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PROGRESS OF THE WAR

It is an open question as yet whether the second anniversary of Britain's declaration of war on Germany is to witness a storm of battle in the Western theatre or a continuance.of the comparative lull which has been in evidcnco for a day- or two past. At the moment only small actions are reported o,n tho Somme front. British troops have penetrated some German trenches east of Pozieres, and the French have made successful local attacks and gained ground both north and south of tho Somme. The .most recent operations have thus gono wholly in favour of the Allies, but it is pretty certain that they will very soon be overshadowed by much more important events. Having gone so far towards broaching tho German front, the Allies are not likely to give the enemy any lengthy respite to concentrate upon the supplementary defences which may soon bo tho only -obstacle to a complete penetration of his line.

. Cabled extracts from an article by Mr. Hilaire Belloc throw interesting light upon the position reached'on tho left wing of tho attacking front on tho Somme, whero the British troops aro facing almost duo north,' on tho approaches to Bapaume. Ilcre, along a front of about seven miles, tho British lino follows or skirts the edge of a plateau, on which the Germans are established, with, of courso, a very material advantage of position. Mk. Belloc says that tho enemy third lino is a trench system cut below the summit of the plateau, and located about a milo ahead of tho present British line.' Whether this distance of a milo applies to tho whole of the seven-mile front on which tho British aro facing north is not stated in tho cabled summary, but probably it only applies to the eastern half of thin section of front. Further west, where they have captured Pozicres and mado some progress beyond that place, the British troops would appear to be separated by less than a milo from the enemy's vital defences on tho plateau. In any case, the enemy position as it is described is very formidable, and it is not to bo supposed that it will be easily penetrated. As Mk. Belloo points out, the German defences on the plateau can bo bombarded only bv indirect high-angle fire, and this handicaps tho attackers, though tho handicap is modified by tho pronounced superiority established by the Allied aircraft. . That tho aircraft aro the .eyes of tho artillery is never moro true than when such positions havo to bo bombarded as the Germans now hold on the northern section of tho Somme hattlcfeont, and it is precisely in such circumstances that the superiority of the Allied airmen will operate with the most tolling effect. .6 * * «

A passage in Sir Douglas Haig's report to-day presents a striking example of what can be accomplished by aircraft and artillery acting efficiently in conjunction and at tho samo timo affords proof that the Allied airmen are definitely maintaining tho upper hand. The British artillery, the Commander-in-Ohief states, acting in co-operation with tho aviators, destroyed seven guns .emplacements and six ammunition dumps near Grandcourt, and others elsewhere. Grandcourt is situated more than two and a half miles north of Poziercs, on the plateau traversed by tho enemy third-line defences, to which Mil. Belloc refers. This means, in a word, that tho British guns, directed by aerial observation, are doing an effective work of destruction upon the enemy supporting batteries located tho rear of tho defensive line which runs across the plateau. Strongly as they are posted on this section of the front, the Germans are thus very far from being secure,' and it is to be remembered always that behind the line upon which they must now rely there is an extent of lower country which it will be> much more difficult to'defend.

It is possible that a solution of tho admittedly awkward problem by which" the British are confronted on the left wing (tho northern section) of the battlefront may be materially assisted by developments further south. Lato events have fastened attention upon tho front of about five miles, extending south from east of Longueval to the Sonimc. On this front the Allies have recently advanced and captured several enemy positions, aided in tho south by enfilading firo from batteries south of tho river, where tho Frcnch have pushed further forward than 011 tho north. The anxiety with which the "cnomy anticipates a further castward advance is demonstrated in the frequency of his counter-attacks, made, as it would seem, in absolutely hopeless circumstanccs. Apparently these desperate attempts to recover tho ground most recently won by the "Allies have now been abandoned, but it is mentioned in ono message that from Sunday onwards the Germans launched sixteen counter-attacks against the new Frcnch positions north of the Mcusc. These attacks failed, and the losses entailed must havo beon enormous since tho attacking columns were exposed not only to direct, but to enfilading, firc-_ t

Tub persistence with which these hopeless attacks were pressed eonvevs a very definite suggestion that, if"the British are faced by a stub-

born barrier 011 the northern section of tho front, .and the French 011 tho section facing Peronnc, the enemy is much more vulnerable in tho area between these and greatly fears a continuation of the attack in which the Allies have recently made not unimportant headway. The counter-attacks in which tho Germans have spent so many lives, not only on the north bank of the Somme, but over a great part of tho field of conflict, constitute, of course, one of tho main features of tho battle, and a feature which is charged with significance. In the first place they supply a convincing refutation of tho claim made in an enemy communique to-day that, as the Allies slowly advance, positions identical with those lost are being constructed in rear of the present German lines. The claim is transparently false in any case. The' Germans are being driven out of positions prepared at enormous labour and expense, and located with an eye to tho strongest possible dcfence. They still hold formidable positions, but there is an imminent prospect that they may presently have to rely upon impromptu defences in much less favourable ground, and every forward move, tho Allies make exposes the Germans to a greater danger of ultimately having their lino rolled up by an' attack in flank.

The statement that hurriedly_ constructed defences can be made identical, which would mean equally formidable, with tho fortified lines in which the Germans have thus far met tho shock of the Allied assault is simply nonsense. It is well "known that many months of labour are needed to construct such defences as the Allies have mastered in their advance. The facts lioro outlined are by this time pretty generally understood, but any doubt as to what their developing defeat means to the Germans .would bo resolved by the nature of their coun-ter-attacks. From stage to stage of the battle they have sacrificed masses of men in vain endeavours, to retain or recover the positions the loss of which they now profess t,o regard as comparatively unimportant. No better proof could be_ desired of the overmastering anxiety with which they regard, the relentless forward drivo of the Allied armies and of their recognition that the stability of their battlcfront is being methodically undermined..

That the Germans arc fighting.the Sommc battle at a terrible cost in lives is self-evident. Some interesting evidence is supplied to-day as to the magnitude of their casualtyroll. An examination of the Prussian casualty lists, _it is stated, shows that the last eight bear 42,000 riamcs, as against 27,000 names inthe ton previous lists. From this it is estimated that the Germans arc now losing more heavily than in the worst weeks of the Verdun offensive. Unless the Prussian lists ■ are being more promptly issuod tlian they have usually been in the past, however; those under review would relate at most to the opening passages of the Sommc battle, and the increased rato of wastage disclosed might be chiefly due to losses sustained in opposing tho Russian offensive. As events are now going in both theatres, the losses sulfered by the enemy in the worst weeks of his Verdun venture must-be completely overshadowed, but it'msiy ho some time before the facts are disclosed in anything like their truo value in his official casualty lists. A German "estimate" that British casualties in the Sonimc battle have thus far reached a total of 230,000 is dismissed by a correspondent at British headquarters as a grotesque exaggeration. It has a certain significance perhaps as indicating an anxious desire on tho enemy's part to modify the effect upon his own public of a talc of disastrous German looses which he is unable wholly to hide. i Recently the Germans have been making some attacks on the Vordun front east of the Mouse, though on a small scale as compared with their former colossal operations "in that region. FrQm a communique just received it would appear that they have drawn what is at least a punishing return stroke, and is possibly something more. Attacking the German lines round about Fleury ami other positions cast of the lfeus<v the French, besides capturing tranches, have taken some 800 German prisoners 'and a dozen machinc-guns.. The number of prisoners suggests operations on a considerably greater scale than Vcrclun has recently witnessed, and it is not impossible that the French aro about to follow up their splendidly succcssful dcfcnce- with a counter-offensive.

Some' of the later messages in hand show the full importance of the tremendous conflict that is raging in Southern\Russia. The Austro-Germans are plainly threatened with overwhelming disaster, both in Southern Russia, and Galicia, bul» instead of seeking safety ill retreat they are clinging desperately to their shaken and weakened line. The Germans on the Kovel front are now launching furious counter-attacks, in which they are said to have thus far sustained huge losses without getting perceptibly nearer to their objective of breaking and throwing back the 'Russian line. From one report it appears that the Germans are counter-attacking along the whole Stochod front, but another message indicates that the counter-stroke has been launched on a short front north of the railway which runs northeast from Kovel to Sarny. It is noteworthy that even here the Russians are located west of the Stochod, tfhich was recently a barrier to their progress, and that hero and further south the battle is being fought in the area between the Stochod and the parallel river on' which Kovel stands. It would appear that the enemy is staking, desperately upon a forlorn hope and sombwhat belated effort to stem the Russian offensive, and if he fails in this effort the penalty of defeat will be so much greater. Meantime, as far as news goes, the turning; and enveloping movements in which , the Russians are engaged on I,ho southern flank of the Kovel front and in Galicia- are developing mcthocVrcally.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160804.2.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2841, 4 August 1916, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,845

PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2841, 4 August 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2841, 4 August 1916, Page 4

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