19 February

Great War events that took place on 19 February.

1915 (Friday)

Western Front	▶ French make a little progress at Les Eparges (east of Verdun).	▶ Heavy fighting in the Vosges; Germans take the Reichsackerkopf and occupy Metzeral and Sondernach.
Eastern Front	▶ Russian counter-offensive on East Prussian frontier.	▶ Sorties at Przemyśl repulsed.	▶ Austrian offensive on the River Dunajec checked after slight advance.	▶ Russian retreat near Nadworna.	▶ Stanislau (Galicia) captured by Austrian forces (see 30 October 1914, and 4 March 1915).
Southern Front	Bombardment of forts at entrance to Dardanelles by five British and three French battleships and battle-cruisers (see 18 March).
Naval and Overseas Operations	Norwegian SS Belridge torpedoed in Channel (but not sunk) and reaches port. First (neutral) ship torpedoed by German submarine without warning.^[a]
Political	Memoranda published by British Government in reply to USA Notes about the neutral flag^[b] and SS Wilhelmina.^[c]

Notes

↑ German Government subsequently asserted that this ship was attacked in error.
↑ It is urged that the British Merchant Shipping Act allows the use of the British flag by ships of other nations for the purpose of evading capture, and no nation has forbidden such use of its flag. It is added, however, that the British Government has no intention of advertising British merchant shipping to use foreign flags as a general practice or to resort to them except in order to escape capture or destruction. A belligerent vessel has the obligation of ascertaining the character of a ship before capturing it, and the British Government cannot assume responsibility for what may happen if this is disregarded.
↑ The memorandum states that when the Wilhelmina's cargo was seized, the British Government had before them the German decree of January 25, under an article of which imported grain and flour might be delivered only to certain organisations under Government control or to municipal authorities. It has since become know that on February 6 this article was repealed. The effect of this change must be decided in the Prize Court. The article in question, however, was not the only reason for the seizure of the cargo: the conduct of Germany was sufficient justification.

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] German Government subsequently asserted that this ship was attacked in error.

[2] It is urged that the British Merchant Shipping Act allows the use of the British flag by ships of other nations for the purpose of evading capture, and no nation has forbidden such use of its flag. It is added, however, that the British Government has no intention of advertising British merchant shipping to use foreign flags as a general practice or to resort to them except in order to escape capture or destruction. A belligerent vessel has the obligation of ascertaining the character of a ship before capturing it, and the British Government cannot assume responsibility for what may happen if this is disregarded.

[3] The memorandum states that when the Wilhelmina's cargo was seized, the British Government had before them the German decree of January 25, under an article of which imported grain and flour might be delivered only to certain organisations under Government control or to municipal authorities. It has since become know that on February 6 this article was repealed. The effect of this change must be decided in the Prize Court. The article in question, however, was not the only reason for the seizure of the cargo: the conduct of Germany was sufficient justification.

[a]

[b]

[c]