<– Part 21 – December 20, 1914  | Part 22 – December 27, 1914 |  Part 23 – January 3, 1914 –>

(Lucky) Turks in their winter gear

Fighting between the Allies and the Germans continues at Artois. To the north, across the channel, bombs were dropped on Britain December 21 by German aerial vehicles, perhaps signaling the launch of a new era of warfare. In the Mediterranean, the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-12 torpedoed the French battleship Jean Bart, which has withdrawn to Malta for extensive repairs.

 

Ottoman soldiers hauling artillery through a mountain pass

On December 22, fighting ended at Givenchy on the Western Front as reinforcements arrived to shore up British defenses. The British received another stroke of fortune in the person of a German deserter, who brought word of an surprise attack an hour and a half before it began. No real changes have occurred in the area other than a few minor German advances.

 

In the Caucasus, a battle has been launched at Sarikamish, as Ottomans troops have begun an offensive through the Allahuekbar Mountains. The advantage seems clearly to the Russians, who are well-supplied, well-equipped, and in strong defensive lines. By way of contrast, many of the Turkish units have no winter clothing in the snowy mountains, and many have only dried bread and olives for rations. At the same time, the Turks are finding German tactics, which include Napoleonic-style precision marches and extreme focus on units arriving on time, poorly working in the moutnains. Many of the Ottoman soldiers have already been lost to hypothermia and friendly-fire incidents in the fog and snow. The 60,000-strong Russians (half the army was sent to Prussia earlier to assist in the German offensive) are finding it easy to hold the 135,000 Turks at bay. Meanwhile, a minimal Russian cavalry presence is deterring attacks from Persia.

U-12 entering Pola Harbor

Soldiers meeting in no-mans-land

The Polish legions were used again at Łowczówek from December 22-25, reinforced with Hungarian infantry

& Austrian artillery, in another delaying action allowing the Austro-Hungarian army to withdraw and avoid encirclement, before withdrawing themselves The Russian offensive seems to have been halted.

A surprising sight was seen Christmas Day, 1914, as an informal truce was called by the soldiers of the Western front. Although obviously not sanctioned by their commanders, the soldiers left their trenches at met in no-mans-land, where they exchanged gifts, played football, and decorated the few remaining trees together. The tragedy of the war has been highlighted, as well as the adage that politicians start wars, and soldiers have to fight them.

An artist’s impression in a January newspaper of Allied and German soldiers exchanging gifts – here, headgear worn by the armies.

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