#OTD in #WW1 Ottoman forces are massing at #Qurna , and making wide-ranging redeployments to defend #Erzurum

The Germans continue poking ineffectually at Soissons; the blokes on Mafia are still marching. Meanwhile, some events of actual interest in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.

Qurna

Reconnaissance of all kinds has been reporting a buildup of Ottoman troops north of Qurna, forming an encampment about eight miles away. Two additional British Empire battalions are ordered to the town, and plans are laid…

5th Jan 1915 in #WW1 Joffre ends First Artois, #typhoid at #Sarikamis , and #FieldPunishment in the BEF

On the Western Front, General Joffre is shuffling his cards again, and brings First Artois to an effective close. I’m also having a look at Field Punishment, one of the iconic features of the British soldier’s experience of the war. And down in the Caucasus, it may have seemed as though the Battle of Sarikamis couldn’t have got any worse for the Ottomans…

Sarikamis

And you’d be wrong to think…

4 Jan 1915 in #WW1 A look at conditions in the trenches on the Western Front. Spoilers: it's really shitty.

We’ve hit on a day with not a lot new happening; let’s go down to the trenches on the Western Front and see how the blokes are doing.

Sarikamis

The Russsian ring is tightening round the mountains, forcing those Turks who aren’t casualties or deserters back on Bardiz. The snow continues falling. In some places it’s waist or shoulder-high.

Alex Letyford

Another long day for Corporal Letyford of…

Turnagel | 29 Dec 1914

The year is drifting to an end. Enver Pasha’s chickens are about to come home to roost. Let’s get to it.

Perthes

Having stalled out at Carency, the French are about to attack again at Perthes. They’ve been saving their artillery shells so that the attackers can have another bombardment tomorrow before they go on the offensive. This time for sure, Bullwinkle!

Procurement

This seems like as…

Dec 30 1914 in #WW1 Air raid on #Dunkirk , and heavy fighting at #Perthes , #Sarikamis and #Ardahan

The French Army has been going nowhere except slightly deeper into the mud for the last two weeks, but this apparently is no reason to give up now. There’s also a German air raid; but first, back to the Caucasus.

Sarikamis

On the ground, it’s another day of success for the Russians. They’re crawling all over the passes around Bardiz, and they’ve just re-opened the railway line at Selim for…

Dec 27 in #WW1 The Belgians attack #Lombartzyde , the French attack #Carency , the Ottomans attack #Sarikamis

The Belgians are getting their war on again at Lombartzyde, First Artois and First Champagne grind back into life, and fighting reaches Sarikamis itself.

Lombartzyde

This time the Belgians cross the Yser at the northern end of their line, at Lombartzyde outside Nieuport. Again they capture a few hundred metres of German trench, take some prisoners, and establish a bridgehead. They’re in this war,…

#BoxingDay in #WW1 The truces persist on some parts of the front, and the Battle of #Sarikamis intensifies.

Back to that lovely war. Hurrah. Well, mostly. There are some areas of the Western Front where good feelings can’t be dispersed so easily with a few disapproving orders from some remote brass hat.

Western Front

Perhaps the most successful exchange of good feelings has happened in the section of line held by the 1/6th Gordon Highlanders. As their name suggests, they’re a Territorial unit. They’ve…