Panoramic view of the ruined village of Serre-Les-Puisieux on the Ancre, occupied by the British, 25 February 1917, Ernest Brooks. Image courtesy Imperial War Museum © IWM (Q 1909).
- German forces on the Western Front retreat from front line positions on the Ancre as part of the withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line
- British troops extend their advance along a 17.5 kilometre front from south of Gomemcourt to east of Gueudecourt
- German submarine SM U-50 fires two torpedoes at the British passenger vessel SS Laconia off the coast of Fastnet in the Atlantic. The Laconia is returning to England from the US with 75 passengers and 217 crew aboard. The vessel sinks; six crew and six passengers are killed, including an American mother – Mary Hoy – and her daughter Elizabeth, from Chicago. The death of the Hoys stirs up public opinion in America and raises public support for the United States entering the war. President Woodrow Wilson considers the attack an “overt act“. The Sinking of the Laconia
- German destroyers bombard Margate and Broadstairs on English Kent coast. Three people are killed and one is wounded
