<– Part 54 – August 1, 1915 | Part 55 – August 8, 1915 | Part 56 – August 15, 1915 –>
The Pass of Balmaha, an American merchant vessel, before her capture by the Germans.
An odd bit of news arrived earlier this week. The US ship Pass of Balmaha was reported missing two weeks ago on a cargo trip to England. It would appear that she was boarded by British marines and redirected to a British base for inspection. This included being forced to fly the British flag, which her crew objected to, since that would mark her a hostile vessel. The SMS U-36, a German sub, intercepted her, and the American captain hid the British marines in the hold and raised the Stars and Stripes. The German captain was suspicious, and on boarding her the American crew, resentful of the British meddling, revealed the British marines to the Germans. The Germans in turn redirected her to Germany, though her crew was taken to a neutral country and released. However, the Pass of Balmaha is now the SMS Seeadler, a German commerce raider.
In Italy, the now-called Second Battle of the Isonzo has ended on August 3, since both sides seem to have completely run out of ammunition for all weapons, both handheld and mounted. Although the Italians did not reach all of their goals, they did succeed in taking some ground and are therefore calling it a victory. Nearly 100,000 men are casualties of this latest fight.
August 5 saw German troops capture Warsaw. The Russian Army continues its great retreat.
August 6 saw an enormous series of attacks launched on the Gallipoli peninsula by the British forces at “Lone Pine” in ANZAC Cove (named for a solitary pine tree standing on a ridge at the beginning of the battle), Krithia Vineyard, Suvla Bay, and Sari Bair, with more launched the following day at the “Nek”, an easily-defended mountain pass, and Chunuk Bair. While the Australians have succeeded in reaching and holding objectives at Lone Pine, the remaining battles, though ongoing, seem to be failures due to miscommunication, too much dependence on victories by neighboring units (whose victory depends on their neighbors, leading to an impossible situation), poor planning, and atrocious military tactics (attacking uphill with enemy artillery on either side and insufficient support from one’s own artillery). In fact, one artillery barrage ended seven minutes early, leading to the British troops advancing to a dug-in, alerted, and fortified enemy position for several minutes.
August 8 saw the HMS E11, a famed British sub, sink an Austro-Hungarian warship in the Dardanelles. However, unless the tide turns at Gallipoli, it would appear the British Empire will be defeated in this area. It would appear modern warfare cannot tolerate massive naval landings, which the British have learned against the Germans.
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