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Irish and German brotherhood. Standing in France, an Irish rebel soldier clasps the hands of a German soldier. The German sun shines upon the scene. In Germany, Irish rebel Roger Casement tried to raise an Irish unit to fight the British from Irish prisoners of war. Field postmarked October 5, 1915.
Map of the Eastern Front, mid-July, 1915 from The Capture of Novo Georgievsk, Volume 8 of the Reichsarchive history Battles of the World War.
A German Fokker Eindecker flying over the front in the Meuse/Verdun sector.
Easter greetings from your uncle, April 13, 1916. A whimsical Austrian pencil sketch from Cetinje, capital of Montenegro, then occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces. Easter was on April 23 in 1916.
Map of the Trentino, part of "Italia Irredenta," unredeemed Italy: Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and Alto Adige)
"The Revolutionists meanwhile, following the lead of the Ulsterites, had been negotiating with Germany for a supply of arms. The vessel Aud was chartered for the purpose, and was loaded with 20,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition and 15 machine guns. Flying a neutral flag and disguised as a merchant vessel, the Aud left Germany on April 12th, bound for Ireland. Accompanying the Aud was a German submarine, in which Sir Roger Casement, Cpt. Robert Monteith and Private Daniel Bailey had taken passage. The submarine, however, put in at Heligoland for repairs, which kept her there several days, while the Aud continued on her way through the British blockade." ((1), more)
"The Russian army lost 100,000 men in [the Battle of Lake Narotch]—as well as 12,000 men who died of frostbite. The Germans claimed to have lifted 5,000 corpses from their wire. They themselves lost 20,000 men.Lake Narotch was, despite appearances, one of the decisive battles of the First World War. It condemned most of the Russian army to passivity. Generals supposed that, if 350,000 men and a thousand guns, with 'mountains' of shell to use, had failed, then the task was impossible—unless there were extraordinary quantities of shell." ((2), more)
"April 13th.—This is the first day in two months without a rumour of impending action somewhere on the front. To occupy its typists Division circulated a leg-pull on fly-catching, after Heath Robinson: he was a caricaturist whose burlesques of wartime mechanical contrivances and proposals were sometimes grimly to the point.April 15th.—A route-march—German fliers have dropped notes saying they will be in Béthune on the 22nd. Their visits are few, but well timed; our fliers are much more over their territory." ((3), more)
"Overnight in Corfu the cold wet winter surrendered to a brilliant spring of clear skies and lush green vegetation, with a leaden sea transformed to startling blue—a new season that heralded renewed hope. Most of the Serbs had made a remarkable recovery. Regular food, routine medical treatment and a couple of months' rest, had restored over 100,000 starving, battered soldiers to a disciplined army of fit and healthy men. British uniforms and French rifles had been issued, regular army training and exercises had become routine, and they were now ready to go, 'to resume their endless task of war once more', as Laffan puts it. By mid-April 1916 the first units were standing by ready to embark for Salonika." ((4), more)
"[General Roberto Brusati] again failed to persuade Cadorna that the situation in Trentino was unusual. Then a Czech officer deserted with precise information about the impending attack. By mid-April [1916], accurate estimates of the Austrian build-up (though not of the artillery) were appearing in the Italian and French press. . . .Around this time, reportedly, an officer in the alpini presented himself at the Supreme Command in Udine, with important information about the situation in Trentino. After a long wait, a captain on Cadorna's staff emerged: 'His Excellency the Supreme Commander of the Army has no need of advice from Lieutenant Battisti.' The officer thus dismissed was Cesare Battisti, the legendary patriot from Trento, who knew every tree and rock in the threatened sector." ((5), more)
(1) Preparing for a violent, armed response to Irish Home Rule, Ulster Unionists formed the Ulster Volunteer Force and smuggled 20,000 magazine-fed rifles into Ulster on April 24, 1914. In response, in the south, those in favor of home rule formed the National Volunteers, while others favoring independence formed the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and smuggled approximately 900 single-shot rifles into Ireland in July. Two years later, with the war in progress, Sir Roger Casement had tried, and failed, to raise a Irish force from POWs held by Germany. Disheartened by this and the lack of German support, he was returning to Ireland to prevent a planned uprising. The island of Helgoland was a heavily fortified German port. The British blockade kept the German surface fleet bottled up in the North Sea.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 241, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
(2) The Battle of Lake Narotch, which had begun on March 18, ended on April 14, 1916. Russia, which had suffered more than other major combatants from its shell shortage, was finally producing and importing weapons sufficient for its needs. This did not change the fact that its military leadership was not up to the command and control task it faced. Our author, Norman Stone, refers to the Lake Narotch offensive as 'the last real effort by the old Russian army' in which infantry and artillery failed to coordinate their efforts, different armies failed to work together, and those in command demonstrated no tactical ability. The new Russian army, exemplified by Alexsei Brusilov, would take the field in June.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, page 231, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
(3) Entries from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J.C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and dozens of his comrades. The commentary on Heath Robinson was clearly added at a later date.
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 194, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
(4) After being defeated by the combined forces of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, Serbia's army, government, and many civilians retreated through the mountains of Albania to the Adriatic coast. Having failed to aid Serbia with troops that had been landed in Salonica, Greece, her allies struggled to provide food, shelter, and transport to the Serbians who had survived the winter crossing, but eventually delivered the Serbs to the island of Corfu. R.G.D. Laffan, an historian quoted by our author, was attached to a British ambulance unit in Salonica.
The Quality of Mercy: Women at War, Serbia 1915-18 by Monica Krippner, page 179, copyright © Monica Krippner 1980, publisher: David and Charles, publication date: 1980
(5) Having fought a primarily defensive war against Italy on the Isonzo River (five Battles of the Isonzo had already been waged), Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf prepared an assault to the north and west in the Trentino, hoping to advance to the Adriatic Sea and trap the Italian army in Italy's northeast. Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna was both unimaginative and skeptical. On May 15, 1916, von Hötzendorf launched his Asiago Offensive. Cesare Battisti, was an Austrio-Hungarian citizen of Italian descent and had been elected a member of the Austrian Reichsrat, the Imperial Council, in 1911, representing Trentino. He joined the Italian army, was captured on the Asiago front on July 10, 1916, and executed two days later.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, pp. 162, 163, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
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