Western Front
Battle of Courtrai (to 19/20 October): Belgians enter Ostend by land, their King and Queen and Sir R. Keyes by sea; Cavalry at gates of Bruges.
Battle of the Selle begins (see 25th/26th): British-American attack on nine-mile front carries line of Selle south of Le Cateau. BEF Fourth, Third and First Armies (8th Division occupies Douai and Canadians cross Sensee Canal) and US II Corps assault Hermann position at 0530 hours on 10-mile front south from Le Cateau (captured) and line 3 miles to east on October 18 with 5,000 PoWs and 60 guns.
British reach outskirts of Tourcoing.
Meuse: Americans fight west of Grand pre.
Western Front, Air: Rain and mist restricts flying (until October 27) and aids retreating Germans. RAF pilots land at Ghistelles, Ghent and in Ostend market square, just as Germans leave.
Allied troops take the towns of Thourout, Ostend, Lille, and Douai. Civilians in Lille waving French and British flags to welcome the soldiers: © IWM (Q 11811):
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American soldiers demonstrating a captured German flamethrower: © IWM (Q 60982):
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A wounded French soldier without and with a face mask:
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Men of the Meteorological Section of the Royal Engineers fill up balloons used to assess wind and weather conditions: © IWM (Q 12115):
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American tanks advancing at St. Souplet: © IWM (Q 49398):
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4th Army headquarters inside a camouflaged railway train near Péronne, France: © IWM (E (AUS) 3929):
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Troops of the Northamptonshire Regiment resting in a trench at Molain: © IWM (Q 70745):
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Southern Front
Serbia: Franco-Serbs occupy Knyazhevats and Krushevats.
Montenegrins rise against Austrians.
French capture Ipek.
Over half of Serbia cleared of Austro-Hungarians.
Eastern Front/West Asia Border Theater
Armenia: British troops in Transcaspia capture Dushak, driving back Bolsheviks (announced).
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Persia: Tigris railway extended by British beyond Tekrit.
Naval and Overseas Operations
North Sea: German Navy evacuates Ostend, Zeebrugge and Bruges, abandoning 9 coastal torpedo boats.
Mediterranean: Austrian U-boats ordered home.
Political, etc
Austria-Hungary: Hungarian Parliament declares independence except for Crown as figurehead.
Hungarian soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army in leisurely occupation of a road junction in Prague in October 1918. The Habsburg empire meekly conceded nationalist demands:
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Germany: Kaiser Wilhelm II & Erich Ludendorff and Prince Max confer on reply to US note. Full Cabinet: Ludendorff demands a fight to the finish, denounces Wilson’s second Note and declares ‘…
on my conscience a breakthrough [by Allies] is unlikely’; in 4 weeks campaigning season will be over; that, provided with promised reinforcements he can retire to Antwerp-Meuse Line, to resume in spring 1919. If necessary, Belgium must again become a battleground ‘so that 1914 will be child’s play compared to it’. Ludendorff, interrogated by Imperial Chancellor, calls situation grave but not hopeless (‘
perhaps Germany’s luck may return’). War Minister Scheuch says c.600,000 reinforcements raisable but warns that if Rumanian oil …
is cut off Army (and Air Force) can only continue operations for another 6 weeks.
United Kingdom: British Government recognises Polish Army as autonomous.
London subscribes 31 million pounds National War Bonds in nine days.
King George V becomes Col-in-Chief, Tank Corps.
United States: Bolshevik-German correspondence published in Washington.
A New York City postman wearing a gauze mask to protect himself from the Spanish flu:
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Emerging States: Proclamation in Prague of Czech Republic (Council in Paris declares formal independence on October 18), and at Agram of Yugoslav independence.