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HMS King Edward VII sinking off Cape Wrath, Scotland, 6 January 1916. Image courtesy Burt, R. A. British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988.

HMS King Edward VII sinking off Cape Wrath, Scotland, 6 January 1916. Image courtesy Burt, R. A. British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988.

  • HMS King Edward VII strikes a mine in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Wrath, North Scotland.  The battleship sinks with the loss of just one of her 777 crew. Survivors are rescued by other Royal Navy vessels. At the time it was not clear that the vessel had struck a mine; it was later determined that it had struck a mine laid by the German raider SMS Moewe.
  • General Bland of the British Army commends the RAN Bridging Train for its tireless efforts before and during the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula. RANBT Lieutenant Commander, Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle, writes of his men:

“They were … bent on proving to the Royal Navy and the Army that they could overcome any difficulties”

  • On hearing of the impending evacuation of Helles, Joseph Murray of the Royal Naval Division writes:

I was extremely angry as I had for a long time cherished the hope that I would leave this inhospitable graveyard, defiant and with my head held high. I could not admit, even to myself, that we had been beaten after the sacrifice of so many men … to desert our fallen comrades and sneak away in the dark without a fight is a revolting thing and the thought of it nauseates me.