<– Part 98 – June 4, 1916  | Part 99 – June 11, 1916 |  Part 100 – June 18, 1916 –>

HMS Hampshire

Dire news from England June 5, as the Secretary of State for War, Field Marshall Lord Kitchener, was lost at sea when his ship, HMS Hampshire, was sunk off the Orkney Islands, presumably by a German mine.

Horatio Herbert Kitchener

An enormous revolt has erupted June 5 in the heart of the Ottoman Empire as Arab nationalists seek to establish an Arab nation. Both sides are claiming religious motives while seeming to have secular purposes. On June 10, the Sharif of Mecca fired a shot from his window, signaling 5,000 Arabs to attack the 1,000 man Turkish garrison (who was ordered to surrender by the Sharif). An Arab force was also dispatched to take Medina.

The French defenders (underground) at Fort Vaux near Verdun surrendered June 7. In the 5-day assault on the fort, the Germans lost 2,700 men to the 20 French defenders, and gained only 70 yards.

German propaganda metal commemorating the losses at Verdun – “Verdun the Worldpump”

Further East, the Russian advance took Lutsk June 8, nearly capturing the Austrian commander. Indeed, the Austrian army is in full retreat, having already had 200,000 men captured by the rushin’ Russians. In the Mediterranean, an Italian troop transport was sunk the the Austro-Hungarian sub U-5.

On June 10, with half of all Austrian divisions moving east to counter the Russian assault, and coupled with Italian reinforcements arriving, the battle of Asiago has come to an end. Despite halting the advance, public sentiment against the Italian government has forced the Prime Minister and his cabinet to resign.

Exhausted French defenders at Fort Vaux