Western Front
West of Messines, Germans capture British advanced post in fog.
Petain Directive urges defence in depth (and on December 22) but not all generals comply.
British soldiers throwing snowballs near Hesdin, France: © IWM (Q 8343):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...206841974251522
Eastern Front
Don: Lavr Kornilov arrives at Novocherkask, is made “White” Russian C-in-C.
Southern Front
First Battle of the Piave (until December 30): Italians recapture part of M. Asolone.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Palestine: Battle of Jaffa (until December 22): XXI Corps’ 8,100 men and 88 guns surprise cross river Auja on December 21, take 259 PoWs and 5 MGs from 6,200 Turks with 60 guns. 6 Royal Navy ships and 36 Royal Flying Corps planes aid 52nd Division 5-mile coast advance to Arsuf on December 22, Jaffa put out of Turkish gun-range. 54th Division captures Bald Hill and two villages inland.
British field artillery prepares for combat in Palestine:
https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...ina-2.jpg?ssl=1
Political, etc
Austria-Hungary: Lower House adopts peace resolution.
Russia: Bolshevik Cheka [Всеросси́йская чрезвычайная коми́ссия по борьбе́ с контрреволюцией и саботажем, tr. Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya po bor'bye s kontrrevolyutsiyei i sabotazhem: "The All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage"] Secret Police founded under Felix Dzerzhinski to ‘fight counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs’.
Australia: Second referendum again defeats conscription 1,181,747 vs 1,015,159 votes; 1918 recruiting falls to c.2,500 per month.
Australia holds a referendum on whether to institute conscription. The “no” vote wins 53.79%. A “no” campaign poster:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...448418403475457
United States: (listed for yesterday): U.S Federal Food Administration set Wednesday as a “Wheat-less Day,” but it is largely a failure as it is not enforced, with bakeries and restaurants freely serving bread, pastries, and other wheat products.
Tentative German peace terms in Washington.
M.J. Cambon, adviser for U.S. affairs in Paris.