The Great War Diary, Sunday, 31st March 1918: Pictured: General Erich Ludendorff waged war as an end in itself, ignoring Clausewitz’s great maxim. WESTERN FRONT: Somme: Battle of Moreuil Wood-A German counter-attack recaptures most of Moreuil Wood, and the nearby Rifle Wood one mile to the northeast. General Seely is given command for a counterattack. The Canadian Brigade attack in three waves, securing their flanks while moving through the wood and engaging the enemy in hand to hand combat. Once the German forces are again driven out, they commence heavy artillery bombardment and several counterattacks, however control of the wood remains with the Allies at the end of the day. To the northeast, Rifle Wood is attacked at 09:00 and by 11:00 is also in Allied hands. By 15:00 the Allied forces are relieved by fresh divisions. However between 1-3 April German forces will regain control of the Moreuil woods and surrounding area. Ludendorff orders major thrust for Amiens once supplies are brought up on April 4th. British capture then lose Hangard; slight French advance between Montdidier and Lassigny. Germans claim 75,000 PoWs and 1,000 guns have been captured since March 21. German Army is now At peak ration strength with 7,917,170 men. SINAI AND PALESTINIAN CAMPAIGN: First Battle of Amman – British forces withdraw from attacking Amman, Jordan and retreat back into the Jordan Valley with a loss of 1,348 casualties. ITALIAN FRONT British Divisions are now holding sectors on Asiago Plateau instead of Montello. EASTERN FRONT: Ukraine: Germans form new Army Group Eichhorn (18 divisions) at Kiev for Ukraine occupation, ChIef of Staff Groener to organise railways; Linsingen removed and Bugarmee dissolved. WAR IN THE AIR: 1,059 aeroplanes reported brought down on all fronts in March, of which Allies claim 838, and Germans 221. WAR AT SEA: Irish Sea: British ocean liner Celtic is torpedoed and damaged by German submarine SM UB-77 with the loss of six lives. She is beached but later refloated, repaired and returned to service. TSS Slieve Bloom sank near South Stack lighthouse in a collision with the USS Stockton,[why?] with the loss of all of her cargo, 370 cattle, 120 horses, general goods and railway rolling stock. The passengers are taken onboard by the destroyer to Holyhead. The destroyer puts into Liverpool for repairs to her bow. Black Sea: Battlecruiser Goeben (Ottoman Navy Yavuz) escorts the members of the Ottoman Armistice Commission to Odessa, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Allied and neutral shipping losses during March: 169 ships (79 British with 490 lives) worth 244,814t (British 199,458t including 3 mined). U-boat figure 190 ships worth 368,746t, including 68 ships of 128,620t in Mediterranean (4 to Austrians); 5 U-boats sunk (2 to unknown cause). German submarines sink, 5 British, 1 French, 1 Italian and 1 Norwegian cargo ships, with the loss of 56 lives. POLITICS: Britain: Prime Minister Lloyd George in a message to the Dominions says "the last man may count". HOME FRONTS: Canada: A militia of 780 federal soldiers enter Quebec City to quell anti-conscription riots AMERICAN NEWS: Agreement between Capital and Labour to refer all questions to arbitration announced. A “hard-working burglar, supporting a large family” writes to the Manhattan IRS collector saying he’d like to pay income taxes so the US can fight “the biggest burglar in the world – the Kaiser,” but he wants to know if his income tax return would be turned over to the cops. He evidently signed the letter, and Collector Eisner is pondering how to respond. Kentucky Governor Augustus Owsley Stanley (D) vetoes a bill that would have banned the teaching of German in public schools. At Patriotic Rallies across America citizens are reminded to put their clocks forward an hour at 02:00. Because nothing says patriotism like rallies marking the introduction of daylight savings. Sources: Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from June 1917 to the End of the War (Part 1). Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. By Cyril Falls (1930). Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1918, Volume I: The German March Offensive and its Preliminaries, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds, 1935 (New edited edition 1992) The Times History Of The War Volume XIX. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence: Military Operations France and Belgium: 1917 volume 3, 1948. BRITISH MERCHANT SHIPS LOST to ENEMY ACTION Part 3 of 3 - September 1917-November 1918 in date order (from the original and uncorrected "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1914-1918", published by HMSO, 1919) Naval Operations, Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4) by Henry Newbolt. http://spiderbites.nytimes.com/free_1918/

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