72 Days until the Armistice
Western Front
Second Battle of the Somme: Second Battle of Bapaume (until September 3): Capture of Peronne completed; British take Bouchavesnes and Rancourt. British 52nd and 57th Divisions finally secure Bullecourt and Hendecourt after fighting since August 28; BEF Third Army clears eight more villages east and southeast of Bapaume (until September 2), has gained 8-13 miles with 11,000 PoWs from 23 German divisions since August 21. 5th Australian Division reoccupies Peronne (until September 2) after 2nd Australian Division captures Mt St Quentin. 3 British divisions capture 4 villages and farm to north. Amiens salient eliminated.
Australian troops successfully capture the strategic Mont Saint-Quentin, which overlooks Péronne and the Somme River. Painting of the battle by Fred Leist:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...583023834652672
Flanders: British 30th Division (Second Army) recaptures Neuve Eglise and Wulverghem (September 2). and make general progress south of Scarpe.
French advance continues north of Noyon; above Soissons they capture Leury, Juvigny, Coucy and other places.
BEF peak 1918 estimated strength of 1,916,464 soldiers (record 163,635 Canadians).
Western Front, Air: Germans claim 27 Allied aircraft for loss of 8. RAF F.E.2b night bombers attack 3 defended villages in front of BEF First Army with 300 bombs (night September 1/2/3, tactic repeated on September 18).
Britain: 16,224 American mechanics have arrived to work and train with RAF (3,931 by March 1).
Germany: During September the number of RAF raids peaks, with 62.
A crashed plane burns as Canadian troops advance on the Arras front:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...820825016979456
A British soldier poses with the bombs of a downed German Gotha bomber: © IWM (Q 11914):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...851021732470785
A platoon of Australian infantry in the morning mist:
https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...l-inf.jpg?ssl=1
Field Marshal Douglas Haig reviews Canadian troops near Drocourt and Quéant, France, where the Germans had set up a defensive line:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...570449730727937
Troops of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers advance in Flanders: © IWM (Q 7022):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...881222789054464
Eastern Front
Germany: During September 3 German divisions and Austrian 106th Division leave for Western Front.
Urals: In September Future Soviet Marshal V K Bliukher leads the 10,000-strong South Urals Partisan Army, having marched 1,500 km in 40 days of continuous fighting to attack the White forces from the rear. Becomes the first Order of the Red Banner winner (instituted September 16).
South Russia: By now White Volunteer Army 35,000-40,000 strong (Lieutenant-General Wrangel joins from Crimea on September 7).
Russia: In September Aviadarm formed with 315 planes (mainly Anglo-French made) to support Red Army.
Southern Front
Italian soldiers in the trenches along the Piave River:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...552826892734465
Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater
Georgia: Turks begin attack on Baku.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Siberia: By now White Siberian Army has 38,000 men and 70 guns.
Naval and Overseas Operations
USA: Shipping Board has 331 Allied and neutral ships on charter worth 1,084,986t.
Mediterranean: Only 8 of 979 ships sailed in convoy lost (during September).
Allied Otranto Barrage Force: 280 ships including 31 destroyers; 8 submarines; 10 sloops and torpedo boats; 36 US subchasers; 153 trawlers.
Eastern Atlantic: 3 US battleships stationed at Berehaven (Southwest Ireland) to cover Atlantic convoys from surface attack, sail for that purpose in October.