PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3016, 1 March 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The British advance on the northern part of tho Sommo front is developing in a fashion which already goes far to disprove the theory that the Germans arc merely yielding a limited amount of ground with a view to the local improvement of thoir line by the elimination of salieuts and otherwise. Yesterday it was shown that the enemy had fallen back to a nearly straight front extending over a distance of eleven miles, along and in front of Bapaume ridge, from the Goinmccourt salient (at the northern extremity of ,tho lino on which tho Sommo battle opened) to a point south' of Bapaume. The gist of the news in hand at timo of writing is that tho British are making continued headway into sections of the enemy's new line, which threatens its stability "as a whole. In continuation of the advance reported yesterday they have captured the villages of Lc Barque ad Ligny, both of them minor road junctions south-west of Bapaume, and have established themselves in tho western and northern defences of Puisieux'-au-Mont, a big village on the southern face of the Gommecourt salient. In the positions they now hold in "the northern part of Puisieux-au-Mont, the attacking troops have penetrated to a depth of more than two miles a section of tho German front which resisted attack in last year's offensive; The ground traversed in the advance on the village is covered with a close network of trenches and field fortifications. At Ligny tho British are about two thousand yards distant from the south-west-ern outskirts of Bapaume and in practically immediate touch with the first of two main trench lines covering that centre.

If it is the aim of the Germans to re-establish a° sound defensive lino in the northern part of the Somme area, they arc distinctly short oE that achievement At Gommecourt they hold an awkward salient, which is being steadily accentuated and will bo correspondingly harder to defend. Bapaume, and the railway junction of Achiet-le-Grand, to the westward, are completely commanded by tho British artillery, and it is another detail fact of some importance that the istrong position of Le Transloy, on the east, fronting the Bapaume-Peronno highroad, is already exposed to attack on more than one side, though tho salient in which it stands is not yet very pronounced. All things considered, tho Germans seem to be no better off from the point of view of a securo defence than they wore- in the early stages of their present retirement. Tho yosibility remains well to the fore that they contemplate a more extended retreat. As they now stand a comparatively limited British advance would be apt to overturn a considerable section of their line.

While these events north and south of the Ancre manifestly betray _ weakness in tho German defensive organisation, their import* mV 06 shou "* not be overestimated. J-he- real test of strength has yet to como. If tho Germans are actually in process of retreat they will presently have to reckon with the whole strength of the Franco-British armies, and tho conflict will certainly not bo confined to any limited section of the front. Reviewing the position in the Western theatre not long ago, an English military writer emphasised tho point that the Allies would find their chief advantage in rapid movement and surprise. "Tho German defensive works, he remarked, "are not to be carried by massed attacks. They will yield to surprise which depends on rapidity and secrecy; rapidity is a matter of communications, tho improvement of which is absolutely vital, and secrecy depends on our supremacy in the air. The rest depends more on munitions than on bayonets, more on new ideas than on valour, more on the direction of the higher command than on numbers of men." This no doubt indicates broadly the lines on which tho Allies have prepared to act this year, and tho measures they may be assumed to have taken with a viow H , e , xt ? ndl "e the scope .and power aV' off £? Sl ? ™»H of course equally enable them to levy a maximum toll upon tho enemy if i, e should attempt a retreat. Theeb is cxceilent news from Mesopotamia, The Turks have already been driven many miles upstream from Kut, and their retreat trom that place appears to have degenerated into a rout under pressure of a vigorous British pursuit. So far as current events arc- concerned tho statement by Lord Quezon which appears to-day is fully informative. .Lho tone of German comments on these events is in quaint contrast to tho outburst of rejoicing with which tho Turkish capture of Kut-el-Amara was greeted last year. The enemy public is being assured that' the Turkish defeat is a matter of no importance, but it is in fact a most encouraging indication of Turkey's failing power.