The following events occurred in March 1918:
March 1, 1918 (Friday) Soviet–Ukrainian War – Ukrainian military commander Symon Petliura, with support from the Central Powers, pushed Russian Soviet forces out of Kiev.Orest Subtelny. Ukraine a History. University of Toronto Press, 1988. Former president Rodrigues Alves received nearly the entire electoral vote - 99.1% - during the general election in Brazil.Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p. 173 Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser was sunk by German submarine off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 49 lives. German submarine went missing after departing for patrol in the English Channel. It was believed it had struck a mine and sank with all 29 crew. The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 130, No. 131, No. 132, No. 133, No. 134, No. 135, and No. 143. Air force base March Field was established in Riverside County, California. The Uruguayan Athletics Federation, later renamed the Uruguayan Athletics Confederation, was established as the official governing body of all sports in Uruguay. The fraternity Phi Mu Delta was established at the University of Connecticut. Veiveriai Teachers' Seminary graduated its last class before closing in Veiveriai, Congress Poland (now part of Lithuania). Born: Roger Delgado, British actor, best known for the role of The Master in Doctor Who; full name Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto, in London, England (d. 1973) Duncan White, Ceylonese runner, silver medalist in the 1948 Summer Olympics, first athlete from Ceylon to win an Olympic medal; in Kalutara, British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) (d. 1998) Died: Harlan Carey Brewster, 47, Canadian politician, 18th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1870) Charles Mackarness, English clergy, Archdeacon of the East Riding for the Church of England from 1898 to 1916 (b. 1850) Jacob H. Smith, 67, American army officer, controversial commander of American forces during the Philippine–American War (b. 1840)
March 2, 1918 (Saturday)
Operation Faustschlag – The Central Powers captured Kiev during the "Operation Fist Punch". Royal Navy submarine was mistaken for a German U-boat and rammed by another British ship, killing all 26 crew. The Australian Army established the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Machine Gun Battalions to support the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Australian Divisions respectively. Irish revolutionary leader Ernest Blythe was arrested in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland for non-compliance with a military rule directing him to reside in Ulster.Neill, T. (1979) Ernest Blythe: The Man from Magheragall. [Electronic Version] Lisburn Historical Society, 2 (4) Died: Prince Mirko, 38, Montenegrin noble, son of Nicholas I of Montenegro (b. 1879)
March 3, 1918 (Sunday) The Central Powers and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending Operation Faustschlag and Russia's involvement in World War I. Hipólito Yrigoyen retained his seat as President of Argentina after his party, the Radical Civic Union, won majority of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies during the legislative election in Argentina (where voter turnout was 54 percent).Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas : a data handbook. Oxford University Press, 2005. The Royal Flying Corps established air squadron No. 149. Kaiser Wilhelm established the Wound Badge for all soldiers of the Imperial German Army who were wounded during military service. Born: Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research into DNA; in New York City, United States (d. 2007) Peter O'Sullevan, Irish radio broadcaster, leading horse race commentator for BBC during the Grand National race series; in Newcastle, County Down, Ireland (d. 2015) Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian, gold medalist at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, two-time bronze medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics; in Weddinghusen, German Empire (present-day Germany) (d. 2000) San Yu, Burmese state leader, 5th President of Burma; in Prome, British India (present-day Pyay, Myanmar) (d. 1996)
March 4, 1918 (Monday)
American collier ship disappeared with all 306 crew and passengers on-board after departing from Barbados for Baltimore following an unscheduled stop for repairs. The cargo ship went missing in the Bermuda Triangle, a sea region notorious for unexplained disappearances, although the United States Navy speculated the ship may have had experienced structural failure and foundered en route. Along with her cargo of of manganese ore that would have been used to manufacture munitions, the ship was the single biggest non-combative loss of life and cargo in American naval history. The Airco Amiens bomber was first flown.Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918–57, 1st edition. London: Putnam, 1957. p. 146 Born: Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player, number one world tennis champion in 1947, record-holder of 25 Grand Slam titles at the US Open; as Margaret Evelyn Osborne, in Joseph, Oregon, United States (d. 2012) Alfred Judson Force Moody, American army officer, member of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II, three-time recipient of the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and seven Air Medals; in New Haven, Connecticut, United States (d. 1967)
March 5, 1918 (Tuesday) Nearly the entire Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy arrived safely in Helsinki following their strategic retreat from Tallinn, Estonia. Invasion of Åland – A German naval unit landed on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea in an attempt to secure strategic naval staging areas for Operation Faustschlag ("Operation Fist Punch") before islands fell under Swedish control. The unit captured 1,200 Russian troops while Sweden interned another 250 Ukrainian, Russian and Estonian soldiers on the islands it controlled. Born: James Tobin, American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to Keynesian economics; in Champaign, Illinois, United States (d. 2002)
March 6, 1918 (Wednesday)
The House of Commons of the United Kingdom paid tributes to Irish Nationalist leader John Redmond, who died in London from heart failure.The Times, 8 March 1918: The Queen Mother's message to Mrs. Redmond: "Pray accept my most heartfelt sympathy in your great sorrow and irreparable loss, which we all share for our Irish leader". Redmond had summoned a Jesuit priest before he died, saying "Father, I am a broken-hearted man." John Dillon succeeded him as leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. John Oliver became the 19th Premier of British Columbia following the death of Harlan Carey Brewster. The Finnish Army Corps of Aviation was established as a forerunner to the Finnish Air Force, with the first plane donated by Swedish explorer and aviator Eric von Rosen. The first pilotless drone, the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, was developed and test-flown by aviation engineers Elmer Ambrose Sperry and Peter Cooper Hewitt, in Long Island, New York. However, the model was scrapped in 1925 after its guidance system proved unreliable.
March 7, 1918 (Thursday) Finland formed an alliance with Germany, based on its support of the White Guards during the Finnish Civil War. Five German Riesenflugzeug bombers raided England, with one of them dropping a 1,000-kg (2,205-lb) bomb on Warrington Crescent near London Paddington station. Lena Guilbert Ford, lyricist of the popular wartime song "Keep the Home Fires Burning", and her 30-year-old son Walter were killed in the bombing, becoming the first U.S. citizens to be killed in a German bombing raid.Fredette, Raymond H., The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain 1917–1918, New York: Harvest, 1976, , pp. 192-193. The Argentine women's magazine Atlántida had a successful debut with a circulation of 45,000. The Vanderbilt Theatre, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa, opened at 148 West 48th Street in Manhattan, New York City."Vanderbilt Theatre (Built: 1918 Demolished: 1954 Closed: 1954)" Internet Broadway Database (Retrieved on February 22, 2008) Died: Clopton Lloyd-Jones, 59, English football player and cricketer, member of the Clapham Rovers and 1880 FA Cup champion (b. 1858)
March 8, 1918 (Friday)
Battle of Tell 'Asur – The Egyptian Expeditionary Force crossed the Judaean Mountains at night to the edge of the Jordan Valley in Palestine as it started to push north against the front line defenses of the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies. Battle of Bakhmach – The Czechoslovak Legion clashed with German forces at Bakhmach, Ukraine in one of the last major battles on the Eastern Front.Karel Goš: "Bitva u Bachmače byla slavnou epizodou Hanáckého pluku : největší oslavy proběhly v roce 1938", article in newspaper Olomoucký den, March 20, 1999, p. 10 The 7th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party officially changed the name of the political party to the Russian Communist Party.Seventh Congress of the Russian Communist Party. Verbatim Report. March 6–8, 1918" (1923) The United States Cavalry caught three fugitives from a shootout at a mining cabin in the Galiuro Mountains of Arizona on February 10, ending the largest manhunt in the state's history. All three received life sentences for the shooting deaths of three lawmen but two of the surviving fugitives were released and pardoned in 1960. The first Yiddish communist newspaper The Truth was published in Petrograd. It was closed down soon after and restarted as Der Emes.Estraikh, Gennady. The Yiddish-Language Communist Press, in Frankel, Jonathan (ed.), Studies in Contemporary Jewry. Vol. 20, Dark Times, Dire Decisions : Jews and Communism. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2005. p. 63 Born: Mendel L. Peterson, American archaeologist, pioneer in underwater archaeology; in Moore, Idaho, United States (d. 2003) Poon Lim, Chinese sailor, survived 133 days adrift in the Atlantic Ocean from 1942 to 1943 following the sinking of by a German U-boat, recipient of the British Empire Medal; in Hainan, Republic of China (present-day China) (d. 1991) Died: Otto von Diederichs, 74, German naval officer, commander of the East Asia Squadron and Chief of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff from 1898 to 1902 (b. 1843)
March 9, 1918 (Saturday) Battle of Tell 'Asur – The British 158th Infantry Brigade captured Tell 'Asur, a key hill that served as an observation post for the lower half of the Jordan Valley towards Galilee.Falls 1930 Vol. 2, pp. 314-315 Wageningen University was established in the Netherlands. Born: Mickey Spillane, American crime writer, creator of the private eye Mike Hammer; as Frank Morrison Spillane, in New York City, United States (d. 2006) George Lincoln Rockwell, American fringe politician, founder of the American Nazi Party; in Bloomington, Illinois, United States (d. 1967, murdered) Died: Frank Wedekind, 53, German playwright, best known for the plays Spring Awakening, Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box (b. 1864) George von Lengerke Meyer, 59, American public servant, 43rd United States Postmaster General and 40th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1858)
March 10, 1918 (Sunday) A cyclone struck Innisfail, Queensland, Australia, delivering winds exceeding 100 km/h and destroying all but a dozen houses in the town. The storm killed 37 people in the town itself and another 40 to 60 people in the surrounding countryside.Historical Impacts Along The East Coast Battle of Bakhmach – Fighting between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Germans climaxed with intense hand-to-hand fighting for control of the bridge over the Desna River.Goš 1999, p. 10