May 1918

[May 1], 1918 (Wednesday)

• The Egyptian Expeditionary Force captured the towns of Sunet Nimrun and Es Salt in Jordan but faced counterattacks from Ottoman and German forces.
• Battle of Lahti - The Red Guards fled their garrison at Hennala, ending the battle at Lahti, Finland. Some 30,000 Reds Guards and their supporters surrendered to the White Guards and the support German detachment force.
• The Royal Air Force established air squadron No. 252.
• The Kyung Sung Public Agricultural College was founded, the precursor to the University of Seoul.
• The Independent Voters Association was established as a conservative counterpart to the more socialist-leaning Nonpartisan League in North Dakota.
• Born: Jack Paar, American TV personality, host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962; in Canton, Ohio, United States
• Died: Grove Karl Gilbert, 74, American geologist, discoverer of the Meteor Crater in Arizona

  [May 2], 1918 (Thursday)

• Vyborg massacre - News of the murder of hundreds of Red Guard prisoners and civilians by White Guard militia in Vyborg, Finland reached White Guard commander Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, He ordered an immediate investigation.
• German submarine was sunk by depth charges from three Royal Navy ships with the loss of all 22 crew.
• Died: Jüri Vilms, 29, Estonian politician, first deputy prime minister of Estonia; executed

  [May 3], 1918 (Friday)

• Vyborg massacre - Finnish commander Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim sent a telegram to the town commandant in Vyborg, Finland with an order to stop the massacre of Red Guard prisoners and ethnic Russians civilians in the town. In all, by the time the violence stopped, 1,200 people had been shot dead, including more than 800 Red Guard prisoners and between 360 and 420 civilians of Russian or affiliated ethnicity.
• Battle of Ahvenkoski - With the Kymi Valley now the last stronghold for the Red Guards in Finland, negotiations for surrender began with the Germans.
• The Soviet Red Army established the 6th Rifle Division in Gdov, Russia.
• Official war artist William Orpen opened his exhibition War in London and later donated the paintings to the British government. He was knighted in June.
• New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield married her long-time partner John Middleton Murry at the Kensington register office in London.
• The University of the Philippines Cebu was established in Cebu, Philippines along with a preparatory school for students entering university.
• Born:
• * Richard Dudman, American journalist, member of the editorial staff for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for over thirty years; in Centerville, Iowa, United States
• * Ted Bates, English football player, forward for Southampton from 1937 to 1953 and manager from 1955 to 1973; as Edric Thornton Bates, in Thetford, England
• * Mona Inglesby, British ballet dancer and choreographer, director of International Ballet; as Mona Vredenburg, in London, England
• Died:
• * Derwas Cumming, 26, Australian Rules football player, forward for the Perth Football Club from 1907 to 1910, 1914 and Melbourne University Football Club from 1911 to 1912, recipient of the Military Cross; died from wounds sustained at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
• * John Chase, 61, American army medical officer, commander of the Colorado National Guard during the Colorado Labor Wars and the Ludlow Massacre

  [May 4], 1918 (Saturday)

• The Egyptian Expeditionary Force retreated back to the Jordan Valley after failing to hold the towns of Sunet Nimrun and Es Salt, suffering 1,784 casualties while inflicting over 2,000 on the Ottomans.
• Soviet Russia established the Belomorsky, North Caucasus, and Volga Military Districts.
• The Senate of Finland was re-established in Vaasa, Finland.
• Baseball Ontario was established as the provincial governing body of the sport in Hamilton, Ontario.
• Born: Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese state leader, 40th Prime Minister of Japan; in Nishiyama, Niigata, Empire of Japan
• Died: Howard Burnham, 46, American engineer and spy, collected intelligence for France while conducting mining surveying work in the Alps during World War I, brother to Frederick Russell Burnham

  [May 5], 1918 (Sunday)

• Battle of Ahvenkoski - The final force Red Guards of Finland surrendered at Ahvenkoski, Finland, with 800 soldiers laying down their arms to the German detachment force in Finland. The battle became the final military action of the Finnish Civil War.
• An estimated 15,000 people attended an anti-conscription meeting in County Roscommon, Ireland, where John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin shared the platform in a united cause against conscription.
• German submarine was rammed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 34 crew.
• German submarine disappeared after being seen in the Mediterranean Sea east of Gibraltar, with all 33 crew lost.
• The United States Army established the 1st Pursuit Group to support the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front.
• Mary Pickford starred in M'Liss, a remake of a 1915 film. It was directed by Marshall Neilan and adapted by screenwriter Frances Marion from the short story by Bret Harte.
• The village of Galahad, Alberta was established.
• Born: Egidio Galea, Maltese clergy, member of the Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany during World War II; in Birgu, Malta

  [May 6], 1918 (Monday)

• Nicaragua declared war on the Central Powers.
• The Don Cossacks under command of Pyotr Krasnov captured Rostov-on-Don in what was then the Don Soviet Republic, allowing German forces to occupy the city two days later. The area was later incorporated into the Don Republic.
• The United States Navy established the Coco Solo naval station near Cativá, Panama as part of the defense of the Panama Canal.
• Born:
• * Eva Kolstad, Norwegian politician and activist, promoter of women's rights in Norway and internationally, 18th Norwegian Association for Women's Rights, member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women from 1969 to 1975; as Eva Severine Lundegaard Hartvig, in Haldar, Norway
• * Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Arabic noble and state leader, first President of the United Arab Emirates; in Abu Dhabi, Trucial States

  [May 7], 1918 (Tuesday)

• Romania signed a treaty with the Central Powers to end its involvement with World War I but it was never ratified as Romanian monarch King Ferdinand refused to sign it. It was nullified when an armistice was signed with Germany on November 11.

  [May 8], 1918 (Wednesday)

• The first Muslim-Christian Association met in Jaffa, Palestine.
• German submarine was depth charged and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea north west of Malta by a Royal Navy ship with all 41 crew killed.
• Born: Ptolemy Reid, Guyanese state leader, second Prime Minister of Guyana; in Dartmouth, British Guiana

  [May 9], 1918 (Thursday)

• The Royal Navy failed in their second attempt to seal off the German U-boat base at Ostend, Belgium despite using the destroyer HMS Vindictive as a blockship.
• Liberal Party leader H. H. Asquith took up allegations of the British War Cabinet misleading Parliament about troop strengths on the Western Front from a letter published in the press on May 7 by Major-General Frederick Maurice of the British Army. The fierce debate in the House of Commons led to Prime Minister David Lloyd George refuting the claims and treating the issue as a vote of confidence, allowing him to win the debate and tip perception against Asquith as not being an effective wartime leader. The resulting vote was in favor of government support 295 votes to 108, although about half of the Members of Parliament were absent as they were serving in the war.
• Field Marshal John French was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Supreme Commander of the British Army in Ireland.
• Germany conducted the first heavier-than-air raid on England since March, sending four Riesenfluzeuge bombers to Dover. High winds over the North Sea forced the squadron to turn back only to find their bases shrouded in fog. Only one landed safely, with the other three being destroyed in crashes.
• German submarine was rammed and sunk in the English Channel off the coast of France by British steamer Queen Alexandra.
• French ace René Fonck shot down six German aircraft in a day.
• Edgar Sisson, an American field operative for the Committee on Public Information posted in Petrograd, began to introduce the first in a series of 68 Russian documents together titled The German-Bolshevik Conspiracy that alleged Russian revolutionary leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky had worked with Germany to bring about Russia's withdraw from World War I. The documents were later proven to be forgeries.
• The Royal Air Force established air squadron No. 158.
• Born:
• * Mike Wallace, American journalist, original and long-running member of the CBS news program 60 Minutes; as Myron Leon Wallace, in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
• * Orville Freeman, American politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota, 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture; in Minneapolis, United States
• * Kyffin Williams, Welsh painter, best known for his landscape work of Wales; as John Kyffin Williams, in Llangefni, Wales
• Died: Richard Hutton Davies, 56, English-New Zealand army officer, commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade and 20th Light Division during World War I, recipient of the Order of the Bath