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Entrenched German soldiers preparing their rifles for duty, November 15, 1916 in Lajoryery(?). The message on the reverse is in Hungarian. 'Nov 15 1916 — Lajoryery(?) — 377 . . . preparing rifle for sentry in the trenches' — translation courtesy of Thomas Faust, eBay's Urfaust.
The nacelle or car of an airplane, likely a pusher plane, shot down in Serbia being examined by German officers.
Chosen Boy, a 1918 watercolor by Paul Klee. From Paul Klee: Early and Late Years: 1894-1940. © 2013 Moeller Fine Art
Map showing the territorial gains (darker shades) of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, primarily at the expense of Turkey, agreed in the Treaty of Bucharest following the Second Balkan War. Despite its gains, Bulgaria also lost territory to both Romania and Turkey.
Etinehem Military Cemetery, France holds the remains of 1,004 soldiers, primarily French — including colonial troops — and some British, victims of the Battles of the Somme. © 2013 John M. Shea
"The reality was not described in the newspapers, and usually only glimpsed in letters home. One diarist, Lieutenant Guy Chapman, caught that reality in his curt entry on the night of November 16: 'No. I Coy is badly knocked out. Lauder and Young both badly wounded, Sergeant-Major Dell wounded. Farrington killed. Sgt Brown not expected to live. Sgt Baker wounded. Westle, poor fellow, killed. Foley — the last of his family — killed, a lot of other good men, too many to speak of.'" ((1), more)
"On November 17 the dawn was bright and clear, the white contours of the mountains and the roofs of Monastir standing out sharply in the frozen air. The indomitable Serbs stormed two nameless hills due east of the town while the French and Italians and Russians moved slowly forward from one tiny hamlet to another all that day and most of the night." ((2), more)
"On the night of November 17 the first snow fell on the Somme battlefield. On the following night the final assault of the campaign took place, an advance of a thousand yards on the Ancre. It was much hampered by mist and snow. . . .. . . The British dead on the Somme in the four months since July 1 amounted to 95,675. The French 'Somme' toll was 50,729. The total number of Allied dead on the Somme was 146,404. The German death toll was even larger: 164,055. . . ." ((3), more)
". . . the enveloping troops watched as the sky above Monastir turned orange; the enemy had set fire to the quarters they had occupied. Patrols approached the trenches which the Bulgars had tried to dig in the previous weeks; they were empty. A few hours later a young cavalry officer, leading his troop of mounted scouts cautiously forward, was just in time to see the last battery of German guns pulling out of town. His name was Murat; by a fortuitous piece of historical symbolism, a descendant of the captor of Moscow was about to lead a Franco-Russian division to its first conquest. By noon on November 19 the French and Russians and Serbs had all entered the silent and shuttered town. After nine weeks of hard campaigning, Monastir had fallen." ((4), more)
"Considering the small gains, losses on the Somme were surprisingly high. The French claimed 202,257 casualties on the Somme between July 1 and November 20, or about 54 percent of those suffered at Verdun. The heaviest casualties occurred in July (49,859) and September (76,147), when the French launched their largest attacks. The British, according to their official history, suffered 419,654 casualties in the fighting along the Somme." ((5), more)
(1) From Martin Gilbert's account of the last days of the Battle of the Somme in his The First World War, a Complete History. 'No. I Coy' is a the 1st Company.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 298, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(2) Along the Salonica Front extending across Greece, the Allied French, British, Serbian, Russian, and Italian army faced a Bulgarian army supported by German troops. The liberation of Monastir would be the first significant victory for Serbian forces since their country was occupied the year before.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, page 90, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
(3) The last assault of the Battle of the Somme began on November 18, 1916. The Anglo-French offensive had begun on July 1.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 299, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(4) Along the Salonica Front extending across Greece, the Allied French, British, Serbian, Russian, and Italian army faced a Bulgarian army supported by German troops. The Bulgarians began withdrawing from Monastir on November 18, setting it alight. The liberation of Monastir was the first significant victory for Serbian forces since their country was occupied the year before.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, page 91, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
(5) The Anglo-French offensive on the Somme River began July 1, 1916. The last assault was on November 18. The Germans suffered 465,000 casualties during the Allied campaign.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, page 309, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
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