28 March

Great War events that took place on 28 March.

1915 (Sunday)

Western Front	French repulse all counter-attacks at Les Éparges.
Eastern Front	▶ Attempted renewal of offensive by Germans in northern Poland.	▶ Failure of Austrian attacks and progress by Russians in the Carpathians.
Naval and Overseas Operations	▶ Home Waters: The first passenger ship (British SS Falaba) sunk by a German submarine (see 13 March and 20 October 1914).^[a] (see 13 March and 20 October 1914).	▶ Russian Black Sea fleet bombards the forts on the Bosporus.	▶ Smyrna forts shelled.

Notes

↑ The SS Falaba, bound for South Africa, was torpedoed and sunk south of the St. George's Channel on this day in 1915, with a loss of 100 lives including many women and children, the passengers being given only five minutes to take to the boats.

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 SS Falaba, bound for South Africa, was torpedoed and sunk south of the St. George's Channel on this day in 1915, with a loss of 100 lives including many women and children, the passengers being given only five minutes to take to the boats.

[a]