Diary October 31, 1918

Italian soldiers occupy an abandoned Austro-Hungarian position
Italian soldiers occupy an abandoned Austro-Hungarian position.
World War One Diary for Thursday, October 31, 1918:

Southern Fronts

Piave: Italian Fourth and Sixth Armies occupy empty Austrian Grappa and Asiago lines, by 1700 hours 2 Alpini battalions clear Feltre. British and Italians reach river Livenza. British recapture Sacile.
Albania: Italians and Serbs capture Scutari.
Bulgaria: 2 British and 1 French division on river Maritsa close to Turk frontier.

Western Front

France: In October ALLIES have CAPTURED 108,343 POWS and 2,064 GUNS. Since August 1 BEF has taken 172,659 PoWs; 2,378 guns; 17,000 MGs; 2,750 mortars and suffered 358,149 casualties (121,046 in October). Foch tells Supreme War Council: ‘… since July 18 we have forced the enemy to retreat. We have attacked him along 400 kilometres and we are continuing to do so … we can continue it if the foe desires it right up to their complete defeat …’.
Germany: Kaiser leaves Berlin (for last time) by train for OHL at Spa.
Flanders: British Second Army success at Tieghem takes 1,000 PoWs as it reaches river Scheldt. Allies have taken 19,000 PoWs and advanced 31 miles since October 14.

Middle East

TURKEY: HOSTILITIES CEASE NOON LOCAL TIME. Liman hands over to Kemal at Adana, repatriation of 10,000 Germans begins.
Mesopotamia: Only 3,280 Turks with 44 guns estimated in Mosul or en route. General Lewin occupies Altun Kopri on Little Zab.
South Persia: 600 British troops (35 casualties), 4 guns and 2 MGs take Lardeh village and 30 PoWs (until November 1).

Sea War

Austria: Fleet at Pola transferred to Southern Slav National Council in Agram. Non S-Slavs free to go home, ships fully illuminated for first time, Admiral Horthy makes farewell signal, relinquishes command at c.1645 hours.
Allied and neutral shipping October losses to U-boats: 52 ships (23 British with 318 lives) worth 112,427t (British total all causes 25 ships worth 59,229t); U-boat figure 73 ships worth 116,237t. Lowest monthly tonnage score since July 1916; 5 U­-boats sunk.

Air War

Germany: 9 bombs from No 55 squadron DHs cause 86 casualties at Bonn.
Western Front: In October record of 5,360,000 leaflets dropped by Allied balloons; AEF reports 80% German PoWs with one by October 15, BEF say 12% of theirs. RAF losses 164 aircraft, French 46.

Politics

Austria: REVOLUTIONS IN VIENNA AND BUDAPEST; Red Guards murder Count Tisza in latter. Polish troops occupy Cracow. Slovenes in Laibach National Assembly proclaim independ­ence.

Home Fronts

Britain: In October over 10,000 ships reported as repaired since June 1917. Shipbuilding up nearly 50% over 1917, little change in jobs or days lost.
Hungary: Emperor Charles appoints Count Karolyi new Prime Minister.
Austria: Death of Egon Schiele, Expressionist painter and soldier, aged 28 from flu at Vienna. 700,000 PoWs have returned from Russia since March 3.

Oval@3x 2

Don’t miss the newest posts on Sunday!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

for sharing:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top