PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2632, 1 December 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Practical-and very gratifying recognition of the fashion in which tho commanders of tho Now Zealand Forccs in the field have acquitted themselves in a very trying campaign is to bo found in the readjustment of commands at Gallipoli, officially announced to-day. Tho promotion of Sir Alexander Godley to the command of the Australian and Now Zealand Army Corps is particularly notabk, ih viaw rS tho f ucfc that i a wj.or proportion o£ its strength

consists of Australian troops. A New Zealand officer, Brigadier-General Sir A. H. Russell, succeeds to the divisional command vacated by Sir Alexander Godley. The history of tho "Anzac" Corps is glorious, though brief, and the promotion conferred upon Sir Alexander Godley and Sir A. 13. Russell furnishes all necessary proof that they have displayed special qualities of leadership. Such promotion constitutes a high distinction, creditable alike to the officers by whom it has been earned and to tho soldiers with whom their lot has been cast. .

Satisfaction will be felt also at the announcement that General Birdwood has been appointed to the main command at the Dardanelles. His reputation as a ntratcgist and tactician is high, and he has the great gift also of winning tho personal regard and respect of tho soldiers under his command—a fact attested in many letters from the front. t « * »

Contrary to some expectations formed when Lord Kitchener's mission to the Near East was announced, it has been of brief duration. After visiting Italy and-the Italian front he is now on his way home and has reached Paris. It is possible, o? course, that he may contemplate returning to the Near East after conferring with the Imperial Government, out there is likely to be a call for his presence upon the International War Committee, which will exercise increasingly important functions as time goes on and the Allies perfect their measures for co-ordin-atcd action. In any case there is much reason for satisfaction in the fact that Lord Kitchener has brought personal observation to bear upon the existing complex problems in the Near East, and it may be taken for granted that, his masterful hand will set its mark upon developments in this region in tho near future. t n » * Though no sensational development is reported at tims of writing, news from the main and Italian fronts is on tha whole satisfactory. An exception is to be noted in Austrian reports that repeated Italian assaults on the Gorizia bridgehead have been repulsed, but the Italian version is not stated at time of writing. On the Western front a stir of local battles and aerial raids is reported, the latter • including successful attacks by squadrons of aircraft on an enemy aerodrome and an ammunition factory. There is official news also ol the destruction by a British airman of an enemy submarine *at Middlekerke. The feat, though rare, is not unprecedented, but in this instance the submarine was seen tt> break completely in half. No better proof coulcl be desired that much more powerful bombs are now being used in aerial attacks than were formerly available, and that the offensive power of the aeroplane .is correspondingly increased. The Russians record important successes both in the Baltic Provinces and in Southern Russia, but c

greater intcre'st attaches ■to the report of a successful raid in the Pinsk region, which penetrated to a German divisional headquarters and resulted in the capture of two generals. This, no doubt, was a rapid cavalry dash, and it represents a form of warfare which should be much in evidence in the Eastern front during the winter campaign, and in which the Russians may be expected to excel. ' .

At a surface view matters are not going over well in the Balkans. Snow has put a stop to .operations on the Allied front in South-eastern Serbia, and meantime the Bulgarians are said to be again marohing on Monastir, further west.- The threat to Monastir is intensified by the news that portion of the Serbian army has been compelled to retreat to El Basan, which is in Central Albania; almost due west of Monastir. If these reports were accepted as accurately indicating the position reached the immediate outlook could only be regarded as ominous. Capturing. Monastir and sweeping into Albania to ihe west, the enemy would bo .established in a commanding position along the Greek frontiers, and although' the latest available news concerning current negotiations between Greece and the Entente is generally favourable in tone, such a prospect is not to be regarded with equanimity. It is almost impossible to believe, however, that the campaign is really developing as unfavourably as the news of the moment implies. Monastir has been threatened before, but to the present has been kept out of the enemy's hands, and it is hardly likely that the enemy is now being allowed to sweep forward to the Greek frontier while the Allies in the country immediately to the east are reduced to helpless inaction. To all appearance it is vital that the enemy should be prevented from establishing effective contact with Greece, and it m'ust be supposed ' that the Allies will put forth every possible exertion to prevent his securing this advantage. It is. best to regard the news in hand as only; partly telling the story of events in Southern Serbia.

An official message which has just come in states that the Serbs are not being attacked at Monastir, and adds that the British announco that there are a number of Bulgarian deserters. The British are engaged at the opposite cxtreiiity of the southern front to Monastir, so that these items are not connected. They are vague enough, but the messages today which point ' to'less pleasant features in the campaign arc also vague. The final effect is to leave the true position more or less in doubt, the one fact clearly established being that the* Serbo-Allied army, is still fighting a defensive campaign in Southern Serbia, ahead of tho Greek frontiers.

Colour is lent to a belief that the Allies, are probably capable of holding their own meantime in Southern Serbia by the fact that they arc apparently setting very. deliberately about the task of launching a greater effort than they have yet undertaken in the Balkans. There is definite promise of a great broadening of the campaign, notably by a Russian invasion of Bulgaria, but at the samo time it is stated on apparently credible authority that Russia is not inclined to incur riskby acting with undue haste and without adequate preparation. According to the Times correspondent at' Bucharest opinions differ as to the date upon which the Russian offensive will be opened. He adds that some time may elapse botforc the troops destined for the Balkans arrive at the Danube, and that the attitude of Rumania is uncertain and will be largely influenced by the number of troops the Allies mass in the Peninsula during the next few weeks, and their attitude towards Greece. Read as it stands, this conveys the impression that Russia is only contemplating saudigg troops to % Danube, and

has not yet actually sent any. It is possible, however, that the message has £ uttered in transmission, and that ;he statement actually made by tho correspondent was that it might be seme time before the Russian Army on the Danube was raised to its full intended strength. So much is suggested by other recent news, and by a message to-day from another correspondent at Bucharest, who states that Russia has already assembled five army corps (about 200,01)0 men) on the Rumanian frontier, and is sending forward another 150,0(10 men. In the opinion of tliis correspondent it may be a month before a Russian army sets foot in Bulgaria. Russia, he says, will only operate in colossal force.

Postponement of the Russian offensive is no doubt justified on the grour.d that it is much better to strike a prepared blow in overwhelming strength than to risk 'failure by premature and less powerful action, but as a necessary oonsequence' the Allies in Southern S.erbia and what remains of the Serbian Army are left unaided for the time to bear a heavy burden. It is said that 125,000 Franco-British troops have been landed at Salonika, that 4000 are iiudhg, and that 45,000 additional

men £,re en route.' On the figures the ' runny, must still have a considerable numerical superiority, . but on the !ior hand the Allies, so long as ihsy retain a firm hold upon Greece, r.re. ir a much better position to offer a determined resistance than was the' unfortunate Serbian Army. Early in their fight for life, the Serbs were cut off from sources of supply, but all reports agree that the Allied Army is admirably equipped and abundantly supplied. A good rail■jvay.supplies'its present front, and it will have another railway behind it if :it extends its operations to the west "o cover Monastir.

*' . * 1 ft The Serbs and their Montenegrin .allies, and tie other sections of tne Soi'biim forces which are seeking refuge in Albania are meantime facing a perilous situation, but for them, as for the Anglo-Fre.nch troops holding a lino ahead of the Greek frontier, the prospect of powerful Russian cooperation brightens the "future. If the enemy attempts to stamp out the last flames of Serbian resistance in the mountains of Albania and_ Monte negio, the task of the Allies in tho south will be correspondingly lightened. It is in the south that the enemy may now be expected to direct his main efforts, but he may be impelled to attempt an extension of his invasion through Albania and Montenegro to the Adriatic, coast by an apprehension that otherwise the entry of .Russia may presently .enable the shattered remnants of the Serbian Army to emerge from its mountain -.ttrongholds and exact retribuI tion from the invaders of its territory. «

»B• » » Though some reports declare that the attitude of Rumania is still uncertain, the fact that Russia is concentrating an army, on the Rumanian frontier in preparation for an attack on Bulgaria plainly implies that a satisfactory understanding with Rumania has been reached or is in prospect. Supported as it is by testimony from many quarters, there is no reason to regard the story of the Russian concentration as a myth, and ir,s bearing upon the Rumanian attitude is practically conclusive. Further evidence on the subject is supplied in a speech by the King of Rumania at the opening of. Parliament. According to the cabled report he ;Spokc of tho duty of united efforts in defence of Rumania's interests, but he does not seem to have made any mention of neutrality, and the omission is significant. Bitter experience has exemplified the necessity and wisdom of self-reliance where action in the Balkans is concerned; and the position of the Entente. in the Balkans will only . be assured when by its-own efforts it has opposed a- superior strength to that of the enemy, but at the same time the circumstances in which Rumania is placed practically preclude the possibility of .any half-hearted decision. Granting a passage through her territory to' Russian troops, she will hvite in. full measure, the enmity of the Germanic Alliance. If stc gO'js so far—and the Russian concentration implies a confident expectation that she will—she will have excellent reasons for going further, and definitely throwing in her lot with tie Entente.

A statement that the arrival of the Tsar on the Dantibe impressed Rumania is interesting in it-self, and carries, some confirmation of reports that tie Tsar recently inspected Russian troops destined for the invasion of Bulgaria. .

The latest official news of the campaign in Mesopotamia implies' that the advance upon Bagdad is not so far advanced as reports during the last-few days have indicated. Added importance is given to the defeat lately inflicted upon the Turks by the statement that their force engaged consisted of four divisions (about; 80,000 men), but subsequent to his defeat the enemy was reinforced, and the British had to rotire positions lower down the Tigris. They seem now to be more than <10 miles distant from Bagdad. The retirement was made'in-good order, after wounded, and prisoners had been removed, but there can be no doubt that the invading force hy-s for the time been checked. One report states that in the recent battle a Turkish "battalion" was-practical-ly annihilated; another says "division."Tho latter version is doubtless Borrec;, for the battle was a hardfought one, in which the attacking force suffered considerable loss, and inflicted much heavier loss upon the enomy. Apart from other enemy losses, 1300 prisoners were taken, a number in itself exceeding the strength of a battalion.