Western Front
Second Battle of Passchendaele phase of the
Third Battle of Ypres: Canadian troops, suffering 2,321 casualties, advance 600 yards around Passchendaele in heavy mud:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...050953660846080
Wounded Canadian and captured German soldiers receive hot coffee and cookies just a few thousand yards behind the frontlines:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...066058872119296
Total of 700 Mark IV tanks delivered to BEF by end October. BEF October monthly loss of 119,808 soldiers second worst of 1917. Haig inspects 23rd Division, about to leave for Italy.
Airplane raid on Kent and Dover: no damage. Another raid at night on Kent, Essex and London; 10 killed, 22 injured. First German Gotha incendiary raid: 22 Gothas bomb (183 dropped in Kent), 10 reaching London (83 bombs) cause only 32 civilian casualties as 10lb incendiaries often fail to ignite. 50 defence sorties (2 crash landings) achieve 6 brief sightings; 5 Gotha bombers crash on return (night October 31 – November 1).
Eastern Front
German attempts at fraternisation met with artillery fire.
Southern Front
Isonzo: Twelfth Battle Of Isonzo, aka, the
Battle of Caporetto: 2nd and 3rd Italian Armies withdrawn behind River Tagliamento. Germans claim over 180,000 prisoners and 1,500 guns to date.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Baltic: Russian admirals declare ‘
the fate of Finland and the approaches to the capital depend primarily on the will of the enemy’; C-in-C Razvozov told on October 30, his post will be elective soon.
Atlantic, North Sea and Mediterranean: During October Allied and neutral shipping losses to U-boats, 159 ships (68 British with 293 lives) worth 448,923t. German figure 466,542t including 144,603t in Mediterranean. 99 homeward convoys have sailed since May. 1,502 steamers (10 lost in convoy); 6 U-boats lost – all to mines.
North Sea and Channel: 10,400 Royal Navy mines laid in Heligoland Bight and Dover Straits until 31 December.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Palestine: Third Battle of Gaza: The Battle of Beersheba. This battle was part of the British offensive known as the
Third Battle of Gaza aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line that stretched from Gaza to Beersheba. The battle is best known for the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade [note: which has nothing to do with the Tennyson poem, “The Charge o the Light Brigade”, which criticized the attack of the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars {Light Horse Brigade} at the Battle of Balaclava, during the Crimean War, over a half a century earlier] (see 27th and November 7th). British capture Beersheba, with 1,800 Turks and 9 guns, after 24-30 mile march, Another source explands on this: Captain Collins, 25th Welch Fusiliers, wins Victoria Cross for carrying wounded and bayoneted 15 Turks. Colonel Newcombe’s 70 British camelry cut Hebron-Jerusalem telegraph line in diversion. Allenby gains 1,947 PoWs, 15 guns and over 4 MGs for 1,348 casualties.
Australian and NZ troops of the Desert Mounted Corps advance at the opening of the Third Battle of Gaza:
https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...useel.jpg?ssl=1
Political, etc
United Kingdom: Mr. Balfour on the Balkans.
United States: U.S. government bans all Germans from working in New York ports due to the purported threat of sabotage and espionage.