NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16258, 8 July 1918, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tlie British, success at Hamel, in which the Australians played a gallant part, following the equally satisfactory little aliair in Nioppe forest, will have the double effect of strengthening the confidence of the Allied armies, and disturbing, if not shaking, the moral of tue enemy. Wnetuer the numbor ot prisoners captured was '2oUO or 1000, anu both totals are given in tue cables, does not pai tiuulariy matter —the raid was admirably panned, and brilliantly executed, the e.eaient of surprise being perfectly maintained up to tue moment wnea we struck. Hamel, by the way, must not be confused with BoaumontHamel, which figured eo prominently in tne battle of tlio Soinme in 1916. The pla;e jitst captured lies a mile south of the Somme, eight miles south-west of Albert. It was captured by the Germans during the groat offensive last March. Vaire Wood, which was also taken by the British in the operations last week, is just across the river, and was in March one of the points from wliich the enemy used to sholl Amiens with long-range guns.

The German General, von Below, who has just been appointed to the supremo command of tho Austrian army in Italy, was employed on Germany's Eastern front in the earlier stages of the war, but acquired his reputation by his direction of the Austro-Gernian ouensivo against tho Italians last October, when tuey were driven Irom the lsoazo to their present line. Ho was very prominent in tho German offensive on tho West front, which began i;;st March, having command of tno northern army. As he was regarded as tne favourite German General of the hour, it was considered that his appointment to that position was a further indication of the importance attached by the enemy to the drive for the coast. Latterly he was commanding filteen divisions, covering twenty nu.es, on the Lens-Hapaunie sector. He is an infantry officer whose dashing vic-tory-at-all-costs methods are understood to have made him very popular with Ludendorfr. It is not uniikoly that uador his command tho Austrians, however much they may dislike the manner of his appointment over the heads of their own generals, will renew the attack on the Italians as soon as tliey have recouped their losses in material. The resumption of the offensive against Italy may synchronise with the renewal of operations by the Germans in Flanders and France.

A striking feature of the Allies' operations on the West front just now is tho extraordinary activity of their air forces. Tho success at Mamel, wo are told, was partly due to the devastating bombing from the air to which the German positions were subjected. But of no leas value is the damage they indict daily behind the German lines, and the vigorous operations against Gormen towns by the new independent air force. As General Maurice pointed out the other day, the German communiques show that tho enemy has been iorced to send back more and more guns and aeroplanes in response to the persistent demands of tho population lor protection. "VVe are therefore forcing upon tho enemy tne same measures he compelled us to adopt, and we navo thereby obtaii; i a military advantage, apart from tne actual damage done to Ihe Rhine towns." General Maurice admitted that the bombing of German towns would produce a great moral eltect wliQn the people saw that military success was impossible, but he contended that the prime auty of the air forces in France was to co-operate with the troop 3

It is clear, however, that we have latterly greatly increased our air strength at the actual front, and, until, at least, tho Germans make tneir expected move, the military and naval authorities evidently believe it sale to detach suihcient machines from the fighting-line to spread terror among tiiG population of Germany, and- inhict uamage on limitary centies far beuind the front line. This policy was strongly supported not long ago by a military writer, General Maileierc, in the Paris "Temps." He uiged that the Allies must look at war as it is, according to German militarism. "Aimed Germany," he said, "is an entirely belligerent nation. Labour outside of the zone of military operations contributes to maintain the strength of the combatants. Whether in the factory or on the land, every one fights. The blockade starves both civilians and soldiers. Aerial warfare must complete the combined work of blockade and battle. Our end is to disarm Germany and make it impossible for it to resume its policy of conquest.' (The first duty of aviation is to covpr the entire zone of operations and contribute to the battle by the destruction of enemy reinforcements and supplies. The second is to aim at the enemy country. Bombardment is the final object of aviation.''

The General mentioned as some of the objective points within the enemy territory which might bo effectively bombarded, the Lorraine mining regions botweeh the Moselle and Rhine, the Rhine valley so teeming with populous and industrial cities; the Main valley with Frankfort, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, the Bavarian plains, with Mumcix, and aiwj Uoiogne, YViihelmshaven, Cuxhaven, Kiel, and other points accessible to Allied hydro-aero-plane squadrons. Mauy of these places iiave already been visited by british spid French airmen with most striking results. Every day our cables tell of many tona of bombs being dropped on enemy centres, care being taken always, as far as possille, to confine attacks to military buildings, such as aerodromes, and munition factories, camps, ammunition dumps, and railway stations, preferably junctions. The effectiveness of these aerial attacks, great as it is already is comparatively small to what it will be when the British aeroplane output reaches its maximum, and American plans for a vast air fleet begin to materialise.