PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 1, 26 September 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

An outburst of enemy air raiding is reported from England to-day. Few details <?re in hand at time of writing, but both airships and aeroplanes arc engaged, and some of tho latter have reached London. The Gotha aeroplane mentioned in tho reports has figured in all the recent German raids on England. According to particulars recently published in the Daily Mail, the Gotha is a big biplane measuring seventytwo feet from wing-tip to wing-tip. It carries a crew of three men—a pilot, a gunner, and an observer, who also acts as a gunner. The forward gun, operated by the observer, can fire at any angle. Motive power •is derived from two Mercedes engines, each of 260 horse-power, and the speed of tho Gotha is from 90 to 100 miles an hour. The maohine' is of the "pusher" type, with propellers at the rear. Tho great siz>s of tho Gothas when- they were first seen over London gave riso to an impression that they were flying low, but in every instance thus far recorded they have in fact flown at a great height, generally about 15,000 feet, and have engaged, as the Zeppelins do, in indiscriminate bomb-dropping without venturing to descend to an altitude which would make accurate bombing possible.

If reports that the enemy is projecting an offensive in Mesopotamia should prove to be well founded and active operations are resumed in the Turkish theatres material importance will attach to the point of development reached by the Turkish railways. The best available information on the subject is that the Turks have now unbroken railway communications from Constantinople- into Southern Palestine and also into Northern Mesopotamia, whore the Bagdad railway has been carried certainly as far as Basjel-Ain and probably as far as Nisibin, more than 00 miles nearer' to the Tigris. Formerly both lines of communication wero broken at the Taurus, range. The tunnels by whioh the Bagdad railway passes, or is to pass, through this obstacle were reported pierced last November. It is not definitely known that the tunnels are completed, but an English authority who wrote on the subject recently assumed that they ave probably now open at least for goods traffic. If ho is right, the Turks, as has been stated, are now in a position to transport 'supplies over a continuous railway route both into Southern Palestine and into Northern Mesopotamia. If the ■ Bagdad railway has been completed from Constantinople to Eas-el-Ain. tho Turks are dependent upon about 400 miles of road and river communications in any operations they may undertake against tho British forces in Mesopotamia. Of these 400 miles, 235 lie across the desert, and over its remaining distance the route follows the channel of the Tigris. If the railway has been carried as far as Nisibin the desert journey is shortened by upwards of sixty miles.

Completed to the stage here indicated, the Turkish railways represent a most important asset to the enemy and give him greater advantages in the matter of Communications than he has enjoyed in past campaigns. On the other hand, the railway system is in some degree vulnerable to attack. At the head of tho Gulf of Alcxandretta, the Bagdad railway runs within 13 miles of the coast, and, Apart from the possibilities of a landing, its use might bo seriously hampered by systematic aerial attack. Successful bombing of tho railway in this region would interrupt the enemy's communications both _ with Mesopotamia and Palestine. Another point at which the enemy's communications with Mesopotamia may bo vulnerable is the Jerablus bridge, a, stcol structure of many spans and

over 800 yards long, which carries the Bagdad railway over tho Euphrates. The Jcrablus bridge is a little over a hundred miles distant from the coast.

At the moment of writing thero is comparatively little news from the war theatres. The battle on the Flanders front has subsided, and it is an open question whether the British intend to build in the near future upon tho notable success recently won. As M. Marcel Hutin points out, they Are now so placed that they can, if need bo, wait for tho coming spring-and pass tho winter without having their feet in cold water, which will be_ the lot of the Germans in the positions to which they have retreated. An extraordinary turn is given to the situation in Russia by allegations that General Kobniloff, in undertaking a, march on Pctrograd, was acting in accordance with plans drawn up by "influential circles" to save the country from tho extremists. The accusation is openly made by Pctrograd newspapers that General Koknilow was acting in concert with, the Government. A certain amount of colour is given to this charge by the news that General Korniloff has beon officially absolved from blame, but it is certainly not easy to reconcile the "misunderstanding" explanation with the terms in which the late Commander-in-Chicf was denounced by M. Kebbnsky and the Govornmenb while his movement was still in progress.