September 1916

September

• 01

  • Key eventBulgaria declares war on RomaniaOn 1 September 1916 Bulgaria declared war on Romania to regain the Dobruja lost in 1913. Tsar Ferdinand called for a fight against the "treacherous neighbour".
  • Romanians outside HermannstadtOn 1 September 1916 Romanian troops stood a few km from almost defenceless Hermannstadt, and burghers offered its surrender. The Romanians did not enter.
  • Russo-British agreement on Asia MinorOn 1 September 1916 the Russian ambassador in London confirmed in a note to Grey the Anglo-Russian deal on dividing Asiatic Turkey. He raised one reservation.
  • Conscription comes into force in New ZealandOn 1 September 1916 the Governor of New Zealand proclaimed enrolment for the Expeditionary Force Reserve. The Military Service Act began to work in practice.
  • Allies seize German ships at PiraeusOn 1 September 1916 an Entente squadron anchored off Salamis and seized German and Austrian ships at Piraeus. Next day the envoys demanded telegraph control.
• 02

  • Central Powers enter DobrujaOn the night of 1–2 September 1916 Toshev's Bulgarian 3rd Army crossed the Dobruja border along its whole length and split the Romanian garrisons apart.
  • Key eventAirship raid and the downing of SL 11On the night of 2–3 September 1916, 16 airships set out for London. Lieutenant Leefe Robinson shot down SL 11 over Cuffley, and the rest of the raid collapsed.
• 03

  • Key eventBattle of Guillemont beginsOn 3 September 1916 British and Irish troops took Guillemont on the Somme in under three hours, after it had been fought for in vain since late July.
  • Battle of Delville Wood endsOn 3 September 1916, by British naming, the Battle of Delville Wood ended. An attack on the wood's eastern edge, supporting an assault on Ginchy, failed.
  • End of the Battle of Pozières RidgeOn 3 September 1916 the Australians attacked Mouquet Farm for the last time. They held it for a few hours, but kept only a stretch of trench on the ridge.
• 04

  • British occupy Dar es SalaamOn 4 September 1916 Dar es Salaam, capital of German East Africa, surrendered without a fight to a British squadron and to columns that had come from Bagamoyo.
  • Romanians take OrsovaOn 4 September 1916 the Austrians left the west bank of the Cerna and Dragalina's Romanian 1st Division took Orsova, having broken through on 1 September.
• 06

  • The Bulgarians take TutrakanOn 6 September 1916 the Romanian fortress of Turtucaia (Tutrakan) capitulated. Its commandant fled across the Danube, and about 28,000 soldiers were captured.
  • End of the Battle of GuillemontThe Battle of Guillemont ended on 6 September 1916. The British took Falfemont Farm and Leuze Wood and linked up with the French, but did not take Ginchy.
• 07

  • Action at KisakiOn 7–8 September 1916 two of Smuts's columns attacked the Germans separately at Kisaki, south of the Uluguru Mountains. Both were repulsed; the pursuit stalled.
  • British occupy KilwaOn 7 September 1916 British ships landed troops at Kilwa Kisiwani and Kilwa Kivinje, south of Dar es Salaam. Both ports were taken almost without a fight.
• 09

  • Key eventCapture of GinchyOn 9 September 1916 the Irish 16th Division took the ruins of Ginchy on the Somme in about two hours. Among the dead was the poet and former MP Tom Kettle.
• 10

  • Germans and Bulgarians take SilistraAfter Tutrakan the Romanians abandoned the Danube fortress of Silistra without a fight. In early September 1916 German uhlans and Bulgarians entered it.
• 11

  • Zaimis resignsOn 11 September 1916 the Greek prime minister Alexandros Zaimis resigned. Talks on entering the war had stalled, and French pressure on Athens kept growing.
  • Surrender of the Greek IV Corps at KavalaOn 11 September 1916 the Greek IV Corps, trapped in Kavala, gave itself up to the Germans to avoid Bulgarian captivity. The Bulgarians took the town next day.
• 14

  • Start of the Seventh Battle of the IsonzoOn 14 September 1916, after nine hours of shelling, the Italian 3rd Army stormed the Karst plateau. It took only a forward sector on Nad Logem.
• 15

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of Flers-CourceletteOn 15 September 1916 tanks went into battle for the first time, on the Somme. The British took Flers, Martinpuich and High Wood; the Canadians took Courcelette.
  • Aircraft co-operate with tanksOn 15 September 1916 RFC airmen followed the first tanks in battle on the Somme. They sent the famous report of a tank driving up the main street of Flers.
• 16

  • Kalogeropoulos becomes Prime Minister of GreeceOn 16 September 1916 Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, an opponent of Venizelos, formed a Greek government. The Entente saw a party cabinet as a breach of the June note.
• 17

  • British occupy LindiOn 17 September 1916 British warships landed the Indian 40th Pathans at Lindi. Soon the whole coast of German East Africa was in British hands.
  • Allies retake FlorinaOn 17 September 1916 French and Russian troops entered Florina, taken by the Bulgarians a month before. The Serbian victory at Gornichevo opened the way.
  • Richthofen's first victoryOn 17 September 1916, in the first fight of Boelcke's squadron, Manfred von Richthofen downed a British F.E.2b near Cambrai, the first of his 80 victories.
• 18

  • End of the Seventh Battle of the IsonzoOn the evening of 17 September 1916 Cadorna halted the attack on the Karst; on 18 September the fighting died down. Italy took only San Grado and some trenches.
• 19

  • Belgians occupy TaboraOn 19 September 1916 Belgian colonial troops entered Tabora, abandoned by the Germans overnight. The British marching on the town learned of it 6 days later.
  • Blockade of the coast of Greek MacedoniaIn September 1916 the Allies declared a blockade of the Greek coast from the Struma to the Mesta, held by the Bulgarians. It also covered Kavala and its gulf.
• 20

  • Essad Pasha's government in SalonikaThe British chronology records under 20 September 1916 the move of Essad Pasha's government to Salonika. The French had shipped him there in late August.
• 22

  • End of the Battle of Flers–CourceletteOn 22 September 1916 the Battle of Flers–Courcelette ended. After a week of fighting in rain and mud the British were preparing to attack Morval and Thiepval.
  • The Arabs take TaifOn 22 September 1916, after a three-month siege, the Turkish garrison of Ta'if surrendered to Emir Abdullah. Hejaz governor Ghalib Pasha was captured.
• 23

  • Airship raid and the shooting down of L 32 and L 33On the night of 23/24 September 1916 naval airships bombed London and Nottingham. L 32 fell in flames near Billericay, and L 33 came down in Essex.
• 24

  • French air raid on the Krupp worksOn 24 September 1916 two French airmen in modified Sopwiths flew from near Verdun to Essen and bombed the Krupp works. They returned without loss.
• 25

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of MorvalOn 25 September 1916 the British Fourth Army attacked on the Somme at noon and took Morval and Lesbœufs in three hours. At Gueudecourt the attack failed.
  • Venizelos leaves AthensOn the night of 24–25 September 1916 Eleftherios Venizelos and Admiral Kountouriotis secretly sailed from Athens to Crete to lead the National Defence movement.
• 26

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of Thiepval RidgeOn 26 September 1916 the Reserve Army attacked Thiepval Ridge on the Somme. The 18th Division broke into Thiepval and the 11th at last took Mouquet Farm.
  • Battle of Hermannstadt beginsOn 26 September 1916 the German Ninth Army attacked the Romanians at Hermannstadt, and the Alpenkorps came down onto the Red Tower Pass road behind them.
  • Venizelos forms a provisional government on CreteOn 26 September 1916 Venizelos and Admiral Kountouriotis landed on Crete and formed a provisional government at Chania, opposed to the government in Athens.
• 28

  • End of the Battle of MorvalOn 28 September 1916 the Battle of Morval died down. The British held the villages taken and handed part of the front to the French, but could not go on.
  • End of the Battle of Thiepval RidgeOn 28 September 1916 the British broke into the Schwaben Redoubt above Thiepval. The Germans, however, held part of the redoubt until mid-October.
• 29

  • End of the Battle of HermannstadtOn 29 September 1916 the last units of the Romanian I Corps retreated across the mountains from Hermannstadt. They escaped but lost 3,000 prisoners and 13 guns.
• 30

  • Serbs take KaymakchalanOn 30 September 1916, after 18 days of fighting, the Serbian Drina Division took Kaymakchalan on the Greek-Serbian border. The Serbs were home again.