PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2538, 12 August 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

News from the Dardanelles points to a big step forward in the development of the'campaign, Some striking successes have been won on the existing lines—the most notable being the capture of tlie summit of -Sari Bair by the Australians and New Zealanders—but still' more important is the announcement that a new landing has been made by the Allied forces on the Aegean coast of Turkey in Europe, north of the Isthmus of Bulair. The point of landing is_ Karaohali, a small port about 15 miles round the coast from Bulair where a narrow neck of land cdnnects the Gallipoli Peninsula with tae mainlaud. of Turkey in Europe. The possibilities of this development are s-reat. One message states, a little optimistically perhaps', that whilo Allied submarines have stopped all transport through the Sea of Marmora, General Hamilton is now threatening the only lino of communications remaining to tlhe Turks, the route by land through tho Isthmus of Bulair. This survey of the position takes no account of tho fact that the Turks in Gallipoli may still be able to obtain supplies carried by rail around the: Asiatic coast and ferried across the Dardanelles at the Narrows, but otherwise no fault can be-found with it. The submarines have undoubtedly played ha,voc with the Turkish transports in > the Sea of Marmora, and their presence makes even tho ferry passage of the Dardanelles precarious. If force is available to press the attack from the new landing the Turkish hold on Gallipoli is obviously imperilled.

The advantage of gaining a footing on the Turkish mainland and cutting the land communication with Gallipoli have at all times been obvious, and the reason that the landing was not made earlier is presumably that General Hamilton had not the necessary force available. Whatever its cause, tho delay has its compensations. A great part of the' Turkish army and of the mobile artillery at its command must by this time be massed in tho Gallipoli Peninsula. and the strength of whatever force is available on the mainland must be correspondingly reduced. Attempting to withdraw any section of. the Gallipoli gairrison the Turks would have to cope not only with the newlylanded force, but with the fire of the Fleet, which should be able to turn a destructive bombardment upon the Isthmus, of Bulair. -In addition, of course, the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli would provide a favourable opportunity for pressing the attack at the southern end of tho peninsula. To an extent these results seem to have been already realised, for the advance on tho southern line, the capture of tho summit of Sari Bair, and tho -mw landing on the mainland, must evidently be regarded as a, single set of operations, though the fighting took placo in three detached areas. As it stands,; the . situation seems to promise rapid and important developments. There would be no object in ianding a weak fovc: on the mainland, and a strong force landed there should play a big part in the conquest of the Dardanelles. Incidentally, General Hamilton's latest move indicates that the. Allies are fairly confident of the continued neutrality, or friendship, ct Bulgaria, and it is just possible that a satisfactory understanding with that country has had something to do with the selection of . a date for the landing at Karaohali. In the contrary event of Bulgaria throwing in her lot with Turkey, only a very strong Allied force could make good its footing in the new fighting area.

The capture of Sari Bair by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps is a great ac-hicvemcnt, and doubtless a gallant story will be unfolded when fuller reports arrive. The hill is one of the highest in Gallipoli. Its summit is 974 feet above sca-level, and lies about two miles from the coast at the northern end of the position occupicd by the colonial troops on the western side of tho Peninsula. A Turkish, report, otherwise a remarkably imaginative production, is possibly accurato in stating that tho advanco of the colonial troops was in part accomplished by a Ifuidinß ftt * mere north' eHxjioiai tfe" l tW. had areviously.

occupicd. On the southern line the advanco appears to have been general over a distance of some hundreds of yards. ; if * *

The report that an Allied submarine was sunk near Bulair by a Turkish aeroplane is probably untrue. It is no easy matter for an aeroplane to sink a submarine. That the British craft attacked on this occasion sank is likely enough, but it does not follow that she . was damaged.

Though events at the Dardanelles and elsewhere have tended to capture attention durine the last day or two, the tension of the main Russian campaign has in no way relaxed, but is rather being intensified. Some progress is claimed by the enemy in Southern Poland, east of the Vistula, but it is still in the northern area, cast and north of East Prussia, that the Germans are developing and delivering their heaviest attacks. Perhaps the most disquieting item of news to-day is. an unofficial message from Petrograd stating that the Russians are contemplating . a withdrawal from Vilna. This pl-aoe is on the Petro-grad-Warsaw railway, a hundred miles east of tho East Prussian frontier. It is menaced by enemy forces developing, an attack in a southeasterly direction from the Baltic Provinces, and by other forces which are heavily assaulting the fortress of Kovno, half-way to Vilna, on the direct eastward approach from the East Prussian frontier. Vilna is an important junction, and its possession would give tho enemy a commanding position on the' Russian railways at the northern end of what has hitherto been the main, fighting area. As yet, however, Vilna :is secure. At Kovno. the Russians have withstood a withering assault, pressed by the Germans ,in grea.t force. In the Baltic Provinces also tho enemy appear for the time to be hold in check in the land operations, and later reports of the Gorman naval attack on the Gulf of Riga indicate that the German cruiser and two destroyers reported damaged by mines were sunk.

On the Narew front,'' north and east of Warsaw, the outer crust of the E.ussian defence appears to havo been broken. The Germans report that one fortress, L'om'za, is in their hands, and if this is so they are in a fair way to master an important cluster of railways a,nd roads. There are still defensive lines to be penetrated, however, including that of the River Bug, and these the Russians aro evidently defending with determination. While they are undoubtedly putting up a splendid fight, it cannot'be said that the prospects of the Russians in the immediate future.are good.. The most'hopeful possibility in sight is that in their present strategy there is an element of drawing the enemy on, based on knowledge that a great offensive will shortly open in the West whioh will bo likely to throw the German Eastern campaign into disarray and more likely to do it the more ambitiously the Germans have developed their invasion.

Allied reports tell of no important change in the Western front, but the statement made, by the Germans that they have destroyed, tho new bridge at Damerkiroh, if it is true, means a serious loss. Tho bridge in question is' a great viaduct, on the railway into Southern Alsace, which has been rebuilt by the French since it was destroyed earlier in the war. * * * *

The Zeppelin attack on England reported to-day is in a different category to the or more which have preceded it, inasmuch as it has afforded' evidence that tho British defences against air attack are a real force to he reckoned with. Some time ago it was reported that a Zoppelin, after dropping bombs in England, had been pursued across tho Channel and brought to earth at Cape' Gris Nez, west of Dunkii'k, but tho matter was never satisfactorily cleared up and the facts remain in doubt. There is no suoh doubt about the raid of Monday night. The Admiralty report explicitly states that one unit of the airship squadron was seriously damaged by gun-fire,- and that it was subsequently destroyed on the Belgian coast by aircraft from Dunkirk. In their past raids, including that on London at the end of May tho big airships made themselves practically immune from counter-attack by flying at a. very great height—something like nine or ten thousand feet, From the facts it would appear that on Monday night they flew at a lower altitude, and so presented an easier target, or else flhait the British anti-airoraft artillery and otter defonces developed unsuspected efficiency. It is possible that the full importance oi this last encounter between the airships and tho land defences has not yet been made apparent. The position disclosed is at all events satisfactory, whether tho attacking airships adhered to tho same cautious tactics as they have hitherto observed or resorted to bolder tactics in a 'determined' attempt to do more serious damage than they have done in the past. In either case the efhcienoy of the land defences has been proved. It is true that, the only harm dono to the enemy in the immediate encounter on the liinglislli coast was the damaging of one Zeppelin by, gun-fire but against this the Admiralty report states that, apart from the killing of several civilians, the damage done by. tho airship bombs was immaterial.

, Naturally enough very little light is thrown upon the. nature of the British defences against air attack, but it is shown that aeroplanes, flying in the darkness, formed one element in the dcfence. It is. an interesting point that the airships, when they were pursued, made for the Belgian coast,, and so came within range of tho aviation camp at Dunkirk, instead of pursuing a more northerly course and landing behind tho fortifications of the German coast. The danger from Dunkirk was well known, for it was from this place that the late Lieutenant Warneford sallied out to attack tho Zeppelin which he. chased inland from the Belgian coast and destroyed, single-ha-nded, near Ghent. Much has been said, of late, about improvements effected in Zeppelins but that a squadron of these vessels', after tho lesson taught by Lieutenant Waiineford's exploit, should continue to use bases in Belgium rather suggests. that improvements in isome dcta/ils havo been purchased at tho cost of a reduction in cffcctivc .range. Certainly Zeppelins returning from England would be exposed to less serious risks if they made the longer journey across the North Sea to a German base, and it is difheult to imagine why they should use a Belgian base, and so be i compelled to pniis within cuey htmiiiK distance of Dunkirk, unless for wis reason

that under existing conditions effective fighting trim, as regulated by the carriage of. fuel and explosives, and other factors, is incompatible with the more extended journey. * * * *

Though reports leave the matter in somo doubt it is likely that the ] Zeppelin brought down at Ostend was destroyed by a bomb dropped from above in the same fashion as the one which Lieutenant Warneford sent to earth at Ghent. In her orippled state the Ostend Zeppelin would be unable to rise rapidly to a maximum altitude which is the best defence available to an airship attacked in this way. An uninjured Zeppelin is capable of ascending vertically at a speed '.of 34 miles au _ hour, though they do it at some risk to the structure of their metal framework. ' An aeroplane, though much faster in horizontal flight, cannot rise at anything like tho same speed because it has to . ascend in spirals. While much that concerns the Zeppelins remains veiled in secrecy it will perhaps prove that their latest excursion has done more to expose their limitations than ■ even Lieutenant Warneford's great achievement. It is interesting now to recall that some months ago Count Zeppelin mado a statement, through his secretary, in the course of whioh he spoke of new types of. dirigibles having been perfected, and also remarked :

"We shall attocte London with two equadrons of five dirigibles, regardless of possible losses. But we don't expect to undertake this great aerial attack till all tho cew: units are Teady. That will be about August."- .

If the attack now reported is the ono Oount Zeppelin foretold it has turned out a fiasco. If it was merely another of the ca.utious preliminary raids on England, in the course of which the Zeppelins have dropped something like a thousand bombs, in a rather haphazard _ way and without achieving any military purpose, the efficiency of the_ British defcnocs has still been pointedly demonstrated. It is obvious that the Zeppelins can expect to do moro serious damage than they have done in the past only by taking greater risks.