Western Front
German airships raid the United Kingdom for the last time, when five Zeppelins of the German Navy are despatched to attack targets in the Midlands, but the raid is a failure. One airship, Zeppelin
L-70, captained by Kapitanleutnant Johann von Lossnitzer and carrying the commander of the German Naval Airship Division, Fregattenkapitan Peter Strasser, is attacked by two de Havilland D.H.4s from Yarmouth. It falls into the sea in flames, 8 miles from Wells-next-the-Sea, killing all of the crew. Subsequently, a de havilland D.H.4 flown by Major Egbert Cadbury and Captain Robert Leckie is credited with destroying
L-70. Royal Air Force aircraft also damage a second airship, the L-65 and the surviving airships drop their bombs into the sea and return to base. 35 defence sorties (2 lost) including USN Air Service F2A (Lieutenant E Lawrence, Ensign A Hawkins) from Killingholme south of Humber.
The newly completed X-class
L-70 was considered an outstanding airship and the final version of the ‘Super-Zeppelin’. It should climb to an altitude where it might be immune from interception and remaining in the air for several days:
https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...n-L70.jpg?ssl=1
There were altogether 51 airship raids against the British Isles during which bombs were dropped. There were also 8 attempted raids which either did not reach the coast, or which, for some other reason, failed in action. There were also 59 aeroplane attacks in which bombs were dropped (see July 20th), and 11 aeroplane reconnaissances. Total number of air raids in which bombs were dropped was 110.
France: 4th and final Paris Gun bombardment (66 shells until August 9). Allied advances at the 2nd Battle of the Marne slows as German troops strengthen their defenses on the Vesle River. However, Germany’s gains in its most recent offensive have been reversed, and German troops retreat at other points on the Western Front:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...012444416794624
A British 8-inch howitzer and its crew near Warloy, France:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...043901721890816
King George V landing at Calais to visit the front: © IWM (Q 9823):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...074100572336128
U.S. General Peyton C. March announces that over a million U.S. troops are now on the frontlines, taking over trenches previously manned by French troops.
Eastern Front
Volga: 2,500 Czechs and Whites land at Kazan but are driven back.
Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater
Azerbaijan: First Turkish attack on Baku repulsed by 8,000 defenders (620 casualties); 2 Duncars and 200 British troops reach city and help (2 more Duncars and 150 British soldiers land on August 7).
Georgia: Kress radios Berlin ‘I have hampered every shipment of munitions [for Turks] from Batumi via Tiflis up to the present’. US interception station, picks up and solves in 1 hours (another signal decoded on August 8).
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Siberia: 1,150 French colonial troops land at Vladivostok (arrive at front under shell fire August 11-12), Marines land on August 9.
Political, etc
Russia: Anglo-French nationals arrested in Moscow.
United Kingdom: Message of Mr. Lloyd George to British Empire to "Hold Fast".
United States: U.S.A. Man-power Bill introduced into Congress; military age from 18 to 45.
Hog’s I, Philadelphia, launches first pre-fabricated ship SS
Ouistconck and 7 completed by January 8, 1919, yard having been built from scratch since September 20, 1917 (16 ships launched).