[February 20, 1915. 
LAND AND WATER. 
A DIARY OF THE WAR. 
SYNOPSIS. 
August 3bd. — Sir Edward Urey stated British policy and revealed 
Germany's amazing ofier, in the event of our neglecting our obligations 
to France. Mobilisation of the Army. Ultimatum to Geimuny. 
Uerman and French Ambassadors left iParis and Berlin. 
AucusT 4th. — Germany rejected England's ultimatum. English 
Government took over control of railways. War declared between 
England and Germany. 
August 5th. — Lord Kitchener appointed Secretary of State for 
.War. H.M.S. Amphion struck a mine and foundered. 
August 6th. — House of Commons, in five minutes, passed a vote of 
credit for £100,000,000, and sanctioned an increase of the Army by 
600,000 men. State control of food prices. 
August Sth. — Lord Kitchener issued a circular asking for 100,000 
men. 
August 9ih. — The enemy's submarine, UlS^ was sunk by H.M.S. 
Pirmingham. 
August 10th. — France declared wfir on Austria-Uungary. Germans 
advanced on Namur. The new Press Bureau established by the 
Government for the issue of official war news. 
August 11th. — England declared war against Austria. 
August 15th. — The Tsar addressed a Proclamation to the Polish 
populations of Ilussia, Germany, and Austria, promising to restore lo 
Poland complete autonomy and guarantees for religious liberty and 
the use of the Polish language. 
August 16th. — Japanese ultimatum to Germany demanding tha 
withdrawal of her vessels of war from the Far East. 
August ITth. — The British Expeditionary Force safely landed in 
France. 
The Belgian Government transferred from Brussels to Antwerp. 
August IBTH.^jeneral Sir H. Smith-Dorrien appointed to com- 
Inand of an Army Corps of the British Expeditionary Force, in suc- 
cession to the late General Grierson. 
August 20ih. — The Servians gained a decisive victory over th» 
Austrians near Shabatz. 
August 218t. — The German forces entered Brussels. 
August 22nd. — Servia announced that their army had won a great 
.Tictory on tho Drina. The Austrian losses were very heavy. 
August 23bd. — Japan declared war on Germany. The Kussian 
army gained an important victory near Gumbinnen against a force of 
160,000 Germans. 
August 24th. — It was announced that Namur had fallen. 
The British forces were engaged all day on Sunday and after dark 
in tha neighbourhood of Mons, and held their groimd. Luneville was 
occupied by the Germans. 
August 27th. — Mr. Churchill announced in the House that the 
German armed merchantman Kaiser Wilhelm der Groate had been sunk 
by U.M-S. Uxghflyer on the West Africa Coast, 
August 28th. — A concerted operation was attempted against tha 
Germans in the Heligoland Bight. 
The First Light Cruiser Squadron sank the Maim, Tha First 
'Battle Cruiser Squadron sank one cruiser, Koln class, and another 
cruiser disappeared in the mist, heavily on fire, find in a sinking 
condition. 
Two German destroyers were sunk and many damaged. The total 
British casualties amounted to sixty-nine killed and wounded. 
Lord Kitchener announced that " The Government have decided 
that our Army in France shall be increased by two divisions and a 
cavalry division, besides other troops from India." 
Septembeb 1st. — The Bussians met with a check in East Prussia, 
but were successful in minor engagements in Galicia. 
SErrEiiBEB 2nd. — Continuous fighting was in progress along almost 
the whole line of battle. The British Cavalry engaged, with distinc- 
tion, the Cavalry of the enemy, pushed them back, and captured ten 
guns. The French Army gained ground in the Lorraine region, ^'he 
Russian Army completely routed four Austrian Army Corps near 
Lemberg, capturing 150 guns. 
SBPTisiiBEtt 3ed. — The French Government moved to Bordeaux. 
Septembee 4th. — The Bussian Army under General Ruzsky cap- 
tured Lemberg, and the Army of General Brussiloff took Halicz. 
September 5th. — The formal alliance of England, Franc?, and 
Russia was signed in London by the representatives of the three 
Governments concerned, binding each nation to conclude peace, or 
discuss terms of peace, only in conjunction with its Allies. 
Sj:ptembee 6th. — It was announced that the scout-cruiser Path- 
finder foundered on Saturday afternoon after running upon a mine. 
SfiPTEMBEtt 7th. — General Jotfre's plans were being steadily carried 
out. The Allied forces acted on the defensive and were successful in 
checking and forcing back in a north-easterly direction the German 
forces opposed to them. 
September 8th. — The Allies gained ground on the left wing along 
the line of the Ourcq and the Petit Morin river. Here the British 
troops drove the enemy back ten miles. Further to the right, from 
iVitry-le-Franoois to Sermaise-les-Bains the enemy was pressed back 
in the direction of Kheims. 
SEPTEMnER 9th. — The English Army crossed the Marne, and the 
enemy retired about twenty-five miles. 
September 13th. — On the left wing the enemy continued his retreat- 
ing movement. The Belgian Army pushed forward a vigorous ofiensive 
to the south of Licrre. 
September 14th. — AU day the enemy stubbornly disputed the 
passage of tho Aisne by our troops, but nearly all the crossings were 
Bccured by sunset. On our right and left the French troops were con- 
fronted with a similar task, in which they were successful. 
September 15th. — The Allied troops occupit4 Rheims. Six hundred 
prisoners and twelve guns were captured by the Corps on the right 
of the British. 
September 16th.^ — Submarine E9, Lieutenant-Commander Max 
Kennedy Horlon, relumed safelv after having torpedoed the German 
September 19th. — The Rossian Army seized the fortified positions 
of Sieniawa and Sambor. 
The British auxiliary cruiser Carmania, Captain Noel Grant, Koyai 
Navy, sank the (Jap Trafalgar oH the east coast of South America. 
The action lasted one hour and forty-five minutes, when the German 
ship capsized and sunk, her survivors being rescued by an empty 
collier. 
September 22no. — H.M. ships Aboulir, Bogue, and Cressy wera 
sunk by submarines in the North Sea. The Abouliir was torpedoed, 
and whilst the Uogut and the Cresay had closed and wera standing 
by to save the crew they were also torpedoed. 
September 23iid. — British aeroplanes of the Naval wing delivered 
an attack on the Zeppelin sheds at Dusscldorf and Flight-Lieutenant 
Collet dropped three bombs on a Zeppelin shed. 
Septembkb 27th. — Between the Oise fmd the Somme and to the 
north of the Somme, the battle continued along a very extensive front 
with perceptible progress on our part. By the evening our troops 
regained the ground they had lost. Between the Argonne and the 
Meuse there was nothing new to report. 
September 28th. — At certain points, notably between the Aisue 
and the Argonne, the enemy made further violent attacks, which wera 
repulsed. 
Octobeb 1st. — ^Jhe arrival of the Indian Expeditionary Force at 
Marseilles was cmnoonced. 
Octobeb 2nd. — His Majesty's Government authorised a mme- 
laying policy in certain areas. 
Octobeb 6th. — In Russia the German army, which was operating 
between the front of East Prussia and the Niemen, was beaten all 
along the line and retreated, abandoning a considerable quantity of 
material. 
Octobeb 9th. — Tha British naval airmen carried out another suo- 
cessful raid on the Zeppelin sheds at Diisseldorf . 
Octobeb IOih. — Death of King Carol of Roumania. 
Octobeb 11th. — The Russian cruiser Pallada was sunk in the 
Baltic by a German submarine. 
Octobeb 14th. — The Belgian Government removed from Ostend to 
Havre. 
Octobeb 15th. — H.M.S. Yarmov.th (Captain Henry L. Cochrane) 
sank the German liner Maxlomania off Sumatra, and captured tha 
Greek steamer Pontoporos. 
Octobeb 16th. — H.M.S. Hawke (Captain Hugh P. E. WilUams, 
B.N.) was attacked and sunk by submarines. 
Octobeb 17th. — The new light cruiser Undaunted (Captain Cecil H. 
Fox), accompanied by the destroyers Lance (Commander W. do M. 
Egerton), Lennox (Lieut.Commander C. R. Dane), Legion (Lieut. C. F. 
AUsop), and Loyal (Lieut.Commander F. Burges Watson), sunk four 
German destroyers ofi the Dutch coast. 
October 25th. — A German submarine was rammed and sunk by 
the destroyer Badger (Commander Charles Fremantle, R.N.) off the 
Dutch coast. 
Octobeb 29th., — ^Admiral H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg re- 
signed his position as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. 
Octobeb 31st. — H.M.S. Hermes was sunk by a torpedo fired by a 
German submarine in the Straits of Dover. 
November 2nd. — The Admiralty declared tha whole of the North 
Sea a military area. 
NovEMBEB 4th. — It was reported that the Scharnhorst, Gneisenaa, 
Leipzig, Dresden, and Niirnberg concentrated near Valparaiso, and 
that an engagement was fought on November 1st ^he Monmouth was 
sunk and the Good Hope very severely damaged. .The Glasgow and 
the Otranto escaped. 
NovEMBEB 5th. — The German cruiser Yard struck the mines 
blocking the entrance to Jahde Bay and sank. 
November 7th. — The fall of Tsingtau was announced. 
NovEMBEB IOth. — The Emden was driven ashore and burnt at 
Keeling Cooos Island by H.M.A.S. Sydney (Captain John C. T. 
Glossop, B.N.). The Kdnigsberg waa imprisoned in the Bufigi Island 
by H.M.S. Chatham. 
NovEMBEB 11th. — H.M.S. Niger (Lieut.-Commander Arthur P. 
Muir, R.N.) waa torpedoed by a submarine in the Downs, and 
foundered. 
November 14th. — Field-Marshal Lord Roberts died frt the Head- 
quarters of the British Army in France. 
November 23rd. — The German submarine V18 was rammed by a 
British destroyer, the Garry, off the coast of Scotland. 
November 26th.— H.M.S. Bulwark blew up in Shcemess Harbour. 
December 8th. — A British squadTon under Vioe-Admiral Sir 
Frederick Sturdee sighted o& the Falkland Islands a German squadron 
consisting of the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Niirnberg, Leipzig, and 
Dresden, Three of these five warships were sunk, including the flag- 
ship of Admiral Count von Spee. The two others fled from the action 
and were pursued. 
December &rH. — Valievo waa retaken by the Serbians, who ener- 
getically pursued the Austrian forces. 
Decembeb IOth. — A further telegram was received from Vice- 
Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee reportirg that the Niirnberg was also 
Buiik on December 8. 
Decembeb 13th. — ^Submarine Bil, Lieut.-Commander Norman D. 
Holbrook, B.N., entered the Dardanelles, and, in spite of the difficult 
current, dived under five rows of mines %nd torpedoed the Turkish, 
battleship Messudiyeh, which was guarding the minefield. When last 
seen the Messudiyeh was sinking by the stem. 
Decembeb 16th. — In the morning a German cruiser force made a 
demonstration upon the Yorkshire coast, in the course of which tliey 
shelled Hartlepool, Whitby, and Scanborough. They were engaged 
by the patrol vessels on the spot, and a British pafcroUing squadron 
endeavoured to cut them off. On being sighted by British vessel* 
the Germans retired at full speed, and, favoured by the mist, suo- 
