THE WESTERN FRONT
GERMAN MOVE EXPECTED AMBITIOUS BUT DISCREDITED GENERALS ALLIES READY AND HOPEFUL.
The accompanying message from the correspondent of tie London "Morning Post," dated from the Western front, and published on December 16, is of special interest, in view of recent happenings on that part of the front to which particular reference ife made: — .In the prevalent appalling weather, conditions at the front couid not be worse. Not only are military operations hampered, but our men in the trenches arc in extreme discomfort. During the foggy period that. preceded the raiii both sides took advantage of the enforced relaxation of the constant artillery bombardment to put' their trenches into the best possible shape, and undoubtedly they 'are much improved, as compared with last winter, put it is a natural law that if. a ditch is dug in the ground it will fill with water in wet weather. The Germans have a good system in' their trenches for dealing with ; They dig series of deep pits into which the water, drains, and whence it can more conveniently bo ejected''• by..powerful pumps. _To begin by speaking of the weather is doubtless a digression, but it may be pardoned beause it is a very present subject of disagreeable interest for those at the front.
In a previous message I referred to the prospects as regards a possible recrudescence of the-German'offensive in the West, more especially as-concerns Champagne'. Since then I. have been able co study the situation from Berry au Bac to the Somme, and there'-' are distinct indications' that something of the kind may be in-contemplation. Alhougli the communiques have spoken of no outstanding action,' there has been intense activity on both sides in this ■ area, culminating in Picardy, where in the sector from Chaulries to Lassigny, having Roye for its central, pointj the fighting has been and .still continues most severe. It is not: only that the artillery fire is practically continuous-thai-is the. case", all along ;our line, save only when the weather forbids—but,the infantry is often in contact, while the mining operations: have attained in this distr-iot an intensity of effort that has not been rivalled at any other point on our line. The Last Ridges. When dealing with qur offensive movements in Champagne and' in Artois which took place . towards ' the end of September last.; I ventured ■ the suggestion that these might, not;have been meant to produce a: final and decisive break through,' as the.. time for that might not have beeiv.'fipe" at that time. Further, the long prolonged struggle . of the French ncrth of Arras, -which' culminated with the iapture of Souchez and the flanks of the'Yimy. ridge, had for its primary object,the obtaining of a footing on that- ridge', the last stronghold of the Germans before the broad of Douai. In point of fact it may be noted by reference to the map that dur advance all along the line from the North Sea to Alsace has worked us . precisely into this posture,- that we have the Germans clinging -now'.to the last ridges of.tlio defensiye.lines they took up after the battles/of.-itke Marne and the Aisnc. ... . ... - In this respect, the steady, even artil--1 lery bombardment that we-are keeping up at all. points is significant, because by the fact-that there is no special intensity in it at any particular place there ■is no means of gauging our intentions. We know that these tactics have proved extremely 'disconcerting to the enemy,' the more so as in the meantime our air fleet keeps raidiiig their lines of comnumication in the rear, rendering the rapid transference of troops more difficulty They have recently .been moving 'considerable numbers. ;b,v road, and several times the French artillery has been . able to shell columns on the march.; It is recognised also that the Germans fully appreciate the fact that their most powerful foes are the Allies ■ on this Western.,front, whose lines, they cannot shake, and of whose int-en- ' tions. :they have every reason to be aware, since-practically every day their ■ own." defences, tha't' they had boasted' , impregnable, have been wrested bit by . bit from them and are in 'a constant process of disintegration under ~ our .shell fire, even when not imder.infantry attack. 1 Indeed,! it is not too much to say'that the enemy, lias but one soundmethod of defence 16ft,-,to-him,.namely, his machine-guns, 'which are undoubtedlyl still very formidable. ' . - Abhorrent Stall Fire. The superiority of our artillery.is unquestioned. On'every hand I .obtain confirmation of an estimate said to have been-made by General French a consider- : able time back, to the effect that' one ,of our batteries- is as effective as four ;; 'of the Germans. - His'.estimate .works out i« practice. Nor' are our British gunners in any way inferior to the French iiow, superb as these undoubtedly are. The French p-re certainly still .' quicker-into'action than we are, but our guns are exceedingly accurate when they get under way. The Germans abhor our - shell fire—not that that is to be wondered at--but, . curiously enough, th?y resent it bitterly. One officer who was captured in Champagne after the preparatory bombardment, stormed and .' raved at the "barbarity" of it. He protested to the French officers who told " me of it, that this was not warfare, it was cowardly butchery. The Hun has a Btrange mental warp whoreby things that lie: permits himself —lie, the iniator of the artillery tactics of this war — become dastardly tricks .when used against him-.. A consideration which lends colour to the theory that we shall have a renowed German offensive on this front ere long is that the Generals Commanding here must bo burning to do something to bolster up their reputations. They must naturally view with envy the pub-lic-idolatry of 'Hindenburg and Mackensen, more especially Von Kluck, whose pre-war prestige wa.l sadly tarnished before Paris, and, since. Thero is 110 definite news as to where he is, ; but it is thought he is opposite to us in Picardy, | which might account for the activity no-, ticeablc round Roye. His old headquarters was Laou, and his front the Aisnc, but any activity that is being shown thero arises from the French offensive, and the Germans in that sector are mainly content to remain upon tlio defensive. The Crown Princrj- also is badly in need of a little lustre, and so it is thought likely that he, or rather his coadjutors, General von Mudra and Marshal von Maesoler, will make another attempt in the direction of Verdun, where they have so often failed. Thus the two objectives that are .thought to be the most likely would he again Paris via Picardy and Verdun via the Argonne. The Iron Defence. It' may be hoped that they do attack, because- all these efforts are undoubtedly wearing down the streuiih of the German colossus. In a fight to a. finish there is always one of : 'o adversaries whose only hope lies m a quick knock-out, whereas the other relies on stamina. This is precisely the case here. Germany has failed 10 tffecfc quick knock-out she . tried for. Th& Allies withstood the rough band.B line, and are daily growing stronger,
The more the other side beats madly against our iroii dcfence the more she is draining lier remaining strength. There is no question that the French Army is visibly a far finer fighting machine to-day than it lvas at the commencement of the war. The cadres of reservists and territorials have shaken down thoroughly into the requirements of war on this vast scale, as admittedly they were not in a position, to do on mobilisation, at all events to the same degree as Germany. Now the French Army is one harmonious organisation, and its elements have been tempered b.V hard living and a fire of patriotism, helped, it may be, to some degree by. the sober, temperate life they all lead, into a higher type of human being than they were in the lax days of peace. • •
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 13
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1,319THE WESTERN FRONT Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 13
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