Great War events that took place on 15 August.
1914 (Saturday)
| Western Front | ▶ Belgium: Reduction of forts at Liège completed; Germans checked at Dinant by the French. | ▶ Alsace-Lorraine: Passes of the Vosges in French hands. |
| Naval and Overseas Operations | South Africa: Meeting of disaffected Boers: Address by General Delarey.[a] | |
| Political | Japan: Ultimatum to Germany demanding evacuation of Tsing-tau (Kiao-Chau).[b] |
1915 (Sunday)
| Western Front | Violent bombardment on Yser front. | ||
| Eastern Front | ▶ 1,730 Russians taken prisoners outside Kovna. Losice, Biala, and Mazyrecze (west of Brest) captured; enemy crosses Bug east of Droghiczyn. | ▶ Russian line broken at Bransk (on Nurzec), 5,000 prisoners taken. | |
| Southern Front | Venice bombarded by seaplane. | ||
| Political | ▶ National Register taken. | ▶ Cholera in Hungary. | ▶ Striking exposure of German intrigues in New York World. |
Notes
- ↑ Meeting at Treuerfontein (Western Transvaal) of Dutch Burghers, convened at instigation of rebel and German plotters. Address by General Delarey, who possessed unrivalled influence in Western Transvaal, to about 800 Burghers. Situation in Europe explained and exhortation to keep cool and await events.
- ↑ Ultimatutm regarding the evacuation of Tsing-tau (the naval port of Kiao-Chau, the German Protectorate in China) presented to Germany by Japan.
Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.
Compendium entries form the central hub of (a) An index-like collection of places, people, ships, battles, political events, etc., and (b) Words and phrases of the Armed Forces of Great Britain during the Great War. The majority of these have been transcribed from Chronology of the War (1918-1920) and Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases (1925) respectively, the later which is reflected in the language used and some may seem derogatory by today's standards.
Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and does not come under the general licence of this site. Please be aware that some images, although very few, may depict distressing scenes.
Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent updated histories, present-day spellings, or geographical borders. It is also written from a British perspective, and words such as "enemy" are used extensively. For further details and a full list of sources, click here.