On April 30th 2016, Dennis Cross published the latest instalment of his Centennial Countdown blog. Here’s his email summary of the posting:
‘ It’s April 1916. In the twenty-first month of the Great War, the Allies continue to struggle. The British government’s attention is temporarily diverted from the Western Front to its own soil as an uprising by Irish nationalists in Dublin costs the lives of British soldiers, many of them Irish, as well as Irish rebels. On the Western Front the assault on Verdun continues and a squadron of American pilots, later named the Lafayette Escadrille, begins operations. Preparations continue by the British for the attack along the Somme and by the Russians for an offensive against Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front. Great Britain and France agree to divide the Ottoman Empire into areas of control and spheres of influence. The United States sends a tough note to German about submarine attacks on civilian ships. General Pershing’s expeditionary force clashes with Mexican troops deep in Mexican territory. The presidential election season draws near.’