Western Front
Kaiserschlacht: Battle of the Matz, also known as the
First Battle of Lassigny, or the German
Operation Gneisenau begins (see 14th). A midnight barrage is pre-empted by the French by 10-minutes thanks to deserter intelligence. Germans fire 750,000 rounds (15,000t) mustard gas, phosgene and diphenylchlorarsine: 3,918 gassed (32 deaths) until June 15. Hutier attacks with 11 divisions from 0300 hours, advances 6 miles, takes 8,000 PoWs, mauls 3 divisions and continues at night. Germans enter Thiescourt Wood (south-west of Noyon) and Ressons-sur-Matz; are checked on line Mortemer-Cuvilly.
A German 21-cm (8in) howitzer is readied for action during
Operation Gneisenau:
https://i0.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...ereit.jpg?ssl=1
RAF 9th Brigade with c.200 aircraft and French 1st Air Division with 600 aircraft (forerunner of 1939-45 tactical air forces) intervene in Noyon-Montdidier ground battle. Germans claim 38 Allied aircraft for loss of 5.
France: Clemenceau sacks Generals Duchene, (Degoutte replaces him in command of Sixth Army on June 10), Maud’huy and
Chretien (corps commanders) for Aisne failure.
Battle of Belleau Wood: On 9 June, an enormous American and French barrage devastated Belleau Wood, turning the formerly attractive hunting preserve into a jungle of shattered trees. The Germans counter-fired into Lucy and Bouresches and reorganized their defenses inside Belleau Wood.
British soldiers fishing in the canals of Watten, France: © IWM (Q 8896):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...453239788109824
Wounded horses of the British Army being led on barges for treatment at a veterinary hospital. Saint-Omer, France: © IWM (Q 8908):
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...483439389372419
Southern Front
Albania: French Annamites (Vietnamese) and Albanian Tirailleurs take Austrian-held Mt Kamia (7,054 ft) and 2 villages (night June 8-9) southwest of Lake Ochrid in 5-6-mile advance on 20-mile front (June 8-14), taking 400 PoWs and 10 guns for 50 casualties.
Salonika: General Guillaumat (recalled on June 6 by Clemenceau without consulting Allies) leaves in haste and secrecy for Paris.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Mediterranean: Commander Rizzo in the Italian coastal torpedo boat
MAS-15 torpedoes Austrian battleship
Szent Istvan off Premuda Island, Dalmatia.
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...728797071757312 The battleship sinks the next day, with the loss of 89 crew. It is the only battleship filmed sinking in WWI:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe... .ogv.480p.webm
Political, etc
Russia: Anna Dostoevskaya, Russian writer and 2nd wife to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, passed away:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...392832465637378
United States: Speech of President Woodrow Wilson to Mexican Mission.
Two passenger trains collide near Nashville, Tennessee, resulting in 101 deaths and 171 injuries. It is the worst rail accident in U.S. history:
https://twitter.com/CenturyAgoToday...423033719324672