PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2976, 13 January 1917, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

• The Sinai Peninsula, which was once regarded by tho Turks as a highway to the oonqucst of Egypt, has of lafco been the scene of their increasing discomfiture. It is reported to-day that tho Anzac Mounted Division and other mobile British troops, following up their recent* capture of EI Arish, advanced more than , twonty miles further east along the coastal route and annihilated a Turkish force within, a few miles of Rafa, a.place on the coast just inside the Egyptian frontier. The reported details of the battle, speak for themselves as to the skill with which the British, attack was planned and the dash and courago with which tho attacking troops performed their part. The Turks had tho advantage of a strong positionsucceeding lines of entrenchments stiffened with redoubts but evciy man of their force of 2300 men was either killed or taken prisoner, while the British liad 71 officers and men killed and 388 wounded.

> .It is claimed) no". doubt justly, that tho Turks have lost then- last i foothold in the Sinai Peninsula, and • EaA'o everywhere been driven across ' the frontier into their own terri- . Tory of Syria. Th e> position disi closed is that the British advanced lines are now about 120 miles cast . of the Canal and within about 30 miles of the enemy's advanced base in Southern Syria. This base, Beersheba, is believed to be tho terminus of a railway connecting with the main railway through Syria. It was reported the other day that a broad-gauge railway from the Canal had been constructed as far as El Arish. Even if it has not yet been carried beyond that point the British have & base, supplied by Railway, only 60 miles distant from Beersheba. The scale upon which the campaign is being developed raakeß it increasingly difficulty to believe that tho purpose in view is merely defensive. Many months ago, before the' British advance had extended beyond Katia, which is less than thirty miles east of the Canal, 114 miles of road, 154 miles of pipo lines, and 252 miles of railway had been laid in tho Sinai Peninsula. Now, as has been mentioned, the broad-gauge railway following the coast route has been carried ninety miles east of the Canal, and other railways have been constructed along tho routes which cross the peninsula further south. It can hardly bo supposed that railway and other works arc being carried out upon this scalo merely for \ the sake c/f safeguarding the Canal and.driving the enemy back into his own territory. If oftly the _ defence of the Canal were in question, the natural policy would be to rely upon tho elaborate works which have been constructed in the. western part of the Sinai Peninsula, and leave the enemy to copo with the transport problems which arise in conveying troops across its desert areas. Tho scale of the British preparations and tho late events of the campaign carry a pretty plain suggestion that it is intended sooner or later to carry, the war into Syria, ..... Looking at the map, the problems and difficulties of an offensive campaign in Syria may seem to outweigh its probable advantages. An advance through Syria would have to bo extended' over - hundreds of miles before it would _ reach ■ any really vulnerable point in the Otto- . man Empire,- and formidable problems of supply are involved. It has to be remembered, however, that the Turks are already heavily committed in other war areas. They ha,ve a. campaign on their hands in Armenia int.o which they have' had to throw something like half their total available strength, possibly a food deal more than half. The lesopotamian campaign also makes I a heavy call upon their resources, ; and is likely to make- greater ( de- ; mands as time goes on. With their i Empire already dangerously in- ■ vaded in Armenia and Mesopotamia, ! and with Arabia in revolt, the Turks are in poor condition to undertake . a, campaign of any magnitude in ' Syria-. Their position is, of course, , made worse by the fact that instead j of receiving substantial aid from their European .allies they, have had to help these allies, by sending .Turk- • ish troops to Rumania and Galicia. . As an -isolated enterprise an invasion of Syria would be sufficiently unpro- , •mising, and it is not to be expected that, it; will be seriously undertaken until active operations 'have "been resumed in Armenia and Mesopotamia, possibly not'.untii rising conflict in the main theatres has elimi- . nated the possibility of Turkey re- i ceiving succour from Europe. But ' in these conditions, and it may not 1 be very long before they are ere- j ated, an invasion of Syria might ' figure as a very important addition j to tho burdens under which Turkey : has already shown some' signs of • collapsing. ,

Sir John JelLicoe is credited with the statement that the submarine menace is far greater now than at any past period of tho war, and reports from day to day of ships sunk give point and emphasis to his words. One of the latest victims is the British pre-Dread-nought battleship Gornwallis, torpedoed in the Mediterranean, fortunately without heavy loss of life. There is no doubt that tho submarines are at present surpassing all previous records in the destruction of mercantile tonnage. At the same time they are still a long way short of achieving decisive results. While ho spoke of the submarine menace as greater _• now than it has ever been, Sir John Jellicoe said also that it must and could be dealt with, and the First Lord of the Admiralty is not likely to commit himself to. a statement without having ' duly weighed his words. That the submarines have been able during reccnt months to carry their campaign of destruction to unprecedented lengths does not imply any failure on tlie part of tho Ifavy. In certain areas, notably on the vital transport route across tho English Channel, the underwater craft are held completely in check. The increase and improvement . of submarines and the extension of their activities over a much' wider range than formerly have admittedly made the problem of defeating ancl dealing with them more difficult of solution, but there is no reason to suppose that a solution is unattainable. One measure from which a great deal is hoped is the arming of merchantmen. In a' debate in tho

House of Commons last November, Mr. Churchill stated that he believed armed ships had enjoyed a very great - immunity from submarine attack. He believed that of the attacks which had been made upon our shipping, roughly, fourfitths of tho armed ships had beaten off tho attacks and escaped, while, roughly, four-fifths of the unarmed ships had perished. If that were so, ho added, it seemed to indicate that there was a course of action which, continually developed and pursued, should enable us-greatly to mitigate and minimise this evil, and to keep it, as hitherto, within manageable and calculable dimensions.

« « * | #' In tho debate mentioned it was stated by Mr. Huncisian that since the commencement of the war Bri-tain-had lost something like 2,250,000' tons of shipping from all causes, and during the same period had added nearly four-fifths \of that amount by new construction, purchase, and otherwise. Bearing in mind that these figures relate- to a period whon ' the ' present intense submarine campaign had been in operation for several months, they, indicate that the position, though bad enough, does not afford ground for serious anxiety. This is more particularly tho case since morcantiio shipbuilding in Great Britain fell away enormously in 1915, but has sincc been greatly accelerated, andis still rapidly expanding. Bringing method and energy to bear up6n the construction of now ships, Britain is also taking measures to inako better use of existing tonnage -by limiting the time that ships spend idle in port, and in other ways.