September 1918

September

• 01

  • Australians take PéronneOn 1 September 1918 Monash's Australians retook Mont Saint-Quentin and broke across the moat into Péronne. The Germans lost their hold on the Somme line.
• 02

  • Key eventBreaking of the Drocourt–Quéant LineOn 2 September 1918 the Canadians broke the Drocourt–Quéant Line near Arras, and at noon the German command ordered a retreat to the Hindenburg Line.
  • Italians in MurmanskOn 2 September 1918 a ship carrying Lieutenant-Colonel Augusto Sifola's Italian expeditionary corps reached Murmansk. About 1,300 men landed a day later.
• 03

  • End of the Second Battle of the SommeOn 3 September 1918 the Germans broke contact between the Somme and the Sensée and fell back behind the Canal du Nord, ending the Somme and Arras battles.
  • United States recognises the CzechoslovaksOn 3 September 1918 the US recognised a state of war between the Czechoslovaks and the Central Powers, and their National Council as a de facto government.
• 04

  • The Allies take ObozerskayaOn 4 September 1918 the Allies took Obozerskaya station on the Archangel–Vologda railway. Its defence collapsed when a Red regiment went over to them.
  • Americans arrive in ArchangelOn 4 September 1918 about 4,500 Americans, mainly of the 339th Infantry Regiment, arrived in Archangel. The British sent them straight to the front.
  • Xu Shichang elected president of ChinaOn 4 September 1918 the Peking parliament, dominated by Duan Qirui's supporters, elected Xu Shichang president of China. The South rejected the vote.
• 05

  • Japanese take KhabarovskOn 5 September 1918 Ataman Kalmykov's Cossacks and the Japanese 12th Division entered Khabarovsk, abandoned by the Reds. The Japanese seized the Amur Flotilla.
  • Red TerrorOn 5 September 1918 the Council of People's Commissars adopted the resolution "On the Red Terror". The Cheka could shoot "class enemies" or hold them in camps.
• 11

  • Battle of UkhtaOn 11 September 1918 Colonel Woods's Karelians routed Finnish volunteers at Ukhta in Karelia. General Maynard wrote of the complete defeat of their main base.
  • Macdonogh appointed adjutant-generalOn 11 September 1918 the Director of Military Intelligence, General George Macdonogh, became Adjutant-General of the British Army in place of Nevil Macready.
• 12

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of Saint-MihielOn 12 September 1918 Pershing's American First Army attacked the German Saint-Mihiel salient. In the rain it got through the wire and advanced about 8 km.
  • Key eventBattle of Havrincourt beginsOn 12 September 1918 Byng's Third Army took Havrincourt and Trescault in front of the Hindenburg Line, while New Zealanders fought the elite Jäger Division.
  • Fighting at ChamovoIn mid-September 1918 the British, supported by a river flotilla, drove the Bolsheviks out of Chamovo on the Dvina. The monitor M25 disabled a Red steamer.
• 15

  • Battle of Dobro Pole beginsOn 15 September 1918 the Serbs and French took the Dobro Pole–Sokol–Vetrenik ridge in Macedonia, and on 16 September the Bulgarians' second position on Kozjak.
  • Fall of BakuOn the night of 14–15 September 1918 the British sailed from Baku and the Caucasian Army of Islam entered. Its capture came with a massacre of Armenians.
  • Austrian peace noteIn mid-September 1918 Austria-Hungary invited all the belligerents to confidential talks on peace. Wilson rejected the proposal in under half an hour.
  • German peace offer to BelgiumOn 15 September 1918 news spread that Germany had offered Belgium peace. The government in Le Havre rejected it, and Berlin denied any offer had been made.
• 16

  • End of the Battle of Saint-MihielOn 16 September 1918 the Battle of Saint-Mihiel ended. The Americans dug in on the Haudiomont–Vandières line as their divisions left for the Meuse and Argonne.
  • Last air raid on ParisOn the night of 15/16 September 1918 German bombers attacked Paris for the last time. Bombs fell on the northern and eastern districts and the suburbs.
  • Sinking of the GlattonOn 16 September 1918 a magazine fire broke out on the monitor Glatton in Dover harbour. To save the town, the British sank the ship with their own torpedoes.
• 18

  • Key eventBattle of ÉpehyOn 18 September 1918, in rain and fog, the British and Australians attacked the outposts of the Hindenburg Line. They took over 9,000 prisoners and Épehy.
  • The Japanese take BlagoveshchenskOn 18 September 1918 Amur Cossacks and a Japanese detachment crossed the Amur and took Blagoveshchensk without a fight. Soviet power on the Amur collapsed.
  • Battle of Doiran beginsOn 18 September 1918 the British and Greeks attacked the Bulgarian defences by Lake Doiran. The Greeks took the forward line, but the main attack broke down.
• 19

  • Key eventBattle of Megiddo beginsAt dawn on 19 September 1918 Allenby's infantry broke the Turkish front by the sea within hours, and three cavalry divisions raced north through the gap.
• 20

  • Capture of Nazareth and BeisanOn 20 September 1918 British cavalry reached the Jezreel Valley, took Afula and Beisan and burst into Nazareth. Liman von Sanders barely escaped capture.
  • Execution of the Baku commissarsOn 20 September 1918, in the desert beyond Krasnovodsk, Transcaspian SRs shot 26 leaders of the Baku Commune, among them Stepan Shaumian.
• 22

  • British take DojranOn 22 September 1918 the Allies entered the abandoned Bulgarian positions at Lake Dojran, which they had failed to take by assault. The pursuit began.
• 23

  • Capture of Haifa and AcreOn 23 September 1918 lancers from Jodhpur and Mysore took Haifa by a charge, and Acre fell almost unopposed. Beyond the Jordan New Zealanders took Es Salt.
  • French take PrilepOn 23 September 1918 French cavalry rode into Prilep, abandoned by the Bulgarians and Germans. The Eleventh Army's right wing fell back towards Skopje.
• 25

  • Serbs retake Štip and VelesOn 25 September 1918 Serbian cavalry entered Štip, abandoned by the Bulgarians, and on 26 September the Serbian First Army took Veles on the Vardar.
  • Capture of AmmanOn 25 September 1918 New Zealand and Australian horsemen took Amman and cut the Hejaz Railway. That day the battles of Megiddo came to an end.
  • Italy and the Yugoslav stateAt the end of September 1918 Italy declared that the Yugoslavs' striving for independence and a state of their own accorded with Allied principles.
• 26

  • Key eventThe Meuse–Argonne offensive beginsOn 26 September 1918 the Americans attacked between the Meuse and the Argonne, the French in Champagne. The first German position fell, but Montfaucon held.
• 27

  • Key eventStart of the Battle of the Canal du NordAt 5.20 a.m. on 27 September 1918 the Canadians crossed the dry Canal du Nord; by evening they held Bourlon Wood and the Third Army was in the Hindenburg Line.
• 28

  • Key eventFifth Battle of Ypres beginsOn 28 September 1918 the Belgians and British under King Albert I attacked from Ypres. In one day they retook Passchendaele, Gheluvelt and Houthulst Forest.
  • Polish Army becomes an allied armyOn 28 September 1918 France and the Polish National Committee agreed to recognise the Polish Army as autonomous, allied and co-belligerent with the Entente.
• 29

  • Key eventBattle of the St Quentin Canal beginsOn 29 September 1918 the British 46th Division crossed the St Quentin Canal in fog, while Americans and Australians stormed the Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt.
  • Allies retake PasschendaeleOn 29 September 1918 the Belgians consolidated on the retaken Passchendaele ridge, took Moorslede and recovered Diksmuide, lost in November 1914.
  • The Ma'an garrison surrendersOn 29 September 1918 at Ziza, south of Amman, the Turkish garrison of Ma'an, surrounded by Bedouin, surrendered to Australian light horsemen.
  • Lettow-Vorbeck returns across the RovumaAt the end of September 1918 Lettow-Vorbeck's force crossed the Rovuma and, after ten months in Mozambique, returned to German East Africa.
  • Hara cabinetOn 29 September 1918 Seiyūkai leader Takashi Hara became prime minister of Japan, the first premier from outside the aristocracy, heading a party cabinet.
  • Key eventLudendorff demands an armisticeOn 29 September 1918 at Spa Hindenburg and Ludendorff demanded an immediate armistice request. The Kaiser agreed to appeal to Wilson and to parliamentary rule.
• 30

  • Key eventArmistice of SalonicaOn 29 September 1918 Bulgaria signed an armistice at Salonica. The fighting stopped at noon on 30 September, the first Central Power out of the war.
  • Hertling resignsOn 30 September 1918 the Kaiser accepted Chancellor Georg von Hertling's resignation and announced that men trusted by the nation would join the government.