17 August

Great War events that took place on 17 August.

1914 (Monday)

Western Front	▶ Alsace: Renewed French advance, take Marsal and Chateau-Salins.	▶ Sir John French takes up his headquarters at Le Cateau.
Eastern Front	East Prussia: Russians defeat Germans at Stallupönen; Germans fall back on Gumbinnen.
Southern Front	Battle of the Jadar (between Shabats and Loznitsa) continued.
Naval and Overseas Operations	Adriatic: Austrian cruiser sunk near Antivari.
Political	▶ Belgium: Government transferred from Brussels to Antwerp.	▶ Great Britain: Enrolment of Special Constables begins.

1915 (Tuesday)

Home Front	Zeppelin air raid on Kent, Essex and London begins.
Western Front	▶ French gain footing on ridge in Vosges (Sondernach crest).	▶ Night attack on Sondernach by Germans.
Eastern Front	▶ Novo-Georgievsk furiously attacked and outlying forts captured. Austrians approach Brest-Litovsk.	▶ Russians driven across the Bug at Konstantinov.	▶ Enemy approaches Byelostok-Byelsk railway and cuts Kholm-Brest-Litovsk railway.	▶ Fall of Kovna.
Southern Front	Italian advance on Bacher valley (Dolomites), Vrsik crest, Sta Maria and Sta Lucia hills (Julian).
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres	1,200 Bunerwal rebels attack camp at Rustam (Peshawar); one officer killed.
Naval and Overseas Operations	Austrians attack Pelagosa Island (Centre Adriatic).
Political	▶ Germans claim two million prisoners to date: 330,000 British, French and Belgian; rest Russian.	▶ Proposals of Entente examined by Serbian cabinet.	▶ Italian war loan totals 4 million.

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.

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