5 September

Great War events that took place on 5 September.

1914 (Saturday)

Western Front	▶ Retirement of British and French forces ceases.	▶ Battle of the Ourcq (Maunoury's 6th Army) begins at midday.	▶ Reims and Pont-à-Mousson occupied by the Germans.
Eastern Front	Poland: Austrians defeated by Russians at Tomashov.
Naval and Overseas Operations	▶ East Africa: Germans attack Abercorn.	▶ HMS Pathfinder sunk by German submarine.	▶ Wilson liner Runo blown up by a mine.
Political	Agreement of London: Great Britain, France, and Russia pledge themselves to make no separate peace.^[a]

Notes

↑ No Separate Peace agreement singed on behalf of Britain, France and Russia by Sir Edward Grey, M. Cambon, and Count Beckendorff respectively. All parties mutually engage not to conclude peace separately during the war, and when peace terms are discussed, no one of the Allies will demand peace without previous agreement of each of the other two.

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] No Separate Peace agreement singed on behalf of Britain, France and Russia by Sir Edward Grey, M. Cambon, and Count Beckendorff respectively. All parties mutually engage not to conclude peace separately during the war, and when peace terms are discussed, no one of the Allies will demand peace without previous agreement of each of the other two.

[a]