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SMS Albatross beached, Gotland, Sweden, July 1915. Image in public domain.

SMS Albatross beached, Gotland, Sweden, July 1915. Image in public domain.

  • Russian and German naval squadrons clash in the Baltic Sea off Gotland. Two German cruisers are damaged and the minelayer SMS Albatross is driven ashore. 27 German sailors are killed and 49 wounded.
  • The British government forms the Ministry of Munitions and passes the Munitions of War Act. The Act empowers the government to take direct control over factories engaged in war production, to regulate wages, hours and employment conditions, and to suspend trade union practice for the duration of the war.
  • New South Wales Premier William Holman announces a recruitment campaign to target “slackers”. Recruiting campaign. Slackers to be marked
  • In an impassioned call for conscription Mr TW Higgins of Tamworth deems many able bodied men to be “loafers…skulking behind their womenfolk…God send conscription, if only to purge our town of such.” Skulking Behind Womenfolk