PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2343, 28 December 1914, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The world is still waiting for the great etroko in France'or Belgium for which General Joffre is working and planning, but meantime important forward movements are reported at many points in the Western lines. In Belgium, from the eea to the River Lys (on the FrancoBelgian border), warlike operations have been suspended by a dense fog, but bclore it. settled down Bome slight forward progress had been made from the region of Niotiport, and attacks.of the enemy at other points were repulsed. From tho Lvb to the Oise, and further south the Allies have been pushing ahead, and many gains are ohronicled, petty in themselves, but important in a, , long battlefield where every, foot of advance has to be purchased by terrible toil and effort. . ■ ■ I / #/.*'# » Along the Aisne good headway has been made. After repulsing several German attacks near Berry-au-bao (E.N.E. of Soissons), the Allies advanced aad, held their ground. It is noteworthy that at this point the "German heavy artillery, was overcome by that of the Allies, and the inferiority of the German guns has again been demonstrated at various other points on. the line. ■ The silencing of tho German batteries appears J» have been an important factor in the conflict eaSt of Perthes les Hurlus (which lies about midway between Reims and Verdun), whero'the Allies now occupy the entire first line of the enemy's defences. On occasions when they were in a ppsition to_ concentrate upon individual points tho Germans brought to bear some of tho heaviest and most effective artillery yet used in-the war, but th«r field artillery has so often been mastered by the guns of ..the Allies that there can be no doubt about its relative inferiority.' ' ~ . .' ■ V, ■ ' * * ■;,* V .'■ While the Germans are being slowly but appreciably.pushed back ; >'in Northern France matters appear to be going equally well with the Allies further south. They report a slight , forward move in the Lower Vosges, and the French, it is Btated, have made Considerable progress in Upper Alsace. The rate of advance is everywhere extremely slow, but the mere fact that the enormous masses of German troops in the Western theatre'have been ■ forced to yield groundj as has so frequently happehed of late, must be; disheartening to tho soldiers of the Kaibee.- ■■#.'■#"■#■ * ' , Geaphio acqoUnts are given by ihe Daily Chronicle's correspondent at Warsaw' and others, '-of the terrific battle which has raged for days upon the Rivor Bzura, about thirty miles west of-Warsaw..,. It is clear"'that the success gained by the Germans' at this point was milch less material than earlier messages appeared to indicate. The battle is described as recalling that of the Yser ■ in its terrible slaughter. The Bzura is a river.fifty yards wide-, bordered by flat, marshy fields, in which the armies are entrenched, the Germans on the. western side and the Russians on the ,east. With flooded trenches and the marshes swept by a bleak wind, the conditions are in themselves, terribly severe apart from the horrors of tho actual fighting.

The.Germans appear to have displayed unflinching valour in their efforts to gain the eaetern bank of the Bzusa. It is no ordinary-cotfr-age that enables men to charge into icy waterj up to their armpits, in face of a devastating fire, but the Germans did it over and over again for days, and nights. Since their oharges Were mado in close formation, their lossee must have been tremendous.. They did eventually gain a footing on the eastern bank) But their dear-bought success was short-lived. On December 20 they .contrived to drag, machine guns through the river and enfilade the Russian trenches, but the. Siberians who were dislodged in, this way returned reinforced in a couple of hours and drove the invaders into the river. There the Germans paid bitter toll for their temerity'in a hand-to-hand conflict which dammed the river with corpses. ■ * * * * The battle apparently extended along the Bzura both north of Sochaczew towards the Vistula and south to the region of Skierniewice. One desperate encounter, in which the Eussians are reported to have practically annihilated a German attacking force, occurred iat the junction of the Rawka with the Bzura, ten miles south-West of Sochaczew. The net result of it all appears to be that the Germane have made an enormous expenditure of lives in vain, and that they, have been completely foiled in their, efforts to. force a passage towards Warsaw. Tho contending armies _ remain, as they wore, on opposite sides of the Bztira ( As to.the fighting in other quarters the Russians claim to have pierced tie German line on the Pilica. No details, are given., but it is by no means improbable that the ebneentrajiion of German forces in the terrible combat on the Bzura may have enabieTl the Russians to find a weak spot further south. Details of the fighting in Galiciii are but tlie Russians report a minor but decisive victory over the ' Allstriahs amongst tlio gpiirs of.the Carpathians, soinewhere in the region of Dukla. * * - * * Detailed acqoiints Of th.e battle oft the Falkland Islands, which we publish to-day, show clearly ■ that the Germans fell unsuspectingly into a trip, ' from which they made every effort to escapCj although they fought' gnllaiitly ehßiigli when they Mind I battle to he inevitable. The presence j of two ."British battle-cvuisei's, of course, made the result ti foregone i conclusion. It was presumably tho speed with'which the British ships reached their station that enablcrl them t6 outwit the Germans and free tho seas'at a, stroke of Such a formidable band of .faidofß. While there is some'.conflict-in regard'to minor details, all .the. accoullts ajJHe in stating that tK6 pretence of British the, South

The battle itself was as one-Bided an affair as the earlier conflict ■in which two British cruieer.3 were sunk off Valparaiso, but the destruction of the German ' raiders was nevertheless a daahing; enterprise, planned and executed with iplendid skill. . Precious days and weeks might easily have been wasted in fruitless searching for Admiral von Spee's squadron, and if the slightest hint of the British plans had eecaped the ships of the raiding squadron would undoubtedly have scattered, and it would then have taken a long time to hunt' them down, apart from the damage that thoy would have done in the meantime to sea-borne commerce. The celerity with which Admiral Sturdee located the enemy and delivered his stroke is a sufficient proof' that some at least of the Admirals of to-day are not lacking in the qualities which made their predecessors famous.

Judging from tho cabled summary of a speech whioh he is reported to have delivered at Monte Video, Admiral Stubdee is aa downright in speech as in action. Besides pointing out how foolish it bad been to neglect the lato Lord Roberts's advice on the subject of military preparation. Admiral Stuhdee chided English business men with having employed Germans for reasons of economy, and expressed a hope that traders .and English shipping companies had learned a lesson. There is no reason to doubt that the lesson has been -well learned.

Following upon the recent futile attempt on Dover, a German aeroplane on Christmas Day _ made _ a somewhat more enterpneing raid,, and was actually over Erith, whichis only about five miles away from Woolwich Arsenal, before pursuit by _ British aircraft and .the fire of high-" angle guns compelled it to beat a hasty retreat. Had :the raiding aeroplane reached Woolwich it might have,done some damage, but apparently it was only enabled to approach so closely to this vital point by reason of the foggy weather. This, while it enabled the intruder to approach (and ultimately to escape) woiild also to some extent have increased the difficulties of successful- bomb-dropping. Apparently also the German aeroplane approached at a very great neight. When it descended/towards the lower.level at which - effective bomb-dropping is possible it > was quickly chased, and compelled to sees safety in flight. Still, itJooks as though the Germans had determined on new activities against Britain both by eeaend by air. They may not do much damage, but they will certainly assist to wake up the Mother Country and further stimulate, recruiting;