17 September

Great War events that took place on 17 September.

1914 (Thursday)

Western Front	▶ The Aisne: Heavy fighting around Soissons.	▶ Sir John French's second despatch^[a] (published 19 October).
Southern Front	Syrmia: Serbians evacuate Semlin.
Naval and Overseas Operations	▶ South Africa: German raid near Nakob.	▶ General Beyers dismissed from his command.

Notes

↑ Sir John French's second despatch covers the period from 28 August to 10 September. It describes the continuation of the retreat, change of base from Havre to St. Nazaire, arrival on line south of the Marne, General Joffre's determination to counter-advance, movements of French and British armies, and their advance on 6 September, and the Battle of the Marne (6-10 September), and mentions the beginning of the Battle of the Aisne (12 September).

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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[1] Sir John French's second despatch covers the period from 28 August to 10 September. It describes the continuation of the retreat, change of base from Havre to St. Nazaire, arrival on line south of the Marne, General Joffre's determination to counter-advance, movements of French and British armies, and their advance on 6 September, and the Battle of the Marne (6-10 September), and mentions the beginning of the Battle of the Aisne (12 September).

[a]