PROGRESS OF THE WAR
. The way of tho British War Office is to tersely record events and facts with a minimum of comment. It makes a departure from routine procedure in its comments upon Tuesday's German communique (dealing with late events , in the Battle of Arras), which, appears today. The War Office, it is stated, regards this particular communique as the most encouraging yet received, in its indication-of the state of mind of the German Army and people and the anxiety at enemy Headquarters concerning the situation. There are certainly features in the communique which deserve attention. In its general assertion that another great thrust intended to break through the German front has been successfully resisted it takes a familiar line, but one that can hardly be potent to deceive. Even in Germany and in the German Army it is probably _ quite well understood that the Allies are not attempting to .achieve victory by a, sudden effort, but aro commit'ted instead to a policy of subjecting the enemy front to an intense and increasing strain over a wide extent of territory—a policy which aims at far greater and more sweeping results than would be achieved in a sudden break-through on a limited section of front. The battle in Artois and Northern Picardy is developing with extreme violence, but the German attempt to cut it apart from the general plan of the Allied offensive is an obvious attempt to evade the facts. The really arresting features of 'the communique under notice are> the tone of keen anxiety which marks a number of its passages and the note of appeal in which it concludes. It. is true that the-authors of the, report have attempted to put the best face on matters by suppressing unpleasant facEs, but in its total effect it is an almost open confession of inability to make head against a superior force. We may assume, confidently, that the Allies aro in a position to very greatly extend and enlarge upon the efforts they have thus far made. , His own communique of Tuesday takes its place with other indications that the enemy is much less happily placed.
Ample grounds for the anxiety which tho enemy betrays will be found in the detailed reports dealing with the progress of tho offensive on tho northern front. Even on the front north and south of the Scaj'po (opposite Douai and Cambrai), on whioh the- Germans have put- forth their most desperate efforts in defence, tho British have mado substantial progress, and the nature of tho enemy's efforts and the sacrifices he has incurred carry a plain suggestion that he is badly placed to withstand the further development of the_ Allied offensive against his main "Hindenburg" lino in rear. The positions which tho British were reported yesterday to have- captured north-east and east of Arras have- been retained in face
f P owerfu J/colinter.attacks, and tov e reports tell of further considerable jntiglress both north and south of ia'o Arras-Cambrai road. As reports stand, two thousand prisoners have been passed to the, rear, and others have yet te bo counted. South of the Bapaume-Oa-mbrai road fighting appears to have been less intense than on the Arras front, but it has resulted in a big gain of ground. The British have reached tho St. Quentin canal, about half-way between that city and Cambrai. That is to say, they arc in position due south of Carabrai. It .is, however, on the front between Arras and Douai that the struggle has for the time reached maximum intensity, and here, as well as south of Cam? brai, the British have made substantial progress. Persistent, though not rapid, progress is being made in an advance which immediately threatens the Lens salient, and ultimately the great military organisation centring in Lille.
A noteworthy feature of the day's reports is tho splendid success aohieved by the British aircraft.; Sir Douglas Haig states that on Monday there was more air fighting than on any ono previous day, and that 15 enemy machines were destroyed, 24 driven down, and a large three-seater captured in the British lines, while only two British machines are missing. It is clear that the initiative was wholly with the British machines, and that most of tho fighting in which tho enemy suffered so. disastrously was forced upon him by attacks upon ammunition dumps, railway establishments, a-nd aerodromes far behind his lines. The record of the day is so good that it can hardly be maintained, but that such % record was possible even on ono day suggests' that the enemy's attempt to challenge Allied supremacy in the air has utterly collapsed, and left him in a condition of inferiority which will cost him dear as operations develop.
The commanding fact of the situation at the moment is that the enemy has been arrested in his retreat and compelled to fight what is described in his own reports as a life and death battle. Mr. Philip Gibbs, who states that the second phase of the- Battle of Arras is going in our favour and that British losses are much lighter than those of the enemy, states also that the main .German armies are now standing to battlo and striking back hard. . It is clear that the enemy finds himself unable to continue his retreat, and the fact is vital because if; means that he is compelled to continue his defensive at a maximum strain and with- a maximum call upon his resources. The sanguinary losses he is incurring in counter-attacks, launched in face of superior forces and a, superior artillery, promise no positive result. They represent a part of the price lie is compelled to pay for keeping his line for the time being intact. The existing state of affairs is'to be considered with the fact in mind that not many weeks ago it was an open question whether the Germans might not contrive to foil the Allied offensive by an orderly retreat. : Writing in the second week of March, the military contributor of the Manchester, Guardian remarked on this point:
Some have begun to shed tears over the German retreat between the Anore end tlie.Somme, as though it were a great British reverse. Their view, though a useful corrective, is not a just' one. That the Germans, under cover i of fog, are able to retire without losing much material or prisoners does not prove that they can perform this manoeuvre at all times and whenever they wish. But it does undoubtedly . indicate one danger of the tactics of "blasting" a way through. If the blnsting is sufficiently indiscriminate, it also blasts tlie chance of following up a retreat rapidly. It is a special problem in tactics, to which, no doubt, study lias been given, how to combine the artillery victory with rapid infantry advance. The German retreat has been much less rapid of late, nor has it.been spread over so wide a front bb it'will ultimately assume. Bnt that it ■has really improved the German position is not to be believed. Moreover, though retirement just when our preparations for advance are complete is a useful "baulk," Jhere are some points on our front at which it cannot be tried. How much room, for oxamplb, for retirement is there at Lens and the Plain of Douai or on the Menin road? Whatever the British plans for the offensive are, we may be pretty sure that they will not be confined to one narrow front, as they were in the Somme attack.
These observations have not lost their original' force. The Germans are brought to a halt in a retreat which, up to the present, has weakened instead of improving their general position. It is only reasonable to suppose that this is precisely the i. condition of affairs they had hoped to avoid., Thejrmay have contemplated either , a rapid general retreat or a methodical retreat by stages. That they intended or expected to fight at maximum intensity on a weakened front is incredible. ; . '
According' to Me. Philip the: Germans are'fighting for time to complete their "Hindenburg' line on the Douai Plain in rear of the present battle area. This does not improve the enemy's outlook, for his most strenuous exertions will not enable him to construct defences as formidable on the Plain of Douai as those which have fallen to Allied attack. .' ■ . „' * ' British progress in Mesopotamia is exceeding expectations. The success reported to-day speaks for itself. General Maude's forces have now captured Samara station, 70 miles north of Bagdad and half-a- ---! dozen miles beyond the position which the Turks were reported yesterday to be 'defending. As information stands the railhead of the section of railway which runs north from Bagdad is at TekVit, 30 miles north of Samara, but it is strange that the Turks should, lose so much rolling stock at the latter place if they had thirty miles of railway behind them. If this is the actual position, it is clear that they must have been thrown into a terrible state of disorganisation.
Not the least important' problem by which America is faced at the present time is that of adapting her naval construction programme to the exigencies of the war. Obviously it would servo ,no useful purpose to push ahead with the heavy programme of capital ship construction to which she was committed before the war. On the other hand there- is a practically unlimited demand for mobile naval craft of one kind and another. Judging by the enterprise with which she is acting in other departments of war preparation, it is likely that America has already modified her naval programme with a view to effectively meeting these conditions. .That the subject; had received the attention it merits is indicated in a letter written a few wooks before America entered .the.
war by Colonel Eobbrt M. Thompson, president 'of the American Navy League. Extracts from the letter were recently published in tho New York Outlook',
Tho expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars on the construction of vessels that cannot be completed in time to be of use in the present emergency (Colonel Thompson remarked) docs not seem to me to l>o good business. If we are to fight Germany, our object must be to defeat Germany..- If we join the Allies, battleships are not needed, because there is an excess of battleship?. We need submarine destroyers and the type of vessel that cau convoy merchant stenmers, becauso the only tiling that wo will have to fight on the sea will I>e the submarines. "Wo need, and the world; needs, roorchnnt ships, and we are much/ better fitted to build and turn out rner, chant ships ffian we are to turn ou£ battleships. England has completed, aid is completing, more battleships than sle will need after peace is declared. If T<e bargain with her now for battleships,' to be delivered to us after war ie at/anond, wo do two things: we bnild up/our Navy and pull hers down, so ./that equilibrium is more easily reached./ •w• » /
A paragraph in the same isaic of the Outlook shows that some time before war broke out ( the prq/bct of assisting to counter the Germansubmarine campaign by tte construction of standardised /wooden ships had received the seriois attention of the Federal Shipping Board. "If war comes," .tie American journal observed, "tie Navy will have to take many of our merchant carriers to handle: coal or naval snpplies, and for a reserve against naval losses. 'Jo replace those steel freighters, large fleets of wooden cargo vessels should be built at once. In thii event the Federal Shipping Boajd plans to standardise these vessels, so as to allow their parts-to be cut at various., mills' in the timber, regions either along the New/England, the Southern, or the Pacific Coaet.; These parts, like automobile parts, cut at any mill, wqiild be sent to yards at different points, there to. be assembled. The opportunity for wooden ship construction is all the more evident when we consider now limited is the present supply of ekilled steel workers, and the inability to get steel workers away from the apparently more needful tasks, including naval construction. Standardisation of wooden vessels is one of the two chief measures which the, Shipping Board is putting forward'to prepare for war.-' The other, it is added, is a provision in the Armed Ship Bill which provides for the commandeering of' ships owned by American corporations of which foreigners own all the stock.. It is estimated that ships aggregating 750,000 tons are affected. "Tho more urgent of these two measures put forward by the Shipping Board," the Outlook concludes, "seems to be that for building a large number of wooden merchant vessels, for that will tend to provide not only for our own commerce, but for tho depleted commerce of the world."
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 4
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2,139PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 4
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