PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2963, 29 December 1916, Page 1

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A STRIKING reply to the absurd German claim, that the Battle of the Somme-' is finished is made in tho announcement that an extension of tho British front in the Sommo region was successfully completed on Christmas nij|ht. This development obviously portends the ultimate resumption of the Somme offensive on a greater scale than ever. The rising strength of the British Army makes it quite natural that it should seek an enlarged sphere of activity, and the extension of front now.reported is an event from which tho enemy will no doubt infer, quite correctly, that oven more formidable attacks than he has yet had to meet in the. Western theatre are in store.'; The extent of the section taken oyer is not disclosed at time oE writing, but it is probable that the British front now extends at least to the north bank of the Somme, west of Peronue. The terms in which the incidental operations aro, described suggest that quite possibly portion'of the lino south of'the river has also been transfered by the French to their British Allies. If. I the Somme now marks the "joint" between the 1 comrade armies, the British have taken over about eight miles of front.> Until the extension was effected the armies joined hands south-east of Le Transloy, on the northern edgo of tho Sailiy-Saillisel plateau. From this point the line runs generally south, but with a bold eastward curve beyond the BapaumePeronne highroad, and reaches the Somme near the mouth of the Tortillo brook, something less than two miles west of Peronne. From the Sailiy-Saillisel plateau the front on which the /British offensive'-', has hitherto developed extends west and north to the region of Serrc, a distance of about fiftcon miles.

The total length of front on which tho Allied offensive has developed north of the Somme is about 23 miles, and .the ' French have pushed forward south of tho river on a front of some fifteen ; miles. Though tie enemy defenties have been deeply- penetrated in a series of, successful assaults south of the Somme, it is in the area north of _the river that the offensive has attained' its most important development. In the most moderate estimate the change now mado must be taken to mean that tho British Army is_ assuming the main burden of carrying on the Somnie offensive from the point.to which it has thus far been carried by'* combined Franco-British efforts." That the Somme area is destined to witness even greater oveuts during the year about to open than it has witnessed since July: need not for a moment be doubted. One great achievement of the offensive has been the elimination of the most formidable obstacles to an attack upon vital enemy communications, and in spite of all enemy, fables to the contrary it may be taken for granted that at the appointed time the attack will be developed in full power from tho stage now reached. f * * .V ' « .

Assuming that the British now hold at least the .whole extent of the offensive front north of the Somme, a_ notable chapter has closed ih tho history of the greatest enterpriso which the war has yet witnessed. That wonderful efficiency and smooth-working co-operation marked the combined operations of the French and British-armies on this great battlo front has 1 been made abundantly clear by events, and it hardly needs to be'added that the fact is in tho highest degree creditablo to the armies and to their commanders. It is well known tnat where armies of . different nationality and language are operating flank to flank special difficulties have to be overcome. The actual joint is liable to be' a weak spot. This was illustrated in several bat'tles around Ypres, whero the Germans showed particular fondness for attacking the points whero the British and French joined i hands. The most important of these operations took place on April 23, [19.15, when the Germans for the first time used poison gas. In this connection it is noteworthy that in the Somme offensive few points of tho Allied lino have travelled forward as fast and as far as the "joint." Measuring in a_ direct line northeast from tho point at which it was located ;when the offensive opened, the. "joint" has advanced over six miles, and it will be - remembered that tho great stronghold of Combles, en route, w<is captured by a combined Franco-British attack. This actual extent to which the Allied dispositions in the Western theatre have been altered and readjusted may not become apparent for some timo to come. Tho readjustment will not necessarily stop short at a new division of responsibilities on the iSommc. It is to bo observed in passing, however, that tlie mere length of front held respectively by i the French and British armies does not afford a definite index to the part they are taking in the war. Such a comparison as is mado in one message to-day is subject to important reservations. The essential basis of comparison, if comparison were necessary, would be tho nature -

of tho front and that of tho operations undertaken. ' There is, of course, no doubt that tho rising strength of tlie British Army will onablo it to tako up an increasing share of tho common burden as tho war continues, but it would bo quite orroneous to measure what it 1 has already dono by tho fact that its front hitherto has been only about a quarter as long as that held by the French. _ Tho readjustment on the Sommo is chiclly significant meantimo in its definite promise that the resumption of active operations will witness a great expansion of the Allied offensive, not only in the Sommo area, but on other sections of the Western front.

Significant evidence on this point had already been furnished in the late achievements of tho French at Verdun. It is a fact which has perhaps not been sufficiently emphasised that although the most recent French assault on tho oast bank of tho Mouse was delivered in the depth of • winter, and under the greatest possible handicap so far as bad weather and its effects are concerned, it achieved results which in some respects overshadow, the results achieved in a given time at any stage of tho Somme offensive. During four months, from the beginning of July to the end of November, the Allies on the Somme took 73,000 prisoners. In the battle of a couple of weeks ago, in which they swept the Germans back to the February line?, cast of the Meuse, the French captured twelve thousand prisoners in the space of three days. At the end of October, in tho operations attending the recapture of Fort Douaumont, they took about 6000' prisoners.' That is to say, in 'these two battles in the Verdun iarea nearly oncjEourth as many Germans were "taken prisoner as ! in four months of the Somme offensive. A comparison of the amount of artillery captured is equally striking. In the 'two battles at Verdun tho Germans lost more than a third as many field and heavy 1 guns as they have lost to date on the Somme. These facts bear eloquent testimony to tho extent tp which the enemy's defensive organisation has been weakened and strained by _ the _ tremendous blows he has sustained in months of battle on the Somme. They suggest also that the Allies are in a fair way to find extended opportunities for profitable attack, and the readjustment now effected on the Sommo is an obvious step towards turning these opportunities to account.

The interesting statement is made in one message to-day that the British front in Macedonia is now actually longer • than the British front in Franco. This would suggest that considerable British reinforcements have latoly been sent to Macedonia. Not long ago tho well-informed military contributor of the j.Fortnightly Review stated that the British army in the Balkans apparently consisted of no more than a single corps (about 40,000 men). Apparently, 'if this was the_ caso, the army has now been materially augmented. Tho statement regarding'the .length of the British Balkan front gams support from the fact that British attacks have lately been reported in tho. area immediately east of the Vardar valley. This indicates that tho British are now holding nearly half the- total extent' of the Macedonian front, including somo of its most important sectors. In the absence of information as . £55* the strength' of other Allied , contingents, 1 the total force at General Sakrail's disposal is still a matter of conjecture, but as far as it goes the news regarding the British section of tho front puts a more hopeful aspect upon _ the situation in Macedonia than it has lately; worn.