20 August

Great War events that took place on 20 August.

1914 (Thursday)

Western Front	▶ Brussels evacuated by the Belgians and occupied by the Germans. Namur bombarded.	▶ Lorraine: Powerful German counter-attack near Saarburg and Morhange drives French back.	▶ British concentration Avesnes-Le Cateau completed.
Eastern Front	East Prussia: Battle of Gumbinnen. Russian victory followed by occupation of the town, Goldap and Lyck.
Southern Front	Serbia: Disorderly flight of Austrians towards the frontier.
Naval and Overseas Operations	East Africa: Taveta occupied by the Germans: Uganda Railway attacked.
Political	Rome: Death of Pope Pius X.

1915 (Friday)

Eastern Front	Russians evacuate Byelostok; enemy occupies Byelsk (north of Brest).
Southern Front	Topkaneh (Arsenal at Constantinople) bombed by Russian aviators.
Naval and Overseas Operations	Naval battle of Riga continues. German Fleet penetrates Gulf.
Political	▶ Italy declares war on Turkey.	▶ Second reading of War Loan Bill in Reichstag. 1,000,000,000 marks voted.

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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