March 1 The British hospital ship Glenart Castle was damaged by a mine whilst en route from Le Havre to Southampton. Arz von Straussenberg replaced Conrad von Hotzendorf as Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian army. March 2 A Russian offensive reached and occupied Hamadan in western Prussia. March 4 The Armed Ship Bill was filibustered and defeated in the US Senate. March 5 US President Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated for a second term. President Wilson's Democratic Party controlled the House of Representatives while the Republicans dominated the Senate. March 6 On the Western Front the British line extended south of the Somme to the neighbourhood of Reims- twice the length of a year before. March 7 British and Indian forces crossed the Diyala in pursuit of the Ottoman forces towards Baghdad. March 8 Police fired into crowds as protestors and striking workers took to the streets in Petrograd. March 10 British troops captured lrles near the Ancre on the Western Front. March 11 After a two year campaign, British and Indian forces captured and occupied Baghdad. March 12 The Russian Revolution began and a Provisional Government was formed. President Wilson ordered the arming of American merchant vessels in the war zone. March 13 The Russian Premier Prince Golitsyn and Minister for War General Byelyayev were removed from office by the Revolutionary Party. March 14 German forces began their withdrawal from the Somme sector to the Hindenburg Line. March 15 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother Michael. Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov replaced Prince Golitsyn as Prime Minister of Russia. March 16 Nicolas' brother refused the throne until a Constitutional Assembly was formed to invite him formally. A mutiny broke out in the Russian Baltic fleet after the sailors received word of the Revolution in Petrograd. March 17 On the Western Front the British occupied Bapaume and nearby villages; French forces advanced to reoccupy Roye. A public disagreement with members of his cabinet over war policy precipitated the resignation of French Prime Minister Aristide Briand. He was succeeded by Alexandre Felix Joseph Ribot. March 18 German destroyers fired on Ramsgate and Broadstairs on the Kent coast of England. British troops occupied Peronne in the area evacuated by the Germans while the French occupied Noyon. March 19 The French battleship Danton was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Sardinia while en route to aid a blockade. March 20 The first meeting of the British Imperial War Conference was held to co-ordinate governance of the British Empire during the war and prepare for the post-war situation. March 21 The British hospital ship Asturias was attacked and torpedoed by a German submarine on her way to Southampton after landing her wounded at Avonmouth. March 22 The Provisional Government in Russia was recognised by Britain, France, Italy, USA, Romania and Switzerland. March 25 Forming part of the Samarrah Offensive, the Battle of Jebel Hamlin saw a British-led force attempt to encircle 15,000 Turkish troops retreating from Persia. March 26 The First Battle of Gaza was fought during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary force to invade the southern region of the Ottoman Empire territory of Palestine during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Fighting took place in and around the town of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast but the attempt to capture the city failed. March 27 The Petrograd Soviet (workers' council) issued a proclamation in favour of self-determination and peace. March 28 The British steamer Cannizaro was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-24 on its way from New York to Hull. March 30 The Russian Provisional Government acknowledged the independence of Poland. March 31 The United States formally took possession of the Danish West Indies. Renamed the Virgin Islands, America purchased the islands from Denmark because of their strategic location in relation to the Panama Canal.
(From The Great War - Unseen Archives by Robert Hamilton)
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."