June 1916

June

• 01

  • End of the Battle of JutlandOn 1 June 1916 the High Seas Fleet slipped home past Horns Reef, and Jellicoe turned back after a fruitless search. Both sides claimed victory.
• 02

  • Battle of Mount Sorrel beginsOn 2 June 1916, after a hurricane bombardment, Württembergers took Mount Sorrel and Tor Top near Ypres. Gen. Mercer of the 3rd Canadian Division was killed.
  • Germans take Fort VauxOn 2 June 1916 the Germans broke into Fort Vaux at Verdun. Major Raynal's garrison held out underground until 7 June, when the water ran out.
• 03

  • End of the Trentino offensiveOn 3 June 1916 the Austrians took Monte Cengio, but Cadorna said he would stop them in the mountains. The attack faded, though assaults went on two more weeks.
  • Martial law in SalonikaOn 3 June 1916, King Constantine's name day, Gen. Sarrail declared a state of siege. Entente troops seized the offices, post office and telegraph in Salonika.
• 04

  • Key eventBrusilov offensive beginsOn 4 June 1916 Russian guns opened fire from the Styr to Czernowitz. The Brusilov offensive had begun, and on the Dniester the Russians broke through at once.
• 05

  • Key eventStart of the Arab RevoltOn 5 June 1916 the sons of the Sharif of Mecca, Ali and Faisal, proclaimed near Medina the Arabs' independence from the Turks. Thus began the Arab Revolt.
  • Key eventDeath of KitchenerOn 5 June 1916 the cruiser Hampshire, carrying Lord Kitchener to Russia, struck a mine off Orkney. The war minister died with almost all the crew; 12 survived.
  • Ottoman offensive in western PersiaAt the start of June 1916 the whole Ottoman XIII Corps stood at Khanaqin. Baratov's Russians began to fall back, and the Turks moved into Persia.
• 06

  • Attack on MedinaOn 6 June 1916 Faisal's Arabs attacked Medina. Fahreddin Pasha's garrison drove them off with artillery fire, and the torn-up Hejaz Railway was soon repaired.
  • Pacific blockade of GreeceOn 6 June 1916 Entente warships began stopping Greek ships, and vessels under the Greek flag were held in Allied ports. No one explained the reason to Athens.
  • Death of Yuan ShikaiOn 6 June 1916 the Chinese President Yuan Shikai died in Peking. The next day Vice-President Li Yuanhong took office, recognised also by the rebel south.
• 08

  • British take BismarckburgOn 8 June 1916 Lieutenant-Colonel Murray's column took Bismarckburg on Lake Tanganyika. The garrison escaped by boat at night; the flotilla came too late.
• 09

  • Arabs take JeddahOn 9 June 1916 Arabs of the Harb tribe attacked Jeddah and British warships shelled the port. The Turkish garrison surrendered only on 16 June.
  • Fighting at MkaramoOn 9 June 1916 Sheppard's column fought Major Kraut's troops in dense bush on the Pangani. During the night the Germans withdrew towards Handeni.
• 10

  • Outbreak of the revolt in MeccaAt dawn on 10 June 1916 Sharif Hussein's men attacked the Turkish garrison of Mecca. The city soon fell to them, but the fort and barracks held out until July.
  • Conscription in New ZealandOn 10 June 1916 the New Zealand House of Representatives passed the Military Service Bill by 44 votes to 4. Conscription was to cover men aged 20 to 46.
• 11

  • Start of the Battle of the StrypaOn 11 June 1916 the Russian 7th Army, having taken Buczacz, attacked Bothmer's South Army beyond the Strypa. A German counter-attack threw it back at Olesza.
  • Salandra resignsOn 10 June 1916 the Italian Chamber refused Salandra's government its confidence after the defeats in Trentino. The cabinet resigned after over two years.
• 12

  • British enter KermanIn June 1916 Percy Sykes, after marching from the Persian Gulf, entered Kerman. There he began raising the first brigade of the South Persia Rifles.
  • Russians take ZaleszczykiIn June 1916, after the defeat at Okna, the Austrians gave up the Zaleszczyki bridgehead without a fight. A British chronology dates the Russian entry 12 June.
• 13

  • End of the Battle of Mount SorrelOn 13 June 1916, after days of shelling, the Canadians retook Mount Sorrel and Tor Top near Ypres in a night attack. Württembergers had taken them on 2 June.
• 14

  • Allied economic conference in ParisFrom 14 to 17 June 1916 eight Entente states met in Paris. They agreed on economic war against the Central Powers both during the war and after it ended.
• 15

  • Boselli becomes prime minister of ItalyIn mid-June 1916 the King asked 78-year-old Paolo Boselli to form a government. A cabinet of national unity was formed, with socialists and a Catholic.
• 16

  • Italian counter-offensive in the TrentinoOn 16 June 1916 the Italians struck on the northern edge of the Asiago plateau. That evening the Austrians were ordered onto the defensive and to retreat.
• 17

  • Russians retake CzernowitzOn 17 June 1916 the Russian 9th Army broke into the Czernowitz bridgehead and crossed the Prut at night. On 18 June the Austrians left the Bukovinian capital.
• 18

  • Death of Max ImmelmannOn 18 June 1916 near Lens Max Immelmann, the "Eagle of Lille" and Germany's first great ace, was killed. His Fokker broke up in a fight with British F.E.2bs.
• 19

  • British occupy HandeniOn 18–19 June 1916 Smuts's troops entered Handeni without a fight. Major Kraut's Germans escaped encirclement and fell back along the road to Morogoro.
• 20

  • Ottoman troops retake Qasr-e ShirinIn June 1916 the Ottoman XIII Corps recovered Qasr-e Shirin, abandoned by the retreating Russians. The Turks pressed on towards Kerend and Kermanshah.
• 21

  • Russians take RădăuțiOn 21 June 1916 Petrograd announced the capture of Rădăuți in southern Bukovina. Terek Cossacks had passed through it a day earlier, pursuing the Austrians.
  • Entente ultimatum to GreeceOn 21 June 1916 the ministers of France, Britain and Russia demanded that Greece demobilise, form a non-party government and hold elections. Athens gave in.
  • Resignation of the Skouloudis governmentOn 21 June 1916, the day the Entente demanded a change of government in Greece, Prime Minister Stefanos Skouloudis resigned after less than eight months.
  • Zaimis prime minister of Greece againOn 21 June 1916 King Constantine entrusted the government to Alexandros Zaimis, who accepted all the Entente's demands and formed a cabinet of officials.
• 22

  • Blockade of Greece suspendedOn 22 June 1916, after Athens accepted the Entente's demands, the Allies suspended the blockade of Greece. Greek ships could again sail to ports except Kavala.
• 23

  • Germans capture ThiaumontOn 23 June 1916, after a night bombardment with shells of a new gas, the Germans took the Thiaumont work and Fleury, a few kilometres from Verdun.
• 24

  • Austrians driven out of BukovinaBy 24 June 1916 the Russians had taken Kuty and Kimpolung, and the Austrians fell back into the Carpathians, keeping only a strip of Bukovina by Jakobeny.
  • Conscription of married men comes into forceOn 24 June 1916 married British men aged 18 to 41 were deemed enlisted in the Army Reserve by virtue of the second Military Service Act.
• 27

  • Demobilisation of the Greek armyOn 27 June 1916 the Zaimis government demobilised the Greek army, as the Entente demanded. Released reservists began forming anti-Venizelist leagues.
  • Ratification of the economic conference resolutionsIn late June 1916 France's government approved the resolutions of the Paris economic conference. In London they sparked a dispute over the future of free trade.
  • Proclamation of the Sharif of MeccaOn 27 June 1916 the Sharif of Mecca issued an appeal to the world's Muslims. He accused the Young Turks of godlessness and proclaimed the Hejaz independent.
• 30

  • French retake ThiaumontOn 30 June 1916 the French 248th Infantry Regiment attacked the ruins of the Thiaumont work at Verdun. Sources differ on whether it took it and for how long.
  • End of the battle of the StrypaThe British chronology ends the battle of the Strypa on 30 June 1916. Bothmer held the upper Strypa, and Shcherbachev's last big attack had failed on 21 June.
  • New agreement with the Netherlands Overseas TrustAt the end of June 1916 London and the Netherlands Overseas Trust extended rationing to further goods, among them cocoa, tin, hides and asbestos.