21 January

Great War events that took place on 21 January.

1915 (Thursday)

French take woods near the farm of Beauséjour, but lose ground in the Bois-le-Prêtre.
Further Austrian attack at the Kirlibaba Pass repulsed.
Lieut-Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn succeeded as German Minister for War by Lieut-Gen. Wild von Hohenborn (see 30 October, 1916). Von Falkenhayn remains Chief of the General Staff (see 29 August, 1916).
British SS Durward sunk by submarine near Maas lightship.
H.M. Ambassador at Washington announces that SS Dacia, if captured, will be placed in a Prize Court.^[a]

1916 (Friday)

1917 (Sunday)

1918 (Monday)

Notes

↑ The Dacia, a vessel of the Hamburg-Amerika line, had been lying at Port Arthur, Texas, since the outbreak of war. With the permission of the United States Government, she was bought by an American citizen of German origin, Breitung by name, who purposed to send her to Bremen with a cargo of cotton shipped by American citizens. The destination, however, was afterwards changed to Rotterdam. The point at issue was the validity of the transference to neutrals of vessels belonging to a belligerent. Cotton not being treated as contraband at this time, the British Government offered, if the ship were seized, to purchase the cargo or have it forwarded without charge to Rotterdam.

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] The Dacia, a vessel of the Hamburg-Amerika line, had been lying at Port Arthur, Texas, since the outbreak of war. With the permission of the United States Government, she was bought by an American citizen of German origin, Breitung by name, who purposed to send her to Bremen with a cargo of cotton shipped by American citizens. The destination, however, was afterwards changed to Rotterdam. The point at issue was the validity of the transference to neutrals of vessels belonging to a belligerent. Cotton not being treated as contraband at this time, the British Government offered, if the ship were seized, to purchase the cargo or have it forwarded without charge to Rotterdam.

[a]