The Great War Diary for Tuesday, July 17th 1917: Pictured: Artillery in action at Ypres WESTERN FRONT: Third Ypres bombardment (until July 30) begins: British fire 4,283,550 shells (cost £22,211,389 14s 4d) including 100,000 rounds (250t) of chlorine gas shells at Germans (until July 31); 1,250 gassed (75 deaths). Successful British raids in the Ypres sector. Verdun: French regain positions northwest of Mort Homme lost during the last 18 days. Unsuccessful German trench raids northwest of Verdun on July 18. EASTERN FRONT: Russians hold their positions in Galicia against German counter-thrust. WAR AT SEA: German Crown Prince Wilhelm calls submarine warfare “the last argument of Kings.” 'HMS C34' The British Royal Navy C-class submarine was sunk off the Shetland Islands while on the surface by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM U-52 with the loss of eighteen of her nineteen crew. The survivor was rescued by U-52. 'HMS Newmarket' The British Royal Navy auxiliary minesweeper was torpedoed and sunk in the Aegean Sea south of Icaria, Greece with the loss of 44 of her crew. Three of the survivors were taken as prisoners of war. German submarines sink, 2 British and 1 French cargo vessels with the loss of 7 of the French crew. POLITICS: Russia: Justice Ministry documents allege Lenin is a German agent (until July 18) as do other sources. 6,000 Kronstadt sailors join Red rising but Cossacks begin charges as troops arrive from Front. Great Britain: King George V issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will change it's name from the very German sounding ' Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' to Windsor. Canada: Resistance to the introduction of conscription is increasing in Quebec. Many are taking their money out of banks to put pressure the government. Resolution in favour of extension of Canadian Parliament passed. AMERICAN NEWS: The Justice Department fails to find any evidence of German financial backing for the International Workers of the World (IWW) Cipher Bureau of Military Intelligence created, Herbert O. Yardley became the head of the newly created Bureau. known to you and me to-day as the NSA. USA: Presidential order drafts 678,000 of June 5 registrees. War Secretary will draw the first numbers for draft on July 20. Some Northern senators are complaining that the Census Bureau’s methods of calculating the numbers of men to be drafted in each state is unfair, disadvantaging northern states where there are high numbers of immigrants. Sen. Ben Tillman (D-South Carolina) says the race riots in East St. Louis were caused by white prejudice against the negro. “The more the Northern people know of the negro the less they like him. ... The white blood, becoming once aroused, grows savage and very cruel.” He thinks that white Northern men being trained in military camps in the South will improve their understanding of the negro problem. I shudder to think what Pitchfork Ben’s solution to the negro problem might be. In June, 2,400 loggers had joined a strike in North Idaho, and it soon engulfed most of the logging camps east of the Cascade Mountains. When workers on the coast joined the strike in on 17th July, logging across the entire Pacific Northwest essentially shuts down. Lasts until October. Sources Include: Military Operations France and Belgium 1917: 7 June – 10 November. Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele). History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. II. By J. E. Edmonds Military Operations France and Belgium 1917: Appendices. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. By J. E. Edmonds and G. C. Wynne The workers' revolution in Russia, 1917. The view from below. By Daniel H. Kaiser http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/sittings/1917/jjuly http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/1917_07_15.htm 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 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9805E7DA133AE433A25754C1A9619C946696D6CF&legacy=true NAVAL OPERATIONS, Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 (Part 1 of 4) by Henry Newbolt http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B07E7DA133AE433A25754C1A9619C946696D6CF&legacy=true

TGW191418 just now Via Flipboard