16 August

Great War events that took place on 16 August.

1914 (Sunday)

Western Front	▶ Belgium: Indecisive action at Wavre.	▶ British Expeditionary Force first contingent completes its landing.	▶ French successful in northern Alsace (Schirmeck, etc.).
Eastern Front"	East Prussia: General advance of Russian armies.
Southern Front	Austrians capture Shabats (north-west Serbia), but Serbians check Austrian advance between Loznitsa and Shabats.
Naval and Overseas Operations	Franco-British squadron enters the Adriatic.

1915 (Monday)

Eastern Front	▶ Russian army withdrawn to Brest-Osovyets-Kovna line.	▶ Byelostok (Grodno) partially evacuated.	▶ Kovna bombarded; breach made in defences.	▶ Austrians cross Krzna (Brest).	▶ Germans repulsed from Mitau (Riga).
Southern Front	Montenegrin success on border against Austrians. Admiral de Robeck's despatch of 1 July 1915 on Dardanelles landing 25-26 April 1915 received.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres	Russians enter Van (Armenia). Russian communiqué announces defeat of Turks and occupation of Kep (Euphrates); Turks driven back near Olti (Transcaucasia).
Naval and Overseas Operations	Cumberland coast towns shelled by German submarine. German fleet attacks at entrance of Gulf of Riga.
Political	▶ Manifesto on National Service signed by notable men of all parties in England.	▶ Venizelist candidate elected President of Chamber; Greek Government resigns.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.

On This Day pages are styled as timelines and have been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). The spelling of place-names is a particularly convoluted subject. Some names were spelt differently depending on source, others have changed over time for various political or geographical reasons. In general, spelling of place names are original to British use at the time of, and shortly after, the war. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Similar events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to their original texts.

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.

Browse index by letter: Top – A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z