PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3064, 27 April 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

No very new feature, is disclosed at time, of writing in tho great battle which is being fought east of Arras, and the only 'change of ground noted is a slight advance of the British front south of the Scarpe, cast and south-east of Arras. 'Better proof could not be desired that the Allied plans have been well laid, however, than is afforded in the enemy's desperate attempts to stem the offensive on the northern front. In its revelation of an utterly reckless sacrifice of life the story of. the enemy counter-attacks which constitute at present the main feature of the Battle of Arras, recalls the days when tho Germans [' were hurling their divisions to disaster at Verdun. Mr. Philip Gibbs mentions, for instance, that eight coun-ter-attacks were launthed against tho village of Gavrelle; the loss of which has. laid the enemy dangerously open to further attack, and that all were broken before they reached tho British lines. Sir Douglas Haig reports that the total of prisoners taken since Monday exceeds three.thousand, and states also that there are many thousands of German dead on the battlefield south of the Scarpo which the British now occupy. The whole effect of the news is to show that the enemy is incurring colossal sacrifices, up to the present; without result, and without visible prospect of improving "his general position. . . * . • •, • •

Little has been heard of the Macedonian campaign for a long time past, but an Allied attack is reported W-day, which may be the beginning of an offensive movement. As information stands, British troops attacked on.. a front of two and a half miles, extending east from a point about eight miles east of the Vardar valley to the southern shore of Lake Doiran. Success was achieved only on the western part of the attacking front, where the enemy line was penetrated to a depth of five hundred yards over a distance of a mile. On this eector the British have consolidated tho positions won and repelled determined coun-ter-attacks, but further " east tho enemy as yet has contrived to hold his ground. The report received states, however, that fighting is still in progress. If the Allies arc in fact about to embark upon an offensive in Macedonia their main objective may not become immediately evident. There are at least three possible lines of invasion open to General Sarrail. The Vardar valley carries the only railway running north into Serbia, but the roads northward of Monastir might bo selected for an advance, and on the cast the Struma valley is trayersed by a road running into' Bulgaria. The enemy's cross communications aro bad, and no doubt the aim of the Allies, if they undertake an invasion of Serbia or Bulgaria, will bo to induce such a division of his forces as will make him vulnerable on one or other of tho possible avenues of invasion. Available information is to the effect that the Allies have a considerable numerical superiority over the forces—chiefly Bulgarians—to whom they stand opposed.

A great deal, has been said in criticism of tho Macedonian campaign, and amongst other things it has been urged that the paucity of railways and good roads in the Balkans makes a successful offensive from the Salonika base practically impossible. On this point some- interesting observations were- made recently by Colonel A. M. Murray in an article in an English newspaper. "With regard to wheeled transport and heavy guns," he remarks, "it is incorrcctto say that tho topographical conditions of Macedonia and Serbia aro prohibitive of their use, for when Maokbnskn invaded Serbia in tho autumn of 1915 he brought many batteries of heavy guns with him, and it was his artillery superiority which was chiefly instrumental in breaking down Serbian resistance. Tho roads from the Adriatio ports of Prevasa and Santi

Quaranta to Janina, and thenco to 'Monastir and Uskub—tho writer knows them all —arc excellent, and there is another road intD Bcrbia from Durasro Vvliicli cuuld soon be madi! jH'atiUuable for wheeled transport. The opening up of these routes would facilitate the supply of troops operating iii Serbia, and relieve tho congestion at Salonika. The Italians have already established etappen posts along the road from Santi Quaranta to Lake Prcsba, and this route is now ready for use."

The latest weekly report dealing with submarine operations against British merchant shipping contains distinctly bad news. For weeks past the rate of destruction has been practically stationary, but in tho week reported on to-day it was more than doubled in tho case of ships over 1600 tons burden,'and heavily increased in the case of smaller ships. ■ During the five weeks which ended on April 18 tho weekly average of ships over 1600 tons sent to tho bottom was just under 18, and the weekly average in ships under 1600 tons was a fraction under eight. In the latest week the submarines sank forty British ships over 1600 tons and 15 of smaller tonnago. The total loss for the week was probably not much less than 200,000 tons of shipping, and may easily have exceeded that amount. This takes no account of Allied and neutral losses. It is obvious that if the Germans succeeded in maintaining the rate of destruction for the past week for any longth of time a situation of unprecedented gravity would bo created.

The very fact tbat the rate of destruction has risen so (sharply suggests, however, that the -increase is tho result of an abnormal effort whioh cannot be long maintained. A recent report to the effect that the Germans are only enabled to continue the campaign by constantly drawing upon an accumulated reserve of submarines to replace those captured or sent to the bottom is consistent with known facts, Tho trend of the campaign is never to be gathered" from tho results of a single week, or of any short period, in IDIS the rate of destruction had no sooner reached its maximum than it fell away sharply to comparatively insignificant proportions. Tho explanation advanced was that the Germans were able to sink an increased number of merchant ships only by sending out an increased number of submarines, and that the toll taken of the underwater craft was in proportion to the number engaged. It is probable that these conditions still hold good. It will be noticed that in. all its details the current report indicates that the strength of the submarine flotillas operating has been increased. A big increase is 3hown in the number of ships unsuccessfully attacked as well as in the number sunk. In each of the five weeks to April 18, sixteen ships, on an average, were unsuccessfully attacked. Last week the number unsuccessfully attacked was 27. It is safe to assume that a proportion of the submarines thus encountered were sunk ; and the naval hunt, of course, is tirelessly maintained. The possibility is still quite onen that the results of the enemy s piracy to date, including the heavy destruction of last week, have been achieved at such a cost in submarines as to ensurcthe ultimate failure of the campaign.