PROGRESS OP THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2464, 18 May 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OP THE WAR

Read in conjunction, the dispatches from the two main theatres of war to-day are not discouraging. In Galicia tho Russians are .still losing ground before the German advance from the west, but on the opposite front the Allied offensive continues to make headway against what is perhaps one of the strongest sections of the whole German line — from Arras north to, the frontier >1 Flanders—and in Flanders, where German massed attacks continue, not only have tho Allies maintained their line, but at one or two vital points they have definitely gained ground and strengthened their position.

Easily the best news from tho Western front' to-day is Sir John French's announcement that tho British have broken the enemy's line over the greater part of a twomile front west and north of La Bassee. It has been made manifest during the last few days that tho British force in this region has been entrusted with a supremely difficult task._ Attacking with fiery valour it made little headway in days of fighting, so murderously intense that it has shocked arid amazed even some of those to whom the unprecedented standards of this war have become commonplace. The German position is naturally strong, it is splendidly served by roads and railways, and its defenders have had ample time, by reinforcing their artillery and otherwise, to mako it even stronger in, face of the developing attack. Gained in conflict with an enemy thus fully prepared, the British victory reported to-day. must be regarded as of tho utmost importance, and a splendid tribute to the soldiers engaged. Breaking at anyrate the outer shell of the elaborate German defences ot Lille, they have once again afforded conclusive proof that they are better soldiers than their German adversaries. This was a battle in. which every advantage rested with' the Germans; posted in strong positions, they were decisively beaten. It need hot be doubted that the words of praise and commendation of his brave troops with which Sir John French concludes his dispatch were nobly earned.

The line of the British attack extended from Festubert, three miles west and a little north of La Basse'e, to Richebourg-l-Avoue, a village about two miles north-east of Festubert. .Opening their attack at midnight south of llicheboiirg-l-Avouc, tho British carried by assault two successive German breastworks on a front of 800 yards. Further south they drove the Germans from their first-line trench along a distance of 1200 yards, and then continued their advance, also extending it southward for another 600 yards. This moans that the enemy's front was broken and penetrated almost throughout tho whole distance of two miles. The British are now astride of a road running parallel with the front frbm which they set out and la Quinque Rue, mentioned in the Commander-in-Chief's dispatch, is a mithvay point on this road. From Sir John French's remark that "fighting continues iti our favour," it appears that tho attack is still making headway.

Ix its immediate aspect the British attack represents a distinct step forward in the operation of turning La Bassee from the north, just such an operation as the French lately carried to a successful conclusion against the fortified village of Oarency, further south. La Bassce and its outlying defences, of course, present a much more formidable obstacle than Oarency, but the attack is now in progress on south, west, and north, and the gallant achievement reported to-day brings the ultimate reduction of this great stronghold perceptibly nearer. Thel'e is little news of the French offensive south of La Bassce, but progress upon the southern part of the front, between that place and Arras appears to be continuous and general, though not so rapid as <it an earlier period of the assault.

Monotonous similarity in succeeding reports of the battlo ill Flanders does not hide the fact that a tense struggle, involving a huge sacrifice nf life is nrocoeclinjj Its .thai, region aimo&t wnUttuo'unlivparUculariy iB

the neighbourhood of Ypres. A lia-jjpy feature of rcceufc reports is thair suggestion that the foul weapon of poisonous gas, by means ot which the Germans gained some gl'ound in the earlier stages of the biittle, has very largely lost is efficacy, by_ reason of the counteracting devices with which the British and other Allied soldiers are now provided. Several occasions have been mentioned on which the Germans, attacking in wake of their poison clouds, were met by an enemy alert and prepared, and swept away by a murderous hail of artillery and riHo fire. In another instance the Germans were apparently more injured by the fumes than the enemy whom they had hoped to disable since their expected attack was not delivered. The explanation of this particular incident may have been a sudden failure, or change, of wind, one of the possibilities upon which those who descend to the use of asphyxiating gas have to reckon. » * * »

As regards the general position on the Flanders battle-front, the Germans claim to have gained some ground,_ north-oast of lpres, on the St. Julien-Yp'res Road, where the British lino is nearly three miles advanced from the latter town. This finds no confirmation in Allied reports, but it is not unlikely that there has been some slight give-and-take in those advanced sections of the Allied front which lie well, forward from the Yser Canal. Made in enormous strength and pressed with rcckless desperation, the German assaults have a-t times given rise to an inferno of battle in which trenches have been rapidly lost and regained, but the evidence as a whole goes_ to show that the Germans have sacrificed many thousands of lives without coming any nearer to the attainment of their object—the penetration of the Allied line. At Steonstraate, five. miles north of Ypresj the Germans have lost their foothold on the western bank of the •Canal, and a series of attacks intended to recover the position have uniformly been repulsed. At this point the French now hold the section of the village on the western bank and the bridge across the Canal. A little further south, at Het Sas, the Germans are apparently still on the western bank—their last remaining foothold on that side —but are closely invested on 'the fringe of the Canal.

German and Austrian reports point to the Russians in Galicia being very hard pressed. The Germans claim that they have occupied Jaroslav, a fortified town on the River San, 17 miles north of Przemysl, and the Austrians advance a similar claim in regard to Sambor, 25 miles south-east of Przemysl. Jaroslav is on the principal railway running east and west through Galicia, and is only sixty miles west of Lemberg. Sambor is on the railway which runs north from the Uszok Pass to join _ the main railway at Lemberg, and if it has really baen occupied hy the Austrians the Russians must have evacuated the_ strong positions on the northern side of the Carpathians at the Uszok Pass,.; which they recently declared that they still held in spite of their-reverses iurther west. This is not all. -The German communique' also declares that an Austro-German force has advanced to the vicinity of Dolina, a place twenty miles south of Stryj, and an equal distance north of the main Carpathian chain. Doliria is almost duo south of Lemberg. Accoptirig these Aiistro-Ger-man reports as accurate, Przemysl, instead of lying well behind the Hussion western line, is all. but . encircled by hostile armies; the Russians must have been dislodged from all important positions along the Carpathian range, and the lines of communication of their Eastern army, lately reported to be advancing south into Bukowina, are gravely threatened.

Plainly; if this is the position, something more is-required to explain the speed and extent of the Russian retirement than the weight and impetus of Austro-German attacks. Making every allowance for Russia's poverty in artillery and munitions, ana for her 'inferior transport facilities, the change froiii a vigorous assault on a long front in the Carpathians and an invasion well advanced in Western Galicia, to rapid evacuation of the greater part of Galicia is too sudden to be natural. The pressure of the.main Gerrnah attack evidently bore very hard upon the Russian western line, btit that the Russians simultaneously found themselves \inable to withstand the pressure of subsidiary attacks upon their strong positions along the eastern mountain front is improbable. It seems rather more likely that they are deliberately giving ground in order to adapt themselves to changed circumstances, or to fit in with a general scheme of strategy covering the struggle in France as well as in the East. Their evacuation of the western mountainline (betweeh the Dukla and Uszok Passes), from which the invasion of Hungary would have been' comparatively easy, was no doubt involuntary, but it is possible, at least, that having lost so much they have decided upon a rapid adjustment and change of policy which would be quite in keeping with the strategy that has governed their main campaign since the war began.

It is conceivable, of course, that in face of continued Russian retirement the enemy might seek to establish defensive lines and withdraw a considerable portion of his strength for service in the Western theatre. This poliay, however, might be anything but easy to carry into effect. Lightly held defensive positions, fed by long lines of communications, would not stand long before a renewed Russian offensive, and establishing defensive lines nearer to his bases of supply, the enemy would necessarily retire as vapidly as he has advanced. His choice seems to lie between continuing to press upon the Russians in heavy strength or resigning his recent conquests. Choosing the first alternative, the Anstro-Germans, contending all the while with serious transport problems, will have tolight battle after battle with an enemy whose strength may beforo long bo enormously increased by nntch-iiceded supplies of artillery and munitions From their point of view, the outlook cannot be attractive, but to the Russians it seems to offer a fair prospect of continuing the campaign on reasonably satisfactory terms. It is a matter, meantime, of waiting for confirmation of the latest AustroGermah reports, and then for some definite judication of the Russian policy. To suppose, hcswcvei', that the Russians are 111 difficulties proportioned to the rapidity of their retreat through Galicia frotild probnlily lv a grave error. It would at all events be oiiilo premature,

Moke than ordinary interest attaches to the reported destruction of a Zeppelin airship, near Ypres, by a squadron o£ British and French aeroplanes. Until it is substantiated by official reports, however, the story cannot be accepted unreservedly for in unofficial reports the. term "Zeppelin" has often been loosely applied to airships of other and less powerful types. As it stands, the story wears an air of probabilitylt is to the effect that a Zoppelin, approaching , Ypres, was attacked by a squadron of twentyseven aeroplanes a,nd destroyed, after two of the aeroplanes had been destroyed by the guns of the airship. If tho aii-snip should turn out to have been actually a Zeppelin, this will be the first recorded instance in which a contest between aeroplanes and one of the giant airships of which the Germans are so proud, has been carried to a definite conclusion. In addition it will establish the contention, often advanced, that a Zeppelin in normal circumstances, is incapable of successfully resisting the attack of a squadron of aeroplanes. Grounds of this superiority of the aeroplane, as stated by Me. H. Massac Buist, a recognised authority, are that tho aeroplane is a less easy target to hit, can tack, rise, and fall more quickly, and travels faster than tho airship. Further, king a small unit, aeroplanes can operate against giant airships in squadrons (as they have done in the engagement near Ypres).

Airships of various types carry guns, for defence against aeroplanes, in their gondolas, or cars, out the Zeppelin alone is equipped with a platform 011 which a'guu, or guns, cau be mounted, on its upper surface. According to Mr. Buist, as far as information goes concerning the effect of fire from quick-fir-ing guns mounted on platforms above Zeppelins,' and using blank cartridge, previous t<> the war, it appears that the result is injurious to the gas bag. Such risk, however, would havc_ to be taken in war. That tho airship successfully attacked near Ypres carried guns does not necessarily mean that it was a Zeppelin, but the destruction of two unite of the attacking.squadron affords suggestive evidence on the point. It is reasonable to assume that the shots which did the damage were fired from the upper surface of the airship (which would mean that it was a Zeppelin), because the aeroplanes would be under no necessity of exposing themselves to fire from guns carried in the airship's car, cxeepfc at extreme range.

Late reports from the Dardanelles are confined to one or two messages describing detail, aspects of the campaign without giving any definite indication of the progress made. A dispatch from Mr. Martin Donohoe affords some idea of the obstacles which the Imperial and colonial troops are called upon to overcome; alul incidentally siloes that the Turks, under their Gentian officers, are proving themselves basely treacherous enemies.