More from the history pages of WW1

[Brian Probetts (Site Admin)]

Hi Team
More from the history pages of WW1

Regards
Peter Hogg
RNZNA South Canterbury N.Z.

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
22 April 1915 At around 5pm, troops from the German 4th Army begin to release poison gas towards the French troops at Gravenstafel. French troops begin retreating as their comrades are blinded or collapse from asphyxia. Around 6,000 French soldiers die from gas-related causes.

19 April 1916 The United States of America calls for Germany to stop its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships in enemy waters following the torpedoing of SS Sussex (which was severely damaged but not sunk). SS Sussex had Americans on board, some of whom were injured in the attack although none were killed.

Whilst the ship did not sink, it did suffer heavy damage and lost most of the bow. Casualty estimates varied but place the number killed at around 50. Several local residents of Newhaven who were first on the scene to rescue passengers from the channel were later awarded medals and commendations for their bravery.



Under further pressure from America, the Germans gave the ‘Sussex Pledge’ which guaranteed that passenger ships would not be sunk, merchant ships would not be sunk without confirmation of weaponry onboard, and that provision would be made for the rescue of the crew of any torpedoed ship.
Whilst this pledge once again kept America out of the war, it was revoked by Germany again in 1917 in the belief that they could score a decisive victory in the North Atlantic. They failed in this goal and served only to antagonise America to the point where the United States entered the war in April 1917.


ss SUSSEX
________________________________________
built by William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton,
Yard No 530
Engines by shipbuilder
________________________________________
Last Name: AGHIA SOPHIA (1920)
Propulsion: twin screw, 2 x triple exp 4cy, 20.5kn, 308nhp
Launched: Friday, 30/04/1886
Built: 1896
Ship Type: Passenger Vessel
Ship's Role: Newhaven Dieppe packet
Tonnage: 1565grt, 328nrt
Length: 275.0 feet
Breadth: 34.1 feet
Owner History:
London Brighton & South Coast Railway Co, London
1919 Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Etat Francais (mng LB&SCRCo)
1920 D Demetriades, Piraeus
Status: Scrapped - 1922

Remarks:
Torpedoed by Uboat March 1916 whilst on passage Folkestone/Dieppe; bows blown off and beached at Boulogne; 50 people died in the attack.
1917/1919 used by the French Navy at Le Havre
Scrapped after fire damage in 1921





20 April 1916 Fearful of a war with the United States, Germany restricts its submarine campaign by undertaking that passenger ships would not be targeted, merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons had been established, and merchant ships would not be sunk without provision for the safety of their passengers and crew.

21 April 1917 New Zealander Stoker Charles Williams RNR receives a DCM for his actions in the destroyer HMS Broke during an action against German destroyers in the Dover Strait (the German destroyers were bombarding Dover). Two German destroyers – G42 and G85 – were sunk.




Career (United Kingdom)

Name: HMS Broke
Builder: J S White, Cowes

Launched: 25 May 1914
Acquired: August 1914
Fate: Resold to Chilean Navy in May 1920
Scrapped in 1933

Courtesy of Wikipedia

11-12 April 1918 German forces attack north of Armentières with four divisions and capture Messines. The British situation is desperate. Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, the Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, issues his famous order:

“There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end. The safety of our homes and the Freedom of mankind alike depend upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.”



TAKING CARE OF MEN AND MULE WW1

Soldiers and mule wearing gas masks
historyinphotos.blogspot.com