<– Part 107 – August 6, 1916 | Part 108 – August 13, 1916 | Part 109 – August 20, 1916 –>
At Pozieres, in the Somme campaign, a German counter-attack took Allied trenches August 7. An Australian platoon, reduced to 8 men, was surrounded & passed in the advance. Its commander, Lt. Albert Jacka, led a charge with his half-dozen men against the Germans lines, which was sufficient to inspire the other Australian units to attack. This rally captured the Germans. No more fighting has happened at Pozieres since then, and the town is still firmly in Allied hands.
The fighting at Kowel ended August 8, with the Brusilov offensive complete stalled – massive assaults against defended trenches seem ineffective. The Russians have now suffered 500,000 casualties in the offensive, a crippling hit to manpower.
Falls’ Sketch Map 10 Stages of Battle of Romani to Bir el Abd
At the Isonzo, and following the Battle of Doberdo yesterday (an exceptionally bloody fight – of the 50,000 Italians and 20,000 Austrians, 14,000 Italians and 9,500 Austrians have fallen – 24,000 out of the 70,000 total!), Gorizia has been taken by the Italians, and a bridgehead across the river established.
Sinai area of operations
August 9 saw the Russian Caucasus Army in possession of Bitlis and the surrounded area. The Ottoman offensive is collapsing, with nearly 30,000 killed. Persian operations also are shifting towards an Allied advantage.
In Macedonia, 4 Allied divisions attacked one entrenched Bulgarian division, and were repulsed on the 9th and 10th.
Following the Battle of Romani, in the Sinai, British forces pursuing the retreating German/Ottoman/Austrian forces harassed them for several days, until the Ottoman rearguard positions were encountered near Bir el Abd, an Ottoman base. British supplies are stretched thin, so they are awaiting infrastructure improvements before continuing.
At Verdun, continual French counter-attacks are failing to regain much ground lost to the German attack 2 weeks ago.
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