4/1/17 Received a letter from Miss Dorothy Roberts. In the afternoon the weather turned very cold and chilly which probably signifies a frosty night. German aeroplanes owing to the clear atmosphere paid us a couple more visits in our direction during the late evening. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Other war news on this day in 1916: Southern Front Artillery duel in southern Tyrol. Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres General Aylmer moves from Ali Gherbi to relieve Kut. Naval and Overseas Operations White Paper on the Baralong case. Political, etc. Lord Derbys report on recruiting published. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet of Donadea, VC, KCB (5 April 1862 – 3 September 1935) Was an Anglo-Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. Fenton was 29 years old, and a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army and Bengal Sappers & Miners (British Indian Army), during the Hunza-Naga Campaign, India when he won the Victoria Cross in 1891 for the following deed: On 2 December 1891 during the assault on Nilt Fort, British India, Captain Aylmer, with the storming party, forced open the inner gate with gun-cotton which he had placed and ignited, and although severely wounded, fired 19 shots with his revolver, killing several of the enemy, and remained fighting until, fainting from loss of blood, he was carried out of action. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the siege of Kut in 1916. Having later been promoted to lieutenant general, Aylmer was put in charge of the first effort to end the siege of Kut. General Aylmer was in command of the Tigris Corps, consisting of the 7th (Meerut) Division, the 12th Indian Division, and a number of other smaller military units. All told he had more than 20,000 men. They left Basra in late December 1915 and arrived at Sheikh Saad in 3 January 1916. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, Kent, England. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pictures: 1: Lieutenant General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet of Donadea VC KCB, 2: The Meerut Division at Nahr al-Kalb (Dog river) in Lebanon
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 17:32:49 +0000
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