To the Dardanelles! The Entente Allies successfully capture their objective and plant their flags in this boy's 1915 war game, as they did not in life, neither in the naval campaign, nor in the invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula.
Image text: Aux Dardanelles; Victoire; Vive les AlliésLogo and number: ACA 2131Reverse:Artige - Fabricant 16, Faub. St. Denis Paris Visé Paris N. au verso. Fabrication Française - Marque A.C.A
England's Distress: Postcard map of England and Ireland with the restricted zone Germany proclaimed around the islands, showing the ships destroyed by submarine in the 12 months beginning February 1, 1917.
Image text: Englands Not12 Monate uneingeschränktenU-Bootskrieges auf dem nördlichen See kriegsschauplatzAlle durch Minen und vor dem 1. Februar 1917 vernichteten Schiffe sind in dieser Karte nicht enthalten.SperrgebietsgrenzenBedeutet ein durch die Tätigkeit unserer U-Boote versenktes Schiffe ohne Berücksichtigung seine GrosseDie Eintragungen der Schiffe entsprechen dem Versunkungsort.England's distressUnqualified 12 monthsSubmarine warfare in the North Sea theaterAll ships destroyed by mines of before February 1, 1917 are not included in this map.restricted zone boundaries[Sunken ship symbol] indicates a ship sunk by the actions of our submarines without taking into account the size of the vessel. The records correspond to the ships' place of operations.Reverse:Auf Anregung Sr. Majestät des Kaisersi. Auftr. des Admiralstabes d. Rais. Marine zu Gunsten der Sinterbliebenen der Besatzungen von U-Booten, Minensuch- und Vorpostenbooten herausgegeben vom Verein für das Deutschtum im AuslandFaber'sche Buchdruckerei, Magdeburg.At the suggestion of His Majesty the Emperorhis commission of Naval Staff Rais d. Navy issued in favor of the sintering relatives of the crews of submarines, minesweepers and outpost boats by the Association for Germans abroadFaber'sche book printing, Magdeburg.
War memorial, Arras, France.
Image text:
Postcard map of the English Channel, the strait between England and France with the Channel Ports of Dunkirk and Calais in France and Dover and the mouth of the Thames River in England. Illustration by Eugen Felle, 1915.
Image text: Westlicher Kriegsschauplatz: Der KanalWestern Front: the (English) ChannelReverse:Der Kanal.7 Januar. [1915] Deutscher Fliegerangriff auf Dünkirchen. 10. Januar: Deutsches Fluggeschwader über der Themsemündung. 13. Januar.: Deutsche Unterseeboote am Hafeneingang von Dover. 22. Januar.: Deutsche Unterseeboote eröffnen die Blokade im Kanal. 28. Januar.: Erfolgreiche Fliegerangriffe auf die englischen Militäranlagen in Dünkirchen.The Channel.January 7. [1915] German air raid on Dunkirk. 10th January: German air squadron over the Thames estuary. 13th January:. German submarines in the harbor entrance of Dover. 22nd January:. German submarine inaugurates a blockade of the Channel. 28th January:. Successful air raids on the British military units in Dunkirk.Kunstverlag Eug. Felle, Isny, Wttbg. Nr. 25.Art publisher Eug. Felle, Isny, Wittenburg. No. 25
"A week after the landing we were briefed for an attack on entrenched Turks at the head of Monash Gully, the area best known as the Chessboard. Like everything else on Gallipoli everything seemed to go wrong. We were marched a great and tiring distance to the take-off point and arrived late. We were supposed to make our advance in daylight, but it was dark by the time we were issued with picks and shovels so that we could consolidate the ground we were expected to gain. Our first obstacle was a steep and gravelly cliff down which a rope was suspended; in the pitch dark we had to haul ourselves up it. Believe me, I found it a struggle, with my rifle slung on my shoulder with bayonet fixed and a shovel in one hand. When I reached the top there was a heap of dead. The ground was totally exposed to Turk fire. . . . We weren't in platoon or company formation. We were just individuals arriving by rope at the top of the cliff to meet Turkish fire." ((1), more)
"O wise men, riddle me this: what if the dream come true?What if the dream come true? and if millions unborn shall dwellIn the house that I shaped in my heart, the noble house of my thought?Lord, I have staked my soul, I have staked the lives of my kinOn the truth of Thy dreadful word. Do not remember my failures,But remember this my faith." ((2), more)
"Our orders didn't get through until the last minute and then they were all garbled. No one, including our officers, seemed to know what we were supposed to be doing, or where we were going. Officers were supposed to have synchronized their watches in so far as it was possible at that time of day. At a certain time, our barrage was supposed to lift and we were to climb out of the trenches and go forward. Well, we did — but it wasn't all at the same time! We were given false information and told the artillery had smashed the enemy defences and we would get through the wire — did we hell!" ((3), more)
"I must draw your attention to the fact that if England and France in this defensive campaign have common war aims, their armies have separate objectives.The French Army must cover Paris and the centre of France; the British Army must defend the coast and, in particular, the Channel Ports, including Dunkirk.I write to you on this point because it concerns the vital interests of Belgium and the action of her Army.The possession of Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne or even one of these ports would be the greatest possible victory for Germany and for us a terrible defeat and a direct danger for England and her naval supremacy." ((4), more)
(1) New Zealand veteran John Skinner describing the attack the night of May 2-3, 1915 at the northern end of Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. Skinner was a sergeant in the Otago Infantry Battalion, which landed on April 25, the first day of the Gallipoli invasion. In the first days, his battalion supported the Australians holding the front line, and lost 200 of 1,000 men. Of the attack at Monash Gully he said, 'we had worse to come.'
Voices of Gallipoli by Maurice Shadbolt, pp. 69, 70, copyright © 1988 Maurice Shadbolt, publisher: Hodder and Stoughton, publication date: 1988
(2) Stanza from 'The Fool', a poem by Patrick H. Pearse, executed May 3, 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland. Pearse served as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Irish Republic and President of the Provisional Government in the short-lived insurrection. Along with him on May 3 were executed Thomas Clarke and Thomas Macdonagh. Pearse's younger brother Willie was executed May 4.
The 1916 Poets by Edited with an Introduction by Desmond Ryan, page 21, copyright © Introduction and Selection, estate of the late Desmon Ryan 1963, publisher: Gill and Macmillan, publication date: 1995
(3) Sergeant Jack Cousins of the 7th Bedfordshire regiment describing his experience in the May 3 and 4, 1917 final major attack of the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of the Scarpe, fought on a sixteen-mile front from Vimy to Bullecourt. Nearly 6,000 British troops, including Canadians and Australians, were killed in the attack.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, page 197, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
(4) Albert, King of the Belgians, writing to British Lord Curzon, a member of the war cabinet, on May 3, 1918 after German offensives in March and April, Operation Michael and Operation Georgette, had driven the British back on the Somme and Lys sectors, threatening to separate the French and British armies. General Douglas Haig's impulse was to save the British Army by falling back to the Channel ports of Dunkirk and Calais. Commanding the French Army, Henri Philippe Pétain's impulse was to defend Paris. Commander in Chief Ferdinand Foch insisted that a united Franco-British front must be maintained.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 207, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
