PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2521, 23 July 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Some lively fighting is reported on the Western front, but no sensational development is disclosed at time of writing. The situation as it stands and the presumption widely entertained, that the Allies arc massing great forces for a decisive stroke, is calculated to arouse sympathy with the suggestion of a Russian newspaper that the moment may be opportune for an attack upon the Germans in the West, which, would tend to afford relief to the hard-pressed Russian armies covering Warsaw.

At tho moment no decisive development is reported on the Eastern front. The full weight and power of the German offensive directed against AVarsaw have yet to be disclosed, but indications are that though they have been compelled to give way beforo'the advancing German armies, tho Russians have consolidated their dcfenco on strong lines, and present as yet an unbroken front to the enemy.

The little news • available at the moment from the Dardanelles may be described as good. A correspondent of an English newspaper reports furious fighting in which the Allies' are slowly but surely gaining ground. Unless it overrates the importance of the engagement in progress this account- should soon be amplified in official dispatches. if * K-

A stoky coming from Ghent that German torpedo craft have passed by canal from Hoboken, on the Soheldt, to Zeebruggc, on the Belgian coast, may be either a random invention or may be circulated by the Germans wi'.h intent to deceive and to compromise Holland. In any case it is in all likelihood untrue. Running out of German ports toi'pedo craft would have to pass the British inshore blockade, maintained by submarines and destroyers, and even than woulc? have to reckon with the Dutch guardianship of the Lower Scheldt. Holland has manifested such, keen anxiety to preserve her neutrality that it may be taken for granted that her guardianship of the Scheldt is strict. On the other hand, n Germany had laid down torpedo craft at Hoboken they would no doubt have been observed long since by British airmen, who have on several occasions bombarded the place. It may be added that surface torpedo craft would be of little use to Germany at Zeebruggc, -since there would be no great difficulty in destroying them by naval, or air attack. It is not unlikely that the original message, whether true or false, related to submarines, and that it has been varied at some stage in its transmission.

The continued success of tho Italian armies operating in advance of their owji frontiers is a cheering feature in a war situation otherwise not immediately encouraging. On the Northern Alpine frontiers the Italians are no doubt still in some places _ open to attack by an enemy enjoying an advantage of position. The exact stage reached in this section of the campaign has not been clearly defined for some time past. But in the eastern (Isonzo) front which covers_ tho approach to. Istria, tho Italians appear to have gained a very definite advantage. Their progress on this front is perhaps best measured by tho fact that they are already _ damaging the inner fortifications of Gorizia, the great Austrian stronghold on the Isonzo River, which has been compared to Przemysl. South of Gorizia and to a lesser extent on the north, the Italians have thrust back the enemy and gained ground on the eastern bank of the river, Even if they pierce the Austrian line north or south of Gorizia they cannot advance far through the gap, while that place holds out, without exposing themselves to a dangerous attack in flank, but on the facts of the campaign as they are presented in recent official messages from Eome, the reduction of Gorizia should be only a matter of time. •

At any. time tho aspeot of the Italian campaign might bo transformed if Germany threw a big army into the scale, but the possibility is scarcely so disquieting now as it was when Italy was making her initial dispositions in the war. Deferences in some recent cablegrams to the prospect of German intervention have been couched in terms of exaggerated optimism for which thero is no visible warrant. It is still likely that a German invasion by way of the Trentino, if made in strong force, would be exceedingly difficult to repel. On the other hand it is probably true that Germany could not undertake . the enterprise without more or less imperilling her position in one or both of the main theatres. Italy took the field with something like a million men, and has big reserves to draw upon. She was enabled to complete and perfect her preparations while other nations were at war, and to this initial advantage must now be added the fact that she is at anyrate much more strongly posted on her northern frontiers than when the war began *** . *

Important in themselves, the continued successful exploits- of Allied airmen in bombarding railway junctions and depots behind the German Western line are still more important in the prospects they open up for the future. Possibilities of inflicting damage upon the enemy by air-attack are practically only' limited by the magnitude of the air-forco which the Allies are able to dctaoh for the purpose. As yet only limited forccs are being employed, and the French squadrons vhlc-l) bi.initi<U'<M Dqlttitw C|iullerwifw ,j.u»stion the other dew

small. A somewhat larger force | was employed in another raid reported to-day. It' may be assumed with confidence, however, that these expeditions afford no true index of the air-force at tho command of tho Allies. Months ago squadrons of thirty and forty aeroplanes were employed in raids on the Belgian coast, and the day may quite probably be near at hand when not scopes, but hundreds, of aeroplanes will attack the German lines of communication. That the available strength in aeroplanes is being rapidly built up may be inferred from Mr. Asquith's statement that the British air service is being developed and extended in every possible way under the wisest guidance. Assuming that the Allies have built up a great force of aeroplanes, _ it would be a strictly natural policy to hold it for tho most part 111 reserve meantime. Opportunity to use it with maximum effect would arise at a period of supreme tension 011 the Western front, when the enemy would instantly feel the effect of any deprivation or interruption of supplies. A successful attack by a strong fleet of aeroplanes might easily determine the outcome of the greatest conceivable battle in the Western theatre. To such an attack Germany is in some respects peculiarly exposed. For instance, disregarding the detail ramifications of her vast network of communications, her Western armies' are absolutely dependent .upon the fourteen or fifteen railway bridges over the Rhine. Over these bridges, it has been stated, some two thousand trains pass to and fro every day, keeping the Western armies supplied. _ The destruction of one of these bridges would be a serious matter for the Germans, the destruction of the whole number would expose them to disaster. And the destruction of the Rhine bridges by aerial _ bombardment is a thing well within the bounds of possibility, if only a sufficient number of aeroplanes can bo detailed for the enterprise.