August 1918

August

• 01

  • Capture of Mudyug IslandOn 1 August 1918 the cruiser Attentive and seaplanes from Nairana silenced the batteries on Mudyug Island, guarding the way to Archangel. The French took it.
• 02

  • Allies retake SoissonsOn 2 August 1918 the Germans left Soissons and blew the Aisne bridges; the French entered the burnt town. So ended the battle of the Soissonnais and Ourcq.
  • Allies in ArchangelOn 2 August 1918 conspirators overthrew Bolshevik rule in Archangel and General Poole's ships sailed into the city. Nikolai Chaikovsky formed a government.
  • Japan decides to interveneOn 2 August 1918 Japan announced it would send troops to Vladivostok at the US request to help the Czechoslovaks, but would not fix their number in advance.
• 03

  • British land at VladivostokOn 3 August 1918 the 25th Middlesex arrived at Vladivostok from Hong Kong, the first Allied land unit of the intervention in Siberia.
  • Sinking of the *Warilda*On 3 August 1918 UC-49 torpedoed the ambulance transport Warilda in the Channel as she carried wounded from Le Havre. 123 people died.
• 04

  • The British in BakuOn 4 August 1918 the first British detachment, a few dozen men strong, reached Baku from Enzeli. The next day the city's defenders repulsed a Turkish assault.
  • Arrest of the committee at EnzeliIn early August 1918 the British arrested the Bolshevik revolutionary committee in Enzeli, accusing it of collaborating with the Jangalis.
• 05

  • Last Zeppelin raidOn 5 August 1918 five naval airships set out for England. A British DH.4 shot down L 70 over the sea, killing Peter Strasser, the head of the airship service.
• 06

  • British declaration to the peoples of RussiaIn early August 1918 Britain issued the appeal "Peoples of Russia!": the Allies came as friends and would not keep a foot of Russian soil.
  • Foch becomes Marshal of FranceOn 6 August 1918, after the Marne victory, President Poincaré, at Clemenceau's request, made General Foch a Marshal of France. Pétain got the Military Medal.
• 07

  • Second Battle of the Marne endsOn 6 August 1918 Pétain halted attacks on the German line beyond the Vesle; on 7 August he proclaimed victory. The Americans still fought for Fismette.
  • Sinking of the Dupetit-ThouarsOn 7 August 1918 U-62 torpedoed the French armoured cruiser Dupetit-Thouars in the Atlantic as it escorted a convoy from New York. About a dozen sailors died.
  • Vosugh od-Dowleh prime minister againIn early August 1918 the Shah dismissed Samsam ol-Saltaneh's government, unfriendly to the Entente. On 7 August Vosugh od-Dowleh became prime minister.
  • Czechoslovaks take KazanOn 7 August 1918 Vladimir Kappel's detachment and the Czechoslovaks took Kazan after two days of fighting, capturing over half of Russia's gold reserve.
• 08

  • Key eventBattle of Amiens beginsOn 8 August 1918, in fog, Canadians, Australians and tanks broke the front at Amiens, taking over 15,000 prisoners. Ludendorff called it the "black day".
  • Key eventStart of the Battle of MontdidierOn 8 August 1918 Debeney's French First Army attacked alongside the British at Amiens. It took Moreuil and crossed the Avre, but did not reach Arvillers.
  • British assurance to FinlandIn August 1918 London assured the Finns that it had no hostile intentions towards them, but that Karelia and the Murman coast were not for Britain to decide.
• 09

  • Last shelling of ParisOn 9 August 1918 the last shells from the German long-range gun fell on Paris. After the defeat at Amiens the Germans withdrew it from Beaumont-en-Beine.
• 10

  • French retake MontdidierOn 10 August 1918 the French First Army entered Montdidier, which the Germans had left during the night under threat of encirclement. The town lay in ruins.
• 11

  • Battle of Amiens endsOn 11 August 1918 Haig halted the Amiens offensive, which had stalled on the old 1916 trenches. At Avesnes Ludendorff offered his resignation.
  • Destruction of L 53On 11 August 1918 off Terschelling a Camel launched from a lighter towed by a destroyer shot down L 53, the last Zeppelin shot down in the war.
  • Japanese in VladivostokOn 11 August 1918 the Japanese 12th Division began landing at Vladivostok. Japan had promised up to 12,000 men, but by November it had sent over 70,000.
• 13

  • Key eventCzechoslovaks declare war on GermanyOn 13 August 1918, per the British chronology, the Czechoslovaks declared war on Germany too. They had three armies, in Russia, France and Italy.
  • Britain recognises the CzechoslovaksOn 13 August 1918 the Balfour note of 9 August was published. Britain recognised the Czechoslovaks as an Allied nation and their council as a proto-government.
  • Resignation of CapelleOn 13 August 1918 Admiral Eduard von Capelle left the Imperial Naval Office. His departure was part of a shake-up of the navy's leadership directed by Scheer.
• 14

  • Key eventCrown council at SpaOn 14 August 1918 a crown council at Spa accepted that Germany could not win the war militarily. It resolved to seek peace, but only at a "suitable moment".
• 15

  • End of the Battle of MontdidierOn 15 August 1918 Haig persuaded Foch not to attack Roye frontally. The French First Army called off its attack and returned to Pétain's orders.
  • Battle of BayramalyIn mid-August 1918 the Bolsheviks routed the forces of the Transcaspian government at Bayramaly. Their retreat was covered by Indian machine guns.
• 17

  • Key eventSecond Battle of Noyon beginsOn 17 August 1918 Mangin's French Tenth Army attacked between the Oise and the Aisne to drive back German outposts. Three days later it struck in full strength.
  • Slovene National CouncilIn mid-August 1918 a National Council (Narodni svet) headed by Anton Korošec was set up in Ljubljana, the nucleus of a future government of the Slovene lands.
• 18

  • Key eventCapture of Outtersteene RidgeAt noon on 18 August 1918 the Scottish 9th Division surprised the Germans near Bailleul and took Outtersteene Ridge. The clearing of the Lys salient had begun.
  • Bolsheviks take MervIn August 1918 the Bolsheviks from Tashkent took Merv and its oasis from the Transcaspian government. Ashkhabad lost its main source of food.
• 19

  • The British retake Merville againOn 19 August 1918 British Fifth Army troops entered Merville on the Lys, lost to the Germans in April. The Germans began to leave their Flanders salient.
• 21

  • Key eventSecond Battle of Albert beginsIn thick fog on 21 August 1918 Britain's Third Army attacked with tanks north of the Ancre, took Bucquoy and Achiet-le-Petit and reached the Albert–Arras line.
• 22

  • British retake AlbertOn 22 August 1918 the British 18th Division crossed the Ancre and retook the ruins of Albert; III Corps wiped out the German salient between Somme and Ancre.
  • Austrian counter-offensive in AlbaniaOn 22 August 1918 Pflanzer-Baltin's troops attacked the Italians in Albania. The reinforced Orientkorps broke the front in the centre, between Fier and Berat.
• 24

  • Horvat's coupOn the night of 23–24 August 1918 a Russian unit in Vladivostok went over to General Horvat and seized its headquarters. The Allies had it disarmed.
  • Battle of DukhovskayaOn 24 August 1918 the Japanese 12th Division, with British, French and Czechoslovaks, routed the Reds on the Ussuri. The Ussuri front collapsed.
• 26

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of the ScarpeAt 3 a.m. on 26 August 1918 the Canadians attacked east of Arras and retook Monchy-le-Preux by 8 a.m. The Allied offensive spread to the First Army front.
  • Austrians retake BeratIn late August 1918 the Austrians regained Fier and Berat, and the Italians fell back to the Mallakastra hills. Lack of supplies and malaria halted the advance.
  • Defence of Baku beginsOn 26 August 1918 the Turks took the Mud Volcano near Baku. A North Staffordshire company fought without Armenian support and lost more than half its men.
• 27

  • French retake RoyeOn 27 August 1918 Debeney's French First Army took Roye, abandoned by the retreating Germans after two weeks of hard fighting for the approaches to the town.
  • British occupy KrasnovodskIn late August 1918 British infantry from Enzeli reached Krasnovodsk, a port on the eastern Caspian shore, with the consent of the Transcaspian government.
  • Supplementary treaty to Brest-LitovskOn 27 August 1918 Germany and Soviet Russia signed in Berlin a supplementary treaty to the Peace of Brest-Litovsk. Russia agreed to pay 6 billion marks.
  • Second wave of the Spanish fluOn 27 August 1918 the first sailors fell ill in Boston. Almost simultaneously the second and deadliest wave of the Spanish flu broke out in Brest and Freetown.
• 28

  • Action at KaakhaOn 28 August 1918 at Kaakha station in Transcaspia, Malleson's Punjabis and the Transcaspian government's troops beat off an attack by Bolsheviks from Tashkent.
• 29

  • New Zealanders retake BapaumeOn 29 August 1918 the Germans abandoned Bapaume by night after holding it against the Third Army for days. In the morning New Zealand patrols entered it.
  • French retake NoyonOn 29 August 1918 Humbert's French Third Army retook Noyon, lost in March. That day the French ended the Second Battle of Noyon and the Third Battle of Picardy.
• 30

  • Battle of the Scarpe (1918) endsOn 30 August 1918 the Canadians took the rest of the Fresnes–Rouvroy line at Vis-en-Artois. Horne and Currie put off the Drocourt–Quéant attack to 2 September.
  • British retake BailleulOn 30 August 1918 British patrols entered Bailleul, abandoned by the Germans. The town, lost in April, lay in ruins. The Germans were retreating from the Lys.
  • Macready resigns as adjutant-generalIn late August 1918, after the London police strike, General Sir Nevil Macready gave up the post of Adjutant-General to become head of the Metropolitan Police.
  • Key eventAssassination attempt on LeninOn 30 August 1918 Lenin was gravely wounded in Moscow; that morning Uritsky, the Petrograd Cheka chief, was killed. The Bolsheviks answered with Red Terror.
• 31

  • Germans abandon KemmelOn 31 August 1918 troops of the British Second Army occupied Mount Kemmel, taken by the Germans in April and now abandoned. Americans fought at its foot.
  • Murder of Francis CromieOn 31 August 1918 Chekists burst into the British embassy in Petrograd. The naval attaché, Francis Cromie, was killed defending the building, weapon in hand.
  • Key eventSecond Battle of Bapaume beginsOn 31 August 1918 Australians attacked Mont Saint-Quentin above Péronne as the Third Army beat off counter-attacks beyond Bapaume. The battle began.