PROGRESS OP THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2455, 7 May 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OP THE WAR

These is little news of operations at the , Dardanelles, but long casualty lists bear eloquent testimony to the intensity of the fighting in which New Zcalanders and other soldiers of the Empire are there engaged. Our troops have suffered severely, but against tho losses and the grief which rests upon many homes in New Zealand to-day, there is to be set the proud knowledge that the New Zcalanders at the Dardanelles have carried tho name of their country high. As yet the story of the'ir deeds is fragmentary ancl incomplete, but enough has .been told to show that tliey have borne themselves,in a series of desperate battles with spirit and courage that no corps of veterans could have surpassed. A stirring, story is told of the fashion in which they stormed a series of ridges, at their landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and drove tho Turks in panic rout before thein. The Turks as soldiers are not prone to fear and their rout is a sufficient proof that the New Zcalanders, if they have suffered, ha-vo proved themselves terrible in war.

Much of the war news , to-day goes to support a conclusion that the Germans during the last few days have been guilty of gross exaggeration in their description of events in both the main, theatres. Particularly in regard to the Anglo-British front in Flanders, and the Russian front in Western Galicia, they have lately laid claim to sweeping successes which British, French, and Russian official reports prove to Iw in the main imaginary. German accounts, for example, point to a general retreat on the short but important front east of Ypres, whereas Sir John French, while frankly admitting minor losses of ground, is able to report a normal situation along the whole front. "Normal situation" in this connection means that the Yser lino is generally intact and firmly held, and the Com-mandor-in-Ohief's dispatch can only be read as a flat' contradiction of German claims. As regards Western Galicia the Germans assert that they, have so broken the Russian front as to compel a retreat some twenty odd miles, which would be likely to involve the loss of the Dukla Pass. Russian reports dealing with this fighting area in specific terms and admitting some vicissitudes in the great battle fought during the last day or two —it may still be under fray—show that the West Galician front is generally intact. Similar remarks apply to German and Russian reports concerning the battler front in the Carpathians. It is not to be claimed that Allied reports are invariably complete and accurate in every detail—no doubt they sometimes understate facts or pass them over in silence—but a dispassionate 6urvey of to-day's cablegrams will convince most people that during the last few days the Germans have Deen lying magnificently, _ with an object. The matter is discussed in an earlied article, but as to the object, a plausible suggestion has been advanced by military critics in London, that Glermany is bent upon influencing Italy and other wavering neutral countries, ijow of necessity approaching a decision upon the momentous question of peace or war

* * Evidently the German stroke against the Russians in Western Galicia is being made upon a scale not inferior to the earlier efforts to In-oak a way to Warsaw. Across Galicia, from the Vistula to the Carpathians west of the Dukla Pass, the front has a length of about seventy miles, and the battle extends into Southern Poland along the River Nida. Reports indicate that- the Germans are making massed attacks at many points along the'line and the forces engaged must be enormous. As yeUhe issue hangs in doubt. Not much importance need ho attached 1.0 the fact, admitted by the Russians, that the Germans at some points have raptured river crossings and penetrated the Russian first line of defence. Similar incidents marked the tremendous conflicts along the fiver lines west ul Wawaw, but

though on these occasions the Russian line was shaken and bent, it proved tough and impenetrable against every effort that the Germans could put forth. As yet there is no evidence that the Russians are in, any worse case in Western Galicia. For them tho battle resolves itself mainly, \nto a defence of the flank of their offensive lino along the. Carpathians, and so far as can be judged from the names of localities in which the tide of battle has ebbed and flowed, the mountain lino running east, from a point west of the Dukla Pass is still secure.

It is only to be expected that the Germans will press the attack with unsparing vigour, for they are engaged iu a furious effort to so cripple tho Russian offensive campaign as to gain a temporary breathingspace in tho Eastern theatre that would enable them to concentrate the bulk of their reserves against tho gathering menace in the West. German failure in Western Galicia will almost certainly be speedily followed by a Russian invasion of Hungary, and having driven.home their attack in that quarter and secured their flank, the Russians will be free to concentrate undividedly upon the investment of Cracow and tho invasion of Silesia. This is precisely what the Germans have been fighting, to avert throughout their Eastern campaign, and now they may becxpected to fight more desperately, than ever. At the same timo their prospects do not look very bright in any case. Even a great victory in Western, Galicia would probably confer upon them no such commanding position as would have rewarded success in the offensive against Warsaw. It might, for tho time, arrest the Russian invasion of Hungary, but the Russians have a masterful on the mountain line aijd should be able at worst to contest Galicia step by step. Retreating in Galicia their position in Poland would, of course, be weakened, but tho Germans could reap the benefit only by pouring troops into that section of the theatre also. As matters stand it seems that the Germans can stave off an assault upon their Silcsian frontier only at the cost of an extended campaign in Poland and Galicia which will impose a, further enormous drain upon their heavily-taxed resources. However matters may turn in Western Galicia,in tho immediate future this increasing drain upon German resources seems inevitable and it must needs by very helpful to the Allies on the opposite front.

Meantime it is far from certain, perhaps not even likely, that the Germans will be permitted to adopt the alternative of a new offensive into Poland and Galicia. Since the war opened, the Russians have often been. compelled to retire over long distances. On the other hand, though hampered by inferior communications and usually by a very serious inferiority in artillery, they have, frequently defended selected positions, such as they now hold in Southern Poland and Western Galicia, with inflexible courage and determination. While many factors remain unknown, a great deal of faith may safely bo reposed in the dogged pluck and staying power of 'the Russian soldier. The latest news of the battle is that the Germans are bringing up enormous strength in artillery and reinforcements, and have in places forced the Russians back to their second line, but that the enemy in their massed formations have suffered terrible losses. Under exactly similar circumstances the Russians fought and triumphed west of Warsaw and they may very well do so again in Western Galicia.

There are suggestive indications that German concentration in tho great battle in Western Galicia has been accompanicd by a decided weakening in Austro-German efforts to turn the Russian flank at the eastern end of the mountain front. Lately the enemy has been attempting to strike north from the mountains about 30 miles east of the Uszok Pass, but to-day a Russian victory is reported on tie mountain line 20 miles further east. The pre-sumption-is that the Russians, while defending their foothold in the West, are extending their grip upon the mountain line to the east. It is quite certain that the enemy would not have selected a new point of attack further east, save under dire compulsion, for they are thus much more distant from their objective—■ the railways from Lemberg and Przemysl which supply the Russian Carpathian Armies.

In Flanders the situation i 6 as tense as ever, but with one exception news of actual developments is satisfactory. The exception is a more or less successful German assault upon Hill 60, the important position a couple of miles south-east of Ypres which was recently mined and captured by the British. The exact measure of the Germans' success is not disclosed, but Sir John French states that they have gained a footing, presumably on the hill. The so-called hill is a mere mound of' limited size, but in view of the emphasis laid upon its strategical importance, its partia.l loss cannot 1)6 regarded with indifference. This untoward event apart, official news of the situation • on the Yser front is distinctly encouraging. North of Ypres, where they were forced back to the Yser Canal, tho French have recovered something like a thousand yards of ground, and a recent German assault east of Ypres is contemptuously described by Sir John French as feeble. Continued ' indications are given ' that the Germans are likely to shortly renew their offensive upon an augmented scale, but when they do (apart from the somewhat indefinite position as regards Hill 60) they will have to begin again practically at the point from which they started two weeks ago. Since the initial fury of the assault died down the Allies have lost a little ground, but the losses appear to have been confined to areas well in advance of the Yser Canal. Further north, where the German attack reached the Canal, the Allies bave gained ground and it is reasonable to suppose that the essential defensive line is as strong as ever.

A STATEMENT bv "Eye-Witness" that there- is no reason to suppose that German attacks with poisonous gas will continue in the future seems to be rather premature in view of the simultaneous news that the Germans have again, and with some success, used this criminal method of attack at Hill CO. Probably this is a case in which the original dispatch has suffered in the process of condensation for cabling. The general direction of "Eye-Witness's" commentary is plain enough—not that, the Germans are likely to willingly desist from the use of poisonous'gas, but that the use of this jUjent act likely, to be a, dotemin-

ing factor in the war or to transfer the initiative from the Allies to the Germans. This seems quite reasonable. From thj facts made public it appears that poisonous gas ean bs used only when there is time for preparation and of course a favourable wind is essential, except when poi-son-bombs are employed. Moreover, the Germans charging in the wake of the gas can take only the same precautions against its effects as are available to the party attacked. Poisonous gas has undoubtedly proved a potent weapon in attacks upon a stationary front, but there is no reason to suppose that it would avail against a concentrated assault such as the Allies have directed successfully at a- number of German positions. The case of Hill 60 is peculiar because of its limited area,. A few days ago it was reported that German and British trenches at the base of the hill were only 20 yards apart.