14th September 1914

On this day:

On the March

Shrapnel bursting around Hospital.

Casualties for Scots Guards   The war diary of the 1st Scots Guards for this date states 'The Battalion moved at 5.30am via Moulins and Vendresse to a hill between that place and Troyon - 2 companies in Brigade reserve and 2 companies sent as artillery escort to Tour de Passy'. The casualties for this day is recorded as 3 officers and 16 men killed, 3 officers and 86 men wounded and 12 missing.

4th Yorks join Division   4th Yorks leave Hummersknott Park, Darlington and move to Newcastle to join with the other battalions of the Northumbrian Division for further training.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bandl.danby/003aBn1914.html

21st Division at Halton Park   At the outbreak of war, Halton Park in Buckinghamshire was offered to the War Office by Alfred de Rothschild for use as a training camp. The first division to arrive was the 21st Yorkshire Division comprising; 8th East Yorkshire, 10th Green Howards, 14th Northumberland Fusiliers, 8th Lincolns, 12th West Yorkshire, 10th York & Lancaster and 9th and 10th KOYLI. They had their Divisional HQ at Aston Clinton House. Halton House was lent to the RFC who also trained in the grounds.

Sheffield City Battalion hold first parade   The first parade of the newly formed Sheffield City Battalion is held at Norfolk Barracks, Edmond Road, the Drill Hall of the West Riding Territorial Force. The men were organised into Companies, platoons and sections. They were inspected by their CO Col Hughes and the Lord Mayor then listened to speeches from the gallery by the Lord Mayor, Mr Fisher of the University and Col Hughes who declared them a wonderful looking crowd. The men were dismissed to return to their own homes or lodgings for the night as there was no accommodation available for the new battalion en-mass.
Sheffield City Battalion - Ralph Gibson & Paul Oldfield

Battle of Trindade 1914   The Battle of Trindade was a single-ship action fought during the First World War on 14 September 1914 off the coast of the Brazilian island of Trindade.
Battle
The German auxiliary cruiser Cap Trafalgar was steaming in South American waters on her commerce raiding mission when she came across several German colliers, trapped in the region by the Allied navies in the Western approaches. Cap Trafalgar, in need of supplies, was led to the Trindade and Martim Vaz islands where the Germans had established a small, hidden supply base. Cap Trafalgar arrived at the base on September 14, giving away her position early that morning by smoke from her steam engines. The British auxiliary cruiser Carmania, a former ocean liner which was designed to fight merchant vessels and small enemy warships, noticed the smoke and moved to engage. Coincidentally, the Cap Trafalgar, also intended for use against enemy merchant fleets, had been altered to resemble the Carmania. Some accounts wrongly claimed that both ships were disguised as each other. Carmania moved into Trindade's only sheltered anchorage, surprising Cap Trafalgar and two enemy colliers. Both the British and German commanders believed that in order to obtain a decisive victory, they would need more space to manoeuver their ships. They steamed several miles into open sea before turning into each other and commencing hostilities. Carmania fired the first shots, which fell short, thus allowing Cap Trafalgar to give out the first hit. For some ninety minutes the two ships fought a gunnery duel. They also used machine guns to target each other's crew. At first the German fire was more effective. Eventually, as the two ships closed to within a few hundred yards of each other, British shots became more accurate and fires began to spread aboard the German raider. Carmania received most of the hits during the fight, 73 hits in total. Her bridge was completely destroyed and she had taken hits below the waterline. However, just when things began to look dire for the British, the Cap Trafalgar turned away and began lowering life rafts, having been holed below the waterline and taking on water. She soon sank. The German colliers were able to rescue 279 German sailors from the sea and rafts. Between 16 and 51 of the crew are cited by different sources as killed in action or drowned. Carmania's crew suffered 9 dead, several wounded and the ship was severely damaged.
Aftermath
After receiving Cap Trafalgar's distress call, the SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm arrived near the battle scene. Fearing a British attack, assuming the Cap Trafalgar had already been sunk and not knowing the poor condition of Carmania, she turned around and steamed away. The day after the battle, Carmania was rescued and escorted to the port of Pernambuco. The surviving Germans were dropped off by the colliers in Montevideo
John Doran

Setback in action    E Battery 3rd Brigade RHA Started at 0500 and after a long wait at the Chateau ready to cross the river at Vailly, had to fall back under very heavy shell fire from big howitzers, could only move up the big spur crest of Chassemy. By great good fortune only one horse was killed while all around us on top of spur III Divisional Artillery were having a bad time this fire coming from behind Condefort. Went into bivouac at Lime at 1900.
War Diary

Ongoing Action

Ongoing actions

Bravery on the River

Under Shellfire

In Action

On the March

Course

Further Advance

Advance

In Action

Shelling

On the Move

Orders

Training

Recruitment

Construction

Broken Bridges

A Wounded Soldiers Experiences

Advance continues

On the Move

Under Fire

Recruiting

Reorganisation

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The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War - Day by Day

14th September 1914

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day.

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Remembering those who died this day, 14th of September 1914.