#early october is also BEFORE caporetto

[amypihcs]

AAAnd I ended up writing something for this and for the first day of cozytober.

You’re back home

As much as it could be seen as a dismissal, as a lack of appreciation for one’s services, Sherlock Holmes couldn’t but be happy about his husband’s discharge.

He had known of it for at least one day more than his dearest had, working in the intelligence offered striking possibilities when one was showing up to the office and not only working from home, but he had only left London on his own leave when Watson’s letter had arrived.

And there he was, in Sussex, enjoying the sweet October sunshine in the year of our Lord nineteen-seventeen from atop the railing he and Watson had built more than 10 years prior, waiting for his Captain.

Dr Watson wasn’t surprised to not find Holmes waiting for him at the station with their car, it was their agreement. No station Welcomes and Goodbyes as having to stifle their feelings in those moments would have certainly made them more painful. He breathed in deeply the fresh country air and set off for his walk toward their bee-house, as Holmes called it.

Nothing could be better than half an hour of evening walk toward home, or rather, nothing but seeing one’s husband jump down from a railing and grin from ear to ear as one walks into one’s own garden.

Neither of them properly ran toward the other, they weren’t as young as that any more as much as Holmes’ athletics still belied his true age. Holmes waited for him and Watson dove into his arms, breathing in deeply, relaxing after months of tension as he felt his husband’s strong, thin arms around his shoulders and his solid, sinewy body in his arms.

“I missed you.” He sighed, breathing in his scent, tobacco, lemons, aftershave.

Holmes broke the hug with a smile. “I missed you too.” He answered, then he kissed him, his hands buried in his hair, moaning as he felt his Watson’s arms tighten once more on his back as he answered the kiss with just as much vigour.

“I’m back home.” Gasped Watson when they separated out of need for air.

“You are, my dearest. – Holmes’ breath was just as laboured as he replied, ruffling his husband’s hair with his fingers. – Short hair doesn’t suit you my love.”

“It will grow again, I also liked it better before this war. Is that my vest?” Chuckled the doctor, well used to his husband’s sometimes strange demonstrations of affection.

Holmes laughed as he played with his Watson's uniform’s belt and buttons. “How did you deduce?”

It was a game, of course, their game. “It’s too large on you, my darling, and a bit too short. Also, you have no clothes of this colour. – The doctor stroked one of his Holmes’ sharp cheekbones. – You needn’t look so worried, Holmes. What do you deduce of me?”

Holmes smiled once more, and in that golden light he looked just like the young chemist he was when they had met. “You lost almost a stone, but you will be better in some weeks. You need to sleep properly as you are quite tired. Those dark circles under your eyes speak of anxiety, my John, and of pain. I could say your leg more than your shoulder, if I didn’t know that you’ve been hurt two weeks ago…” Holmes let his voice fade softly as he moved his hand to his husband’s side.

“It’s but a graze, my dear. Some shrapnel during a rescue mission, I barely noticed it until I had finished with the poor chap’s surgery. It’s but a scratch, I stitched it close myself.”

“I should like to check for it myself, my dear. As much as I know that your stitches are the best, you must have hidden it from your subordinates for quite a long time to end up stitching it on your own.” He stated

“Those boys were shaking already, I couldn’t let them know that I was hurt. – Watson kissed his husband again and then placed a warning finger on his lips. – I will let you fuss, my dear fellow, but only after some good tea and in preparation for a proper bath.” He smiled.

Mr Holmes grinned at the proposition and lead his husband inside, draping himself on his shoulders as soon as they reached the kitchen. “We are home now, John.”

“Yes. Yes, we are, my dearest Sherlock.” Answered the doctor.

dr watson in his 60s, tanned by the sussex sun, returns to his old service on the outbreak of WW1

this outfit is not historically accurate at all, but i really wanted to draw how i imagined watson in the gorgeous WW1 era h/w fic The Presbury Letters

+ bonus homecoming to angry bee husband

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.24

AD 69 – Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Marcus Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian, defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius. 1260 – Chartres Cathedral is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1360 – The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War. 1590 – John White, the governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the "lost" colonists. 1605 – Coronation of Jahangir 1641 – Sir Felim O'Neill of Kinard the leader of the Irish Rebellion issues his Proclamation of Dungannon justifying the uprising and declaring continued loyalty to Charles I 1648 – The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War. 1795 – Third Partition of Poland: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is completely divided among Austria, Prussia, and Russia. 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow. 1851 – William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel, and Ariel, orbiting Uranus. 1857 – Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club still in operation, is founded in Sheffield, England. 1861 – The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed. 1871 – An estimated 17 to 20 Chinese immigrants were tortured and lynched in the Chinese massacre of 1871 in Los Angeles, California. 1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 1911 – Orville Wright remains in the air nine minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. 1912 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Kirk Kilisse concludes with the Bulgarian victory against the Ottoman Empire. 1912 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo concludes with the Serbian victory against the Ottoman Empire. 1917 – Battle of Caporetto; Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat by the forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany on the Austro-Italian front of World War I (lasts until 19 November - also called Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo). 1917 – Bolshevik Red Guards began takeover of buildings in Russia, among the first events associated with the October Revolution. 1926 – Harry Houdini's last performance takes place at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit. 1929 – "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange. 1930 – A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ousts Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Vargas is then installed as "provisional president". 1931 – The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic. 1944 – World War II: The Japanese battleship Musashi is sunk by American aircraft in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. 1945 – Founding of the United Nations. 1946 – A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space. 1947 – Famed animator Walt Disney testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists. 1949 – The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid. 1954 – Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam. 1957 – The United States Air Force starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. 1960 – Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100. Among the dead is Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash. 1963 – An oxygen leak from an R-9 missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills seven people. 1964 – Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony until the next year, with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence). 1975 – In Iceland, 90% of women take part in a national strike, refusing to work in protest of gaps in gender equality. 1977 – Veterans Day is observed on the fourth Monday in October for the seventh and last time. (The holiday is once again observed on November 11 beginning the following year.) 1980 – The government of Poland legalizes the Solidarity trade union. 1986 – Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow Airport. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi is helped by Syrian officials. 1990 – Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian "stay-behind" clandestine paramilitary NATO army, which was implicated in false flag terrorist attacks implicating communists and anarchists as part of the strategy of tension from the late 1960s to early 1980s. 1992 – The Toronto Blue Jays become the first Major League Baseball team based outside the United States to win the World Series. 1998 – Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission. 2002 – Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, D.C. 2003 – Concorde makes its last commercial flight. 2004 – Arsenal Football Club loses to Manchester United, ending a row of unbeaten matches at 49 matches, which is the record in the Premier League. 2005 – Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida resulting in 35 direct 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage. 2007 – Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. 2008 – "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices. 2014 – The China National Space Administration launches an experimental lunar mission, Chang'e 5-T1, which will loop behind the Moon and return to Earth. 2015 – A driver, arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), crashes into the Oklahoma State Homecoming parade in Stillwater, Oklahoma, killing four people and injuring 34.

[today-in-wwi]

Italians Retreat from the Isonzo

Some of the more than 250,000 Italian PoWs captured in late October and early November.

October 27 1917, Udine--By early on October 27, the Germans and Austrians had completely broken through around Caporetto.  The fall of Gran Monte, to the west of the town, along with Rommel’s capture of Mt. Matajur just to the southwest, meant that the way was now open to the plains and the Adriatic below.  The Italian forces on the lower Isonzo, which had fought for the last two years to secure a few miles on the far side of the river, now risked being trapped.  At 2:30 AM, Cadorna ordered a general retreat back to the Tagliamento, thirty miles to the west.  Many soldiers of the Third Army openly wept as they abandoned their hard-fought gains and the graves of hundreds of thousands of fellow soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Second Army was in full retreat from the advancing Germans and Austrians.  Most of its troops, those who did not face the initial attack, were still in good order. However, they were largely abandoned by their commanders. The Second Army’s commander had been taken ill only a few days before the attack, while Cadorna put the blame squarely on his soldiers, telling a subordinate, “What could I do? The army was swarming with worms.”  His official response to Rome, sent the next day, was little better: “the failure to resist on the part of units of the Second Army, which cravenly withdrew without fighting or ignominiously surrendered to the enemy, has allowed the Austro-German forces to break through...”  Cadorna himself left his headquarters in Udine for Treviso, over 60 miles to the west, safely behind the Piave, while leaving the Second Army to retreat over the few bridges over the upper Tagliamento (reserving the others for the Third Army).

The soldiers of the Second Army rightly felt abandoned.  One soldier recalled that on hearing that the generals had left:

“Then we’re going too,” someone said, and we all shouted “That’s right, we have had enough of the war, we’re going home.”  The lieutenant said, “You’ve gone mad, I’ll shoot you,” but we took his pistol away. We threw our rifles away and started marching to the rear.  Soldiers were pouring along the other paths and we told them all we were going home and they should come with us and throw their guns away.  I was worried at first, but then I thought I had nothing to lose, I’d have been killed if I’d stayed in the trenches and anything was better than that.  And then I felt so angry because I’d put up with everything like a slave till now; I’d never even thought of getting away. But I was happy too, we were all happy, all saying “it’s home or prison, but no more war.”

Cadorna, having lost faith in his own soldiers, and recognizing that he desperately needed help, accepted an offer from Foch for four French divisions to bolster the Italians.  Lloyd George, long a proponent of British aid to the Italian front, also ordered two divisions there, though he knew they would not be used for an offensive there as he had hoped.

Today in 1916: Australian Ministers Resign Over Conscription Today in 1915: Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian Forces Meet in Serbia Today in 1914: HMS Audacious Sunk by German Mine In View of RMS Olympic

Sources include: Mark Thompson, The White War; Randal Gray, Chronicle of the First World War; John R. Schindler, Isonzo.