#OTD - 3 Jan 1871 - Following on from the preliminary moves/actions the previous day/night, the Battle of Bapaume, #Somme, began (long thread alert!):

#OTD 3 Jan 1915: The Germans detonated their 1st 'successful' mine in the #Somme sector, destroying a section of FR wire & frontline on Cote 143 ( later known as 'Redan Ridge') .. ... Unlike their La Boisselle mine of 2 Jan, it would appear that they measured this one correctly!

#OTD 2 Jan 1915: The 1st mine to be detonated by the Germans on the #Somme front was blown. Intended to have detonated under the (French held) " Îlot de la Boisselle ", it was laid too short and detonated under their own trenches, which they had evacuated prior to detonation

#OTD 2 January 1871: Preliminary movements and actions of the Battle of Bapaume:

...and 'multi-year' volunteer discs etc etc....:

...and, conversely, Naval discs - marked up correctly, but on army pattern discs:

These are all the 'official' changes, BTW. ... There would, of course, been little quirks and oddities along the way too such as these copper discs which, though Naval in pattern, are all actually army issues and follow the official patterns in all bar material:

...Now 7 of those 5! https://t.co/w3cF4Zu770

Still discovering and learning! ... Here's an updated image - now depicting '7' of the '5' changes to the French identity disc system of 1881 - 1918 that I identified a few weeks ago!🙄🤨🤦‍♂️

Late Xmas present ( ... to myself!🙄) : Bleu clair (popularly known as 'Horizon Blue') mle.1915 képi of a 'marsouin' sous-officier or officier subalterne (NCO - sergent or above - or junior officer of a régiment d'infanterie coloniale):

Forgot to repost this thread yesterday: 29 Dec 1870: Siege of Péronne continuation and the death of 21-year-old marin Jean Delpas:

Thread detailing the ultimatum of the morning of 28 Dec: https://t.co/Cp12b1BChA

*(Note that the two artillery images in this thread actually relate to the siege of Paris, the photo of French artillerymen having been taken at Champigny in 1871)*

6/ However, casualties by nightfall on 28 December were still light and it appeared that the bombardment had, so far, been relatively ineffective (though, the following day, Garnier would be [unsuccessfully] petitioned by the inhabitants to surrender the town).

5/ Within the town, with much of the population seeking refuge in cellars, several fires broke out and many buildings were damaged...

4/ As the intensity increased, French artillery within the ramparts began to return fire; the guns located on the north western walls being particular active in targeting the German heavy batteries at Halles where the German gunners suffered numerous casualties.

3/ …was less heavy than might have been expected but this intensity gradually increased as the evening approached, peaking at approximately 600 shells hitting the town every hour. ...

2/ Conscious of the possible need to preserve the more mobile field batteries for an expected confrontation with the Armée du Nord (von Senden had also issued orders for the artillery to be as sparing with ammunition as was possible on this 1st day), the initial bombardment…

1/ #OTD - 28 Dec 1870: Siege of Péronne, #Somme Following failed negotiations (see my other thread) & despite a thick river mist partially masking their targets, the German artillery began their first bombardment of Péronne during the early afternoon (at approx 14:45pm)...

5/ ... In slight contrast, the German account of this episode (‘Operations of the First Army under General von Manteuffel’ compiled by Count Hermann von Wartensleben) records that Garnier simply stated that he would send a flag of truce but this was not forthcoming.