Western Front
Western Front, Air: Clashes over front line as German two-seaters strafe British lines. Jasta 11 combined with 2 , 3 and 33 into Jagdgruppe 1 of 20 single-seaters which Royal Flying Corps dub ‘Richthofen’s Circus’ (renamed Jagdgeschwader 1 on July 24). Richthofen goes on leave on May 1 after 21 victories during April.
Royal Flying Corps April losses 316 aircrew and 151 planes (88 to Jasta 11) of which 82 to only 5 German pilots; total German 119 aircrew and 66 aircraft.
German April victories: Kurt Wolff 21; Karl Wolff and Lothar von Richthofen 15 each; Otto Bernert 11; Sebastian Festner 10.
Air combat between British and German fighters over the Western Front:
https://i2.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...Flugz.jpg?ssl=1
Damage at Zierikzee (Holland) by unknown airplane. (note: literally unknown to this day. It could have been an off-course Allied plane, or an off-course German plane).
Britain: Royal Navy airship
SL 9 destroyed in storm.
British troops advancing forward near Arras. © IWM (Q 2105):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...7988865/photo/1
The ruined railway station of Arras covered by weeds and grass. © IWM (Q 7781):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...0171009/photo/1
British military band playing in the ruined town square of Arras. © IWM (Q 6407):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...1449984/photo/1
Naval and Overseas Operations
ALLIED AND NEUTRAL APRIL SHIPPING LOSSES WORST MONTH OF BOTH WORLD WARS: 873,754t (373 ships). German U-boat history figure 860,334t of which 278,038t (23,037 to Austrians) in Mediterranean; another 113,000t shipping damaged.
Projected since April 17, 50% risk of destruction to homeward bound ships 2 in 11, annual loss rate, one in 4 ships leaving Britain being sunk. Only 1 U-boat lost. British minesweepers suffer almost 1 lost per day. U-boats have attacked 781 ships since February 1: 526 sunk, 37 damaged for loss of 10 U-boats (record of 802 t per U-boat day in Mediterranean), 13 new U-boats commissioned. Lloyd George visits Admiralty and reinforces convoy decision. [ed note: Lloyd George made much of this visit, insisting that he personally ‘forced’ the navy to adopt the convoy system. In reality, the decision to institute it had already been taken, and the assertion here, that he ‘reinforced’ the decision is far more accurate].
North Sea: During April Royal Navy orders 136 Nash Fish towed hydrophones after successful trials. In use with 54 patrol vessel as of 1918 as U-boat encounters.
HMS
Tulip, a British Q-ship, is sunk by the German submarine SM
U-62, resulting in the deaths of 102 crew.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Armenia: Mush occupied by Turkish forces (see August 24th, 1916).
Mesopotamia: During April Royal Flying Corps fly record 335 hours.
Battle of Band-i-Adhaim: Marshall’s 5,200 men (692 casualties) and 64 guns vs 6,270 Turks (565 casualties including 365 PoWs) and 39 guns (1 lost). British storm Turkish second line and beyond but lose gains to 6 vs 1 counter-attack in dust storm.
Political, etc
United Kingdom: Jockey Club stops racing after 4 May.
Belgium: Spanish and Dutch individuals take over relief efforts in German-occupied Belgium and France from U.S. representatives.
United States: Suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt demand equal pay if women take over men’s jobs after they are sent to the front.
Six U.S. Red Cross base hospitals are ordered to go to Europe to treat wounded Allied soldiers.
Poland: Polish scheme for Galicia published. [note: said ‘scheme’ involved the forcible removal of Galicia from Austria-Hungary, and adding it to the Polish state. Today, Galicia is split among Poland, the Slovakian Republic, Hungary, and possibly the Ukraine.]