pacific on Tarawa, Roi-Namur, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Tinian.

485 Years Ago

https://ospreypublishing.com/thisweekhistory/

The Battle of Cajamarca (16 November)

Though small in number, the Spaniards clearly had the technological advantage; their iron swords, guns, horses and armour resulted in the deaths of over 7000 Indians (compared with zero fatalities on the Spaniards’ side). The Inca’s harrowing encounter with the Spaniards is described in the following extract from Warrior 40:The Conquistador 1492-1550
The Battle of Cajamarca

Since the days of Columbus, horses had played a fundamental role in all Conquistador expeditions. Indian people generally regarded them as mythical in nature often comparing them to giant deer until they learned their weaknesses. The Aztecs eventually learned to use pikes against them but only very late when the war had already been lost. Learning of Atahualpa’s arrival at Cajamarca, Pizarro set a trap for the Inca emperor. First a friar read the requerimiento, a ‘required’ document that outlined the Spaniards’ divine right of conquest. Dismissing it, Atahualpa pointed to the sun and remarked that his own god lived in the heavens, where he looked down upon his own children. In that instant, matchlocks blasted from the doorways where the Spaniards had concealed themselves and with shouts of ‘Santiago! Y a ellos!’ (‘Saint James and at them!’): the cavalry, led by Hernando de Soto, charged directly at Atahualpa’s bodyguard with devastating effect. Hooves rang across the courtyard and then thudded against the bare flesh of bodies too tightly packed to flee. Swords rended limbs and lances cut straight through two men at a time. The Inca army was totally surprised and overwhelmed by their first encounter with the horse in warfare. Pizarro himself then charged on foot, cutting his way with sword and dagger to Atahualpa to seize the emperor as his hostage.

 

Further Reading

Men-at-Arms 101: The ConquistadorsDocuments the uniforms, equipment, history and organization of the Conquistadors themselves, and their formidable enemies in the New World—the Aztecs, Incas and Maya.

New Vanguard 96: Spanish Galleon 1530-1690Focuses on the development and construction of the Spanish galleon, including the ordnance and crewing needed to produce and maintain these stately vessels.

Essential Histories 60: The Spanish Invasion of Mexico 1519-1521Explores the background of the Aztec Empire and of the Spanish presence in Mexico, portraying the Spanish conquest of Mexico from political, strategic, tactical, cultural and individual perspectives.

Warrior 40: The Conquistador 1492-1550
Provides insights into the lives of the Spanish Conquistadors, detailing their motivation, training, tactics, weaponry and experiences in the New World

100 Years Ago: Malmaison: October 1917

FRENCH IN FORT DE LA MALMAISON AFTER ITS CAPTURE

FRENCH ' GUNS ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT

 
ENTRANCE TO THE MONTPARNASSE QUARRY

TROUBLE WITH THE MUD

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-big-french-success-qdtl78xh3?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=118_November%2015,%202017&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_2521941_118

A big French success

The great shells shot up into the air with the roar of an express train, a sound which it is better to hear when it is travelling away than when it is coming towards you

October 24, 1917

This morning the French have gained a very fine success on the much-debated section of the Aisne front, north-east of Soissons and east of Vauxaillon, over the army of General von Miller. The main German force consisted in the centre of the 2nd and 6th Guard Divisions, based on Lully and Corneil, and flanked west and east by the 13th Division, south of Chivy, and the 47th Division of the Reserve, south of Vorges. Two other divisions, the 14th and the 211th, supported these troops, right and left, outside the actual area of attack.
Writing at an early hour, after watching the closing stages of the preliminary bombardment during the night and the first rapid bound of the attack, I am only able at present to say that our Allies have gained all their first objectives, and have already captured 1,000 prisoners and two of the enemy’s airmen, lost, like the Zeppelins, in the fog. [According to the latest report 7,500 prisoners have been captured.] The ground over which the advance was made - a four-mile front three miles north of the Aisne, stretching from east of the Laffaux Mill to La Royere Farm - is the most difficult corner of the big triangle of plateaux which is bounded on the east by the Aisne-Oise Canal and on the south by the Aisne, east of Soissons, between Fort de Conde and Pont Arcy. It was along the base of this triangle that the Germans finally made their stand after their retreat from the Marne, a well-chosen position made immensely strong by the confused mass of plateaux and ravines on the heights between the Aisne and the Ailette, the strategic point which first enabled them to convert the open war of movement into fixed warfare of the trenches.

After the second great German retreat, in the spring of this year, the French made two advances in May and in June, which carried their line to the position which it occupied until today’s attack - a practically straight line running nearly due east and west from the angle made by the sweep of the general front where it turns east towards Craonne and the Plain of Champagne, after running south from St Quentin, past the west flank of the Forests of Coucy and St Gobain.
SCENE OF FIERCE FIGHTING
During 1916, after the strenuous fighting of the previous year, of which Soissons was the centre, the region was so quiet that it was used as a rest camp for troops withdrawn from the Somme and Verdun. But since then, before and after the French had reached their present lines, it has been the scene of incessant struggles of the fiercest description. All through this summer the enemy have done everything in their power to drive the French back to the river. In the last fortnight of May they made 11 separate attacks, followed by 20 more in June, and on July 8 they assaulted the section of the French front at La Royere, on the extreme right of to-day’s attack, less than a mile in extent, with a force of two divisions, but without succeeding in their object.

Up to today’s engagement, the net result of the whole series of operations carried out by our Allies was that they had managed to deprive the Germans of their previous points of observation southwards over the valley of the Aisne without themselves winning a line from which they could command a view over the valley of the Ailette to the north. Both sides were entrenched on the plateaux between the two rivers, but each had a river at its back, and each had a too narrow footing on the heights. That was the double weakness of the position for both the French and the Germans, and was partly the cause of all the violent fighting in this sector and of today’s determined effort by the French to effect a radical change in the situation.
NETWORK OF CAVERNS
In order to succeed, they had not only to contend with the initial difficulty of bringing their supplies across the Aisne, but also with the special local complication that the approaches to the plateaux, as well as the sides and reverse slopes, are studded with a network of quarries and caverns of extraordinary strength, one of them so vast that it can house in its two tiers of rock chambers a whole brigade. Much of the preliminary business of bombardment, which began in earnest on October 17, has consisted in hammering the entrances and roofs of these quarry-caverns, some of which are entirely underground. For the success of the attack, it was all important not only to dispose of as many as possible of the troops which they contained, but to make them useless as emplacements for machine-guns. Otherwise, the cost of taking them and the heights which they guarded would have been practically prohibitive.
During the preparation two days ago I watched for some time a battery of 15in and another of 16in guns engaged in this particular work. They were thundering away for a large part of the afternoon at intervals just long enough for the monster tubes to be lowered and loaded and raised again to their almost perpendicular firing elevation after each shot. Then there was a deafening report and a rush of filmy white smoke from the muzzle, and beyond it, travelling far faster than the smoke but just visible for a second, you saw the great shell - a tiny black speck against the clear blue of the sky high above the line of hills behind which the batteries were hidden - shoot up into the air for the first half-mile or so of its long journey with the roar of an express train, a sound which it is better to hear when it is travelling away than when it is coming towards you.
Until the evening mist of a late October day began to rise it was first-rate shooting, and both batteries were making excellent practice. While I was there one of the 15in guns, as recorded by the observation plane far in front, put five shots running into the same hole in the face of one of the caves, and batteries of “75’s” were on ahead bombarding each breach.
STREAM OF 16-INCH SHELLS
During almost the whole of the preparation the hours of good visibility, on account of mists, have been few, and this, to some extent, has hampered, both the artillery and photographic work of the airmen. But for all that, it has gone on steadily and relentlessly day and night, and, as far as could be judged from the photographs, with good results. The roof of the quarry of Mont Parnasse, the biggest of all the caves, was known some days ago to be honeycombed with craters, made by the stream of shells showered upon it by the l6in guns, two at least of which broke right through the whole thickness of the upper covering of earth and rock.

100 Years Ago

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/low-flying-air-warfare-hwsvsgnb8

november 17, 1917

Low-flying air warfare

Perhaps the most conspicuous recent development has been the increase in the use of aeroplanes as actual fighting weapons against enemy troops on the ground. In its beginning it was a purely British invention, and the Germans simply commented with amazement on what they called the “audacity of the English airmen,” who kept annoying the men in the trenches by firing on them from low altitudes. After a while, they began to copy us, and the practice is now so widespread that low-flying airmen are a factor with which the infantry in trenches, shell holes, or on roads behind the front, always have to reckon. Dawn and early dusk are most favourable to this form of guerrilla war.
The daily amount of damage inflicted is incalculable. A dozen machines on a single day, for instance, attacked half a hundred different objects, firing thousands of rounds from heights varying from less than one hundred to four hundred feet. Marching bodies of relief troops were scattered, leaving dead and wounded; troops unloading railway trucks were killed or driven from their work; infantry in trenches and shell-holes, trains of pack mules bringing up supplies, gangs of signalmen repairing wire, columns of lorries and trains of motor transport, and heavy batteries in action were compelled to cease fire and their crews killed or driven to shelter.

Two pilots who went out together the same day started for the village of M, but on the way fell in with a large body of infantry on the road, so attacked and scattered it. Going on to M, they entered the village practically at the level of the house-tops. The village street was full of German troops, so the airmen cleared it out, one man firing over 800 rounds. Having driven every one still living and unwounded under cover, they went on to village G. On the way they chased more men from the road and silenced a machine-gun. Close by G they spied an enemy two-seater aeroplane. One of the two attacked it at about 800 feet and drove it down to 400, when his gun jammed, and while he was fixing it, a bullet from the ground hit him in the face and cut him rather badly. He was able to get home, however, whither the other went to keep him company. Before they left they saw the German two-seater dive out of control, and finally crash.

Charles Saatchi's Great Masterpieces: how Rousseau captured the jungle without ever leaving France

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/charles-saatchis-great-masterpieces-rousseau-captured-jungle/

 The Sleeping Gypsy (1897) by Henri Rousseau




For an artist driven to create exotic, vibrantly imaginative landscapes, Henri Rousseau’s own reality appears somewhat humdrum by the standards of the French avant-garde.
He was born in France in 1844, the son of a plumber, and as a young boy was obliged to assist his father. At school, he won prizes for music and drawing, talents that would prove useful later in life.
After finishing secondary education, he studied law, but soon after joining chambers he was arrested for committing perjury. To avoid a jail sentence, he sought refuge in the army, serving for four years before being given a compassionate discharge when his father died. He was fortunate enough to have avoided any combat.
Rousseau moved to Paris to support his mother, and took up employment with the government as a toll collector, a post that was to leave its mark – he was stuck with the nickname of “Le Douanier”, the customs officer, throughout his career.

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Rousseau didn’t explore his artistic interests until later in life, starting to paint seriously in his early forties and only retiring from toll collecting at 49. He was largely self-taught – he would copy paintings in the art museums of Paris and sketch constantly around the city.

Arguably, it was his lack of training and any academic influence that led him to develop such a personalised style. He hadn’t formally studied perspective or anatomy, so his landscapes are ambiguous, his attempts at scale unrealistic. Instead, the pictures possess an intense, dreamlike quality.

100 Years Ago - Russia

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/leninists-claim-victory-kkg29bhs0

november 14, 1917

Leninists claim victory

The following communication, transmitted through the Wireless Station of the Russian Government, was received in London yesterday:
History will record the night of November 12. The attempt of Kerensky to move counter-revolutionary forces against the capital of the Revolution has received a decisive reply. Kerensky is retiring, and we are taking the offensive. The soldiers, sailors, and workmen of Petrograd will impose, with arms in their hands, their will and the power of democracy. The bourgeoisie has endeavoured to separate the Army from the Revolution. Kerensky has attempted to break it by the violence of Cossackdom. Both efforts have failed. The workmen and peasants’ great conception of the supremacy of democracy has united the ranks of the Army and has steeled its will. The whole country will see that the authority of the Soviets is not a passing phase, but an unchangeable fact denoting the supremacy of the workmen, soldiers, and peasants.

The opposition to Kerensky is opposition to the landlords, the bourgeois, and the Korniloffs. It is the affirmation of the people’s right to peace, a free life, land, bread, and power. The Pulkoff detachment*, by its gallant blow, is affirming the cause of the Revolution of workmen and peasants. There is no return to the past. We have still to fight, to conquer obstacles, and to sacrifice ourselves. But the way is opened, and victory is certain. Let us ever remember the fallen, and glorify the fighters, revolutionary soldiers and officers who have remained loyal to the people. Long live Revolutionary, Democratic, and Socialist Russia! (Signed) trotsky. In the name of the People’s Commissaries.
* The “Pulkoff detachment” is unknown to history. The context, however, suggests that this name has been bestowed upon the Extremist force raised at Pulkovo, a small village, famous as the seat of the Nicholas Observatory, five miles north of the former Imperial borough of Tsarskoe Selo, and about eight miles south of Petrograd. Any force fighting on the Pulkovo-Tsarskoe Selo line would be well forward of the chief Russian Wireless Station, the recapture of which has presumably enabled the Extremists to transmit the above grandiloquent message in the guise of Government communications.

100 Years Ago - Italy

A FATIGUE PARTY ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS

UNLOADING MUNITIONS AT 2,800 METRES

ITALIAN MOTOR TRANSPORT COLUMN CARRYING TROOPS TO THE FRONT

A PONTOON BRIDGE ON THE ISONZO


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/italian-advance-on-the-carso-3rzsht2vg?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=118_November%2008,%202017&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_2489815_118

Italian advance on the Carso

The big trench mortars had done their work well, and the enemy defences near the river were smashed to bits

August 21, 1917

The battle on the Italian Eastern front continues with great intensity. On Sunday the Italian infantry carried by assault the whole of the first Austrian line east of the Isonzo from Plava to the sea - a front of fully 25 miles, largely across the Carso. By nightfall 7,600 prisoners had been counted. The Austrians are offering a most stubborn resistance to the further advance of the Italians. A little farther north, some six or seven miles above Gorizia, the Austrians have lost the bridgehead they held near Anhovo on the right or west bank of the Isonzo. Here the Italians have crossed to the left bank, at a spot about three miles north-north-east of Monte Santo, the mountain which in their May offensive the Italians captured but failed to hold.

A SATISFACTORY BEGINNING
Battle was joined yesterday morning early along the greater part of the Julian front. The preparatory bombardment lasted only 24 hours, but no such weight of artillery fire has hitherto been seen upon this front. Few details may be given as yet, but the bare facts noted in the bulletin are in themselves an indication of a satisfactory beginning.
On Saturday the weather was hot but clear, and, in spite of the rolling mists of smoke. a fair although intermittent view of the immense battlefield could be obtained. Yesterday a river fog filled the valley of the Isonzo and crept to the hills till well on in the afternoon, and the Carso was shrouded all day in a haze that was thickened and darkened by the endless up-spouting of innumerable shell-bursts. The vast extent of the fighting line and this gross cloud of darkness lent to the battle the appearance of something outside human agency, some dread convulsion of Nature. In the early morning the mist lay in the valleys like a level floor, that seemed scarcely disturbed by the havoc of shell-fire. But, as it thinned, the levels broke and the vaporous mass seethed and swirled like a witches’ brew.
BRIDGING THE ISONZO

On Saturday night, when darkness fell. the work of bridging began, and long before dawn it w as complete. Between Plava and a point some six miles to the north many bridges were thrown across the swift-rushing Isonzo. A number of troops were across before dawn, and, before the sun had topped the hills to the east large forces were established on the left bank of the river. The big trench mortars had done their work well, and the enemy defences near the river were smashed to bits. In places, too, the Austrian artillery was strangely silent - perhaps too much reliance had been placed on the machine-guns, which were very numerous - but at other crossings the shrapnel fire was very heavy. But nothing could stop the Italian infantry, and every battalion detailed for crossing reached the other side. Some bridges, naturally, were damaged, but quite enough remained and there was ample material ready for repair at the convenient moment. From Plava to the sea the enemy’s front line has practically disappeared, and, in spite of very strong resistance, our Allies are pressing closely upon the next defences.
As in the previous battle, the Austrian artillery is exceedingly powerful, and the weight of high explosive hailed upon the Carso seemed even greater than in May and June. The number of machine-guns has certainly largely increased. As I have said, it is too soon to give details, and it is much too soon to hazard conjectures. The Italian offensive has entered successfully upon its first phase. The men are in good heart and the leaders are confident.

100 Years Ago - Russia

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/siege-of-the-winter-palace-z2cd3h5cv

november 10, 1917

Siege of the Winter Palace

The Smolny Institute is the headquarters of the Petrograd Soviet, and of the Revolutionary Military Committee which sprang from it. Lenin, on making his appearance there, received an enthusiastic ovation. He was accompanied by his lieutenant, Zinovieff, who was wanted by the late Provisional Government. Both of them were unrecognizable. Lenin had shaved off his moustache, while Zinovieff had grown a beard.
Towards 5 o’clock the Soviet, which has become master of the whole city, began to isolate the Winter Palace, where practically the whole of the Government remained. Detachments occupied all the routes giving access. On the quays, in the Millionnaya, the Nevsky Prospekt and the Admiralty Gardens, and even beyond the Marie Palace barricades were speedily erected. The trams were stopped on this part of the route, but a short distance beyond they are running as usual. Ordinary life is going on, with almost a tinge of indifference.

At 8 o’clock the besiegers requested the Ministers to leave the Winter Palace, giving them 20 minutes in which to make their departure. The latter, however, refused to leave. The first detachment of troops attempted to approach the Palace along the Millionnaya, but the machine-gun fire of its defenders stopped it. Owing to the resistance of the Guards of the Palace, which was being defended by officer cadets and the Women’s Battalion, two destroyers, anchored in the Neva, fired four shells. At the same time armoured cars from the archway of the Morskaya leading into the Palace Square, also shelled the building. The guns of the warships and the armoured cars continued to fire at intervals until nearly 1 o’clock in the morning. During the evening four destroyers, a minelayer, and several minesweepers with landing forces were brought from Helsingfors and took part in the operations against the Palace. Finally, about 2am, the forces of the Soviet succeeded in entering the Palace.
While the rifle and artillery fire was continuing in the vicinity of the former Imperial Palace a performance was given as usual at the Narodny Dom, where a large audience assembled to hear Chaliapin.

Charles Saatchi's Great Masterpieces: Klimt's erotic dream still keeps us spellbound

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/charles-saatchis-great-masterpieces-klimts-erotic-dream-still/


As with many great artists, Gustav Klimt was not successful during his lifetime. His paintings repelled and offended the bourgeoisie in Vienna, a society riven by the fear that overt sexuality led to decadence. Considered possibly pornographic, Klimt’s work was so deeply unpopular that it wasn’t until the Fifties, when a sexual revolution swept the West, that his paintings were rediscovered. He was swiftly propelled to totemic status, one of the most highly regarded artists of the century.
Today, his paintings feature prominently on lists of works that have fetched the highest prices at auction: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), for instance, sold for £101.6 million in 2006.
Klimt was a man who spoke very little about his paintings, simply suggesting that if you wanted to learn about him you could look at his work. He did offer one infamous insight: “All art is erotic.”
This viewpoint is particularly apt when studying The Virgins (also referred to as The Maiden), a scene of sexual awakening portrayed as a romantic transition into womanhood. Despite the young ladies pictured being cloaked in Klimt’s signature flowers and vibrant swirls of colour, its sexuality is intended to be overpowering.

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He painted The Virgins, which is perhaps his most allegorical painting, in 1913, towards the end of his life. It was the climax of his preoccupation with female erotic dream states, which he explored in their various manifestations from virginity to maturity. In the painting, the central character sits among five other women who form a cloud-like constellation, seemingly suspended in space, a girlish contemplation of the future awaiting her.

 Overpowering sexuality: The Virgins (1913)
 

100 Years Ago - Palestine

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-11-06/register/general-allenbys-success-2j3q6cjnv


november 6, 1917

General Allenby’s success

Following up the success against the extreme Turkish right, we engaged his opposite flank last night, capturing all our objectives including strong trench systems and redoubts. This part of the Turkish line had been subjected to rough treatment by the artillery during the past six days, but what preceded must have seemed child’s play compared with the drumfire which burst forth at 11 at night. Bombardments of this intensity may be regarded as normal on the Western Front, but here they are without precedent. Even at the Dardanelles the Turks never experienced such a deluge of fire as was concentrated upon Umbrella Hill, a strongly organized position 500 yards from our lines on Samson’s Ridge, south-west of Gaza.
There was little organization left when our men swept upon it, and they met with little opposition. They were assisted in their task by several Tanks. These Leviathans were not entirely at home amid the shifty sand dunes, but nevertheless nosed their way into the enemy lines, making themselves as obnoxious as they best know how. With supreme indifference to machine-gun and rifle fire, they lumbered over the entanglements, parapets, and trenches, contributing greatly to the capture of El Arish Redoubt, and Beach Post, which latter is stated to be heaped with corpses. The moonlight exaggerating their huge and seemingly unwieldy bulk, the Turks must have regarded them as veritable sons of Eblis. Our bag included one mortar, many machine guns, and over 300 prisoners.

Our Flying Corps collaborated with the infantry with conspicuous success and helped to silence many enemy guns by bombing. The enemy guns were caught in the open yesterday by our heavies, which demolished both guns and crews. Nor must the work of the Navy be overlooked. We have several monitors and destroyers in position before Gaza, and their fire played a valuable part in the bombardment, as the position enables them to enfilade a good part of the Turkish lines, and their accuracy is appreciatively recognized. They are also doing valuable work in shelling Turkish communications in the rear. Meanwhile, on our right we have secured the hills to the north of Beersheba, where we are consolidating our new positions.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-11-04/register/how-beersheba-was-captured-pr5dtdlt9

November 4, 1917

How Beersheba was captured

By a rapid, well-delivered surprise blow General Allenby’s army has smashed the eastern end of the Turks’ entrenched line in Southern Palestine, and has wrested one of the most ancient Biblical towns from the enemy. In the early moonlight hours of last night Beersheba, where Abraham dug the well of the oath, was occupied by Australian mounted troops and British infantry after a stern, day-long fight.
Although meeting with strong resistance, nothing went wrong and the story of the day will add to the military glory of the soldiers from the English cities and shires and from Australia and New Zealand. The splendid British infantry made long night marches, and attacked with such determination that they tore down wire entanglements with their hands, and just as the moon rose over the Judea Hills the Australian Horse charged, mounted, against the strongly-held trenches, with fixed bayonets, overwhelming the Turks and galloping, cheering, into the town.

The Turks held on desperately, and time would not permit more than an hour’s bombardment to cut the wire. Our infantry made rushes across the open, heeding neither the enfilade fire of the guns nor the spasmodic machine-gun fire. In a few places shells had broken down the wire. Into these the bombers dashed, while others tore down the wire from the iron supports with their hands and were in upon the Turks before they realized that resistance was futile. This onslaught on the south-western trenches only served to whet their appetite. Resting awhile, they crossed the rough pebbly bed of the wadi Sheba and reduced the chain of holes and trenches on the western side of Beersheba. The cavalry work was equally meritorious: many horsemen rode 310 miles before getting into action. A brigade of Australians had to capture Sakaty, a high hill six miles north-east of Beersheba. With their usual elan, these big Australians stopped at nothing, and rounded up every Turk on the hill by 1 o’clock.
Everywhere in Beersheba today was evidence of the Turks being taken completely by surprise. Yesterday was a great day for the Army in Palestine: the staff work was admirable, the moral of the troops never higher.

100 Years Ago

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/heroic-story-of-skipper-crisp-vc-dd0brhzb6

november 3, 1917

Heroic story of Skipper Crisp, VC

The honours to naval officers and seamen include the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to Skipper Thomas Crisp, RNR, of the smack Nelson, and the Distinguished Service Medal to his son, 2nd Hand Thomas William Crisp, RNR. The story of the bravery of Skipper Crisp was alluded to by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons last Monday as an illustration of the way in which British fishermen have faced the perils of the war.
The following is the official account of the action in which Skipper Crisp died; On an August afternoon, at about a quarter to 3 the trawl was shot from the smack Nelson and the smack was on the port tack. The skipper was below packing fish; one hand was on deck cleaning fish for the next morning’s breakfast, and then the skipper came on deck, saw an object on the horizon, examined it closely, and sent for his glasses. Almost directly he sang out, “Clear for Action. Submarine.” He had scarcely spoken when a shot fell about a hundred yards away on the port bow. The motor man got to his motor, the deck hand dropped his fish and went to the ammunition room, the other hands let go the warp, the gunlayer held his fire until the skipper said, “It is no use waiting any longer — we will have to let them have it.”

In the distance the submarine sent shell after shell at the smack, and about the fourth shot the shell went through the port bow just below the waterline, and the skipper shoved her round. The seventh shell struck the skipper, passed through his side, through the deck, and cut through the side of the ship. The second hand at once took charge of the tiller. All the time water was pouring into the ship, and she was sinking.
The gunlayer went to the skipper to render first aid, but it was obvious that he was mortally wounded. “It’s all right, boy, do your best,” said the skipper, and then, to the second hand, “Send a message off.” This was the message: “Nelson being attacked by submarine. Skipper killed. Send assistance at once.” The smack was sinking and only five rounds of ammunition were left, and the second hand heard the skipper say, “Abandon ship. Throw the books overboard.” He was asked if they should lift him into the boat, but he said, “Tom, I’m done, throw me overboard.” He was too badly injured to be moved, and they left him and took to the small boat. A quarter of an hour afterwards the Nelson went down by the head. The second hand, who took charge of the tiller after the skipper was shot, was his son.