A Swiss postcard of 'The European War' in 1914. The Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary face enemies to the east, west, and south. Germany is fighting the war it tried to avoid, battling Russia to the east and France to the west. Germany had also hoped to avoid fighting England which came to the aid of neutral (and prostrate) Belgium, and straddles the Channel. Austria-Hungary also fights on two fronts, against Russia to the east and Serbia and Montenegro to the south. Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, declared neutrality, and looks on. Other neutral nations include Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. Japan enters from the east to battle Germany. The German Fleet stays close to port in the North and Baltic Seas while a German Zeppelin targets England. The Austro-Hungarian Fleet keeps watch in the Adriatic. Turkey is not represented, and entered the war at the end of October, 1914; Italy in late May, 1915.
Image text: Der Europäische KriegThe European WarReverse:Kriegskarte No. 61. Verlag K. Essig, BaselKunstanstalt (Art Institute) Frobenius A.G. Basel
Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion moving into position on September 24, 1915, the night before the beginning of the Champagne Offensive. From Soldier of the Legion by Edward Morlae, an American and a Sergeant in the Foreign Legion.
Image text: As they swung into column the night before the 25th of December.
Zeppelin Kommt! Children play a Zeppelin raid on London. Holding his bomb in the gondola is a doll of the airship's inventor, Count Zeppelin. The other children, playing the English, cower, and the British fleet — folded paper boats — remains in port. Prewar postcards celebrated the imposing airships and the excitement they generated with the same expression, 'Zeppelin Kommt!'. Postcard by P.O. Engelhard (P.O.E.). The message on the reverse is dated May 28, 1915.
Image text: P.O.E.? EnglandLondonZeppelin Kommt!Reverse:Message dated May 28, 1915Stamped: Geprüft und zu befördern (Approved and forwarded) 9 Komp. Bay. L.I.N. 5
The Dolphin Tavern, London, was destroyed by a Zeppelin bomb on September 9, 1915 that killed three people. A clock in the wreckage stopped at 10:30 PM, and and in the rebuilt tavern. © 2014 by John M. Shea
Image text: The Dolphin TavernThe history of the Dolphin ClockA Zepplin bomb exploded on 9th September 1915 destroying these premises and killing three peopleA clock found in the wreckage stopped at 10:40 PM & hangs inside the pub
Map of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Bulgarian advance into Serbia in October and November, 1915, with the Central Power offensive along the Greek border in August 1916 and the Allied counteroffensive the following month. Map from the Reichsarchiv Herbstschlacht in Macedonien (Autumn battle in Macedonia).
Image text: Vormarsch durch Serbien 1915 und Augmarsch an der griechischen Grenze.Skizze 2Erläuterung.Vormarsch im Oktober u. November 1915Stellung Ende Oktober 1915Dauerstellung an der griechischen Grenze und Offensive August 1916Feindlicher Gegenangriff September 19161: 2 250 000'Schlachten des Weltkrieges'Druck und Verlag von Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg i. O.Advance through Serbia 1915 and March on the Greek Border.Sketch 2Legend.Advance in October and November 1915Position end of October 1915Stable position on the Greek border and offensive August 1916Enemy counterattack of September 19161:2,250,000Battles of the World War'Printing and Publishing Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg im Osten
"On September 24 our company was divided. . . . The weather was beautiful. It was pleasant to stretch out on the grassy slopes. In the evening we returned to the [Moulinet] farm, where we joined our comrades and learned that a shell that had fallen on the other platoon as it was preparing to leave the trench had claimed three victims: one wounded, whom we did not believe would survive, and who in fact did die that night, and two killed, including our sergeant major, who had just been promoted two days before. . . . the battalion commander said a few words of farewell. He told us that those who had just been buried had found a glorious death and that a similar end awaited us all." ((1), more)
"The pace was accelerating. The strain was beginning to wear off. From right and left there came a steady murmur of low talk. In our own column men were beginning to chaff each other. I could distinctly hear Soubiron describing in picturesque detail to Capdeveille how he, Capdeveille, would look, gracefully draped over the German barbed wire; and I could hear Cadeveille's heated response that he would live long enough to spit upon Soubiron's grave; and I smiled to myself. The moment of depression and self-communication had passed. The men had found themselves and were beginning their usual chaffing. And yet, in all their chatter there seemed to be an unusually sharp note. The jokes all had an edge to them. References to one another's death were common, and good wishes for another's partial dismemberment excited only laughter. Just behind me I heard King express the hope that if he lost an arm or a leg he would at least get a médaille militaire in exchange. By way of comfort, his chum, Dowd, remarked that, whether he got the medal or not, he was very sure of getting a permit to beg on the street-corners." ((2), more)
"The airship was well lighted by searchlights but there was not a sign of any gunfire. I could distinctly see the propellers revolving and the airship was maneuvering to avoid the searchlight beams. I fired at it. The first two drums of ammunition had apparently no effect, but the third one caused the envelope to catch on fire in several places; in the center and the front. All firing was traversing fire along the envelope. The drums were loaded with a mixture of Brock, Pomeroy and tracer ammunition. I watched the burning airship strike the ground and then proceeded to find my flares. I landed at Sutton's farm at 1:40 A.M., 24th instant. My machine was B.E.2C 4112. After seeing the Zeppelin had caught fire, I fired a red Very light." ((3), more)
"For over a week at the end of September 1917, a handful of German airmen held sway over millions of Londoners. In retrospect, their almost nightly visits were but an intimidation compounded of moonglow, concealing clouds, and the sinister throbbing of aeroplanes multiplied thrice over by the inflamed imagination of a much alarmed population. No other attacks 'remained more vividly in the memory of those who lived through the air raids on England' during the First World War." ((4), more)
"Next morning the brigade resumed their march into the hills toward the Babuna Pass. More than twenty miles northeast of them the 17th Colonial Division of General Pruneau and the Yugoslav Division were also moving toward Skopje up the Vardar River, and that same day (September 24) they succeeded in entering the vital town of Gradsko. . . . 'the most important center of all communications in the Macedonian theater of war.'As the armies wavered in the face of the Allied offensive and the onslaught from the air turned the retreat into a rout, the latent unrest in the country broke into open acts of defiance. On September 23 and 24 left-wing Socialists organized soviets in Pechaev, Berovo, and Tsarevo Selo." ((5), more)
(1) French historian Marc Bloch was an infantry sergeant in September 1914 and was stationed north of St. Menehould. From September 15 to 17, he had been in the Forest of Hauzy, west of Vienne-le-Château, where a battle was fought on the 15th and 16th.
Memoirs of War 1914-15 by Marc Bloch, page 109, copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988, publisher: Cambridge University Press, publication date: 1988
(2) Sergeant Edward Morlae recounting some of the black humor of soldiers of the French Foreign Legion moving into position for the Champagne Offensive the night of September 24/25, 1915. They turn from this to a discussion of the 'German methods of making war' including hand-grenades, poison gas, flame-projectors, vitriol bombs, and explosive bullets. In the trenches, they move to the front line ahead of other units who complain until they realize it is 'La Légion' moving to the fore. The Legion is passed by the Moroccan Division. Both units suffered heavily in taking the Butte de Souain. Of the 3,200 men in his regiment who entered the September 25 attack, only 852 would pass in parade after the battle later. Most of Morlae's men were Americans.
A Soldier of the Legion by Edward Morlae, pp. 21-23, copyright © 1916, by the Atlantic Monthly Company; 1916, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co., publication date: 1916
(3) Part of the official report of his downing of Zeppelin LZ.32 on the night of September 23–24, 1916 by Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey of Number 39 Squadron flying from his base at Sutton's Farm. The commander of LZ.32 was Oberleutnant-zur-See (naval Lieutenant) Werner Peterson who perished with his crew. The British found a copy of the latest signal book of the German navy in the wreckage. The same night L.33 was brought down relatively gently after being hit by ground fire, and losing some of its gas gas compartments or cells. L.33 was commanded by Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Commander) Alois Böcker who survived with his crew of 21. Although they fired the airship, the frame survived to provide intelligence to the British. Peterson and Böcker captained two Zeppelins in a raid by twelve. The losses were unsustainable. 'Brock' and 'Pomeroy' were types of explosive bullets.
The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse, page 152, copyright © 1966 by Arch Whitehouse, publisher: New English Library, publication date: 1978
(4) From Monday, September 24 to October 1, 1917, ninety-two German Gotha bombers took part in the Autumn Moon Offensive against England. Fifty-five of the two-engine planes reached England with twenty or fewer making it to London. A handful of Staaken Giant bombers also took part in the raids, with one reaching the capital. On six of the eight nights the bombers struck. A total of 69 people were killed and 260 wounded, some by shell casings from the British defensive barrage. Before the raids had ended, over 300,000 people had taken shelter in the London Underground. The quotation within our quotation from Fredette's excellent The Sky on Fire, is from The War in the Air by Henry Jones.
The Sky on Fire by Raymond H. Fredette by Raymond H. Fredette, page 137, copyright © 1966, 1976, 1991 by Raymond H. Fredette, publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press, publication date: 1991
(5) 'The brigade' that 'resumed their march' on September 24, 1918 was a French Moroccan one of the 1st and 4th Chausseur d'Afrique working its way through the mountains west of the Allied advance up the Vardar River valley on the Balkan Front. To the east, what had been intended to be an orderly retreat before the advancing British had turned into a rout when the Royal Air Force strafed and bombed the defenceless Bulgarian First Army moving north through mountain passes. As the Allies continued advancing into occupied Serbia, the Bulgarian home front threatened imminent collapse. The embedded quotation in the first paragraph is by German Commander Paul von Hindenburg.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, pp. 219 and 225, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
