August 1916

August

• 02

  • Sinking of the battleship Leonardo da VinciOn the night of 2–3 August 1916 the Italian dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci blew up and capsized in Taranto harbour. About 250 men died. Sabotage was suspected.
• 03

  • Execution of Roger CasementOn 3 August 1916 Roger Casement, convicted of high treason, was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London. The government rejected all pleas for clemency.
  • Belgians occupy UjijiIn late July and early August 1916 the Belgian Southern Brigade took Ujiji and Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika, at the end of the German Central Railway, unopposed.
• 04

  • Start of the Battle of RomaniOn the night of 3–4 August 1916 Kress von Kressenstein struck at Romani in Sinai. The Australians fell back until dawn; Mount Royston was retaken by 6 p.m.
• 05

  • British offensive in the Nguru MountainsOn 5 August 1916 Smuts's main force moved from the Lukigura into the Nguru Mountains to outflank the Germans at Ruhungu and cut their retreat to Morogoro.
• 06

  • Start of the Sixth Battle of the IsonzoOn 6 August 1916 the Italians attacked the Gorizia bridgehead and Monte San Michele. That same day they took Monte Sabotino and the summits of San Michele.
  • Ottoman troops retake Muş and BitlisOn 6 August 1916 Mustafa Kemal's XVI Corps drove the Russians from Muş, having forced them out of Bitlis. It was the main success of the Second Army offensive.
• 07

  • Portugal decides to send troops to EuropeOn 7 August 1916 the Portuguese parliament accepted a British invitation to take part in the war in Europe. A corps from Tancos was to go to the Western Front.
• 09

  • Italians take GoriziaOn 9 August 1916 Italian troops entered Gorizia, abandoned by the Austrians during the night. It was the first large Austro-Hungarian city taken by Italy.
• 10

  • Ottoman forces take HamadanOn 10 August 1916 the Ottoman XIII Corps entered Hamadan, abandoned overnight by Baratov's Russians, who fell back to the road to Qazvin and Tehran.
• 11

  • British take MpwapwaOn 11 August 1916 van Deventer's division entered Mpwapwa after two days of marching and fighting. The German rearguard held the hills and slipped away.
  • Russians take Stanisławów againOn the morning of 11 August 1916 Lechitsky's Russian Ninth Army entered Stanisławów, abandoned overnight by the Austrians after a lost four-day battle.
  • Italians land at SalonikaOn 11 August 1916 General Petitti di Roreto's Italian 35th Division began disembarking at Salonika. A fifth national contingent joined Sarrail's army.
• 15

  • British take BagamoyoOn 15 August 1916 sailors and marines landed at Bagamoyo, the former capital of German East Africa, and took the town after a short fight.
• 17

  • Romania's treaty with the EntenteOn 17 August 1916 in Bucharest Brătianu signed a secret treaty and military convention with the Entente, promising to attack Austria-Hungary by 28 August.
  • Battle of Florina beginsOn 17 August 1916 the Bulgarian 1st Army attacked the Serbs in western Macedonia and took Greek Florina the same day, forestalling Sarrail's offensive.
  • End of the Sixth Battle of the IsonzoOn 17 August 1916 Cadorna halted the offensive on the Isonzo. After taking Gorizia the Italians spent a week vainly storming the new Austrian defence line.
  • Brusilov offensive winds downBy mid-August 1916 Brusilov's attacks on Kovel had stalled. On 17 August he set his armies new objectives, but the offensive was already losing momentum.
• 19

  • Sinking of HMS Falmouth and HMS NottinghamOn 19 August 1916 Scheer's fleet sailed for Sunderland and the Grand Fleet put out to meet it. No battle followed, but U-boats torpedoed two cruisers.
  • Battle of Florina endsOn 19 August 1916, after a failed counter-attack at Banica, the Serbs withdrew to the hills above Lake Ostrovo. There the Bulgarian offensive began to bog down.
• 21

  • *The Battle of the Somme* film premieresOn 21 August 1916 the film "The Battle of the Somme" opened in 34 London cinemas. Within six weeks some 20 million people in Britain had seen it.
• 22

  • British take KilosaOn 22 August 1916 exhausted men of van Deventer's 2nd Division entered Kilosa, a Central Railway station in East Africa abandoned by the Germans.
• 23

  • Deutschland returns to GermanyOn 23 August 1916 the merchant submarine Deutschland returned from America to the Weser estuary with rubber, nickel and tin. Germans hailed it as a hero.
  • Reports of the battle of RajatThe British chronology records a "battle of Rajat" on 23 August 1916. There was fighting in the Kurdish mountains that summer, but histories do not confirm it.
• 24

  • Russian counter-offensive at MuşIn late August 1916 the Russians repelled the Ottoman Second Army's offensive and closed on Muş. Reports that Muş and Bitlis were retaken were exaggerated.
  • Financial conference at CalaisOn 24 August 1916 at Calais the British and French agreed £150 million of credits for France in return for a loan of £50 million in gold.
• 26

  • British take MorogoroOn 26 August 1916 Smuts's troops entered Morogoro on the Central Railway. Lettow-Vorbeck declined battle and withdrew south through the Uluguru Mountains.
• 27

  • Key eventRomania declares war on Austria-HungaryOn 27 August 1916 a crown council approved Romania's entry into the war. That evening its envoy handed a note in Vienna and troops crossed the Carpathians.
  • Russians enter DobrujaOn 27 August 1916, the day Romania entered the war, the first units of Zayonchkovsky's Russian corps crossed the Danube into Dobruja.
• 28

  • Romanian offensive in TransylvaniaOn the night of 27–28 August 1916 three Romanian armies crossed the Carpathian passes. The weak Austro-Hungarian screen fell back deeper into Transylvania.
  • Key eventGermany declares war on RomaniaOn 28 August 1916 Germany declared war on Romania, a day after it turned against Austria-Hungary. The surprise at Pless cost Falkenhayn his post.
  • Key eventItaly declares war on GermanyOn 27 August 1916 Sonnino sent a declaration through the Swiss government that from 28 August Italy considered itself at war with Germany.
  • Maude takes command in MesopotamiaOn 28 August 1916 Gen. Stanley Maude, until then commander of the Tigris Corps, took over the chief command in Mesopotamia from the ailing Gen. Percy Lake.
• 29

  • Key eventHindenburg becomes Chief of the General StaffOn 29 August 1916 Wilhelm II dismissed Falkenhayn. Hindenburg became Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army, with Ludendorff as his deputy.
  • Romanians take BrașovOn 29 August 1916 the vanguard of the Romanian Second Army entered Brașov, the second-largest city of Transylvania, abandoned by its defenders and officials.
  • Vosugh od-Dowleh becomes prime minister of PersiaIn late August 1916 the Sepahsalar's government resigned; Vosugh od-Dowleh, a politician close to the British, became premier and foreign minister.
  • British occupy IringaOn 29 August 1916 police of Murray's column, part of Northey's force, entered abandoned Iringa. The Germans withdrew south-east, towards Mahenge.
• 30

  • Key eventTurkey declares war on RomaniaOn 30 August 1916 Turkey announced that, together with Germany and Bulgaria, it was declaring war on Romania. Enver Pasha was readying a corps for Dobruja.
  • Romania breaks off relations with BulgariaOn the evening of 30 August 1916 the Romanian minister in Sofia asked for his passports and broke off ties. Two days later Bulgaria declared war on Romania.
  • Venizelist coup in SalonikaOn 30 August 1916 Venizelos's supporters set up a Committee of National Defence in Salonika and renounced obedience to Athens. Sarrail did not stop them.
• 31

  • End of the French defence at Verdun31 August 1916 is the nominal end of the defensive phase of Verdun. In August the French retook Fleury and the Germans stopped seeking a decision on the Meuse.