18 August

Great War events that took place on 18 August.

1914 (Tuesday)

Western Front	▶ Belgium: Germans occupy Tirlemont.	▶ Lorraine: French advance and cut line between Metz and Strassburg at Saarburg.
Eastern Front	Galicia: Russian invasion from the east under Brusilov and Russki begun.^[a]
Southern Front	Austrians defeated at Shabats.

1915 (Wednesday)

Home Front	Zeppelin air raid on Kent, Essex and London concludes. Civilian casualties: 10 killed (inc. one child) and 48 injured (inc. 12 children).
Western Front	French capture position on Ablain-Angres road (Vimy), and trench on Schratzmännele crest (Vosges).
Southern Front	Italian progress towards Tolmino and in Upper Rienz (Julian).
Naval and Overseas Operations	▶ Russian naval success in Gulf of Riga.	▶ German Fleet retires losing two cruisers (including SMS Moltke) and eight torpedo boats.	▶ Russian gunboat Sivuch sunk.
Political	Offices of "Labour Leader" raided.

Notes

↑ Southern Russian army enters Galicia in three columns, following three separate railways converging on Lemberg. Second Russian Army (General Russki) crossing frontier 14 August, 1914, captures town of Sokal. Third Russian Army (General Brusilov) moving westward menaces Second Austrian Army by way of Tarnopol and valley of Sereth.

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] Southern Russian army enters Galicia in three columns, following three separate railways converging on Lemberg. Second Russian Army (General Russki) crossing frontier 14 August, 1914, captures town of Sokal. Third Russian Army (General Brusilov) moving westward menaces Second Austrian Army by way of Tarnopol and valley of Sereth.

[a]