A WEEK OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 5

A WEEK OF THE WAR

OFFICIAL SUMMARY

fHE OFFENSIVE ON THE AISNE , EXPLOITING AN OPPORTUNITY [The following telegraphic review of tho general war situation for the weok ended Juno S has been received by His Excellency the GovernorGeneral from tho Secretary of State for tho Colonies.] The onemy'a offensive on the Aisne, which commenced on Monday, May 27, reached tho end of the first phase by the following Thursday night. Hitherto the direction of the attack was duo south and had penetrated to ilie Marne, tho north bank of which was in the cnomy's hands for over ten miles. But Reims .was still held by the Allies, and on tho other flank, although Soissons was captured, the enemy was unable, to drive tho French from the high'ground to the west. The enemv then attempted to advanco in a westerly direction, either desiring to widen the deep salient in'which he found himself or to march on Paris. To attempt to'cross the Marne. with his front still pinched, between Soissons and Reims, was dangerous and unprofitable. By May 31/ tho Allies had tho situation so well in hand that in tho next four days of fighting the enemy only succeeded in advancing his front •between Noyon and Chateau Thierry to' a depth averaging less than six miles, whilst west of Soissons the French regained considerable ground by a counter-attack. From Tuesday, June 4, onwards it wns clear that the enemy advance was held. Three Offensives Compared. It is interesting to compare the three enemy offensives of the Somme, Lys,, and Aisne. The Somme offensive opened on March 21 and reached its zenith by April 1, and stability was re-established by April 7—less than three weeks in all. Tho enemy used 87 divisions. The Lys offensive opened on April 9, and reached its zenith by April 18. It broke out afresh on April 25, and reached stability by April 29—three weeks in all. Excluding the Kemmel attack, the enemy used 37 divisions in this operation. The Aisno operation opened on May 27, reached its zenith by May 31, and apparent stability was established by June 3, exactly one week, during which the enemy used between 40 and 50 divisions, llio comparison suggests that the main j enemy offensive of the 1918 attack was in the Somme area; whilst those of the Lys and tho Aisno were the exploitation of unexpected ooportunities. Perhaps | these will cause the enemy to modify his original intention, but 'the disposition of his reserves suggests that ho is not-so committed to such a change. The enemy's strategy so far has been based on tho advantage conferred by the interior position which tho salient formation of tho battleliue has given him. Ho has now created three such salients, and thcrebv given the Allies a similar situation "in the intervals. This .would operate to the Allies' advantage should the enemy attempt to continue his advanco on Paris. , Whether tho enemy adheres to his or : jeinal objective of separating the Allies e'rmies by an advance down the Somme Valley, or should his recent success draw him into an advance on Paris, his strategical objective will be identical, namely, to oblige the Allies 'to fight a decisive battle this summer. While the Allied Higher Command can,be trusted to assume a counter-offensive should the situation be suitable, for the moment such action would likely involvo the Allied armies in a decisive battle before the American Army has developed its MI strength. The soundness of the Allied policy in awaiting the development ot the American Army is clearly demonstrated by tho quality these troops have shown in the few small engagements in which sections of tho American Army have hitherto been engaged. The enemy's anxiety to force a decisive action is evidence that ho. holds the same view. ■ , The War in the Air. Tho Air Ministry reports marked increase in aerial activity by "both sides on tho Western front, The weather during tho past week was unusually fine, though at times tho sky was overcast, and visibility poor. The Royal Air Forces and Australian Flying Corps were enabled to surpass all previous bombing Tecords. During the week in-the battle zono and on tho Belgian coast a total of well ov<;r 270 tons of bombs was dropped with excellent effect, and over 250,000 rounds of ammunition fired in . almost continuous operations day and night. Big railway junctions such as Valenciennes, through which the enemy's forward organisations are fed, were attacked repeatedly, and troops in rest billets behind the lines wero constantly harassed by our bombers. The fltatemonls of prisoners and captured documents show tho success of these wearing tactics. Useful reconnaissance and artillery work was accomplished by our aeroplanes and kite balloons, in the course of which ■over 10,000 photographs were taken. Incessant bombing offensives were also carried out- on Bruges, Ostend, and Zeebrugge, and hits wero secured on important naval and military works.- The enemy strained every, nerve to keep our bombers and reconnaissance machines from penetrating to their objectives, and tho air 'fighting was severe. During the week 105 enemy aircraft were brought down, and JO driven down out of control, whilst 21 of our machines failed to Teturn. The ascendancy of out 'scouts and two-seater fighters has thus been well maintained. Our bombers penetrated tho German frontiers in 26 different raids, and dropped bombs on military objectives', including munition factories at Mannheim and railway, stations, and workshops nt Karlsruhe, Landau, Krcutzwalte, and ■Karthaus. Evidence accumulates of Hie growing moral and material effect produced. Tho. Enemy's Internal Difficulties. Reports from all sources prove that but for German control Austria would collapse by economic bankruptcy and the disintegration of the diverse nationalities under the Hapsburg dominion. In riots due to labour troubles and the food shortage near Prague, in Bohemia, three hundred persons recently were arrested. Tho "Arbeiter ZeitungV' report of the trial- describes 37 of these persons as lean, hungry, working women, with weeping children on their laps, and halfgrown lads and girls. The growing fear of revolution has driven the Austrian Emperor more and more into the power of Germany. German conditions are less critical, but sufficiently bad to force the military authorities to seek an immediate decision and to ensure that once failure t,o achieve annihilation of tho Allies' armies has become apparent to tho German people an important reaction -in German opinion will follow. At present their partial military successes enable German statesmen to revert to their ambitious schemes of dominion in Europe and Asia. The only effectivo counter-measure is tho defeat of the German armies, which is assured now that the United States has thrown her decisive weight into the scale. The Military Committee of the House of Representatives has authorised the President to call up an unlimited number of men. America's Shipping Effort, Over 250,000 tons of new American Fhips were put inio service during May. Over £20,000,000 was subscribe* by American citizens in the recent campaign in aid of the Amorican Red Cross. The British mission to South America was received with marked sympathy. In liucnos Aires there was a remarkable street demonstration in its honour follisiving the ollicia! welcome. The Board of Trade reports a voluntary agreement to modify the provisioning scale for seamen specified in the Merchant Shipping Acts. The Food Outlook. Substantial economy of food is anticipated by eliminating waste. Restrictions in common industries, it is proposed, will come into force on Juno 10: working hours to bo reduced from 55} to 10 for mills on American cottou; levies to compensate unemployed to bo payable on every loom or spindlo running, instead of on tho excess number over 50 per pent; to save coal, mill? working 40

hours only must stop nil Saturday and Monday. The Food Ministry reports that Ihe success of the rationing schemes -has caused a demand for rationing olher articles of which thero are local or temporary shortages. It has been decided to ration lard ns from July 13, at Hie rate of 2oz. per head per week. Registration with tea retailers is compulsory, supplies to the retailer being allocated on the basis of 2oz. weekly per each registered customer. Tt is not proposed to ration individuals at present. Supplies from overseas continue, to avoid the wastage entailed by tho slaughter of immuturo eattlo for home consumption. The shortage of cheese still causes serious difficulty, particularly in agricultural districts, whore- substitute! cannot conveniently bo obtained. If labour and weather conditions onnble llio estimates of increased home cereal supplies to be realised, it will go far to compensate the Allies for tho inevitable losses in cereal ncreago consequent on tho recent German advance.