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Events

17 June 1917

By June 17, 2017No Comments

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