Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Will Longstaff 's Menin Gate at Midnight
Moscow City Brotherly Cemetery in 1915
Sandweiler German war cemetery in Luxembourg
cavalry charges. The
Eastern Front often took thousands of casualties a day during the major
offensive pushes, but it was the West that saw the most concentrated slaughter. It was in the west that the newly industrialized world powers could focus their end products on the
military–industrial complex . The deadliest day of the war was during the opening days of the conflict. The Imperial German war council had initiated the
Schlieffen Plan which involved multiple armies flooding through the borders of Belgium and France. On August 22, 1914, during the
Battle of the Frontiers , five separate French armies engaged the German invaders independently of each other. Across all those battlefields, on that single day, 27,000 French soldiers lost their lives protecting their country.
[1]
The term casualty in warfare is often misunderstood. It often refers not to those who are killed on the battlefield but to those who can no longer fight. That can include disabled by injuries, disabled by psychological trauma , captured , deserted , or missing . A casualty is, by definition, a soldier who is no longer available for the immediate battle or campaign, the major consideration in combat. The number of casualties is simply the number of members of a unit who are not available for duty. For example, on March 21, 1918, during the opening day of the German spring offensive , the Germans casualties are broken down into 10,851 killed, 28,778 wounded, 300 POW or taken prisoner for a total of 39,929 casualties.[2] The word casualty has been used in a military context since at least 1513.[3] In this article, the numbers killed refer to those killed in action , killed by disease , or killed by their wounds.
Western Front
Country
Battle, siege, or offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
France
Battle of the Frontiers
August 22, 1914
27,000
1,357,000[4]
2%
[5]
United Kingdom
Battle of the Somme
July 1, 1916
19,240
744,000[6]
3%
[7]
German Empire
Kaiserschlacht
March 21, 1918
10,851
2,037,000[8] [9]
0.53%
[2]
Canada
Battle of Vimy Ridge
April 9, 1917
2,414
56,639[10]
4%
[11]
Australia
Battle of Broodseinde
October 4, 1917
1,282
61,527[10]
2%
[12]
New Zealand
First Battle of Passchendaele
October 12, 1917
847
18,166[13]
5%
[14]
Belgium
Massacre at Dinant
August 23, 1914
674
38,170[15]
2%
[citation needed ]
First Portuguese Republic
Battle of the Lys
April 9, 1918
500~[A 1]
7,222[15]
7%
[16]
United States
Battle of the Argonne Forest
October 4, 1918
418
116,516[17]
0.36%
[18]
Newfoundland
Battle at Beaumont-Hamel (Somme)
July 1, 1916
310
1,204[10]
26%
[19]
South Africa
Battle of Delville Wood
July 18, 1916
253
7,121[10]
4%
[20]
Russian Empire (until 1917)
1,700,000 [15]
Thailand SEF (from 1918)
Base Hospital No. 57
February 7, 1919
2 [A 2]
19 [21]
11%
[21]
Eastern Front
Country
Battle, Siege, or Offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
Russian Empire
1,700,000 [15]
German Empire
2,037,000 [8] [9]
Romania
335,706 [22]
Bulgaria
101,229 [A 3] [23]
Austria-Hungary
1,200,000 [24]
Ottoman Empire
325,000 [A 4] [24]
Naval battles
Country
Battle, siege, or offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
United Kingdom
Battle of Jutland
May 31, 1916
6,094
744,000[6]
1%
[25]
German Empire
Battle of Jutland
May 31, 1916
2,551
2,037,000[8] [9]
0.13%
[25]
Italy
SS Principe Umberto
June 8, 1916
1,926
460,000[15]
4%
[26]
France
SS Gallia
October 4, 1916
1,338
1,357,000[4]
0.1%
[27]
Austria-Hungary
SS Linz
March 18, 1918
697[A 5]
1,200,000[24]
0.06%
[28]
Russian Empire
Cruiser Pallada
October 11, 1914
597
1,700,000[15]
0.04%
[29]
Empire of Japan
Battleship Kawachi
July 12, 1918
500–700[A 6]
4,661[30]
13%
[31]
United States
USS Cyclops
After March 4, 1918 [A 7]
309
116,516[17]
0.3%
[32]
Ottoman Empire
August 8, 1915
258
325,000[A 9] [24]
0.07%
Canada
HMHS Llandovery Castle
June 27, 1918
234
56,639[10]
0.4%
[34]
Gallipoli Campaign
Main article:
Gallipoli Campaign
Country
Battle, siege, or offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
Ottoman Empire
Third attack on Anzac Cove
May 19, 1915
5,000~
325,000[A 10] [24]
2%
[35]
France
First Battle of Krithia
April 28, 1915
1,001[A 11]
1,357,000[4]
[36]
United Kingdom
Battle of Scimitar Hill
August 21, 1915
1,497[A 12]
744,000[6]
0.2%
[38]
Australia
ANZAC Cove
April 25, 1915 , August 7, 1915 [A 13]
755
61,527[10]
1.2%
[39] [40]
New Zealand
Battle of Sari Bair
August 8, 1915
507
18,166[13]
3%
[41] [42]
India
Third Battle of Krithia
June 4, 1915
207[A 14]
42,448[A 15] [A 16] [45]
0.5%
[46]
Italian Front
Main article:
Italian Front (World War I)
Country
Battle, Siege, or Offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
Italy
460,000 [15]
France
1,357,000 [4]
United Kingdom
744,000 [6]
German Empire
2,037,000 [8] [9]
Austria-Hungary
1,200,000 [24]
Macedonian front
Country
Battle, Siege, or Offensive
Date
Number killed on this day
Total killed during WWI
% of total killed
References
Greece
6,000~ [15]
Serbia
127,535 [A 17] [15]
Italy
460,000 [15]
France
1,357,000 [4]
United Kingdom
744,000 [6]
Russian Empire
1,700,000 [15]
German Empire
2,037,000 [8] [9]
Bulgaria
101,229 [A 18] [23]
Austria-Hungary
1,200,000 [24]
Ottoman Empire
325,000 [A 19] [24]
See also
Notes
^ Portuguese faced the Germans for three days, from April 9–11, 1918. Around 500–700 were killed in action, mostly on the first day
^ Two died after the war had ended. Three others died during the war on three different days: February 11, 1918 March 1, 1918 October 21, 1918
^ Killed 48,917 + Died of wounds 13,198 + Accidental deaths 888 + Died of disease 24,497 + Missing presumed dead 13,729
^ Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
^ Hundreds of unregistered passengers, mostly Austro-Hungarian soldiers returning from leave who boarded Linz illegally at Zelenika. Some estimations go as high as 2,700 people killed
^ Sources differ widely on the exact number of men killed. Gardiner and Gray and Jentschura, Jung and Mickel agree on 700, but Lengerer says 600 and Kingsepp gives 618 killed from a crew of 960
^ Cyclops was last seen outside of Baltimore on March 4, 1918
Gul Djemal with 4000 troops on board was torpedoed and sunk by HM Submarine
E-14 . The number of casualties are unknown; the British claimed many were lost, while German and Turkish records report limited casualties only.
^ Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
^ Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
^ 14,000 Allied troops participated in the battle and suffered 2,000 British and 1,001 French casualties [36]
^ 5,300 casualties out of the 14,300 soldiers who participated [37]
^ Both days saw 755 Australians die
^ 220 Indians died on all fronts[43]
^ In Gallipoli 1,358 Indians died, 3421 were wounded for a total of 4,779 casualties[44]
^ Excludes followers[45]
^ Killed 45,000 + Missing presumed dead 82,535
^ Killed 48,917 + Died of wounds 13,198 + Accidental deaths 888 + Died of disease 24,497 + Missing presumed dead 13,729
^ Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
References
^ Lucas 2017
^ a b Middlebrook 2007 , p. 312
^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. gives a 1513 reference for military casualty, and an 1844 reference for civilian use.
^ a b c d e War Office 1922 , pp. 352–357
^ Trouillard 2014
^ a b c d e Anglesey 1995 , p. 307
^ BBC News 2017
^ a b c d e Reichswehr 1934 , pp. 12–14
^ a b c d e Ellis & Cox 2001 , p. 269
^ a b c d e f War Office 1922 , p. 237
^ Veterans Affairs Canada 2017
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 10-4 2020
^ a b Auckland War Memorial Museum 2017
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission NZ 2017
^ a b c d e f g h i j k War Office 1922 , p. 352
^ Pyles 2012 , p. 120
^ a b DeBruyne 2017 , p. 2
^ Brown 2013 , p. 191
^ Veterans Affairs Canada 2015
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission SA 2017
^ a b Whyte 2008
^ War Office 1922 , p. 353
^ a b War Office 1922 , p. 354
^ a b c d e f g h War Office 1922 , p. 357
^ a b Dickmann 2017 , p. 25
^ Helgason 2017a
^ Helgason 2017b
^ Wrecksite.eu 2017
^ Sondhaus 2014 , p. 190
^ International Labour Office 1923 , p. 29
^ Nash 1976 , p. 304
^ Grohman 2008 , p. 135
^ Porter & Wynn 2015 , p. 98
^ Moorehead 1998 , p. 151
^ a b Aspinall-Oglander 1992 , p. 294
^ Aspinall-Oglander 1992 , pp. 354–355
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission UK 8-21 2017
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 4-25 2017
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 8-7 2017
^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2014
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission NZ-ME 2017
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission IND 6-04 - Total 2017
^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2016
^ a b War Office 1922 , p. 348
^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission IND 6-04 2017
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