Deadliest single days of World War I

World War I was fought on many fronts around the world from the battlefields of Europe to the far-flung colonies in the Pacific and Africa. While it is most famous for the trench warfare stalemate that existed on Europe's Western Front, in other theatres of combat the fighting was mobile and often involved set-piece battles and 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]

Will Longstaff's Menin Gate at Midnight
Moscow City Brotherly Cemetery in 1915
Sandweiler German war cemetery in Luxembourg

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
Main article: Western Front (World War I)
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% [16]
 First Portuguese Republic Battle of the Lys April 9, 1918 500~[A 1] 7,222[15] 7% [17]
 United States Battle of the Argonne Forest October 4, 1918 418 116,516[18] 0.36% [19]
 Newfoundland Battle at Beaumont-Hamel (Somme) July 1, 1916 310 1,204[10] 26% [20]
 South Africa Battle of Delville Wood July 18, 1916 253 7,121[10] 4% [21]
Russian Empire (until 1917) 1,700,000 [15]
Thailand SEF (from 1918) Base Hospital No. 57 February 7, 1919 2 [A 2] 19 [22] 11% [22]

Eastern Front
Main article: Eastern Front (World War I)
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 [23]
 Bulgaria 101,229 [A 3] [24]
 Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 [25]
 Ottoman Empire 325,000 [A 4] [25]
Main article: Naval warfare of World War I
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% [26]
 German Empire Battle of Jutland May 31, 1916 2,551 2,037,000[8][9] 0.13% [26]
 Italy SS Principe Umberto June 8, 1916 1,926 460,000[15] 4% [27]
 France SS Gallia October 4, 1916 1,338 1,357,000[4] 0.1% [28]
 Austria-Hungary SS Linz February 20, 1918 697[A 5] 1,200,000[25] 0.06% [29]
 Russian Empire Cruiser Pallada October 11, 1914 597 1,700,000[15] 0.04% [30]
 Empire of Japan Battleship Kawachi July 12, 1918 500–700[A 6] 4,661[31] 13% [32]
 United States USS Cyclops After March 4, 1918 [A 7] 309 116,516[18] 0.3% [33]
 Ottoman Empire Barbaros Hayreddin[A 8] August 8, 1915 258 325,000[A 9][25] 0.07% [34]
 Canada HMHS Llandovery Castle June 27, 1918 234 56,639[10] 0.4% [35]

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 5000~ 325,000[A 10][25] 2% [36]
 France First Battle of Krithia April 28, 1915 1001 [A 11] 1,357,000[4] [37]
 United Kingdom Battle of Scimitar Hill August 21, 1915 1497–[A 12] 744,000[6] 0.2% [39]
 Australia ANZAC Cove April 25, 1915, August 7, 1915[A 13] 755 61,527[10] 1.2% [40][41]
 New Zealand Battle of Sari Bair August 8, 1915 507 18,166[13] 3% [42][43]
India Third Battle of Krithia June 4, 1915 207[A 14] 42,448[A 15][A 16][46] 0.5% [47]

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 [25]

Macedonian front
Main article: 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] [24]
 Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 [25]
 Ottoman Empire 325,000 [A 19] [25]

See also

Annotations
  1. Portuguese faced the Germans for three days, from April 9–11, 1918. Around 500–700 were killed in action, mostly on the first day
  2. 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
  3. Killed 48,917 + Died of wounds 13,198 + Accidental deaths 888 + Died of disease 24,497 + Missing presumed dead 13,729
  4. Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Cyclops was last seen outside of Baltimore on March 4, 1918
  8. On 3 May 1915 the steamer 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.
  9. Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
  10. Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000
  11. 14,000 Allied troops participated in the battle and suffered 2,000 British and 1,001 French casualties [37]
  12. 5,300 casualties out of the 14,300 soldiers who participated [38]
  13. Both days saw 755 Australians die
  14. 220 Indians died on all fronts[44]
  15. In Gallipoli 1,358 Indians died, 3421 were wounded for a total of 4,779 casualties[45]
  16. Excludes followers[46]
  17. Killed 45,000 + Missing presumed dead 82,535
  18. Killed 48,917 + Died of wounds 13,198 + Accidental deaths 888 + Died of disease 24,497 + Missing presumed dead 13,729
  19. Killed 50,000 + Died of wounds 35,000 + Died of disease 240,000

Bibliography

Notes

  1. Lucas 2017
  2. Middlebrook 2007, p. 312
  3. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. gives a 1513 reference for military casualty, and an 1844 reference for civilian use.
  4. War Office 1922, pp. 352–357
  5. Trouillard 2014
  6. Anglesey 1995, p. 307
  7. BBC News 2017
  8. Reichswehr 1934, pp. 12–14
  9. Ellis & Cox 2001, p. 269
  10. War Office 1922, p. 237
  11. Veterans Affairs Canada 2017
  12. Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 10-4 2020
  13. Auckland War Memorial Museum 2017
  14. Commonwealth War Graves Commission NZ 2017
  15. War Office 1922, p. 352
  16. history.com 2017
  17. Pyles 2012, p. 120
  18. DeBruyne 2017, p. 2
  19. Brown 2013, p. 191
  20. Veterans Affairs Canada 2015
  21. Commonwealth War Graves Commission SA 2017
  22. Whyte 2008
  23. War Office 1922, p. 353
  24. War Office 1922, p. 354
  25. War Office 1922, p. 357
  26. Dickmann 2017, p. 25
  27. Helgason 2017a
  28. Helgason 2017b
  29. Wrecksite.eu 2017
  30. Sondhaus 2014, p. 190
  31. International Labour Office 1923, p. 29
  32. Nash 1976, p. 304
  33. Grohman 2008, p. 135
  34. Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 28.
  35. Porter & Wynn 2015, p. 98
  36. Moorehead 1998, p. 151
  37. Aspinall-Oglander 1992, p. 294
  38. Aspinall-Oglander 1992, pp. 354–355
  39. Commonwealth War Graves Commission UK 8-21 2017
  40. Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 4-25 2017
  41. Commonwealth War Graves Commission AUS 8-7 2017
  42. Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2014
  43. Commonwealth War Graves Commission NZ-ME 2017
  44. Commonwealth War Graves Commission IND 6-04 - Total 2017
  45. Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2016
  46. War Office 1922, p. 348
  47. Commonwealth War Graves Commission IND 6-04 2017

References

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