PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 193, 4 May 1918, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

At finn , . of writing there is no news of events in the Western thwiuc, but mcsHiigcii bear witness to an e.xpectusin llmt tliu enemy will very .soon resume the, onslaught l>l , which he ban tliiiH fur KiKiKilly failed to miliiiivi- Ihe rciiiilts for which he |iD|)ml. 110 liiiii <'Xiieiiclecl curUinly u IjirKc proportion ol the re.Kcryes with which he opened his offensive in regiii-d to tlie iictiinl iirojiorliini iiiiuriiintion is to Koine exl.nnt <Ti.nlJifl.irix :iinl H»"- i,:(l rnsi;!lmice IniM liiirdened iniiKMilice.nlly. TlKM'xiidiiiKiiiliiatiiiii wirtiiiiilj'Kivra n,, K i'oiinil lor ciuclewi opUmisin, but 1,1,.. ~.|,iril, mill Jichiuvniiionl/i of Mm Allied in'iiiien wiirr.'iut ronlidcnce mid n. hopeful outlook.

OvviNil lo this withdrawal of tlw weekly sihippiilK returiiM biLlwrto i,,,,,,,,,) by the Admiralty, it in no |~m,n< I'.om.ibb , . I" f»H"w Ih". forl.mi,',,, ~| Hi., iinhmnriii" cMin|iaign week liy week, hut iiiiti»fiictor,y eviclenen i'n nlloi'd'-d from time to lime of Mm ilocliniiitf, cllieii'iiry of. \)w. unidu'wnter crii.fi'. To-dny, for in iilanci' it i« Hii.iiouiiceil thai, the-Ain-rien.il War Itink liiKiiranw llnrenu, in npito of roiliii!fionii in its nil''!!. I" 1 ' , ni,, -." ,! . l in " ~fl iiiimlinl-iiiK to nevelileeii million dol-lai-B. H is hliiUml, (urtheniKii-e, tba.t the .liui'DiMi will noon further n , .- (liico'itfl nil* k> Il'sb Willi' \'lii ,, - , ; l H '»; (Till. Tllnse fuel!) obvimiiily ot Kood aiif.ui'.v. i:>'iutii.l<'.riii(; lluil. (!yrnifniv lina a eujjreim! incentive to coiicenfrato iigjiinsl; sl)i|i|'i''K, V>> f *-, ing befw-cn America and hurupo and that the amount of rJiippniK no engaged is islcadily ineruiißiiiK. ".hi! mo'vciucnt of American inininmt'i' rules in, however, quiU'. in k'jr.piiiK with the known development ol fin; iHibiiiiU'ine campaign. 11, iis now a good many weeki; liince the Kirat Lord ot I'l'iiv Adminilty was able to announce that submarine;) won; Imin/i tlcslroyecl n« fjisl, us the.y Wfii'o built: and the lirst of the monthly refuniH which am henceforth to h<; iisaiied by the Admiralty ebowed that lollies of Uritish and foreign shippiuß in l-ho first tuiarter of thin year were \\ik about half the corrcsjioiuliii(f losfjuh in the April-Junu (|uarl<!r uf IDI7, when tho submarine camiiaiKii was at itu liciplit. Shipping IofiKCS during last March worn considerably lesa than half those suffered in April, 10)7, the worst mouth vet recorded. * * * *

Tun CJhii-iniin.il of the American War Hiiik Bureau (Mil. Dki.anbv.) anya Hint the submarines arc bocoming less effective* owing to the excellent convoy system, but this is not tho only factor to lie taken into account. ' The- protection of ships in convoys him undoubtedly averted iiuiny' losses, but an even more important fiictor accounting for tho present trend of the campaign appears in tho (successful development of Ihii naval countor-olTomn'vo which recently took brilliant shape in tho. attack on Zccbnißgo harbour. Some interesting information in regard to tho extension of ,iuiti-Hul)Juarinc | operations in recent times was supplied by Sir Emu Uedbes when he addressed the House of Commons early in March. Amongst other ■ thirds, ho stated that the prevailing belief : thiit \l.hc passage of submarines through, the -JDovcr Straits had been prevented by nets or other obstructions from tho early days of the war was erroneous, Undoubtedly a. considerable number of submarines passed through the iatraits towards the end of last year, but a more vigorous policy was adopted quite recently. "A surface barrage/ , tho First Lord went on to remark, "Ims been maintained across the Channel in order to obstruct the passage 'of ei-oniy submarines. By day and night this barrage is maintained,' and at night the patrolling craft (which number over 100) burn flares, so that any submarine attempting the passage on the surface has a reasonable chance of being engaged. It was to raid this barrage and destroy tho drifters which ceaselessly maintain the patrol that the enemy' came out on the night of February 1-1. Ho succeeded in passing the covering forces guarding the drifters." The enemy achieved A certain amount of success in the raid here mentioned, but he has been unable to persevere in similar raids,, and presumably the barrage mentioned by the First Lord is .being effectively maintained and effectively juuirded. v#■ * #

Sin Eiuc Gkddes made sonic interesting disclosures also vegiii'dinjr conditions in the Mcditerranean and mciisures taken to cope with the submarines in that area. Tho Mediterranean, ho said, in itself accounted for some thirty per cent, of the loss of merchant shipping, and therethe conditions had been more difficult to meet, the resources had been less adequate, and the success against the nnemy submarines had been correspondingly leas satisfactory tlwn in home waters. One of tho . first fruits of the Allied Naval Council, however, was an arrangement under which the measures successfully taken against the submarines iu British home wators arc being extended to the Mediterranean. The naval command in the Mediterranean rests with the .French, and in tho Adriatic -with Uμ Italians, British naval forces in both seas acting under the French and Italian Admirals. The Allied Naval Council, however, decided that the main anfci-siibmarine operations in the Mediterranean should )jo undertaken under the orders of the British- Coin-mander-in-Chicf in that sea, ViciiAdmirai. Caltiiorpe. The arrangement, the First Lord observed, was one from which it was hoped lo derive "increasing benefits."

These arc merely passing glimpses of tlic operation of an anti-'suhma-rino organisation which has been developed on an enormous scale, but the confidence inspired by the steady decline in shipping losses is very greatly increased hy tho knowledge that the naval, air, and other forces which fire working tirelessly to defeat the submarine are rapidly expanding, arc being raised to- an ever-increasing pitch of efficiency, and are constantly extending their activities. Something has been hoard lately of the important part America is playing in tho naval war, notably by adding to the forces at disposal strong flotillas of destroyers which are being rapidly added to by now construction, and material aid is being received also from smaller Powers. In the speech referred to, Sir Eric Gf.ddes gratefully acknowledged the services rendered in the .Mediterranean by the reorganised naval forces of Greece, and stated also that Brazilian war vessels would shortly be co-operating with those of tho Allies in European waters.