January 1915

January

• 01

  • Sinking of the battleship FormidableBefore dawn on 1 January 1915 the German U-24 torpedoed the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel. 547 sailors were killed.
• 02

  • End of the Battle of SarikamishIn early January 1915 the Russians encircled the remnants of the Ottoman IX Corps at Sarikamish and took its commander. X Corps escaped over the mountains.
  • Russians abandon UrmiaOn 2 January 1915 Russian troops withdrew from Urmia in northern Persia. Thousands of Assyrians and Armenians fled with them; Kurds and Turks took the town.
• 03

  • French contraband listOn 3 January 1915 France published new lists of contraband of war. From then on they were exactly the same as the British lists of 23 December.
• 04

  • London Stock Exchange reopensOn 4 January 1915, after a break of more than five months, the London Stock Exchange reopened. Trading was for cash only and not below minimum prices.
• 05

  • German attack on EdéaOn 5 January 1915 the Germans attacked Edéa and Kopongo in Kamerun to push the Allies back from Yaoundé. Colonel Mayer's French garrison repulsed both attacks.
  • Russians leave TabrizOn 5 January 1915 the last Russian troops left Tabriz, capital of Persian Azerbaijan, held since 1909. Most of the Armenians fled with them.
• 06

  • Sale of the DaciaIn early 1915 the German steamer Dacia, interned in the USA, passed under the American flag. London saw it as an attempt to get round the blockade.
• 08

  • Key eventStart of the battle of SoissonsOn 8 January 1915 the French attacked German trenches on the heights above the Aisne north of Soissons. Moroccan tirailleurs took Hill 132 in minutes.
  • Turks take TabrizOn 8 January 1915 Kurdish and Turkish units entered Tabriz, abandoned by the Russians. The occupation of the capital of Persian Azerbaijan lasted three weeks.
  • Battle of Kara Urgan beginsIn early January 1915 the Ottoman XI Corps attacked the Russians at Kara Urgan, on the road from Erzurum to Sarikamish. Then Enver Pasha left the front.
  • Rubber agreementOn 8 January 1915 London agreed to ship rubber to the USA in return for guarantees from American factories that neither it nor its products would reach Germany.
• 10

  • Defence of MuscatOn the night of 10–11 January 1915 some 3,000 tribal warriors of the Imam of Oman attacked Muscat. The Indian garrison drove them off at Bait al-Falaj.
• 11

  • Romanian loan in LondonIn January 1915 neutral Romania obtained a loan of £5 million in London. The money was to pay for weapons ordered from the Entente powers.
  • Last pockets of rebellion in the TransvaalA British chronology records the capture of the last rebels in the Transvaal on 11 January 1915. The details of this event could not be confirmed.
• 12

  • British occupy Mafia IslandIn January 1915 the British took the German island of Mafia off the Rufiji delta. It became a base against the cruiser Königsberg hidden in the delta.
• 13

  • End of the battle of Kara UrganIn mid-January 1915 the Russians forced the Ottoman XI Corps to retreat from Kara Urgan. It was the last act of the fighting for Sarikamish.
  • War Council decides to attack the DardanellesOn 13 January 1915 the British War Council told the Admiralty to prepare a February naval expedition to the Dardanelles, aimed at Constantinople.
  • Burián replaces BerchtoldOn 13 January 1915 Baron István Burián replaced Count Berchtold as Austro-Hungarian foreign minister. Berchtold had to go for being ready to yield to Italy.
• 14

  • End of the Battle of SoissonsOn 14 January 1915 the French, driven off the heights at Crouy by a German counter-attack, fell back across the flooded Aisne, losing over 5,000 prisoners.
  • Capture of SwakopmundIn mid-January 1915 Union of South Africa forces took Swakopmund, the main port of German South West Africa, without a fight.
• 15

  • Italian–Romanian agreementThe British chronology records on 15 January 1915 the disclosure of a secret Italian–Romanian pact. Both neutral countries had pledged to act together.
• 18

  • German attack on JasinOn 18 January 1915 nine of Lettow-Vorbeck's companies surrounded the British post at Jasin. A relief force from the camp on the Umba could not break through.
• 19

  • Key eventFirst airship raid on EnglandOn 19 January 1915 the airships L 3 and L 4 bombed Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Norfolk villages. Four people died. It was the first airship raid on England.
  • Germans capture JasinOn the morning of 19 January 1915 the Jasin garrison, out of ammunition and water, surrendered to Lettow-Vorbeck. 276 Indian and African soldiers were captured.
• 21

  • Wild von Hohenborn becomes minister of warOn 21 January 1915 Adolf Wild von Hohenborn became Prussian minister of war. Falkenhayn handed him the ministry but remained Chief of the General Staff.
• 23

  • Carpathian offensive beginsOn 23 January 1915 Austria-Hungary and the German South Army struck in the Carpathians to push the Russians back from the passes and relieve besieged Przemyśl.
  • Defence of UpingtonOn 24 January 1915 the rebels of Maritz and Kemp, backed by German artillery, attacked Upington. Government troops beat them off after hours of fighting.
• 24

  • Battle of Dogger BankOn 24 January 1915 Beatty's battlecruisers intercepted Hipper's squadron in the North Sea. The German cruiser Blücher was sunk; the other Germans escaped.
  • Airship PL 19 shot down off LibauAt the end of January 1915 the German airship PL 19, damaged after a raid on Libau, came down in the Baltic. Seven airmen were taken prisoner by the Russians.
  • Murray leaves the BEF staffOn 24 January 1915 John French sent the BEF chief of staff, General Archibald Murray, on sick leave. The next day he demanded his resignation.
  • Robertson ceases to be BEF quartermaster generalOn 24 January 1915 General William Robertson stepped down as Quartermaster General of the BEF to take over as chief of staff from Murray.
  • British offer to GreeceOn 24 January 1915 London promised Greece gains in Asia Minor in return for helping Serbia. Venizelos at once proposed to the King ceding Kavala to Bulgaria.
• 25

  • Robertson becomes chief of staff of the BEFOn 25 January 1915 General William Robertson became Chief of the General Staff of the BEF. The government blocked Henry Wilson, French's favourite.
  • Romania refuses to support SerbiaAccording to the British chronology, on 25 January 1915 Romania rejected an Entente idea to help Serbia with Greece. Bucharest would not act without Bulgaria.
  • Pimenta de Castro becomes prime minister of PortugalOn 25 January 1915, after an officers' protest, President Arriaga gave the Portuguese government to General Pimenta de Castro, who ruled without parliament.
• 26

  • Turkish march on the Suez CanalAt the end of January 1915 Djemal Pasha's Ottoman army crossed the Sinai desert. On 26 January its troops clashed with the British at Kantara.
  • London agreement extended to TurkeyAccording to the British chronology, on 26 January 1915 the Entente agreed the Pact of London's ban on a separate peace also applied to the war with Turkey.
• 27

  • Maxwell becomes Quartermaster-General of the BEFOn 27 January 1915 Gen. Ronald Maxwell became Quartermaster-General of the BEF. He had previously run the force's lines of communication in France.
• 28

  • Final decision to attack the DardanellesOn 28 January 1915 the British War Council finally approved a naval attack on the Dardanelles. Admiral Fisher tried to walk out but gave way.
  • Sinking of the sailing ship William P. FryeOn 28 January 1915 the German auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich sank the American barque William P. Frye, the first US ship lost in this war.
• 29

  • U-21 shells Walney IslandOn 29 January 1915 the German submarine U-21 shelled Walney Island near Barrow-in-Furness. It was the first U-boat foray into the Irish Sea.
  • Greece refuses to help SerbiaAccording to the British chronology, on 29 January 1915 Greece refused to intervene for Serbia. Without Romania, the king and the staff saw war as too risky.
• 30

  • Russians retake TabrizOn 30 January 1915 General Chernozubov's troops, after fighting at Sufian, entered Tabriz again. The Turkish and Kurdish occupation had lasted three weeks.
  • Admiralty advises neutral flagsAt the end of January 1915 the Admiralty advised British ships to fly neutral flags, or no flag at all, in the waters around the British Isles.
• 31

  • German gas attack at BolimówOn 31 January 1915 the Germans attacked the Russians at Bolimów, firing 18,000 shells filled with tear gas. In the frost the gas had almost no effect.
  • Idrisi takes the Farasan IslandsOn 31 January 1915 the Arab forces of Muhammad al-Idrisi, ruler of Asir, occupied the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea, abandoned by the Turks.