PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2886, 26 September 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

TfIOTiGH the Zeppolins which visited England on Saturday night were responsible for a rather heavy roll of casualties, and did some material damago, mostly in residential areas, the Germans have little cause to bo satisfied with the total results of their raid. That two of the big airships were brought down is in itself satisfactory, and says a great doal for the efficiency of the anti-Zeppelin defences, but it is doubly important that one airship was brought down intact. How the feat was accomplished is not yet explained, and perhaps no detailed information on the subject will be permitted to escape. li is obvious, however, that the airship must have been so damaged, as to lose buoyancy, without losing it to such an extent as to be preoipita/lecl to the earth. This is established by the fact that the orew of 22 men have been captured alive. The Zeppelin depends for buoyancy on a number of distinct ballonets, enclosed within the rigid framework, and the raider which was brought down without being destroyed must have had a proportion of its.balloncts exploded by shells or bombs. < In' l any case, the capture is of high importance. It places the Allies in possession of secrets of airship construction which they should be able to turn quietly *o profitable account. Though many Zeppelins have been destroyed, this is the first occasion on which one has _ been brought down in good condition, and apart from the fact that-it should be possible to repair the captured ship and put it into commission, it will no doubt serve as a valuable model on which to base the construction of others. Devoted to purposes of murder, the Zeppelin is of little military importance. There are probably many guns" in the German' batteries which have' each done a great deal more damage to the Entente in a military sense than the whole fleet of Zeppelins has accomplished by bomb-dropping. But the Zeppelin has its place in the scheme of the war. Contemptible, as am instrument of aggression, and in no way fit to compare with the aeroplane in any department of land warfare, it is without a rival for purposes of naval scouting, and there is reason to 1 believe that its powers in this direction—dependent largely on speed, cruising range, and weatherly qualities—have been considerably developed since the war began. The German fleet, outclassed in other respects, is ahead of all others so far as its scouting service is concerned. It will retain this advantage until the British and other Ailed fleets are provided with scouts as good as the Zeppelins, or better. Britain, which is chiefly •concerned in this matter, has been pushing ahead with the construction of airships for some time past, but Germany had a long start, and it is likely that British constructors have still a good deal to learn from, at any rate, the later German models, the class to which the captured airship apparently belongs. The murderous malignity whioh has inspired the raids on England will be visited with an appropriate penalty if it should prove that Germany has in this way sacrificed the one'advantage still held by her naval fleet. Colonel Bepington's statement that the Allies, "in methodically blasting their way towards the Mouse," have encountered and overthrown nearly half the German divisions in the Western theatre, may seem to wear an appearance of exaggeration, but in point of fact it is largoly borno out by official reports. Last week Silt Douglas Haig stated that since July 1, the British forces alone on the Somme front had engaged thirty-five German divisions, of which twenty-nine had already been defeated and withdrawn, exhausted. Allowing for what the French have accomplished simultaneously, this must be taken to mean that nearly half the German divisions in the Western theatre have literally been overthrown. The defeated divisions still exist, but it is highly probable that they have been filled up with inferior reserves, or aie in process of being reconstituted in that way. It is probably within the mark to assume that fifty or more German divisions have been subjected to the stress of the Somme battle, and withdrawn, exhaustod." That this would mean nearly half the enemy's total force in the Western theatre appears from a statement made by General Joffhe in an interview early last month. "We have over two-thirds oi the ■ whole German armies, 122 divisions, facing us," ho said, "while the remaining fifty divisions, in co-operation with the Austrians, are on the Russian front." Probably some German divisions have been moved east since General Joffre spoke, but the facts, as far as they go, certainly seem to warrant Colonel Repington's remark that the pressure in the West is adversely affecting von Hindenbukg's Eastern plans. *•• • • • The Balkan campaign continues to develop slowly, but. the advance made by the Serbians north-west of Mount Kaimackalan means that in this region (east of Monastir) they have definitely passed the frontier and made some progress into their own territory. The threat of a flank attack on the Vardar Valley from the Monastir region has sensibly developed, but at the same time intensified activity.is repeated on other seotions of the front—violent artillery fighting in the area east of the Vardar, and successful British'attacks on Bulgarian positions east of the Struma. It., remains quite an open question whore the main blow of the Allied offensivo will fall.

Not much is added at time of writing to tho story of tho Rumanian operations in Transylvania, but the statement in a German communique, that Rumanian attacks were repulsed in, or at, the Vulcan Pass is probably the latest example of tho duplicity which has lately been such a marked feature of enemy reports. The Vulcan Pass opens on' south-western Transylvania from Rumania, and is one of those which the Rumanians captured in the first vigour of their offensive. Heavy fighting was reported a few days ago at Petroseny, about soven miles north of the Vulcan Paas, and southward of Pokosony, but the Rumanians reported that they had entrenched in tho latter area. There is no reason to suppose' that tho enemy is even within striking distance of the Vulcan Pass, and certainly to attain that position ho would have to attack instead of repulsing, attacks. No doubt tho broad situation in

Transylvania is unchanged, which is to say that the Rumanians have forced the strong frontier lino from end to end, and at many points have advanced considerably Icyoncl 'it. An announcement relating to the seizure by the Germans of a Batavier liner may oithor mean a new outrage against Dutch shipping or the further development of an incident dating back to last year. The Batavier Tine, Dutch-owned, consists of half a dozen ships, five of them ranging from about 1200 tons to 1500 tons, and one of 167 tons. All are called' Batavier, and they ■are distinguished by numbers. In March last year the Germans captured Batavier V, a steamer of 1506 tons, and .took her into Zeebrugge. Much indignation was exoited in Holland, and the usual protests wore made, but though the Germans subsequently released the crew, they retained the ship. To-day's report means oither that they have formlally condemned Batavier V, or that they havo captured another unit of the line. In any caso, the incident, is not ealoulated to improve Germany's relations with the Netherlands, and must be classed with the symptoms of.an increasing inclination on iher part to revert to a policy of reckless criminality against neutrak The seizure of the Batavier V last year was denounced in Holland as an outrage absolutely without justification.