23 June 1917

• Day 1060 of the war
• Allied soldiers repulse German attacks near Vauxaillon and Filain on the Western Front
• The P&O passenger liner Mongolia strikes a mine and sinks in the Indian Ocean 80 kilometres off the coast of Bombay. Fourteen people drown.
• Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Zaimis resigns
• Ernst Seidler von Feuchtenegg is appointed Austrian Prime Minister

Ernst Seidler von Feuchtenegg, 1918. Image courtesy Bildarchiv Austria.

22 June 1917

• Annie and William Patteson of Lords Place receive letters from their sons George and William, who recently bumped into each other on the Western Front. William complains that the last shipment of mail from home was lost when the SS Mongolia was torpedoed:

This is very bad news for us, as the mail days are looked forward to with interest, more than anything else. We would sooner miss pay day than lose our mail.

• Edward Irwin writes home to his mother Nellie to tell her that:

A piece of shell took a liking to half one side of my nose, and took it straight off. It was the right side of my nose and top lip that got hit. It is nothing serious. About eight weeks in this hospital will do me the world of good.

• The Leader publishes the 312^th Casualty List
• The Orange branch of the Red Cross Society donates £100 to help soldiers at the front. From Orange for France
• French troops on the Western Front lose ground south-east of Filain and Germany launches a heavy attack on the Chemin des Dames front

21 June 1917

• French troops on the Western Front recover nearly all ground lost near Vauxaillon and advance near Mont Cornillet
• Allied forces repulse a German attack on the Teton in Champagne
• Sailors of the Black Sea Fleet stationed at Sevastopol Naval Base mutiny. They claim that naval officers are planning a counter-revolution and demand that they be disarmed.

20 June 1917

Soldiers breaking a hole in the ice to get water for cooking purposes, Western Front, early 1917. Image courtesy Imperial War Museum © IWM (Q 4860).

• Orange farmer, James Howard Reynolds, complains about the bitter European winter. He exclaims:

I didn’t think it was as cold at the North Pole as it is in Flanders… the food used to be frozen. We had to break it with our bayonets, and it crackled when we chewed it. We had to breathe on the jam before eating it; even then it made our teeth ache. I had an onion one day, and, being such a watery thing, it was a block of ice. I had to break it with a stone before I could do anything with it. We had to sit on our water bottles, or we should have had nothing to drink.

• Norman Edgar Thompson of Stuart Town writes from the Western Front:

I am not having as bad a time at the front as you would think. We are in the trenches a good deal, and we are advancing at a good pace, so that makes it better for us; it breaks the monotony… I am lucky to get paper to write to you, as we are advancing so fast that it is impossible for the transports to get supplies to us.

• The Leader publishes the 311^th Casualty List
• Allied forces repulse German attacks on Souchez river on the Western Front
• British troops recover lost ground on Infantry Hill
• German soldiers attack and gain territory near Vauxaillon at Chemin des Dames

19 June 1917

• King George V decrees that members of his family with a German surname are to adopt a British one. Those bearing the surname Teck adopt the surname Cambridge; those named Battenberg become Mountbatten.
• British troops on the Western Front advance at Arras
• Italian troops on the Southern Front continue their offensive on the Asiago plateau, gaining ground on Mount Ortigara
• General Sir Arthur William Currie is appointed commander of Canadian troops in France

General Sir Arthur William Currie, Commander of Canadian troops in France, June 1917. Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada.

18 June 1917

• Day 1055 of the war
• Orange train driver, Christopher Parsons, sends news from Bordon Training Camp in England. Personal
• Members of the Orange Rifle Club organise a patriotic match at Wellington. Each entrant is to pay a 5/ entrance fee which will be donated to the Battalion Comforts Fund. Patriotic Rifle Match
• British troops on the Western Front lose ground on Infantry Hill
• French forces advance between Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond in Champagne
• Austrian Prime Minister, Count Heinrich Clam-Martinitz, resigns

17 June 1917

Wreckage of German Navy zeppelin L-48, Harwich, 17 June 1917. Image in public domain.

• In the early hours of the morning two German Navy zeppelins raid London and southern England. L-42 bombs Ramsgate, igniting a munitions dump and destroying the naval base. Three civilians and two Royal Navy personnel are killed; 14 civilians are injured. The L-42 escapes and returns to Germany. L-48 bombs open countryside outside Harwich before being shot down by Lieutenant LP Watkins, a Canadian Army officer attached to No 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. 14 of the 17 men on board are killed, another is fatally injured. Among the dead is Viktor Schütze, the deputy commander of the German Naval Airship Service.
• The Corpo Expedicionario Portugues (CEP) [Portuguese Expeditionary Corps] sees their first action on the Western Front. 50,000 Portuguese soldiers would serve in WWI; 7,000 of whom would die in battle. The Forgotten Ally – Portugal in WWI
• German troops capture French trenches on the Western Front near Hurtebise
• Allied forces repulse Austrian attacks on Asiago Plateau and Vodice near Trentino

16 June 1917

The Petrograd Soviet Assembly meeting, 1917. Image in public domain.

• The First All-Russian Congress of Soviet Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies opens in Petrograd. 1,090 predominantly pro-government delegates attend the congress which continues until 7 July. The Congress votes 543 to 126 to support the Provisional Government.

15 June 1917

• The Leader suggests that an avenue of trees be planted at the entrance of Orange to commemorate the district’s war dead. Remembrance Avenue
• Mrs Helena Irwin unveils a polished oak tablet on which are inscribed the names of Orange High School teachers and former pupils who have enlisted. Three of Mrs Irwin’s sons have volunteered for service; only two would return. Roll of Honour Unveiled at Orange High School
• Norbert Ambrose Gahan returns to Orange following nine months’ overseas service. He says that if he is no longer fit for active service he intends to work in an English munitions factory. Home Again
• The Leader publishes The 309th Casualty List, which includes William Arthur Neal, killed in action in the Second Battle of Bullecourt
• Residents of Millthorpe mourn the district’s latest war casualties. Our Local Soldiers

14 June 1917

Portrait of King Constantine I of Greece, Philip de László, April 1914. Image in public domain.

• The Battle of Messines ends on the Western Front; nine men from the Orange district have died during the week-long conflict
• An H12 Flying Boat from the Royal Naval Air Station at Felixstowe shoots down the German zeppelin L-43 over the North Sea
• King Constantine of Greece abdicates. The King and his queen, Sophie of Prussia, leave Greece for exile in neutral Switzerland. King Constantine is succeeded by his second-born son, Alexander, a supporter of the decidedly pro-Allied Eleftherios Venizelos. The King proclaims:

Yielding to necessity, accomplishing my duty towards Greece, and having in view only the interests of the country, I am leaving my dear country with the Crown Prince, leaving my son Alexander on the throne.

Still, when far from Greece, the queen and I will always preserve the same love for the Hellenic people. I beg all to accept my decision calmly and quietly, trusting in God, whose protection I invoke for the nation.

In order that my bitter sacrifice for my country may not be in vain, I exhort you, for the love of God, for the love of our country, if you love me, to maintain perfect order and quiet discipline, the slightest lapse from which, even though well-intentioned, might be enough to cause a great catastrophe.

The love and devotion which you have always manifested for the queen and myself, in days of happiness and sorrow alike, are a great consolation to us at the present, time. May God protect Greece.