Belgium

#dailycolonist1915 #WWI - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

Drug runners, whalers, pirates, propaganda, protests, Zeppelin attacks, giant telescopes, darkest Africa, Hallowe'en haunted houses, murder and atrocities are just a few of the things I've picked out from October 1915.

#dailycolonist1915 - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

In a mere two days we have genocide, secret agents, conspiracy, awards from the king, real technology that reads like steampunk fiction and a new university.

#dailycolonist1915 - News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

The news this week continues to be dominated by the German gas attack at Ypres and the Canadian counter-attack that stopped the German advance, and by the on-going attack by British forces (mostly from Australia and New Zealand) on Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles near Gallipoli. The news from the Dardanelles is somewhat disturbing in its vagueness. Praise is heaped upon Canadians for holding the line at Ypres, but the cost becomes nauseatingly apparent as the week wears on... 

#dailycolonist1915 - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

[A lot of what happens, or is about to happen this week one hundred years ago has been in the news in the present. The first major gas attack by the Germans at Ypres, which distinguishes the Canadians involved, happens. On the 25th is the attack on Gallipoli that is remembered as ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand happens. Of course the results of the battle won't be in the paper until next week, but the build-up is ominous—it's very clear the Empire knew they were throwing the colonials in the meat-grinder. Also not in the paper is the start of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire. There is also a hint of the Arab Revolt that will eventually be led by T. E. Lawrence. A very interesting week...]

#dailycolonist1915 - News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today:

• How the various kings and emperors are planning to spend Christmas, [which]
• [debunks the myth of the spontaneous Christmas Truce of 1914]
• Some rather silly local news from Victoria, and
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyles conspiracy theory about the Komagata Maru.

#dailycolonist1914 - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today.

• A conference of kings.
• Canadians deployed,
• News from all fronts,
• News from Duncan and the Cowichan Valley,
• An insight in the persecutions of "enemy aliens", and
• Editorials and in-depth articles recapping the causes of the war and the predicament and valour of Belgium.
• ...plus some ads that I liked...

News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today:

• Big map of the Russian front centred around Warsaw on the first page.
• Germans are taxing flour sent from the United States as relief for Belgians, and
• in the same article, concern that starving Belgian civilians may attack German garrisons for food...
• A ship load of wheat will be sent to Belgium from Halifax, via Rotterdam.
• Two spies caught with British troops in Codford, England.
• Germans cut telegraph cables in the Baltic...
• Editorial speculating on the duration of the war. "The war will last until 1917."
• Belgians living abroad are asked to return to serve in the military. Travel costs will be paid by the Belgian military.
• Not actually news, but an ad. The Bank of Montreal prints their annual statement for 1914...
• The magazine section war technology page this week is on horse-drawn artillery [!!]
• Essay on "The Origin of Life" on the "Hour with the Editor" page...
• And finally, the usual excellent summary of the week's events in the children's section.

News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today:

• Italian ministers confer on Italy's position in the war, still no official stance.
• Portugal declares it will stand with France and Britain, if need be.
• Story in German newspaper taken by Swiss to be a warning not to interfere with German troops should they enter Switzerland, and Switzerland vows to to defend itself, if need be.
• A Vancouver man, originally from Wales, died of pneumonia in Canadian camp of Salisbury Plain and was buried in Wales.
• About 80 interned "prisoners of war" relocated from Fort Garry, MB to Brandon, MB.
• Prior reports of Germans helping with food relief for Belgium are refuted by American relief workers.
• Report compares current desperate plight of Belgians to conditions during religious wars of the 16th century.
• Amusing editorial on British slang terms
• [And a reminder that there were still blank spots on the map in 1914] ...

News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today:

• Heavy fighting on the Western Front reported...
• Fierce attack by crack Prussian troops breaks the Allied line at three points, but is eventually repulsed. 700 dead counted in one trench alone.
• German casualties at Yser estimated at 90,000...
• Four allied aeroplanes engage four German aeroplanes over Ypres. This is the largest aerial battle I've seen reported so far.
• Russian troops capture two German aviators, who were forced to land by engine trouble.
• Publication of detailed weather reports has been banned in France as the information is useful to the Germans. It is only allowed to report temperature predictions.
• And on the subject of weather, it has snowed in Calgary. This is inexplicably on the front page of a Victoria newspaper.
• Second Canadian expeditionary force now mobilizing. 15,272 men to be dispatched.
• Trans Indian Ocean cable station at the Cocos Island attacked by the German cruiser Emden...
• The Mexican civil war is back to open warfare.
• Ad illustrations that caught my eye....