8 October

Great War events that took place on 8 October.

1914 (Thursday)

Western Front	▶ General Foch takes supreme command of the Allied armies defending the Coast.	▶ Fighting at Roye.	▶ Antwerp is bombarded: Belgians and Naval Brigades leave (being cut off and losing 2,000 interned in Holland).	▶ Sir John French's third despatch^[a] (published 19 October).
Eastern Front	East Prussia: Russians take Lyck.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres	Tsing-tau: Japanese capture "Prince Heinrich" hill.
Naval and Overseas Operations	British submarine HMS E9 sinks German destroyer S 126 at mouth of the River Ems.

Notes

↑ Sir John French's third despatch of 8 October covers the period from 11 September to the end of September. It describes the crossing of the Ourcq, arrival at the Aisne and crossing of this river by most of our forces, together with the severe fighting involved; arrival of the 6th Division on the 16th; necessity for more and heavier guns; German counter-attacks perpetually defeated up to the 28th, when they died away. Our [Britain's] total losses during this period: 561 officers and 12,980 other ranks.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Index.

Text has 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). Spelling of place names are original to British use at the time. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Duplicate or identical events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to the original texts.
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 do not come under the general licence of this site.
Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent up-to-date histories, present-day spelling of place names, or geographical boundaries. In some instances the language used may appear sexist or derogatory to the modern reader, and in rare cases, images may depict distressing scenes.
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[1] Sir John French's third despatch of 8 October covers the period from 11 September to the end of September. It describes the crossing of the Ourcq, arrival at the Aisne and crossing of this river by most of our forces, together with the severe fighting involved; arrival of the 6th Division on the 16th; necessity for more and heavier guns; German counter-attacks perpetually defeated up to the 28th, when they died away. Our [Britain's] total losses during this period: 561 officers and 12,980 other ranks.

[a]