<– Part 20 – December 13, 1914  | Part 21 – December 20, 1914 |  Part 22 – December 27, 1914 –>

A war poster in England, calling upon the memory and seeming-savagery of the raid on Scarborough, in North Yorkshire

Austria-Hungary abandoned Belgrade December 14-15, and the Serbian army entered that day. It is an astonishing victory for Serbia, and a crushing defeat for the Austrians, as all objectives of their Serbian offensive – removing Serbia from the war, convincing Bulgaria to join the Central Powers, and convincing Romania to remain neutral – have failed. The commanders of the two Austro-Hungarian armies have been removed from command. The 400,000-strong Serbians have defeated the 450,000 Austrians, losing 22,000 killed, 91,000 wounded, and 19,000 missing/prisoners to the Austrians’ 30,000 KIA, 173,000 WIA, and 70,000 POW. The Serbian Army is expected to entrench and rebuild for many months, as the invaders have been expelled.

On the morning of December 16, elements of the Imperial German Navy shelled Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby, killing 137 and wounding nearly 600 others, many of them civilians – the first deaths on British soil of the war. The German forces – 4 battlecruisers, 1 armored cruiser, 4 light cruisers, and 18 destroyers – split between the towns and shelled them for 50 minutes, exchanging fire with coastal batteries and small, ineffective coastal support vessels. Minimal damage was done to the German vessels. Outrage in Britain has intensified against the Germans for killing civilians, and against the Royal Navy, for failing to intervene. When leaving, the Germans encountered a portion of the Royal Navy, and fearing it to be the advance guard, fled combat. Had they engaged this much smaller, unsupported squadron, the Germans would undoubtedly have been victorious and, furthermore, would have evened the naval balance of power. A true stroke of good fortune for the British.

A combined French-British assault at Artois was launched December 17, but little progress has been made, and stalemate is expected.

Indian reinforcements at Givenchy

December 20 saw a flurry of activity around Europe, as the French sub Curie, returning from a raid on the Austrian Adriatic port of Pola, was caught in an anti-submarine net and forced to surface. She was fired upon and sunk by the Austrian destroyer SMS Magnet and torpedo boat Tb 63T, losing 3 crewmembers. On the Western front, minor skirmishing broke out at Perthes, in Ardennes; a second French offensive was launched at Champagne, making small gains; and the Germans launched an assault towards Givenchy, capturing the trenches around the town and advancing nearly 1 mile.

It would seem all armies are attempting to make gains before the winter season brings a lull to combat.