28: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo
28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
01: Germany declares war on Russia
03: Germany declares war on France
04: Germany declares war on neutral Belgium
: Britain declares war on Germany
06: First British casualties as HMS Amphion is sunk in the North Sea
: First air raid kills 9 as Zeppelins bomb Liège
07: First British troops arrive in France
09: Battle of the Frontiers begins as France attempts to regain Alsace and Lorraine
12: Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary
17: Russia invades East Prussia
23: Battle of Mons begins as British Expeditionary Force (BEF) faces advancing German forces
: Japan declares war on Germany
26: Battle of Tannenberg begins
: Battle of Le Cateau, retreating British troops fight a rearguard action
28: Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first naval engagement of the war, Mainz, Köln andAriadne sunk by British
01: Joffre orders armies to fall back south of Paris as far as the Seine
05/06: French 5th Army and BEF halt, turn around and advance towards the Marne, Battle of Marne begins
15: Battle of Aisne begins
22: British aircraft carry out first air raid on Germany, Battle of Picardy begins
: U9 sinks three British cruisers off Dutch coast
27: Start of Battle of Artois
28: Germans start bombardment of forts surrounding Antwerp
4: German forces reach Belgian coast
12: German occupation of Lille, Battle of La Bassée
10: Surrender of Antwerp
16: Start of battle of the Yser and Battle of Armentières
19: Battle of Ypres sees the Germans attempt to break through to Channel ports
29: Turkish ships attack Russian ports in the Black Sea, heralding Turkey’s entry into the war
02: Russia declares war on Turkey
05: Britain declares war on Turkey
03: Battle of Kolubra begins. Austro-Hungarian forces pushed out of Serbia
08: Battle of the Falkland Islands
09: Warsaw bombed by Germans
16: Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby are shelled by German ships, 137 people are killed
01: British women are employed as munitions workers
19/20: First Zeppelin raid on Britain, Great Yarmouth bombed
31: German attack at Bolimov on the Vistula front involves first recognised use of gas
19: Campaign at Gallipoli begins with French and Royal Navy ships bombarding Turkish positions
22: German victory at winter battle of the Masurian Lakes
10: Battle of Neuve Chapelle begins
18: Anglo-French attack at the Dardanelles (Gallipoli), involving 16 battle ships and a host of smaller craft, suffers heavy losses
22: Przemysl, with garrison of 120,000, surrenders to Russians
22: Second Battle of Ypres begins, Germans use chlorine gas for first time
25: Allied troops land at five beaches at Cape Helles on tip of Gallipoli peninsula and face heavy Turkish resistance
01: Withdrawal of British troops from Ypres begins
07: Lusitania is sunk by U-boat
09: Spring Artois offensive begins, British attack either side of Neuve Chapelle
15: Attack on Festubert by British begins
23: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
25: U-boat off the Dardanelles sinks Triumph, universal conscription introduced in Britain
27: Majestic is sunk by U-boat in Gallipoli Campaign
31: First Zeppelin raid on London; 28 dead and 60 injured
07: Zeppelin destroyed in flight by hand-launched bomb near Ghent
20: Germans launch offensive in Meuse-Argonne area
30: Germans use flame-throwers to penetrate British line at Hooge, near Ypres
06: Death of Private Alick Pretty, remembered on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey
06: Bulgaria joins the war, signing a pact with Austria-Hungary and Germany
25: Battle of Loos begins, British forces use chemical weapons for the first time
12: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed
27: Fierce winds bring icy rain, sleet and snow; many deaths from cold and 15,000 evacuated suffering from exposure, frostbite and trench foot
09: Allied troops complete their evacuation from Gallipoli
21: Germany launches large-scale attack at Verdun, following a 9-hour artillery barrage, Germans occupy first line of French trenches
06: Germans transfer main effort to west bank of Meuse River. Fierce fighting ensues on the hills of Le Mort Homme and Côte 304
29: British surrender at Kut
31: Battle of Jutland, only large-scale naval engagement of the war
01: Germans advance towards Fort Vaux
04: Brusilov offensive begins
22: Germans use phosgene gas in attack on Fleury
23: Opening of preliminary bombardment on the Somme
24: Allies open barrage along 40km (25mile) front
01: Battle of the Somme begins, British advance first and suffer 57,000 casualties, Anglo-French air supremacy on the Somme, 201 French and 185 British aircraft pitted against 129 German planes
02: British capture Fricourt
07: British make unsuccessful attack on Mametz Wood
10: British capture Contalmaison and make another attack on Mametz Wood
13: Night attack on German line from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit
14: Bastille Day counterattack by the French
20: British attack for possession of High Wood
12: French gain the German third line of trenches from the Somme to Hardecourt
18: British advance to Guillemont, scene of fierce German resistance
03: Guillemont, with many prisoners, captured by British. Ginchy also taken, but British then driven out
15: British tanks are used for the first time at Flers-Courcelette
25: British begin attack in Morval area
26: British launch attack on Thiepval Ridge, capturing Thiepval
05: Death of Private Frank Owen, buried in Salonika (Lembit Road) Military Cemetery, Greece
13: British attack at Beaumont Hamel and along north bank of the Ancre, Beaumont Hamel and Beaucort captured
18: End of the Battle of the Somme
18: Death of Private Egbert Dolphin, buried in Regina Trench Cemetery, Grandcourt, Somme area, France
18: Battle of Verdun ends
31: Germany restarts unrestricted U-boat warfare
28: Formation of Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in Britain
06: USA declares war on Germany
09: Battle of Arras begins
16: Nivelle Offensive leads to heavy losses and French Army mutinies
24: Death of Private Edgar Hawthorne, remembered on the Doiran Memorial, Greece
27: Death of Private Enoch Parker, buried in Sunken Road Cemetery, Boisleux-St. Marc, Arras, France
30: Death of Sergeant Frank Styler, buried in Feckenham Churchyard, Worcs.
07: Battle of Messines Ridge
07: Death of Private Alfred Gould, buried in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, near Mesen, Belgium
13: “Diamond formation” Gotha bombers target London causing 158 deaths and 425 wounded: worst civilian casualties during the war
06: T.E. Lawrence ‘of Arabia’ takes the Red Sea port of Aqaba after a surprise raid
10: Death of Sergeant Wilfred Slade, buried in Coxyde Military Cemetery, near Nieuport, Belgium
31: Third Battle of Ypres begins
12: Death of Bombardier Ernest Hicks, buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium
20: British Second Army launches attack astride Menin Road
26: British launch assault around Polygon wood
04: British attack at Broodseinde
09: British assault on Poelcappelle hampered by mud
25: Russian Bolsheviks seize power in the October Revolution
20: Battle of Cambrai begins; massed tank attack enables British to make significant gains
21: British capture Flesquières but suffer heavy losses elsewhere
22: Fontaine lost to German counterattack
27: Germans defeat last British attack on Fontaine
11: General Allenby enters Jerusalem
15: 28-day armistice signed by Russia and Germany
03: Russia signs Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany
21: Germany launches its Spring Offensive on Western Front
23: Péronne captured as Germans make rapid advance; British 5th Army virtually destroyed, first long-distance shelling of Paris
24: Death of Private William Styler, remembered on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France
09: Death of Private Stephen Rumsey, buried in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium
12: Voluntary British withdrawal of 2nd Army south of Ypres
23: British attempt to block the port at Zeebrugge with sunken ships
01: Influenza epidemic reaches Western Front; German troops especially badly hit
18: Allies begin counteroffensive actions on Western Front
22: Death of Private Cecil Burrow, buried in Lumbo British Cemetery, Mozambique
8: Battle of Amiens begins the Hundred Days Offensive, British planes drop 1,563 bombs and fire 122,150 rounds in support of ground offensive
18: British offensive in Flanders begins
21: British renew offensive on Somme
22: British forces capture Albert
30: Austro-Hungarian intention to sue for peace communicated to Germany
06: Germans complete withdrawal from Lys salient
27: Start of British offensive between Lens and Epehy
28: British, Belgians and French launch offensive: Fourth Battle of Ypres
29: Hindenburg Line breached by the Allies, British offensive opens with Battle of St Quentin Canal
01: Damascus taken by Arab and British forces
04: Germans send request to US President Wilson for armistice
08: Wilson demands withdrawal of Germans from occupied territories
14: British offensive around Ypres forces Germans to begin abandonment of Belgian coast, President Wilson demands Germans to end all U-boat offensives
17: British forces occupy Lille
29: German sailors mutiny, unrest leads to the German Revolution
30: Turkey ends its involvement in the war
03: Austria signs its armistice
04: Start of final Allied offensive on Western Front
05: General retreat of Germans from the Meuse begins
11: Germany signs the armistice document ending the war
Research in to when and where the soldiers died was done by Richard Pearce.
For more information on the soldiers mentioned, please see the biographies in ‘The Fallen’ and ‘We Will Remember Them’ in ‘Audio’.