21st September 1918 On this day: Daily Activity   9th Btn. (North Irish Horse) the Royal Irish Fusiliers left Terdegem. The Battalion moved to Watou at 1916, route by Steenvorde. Arrived in billets at 2130. Joined the Battalion, 2nd Lieutenants Steele J.H, Inglis J.M, Duncan R.S, and Kernaghan J. War Diaries  Bathing and new clothes. Enemy artillery casualties Royal Engineer visits graves   The writer, a member of of 160 Field Coy RE visited the Royal Berkshire Graves, 700 to 800 graves in a Military Cemetery near Trones Wood and Delville Wood scene of savage fighting on the Somme. There was a horrific loss of life here. 23rd Field Coy RE near Vermand   23rd Field Coy RE are working near Vermand, 12 kilometres east of St Quentin. Three sappers from this company who all died on the 21st of September are buried at the Vermand Communal Cemetery. Turks in Retreat   Royal Air Force aeroplanes operating in support of General Allenby's campaign in Palestine attack and destroy the retreating Turkish 7th Army at Wadi el Far'a. T.E. Lawrence wrote of this attack:- "It was the RAF which had converted the Turkish retreat into a rout, which had abolished their telephone and telegraph connections, had blocked their lorry columns, scattered their infantry units". On the night of 20,21 September the Seventh Army began to evacuate Nablus. By this time it was the last formed Ottoman army west of the Jordan and although there was a chance that Lt Gen Philip Chetwode's XX Corps might cut off their retreat, its advance had been slowed by Ottoman rearguards. On 21 September, the Seventh Army was spotted by aircraft in a defile west of the river. The RAF proceeded to bomb the retreating army and destroyed the entire column. Waves of bombing and strafing aircraft passed over the column every three minutes and although the operation had been intended to last for five hours, the Seventh Army was routed in 60 minutes. The wreckage of the destroyed column stretched over 6 miles (9.7 km). British cavalry later found 87 guns, 55 motor-lorries, 4 motor-cars, 75 carts, 837 four-wheeled wagons, and scores of water-carts and field-kitchens destroyed or abandoned on the road. Many Ottoman soldiers were killed and the survivors were scattered and leaderless. Lawrence later wrote that: "the RAF lost four killed. The Turks lost a corps."  Attack Made  Reliefs Completed  Guns Into Action  Training Retreat    Bulgarian forces in full retreat from the Doiran - Vardar sector of the front in Macedonia. 16 Wing Photographic Section (RFC/RAF) in Salonika 1917-1919 © IWM (HU 97456)  Training  Artillery Moves  Inspection  Two aircraft lost  Battle of Megiddo  Bn HQ Shelled    Lt. H.V. Steele rejoined  Slight shelling near Battalion H.Q.  Some Shelling  Training during morning  Reliefs  C.O. attended a conference Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 21st of September 1918? There are:22 items tagged 21st of September 1918 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 21st of September 1918. Boy 2nd Class George Edward Astley. H.M.S. Powerful. Read their Story. L/Cpl. Percy Frank Baynham. 2/5th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers Pte. Frank Ernest Birch. MM 2nd Btn. Bedfordshire Regiment David Buchanan. 7th Battalion Border Regimet Pte Thomas Carr. 10th Battalion Essex Regiment L/Cpl. Daniel Davies. 74th Coy. Machine Gun Corps Read their Story. Gnr. John Thomas Lee. 22nd Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery Read their Story. Cpl. Allan Leonard Lewis. VC 6th Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. John Donaldson Milligan. 7th Btn. Royal Scots Pte. William Owen. 7th (Lothian) Btn. Royal Scots Pte. John Wilfred Ramsey. 10th Battalion West Yorks Regiment Pte. James William Santon. 6th Battalion Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) Read their Story. Cpl. William Stephenson. 13th Reinforcement Coy. Royal Engineers Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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