CHAPTER XXXI
PALESTINE—ARABIA—MESOPOTAMIA
Although the British had accomplished their main objective in Palestine with the capture of Jerusalem, they did not rest on their laurels. Within a few days after their occupation of the Holy City, by December 12, 1917, they had advanced their lines to the north and some detachments of Indian troops had carried positions as far north as the mouth of the Midieh.
During the night of December 20-21, 1917, British troops crossing the Nahr-el-Auja on rafts and light bridges, seized Khurbet Hadrah, Sheikh Muannis, Tel-er-Rekkeit, and later El Makhras.
These localities are near the mouth of the river, and include commanding ground two miles to the north of it. Three hundred and five prisoners, of whom eleven were officers, and ten machine guns were captured.
Other forces captured Ras-ez-Zamby, two miles northeast of Bethany, which itself is two miles east of Jerusalem, taking thirty prisoners and two machine guns and beating off three Turkish counterattacks.
By this time the booty captured by the British since the beginning of the operations had been counted and had been found to total ninety-nine guns and howitzers with carriages, about 400 limbers, wagons and other vehicles; 110 machine guns, more than 7,000 rifles, 18,500,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition, and over 58,000 rounds of gun and howitzer ammunition, besides various other stores.
On December 22, 1917, troops on the extreme left of the British forces, with naval cooperation, continued their advance north of the Nahr-el-Auja, reaching the line Sheik-el-Ballutah-El Jelil, some four miles north of the river. Pushing eastward south of the river Fejja and Mulebbis, center of a Jewish colony, were occupied. This was followed by the capture of Rantieh on the Turkish railway to the north, and Kh.-el-Beida, and Kh.-el-Bireh, four miles southeast of Rantieh.
The Turks, with German assistance, on December 27, 1917, made a determined attempt to retake Jerusalem. Repeated attacks were pressed with vigor and continued from two a. m. on the 27th for twenty-six hours. General Allenby at once launched a counterattack against the west flank of the Turkish attack.
On the 27th this attack progressed two and one-half miles over very difficult country. Seeing that the Turkish attack was spent, on December 28, 1917, the British made a general advance. British troops on the Nablus road advancing north and the troops on their left advancing east drove the Turks back before them. By the morning of December 29, 1917, General Allenby had secured the line Burkah, Ras-et-Tahunieh, Ram Allah, El Tireh, Wadi-el-Kelh.
On December 30, 1917, British troops occupied Beitin, or Bethel, two miles northeast of Bireh, El Balua, one mile north of Bireh, on the Nablus road, and Kh.-el-Burj, about one mile west of El Balua, Janiah and Ras Kerker, six and seven miles respectively northwest of Bireh.
In the coastal sector of the line a patrol reached Kuleh, twelve miles east of Jaffa, and there found a Turkish gun ammunition depot, which it destroyed. Kuleh is two miles east of Rantieh, on the Damascus Railway, which had recently been occupied by the British.
The Turks suffered heavily in killed and wounded, the killed alone being estimated at about 1,000. About 600 prisoners were taken and twenty machine guns.
The British line was now, at its nearest point, twelve miles north of Jerusalem. The right wing reached some four miles east of the Sheehem road; the center extended across that road north of Beeroth, Bireh, and along the Ram Allah Ridge and the Wadi-el-Kalb, which lies north of and parallel to the Jerusalem-Beth Horon-Joppa road. On the coast the left wing of the British was north of the Auja, in the plain of Sharon.
In describing the Turco-German attempt to regain Jerusalem the special correspondent of the London "Times" attached to the British forces in Palestine said in part:
The British advance in Mesopotamia and Palestine.
"The first objective was Tell-el-Ful, a high conical-shaped hill just east of the Sheehem road dominating our lines east and west for a considerable distance. During daylight on Boxing Day the Turks made no movement, but just before midnight our post north of El Ful was driven in. At twenty minutes past one a. m. the first attack on El Ful was made, and at the same time an advance began against Beit Hannina, about a mile west of the road. This line was defended by London Territorials, who added to their grand record by meeting attack after attack with magnificent steadiness, standing like rocks against most furious onslaughts, and never once yielding an inch of ground. Two companies defending Hanbna were attacked four times by storming troops. Each attack was stronger than the last, and the fourth was delivered by 500 picked Turks, but all the attacks were beaten back after prolonged hand-to-hand fighting. The enemy dead showed many bayonet wounds, and the hillside was strewn with Turks killed by machine-gun fire. There were eight attacks on Tell-el-Ful. These were also made with great weight and determination. The strongest of them all was delivered with a reenforced line at dawn, and supported by heavy artillery fire. All were defeated with great loss to the enemy.
"Between 7 a. m. and noon the enemy organized for a last big effort, and about half-past 12 the Turks assaulted the whole of the Londoners' line except Nebi Samwil. This final attack was pressed right up to our positions, the enemy fighting with the bravery of desperation. He proved no match for the London Territorials, who, after raking the advancing waves with machine guns, cleared his breastworks at a bound, met the foe with the bayonet, and forced him back.
"General Allenby, realizing how deeply committed the Turks were to the attack on Jerusalem, put in Irish and dismounted Yeomanry against the enemy right. Those who have seen the terrain marvel at the dismounted Yeomanry's and Irishmen's achievement. They moved from Beth Horon Upper northeastward. The Yeomen attacked El Tireh, at the time not strongly held, but just as they secured it a Turkish storming battalion was advancing to the same spot. The enemy, thus forestalled, counterattacked, but the Yeomanry rushed at them and counted seventy Turks killed by the bayonet alone.
"The hill near by was so steep that it took two hours to get supplies up to the top. Another hillside was so precipitous that the only way troops could get up the terraced slopes was by the men standing on each other's shoulders. So nearly perpendicular was the hill that the Turks on the top could not fire on the climbers till they were at close quarters. While the Irish and Yeomen were advancing, men in reserve were making roads for the guns, which had to be hauled by hand, and when Yeomen captured Beitunia they had a whole brigade of guns just behind their front line, though it was sometimes necessary for a whole company of infantry to haul one gun, which at moments was dangling in the air.
"Welsh and Home Counties troops also took part in beating off the attack on Jerusalem. They had taken Zanby and White Hill, north of the Jericho road, and held White Hill against three counterattacks. On the 27th the Turks attacked all day, and White Hill became no-man's-land, but Zanby was held. Fighting was at bombing distance. At dusk the enemy tried to take White Hill, but the Welshmen charged with the bayonet and killed over a hundred Turks. Farther south a post at the village of Obeid was attacked by 700 of the enemy, who surrounded it and fired 400 shells into the monastery, but the Middlesex men, who were the garrison of the post, held out, their casualties being trifling."
Immediately following the defeat which the British inflicted on the Turks, the former succeeded in advancing their lines north of Jerusalem still another mile.
During January, 1918, there was little activity on the Palestine front. In the last week of the month there was, however, considerable aerial activity. On January 22, 1918, the Turkish camps and depots on the railway west of Sebustieh, Samaria, were raided.
On January 24, 1918, two Turkish aeroplanes were wrecked in aerial combats.
On January 25, 1918, British bombing squadrons surprised a body of some 2,000 Turkish troops in close formation near Hawara, on the Jerusalem-Nablus road four and one-half miles south of Nablus. Half a ton of bombs were dropped on the column before it could disperse. At the same time a camp of mounted troops was bombed and the animals were stampeded.
Twelve Turkish aeroplanes were destroyed during the month of January, 1918.
During the night of January 30, 1918, the British line was again advanced slightly in the vicinity of Arnutieh, a ruined site, on the Sheehem road, twelve miles north of Jerusalem.
On the morning of January 31, 1918, a British reconnoitering detachment penetrated the village of Mukhmas, eight miles north-northeast of Jerusalem, repulsed Turkish counterattacks, and withdrew during the following night, having accomplished its object. During the night of February 2, 1918, Turkish patrols were active between Arnutieh and Sheikh Abdulla, one mile east of Arnutieh. Attempts to penetrate the British lines at these points, however, were repulsed.
In the meantime the Arab revolt in the Hedjaz, that part of Arabia adjoining the Red Sea, was spreading. It will be recalled that it had been announced in July, 1917, that the Turks had been defeated at Maan and that the Arabs had occupied the enemy positions between Maan and Akaba, the latter place being at the head of the Red Sea gulf of the same name, and just east of the Egyptian frontier. The town of Maan, which is on the Hedjaz Railway, is about 120 miles southeast of Gaza.
Late in August, 1917, it became known that forces operating under the orders of the King of the Hedjaz, the Grand Sherif of Mecca, had carried out a series of extensive operations against Turkish detachments and posts in Arabia. According to the information available, the Arab forces had been working on a carefully thought out plan, resulting in the destruction of part of the railway line north of Medina, which is 230 miles north of Mecca, and in the capture of isolated Turkish posts.
In the Maan district alone, over 700 Turks were killed in action and a similar number taken prisoner, in addition to four guns.
The Arab movement, originating with the Sherif of Mecca, apparently was gaining the support of almost all the Arab tribes in the Hedjaz, and was spreading eastward.
During September, 1917, no news came from the Hedjaz. Early in October, 1917, it was reported that Arab forces had successfully raided the railway communications north of Medina on the Hedjaz Railway.
Not until late in December, 1917, did it become known that the Arabs had been quite active during the latter part of November, 1917, though definite news was lacking concerning their activities during October, 1917, and the early part of November, 1917.
Between November 8 and November 12, 1917, a section of Arabs attacked the railway from Deraa to Amman, that part of the Hedjaz line running parallel to the Jordan. Two locomotives, a number of coaches and trucks, and a bridge were destroyed, and traffic was interrupted for six days.
On November 11, 1917, a train in which Djemal Pasha was traveling to Jerusalem was blown up with a mine and destroyed. Djemal escaped, but his aid-de-camp and the staff officers accompanying him were killed. The Turkish casualties amounted to 120, while the Arabs lost seven killed and four wounded.
On November 22, 1917, a Turkish lancer patrol from Maan attacked some Arab tents in the neighborhood of Batra, fifteen miles southwest of Maan, but were driven off with losses. Arab forces later took the posts of Fuweila and Basta, southwest and west of Maan respectively. These points had been fortified by the Turks in August last in the hope of confining the Arabs in the Akaba area.
A few days later it was announced that an Arab force under Sherif Feisal, son of the King of Hedjaz, had destroyed a troop train south of Tebuk, on the Hedjaz Railway, some 350 miles north of Medina.
The whole of the Turkish detachment in the train were killed or captured, amongst the former being Suleiman Pasha Rifada, paramount chief of the Billi tribe. Three hundred rifles were captured as well as a large quantity of ammunition, also £24,000 Turkish in gold.
On January 11, 1918, it was announced that the Arab forces in Hedjaz had made a successful raid on the railway some twenty miles south of Maan, and that still farther to the south the entire Turkish garrison of an important post on the railway had fallen into the hands of the Arabs.
A few days later the Arabs occupied the Turkish post of Tafile, forty-five miles north-northeast of Maan and eighteen miles southeast of the Dead Sea, capturing the entire garrison. On January 26, 1918, a body of Turkish troops moving on Tafile from El Kerak, twenty miles northeast of the southern end of the Dead Sea, was routed on the Seil-el-Hesa, eleven miles north of Tafile, by the Arabs, and driven back in disorder with the loss of many prisoners, a mountain gun, and seven machine guns.
On the same day another Turkish force advancing westward from Maan was repulsed by Arab troops near Ain Uheid, seven miles west of Maan.
Still farther south, in the Aden sector of Arabia, little of importance transpired between August, 1917, and February, 1918, though the British troops near Aden continued to be in constant contact with the Turks, engaging in numerous outpost and patrol skirmishes.
On November 22, 1917, an action was fought on a larger scale than usual, in which British troops attacked and captured the Turkish post at Jabir, fifteen miles north of Aden, and its neighboring pickets. Losses were inflicted on the Turks and their defenses were destroyed.
On January 5, 1918, a strong reconnoissance was made toward Hatum and Jabir, the defenses of the former being destroyed by British troops. Aeroplanes cooperated with the British artillery, who inflicted considerable damage on the Turkish infantry.
In Mesopotamia there had been very little activity since the fall of Bagdad on March 11, 1917. Soon after that event a British column had been sent westward to Feluja on the Euphrates, a town almost on a line with Bagdad, but about thirty-five miles farther west. The Turks had offered no resistance and the town had been occupied by the British. The Turkish forces in the meantime had been withdrawn to Ramadie, about twenty-five miles northwest from Feluja and also on the Euphrates. In July 1917, a British column had successfully pushed forward about twelve miles in the direction of Ramadie, but after inflicting considerable losses on the Turks had to stop farther advance on account of the extreme heat.
Early in October, 1917, came the news that Ramadie had fallen on September 29, 1917. During the night of September 27, 1917, the British had moved in two columns from an advanced camp on the Euphrates, west of Feluja, one column on the right, the other on the left, and at dawn they attacked Mushaid Ridge, a low line of dunes running north and south from the Euphrates to Habbanie Canal.
At dawn they bombarded the main crest of the ridge, but the Turks had evacuated it, and they replied with a counterbombardment a few minutes afterward, expecting apparently that the British would follow up the barrage with an assault. The British, however, as soon as it became clear that the Turks were evacuating Mushaid Ridge, changed their line of attack. The right column was withdrawn and, swinging round west behind the left column, became the left wing of the force.
As soon as the infantry had carried Mushaid Ridge British cavalry made a wide sweeping movement across the desert round the right flank of the Turks. They left the battle area at 8 a. m. and by 4 p. m. they were established astride the Aleppo road on a regular line of hills running at right angles with the river five miles west of Ramadie.
By this move the Turks were cornered. The net which the British had flung round them was complete. They had no bridge behind them and were cut off from all hope of reenforcement or supplies. Their only chance was to drive in determined counterattacks, and to break through before the British drew the ring in closer and drove them out from their trenches with their artillery.
Meanwhile the British infantry were closing in. At 1 o'clock, after bombardment, one column attacked Ramadie Ridge, on the right, while the other was working round to Azizie Ridge, on the left. The capture and holding of Ramadie Ridge by British and Indian infantry was a difficult achievement. This low pebbly rise is perfectly smooth, a long and gentle gradient barely seventeen feet above the plain level. It offered no cover of any kind, and the British infantry became visible to the Turks a full 200 yards before they reached the top of the rise. As soon as they came into view the Turks opened concentrated rifle and machine-gun fire on the British front and right flank, while their guns opened intense enfilade fire from the batteries on the left. The British and Indian soldiers hung on to their positions and at night dug themselves in. Their action so occupied the Turks that the left column was able to work round and seize the Azizie Ridge before dusk with very little opposition.
At night British cavalry, who occupied strong points on a front of three miles along the ridge, prepared for a desperate struggle. The expected attack began the battle after 3 o'clock, when the Turks tried to break through between the cavalry and the river. The action continued for two hours till dawn, when it degenerated into casual sniping. The nearest Turkish dead were found within fifty yards of the cavalry trenches.
In the meantime the infantry soon after daybreak had taken up the attack again and in face of well-directed fire and against repeated counterattacks, had carried the last outlying defenses of the Turks on the British left, until 8 o'clock, September 29, 1917, they had seized and were holding the bridgehead of the Azizie Canal. After this new repulse an intense bombardment was opened on the Turkish trenches. The British line of cavalry, far away west, soon saw the dark masses of the enemy approaching and apparently prepared for bloody battle. They watched this advance, as they thought, for over an hour, but there came a moment when, to their astonishment, they saw the Turks turn and walk in mass formation toward the British. The Turkish guns were silent and white flags went up all along the line.
It was a general surrender. Ahmed Bey, the Turkish commander, who had been on the Euphrates all through the campaign from the battle of Shaiba, March, 1915, came out and surrendered with his whole force.
The British captured 3,455 prisoners, thirteen guns, ten machine guns, 1,061 rifles, a quantity of ammunition, some railway material, two steam launches and a large quantity of miscellaneous engineering material, equipment, and military stores. When the British entered Ramadie they found that such Turkish forces as had not surrendered had hurriedly fled.
To the north and east of Bagdad the British forces, too, succeeded in advancing in the direction of the Persian border. In this undertaking they had for some time the cooperation of Russian troops still fighting in this region.
On August 19, 1917, British columns attacked the Turks near Shahroban on the left bank of the Dialah, about fifty miles northeast from Bagdad. The Turks made little resistance and retreated hastily to the Hamrin Hills, and British troops remained in possession of Shahroban.
In an action fought on October 20, 1917, the British occupied Deli Abbas, about ten miles northwest from Shahroban, and established themselves on the Jebel Hamrin range on the left bank of the river Dialah. The Turks retreated across the Dialah River in the vicinity of Kizil Robat, burning the bridge behind them, and continued to hold a position in the hills on the right bank of that river, north of Deli Abbas, which is on the Bagdad-Kifri road.
This position was attacked on the morning of December 3, 1917, by converging columns, one of which successfully bridged the Dialah near Kizil Robat, sixty miles northeast of Bagdad, on the road to Khanikin.
The Turks attempted to delay the British advance by flooding the area between the Nahrin and Dialah Rivers close to their junction, six miles east of Deli Abbas, but by the morning of December 4, 1917, British troops had driven back the Turks and were in possession of the Sakaltutan Pass, eleven miles north of Deli Abbas, and between the Dialah and the Nahrin, a northern tributary of the Dialah, flowing through the Jebel Hamrin, and crossed on the main road between Deli Abbas and Kifri at an elevation of 600 feet above sea level. Through the Sakaltutan Pass the road from Deli Abbas leads to the north to Kifri and Mosul.
A force of Russians, under the command of Colonel Bicharakoff, operated on the British right flank and rendered valuable assistance.
Immediately after the capture of the pass, the Turks were pursued as far as the village of Kara Tepe, thirteen miles north of the pass and about twenty-five miles north of Deli Abbas, through which the Turks were driven on December 5, 1917, after a sharp engagement. The pursuit was carried out over difficult country containing bogs and intersected by numerous watercourses.
On the morning of December 7, 1917, British aeroplanes bombed Tuz Kurmatli, on the Mosul road, thirty-five miles north of Kara Tepe, with good results. It was reported that the Turks set fire to the Kifri coal mines on December 5, 1917, and the British observed that fires were burning there on the following day.
No further news came from the Mesopotamian theater of war during the balance of December, 1917, or during January and February, 1918.
On December 1, 1917, it was officially announced by the British authorities, that reconnoissances had definitely established the fact that German East Africa had been completely cleared of all German troops and that the German commander, General von Lettow-Vorbeck, with the force under his command, estimated at 2,000 rifles, had crossed the Rovuma River into Portuguese East Africa.
During December, 1917, after driving the Germans across the border into Portuguese territory, the British forces were busy in preparing for the new task of hunting out General Lettow-Vorbeck in Portuguese East Africa. British patrols by December 25, 1917, were forty miles south of the Rovuma River, which marks the frontier.
Von Lettow's force had been broken up into small foraging parties; and it was expected that they would be rounded up before the big rains set in.
However, during the last few days of December, 1917, the German forces in Mozambique, consisting of 2,000 men with two fieldpieces and ten machine guns, attacked the Portuguese positions on Mt. M'Kula, occupied by Captain Curado, with 250 men and five machine guns, and after three days' fighting succeeded in carrying the positions by assault.
This did not change the fact that the last vestige of the German Colonial Empire had fallen into the hands of the Allies.
PART VI—THE BALKANS
CHAPTER XXXII
THE BALKANS—GREECE AND MACEDONIA
On the Macedonian front the military situation has had all the appearance of a deadlock, not only since last summer, but for the past year. On November 24, 1917, the Austrians were reported to be making a general offensive attack on the Italian lines in southern Albania, between the Voyusa and Osum Rivers, which was followed by a strong Italian counterattack, but neither side was able to announce any gains of territory or any notable capture of prisoners or material. Again, barely two weeks later, on December 5, 1917, violent fighting was said to have begun for several miles along the front near the Struma, with the net result that "several Bulgarian patrols were captured." Compared to what we have come to regard as fighting in this war, therefore, these few sporadic efforts in Macedonia and Albania have been very little more than outpost affairs, mere raids.
On November 15, 1917, there was published in London a report on the military activities of the British by General G. F. Milne, commanding the British forces covering the past year, which seems in part to have a significant bearing on a later event.
In the latter part of February, 1917, a year ago, General Milne was instructed by General Sarrail to prepare for a forward push against the Bulgarians in the first week of April. A corps was, accordingly, sent forward shortly afterward to take a position on the high ridge between Lake Doiran and the River Vardar. By April 8, 1917, General Milne was ready, whereupon General Sarrail found it necessary to postpone action until the 24th. On that day the British were sent forward and succeeded in occupying the front-line trenches of the enemy almost along the entire front of the attack. The British were now in a commanding position, of which great advantage could have been taken, but at this juncture General Milne was instructed to retire, "on account of the unhealthful conditions of the terrain."
General Milne was next informed that the advance would begin over again on May 8, 1917. So another assault on the enemy lines was begun between Lake Doiran and the "Petite Couronne" Hill. In spite of the powerful opposition of the Bulgarians some progress was made, and twelve days later the new advance line was consolidated. A farther advance was in progress, with every prospect of success, when on May 24, 1917, General Milne received instructions from Sarrail to cease all offensive operations.
By itself this report might at least indicate unpleasant relations between the British and the French commanders, but further significance is added by the announcement made December 19, 1917, that General Sarrail had been recalled from his supreme command on the Macedonian front, to be succeeded by General Guillemet.
A serious charge, it will be remembered, had been made against Sarrail in France before his appointment to Saloniki, in July, 1915. This charge had been made by General Dubail and had been indorsed by General Joffre and Millerand, then Minister of War in the French Cabinet. It had to do with certain maneuvers against the German Crown Prince, directed by Sarrail under the command of Dubail. Subsequently these charges were dropped, and until his sudden appointment to the Saloniki command Sarrail dropped from view.
The specific reason for Sarrail's removal has not been officially stated, but there are rumors throwing doubt on his loyalty and suggesting his connection with the Caillaux scandal, which would imply that Sarrail had deliberately made no efforts to proceed seriously against the Bulgarians and the Austrians, even that he had secretly connived in the destruction of the Rumanians when he should have created a diversion by a general attack in Macedonia.
The double part played by Constantine, King of Greece, in the dealings with the Entente Powers, had always been a matter of grave suspicion, in spite of his repeated denials and protestations of friendship, published through his frequent newspaper interviews. Even after his removal from the throne by the Allies there still remained a doubt in the minds of many people that he had been justly treated. But then his duplicity has been conclusively proved beyond all question.
Early in November, 1917, there were discovered in Athens the records of a number of telegrams which had been exchanged between Constantine and Queen Sophia on the one hand and her brother, the kaiser, on the other. These telegrams were in a cipher code unknown to the Greek foreign office. The key was discovered later and the contents of the telegrams revealed clearly, exposing a series of plots which had been initiated by the Greek sovereigns against their supposed friends, the Allies.
Those sent early in 1916, by both the king and the queen, urgently requested the kaiser to institute an energetic military movement in the Balkans toward Greece, that Greece might be relieved from the presence of the Allied troops in the neighborhood. Then came the affair in which the Greek military authorities surrendered Fort Rupel to the Bulgarians, showing conclusively that the king had connived in the surrender.
At the time of the crisis, in the first days of December, 1916, when the Greek army attacked Entente representatives in Athens and caused an ultimatum to be delivered against the Greek Government, Queen Sophia, in a long telegram to her brother, described the "splendid victory" which the Greeks had achieved over "four great powers." In this telegram she demanded a strong German and Austrian offensive with the object of relieving Greece. In reply the kaiser urged Constantine to declare war against Sarrail's forces and begin active military operations against them. In reply the queen explained the impossibility of doing this on account of the lack of equipment and ammunition and again urged a German relief expedition. To this the German Emperor answered that this was impossible, but urged that Constantine take measures to organize guerrilla bands in the neighborhood of Lake Ochrida, to cooperate with the Austrian forces. This suggestion was complied with, no less a person than the Master of the King's Horse being intrusted with the supervision of this task. The following telegram, sent on January 10, 1917, is a notable example of this correspondence in general:
"For the Kaiser from Queen Sophia (through the Greek Minister in Berlin):
"I thank you for your telegram, but we are without sufficient food for the duration of such an undertaking, and the shortage of ammunition and many other things compel us unfortunately to abstain from such offensive action. You can realize my position. How I suffer. Thank you warmly for your welcome words. May the infamous swine receive the punishment they deserve. I embrace you heartily. Your exiled and unhappy sister, who hopes for better times. (Signed) Sophia."
Another telegram from Sophia, sent on this same day, stated to the kaiser "I am grateful and happy for having at any rate spoken to Von Falkenhausen at Larissa on the telephone, as well as having received direct news of you. I was afraid the ultimatum would have to be accepted. We were obliged to accept it, although we desired to enter the war on the side of Germany on account of the political advantages, in order to rid ourselves of our bitter enemies, and to respond to the sympathy already shown by the Greek people to the cause of Germany, but we lack food and ammunition for such a campaign.... Finally, the immediate menace to the capital and to our only means of communication by the British forces reported to be at Malta for the expedition against Greece obliged us to our great regret to abandon this project...."
On January 6, 1917, King Constantine sent a telegram to Von Hindenburg, in which the following passages occur:
"The present situation must be seriously considered, as it is probable that a declaration of war might come before mobilization could be effected. Probably the Entente desire to involve Greece in immediate war so as to destroy her before the German occupation could begin. Already Greece is faced with a fresh Entente note demanding her complete disarmament. The transport of the whole of the artillery and war material to the Peloponnesus is being maintained by the pressure of the blockade. The Government and the people are resisting with constancy, enduring all sorts of privations, but the situation is growing worse from day to day. It is urgent that we should be informed if a German attack on the Macedonian front is contemplated, and when it is likely to begin."
That these intrigues were not confined to Constantine and Sophia alone is obvious, from the following telegram, sent by Theotokis, the Greek Minister in Berlin, on December 10, 1916:
"Let Von Falkenhausen await at Berlin the decision which will be taken at Athens. In case it is neutrality he will proceed to Podgradetz; in case of rupture with the Entente he will go by aeroplane to Larissa. In any case, it is of the greatest importance to develop as quickly as possible the question of Caravitis's bands and matters relative thereto. Pray inform me with all speed what assistance in the way of munitions, money, and provisions you would want. The object of Caravitis should be to cut the railroad from Monastir to Saloniki, and harass Sarrail's rear. One should not lose sight of the fact that even this unofficial action by the bands will powerfully help Greece when the time for negotiations comes to put forward large territorial claims which, naturally, can be larger in case action is taken than in case of mere neutrality. Falkenhausen is awaiting instructions, upon which he will act immediately."
On December 2, 1916, Sophia telegraphed to General von Falkenhausen:
"Owing to the continuance of the blockade there is only bread left for a few days longer, and other foodstuffs are also growing scarcer. The idea of war against the Entente is now out of the question. Negotiations are now proceeding on the note. I consider the game lost. If the attack is not made immediately, it will be too late."
CHAPTER XXXIII
RUMANIA
For six months the Rumanian troops engaged in no important military operations. They held their lines against the Austrian forces, and these latter, apparently, made no strong efforts to advance. Indeed, the entire collapse of the military power of Russia made it practically certain that the Rumanians could not continue the war effectively. When the Bolsheviki came into power, their course toward Rumania was openly hostile, so that the Rumanians were compelled to guard themselves against their one-time allies as well as against the enemy.
Finally Rumania joined in the armistice initiated by the Petrograd Bolsheviki. There seemed to be no question of the desire of the Rumanians to remain loyal to their western allies; but the Balkan country was now surrounded by enemies, and there was apparently little hope that she could maintain her warfare against the Central Powers. Reports from Austrian sources stated that negotiations for a separate peace between Austria and Rumania were going on at Fokshani. Peace with Germany, Turkey, and Bulgaria would naturally follow to save the country from utter destruction.
On January 20, 1917, a Berlin dispatch announced that the Rumanian Premier, Bratiano, had resigned, and was to be succeeded by General Averescu, former Minister of War and commander in chief of the Rumanian forces which had operated in Dobrudja. This report has not since been verified.
That Bulgaria is not completely under German control and is a member of the Quadruple Alliance on terms peculiarly her own has been manifested in more than one way during recent months. As previously stated, in earlier editions of this work, there is a very strong popular opinion in Bulgaria against the alliance with Germany which at times has seemed on the point of manifesting itself in a material way. Occasionally rumors have come through of wholesale military executions, following attempts at mutiny on the part of the troops. Thus Bulgaria's position as an uncertain quantity in the Teutonic alliance is not due to any disloyalty on the part of the king, Ferdinand, but to the disposition of the people, who are interested only in a Macedonia free from Serbia or Greece, and not in the German plans for empire. Though successfully suppressed so far, these subterranean movements do limit the policy of the Bulgarian ruling clique, however loyal to German rule it may be in itself.
During the past November there were frequent rumors of proposal from Bulgaria to the Entente for separate peace, but nothing definite was known at the time. That definite negotiations were at least begun only became known in December, 1917, when the Petrograd Bolsheviki began the publication of secret treaties and correspondence found in the Government archives on their stepping into power. Among these many revelations appeared a telegram from the Russian embassy in Berne, Switzerland, which described a meeting in the embassy office in the latter part of September, 1917, between a Bulgarian representative, said to be the exarch of the Bulgarian church, and a British representative, whose name was not given. The latter asked for a statement of the Bulgarian terms.
The Bulgarian demanded, in return for severing the alliance with Germany and Austria, that Bulgaria be granted all of Dobrudja, an expanded Bulgaria down to the old Media-Rodosto line, with a western frontier along the Morava River, in Serbia, from the junction of that river with the Danube, down through Nish, Pristina, and Uskub; and Macedonia, including Monastir and Saloniki.
This demand the British representative refused to consider, but made the tentative counterproposal of an independent Macedonia, with Saloniki as the capital.
That Bulgaria should have refused this offer is only another illustration of the duplicity of Ferdinand and his governing clique. His one hold on the Bulgarian people has been his pretended espousal of the cause of the Macedonian Bulgars. For long years past the Macedonians strove for an independent Macedonia, but this was made impossible by the policies of the great powers interested. They were, however, on the verge of achieving this ideal after the First Balkan War, when the interference of Austria in Albania caused Serbia and Greece to demand a revision of the treaty which had provided for Macedonian freedom. Against this demand the Macedonians protested, and their leaders were largely instrumental in precipitating the Second Balkan War. The result was their defeat and the Treaty of Bucharest, which forced the Macedonian patriots under the wing of the Bulgarian Government, the only refuge left them.
That Bulgaria should now have refused terms including an independent Macedonia was, indeed, a matter to be kept secret. Ferdinand, naturally, desires Macedonia as an extension of his own territory, although the Macedonians are very little in sympathy with his Greater Bulgaria imperialism and would only accept it as an alternative between freedom on the one hand and subjection to Greece and Serbia on the other.
On October 12, 1917, Emperor William of Germany, accompanied by Prince August Wilhelm and Foreign Secretary Dr. von Kühlmann, paid an official visit to Ferdinand in Sofia. The streets and houses were profusely decorated and much festivity prevailed.
PART VII—NAVAL AND AIR WARFARE
CHAPTER XXXIV
ON THE SEA
As in the past, naval warfare during the six months' period, August, 1917, to February, 1918, consisted primarily of attacks by German submarines on units of the allied merchant marine. There was again a wide discrepancy between the figures published by the allied and German governments. An example of this are the respective totals of monthly tonnage losses for the year 1917.
| German Claim | Allied Claim | |
| January | 439,500 | |
| February | 781,000 | 812,000 |
| March | 885,000 | 600,000 |
| April | 1,091,000 | 788,000 |
| May | 869,000 | 549,000 |
| June | 1,016,000 | 758,000 |
| July | 811,000 | 463,000 |
| August | 808,000 | 591,000 |
| September | 673,000 | 455,000 |
| October | 674,000 | 470,000 |
| November | 607,000 | 435,000 |
| December | 816,000 | 514,000 |
| ———— | ———— | |
| 9,470,500 | 6,435,000 |
Continuous detailed figures of losses are available only regarding the British and American merchant marines. Between August, 1917, and February, 1918, the British weekly losses were as follows:
| Week ending | 1,600 tons and over | Under 1,600 tons | Fishing vessels |
| August 5 | 21 | 2 | 0 |
| August 12 | 14 | 2 | 3 |
| August 19 | 15 | 3 | 2 |
| August 26 | 18 | 5 | 0 |
| September 2 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| September 9 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
| September 16 | 8 | 20 | 1 |
| September 23 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| September 30 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| October 7 | 14 | 2 | 3 |
| October 14 | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| October 21 | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| October 28 | 14 | 4 | 0 |
| November 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| November 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| November 18 | 10 | 7 | 0 |
| November 25 | 14 | 7 | 0 |
| December 1 | 16 | 1 | 4 |
| December 8 | 14 | 7 | 0 |
| December 15 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| December 22 | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| December 29 | 18 | 3 | 0 |
| January 6 | 18 | 3 | 4 |
| January 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| January 20 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| January 27 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| —— | —— | —— | |
| 334 | 116 | 30 |
On August 14, 1917, it was also officially stated in the House of Commons that since the beginning of the war and up to June 30, 1917, a total of 9,748 lives were lost on British merchantman as the result of U-boat attacks, mine and other explosions. Of these 3,828 were passengers of all nationalities and 5,920 officers and seamen.
During the same period the following twenty-six American vessels were sunk by submarines:
| Gross tons | Lives lost | ||
| August 6. | Campana | 3,695 | 4 |
| August 7. | Christine | 964 | 0 |
| August 23. | Carl F. Cressy | 898 | 0 |
| August 29. | Laura C. Anderson | 960 | 0 |
| September 8. | William H. Clifford | 1,593 | 0 |
| September 12. | Wilmore | 5,398 | 0 |
| September 15. | Platuria | 3,445 | 10 |
| September 16. | Ann J. Trainer | 426 | 0 |
| September 23. | Henry Lippitt | 895 | 0 |
| September 25. | Paulina | 1,337 | 0 |
| October 3. | Annie F. Conlon | 591 | 0 |
| October 11. | Lewis Luckenbach | 3,905 | 10 |
| October 16. | Jennie E. Richter | 647 | 0 |
| October 16. | St. Helens | 1,497 | 24 |
| October 17. | Antilles | 6,878 | 64 |
| October 25. | Fannie Prescott | 404 | 0 |
| October 27. | D. N. Luckenbach | 2,933 | 5 |
| November 2. | Rochester | 2,551 | 7 |
| November 7. | Villemer | .... | 2 |
| November 9. | Rizal | 2,744 | 3 |
| November 16. | Margeret L. Roberts | 535 | 0 |
| November 21. | Schuylkill | 2,720 | 0 |
| November 25. | Actaeon | 4,999 | 37 |
| December 10. | Owasco | 4,630 | 2 |
| December 20. | Suruga | 4,374 | 1 |
| January 6. | Harry Luckenbach | 2,798 | 8 |
This meant a loss of about 61,000 tons and of 177 lives.
Unrestricted submarine warfare was initiated by the Germans, it will be remembered, on February 1, 1917. During the first twelve months of it, February, 1917, to February, 1918, a total of sixty-nine American ships, representing about 170,000 tons, were sunk by submarines, mines, and raiders. Over 300 lives were lost with these boats.
Figures in regard to the French and Italian losses are incomplete. From available sources, however, it appears that during the six months' period, August, 1917, to February, 1918, the French merchant marine lost by U-boat attacks seventy-three steamers of over 1,600 tons, fifty-two steamers of under 1,600 tons and thirty fishing boats. In the same period U-boats sank sixty-one Italian steamers and forty-six Italian sailing vessels.
Regarding neutral losses figures are even less definite. Only Norway, which again is by far the heaviest loser amongst neutral nations, has published official statements covering her losses. For six months, July to December, 1917, her losses were 127 boats of 216,000 tons. For the entire year 1917, they amounted to 434 boats of 686,800 tons and involved the death of 401 sailors, while 258 more were missing or unaccounted for.
Holland, amongst other losses, reported the sinking by a mine off the Dutch coast on August 3, 1917, of the steamer Moordam of 12,531 tons. Mines in one case, and an explosion in the other, were responsible for the sinking of two British steamers: City of Athens, of Cape Town, of 5,600 tons, on August 10, 1917, with the loss of nineteen lives, of which five were Americans; and Port Kembla, of 4,700 tons, on September 18, 1917, off Cape Farewell.
Regarding the German losses in U-boats, practically no definite information is available. Only occasionally has any news managed to get by the censors of the Allies, and the Germans, of course, are entirely silent on the subject. On November 24, 1917, one U-boat was sunk by the United States destroyers, Fanning and Nicholson, while on patrol service in European waters. Her crew were captured with the exception of a few members who were drowned. Two other U-boats were reported to have been sunk during December in the Ionian Sea by a French destroyer. This, of course, does not represent the total losses inflicted by the Allies on the German U-boat forces. Indeed, it has been stated officially that the average loss amounts to thirty-eight U-boats per month.
Naval engagements between units of the various belligerents were comparatively few and unimportant. As a result the losses incurred by the different navies, at least as far as they became known, were likewise comparatively slight.
During August, 1917, British monitors cooperated with the Italian navy in bombarding successfully Austrian positions in the Gulf of Trieste. On August 16, 1917, there was also a slight engagement between British and German destroyers in the North Sea without result.
On September 1, 1917, British destroyers destroyed four German armed mine-sweeping vessels off the coast of Jutland. Three days later, September 4, 1917, a German submarine bombarded Scarborough, killing three persons, wounding five, and doing some material damage.
During the successful German attack against Riga in the early part of September, 1917, German submarines appeared in the Gulf of Riga and bombarded the city.
In October it also became known that the German raider Seeadler had run ashore on Lord Howe Island (Society Islands) in the Pacific Ocean, leaving forty-seven prisoners on the island in a state of destitution. The crew of the raider afterward seized a motor sloop and a French schooner on which they carried out some further raids. It was later reported that the motor boat had been captured by an unarmed merchantman in one of the outlying islands of the Fiji group.
The armored British cruiser Drake was torpedoed on the morning of October 2, 1917, off the north coast of Ireland. Though she was able to make harbor, she sank later in shallow water. One officer and eighteen men were killed by the explosion of the torpedo. The Drake was a ship of 14,100 tons with a speed of 24.11 knots and had been launched in 1902. She was a sister ship of the Good Hope sunk off Coronel in November, 1914, during the battle with the German Pacific fleet.
Strong German naval forces participated in the fighting in the Gulf of Riga which took place in the middle of October 1917. They were prominent in enabling German troops to land on Oesel and Dagö Islands and later on Moon Island. It was reported that during an engagement between German and Russian naval forces the Germans lost two destroyers, not, however, before they had sunk a Russian destroyer. A few days later the Russian battleship Slava was also reported as having been sunk, while the balance of the Russian Baltic fleet was trapped in the Gulf of Riga.
Amongst the French losses during September, 1917, was the steamer Media of 4,770 tons, which was torpedoed late that month in the western Mediterranean in spite of the fact that she was being convoyed while in use as a transport. Of her crew of sixty-seven and of 559 soldiers on board 250 were reported missing.
Two fast German cruisers on October 17, 1917, attacked a convoy of merchantmen, escorted by two British destroyers, at a point about midway between the Shetland Islands and Norway. The two destroyers as well as nine of the merchantmen were sunk with a total loss of about 250 lives.
On November 1, 1917, a German warship was reported to have been sunk by a mine off the coast of Sweden. British naval forces, operating in the Cattegat, on November 3, 1917, sank a German auxiliary cruiser and ten German patrol vessels. On November 17, 1917, during an engagement off Helgoland one German light cruiser was sunk and another damaged.
A German submarine, during November, 1917, attacked British naval forces, cooperating with the British expeditionary force in Palestine and sank one destroyer and one monitor.
On November 22, 1917, it was announced that the German Government had included in its "barred zone" waters around the Azores and the channel hitherto left open in the Mediterranean to reach Greece, and had extended the limits of the zone around England.
On November 29, 1917, a German torpedo boat struck a mine off the coast of Belgium and sank, all of her crew with the exception of two being lost.
During the night of December 9-10, 1917, Italian naval forces entered the harbor of Trieste and successfully torpedoed the Austrian battleship Wien, which sank almost immediately.
A German submarine bombarded on December 12, 1917, for about twenty minutes Funchal on the island of Madeira, destroying many houses and killing and wounding many people.
On the same day German destroyers attacked a convoy of merchantmen in the North Sea and sank six of them as well as a British destroyer and four armed trawlers.
Two days later, December 14, 1917, the French cruiser Château Renault was sunk in the Mediterranean by a submarine which itself was destroyed later on.
During the night of December 22-23, 1917, three British destroyers were lost off the Dutch coast with a total loss of lives of 193 officers and men. On December 30, 1917, the British transport Aragon and a British destroyer, coming to her assistance, were torpedoed and sunk. The following day, December 31, 1917, the auxiliary Osmanieh struck a mine and sank. The total loss involved in these three sinkings was 809 lives, of which forty-three were members of the crew and officers, and 766 military officers and soldiers.
During the night of January 12, 1918, two British destroyers ran ashore off the coast of Scotland. All hands were lost. Yarmouth was bombarded on January 14, 1918, for five minutes by German naval forces and four persons were killed and eight injured.
British naval forces fought an action at the entrance to the Dardanelles on January 20, 1918. As a result the Turkish cruiser Midullu, formerly the German cruiser Breslau, was sunk and the battle cruiser Sultan Selim, formerly the Goeben, damaged and beached. The British lost two monitors and, a week later, a submarine which attempted to enter the Dardanelles in order to complete the destruction of the Goeben.
On January 28, 1918, the British torpedo gunboat Hazard was lost as the result of a collision. The day before the big Cunard liner Andania of 13,405 tons was attacked off the Ulster coast. Her passengers and crew were saved, the boat, however, sank a few days later. Another severe loss was the sinking of the British armed boarding steamer Louvain in the Mediterranean with a loss of 224 lives on January 21, 1918.
Two German destroyers sank off the coast of Jutland during the same week.
The United States Navy, during the six months' period covered in this chapter, fared comparatively well, in spite of the fact that large forces were engaged in patrol duty in European waters and many transports crossed from the States to Europe and vice versa. Of the latter only one was lost. On October 17, 1917, the Antilles while returning to the United States was torpedoed and sunk. Of those on board sixty-seven were drowned, including sixteen soldiers.
The United States destroyer Cassin had an encounter with a German submarine on October 16, 1917. Though struck by a torpedo, she was not seriously damaged and made port safely, after having first attempted, until night broke, to discover her attacker, without succeeding, however.
The patrol boat Alcedo, formerly a steam yacht, belonging to G. W. C. Drexel of Philadelphia, was torpedoed and sunk on November 5, 1917. She was the first fighting unit of the United States Navy to be lost since the war begun. Two weeks later, on November 19, 1917, the United States destroyer Chancey was sunk as a result of a collision, twenty-one lives being lost.
On December 6, 1917, the United States destroyer Jacob Jones was sunk by a U-boat and 60 lives were lost.