PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2621, 17 November 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Forcibly as he stated his case and made his points, Mr. Winston Churchill's justification of his action in connection with the Dardanelles campaign cannot be regarded as the last word on the subject, and it must be added that he has dragged into the controversial arena matters which would have been better left alone for the time being. It cannot on any ground be regarded as desirable that a retiring Minister should indulge in an analysis of initial failures m a campaign of which the issue as yet remains undecided, and that is what Mr. Churchill's speech resolves itself into. At the utmost Mr. Churchill could, hope for nothing more than to make his own position clear, anjl even this is impossible meanwhile, if only for the reason that his attacks upon one or two of his late associates are not likely to bo answered_ for some time to come. It is only fair to assume that there is -something to be said on the other side, and much remains to be revealed also on the subject of disposable force at different'periods of the campaign. It is possible that full information under this head might contain tho answer to what Mr. Churchill has said in criticism of Lord Kitchener. At all events the broad merits of the questions with which Mr. Churchill set himself to deal are not to be resolved on any narrow 'ground of personal justification, and the final impression left by Mn. Churchill's speech of justification is that it is tho sort of thing that would-havo .been- better postponed until after tho

So far as the dispute between Lord Fisher and Mr. Churchill is concerned, the )iublic. is left in the position of having tho story told from ono point of view only. In effect Mr. Churchill accuses Lord Fisher of having taken up a hikewarm attitude in reference to the Dardanelles enterprise, instead of giving tho firm advice and guidanco to bo expected of tlie First Bear Lord,

Lord Fisher, he says, deprecated reducing the margin of naval strength in Home waters, but never criticised the method of attack at tho Dardanelles and assented to the operations undertaken. Mr. Churchill's later remark that Lord Fisher refused to order the resumption of tho purely naval attack upon the Dardanelles in the period between March 18 (after ships had been lost by mines) and April 15, is also cast ill the form of an accusation, but the question raised is one of naval strategy which it obviously lay in Lord Fisher's province, and not in that of Mr. Churchill, to determine. Th'is deepens the impression that the late First Lord has paraded matters which would have been much better left alone. Exposing weaknesses of this nature in the past conduct of tho Dardanelles operations to the gaze of tho world, and incidentally to that of the enemy, may do some harm and cannot do any good, and the controversy, as a controversy, will only be satisfactorily settled when the end of the war removes the necessity for leticence and permits the disclosure of the full facts.

Mr. Churchill's: contention that a vigorous prosecution of the campaign during the summer months and an attack like that of Neuve Chapelle would have achieved victory at the Dardanelles, is not new. The opinion seems to be fairly general that against a sufficiently powerful artillery train the defences of the Narrows would have' proved no more impregnable than the numerous fortresses which have fallen in Eastern and Western Europe. It does not follow, however, that the failure to array an overwhelming strength in artillery against the Turkish strongholds involves any lack of enterprise on the part of tho authorities controlling the Anglo-French campaign. The more obvious explanation is that tho necessary guns and munitions were not available. As Mr. Churchill himself remarks, shortage of munitions has governed the 1915 campaign, and the fact has had its bearing upon the operations at Gallipoli. Recently there have been encouraging and very positive indications that the general shortage of munitions has been made good, not only in tho ease of tho Western Allies, but to some extent in Russia as well, and though tho process of recovery in the main theatres may be gradual, it is possible that the increasing strength of the Allies may tell more speedily, if not in Gallipoli, in tho Balkan operations, which have an immediate relation to tho direct attack upon the Dardanelles.

There is a promise of developments in the news that the AngloFrench army in Southern Serbia is in violent action on the left bank of the Cerna. Mention _of this stream and other details in the reports indicate that the- Allies are fighting on a line extending east and west, about 35 miles north of the Serbo-Greek frontier. As yet no more is claimed than that Bulgarian attacks have been defeated, but all available information supports an opinion that the Allies are now making a determined effort to thrust back the enemy and establish a firm defence in the fragment of Serbia remaining in their hands. Apart from the blazo. of fighting in the south the situation is dimly pictured. An Austrian communique reports that the Bulgarians have captured 8500 prisoners and 12 guns, while a Rome message declares that the Serbians have saved all their artillery and locomotives and are holding sufficient munitions to enable them to undertake a great offensive, presumably when the Allies strike their blow in the south. These assurances arc obviously in some respects exaggerated, but there is no reason to doubt that tho Serbs are continuing. th 9 struggle indomitably, and in good heart, though the greater part of their country is now over-run by the enemy. There is no confirmation cf yesterday's report that the Austro- ■ Germans have lately reinforced the Bulgarians in Southern Serbia, and it may have gone somewhat ahead of the facts," but whatever the balance of force may be there is little doubt that the struggle has now entered a decisive phase.

Details of the reception of tlie Gorman mission in Greece are not very hopeful as an indication of the attitude of the Greek Government, but it is possible that the story in which these details arc presented is based largely upon imagination. It seems most unlikely that German • military officers would have been allowed to ob'sorvo the AngloFrench landing operations with the freedom said to have been accorded to the members of the ' mission, and doubt as to this detail would cast some doubt upon the accuracy of the story as a. whole. In any case, it seems plain that in their Near Eastern affairs the Entente Powers are now depending mainly on naval nnd military force, and that they are prepared if necessary to take strong measures with Grccce.

Continued quiet is still reported at Gallipoli, and a French enmmuivique states that no important action has been fought since November 1, though there has been some intermittent activity by the Turkish artillery and infantry. British monitors continue their bombardment, and have evidently become an established _ unit in the attacking forces, despite the disabilities of winter weather. Carrying guns as powerful as any battleship, except the very latest super-Dreadnoughts, the monitors will add very materially to the'security of the forces on the Peninsula if-they are under the necessity,, as seems rather likely, of settling down to a protracted defence of the positions they have won and hold- I

Predictions of an early and vigorous development of the Russian offensive in the Baltic Provinces are supplemented by reports that the Germans are emptying their advanced depots of munitions and stores as if in preparation for a retreat. That the. Russians may to some extent develop the advantage thev have gained west of Riga is not at <ill unlikely, but an attempt to completely roll back the invasion of the Baltic Provinces probably demands less immediate attention than operations in Southern Russia and Galicia, and perhaps in tlio Balkans, though Russian participation (other' than naval) in the latter campaign is as yet only a subject of rumour.

Reports from the West tell of the defeat of German attacks in the Champagne, and generallv of an increasing intensity in the neverceasing artillery bombardment which may perhaps portend another ai'eat battle.