Progress of the War.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16267, 18 July 1918, Page 6

Progress of the War.

Although it is too early to claim that the German offensive has been definitely repulsed—the battle still with unabated violence—the situation, as far as can bo gathered from the latest cabled messages, is decidedly favourable to the Allies, the enemy being held along the whole front attacked. The various messages to-day indicate that the offensive was organised on a grand scale and suggest that it is not merely a diversion to draw off tho Allied reserves and leave the way clear for a damaging blow on some other- sector. The troops engaged, according to one report, include a large proportion of Prince Hupprecht's reserves, therefore it is regarded as improbable that the enemy will attempt a simultaneous drive on Amiens or in Flanders. Fortunately the Germans failed to obtain the benefit of a strategic surprise such as they effected on March 21st by their attack on a front of fifty miles, and the fact that the French anticipated the enemy's artillery preparation by opening a bombardment an hour before the attack suggests that the Allies were well informed as to the actual time and place of Ludendorff's blow. If this is to there should bo no question of waiting for the reserves to be brought up, and the battle should prove. neither so long nor so costly as those earlier m the year. A feature of the present offensive is the great stand beinf maae by the American forces, who have not only withstood the German onslaughts but counter-attacked and gained ground. On the northern battlefront the New Zealanders are reported to have carried out a successful raid on their sector at Hebuterne, but apart from this minor operation the front remains comparatively quiet. From the other theatres of the war no outstanding events are recorded. In Albania the Allies continue to press back the Austrians, and in Italy successful raids have been carried out on the Asiago Plateau, but on neither front do the gains appear to be of any particular importance.