Events of 1915
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Jan 19
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In the first airborne attack on British soil, Zeppelins bomb Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, killing five civilians. |
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| Feb 18 | Blockade of Britain by German U-boats begins. All vessels are considered viable targets, including those from neutral countries. |
| Feb 19 | Allied naval bombardment of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli begins. |
| Mar 10 | The British Offensive at Neuve Chapelle begins. Allied losses amount to 12,800 in two days. Some of the blame falls on the poor quality and lack of British shells, initiating the 'Shell Crisis'. |
| Apr 22 | Second Battle of Ypres begins. First use of poison gas by Germany. |
| Apr 25 | Allied landing at Gallipoli - 70,000 British, Commonwealth and French troops are under heavy fire. On 'Y' Beach, 1,200 out of a force of 1,500 men are casualties. |
| May 02 | Austro-German offensive on Galicia begins. |
| May 07 | German U-boat torpedoes British liner Lusitania with the loss of American lives, creating a US-German diplomatic crisis. |
| May 23 | Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. |
| May 25 | The 'Shell Crisis' exposes the failings of the British Government in supporting front line troops. Discontent over rising casualty figures grows and a coalition government is formed as Prime Minister Asquith struggles to maintain control of the House of Commons. |
| May 31 | The first Zeppelin raid on London kills seven and injures 35. British morale is shaken as Germany demonstrates it can attack the capital at will. |
| Jun 04 | The Third and final Battle of Krithia begins at Gallipoli as Allies attempt to push inland from their beach-heads. British losses amount to 6,000 men. |
| Jun 21 | British troops reach the Euphrates in Mesopotamia, and re-occupy Aden. |
| Jun 30 | German troops use flame throwers for the first time against the British lines at Hooge, Ypres. |
| Aug 04 | Germans annex Warsaw. |
| Aug 06 | Allies land two divisions at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli. They opt not to take the strategic heights overlooking the beaches and are eventually pinned to the coast by Turkish troops. |
| Aug 16 | A U-boat bombards Whitehaven, proving that Britain's maritime defences can be breached by German submarines. |
| Aug 21 | The Battle of Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli, is the final British offensive in the Dardanelles. They are repelled and lose 5,000 men. |
| Sep 25 | The Great Allied Offensive focuses on Loos and Champagne. At the Battle of Loos the British use gas for the first time but the wind blows this over their own troops resulting in 2632 casualties - seven are killed. |
| Sep 27 | British and Canadian regiments take Hill 70 at Loos and break the German line, but lack of reserves to exploit the breach results in limited success. The Canadians alone receive over 9,000 casualties. |
| Oct 05 | Under German pressure to open up military rail links to Constantinople and the Middle East, the Austro-Hungarians step up their campaign against the Serbians. Anglo-French forces land at Salonika to counter allied German expansion in the Balkans. |
| Oct 12 | British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by German firing squad for helping POWs escape from Belgium to Holland. She becomes a popular martyr and British heroine. |
| Oct 31 | Steel helmets introduced on the British Front. |
| Nov 22 | Battle of Ctesiphon, 25 miles south of Baghdad. Allies inflict heavy casualties on the Turks, but are forced to retire to Kut due to lack of supplies. The Turkish soldiers give chase and besiege the town. |
| Dec 15 | Sir Douglas Haig replaces Sir John French as Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. |
| Dec 20 | Allies complete the evacuation of 83,000 troops from Suvla Bay and ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli. Not one soldier or sailor is killed in the withdrawal and the Turkish are unaware of the evacuation taking place. |
