PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3054, 16 April 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The newti of the week-end tells of a series-of battles on the West front in which the enemy defences have been further deeply penetrated at vital points. The total of prisoners (and guns captured from .the Germans has also been materially augmented. Most of the fighting reported at time of writing occurred on the British section of the front, but, in conjunction'with the operations further north,'the French have attacked with effect south of _ St, Quentin , , and suggestive activities— an intense artillery battle and mu merous French reconnaissances—are noted in the Champagne.' The British operations reported, cover a wide range, and have achieved important results. At what has thus far been the northern end of the battle area the attack has been extended to tho north;' and the British have broken through the strong outer crust of the German' line as far north as the southern side of the Loos salient. The offensive front has been linked up with the-posi-tions won in the battle of Loos in 1915, and .the. line of contact now runs south from the vicinity of Double Grassier, a slag-heap fortress standing about a mile' and a half south-west of Loos, passing a little over two miles west of Lens. To tho south the attack has swept down the eastern slopes of the Fimy ridge, and a number of villages on the lower ground beyond have- beon stormod and captured. Tho villages inchulo Vimy and Petit Vimy, on the LensArras railway, and Willerval and Bailloux, road centres half a mile east of, that railway. On this northern section of the front important defences immediately covering Lens have been driven in, and. at tho BaiifiO time the enemy salisnt around thai important railway town has been intensified and becomes so much j tho more difficult to defend. |

• Steeping progress has been made aiso cast and Bouth-oast of' Arras, and iu is. stated in an oflioiai report that the British have, advanced astride the HiNDEKaoitG line to a point seven milcu south-east of Arras. At , tho same time the attacking troops have pushed forward cm bolii sides of the Bapiimne-Cambrai road. Iβ the vicinity of lo Vorguicr, Bali , a dozen railas north-west ci : St. Quontin. they have considerably extended their foothold or. a plateau which dominate;- the surrounding country. Further south the British have captured the village of Fayct, stated in an official niessa-ie to he one mile north-west of St. Qucntin, In most maps Fayet is shown two miles distant from St. Quentin, but

doubtless it is separated by no more than a mile from tho north-western suburbs of the city. St.- Quentin is in a fair way to be encircled. The French are in touch with its,, southwestern suburbs, and from tho point of contact their line turns round the city and extends south-east to tho Oise. It is on this section of their front—and particularly between the Somme and the La .FereSfc. Quentin road, that is to say, irnmediately south and south-cast of St. Quentin—that the French to-day report.an advance which,' with that of the British on the north-wes,t, must have gone far to seal the city's fate. Suggestions lately advanced by PaorasOß BiDOU and others that the Germans are intent upon "refusing battle in the Western theatre and retiring to a shorter line in order to accumulate a "mass of manoouvre" that will enable them to undertake an offensive aro, for the moment at least, beside the point. Whothcr or not the'enemy hopes to resume the offensive there is no doubt that he hoped to shorten his Western front and so diminish the demand its defence makes upon his resources. But the fact which commands attention at the moment is that he is arrested and foiled in tho execution of this plan, and is suffering heavj; losses of men ' and guns in a battle he has no obvious prospect of breaking off. There is more talk to-day oi an impending retreat by the enomy, and jt'uo.ed not be doubted that he is planning a further retreat. But in all the fighting covered in available reports he strove, desperately, though vainly, to maintain positions which he manifestly regarded as vital. Evidence is equally conclusive/regarding his whole-hearted, atteppt to stem the Allied advance and regarding his failure, The Allies have broken ruthlessly into his plan of retiring easily and.comfortably be-r fore their pursuit. It .would he a very notable achievement on the enemyfe part to escape froni his piesent disastrous entanglement and pursue a comparatively unmolested progress to the rear, but the immediate question to be. determined is whether he will succeed in averting a'disastrous penetration of his line and invasion of his vital communications. That question is distinctly open, but the Allies, as matters stand, arc masters of the situation, and on appearances it is very probable that the next big move tending to determine' tho conditions and direction of the campaign will be made by them and not by the enemy. There is, for instance, i every likelihood that in the su'stained bombardment reported in the -Eastern Champagne the guns are sounding an overture. to battle on tho major scale; If the portent is real the enemy will 'soon be • grappling with an even more complex and difficult problem than he already has .upon his hands.

A late message states that Lens' has been occupied by the British. The news is not official, but there is no reason to doubt that it is true, for ari accompanying report from Sir .Douglas Haig tell? not only of a considerable invasion of the Lens salient, hut of an extended advance . further south, where the British 'have progressed two to three miles beyond Vimy ridge The attack has also closed jn upon St. Quentin, while on portions of the intervening front tlie enemy has vainly attempted to improve his position by counter-attacks, which were evidently made at very heavy cost. A definite stage seems to have, been reached in. the offensive, and one in which affairs are going very badly with the ene-my. On account of the extent to which it lays open the enemy communications and for other reasons the capture of Lens will rank as one.of the great events of the war.. -. .

One ; of the most important items of news published to-day covers a resolution passed by the Russian Workmen's and Soldiers' Committee by a majority of six to one. The terms of the resolution and the voting are calculated to dissipate any •hopes the enemy may have formed ■of a state of confusion and dissension arising in Kussia which would be fatal to her efficient prosecution of the, war. The resolution open's with a ' pronouncement regarding the_ renunciation of ideas of territorial expansion which , awaits detailed interpretation, but it is clear and emphatic in its declaration that the Russian democracy rocog-. riiseg that any disorganisation of the army, any weakening of its fighting capacity, would be disastrous to th? country and to liberty. If so big a majority of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Committee can take this clear grasp of essentials there should be little doubt of Russia doing her paijt in tho war well and nobly. . At its face value the resolution means that Russia is finding in 'a fashion,to justify tho highest hopes based lip.on. the revolution. It ia extremely satisfactory also that the executive of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Committee emphatically contradicts the recent report that Russian Socialists had sent delegates tq enter into secret peace negotiations with German Socialists, This is probably not the only lying report regarding conditions in Russia that has lately obtained currency. Today's news is of most excellent promise, If ths Russian Army is solidly backed by the nation thove if, net the slightest doubt that it will play ! a big part in winning the war; I

A staggering rqvolalio'n of the conditions in Tiitssia which tho revolution) has ended is made in a stateraont credited to the llumanian Chief of :Staff, Genrrao luesou. Ah an exposure of black treachery on the part pf the pro-German Government which formerly hekl .sway in Petrogra d, iP speaks for itself, and there- is reason to f*ar tha.t it does not go boy on d. the facts. Eus«ia's failure to hclpTlumiurlii when help was most Rorely nwded has not hitherto boon explained. 1!ho explanation appears in the statement attributed to General Imksou! Tf it is h-u» that Stupoth and his Gov-' ernmorit deliberately hi'trnyed Rumania in r.irthsrfiTice of their policy of promoting, e, German' victory, it is not to be wondered vat that Stubmek. 3g a_ TRcenf, report declared, died .!>.'' fright on beiriß 0-r----restod. A thcusaiK' doaths would not have expiated tlw hir'eous lxVvhe.i;y with which_ he is charged. Revelations of this kin J r.jakf.' it pofisible to roa'liso t-hn terrible handicap under which thoj Army has thus far laboured. Ttfi.'past achir.ve>nents on that secount shs.nd out so much tho mors brillianl-Iy, and its future achievement-: will no dovibtbo mensurod by_ (he f r<v linf it has gained fronr macbinations more dangerous and harder to combat than those.;.of its open enemies. • . . j

A REPORT from Mesopotamia tells of a damaging- defeat inflicted upon the Turks in the area between the Tigris and the Diala, north of Bagdad. Apparently the enemy forces were lured into a trap by the withdrawal of British advanced detachments on the west bank of the Diala. At all events, in the engagement which followed the Turks wero heavily defeated and driven back over, the road they had conic. The Turkish casualties are estimated at 900, while the British casualties under all heads numbered about 200. As many Turkish (lead were left on the? field. There arc evidently still some obstacles to united action by the British and Russian forces in the area betweon the Tigris and , the Persian border, but no doubt they will be overcome as the British communications on and from the Tigris are improved.