PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2736, 3 April 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

, A sfBW chapter in the history of Zeppelin raids on England is opened by the news that one of the big airships has been brought down and destroyed. Tho facts are definitely attested. The raider was crippled by gunfire while flying over tho Eastern' counties, and subsequently fell in tho Thames estuary. There she sank, after her crew had been taken off by a naval patrol ship. Other airships, possibly a considerble number have Deen lost in raiding expeditions. '' For instance Zeppelin L 3 and the Schuttc Lanz L 4 the latter a- rigid airship, similar in most respects to the Zeppelin, were overcome by stress of weather after raiding the Norfolk coast, and wrecked on the coast of Denmark. On several occasions; also, Zeppelins Have been reported damaged by English gunfire, but this is tho first occasion on which one has actually been brought down without getting away from the English coast. The event is gratifying, not only for its, own sake, but ,as indicating that the efficiency of British anti-aircraft defences has been raised to an extent which will make Zeppelin raids in futureless one-sided than they havo been in the' past. • It would, of course, be possible to set down the fate of the raider as the result of a lucky shot, but the alternative theory" of a more efficient defence dops not altogether lack supporting evidence. Not many weeks ago Lord Kitchener stated that the construction of anti-aircraft artillery, was being expedited, and it is quite possible that the destruction of Lls- - a direct outcome'of the improve-' ment in anti-aircraft dsfences thus foreshadowed. ' Though she was the only one brought down, it is not certain that Lls was the only airship damaged in the- latest % raid, There seems to be some doubt to whether she or one of her consorts dropped a machine-gun- and some 'other gear found on land. s

Being numbered Lls, the -raider was a naval airship of recent con-st-ruction; certainly constructed since the war. According to one message she was about 700 feet long, but this was evidently a rough estimate, and may easily represent an exaggeration. Little is known about tho later enemy aircraft, and Llo will not add much to tho stock of knowledge on the subject unless she is fished up from,the bottom of tho s?a, bu{ if she was anything like 700 feet long she was a- great deal bigger than some comparatively recent additions to the German air fleet. L 5, for instance, a naval airship, built in 1914, was said to bo 550 feet long, with a displacement of 32 tons and a speed of 50 miles an hour. . It is as likely as not that It wait fi'Yery similar ship which received her death-blow in 'flying over the eastern counties_ of England.

A tremendous outburst of fighting is again reported on the Verdun front. Spending lives in the prodigal fashion which has become familiar, the Germans have rnado violent infantry attacks both east and west of tho Mouse. As reports go, their efforts and sacrifices have been poorly-rewarded. Their most notable achievement is the capture of the village of Malancourt, which formed a salient in the French lino at a point about six miles west of the Mouse. Between the Mouse and Malancourt the front' runs generally' oast and west. At Malancourt ii turns, or turned, sharply south by west, not for any great distance, but far enough to leave tho village in an angle with the enemy postcu\ on cither side. This was an unfavourable position from the French standpoint in case, and it is now made known in addition that tho Qorrrians held commanding ground on throe sides of the village. French official and semi-official reports agree in stating that the defence is strengthened by the retire ment of the lino behind Malancourt; The Germans, it is said, are'unable to debouch from the village, since tho positions 'from which they' launch their attacks are under enfilading fire from a hill in the hands of the French. According to the

Litest report in hand the Germans are violently bombarding the lino immediately south-weßt of Malancourt, but have made'no further progress * * * * '■- A series of heavy attacks east of tho Mouse have gained the 'enemy nothing more than a footing in tin; western portion of the village q>' Vaux, which lies north of the i'ort of that name, and about five miles cast of the river. Unless this is a more, important matter than the capture of Malancourfc appears to be, the position at Verdun cannot be regarded as greatly changed by the frenzied efforts tbe enemy has lately put forth. * * * -- » ' Fighting in the Baltic Provinces has apparently died down. In any case there is no news from that region at time of writing. Enemyattacks have been defeated by tho Russians in Southern Prussia and Galicia, but the most important news of all is that floods are still restricting operations on both sides. This means that the Germans still have a limited margin of time left in which to concentrate mainly on the Western front. Whether they can materially improve on their past efforts against Verdun is a moot point, but they clearly have a very strong incentive to strive for decisive success in the Western theatre before the return of fine weather in Russia _ introduces the war on two fronts in all its terrors. * * * # An item of news transmitted from Copenhagen has a very important bearing upon the Russian campaign. It is to effect that the ice on tho White Sea is beginning to and that the port of Archangel is expected to be open about .a fortnight hence. For Russia this should mean a notably increased tide of supplies, from America and elsewhere. During the winter supplies have been obtained by way of ' Chinese ports, which are connected with the TransSiberian line,' and considerable use has been made also of the Archangel railway by sledging goods to it from the ice-free northern por,t of Ekatorina. _ With Archangel itself open to shipping, much fuller use will, of course, be made of the railway, and it represents easily the best route for imports passing into Russia.- It is not only a shorter link with the main Russian railways than the long line through Siberia, but is doi.ble-tracked throughout, whereas the Siberian railway, for the [greater part of its length, boasts onl? a single track. -

At time of writing there is no other reference to the British forces in Mesopotamia than is' contained in an encouraging message sent by the King to General Townshend at Kut-el-Ama-ra. The Russians, howover, are making some progress towards Bagdad, from the north. They report defeating the enemy and pursuing them in a southorly direction. The battle was apparently fought In the mountains of Western Persia.. At all events the advance in which it was an incident is described as being "in the direction of Bagdad." »«* * « ' On top of an announcemenf thai the cables between Holland and England have been cut, rumours are transmitted which touch upon the possibility of Holland entering the war. ' Some of these stories have been given an authoritative denial, but tho_ final effect _of news as it stands is to leave matters somewhat open. ' The comments of the Dutch newspaper Xieuioe Courant, though it begins by saying that no immediate danger of war seems to exist, •have distinctly this effect. The Gourant speaks of the war entering a new phase, which gives Holland special cause for' anxiety, and suggests that the changed situation may be the outcome of tha Paris Conference. 'This, with the statement that an early.secret sitting of the Dutch Second Chamber is contemplated, indicates that a state of acute tension exists in Holland whatever this or that rumour may be worth. There is some talk of excitement in the Scandinavian countries .over the prospect of a still more stringent blockade of Germany, but this will hardly supply an explanation of what _is going on in Holland, more especially as it is- definitely stated that the prevailing tension is not clue to the Tubantia outrage. The alternative theory seems to >be that the _ Dutch mind is exercised over anticipated developments in the land v»ss. * * ,' * « The chief point of interest about the report that Turkey has twice within a month' .tried to induce Great Britain to negotiate a separate peace is the suggestion that only Great Britain has been approached. The members of the Entente have* pledged themselves not to conduct any separate negotiations with their enemies, but even if Turkey elected to ignore this fact she could not in the ordinary way ignoro Russia in making any peaco proposals, since it is with Russia that she is at present most heavily engaged. Yet, although the report is forwarded by the Daily Mail's correspondent at Petrograd,, it makes no mention of Turkey having approached Russia", or any other Power than, Great Britain in reference to peace. If the report could be! accepted without question it would afford fairly definite evidence that Turkey is not yet prepared to sue for peace on such terms as the Entente is likely to grant. Separate peace overtures by Turkey, addressed to Great Britain alone, would look very much like an attempt to secure peace without forfeiting Constantinople. Naturally the attempt would not succeed, but it is possible that as an alternative to peace on these terms Turkey prefers to go on fighting for a time.