Military operations
Category
(1432)1917
January
- 04
- Sinking of the battleship PeresvetOn 4 January 1917 the Russian Peresvet, bought back from Japan, hit U-73's mines off Port Said and sank in a quarter of an hour. Sources give 91 to 252 dead.
- Death of Frederick SelousOn 4 January 1917 at Beho-Beho the 65-year-old Captain Frederick Selous, the famous hunter and explorer, was killed. The Germans escaped across the Rufiji.
- 05
- Germans take BrăilaOn 5 January 1917 German cavalry and Bulgarian infantry entered Brăila, the great grain port on the Danube. The Russians withdrew behind the Siret.
- End of the fighting in DobrujaOn 5 January 1917 the last Russians from the bridgehead at Măcin crossed the Danube. All of Dobruja except the delta was now in the hands of the Central Powers.
- 09
- Start of the Battle of Kut (1917)On 9 January 1917 the Indian 3rd Division stormed Turkish trenches in the Khadairi Bend near Kut. The chronology dates the Battle of Kut, 1917 from that day.
- Action at RafahOn 9 January 1917 Chetwode's mounted troops took the Turkish redoubts at Rafah on the Sinai border, capturing over 1,600 men. No Turks remained in Sinai.
- Sinking of HMS CornwallisOn 9 January 1917 the German U-32 torpedoed the British battleship Cornwallis, a Dardanelles veteran, east of Malta. The ship sank and 15 sailors died.
- 23
- Harwich Force clashes with German torpedo boatsOn the night of 23 January 1917 the Harwich Force tried to intercept the German 6th Flotilla bound for Flanders. It damaged V69 but lost the destroyer Simoom.
- Arabs capture WejhOn 23 January 1917 Arab rebels and sailors landed near Wejh in the Hejaz and forced their way into the town. Faisal made the port the revolt's new base.
February
- 25
- Key eventGermans withdraw from the AncreOn 25 February 1917 the British took Serre and Pys on the Ancre, abandoned by the Germans, in the first stage of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line.
- Start of the pursuit to BaghdadOn 25 February 1917 Maude's troops and gunboats moved up the Tigris after the Turks retreating from Kut. At Imam Mahdi a Turkish rearguard held them up.
- Sinking of the LaconiaOn 25 February 1917 U-50 sank the liner Laconia off Ireland. Twelve died, including two American women, and the US asked whether this was a cause for war.
- Raid on Margate and BroadstairsOn the night of 25 February 1917 German torpedo boats from Flanders shelled seaside towns in Kent. According to the Admiralty a woman and a child were killed.
March
- 11
- Key eventBritish take BaghdadOn 11 March 1917 Maude's troops entered Baghdad unopposed, the Turks having left it overnight. It was Britain's greatest success in the Middle East so far.
- Start of the March offensive in MacedoniaOn 11 March 1917 the French 76th Division attacked between Lakes Ohrid and Prespa to outflank the enemy at Bitola. The attack at once bogged down in snow.
- Russians retake KermanshahOn 11 March 1917, the day Baghdad fell, Baratov's Russians entered Kermanshah. The Turkish rearguard fell back westwards, towards the border with Iraq.
- 14
- Main German retreat to the Hindenburg Line beginsOn 14 March 1917 the British noticed the Germans leaving their trenches in St Pierre Vaast Wood. The main retreat to the Hindenburg Line was beginning.
- Action at MushahidaOn 14 March 1917 the British 7th Division drove the Turkish rearguard from Mushahida station on the Baghdad–Samarra line. The Black Watch lost 43% of its men.
- 17
- British take BapaumeOn 17 March 1917 the Australians entered burning Bapaume, goal of the Somme battle. The Germans gave it up without a fight, falling back to the Hindenburg Line.
- French take RoyeOn 17 March 1917 the French advance guard entered Roye, ruined by the Germans. About 800 inhabitants whom the occupiers had not deported awaited the troops.
- Airship L 39 destroyedAt dawn on 17 March 1917, after a failed raid on England, French anti-aircraft guns shot down the airship L 39 over Compiègne. The whole crew was killed.
- Russians take KerendIn mid-March 1917 Baratov's Russians reached Kerend on the road from Kermanshah to Baghdad. Ahead lay the Pa Tak pass, where the Turks were waiting.
- 18
- Péronne and Noyon takenOn 18 March 1917 the British entered the ruined town of Péronne and the French entered Noyon, the German-held town closest to Paris.
- Raid on Ramsgate and BroadstairsOn the night of 17/18 March 1917 German torpedo boats from Flanders sank the destroyer Paragon in the Strait of Dover, then shelled Ramsgate and Broadstairs.
- Sinking of three American shipsBetween 16 and 18 March 1917 German submarines sank the ships Vigilancia, City of Memphis and Illinois. Fifteen men died on the Vigilancia.
April
- 09
- Key eventBattle of Arras (1917) beginsOn Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, the British and Canadians attacked at Arras. In one day they advanced 5 km and took thousands of prisoners.
- Key eventAssault on Vimy RidgeOn 9 April 1917, in a snowstorm, four Canadian divisions attacked Vimy Ridge. By evening they held almost all of it except the highest point, Hill 145.
- 17
- Key eventBattle of the Hills beginsOn 17 April 1917 the French 4th Army attacked the Moronvilliers hills east of Reims. Zouaves took Mont Sans Nom, but Cornillet held out.
- Second Battle of Gaza beginsOn 17 April 1917 British infantry crossed the Wadi Ghazze and, at little cost, took the Sheikh Abbas and Mansura ridges, from which they were to storm Gaza.
- Sinking of the Lanfranc and DonegalOn 17 April 1917 German submarines sank two ships carrying wounded from Le Havre in the Channel. The Lanfranc also carried 167 wounded German prisoners.
- 20
- Collapse of the Nivelle offensiveAround 20 April 1917 the French gave up hope of a breakthrough on the Aisne. They had 20,000 prisoners and huge losses; the Chemin des Dames fighting went on.
- Clash of Swift and BrokeOn the night of 20/21 April 1917 the British leaders Swift and Broke caught German torpedo boats in the Dover Strait and sank two of them, G 42 and G 85.
- 24
- British take SamarraOn 23–24 April 1917 the British took the station and town of Samarra, railhead of the line from Baghdad. Heat ended Maude's spring campaign in Mesopotamia.
- Battle of Doiran beginsOn the evening of 24 April 1917 the British attacked Bulgarian positions west of Lake Dojran. The Bulgarians, forewarned, repelled most of the attack.
- 30
- Turks retake MuşOn 30 April 1917 Ottoman troops entered Muş, abandoned by the Russians. It was the first important town that the disintegrating Russian army gave up in Armenia.
- Bloody AprilIn April 1917 over Arras German fighter squadrons shot down more than 240 British aircraft. RFC airmen called the month "Bloody April".
May
- 03
- Key eventThird Battle of the Scarpe beginsAt 3.45 a.m. on 3 May 1917, still in darkness, three British armies struck again at Arras. They failed almost everywhere. Only the Canadians succeeded.
- Key eventBattle of Bullecourt beginsOn 3 May 1917 the Australians broke into the Hindenburg Line east of Bullecourt. The 6th Brigade held the breach, but the British 62nd Division's attack failed.
- 04
- French retake CraonneOn 4 May 1917 the French 36th Division took the ruins of Craonne and broke onto the Californie plateau, one of the last successes of the Nivelle offensive.
- Third Battle of the Scarpe endsOn 4 May 1917 the British pulled the last troops out of the failed Scarpe attack. In Paris Haig and the French agreed the time for a breakthrough had passed.
June
- 05
- Raid on SheernessOn 5 June 1917 Gothas bombed Shoeburyness and the naval port of Sheerness. Thirteen people died, and an anti-aircraft gun downed one bomber into the sea.
- End of the Tenth Battle of the IsonzoOn 5 June 1917 the Austro-Hungarian counter-attack on the Karst died down. The Italians lost most of their gains at Hermada; the Tenth Isonzo battle ended.
- 14
- Battle of Messines (1917) endsOn 14 June 1917 the British 2nd Army closed up to the German Warneton Line, ending the Battle of Messines. Gough took over the main offensive from Ypres.
- Destruction of airship L 43On the morning of 14 June 1917 a British flying boat from Felixstowe shot down the naval airship L 43 near the island of Vlieland. The whole crew was killed.
July
- 06
- Arabs capture AqabaOn 6 July 1917 the Arab rebels of Sharif Nasir, Auda Abu Tayi and Lawrence entered Aqaba from inland. The revolt gained a port near the Palestine front.
- Richthofen woundedOn 6 July 1917 over Flanders Manfred von Richthofen was shot in the head fighting British F.E.2ds. He managed to land but never fully recovered.
- 19
- Battle of NarungombeOn 19 July 1917 the Kilwa columns assaulted the German trenches at Narungombe all day. The Germans withdrew at night, but the British lost more than 600 men.
- The counter-offensive in Eastern Galicia beginsOn 19 July 1917 the Germans struck the Russian Eleventh Army near Złoczów. Within hours they broke through all its lines, and Russian soldiers began to flee.
August
- 02
- End of the Battle of Pilckem RidgeOn 2 August 1917 downpours halted the first attack at Ypres. Gough postponed further attacks, and British losses exceeded 30,000 men.
- Seeadler wreckedOn 2 August 1917 the German sailing ship Seeadler was wrecked on the reef of Mopelia atoll in Polynesia, ending the cruise of Felix von Luckner's raider.
September
- 03
- End of the Battle of MărășeștiOn 3 September 1917 Eben and Grigorescu ordered attacks halted and positions dug in. That evening Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the heroine of the Jiu, fell at Muncelu.
- The Germans take RigaOn 3 September 1917 Hutier's troops entered Riga, abandoned by the Russians. Baltic Germans greeted them with flowers; Petrograd feared a march on the capital.
- Air raid on ChathamOn the night of 3 September 1917 Gothas bombed Chatham. Two bombs hit a naval barracks hall where several hundred men were sleeping. About 130 sailors died.
- 04
- First Gotha night raid on LondonOn the night of 4 September 1917 Gothas bombed London after dark for the first time. A bomb hit a tram by Cleopatra's Needle. In the capital 16 people died.
- Shelling of Scarborough (1917)On the evening of 4 September 1917 the German submarine UB-21 shelled Scarborough in Yorkshire with its deck gun. Three people were killed and several wounded.
October
- 12
- Key eventFirst Battle of PasschendaeleOn 12 October 1917 Anzacs advanced in the rain on Passchendaele. By evening they were back on their old lines, and 845 New Zealanders were dead.
- Germans take SaaremaaOn 12 October 1917 the Germans landed on Saaremaa and cut off the causeway to Muhu. By 16 October they held the whole island and over 10,000 prisoners.
- 17
- Attack on the Norwegian convoyOn 17 October 1917 the German cruisers Brummer and Bremse smashed a convoy from Norway east of Shetland. Two British destroyers and 9 ships were sunk.
- Sinking of the battleship SlavaAt Moon Sound the dreadnought König crippled the Russian battleship Slava. Drawing too much water for the shallow channel, she was blown up by her crew.
- Hospital ship Goorkha damagedOn 17 October 1917 the British hospital ship Goorkha struck a mine off Malta. All 360-odd people on board survived and the ship was towed into port.
- 19
- Battle of Mahiwa endsOn 19 October 1917 the fighting at Mahiwa died down. The British lost about 2,700 men; the victorious Lettow-Vorbeck could not replace his losses or ammunition.
- The Silent RaidOn the night of 19 October 1917 eleven airships set out for England. A bomb fell on Piccadilly Circus, and a gale carried four of them over France.
November
- 06
- Canadians capture PasschendaeleOn 6 November 1917 two Canadian divisions took the ruins of Passchendaele, goal of the offensive since 31 July, in under 3 hours, and Mosselmarkt and Goudberg.
- British occupy TikritOn the night of 5–6 November 1917 the Turks abandoned Tikrit on the Tigris, burning their stores. The British took the town but returned to Samarra days later.
- 17
- Battle of Nabi Samwil beginsOn 17 November 1917 Allenby prepared to march into the Judean Hills, to bypass Jerusalem to the north and cut the Nablus road without fighting for the city.
- Second Battle of Heligoland BightOn 17 November 1917 British cruisers surprised German minesweepers in the Heligoland Bight. The chase was ended by minefields and two German battleships.
December
- 09
- Key eventSurrender of JerusalemOn 9 December 1917, after the Turks fled overnight, Jerusalem's mayor went out to the British with a white flag. The city surrendered without a fight or damage.
- Sinking of the battleship WienOn the night of 9/10 December 1917 two Italian torpedo boats broke into Trieste harbour. Luigi Rizzo's MAS 9 sank the Austro-Hungarian battleship Wien.
- 12
- Second bombardment of FunchalOn 12 December 1917 the German U-cruiser U-156 shelled Funchal on Madeira. In 20 minutes it fired 52 shells and killed several of the town's residents.
- Sinking of HMS PartridgeOn 12 December 1917 four German destroyers wrecked a convoy from Lerwick off Norway. The destroyer Partridge, six ships and four trawlers were sunk.
- 26
- End of the First Battle of the PiaveOn 26 December 1917 the Austrians left the Zenson bridgehead over the Piave. After the last attacks on Asolone and Col del Rosso fighting in Italy died down.
- Defence of Jerusalem beginsOn the night of 26–27 December 1917 the Turks attacked the British near Jerusalem to retake the city. The attack broke down below the hill of Tall al-Ful.
- 30
- End of the defence of JerusalemOn 30 December 1917 the British took Beitin north of Jerusalem, and General Chetwode halted the advance. The Palestine campaign of 1917 was over.
- French retake Monte TombaOn 30 December 1917 the French 47th Division took the Monte Tomba ridge above the Piave, with over 1,500 prisoners. It was the first French attack in Italy.
- Sinking of the troopship AragonOn 30 December 1917 off Alexandria UC-34 torpedoed the troopship Aragon, bound for Palestine, and the destroyer Attack rescuing survivors. About 620 died.