- Sir Ian Hamilton nominates Neville Howse for special mention in despatches. General Howse CB, VC
- The Leader sends “a hearty Xmas greeting across the sea” to the Orange lads at Gallipoli, unaware that they have evacuated the peninsula and are en route to Egypt. The editor declares:
You who have not yet gone to the succour of your comrades who have fallen in the trenches, think hard at this Yuletide, and ask yourselves the question are you acting honestly in staying at home? Do you think that you are playing the game by tripping to Sydney, and revelling in the gaieties of life, while the red blood is dropping from your mates in order to keep your mothers and sisters safe from the despoiling and contaminating touch of the ghoulish Hun.
- General Sir Archibald Murray replaces Lieutenant General Sir John Maxwell as commander of the British forces in Egypt.
- The German submarine U-38 torpedoes and sinks the Japanese passenger steamer Yasaka Maru 60 miles from Port Said. All 120 passengers and the crew survive; they are rescued and transferred to Port Said by a French gunboat.
