The Great War Diary for Sunday, July 15th 1917: Pictured: Short Folder with starboard wings still folded. WAR IN THE AIR: Southern Turkey: 4 Royal Navy Air Service Short seaplanes from HMS Empress report hits on cotton factories near Adana. More Empress aircraft later start fires in Beirut quay warehouses in August and on September 27. WESTERN FRONT: German assault on captured positions on Mont Haut (Moronvillers) defeated. British air raid on Belgium. EASTERN FRONT: Galicia: Litzmann’s 4 new German divisions block Kornilov after 18-mile advance, he evacuates Kalusz on July 16 but then holds, gaining and then losing Nowica on July 18. ITALIAN FRONT: Italian raid in the Carso, 275 prisoners. WAR AT SEA: Britain: Commander Tyrwhitt of Harwich Force knighted. Atlantic: U-boats switch main attack to outward-bound unescorted shipping, twice as risky for latter as homeward bound by August. German submarines sink, 6 British, 1 French and 1 Royal Navy trawler with the loss of 29 lives with 4 taken prisoner. 'HMS Redbreast' The British Royal Navy fleet messenger was sunk in the Aegean Sea by SM UC-38 with the loss of 44 lives. One of the survivors was taken as a prisoner of war. POLITICS: Crisis in Russia: resignation of four Ministers of Cadet Party, as protest against recognition of the Ukraine. The new German chancellor is George Michaelis, described as bureaucrat of the old type.” He was the Prussian under-secretary of finance and the German food commissioner. And no “von” in his name; he’s the first commoner to hold the office. Other than that, the only interesting thing about him is that he spent several years in Japan. The ouster of Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg is being blamed by many on Crown Prince Wilhelm, who never liked him, but it’s really more like a right-wing coup against the prospect of the “parliamentisation” of the Reichstag, i.e., making the German government responsible to the elected Reichstag rather than the crown, as the majority in the Reichstag becomes increasingly critical of the war, the way it’s being waged, and the lack of stated war aims. Kaiser Wilhelm did not bother consulting with any member of the Reichstag before appointing Michaelis. AMERICAN NEWS: Another 16 suffragist picketers are arrested at the White House, celebrating Bastille Day with banners reading “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” American-born lead miners in St. Francois County, Missouri force foreign miners out of the area at gunpoint. The Western Federation of Miners blames the IWW, but it would. The IWW men and other Bisbee deportees say they won’t return to Bisbee unless accompanied by US soldiers. Evidently they actually believe the US government will support their right not to be kidnapped from their homes and deported. Spoiler Alert: It won’t. Sheriff Harry Wheeler, replying to Arizona Gov. Campbell’s request for an explanation of his actions, says “I can protect law abiding and peaceful citizens, but I cannot guarantee the technical rights of lawbreakers and criminals. I would not endanger the lives of loyal American citizens in attempting to protect the I.W.Ws.” Woodrow Wilson complains about the Bisbee Deportation, cabling the governor of Arizona, “may I not respectfully urge the great danger of citizens taking the laws into their own hands”. He thinks the kidnapping of 1,200 people creates “a very serious responsibility”. The governor of New Mexico, where the men were dumped, is trying to pass the whole thing to the feds, who are currently feeding the deportees. New Mexico has put them under arrest, as one does with kidnapping victims, I guess. Sources Include: http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/1917_07_15.htm http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205289190 http://www.naval-history.net/WW1LossesBrFV1917-18.htm http://www.naval-history.net/WW1LossesBrMS1917.htm http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/sittings/1917/jjuly http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit NAVAL OPERATIONS, Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4) by Henry Newbolt The German Army in World War I" by Nigel Thomas

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