<– Part 203 – June 9, 1918 | Part 204 – June 16, 1918 | Part 205 – June 23, 1918

Italian machine gun position near Cand, awaiting the expected Austro-Hungarian attack.

The morning of June 10 saw the US Marines at Belleau Wood advance north into the forest, facing intense opposition, while another battalion attack from the west the early morning of June 11. This battalion, advancing along the wrong axis, was caught in interlocking machine gun fire, but was able to roll the Germans’ southern trench. One German private, seeing three-quarters of his company wiped out, remarked, “We have Americans opposite us who are terribly reckless fellows.” The Americans have resorted to much hand-to-hand and bayonet combat.

At Matz, on June 11, the German Spring Offensive’s latest thrust was crushed by a sudden French counter-attack, catching them by surprise (as it had no preceding artillery bombardment). The German attack was called off the following day, despite advancing 10 miles along a 23-mile front. The Allies suffered 35,000 casualties to the Germans’ 35,000.

Another Czech government in Russia was formed on June 13, the Provisional Siberian Government, at Omsk.

In Italy, the past few months have seen innovations on both sides, and the Austro-Hungarians prepared to launch an attack across the entire front at the Piave River on June 15. However, the Italians, having learned the exact time of the Austrian attack, launched a huge artillery bombardment on the packed enemy trenches 30 minutes before the jumping off. Despite, this, Austrian forces on the Adriatic coast crossed the Piave and secured a bridgehead 5 miles deep and 15 miles wide, before being pushed back towards the river. Subsequent Italian artillery destroyed the bridges on Piave, leaving the Austrians isolated. This, coupled with the easy targets for Italian riflemen, led the Austrians to attempt to flee back across the river – a river so swollen with flooding that an estimated 20,000 Austro-Hungarians drowned attempting to swim back. Just west of this, Austrian forces towards Vicenza made some advances, but also were halted by Italian resistance, losing 40,000 in that sector. The Austrian attack seems doomed to fail.

The German Caucasus Expedition arrived at Tiflis, Georgia, June 10, holding a military parade, and rallying recently-released German prisoners from Russia, with colonists who had settled the area in the mid-19th century. The Turks responsed with an attack on Vorontsovka, with the Germans threatening a complete withdrawal of their forces from the empire. The Ottoman force in Persia defeated Armenian resistance near Dilman June 15, though the overall Turkish thrust must now shift from north to northeast.