PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2450, 1 May 1915, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

At tho moment of writing no details ha,ve been supplied of tho land battle at the Dardanelles, in which New Zealanders and Australians, along with other Imperial troops, achieved distinction. The omission is strange, since the events iu which the oversea contingents played a gallant part must bo at the least several days old, and possibly occurred a week' ago. Moreover, no, such close secrecy is being observed regarding naval operations in the same theatre. A correspondent of the ■Daily Ghronidc supplies to-day a stirring description of a groat fleet bombardment of the forts, which began on Sunday _ last, and continued unbrokenly until Monday evening, when the Allies had firmly established themselves in tho too of the Gallipoli Peninsula, as reported yesterday. Why the censorship which has allowed these facts to come through should withhold the loading details of tho battle in which the New Zealand ond Aubl'Wl.lUvi troopn r,ngaged is somstniag oi a mystery. As

yet' there is nothing to show whether the _ New Zealanders - fought their initial battle at the end of the Gallipoli Peninsula, in the early days of the week, or at Suvla Bay, where, according to a Greek report, a- great battle was fought on Wednesday, in which heavy losses were inflicted on the Turks. * * * # The story of the Chronicle's correspondent makes it evident that the naval bombardment which covered the landing of the troops was splendidly effective, and completely overwhelmed the forts and the mobile batteries which the Turks also brought into action. Apparently the whole force of the Allied Fleet was brought *nto play, the _ magnificent Queen Elizabeth standing off and battering the forts at long range, ■ while her consorts engaged the forts and batteries closer inshore. The immediate object was a final clearance of the defences on either side of the entrance, in areas now held by the Allied troops, but as the bombardment proceeded by day and night the ships directed their fire at batteries higher up the strait. Ample proof is given that the bombardment was tremendous in Volume, and devastating in its accuracy and power. Some of the ships fired twenty heavy shells to the minute, and veVy few of them seem to have been thrown away. Such details as the bodily removal of great masseg of masonry from the iurkish forts_ may be readily credited when it is remembered that the 15-inoh guns carried by the Queen iilizabeth discharge a shell of nearly a ton in weight, jp * * * * To a period of definite, though skeletonised, news of the battle along the Yser Canal, in Flanders, there has succeeded one of some doubt and uncertainty. As to the actual contact of the contending armies, the official reports (which alone can bo accepted with confidence) show that a comparative lull obtains. Artillery bombardments are still of constant occurrence here and there along the line, but the Germans are no longer throwing their columns against . the Allied trenches in a tremendous effort to hew a road to the coast. The French and Belgians are reported to be winning back some of the ground lost on the narrow front where the Germans thrust them back to the Canal, and the British appear to be standing fast on their lines east and north of Yprej. It is difficult to believe that this state of affairs is likely to continue for any length of time, for this would involve an opinion that the German menace, so far as "the Allied'liue in, Flanders is concerned, has already withered into insignificance.

It is much more probable that the present period of comparative quietude represents a breathingspace between two phases of the mighty conflict and that the Germans, heartened by the limited success they have already gained, are maturing their preparations for another great offensive stroke. It is true that some of the messages - received to-day directly contest this view, but thoy are essentially speculative in character and internal evidence indicates that they are not based upon any definite information. The one fact ' which. stands out clearly from, a mass of uncertainty, compounded of unknown, or vaguely known, factors, is that it. is vital to Germany to break through the Allied line and that she has manifested a very definite inclination to attempt the achievement- of this vital object by_ a concentrated assault on that section, of the line which runs through .Flanders. This is a positive indication in a situation otherwise charged with doubt and uncertainty, and in itself goes far to justify -a belief that stories of German reinforcements pouring into Belgium are not idle tales, but point to momentous action. : ** ' * It is suggested by one writer whose opinion is cited to-day (the military critic of the Paris Journal des Debats) that the German stroke against the Yser line was a' feint, intended to cover a more violent and dangerous effort elsewhere. Until convincing evidence is advanced in support of this hypothesis it must be received with considerable doubt, for, as has been said, there is some very positive evidence which goes to support an opposite view. The magnitude of the assault upon the Yser line appears in itself to preclude the idea that it was a mero feint and to that may be added that a feint best serves its _ purpose within a comparatively limited period. The object of a feint in Flanders would be to compel a hasty concentration of defending troops in that region, calculated to weaken' the Allied line elsewhere, and the natural corollary to such a- feint would be' an early and, more powerful assault against some other section of th« Allied front. Days have passed since the German assault on the Yser line reached its culmination, but as y# 1 no attack, even upon an equal scale of magnitude, has been reported at any other'point. There have been attacks, in considerable force, but none of them have been presses with the same fury and determination as tho assault on the Yser line.

# * * * *. As to the magnitude of this great effort of the Germans, detailed evidence is still wanting, but there is a general agreement in all the messages on the subject that the battle was one of the most fiercely contested of the whole war, and that the losses on both sides were, in proportion. One corresp'ondent declares to-day that the losses of the Allies have already exceeded those in any action since the war began, and that the enemy suffered still more ' heavily. This is in keeping with other statements of different origin. # * * * It is suggested by the Paris correspondent of The Times that German attacks in the region east and south-east of Verdun, where the Frcnch hold positions menacing the frontier of Lorraine, may equally deserve attention with tho intense, struggle which has lately raged in Flanders. There can bo no doubt that this region represents a possible starting point of an Allied invasion of Germany, but it docs not follow that the Germans are likely to concentrate here their remaining offensive power. It must be supposed that tho task of breaching the Allied line would be quite as costly and difficult in tliis area in Flanders, and it is hardly likely that the Germans will mako the achievement their supreme object kovo. when they have the alternative of defending one of "the strongest military frontiers in the _ world—perhaps the strongest—leaving them free to concentrate their attacks elsewhere. The .Rhine and more advanced lines on this Motion of the frontier are naturally strong, bristle with fortifications, and av« served by a splendid sysloiu of strategic railways, As

regards the broad position, a wide margin must bo allowed for possibilities, but always with the proviso that there are substantial reasons for. believing that the Germans will press their grand assault in Belgium and Northern France, where they have already made a beginning. * * *' * '•. A stir of activity is reported around the_ north-eastern corner of East Prussia, and also along the southern frontier, but it docs not seem to have anywhere attained the dimensions of a great battle. The news is chiefly interesting as showing that the Russian troops fire still hovering around the frontiers of East Prussia, and that the Germans are making no serious attempt, meantime, to repeat the offensive which a couple of months ago drove the Russians back upon their fortified line in Poland. The conflict in the Carpathians is raging as fiercely as ever, but no important development is reported.