A heavyset English sailor flies a panoply of flags of neutral nations including Sweden (civil ensign), Norway, Spanish Merchant Marine, the United States, Netherlands, Italy, and the Red Cross. Germany accused Great Britain of flying false flags on merchant and passenger ships, and of arming them. A postcard by P.O.Engelhard (P.O.E.), dated and postmarked January 15, 1916.
Image text: Die englische KriegsflaggeThe English Battle Flag
Map of the North and Baltic Seas (labeledNord-See and Ostsee) from a folding postcard of five battlefronts: the Western and Eastern Fronts; North and Baltic Seas, Mediterranean and Black Seas; and the Serbian-Montenegro Front.
Image text: Karten sämtl. KriegsschauplätzeÖsterreichisch-serbisch-montenegrinisher Kriegsschauplatz.Deutsch - österreichisch - russischer Kriegsschauplatz.Deutsch - belgisch - französ. Kriegsschauplatz.Deutsch-englisch-russisch. Seekriegsschauplatz.Österreichisch - französisch-englischer Seekriegsschauplatz.Preis 20 HellerBei Änderungen der Kriegsschauplätze erscheint Nachtrag. Nachdruck verboten.Verlag Schöler, Wien-DöblingMaps all of theaters of warAustrian-Serbian-Montenegrin theater of war.German - Austrian - Russian theater of war.German - Belgian - French theater of war.English-German Russian - Sea theater of war.Austro - French-English - Sea theater of war.Price 20 HellerFor changes in the battle fronts, an addendum is shown. Reprinting prohibited.Publisher Schöler, Vienna-Döbling
La Domenica del Corriere of August 22–29, 1915, an illustrated weekly supplement to Corriere della Sera, published in Milan, Italy. The front and back covers are full-page illustrations by the great Italian illustrator Achille Beltrame. This back cover is an illustration of Italian author, pilot, soldier, and self-promoter Gabriele d'Annunzio dropping streamers in the colors of the Italian flag and bearing patriotic massages over Trieste, Austria-Hungary, a city with a large ethnic Italian population.
Image text: Il volo di d'Annunzio su Trieste. Il Poeta lancia patriottici messaggi ai nostri fratelli: 'La fine del vostro martirio è prossima!'The flight of d'Annunzio over Trieste. The Poet launches patriotic messages to our brothers: 'The end of your martyrdom is near!'(Disegno de A. Beltrame).
Headstone of Paul W. Derrickson, 2nd Lieutenant, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, A.E.F., recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, killed in action, May 28, 1918 in the Battle of Cantigny, France. His citation reads, 'The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Paul W. Derrickson, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in the advance on Cantigny, France, May 28, 1918. Second Lieutenant Derrickson courageously went forward with his platoon and reached the position he had been directed to take. Fearlessly walking up and down his line, he cheered and directed the work of his men until he was killed.' (Source: www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_DSC/citatons/01_wwi_dsc/dsc_05wwi_Army_DE.html, May 24, 2018) © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text: Paul W. Derrickson2 Lieut. 28 Inf. 1 Div.Virginia May. 28, 1918D.S.C.
"If neutral vessels have come to grief through the German submarine war during the past few months by mistake, it is a question of isolated and exceptional cases which are traceable to the misuse of flags by the British Government in connection with carelessness or suspicious actions on the part of the captains of the vessels." ((1), more)
"It was against this background of raid and counter-raid with both sides baiting traps—Jellicoe to catch the High Sea Fleet away from its coast and Scheer to catch an isolated portion of the Grand Fleet—that the great naval battle of the war occurred almost by accident. At the end of May [1916], Jellicoe decided to send two light cruiser squadrons around the Skaw into the Kattegat on 2 June to sweep as far south as the Great Belt and the Sound. There would be a battle squadron in the Skaggerak in support, and Jellicoe and Beatty would be to the northwest with all their forces ready to intervene if the High Sea Fleet moved north out of the Bight. British submarines would also be off the Dogger Bank and south of the Horns Reef, and the minelayer Abdiel would extend the minefields laid on 3–4 May. The seaplane carrier Engadine, escorted by a light cruiser squadron and destroyers, would be off Horns Reef to watch for Zeppelins." ((2), more)
"This ridiculous plan [to cross the Timavo River on plank walkways, capture Hill 28, advance across two kilometres of open ground to seize the castle in Duino, and raise a huge Italian flag] was partly conceived by a 54-year-old captain in the Novara Lancers — none other than Gabriele D'Annunzio. This was Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italy's celebrity bard and all-round decadent. Sharing the Futurists' fascination with aeroplanes, he had made daring flights over Austrian territory. He also milked events for personal publicity, lobbying far and wide for medals. He admired Cadorna, composing odes in his honour. Unofficially, many in the army found him comical and even hateful." ((3), more)
"On April 25th the First Division relieved two French divisions on the front near Montdidier and on May 28th captured the important observation stations on the heights of Cantigny with splendid dash. French artillery, aviation, tanks, and flame throwers aided in the attack, but most of this French assistance was withdrawn before the completion of the operation in order to meet the enemy's new offensive launched May 27th towards Château-Thierry. The enemy reaction against our troops at Cantigny was extremely violent, and apparently he was determined at all costs to counteract the most excellent effect the American success had produced. For three days his guns of all calibers were concentrated on our new position and counter-attack succeeded counter-attack. The desperate efforts of the Germans gave the fighting at Cantigny a seeming tactical importance entirely out of proportion to the numbers involved." ((4), more)
(1) Excerpt from the May 28, 1915 statement of German Minister of Foreign Affairs Gottfried von Jagow defending the May 7 sinking of the Lusitania. In his statement von Jagow further charges not only that 'practically all the more valuable English merchant vessels have been provided with guns, ammunition and other weapons, and reënforced with a crew specially practiced in manning guns,' but also that when disguised by neutral flags and markings, they 'attack German submarines by ramming them.'
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, pp. 196 and 197, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) In May, 1916 Admiral Sir John Jellicoe commanded the British Grand Fleet, Admiral Reinhard Scheer the German High Sea Fleet. With a superior navy, Britain had cleared the high seas of German warships in the first months of the war, and blockaded the North Sea, constraining the activity of the German surface fleet. On April 25, 1916, German warships had shelled the coastal town of Lowestoft, one of the raids our author refers to, destroying 200 houses, killing three and wounding twelve. The Skaggerak and Kattegat are straits between the North and Baltic Seas, north and east of Denmark's Jutland peninsula. Dogger Bank is a fishing ground in the North Sea, and site of the January 24, 1915 Battle of Dogger Bank as well as an encounter on February 10, 1916. Admiral David Beatty commanded a squadron of battleships that would be used as a lure in the coming days.
A Naval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern, pp. 314, 315, copyright © 1994 by the United States Naval Institute, publisher: UCL Press, publication date: 1994
(3) The Tenth Battle of the Isonzo, which Italian commander in chief Luigi Cadorna had begun with the heaviest bombardment yet on the Italian front, had already failed when the plan of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio on the Timavo River, one of the last actions of the campaign, was executed. A powerful speaker and self-promoter, D'Annunzio's performances included dropping leaflets over Vienna that proclaimed the imminent triumph of Italy over Austria-Hungary and Germany. In his Letters, Anglo-American writer Henry James refers to D'Annunzio as 'that particular rotten little skunk' while admiring one of his recent poems. Futurism was an Italian art movement that celebrated the modern world, its technology, speed, and disruption.
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 255, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009
(4) Account of the May 28, 1918 offensive at Cantigny, the first American offensive, by American commander General John J. Pershing. The German action was part of the Aisne Offensive, begun on May 27. The attack began at 6:45 a.m. by the 28th Infantry supported by ten French tanks and a platoon of French flame throwers on a mile-long front. The Americans took the town and held it against two big counterattacks that afternoon and evening, and against a third attack the next morning. In the battle, the American 1st Division suffered 1,067 casualties, 199 of them killed.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, p. 190, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
