Western Front
Somme: German troops capture a British strongpoint south of Transloy, taking 30 prisoners.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theaters
Arabia: First major raid on Hejaz Railway: Captain Garland’s 50 Arabs from Wejh blow up engine and bridge at Toweira.
Sinai: British surprise and take Turkish posts at Nakhi and Bir-el-Hassana.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Western Mediterranean: French cruiser-minelayer
Cassini sinks on
UC-35 mine in Bonifacio Straits.
Report shows that out of 9,291 ships that arrived and left Britain in the first half of February, 101 ships were sunk by the Germans.
Political, etc.
Austria-Hungary: Emperor Charles hints at separate peace by sending secret note inviting Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princ...f_Bourbon-Parma) to Vienna for peace talks.
A Hungarian poster calls for donations for war orphans:
https://i1.wp.com/ww2-weapons.com/w...riegswaisen.jpg
Russia: Inter-Allied Conference ["Commission de Ravitaillement"] at Petrograd dissolves (see January 17th).
United Kingdom: Arthur Ponsonby, Charles P. Trevelyan, Philip Snowden & other MPs in the House of Commons declare the Allies are pursuing war of conquest.
United States: (listed for yesterday): North Carolina Senator Overman claims that there are 100,000 spies in the U.S. and urges drastic laws to protect military assets.
Wilson asks for increased war powers from Congress, "to enforce the obligations imposed by the laws of nations and by American statutes".
Major General Frederick Funston, who received a medal of honor during the Philippine-American War, died suddenly:
http://imgur.com/C6bStEX
Former President Taft enrolls as a reserve cavalryman, but states, “It would be hard on the horse.”