Great War events that took place on 20 October.
1914 (Tuesday)
| Western Front | ▶ Battle round Arras: fierce German attack repulsed. | ▶ Poelcapelle captured by the Germans. | ▶ Indian Expeditionary Force (Cavalry, Meerut and Lahore Division) reaches the front. | ▶ Heavy fighting near La Bassée. |
| Eastern Front | Poland: German attacks in front of Warsaw weakening. Russians begin to take the offensive. | |||
| Political | ▶ Germans report 149,000 French, 107,000 Russian, 32,000 Belgian, and 9,000 British prisoners. | ▶ British losses to date 57,000, including sick. |
Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.
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.