27 January – conscription introduced by the
Military Service Act;[1] applies to unmarried men aged 18–41 from 2 March and to married men in the same age bracket from April/May; it does not extend to Ireland.
1 February – night-long German
Zeppelin raid on the
West Midlands of England, claiming at least 35 lives;
Tipton suffers the heaviest losses, with 14 fatalities.[2]
28 March – severe
blizzard across the east midlands.[4]
1/2–5/6 April – nightly German Navy airship raids on England.
2 April – munitions factory explosion at
Uplees near
Faversham, Kent, kills 108 men.[5]
7 April –
Garrick Theatre fire, Hereford: 8 young girls appearing in an amateur benefit evening performance for soldiers are killed when their costumes catch fire.[6][7]
2 May – eight German Zeppelins raid the east coast of England.
16 May – the UK and
France conclude the secret
Sykes–Picot Agreement, which is to divide Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire, following the conclusion of the war, into French and British
spheres of influence.
1 July–18 November –
Battle of the Somme: More than one
million soldiers die; with 57,470
British Empire casualties on the
first day, 19,240 of them killed, the British Army's bloodiest day;[11] the
Accrington Pals battalion is effectively wiped out in the first few minutes. The immediate result is tactically inconclusive.
25 July – North of Scotland Special Military Area declared, restricting access by non-residents to everywhere north of the
Great Glen.[12] Other areas so designated this year are the
Isle of Sheppey (7 September),
Newhaven (22 September),
Harwich (27 September),
Dover (6 October) and
Spurn.
27 July – English civilian ferry captain
Charles Fryatt is executed at
Bruges after a German
court-martial condemns him for attempting to ram a
U-boat in 1915.
3 August – the
musical comedyChu Chin Chow, written, produced, directed and starring
Oscar Asche, with music by
Frederic Norton, premières at
His Majesty's Theatre in
London. It will run for five years and a total of 2,238 performances (more than twice as many as any previous musical), a record that will stand for nearly forty years.
10 August – the official documentary propaganda film The Battle of the Somme is premièred in London. In the first six weeks of general release (from 20 August) 20 million people view it.
21–24 August –
Low Moor Explosion: A series of explosions at a munitions factory in
Bradford kills 40 people and injures over 100.[14]
15–22 September –
Battle of Flers–Courcelette in France: British advance. The battle is significant for the first use of the
tank in warfare. The Prime Minister's son,
Raymond Asquith, is killed in action.
24 September – following a bombing raid on east London, German
Zeppelin LZ76 carrying military number L 33 makes a forced landing at
Little Wigborough in Essex; its crew are the only armed enemy personnel to set foot in England during the War.[15]
^Jenkins, David (2002). A Refuge in Peace and War: The National Library of Wales to 1952. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales. p. 168.
ISBN1-86225-034-0.
27 January – conscription introduced by the
Military Service Act;[1] applies to unmarried men aged 18–41 from 2 March and to married men in the same age bracket from April/May; it does not extend to Ireland.
1 February – night-long German
Zeppelin raid on the
West Midlands of England, claiming at least 35 lives;
Tipton suffers the heaviest losses, with 14 fatalities.[2]
28 March – severe
blizzard across the east midlands.[4]
1/2–5/6 April – nightly German Navy airship raids on England.
2 April – munitions factory explosion at
Uplees near
Faversham, Kent, kills 108 men.[5]
7 April –
Garrick Theatre fire, Hereford: 8 young girls appearing in an amateur benefit evening performance for soldiers are killed when their costumes catch fire.[6][7]
2 May – eight German Zeppelins raid the east coast of England.
16 May – the UK and
France conclude the secret
Sykes–Picot Agreement, which is to divide Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire, following the conclusion of the war, into French and British
spheres of influence.
1 July–18 November –
Battle of the Somme: More than one
million soldiers die; with 57,470
British Empire casualties on the
first day, 19,240 of them killed, the British Army's bloodiest day;[11] the
Accrington Pals battalion is effectively wiped out in the first few minutes. The immediate result is tactically inconclusive.
25 July – North of Scotland Special Military Area declared, restricting access by non-residents to everywhere north of the
Great Glen.[12] Other areas so designated this year are the
Isle of Sheppey (7 September),
Newhaven (22 September),
Harwich (27 September),
Dover (6 October) and
Spurn.
27 July – English civilian ferry captain
Charles Fryatt is executed at
Bruges after a German
court-martial condemns him for attempting to ram a
U-boat in 1915.
3 August – the
musical comedyChu Chin Chow, written, produced, directed and starring
Oscar Asche, with music by
Frederic Norton, premières at
His Majesty's Theatre in
London. It will run for five years and a total of 2,238 performances (more than twice as many as any previous musical), a record that will stand for nearly forty years.
10 August – the official documentary propaganda film The Battle of the Somme is premièred in London. In the first six weeks of general release (from 20 August) 20 million people view it.
21–24 August –
Low Moor Explosion: A series of explosions at a munitions factory in
Bradford kills 40 people and injures over 100.[14]
15–22 September –
Battle of Flers–Courcelette in France: British advance. The battle is significant for the first use of the
tank in warfare. The Prime Minister's son,
Raymond Asquith, is killed in action.
24 September – following a bombing raid on east London, German
Zeppelin LZ76 carrying military number L 33 makes a forced landing at
Little Wigborough in Essex; its crew are the only armed enemy personnel to set foot in England during the War.[15]
^Jenkins, David (2002). A Refuge in Peace and War: The National Library of Wales to 1952. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales. p. 168.
ISBN1-86225-034-0.