May 1916

May

• 01

  • Collapse of the Easter RisingOn 1 May 1916 the British announced that all the rebels in Dublin had surrendered. The last units in the provinces gave in; prisoners were sent to England.
• 03

  • Loss of Zeppelin L 20On 3 May 1916 the airship L 20, out of fuel after a raid on Scotland, crashed in a fjord near Stavanger. Norway interned the crew.
  • First executions of the Rising's leadersAt dawn on 3 May 1916 Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh, sentenced by court martial, were shot in Dublin's Kilmainham Gaol.
• 04

  • Destruction of airship L 7On 4 May 1916 off the coast of Schleswig the British cruisers Galatea and Phaeton shot down the airship L 7. The submarine E31 picked up seven surviving airmen.
• 05

  • Airship LZ 85 shot downOn 5 May 1916 HMS Agamemnon shot down the German airship LZ 85 over Salonika. It fell into the Vardar marshes and the crew were captured.
• 07

  • Russians occupy Qasr-e ShirinOn 7 May 1916 Baratov's cavalry entered Qasr-e Shirin on the border with Iraq. It came too late, as Kut had capitulated more than a week earlier.
  • Nikola Pašić in RussiaIn early May 1916 Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić was the Tsar's guest in Petrograd. Contrary to the British chronology, the government stayed on Corfu.
• 09

  • Anglo-French exchange of notes on Asia MinorOn 9 May 1916 French ambassador Paul Cambon sent Grey a note with terms for dividing Ottoman lands. It was the French text of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
  • Milne replaces MahonOn 9 May 1916 Gen. George Milne took command of the British Salonika Army. Bryan Mahon sailed for Egypt the same day to command on the Libyan border.
  • German attack on Kondoa IrangiOn the night of 9–10 May 1916 Lettow-Vorbeck's askaris stormed van Deventer's positions at Kondoa Irangi several times. Every attack was beaten off.
• 10

  • German note on prisoner labourOn 10 May 1916 Berlin announced that, in reprisal for German prisoners working in French ports, it would send 2,000 Britons to occupied Russian territory.
• 11

  • British occupy KhashIn May 1916 General Dyer beat the Baluch chiefs in a race to the fort of Khash, capital of the Sarhad in Persia, and garrisoned it for good with Indian troops.
• 13

  • Ratification of the prisoner agreement on SwitzerlandOn 13 May 1916 London finally accepted the German terms for interning sick and wounded prisoners in Switzerland. Transports were to begin at the end of May.
• 14

  • Trentino offensive beginsOn 14 May 1916 Austro-Hungarian artillery opened fire on the Isonzo to distract the Italians. The main blow from Tyrol began at dawn the next day.
• 15

  • Blockade of the Hejaz coastIn mid-May 1916 British warships began blockading the ports of the Hejaz. The blockade was requested by the Sharif of Mecca himself, who was preparing a revolt.
  • Russians take RowanduzIn mid-May 1916 a Russian detachment from Persian Azerbaijan stormed Rowanduz in Kurdistan, a few days' march from Mosul.
  • Russians halt before KhanaqinIn mid-May 1916 Baratov stood before Khanaqin but did not take it. The Turks were bringing reinforcements from Kut and the Russians were told not to attack.
• 16

  • House of Commons passes conscription of married menOn 16 May 1916 the Commons passed the second Military Service Bill by 250 votes to 35. Conscription was to cover married and single men aged 18 to 41.
  • Grey approves the Sykes-Picot AgreementOn 16 May 1916 Edward Grey answered a French note and accepted the plan to partition Ottoman lands, on condition that the Arabs rose against the Turks.
• 17

  • The Air Board is createdOn 17 May 1916 the government announced Lord Curzon's Air Board in the Commons. It was to reconcile army and naval aviation but had no executive power.
• 18

  • Cossacks link up with the British on the TigrisIn May 1916 a sotnia of Kuban Cossacks crossed the mountains from Persia to Ali al-Gharbi on the Tigris. Russians and British first met in the field.
• 19

  • Ottoman forces abandon Es SinnOn 19 May 1916 British airmen found the Turks had left their trenches on the right bank of the Tigris below Kut. Some moved against the Russians in Persia.
• 21

  • German attack on Vimy RidgeOn 21 May 1916, after a massive bombardment, the Germans took British trenches on Vimy Ridge and the mine shaft entrances. The British lost about 2,500 men.
• 22

  • Action at BeringiaOn 22 May 1916 the army of Ali Dinar, Sultan of Darfur, hurled itself at Kelly's square at Beringia. In 40 minutes it was shattered by guns and Maxims.
• 23

  • Capture of El FasherOn 23 May 1916 Kelly's mounted troops entered the deserted capital of Darfur. Sultan Ali Dinar fled to the hills; John Slessor bombed his men from the air.
  • Britain recognises Russian gains in Asia MinorOn 23 May 1916 Edward Grey offered Russia an agreement in which Britain recognised its claims to Erzurum, Trebizond, Van, Bitlis and part of Kurdistan.
• 25

  • Northey's troops enter German East AfricaOn 25 May 1916 four columns under General Northey were to surround German posts between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika. The Germans escaped from almost all.
  • Conscription extended to married menOn 25 May 1916 the second Military Service Act received royal assent. Conscription in Great Britain now covered all men aged 18 to 41.
• 26

  • Bulgarians and Germans occupy Fort RupelOn 26 May 1916 Bulgarian and German troops entered Greek Macedonia. Athens forbade resistance, and next day the garrison gave up Fort Rupel on the Struma.
  • US note on the search of mailAt the end of May 1916 the USA protested sharply against the British and French removing mail from neutral ships and opening it in London.
• 27

  • British occupy Neu LangenburgIn late May 1916 Northey's troops took Neu Langenburg, the seat of a German district near Lake Nyasa, without a fight. The Germans fell back towards Iringa.
• 29

  • British reply on prisoner labourOn 29 May 1916 Grey demanded from Germany full reciprocity and American inspections for 2,000 British prisoners sent to work in occupied Russian territory.
• 31

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of JutlandOn 31 May 1916 the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet clashed off Jutland. By day the British lost three battlecruisers but cut off the Germans' way home.
  • Ottoman troops retake MamahatunAt the end of May 1916 Vehip Pasha surprised the Russians on the Erzincan–Erzurum road. The Turks broke the thinly held front and retook the town of Mamahatun.
  • Entente protest over Fort RupelAt the turn of May and June 1916 France and her allies took the surrender of Fort Rupel as the end of Greek benevolent neutrality and warned of consequences.