NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2243, 1 September 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

The Official News Bureau tells us that the position aa disclosed gives no ground either for pessimism •or for over-confidenoc| and no doubt this fairly Bums up the situation. The Allies' have been forced t'o fall back along tho Franco-Belgian frontier under the weight of. numbers, but every possible mile of country, has been bitterly contested. The German advance has been bought- at a sacrifice of life which, if tho full facts .wore known, .would probably startlo the world. Such sacrifice might be justified if there were some decisive victory to show for it, or some evidence that it had shattered the morale of the enemy. But nothing of the kind has occurred. The Allies at each new position they have taken up have fought with all their old vigour, and' not infrequently have, for a time taken the offensive and inflicted heavy losses. .These arc encouraging features associated with the retirement from position- to posi-' tion in northern Franco. In .the south the French are again assuming the offensive in Lorraine. This is another encouraging phaso of the campaign. -And all the timo Russia is moving forward in Germany and Austria. But for this fact the Kaiser would not be throwing away the lives of his soldiers so callously in his desperate endeavour to score a speedy victory in France. Even though he may get to within striking distance 1 of .Paris, it cannot in the end serve him, further than a temporary success too dearly bought. The Allies would be unwise .fco bo over-confident, for they are faced with a mighty army bent on striking them a crushing, blow at any cosh; but they have no occasion for pessimism. They are scoring victory after victory in tho eastern theatre of war, and they are playing their.part in the western theatre by checking and occupying the full attention of the Kaiser's -'picked troops thrown against them there; while on the sea they have bottled up the German fleet, and have stopped the main arteries through which .flow the wealth of the German nation..

The reported presence of German Uhlans near Amiens had prepared us for the news to hand to-day .of the new line of defence taken up by the Allies. This indicates a further fall-back of from twenty to thirty miles from the Cambrai-Lo Gateau line, where it will be recalled tho Germans broke through at Arras. The position now taken up would seem to extend from tho Somme River in the north, in the vicinity of Abbeville, to the town of Amiens, ■ thirty odd miles to. the south-east, while on their right, running in a south-easterly direction, is the line of forts La Fer—Laon—Reims. The British troops apparently iaro somewhere south of Amiens, near the Allies' centre, and the country to the north-east <>f their position is ovor-run with German cavalry. Tho statement is published that the Gorman comma-nder is striving to take possession of the country between: the Allies' left-wing and the sea coast. This would not only cut off the most convenient means of communication between France and England by way of the narrowest part of the Channel, but would enable the Germans to turn the left flanks of the Allies. To prevent this, wo are told, a new French Army is being formed to tako the offensive in this quarter. Anyone glancing at the map will see that Abbeville, whioh is stated to be tho extreme left of the Allies' line, is practically on the sea coast, and any force attempting to get round it would require to swim. Possibly, howeverj it is the new French force that has taken up its position at Abbeville, which would explain a seeming inconsistency.

From the confusing Bcraps of information which, have filtered through the hands of the censor this morning, there are one or two movements of interest. to be pieced together. The first of these 'is , the retirement of the main lino in the north to the position between Abbeville and Amiens, some 35 miles apart. The next is that this force has on its right a strong line of fortresses, the nearest La For, 45 miles from Amiens, the. next Laon, i 12 miles further south-east,> and tho I third Reims, anothor 30 miles southeast. It is between Amiens and La For that the most recent lighting appears to have taken place. Here the French are reported to have driven back the- invaders with heavy losses as far as Guise, somo 25 miles from the Belgian frontier. Another significant piece of news is tho Gorman advance south-west of Mezicres, which it will be noted is due cast of the lino of forts mentioned abovo. I It is here, according to military experts, that France has invited invasion with the idea of catching the invaders in a trap. This view will bo tested within the next few

entered the alleged trap. Thus we bave_ the German cavalry over-running the far north; we have the Germans advancing to the south near Mezieres, and about midway between these points, at Guise, the Germans have been driven back. Along the whole of .the line from Abbeville to Reims, a distance of about 120 miles, tlio Allies' line seems to" be for the time being intact. One hundred miles further south, in Lorraine, the French have again assumed the offensive, possibly in the hope of ohccking the reported • German advance near. Longwy and Stenay.

The official reports of the part played by the British troops in the desperate fighting which took place between August 23 and 26 confirm earlier accounts. It is now abundantly clear that the. behaviour of the British force in the face of overwhelming odds was magnificent in every respect. Not only did the troops conduct themselves with the utmost bravery, but the coolness and skill with which they extricated themselves again and again from the desperate positions into which they had been forced by the needs of their Allies, must occasion a thrill of pride in the breast of every patriotic British subject who reads the heroic story of this great battle._ No military movement is more difficult and dangerous of accomplishment than a retirement in face of a- powerful add aggressive onomy, • and the' German forces, knowing this, strove to the uttermost to turn the retreat into a rout. Encouraged by the knowledge of their enormous numerical superiority, and by the immense advantage that mu3c follow to the invading force should. the British line be broken, the Germans made almost superhuman efforts to accomplish this end. They hurled the massed weight of their huge battalions against the British front with a recklessness for human life that is appalling, and always ' the British troops stemmed the onslaught, inflicting terrible losses on their assailants. It is indeed a splendid story of that dogged courage and tenacity of purpose which we are pleased to associate with the best traditions of the British Army, and it is the, more gratifying because it not.only evidencedCthe old fighting spirit of our troops, but proved the skill'of our generalship when pitted against that of the strongest military nation in the world to-day.'" The British losses were heavy, but were nothing when compared with the losses which must have been sustained by the German forces. And it is well to note that for every gap in the British lines two men have already been placed in the field to fill it, and,every' gun lost or disabled has already been replaced. While.the German forces in the,field have been weakened to the extent of thoir' losses in the desperate encounters from the 23rd to tne 26th instant, the British troops continue at their original strength, or, rather, they arc- somewhat stronger/ Here.' is to be seen the hand of Kitchener, the organiser, the man who prepares for all contingencies. • Hore, too, is another moral factor which must count with increasing strength as the days' go by on friend and foe alike—stimulating our Allies and discouraging our enemies!

It is not surprising that the destruction of Louvain lias aroused the indignation of the civilised world. Such an act of. unbridled savagery is. unexampled in. modern history. Napoleon at his "worst wouldnot have permitted such barbarous conduct." In. bygone days invading armies sometimes destroyed everything that came in their way, but wanton destruction is now prohibited by the laws of civilised warfare. An authority on international law tells us that "nearly five hundred years ago Heney V of England prevented pillage, violence to peasants, and insults to women; he did not scruple to hang the Bardolphs of his army when they indulged their predatory instincts in churches and elsewhere. . . . Surely it is not too much to ask that, if war must still exist as the last resort of nations, it shall be purged of all unnecessary oruelties, and be in fact what it is in name, a.solemn trial of strength between the public armed forces of the combatants.'' That the armies of a civilised State, with the knowledge, and at the instigation of. their leaders, should destroy historic buildings and works of art In an outburst of revenge and wantonness is a crime against humanity, second only to the merciless • Shooting of women arid children.

The news of the capture of Samoa: will be • received with great satisfaction throughout New Zealand. The seizure of this German possession in the Pacific is important from an Imperial point of view, and it is peculiarly gratifying to New Zealand, inasmuch, as a detachment of our own troops formed the main body of the expedition which has hoisted the British flagon the island. The Pacific possessions- of Germany are not of great commercial value, but they have, considerable strategic, importance, and some of them lie s'o close to Australia! and New-Zealand that they have alwaj's been regarded as a menace. For some years past Germany has been endeavouring to increase her strength in this part of the world, and these islands are very useful as coaling stations for her warships. The fact that wireless' stations have been erected at Samoa and various other German possessions in the Pacific has no doubt been taken full yadvantago of by tho enemy's cruisers during .the present war. The capture of Samoa will lessen their facilities for obtaining information and keeping in touch with each otherj and probably the Imperial authorities will tako steps to destroy or capture other German wireless installations and coaling stations. This will greatly hamper the operations of such German warships as remain in these waters, and lessen the danger to British commerce. Germany holds a large slice of New Guinea, also the Bismarck Group, tho Caroline Islands, part of the Solomon Group, and the Marshall Islands. It is to bo hoped that all these possessions will fall into BritI ish hands before the war is over. It may, at any rate, be taken for i granted that the matter has not been overlooked by. the Imperial Government. Tho Sam'oan expedition has made the-first conquest of German territory in the Pacific. .