February 1915

February

• 01

  • British ports closed to neutral fishing vesselsOn 1 February 1915 the Admiralty barred neutral fishing vessels from using British ports, fearing espionage and minelaying.
• 02

  • Turkish advance guards on the Suez CanalOn 2 February 1915 the leading Turkish units approached Ismailia. In a sandstorm they clashed with Indian troops and dug in a few kilometres from the canal.
  • Turks enter the Aden ProtectorateOn 2 February 1915 Ottoman troops from Yemen attacked the sultanate of Al-Bayda on the edge of the Aden Protectorate. Local tribes repulsed the attack.
  • Entente opposes intervention in AlbaniaAccording to a British chronology, on 2 February 1915 the Entente advised Greece, Serbia and Montenegro not to enter Albania, mindful of Italy's interests.
• 03

  • Fighting begins on the Suez CanalBefore dawn on 3 February 1915 the Turks tried to cross the Suez Canal on pontoons near Tussum. Indians, Egyptians and warships beat off the attack.
  • German loan for BulgariaAccording to the British chronology, on 3 February 1915 Bulgaria negotiated £3 million in Germany. Athens and the Entente capitals took it as a bad sign.
  • Uganda–Congo boundary agreementOn 3 February 1915 Britain and Belgium signed an agreement in London that finally confirmed the course of the boundary between Uganda and the Belgian Congo.
• 04

  • Winter Battle of Masuria beginsThe British chronology dates the start of the Winter Battle of Masuria to 4 February 1915. The Germans were still massing; the attack began on 7 February.
  • Turks withdraw from the Suez CanalOn the morning of 4 February 1915 the Suez Canal's defenders found the main Turkish force had left in the night. Nearly 300 Turks surrendered at Serapeum.
  • Germany declares a war zone around the British IslesOn 4 February 1915 Germany declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone. From 18 February U-boats were to destroy enemy merchant ships there.
• 05

  • Allies pool their financial resourcesIn early February 1915 the finance ministers of Britain, France and Russia agreed in Paris on joint financing of the war and on credits for Russia.
• 06

  • Lusitania under the American flagOn 6 February 1915 the British liner Lusitania entered Liverpool flying the US flag. Her captain had hoisted it off Ireland for fear of U-boats.
• 07

  • Foreign Office defends the use of foreign flagsOn 7 February 1915 the Foreign Office called flying a neutral flag a legitimate ruse of war, and Germany's threat to sink ships piracy.
• 09

  • Canadian division crosses to FranceOn 9 February 1915 transports carrying the 1st Canadian Division sailed from Avonmouth. After a stormy crossing the troops landed at Saint-Nazaire.
• 11

  • US note on neutral flagsOn 11 February 1915 the US ambassador in London delivered a note urging the British not to let their ships fly the American flag in the war zone.
  • Dacia sails for BremenIn February 1915 the steamer Dacia, bought from a German shipowner by an American, set off across the Atlantic with cotton intended for Bremen.
• 15

  • Entente urges Greece to help SerbiaOn 15 February 1915 the British and French ministers urged Greece to help Serbia, promising divisions at Salonika. Venizelos refused at once.
  • Mutiny in SingaporeOn 15 February 1915 part of the Indian 5th Light Infantry mutinied in Singapore. More than 30 soldiers and civilians were killed before it was put down.
  • Anglo-French prize agreementOn 15 February 1915 London and Paris began agreeing a supplement to the prize convention letting one ally's courts seize cargoes from the other's ships.
• 16

  • French take OyemOn 16 February 1915 a French column from Gabon took Oyem, abandoned by the Germans. The town lay in New Cameroon, ceded to Germany by France in 1911.
  • A British division for the DardanellesOn 16 February 1915 British ministers chose to send the 29th Division to Lemnos to support the fleet at the Dardanelles. Three days later Kitchener backed out.
  • Trading with the enemy ban extendedOn 16 February 1915 a proclamation by George V extended the trading with the enemy ban to German-occupied lands and treated captured colonies as Allied soil.
• 17

  • Austro-Hungarians retake Czernowitz againOn 17 February 1915 Karl Pflanzer-Baltin's Austro-Hungarian troops entered Czernowitz. The second Russian occupation of the Bukovinian capital was over.
  • Loss of airships L 3 and L 4On 17 February 1915 engine failure and a snowstorm forced airships L 3 and L 4 down in Denmark. L 3 burned on Fanø; L 4 vanished at sea with four men.
• 18

  • German submarine blockade beginsOn 18 February 1915 the German war zone around the British Isles came into force. U-boats began hunting ships bound for British ports.
• 19

  • Fleet attack on the Dardanelles beginsOn 19 February 1915 British and French ships began shelling the forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles. At dusk some Turkish guns were still firing back.
  • Austrians take StanisławówThe British chronicle records the Austrian capture of Stanisławów on 19 February 1915. Other sources say they entered a day later and held it for two weeks.
  • Torpedoing of the tanker BelridgeOn 19 February 1915 a German submarine torpedoed the Norwegian tanker Belridge in the Strait of Dover. The damaged ship managed to reach port.
• 20

  • Australians and New Zealanders for the DardanellesOn 20 February 1915 Kitchener ordered General Birdwood's 30,000 or so Australians and New Zealanders to prepare for operations at the Dardanelles.
  • New Persian foreign ministerAccording to a British chronology, on 20 February 1915 Mo'aven od-Dowleh replaced Ala al-Saltaneh as Persian foreign minister. Persia barely kept neutral.
• 21

  • Surrender of the XX Corps in the Augustów ForestOn 21 February 1915 General Bulgakov's Russian XX Corps, encircled in the Augustów Forest, laid down its arms after failing to break through to Grodno.
• 22

  • End of the Second Battle of the Masurian LakesOn 22 February 1915 the Germans declared the winter battle in Masuria over. The Russian 10th Army left East Prussia, but most of its corps escaped.
  • Start of the battle of PrzasnyszOn 22 February 1915 German divisions began to encircle Przasnysz in northern Mazovia, and the Russians sent fresh Siberian corps against their flank.
  • Anti-submarine net barrage in the North ChannelOn 22 February 1915 British drifters began laying nets in the North Channel to close the way for U-boats into the Irish Sea, to Liverpool and Glasgow.
  • Northern Force advances on WindhoekIn late February 1915 Botha's troops moved out of Swakopmund up the Swakop valley. The march across the Namib on the colonial capital, Windhoek, began.
  • Bread cards in GermanyOn 22 February 1915 Berliners received their first bread cards, 2 kilograms a week per person. Cut off by the blockade, Germany began rationing food.
• 23

  • British occupy LemnosOn 23 February 1915 British marines arrived on the Greek island of Lemnos. Mudros Bay became the main base of the Allied fleet and troops at the Dardanelles.
• 24

  • First Territorial division goes to FranceAt the end of February 1915 the North Midland Division began crossing to France. It was the first complete division of the Territorial Force at the front.
• 26

  • First flamethrower attackOn 26 February 1915, in the Malancourt wood near Verdun, Bernhard Reddemann's German detachment attacked French trenches with flamethrowers.
• 27

  • End of the battle of PrzasnyszOn 27 February 1915 Russian Siberian corps retook Przasnysz, captured by the Germans three days earlier. Gallwitz ordered a retreat towards the border.
  • French seize the DaciaOn 27 February 1915 the French auxiliary cruiser Europe stopped the American steamer Dacia with cotton at the mouth of the Channel and took her to Brest.