von Knobelsdorf | Iringa | 21 Aug 1916
Nyasalanders in Tanzania Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Nyasalanders’ campaign in the south-west of Tanzania is proving to be rather a Continue reading von Knobelsdorf | Iringa | 21 Aug 1916
Nyasalanders in Tanzania Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Nyasalanders’ campaign in the south-west of Tanzania is proving to be rather a Continue reading von Knobelsdorf | Iringa | 21 Aug 1916
Pozieres We have some fighting worth speaking of at the Battle of the Somme. The BEF’s 36th Brigade is aiding us in our attempt to Continue reading Pozieres | Tabora | 3 Aug 1916
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme is one month old. It’s been a long bloody month. I think I’ve said about all Continue reading Taking stock | 31 July 1916
Africa The Prime Minister of South Africa, Louis Botha, has just arrived in German East Africa to find out first-hand why his crony Smuts’s grandiose Continue reading Africa | Longueval | 27 Jul 1916
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme is congealing again. Not that it moved very far on the 23rd, mind you. A satirical Continue reading Kowel | Pozieres | 24 Jul 1916
Mwanza Back to Africa today, where the Force Publique gets well and truly stuck into Major Wintgens’s defensive positions outside Mwanza, on Lake Victoria. The Continue reading Bazentin Ridge | Mwanza | 14 Jul 1916
German East Africa In Tanzania, the Schutztruppe is now in full-on retreat from the north of the colony. Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck’s clear instruction has been Continue reading Joffre’s temper | 3 Jul 1916
One man and his throne Signaller Dudley Menaud-Lissenberg is a telephone operator with a British artillery battery on the Somme. It’s early morning, miserable and Continue reading Guns on the Somme | 24 Jun 1916
German East Africa: The Northern Railway No, this is not an extremely boring classic film for railway enthusiasts. A couple of weeks ago, with the Continue reading Gommecourt | Boulogne | Executions | 15 Jun 1916
It’s a slightly unusual opening today. Bear with me and you’ll see where I’m going with this. The Skagerrak and the Kattegat Hey, have you Continue reading The stakes at Jutland | 28 May 1916
Strategic bombing It’s a big day in the development of aerial warfare. We’re having rather a lot of those, aren’t we? This one comes from Continue reading Strategic bombing | 25 May 1916
Battle of Verdun Yesterday, General Mangin had egg on his face after prematurely declaring that Fort Douaumont had been recaptured for France. Today, the German Continue reading Fort Douaumont | Kondoa reinforced | 24 May 1916
Battle of Asiago The next order of business at the Battle of Asiago is to push through the Sugana valley to reach Asiago town, and Continue reading A day in the life of the artillery | 20 May 1916
Battle of Asiago Right then. Time for Conrad von Hotzendorf to prove, once and for all, that his armies are totally capable of fighting on Continue reading Battle of Asiago | 15 May 1916
Chinese labourers We open today with some very interesting news from France. Unsurprisingly, with the voracious demand for men to go into the Army, there’s Continue reading Chinese labourers | Kondoa | 14 May 1916
Lafayette Escadrille The Lafayette Escadrille takes its first official combat flight today, over the Vosges front. James McConnell has published a combined memoir and collection Continue reading Lafayette Escadrille | 13 May 1916
Battle of Kondoa As Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck continues dithering, the South Africans send out a couple of raiding parties to see what they can find. Continue reading Kondoa and Kigoma | 12 May 1916
Joffre and Petain You may recall a couple of days ago that General Petain recently used his new position as commander of Central Army Group Continue reading Hill 304 | Verdun | 11 May 1916
Battle of Kondoa The sun rises over Kondoa Irangi. Anyone know if there’s a word that means the exact opposite of “a pretty sight”? That’s Continue reading Blunder at Kondoa | 10 May 1916
Battle of Kondoa Today should just be a formality. Sure, we’ve seen a load of different times in this theatre when a numerically superior force Continue reading Battle of Kondoa | 9 May 1916
Battle of Kondoa Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck has now gathered over 4,000 Schutztruppe, and (by theatre standards) plenty of artillery pieces, machine guns, and ammunition. On Continue reading Battle of Kondoa | 7 May 1916
Smuts and Kondoa Just about the only news today is from Kondoa Irangi, where General Smuts has gone forward to see how utterly terrible things Continue reading Smuts | Kondoa | 4 May 1916
Africa We’ve got a significant development in the very north-west of German East Africa. The Belgians! The Belgians are coming! Said nobody in the history Continue reading Ruanda | Air tactics | 3 May 1916
Gas at Wulverghem There’s been another German gas attack on the Western Front, this one at Wulverghem, just south of Ypres. (It’s close enough to Continue reading Wulverghem | Supplies to Russia | 30 Apr 1916
Rain at Kondoa In Africa, the penny is beginning to drop for General van Deventer quite how foolhardy he’s been in leading the march to Continue reading Rain at Kondoa | Daily Mailed | 23 Apr 1916
Siege of Kut There’s now absolutely no chance for success if the relief column tries to attack out of Bait Isa towards Es Sinn. But, Continue reading Kut | Trebizond | 18 Apr 1916
March to Kondoa From Africa we have news from General van Deventer and the South African Horse. Most of it is not good. On the Continue reading Kondoa | Bait Isa | Air doctrine | 17 Apr 1916
Africa General van Deventer’s altitude is increasing as he and his horsemen ride through Tanzania. Today they’ve arrived at a boma, a fortified village with Continue reading Indian engineers | HMS Campania | 12 Apr 1916
Edward Mousley Hey, is there anyone out there who’s got a pet? Yeah, me too. Um, this might be a bit difficult to read. You Continue reading On les aura! | Mousley’s horse | 10 Apr 1916
March to Kondoa The South Africans’ march to Kondoa continues with all speed possible, but Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck has been thinking hard, and his own Continue reading Kondoa Irangi | Rawlinson & Haig | 8 Apr 1916