A WEEK OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 255, 16 July 1918, Page 5

A WEEK OF THE WAR

OFFICIAL REVIEW THE DELAY IN THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE DUE TO VON KUHLMANN AND INFLUENZA Tho .following telegraphic review nf the general war situation for tlie week ended July l!i has been received by His Excellency the. Governor-General from the Secretary of State for the Colonics:— "The past week has been chielly remarkable for the continued delay of the German offensive, although 'this is now regarded us certain. Tho only doubt remaining is as to when and where it will bo launched. p 01 cours:!, the (Jernians can afford a certain delay, yet it would pay them besl to start their oft'ensido at the earliest possible moment since presumably they hop« for MirctMS which will need propitious campaigning weather to exploit it. Indeed the ollVn!.ivo would probably havo been stalled bppurn now but for certain, delaying factors, such as the. failure of tho Austrian olfptisivo against Italy and the now known fact that. German t'oons are. very heavily suffering from influenzii. Wo may guess, too, that internal disagreements between yon LiidemlorfF and voii Kuhlmann contributed to the delay. Von lyuiilmann seems to havo boon so sceptical of tho chances of military success that he wished to open up peaco negotiations whilo the German Army was still in a. position to offer an oil'eiisivo met'ace. Von , Ludendorff probably thinks lhat peaco tonus, including annexations and indemnities, cannot bo got from the Allies till the Allied armies are decisively crashed. Since without such terms Germany would bo mined, von Ludendorff must liavo argued 'that tho necessary military triumph is obtainable provided every possible resource is pieced at his disposal. Von Kuhlniaun's resignation indicates the triumph of von Ludendorff. He may yet need tiuio to organise resources which hitherto havo been withheld. Ho will certaiuly then launch, tho most desperate offensive possible. "Meanwhile the number of British, French, and American troops are making abundant use of this delay by working at high speed in preparing and strengthening themselves against probable enemy lines of attack and seizing important points which will help the defence and Handicap the offensive. The most notable of these local achievements was that of Iho. Australian Corps, which, under General Monash, is covering the approaches to Amiens. On American Independence Day, assisted by American detachments .and sections of tho Tank Corps, 'the. Australians succeeded by a surprise attack in recapturing Hamel Village, and drove out the Germans from Vuire Woods; between Hamel and Villers Bretonneux. Simultaneous attacks on the right bank of the Sommo enabled tho left wing to advance- tho British front 500 yards east of Villers Corbie. The attack was planned and carried* out with mechanical perfection, three German ■ divisions being easily defeated and losing 1500 prisoners. The Australians and Americans advanced with splendid elan, the way being opened by a strong bombardment . from concentrated batteries. Sir Douglas Haig specially mentioned the contribution 01 tho tanks to the victory. During tho' next night tho Australians made yet a further advance, and bo far the Germans have made no attempt to regain the lost ground. The position which secures us the most important tactical position is Villers Bretonneux. "Whilo the Australian and American troops were hero combining with admirable effect tho Americans north-west of Chateau Thierry ajso carried out successful local operations unassisted, and tho French followed up. last week's success on Cutry Plateau in a. brilliant attack on Wednesday morning with another in tho evening, which penetrated tho German position between Moulin-sous-Touvent and Autroches. The preliminary bombardment was heavy, but still the Germans were taken by surprise, and made a poor fight, leaving over 1000 prisoners with the French. Throughout the enemy's defence was noticeably weak and dispirited, which probably means that the beet enemy storm troops aro undergoing preliminary training for the big offensive. The Italian Front, "On tho Italian front most successful operation); were carried out both on the northern front and on the Lower Piavo. Aflor four days' steady fighting the 23rd Italian Corps cleared tho wholo of the delta between the old and new branches of tho river whore the Austrians had been established einco November last. Tho Austrians made strong- resistanco which only inqreased their losses. The Italian line is now shortened and strengthened,-whilo tho Austrians have been 1 repelled twenty miles behind Venice, which is now practically eafo from artillory fire. Up in the mountains local passes gave the Italians several points d'appm, which will be of tho greatest uso supposing the Austrians renew tho offensive. ,It seems likely thoy will do so, judging from tho appointment of tho German General von Below to command the Austrian Army on tho Italian frontier, which sets the seal of Austria's slavery. We cannot prophesy his intentions, but think his plans aro probably for a heavy offonsive. This is hardly possible either now or at any timo without considerable German aid. The victorious Italian Army is.now in the highest 'feather, and General Diaz is using all opportunities for building up defensive positions. , The War in the Air. "British airmen continue steady aggressive work on all fronts, diversified by successful local air fights and by longdistance raids both in Germany and the East. On.' the. Western front, despito rain, mist, aud clouds, British airmen kopt the closest eye on tho enemy's movements, keping him lively with bombing dumps and hutments, attacking intantry transport with machine-guns, and helping tho army to destroy his batteries, besides taking thousands of photographs of his positioK. The aerial fighting thus entailed resulted in heavy enemy losses. Fifty-two enemy machines wore brought down and thirtyseven wore winged, helpless—a total of eighty-nine enemy machines—whilo only seventeen British machines aro reported missing. When tho Australian infantrytook Hamel on July 4 British airmen brilliantly co-operated. Every attack was preceded by an air nssault. The British aviators flew close over the roofs of ruined cottages, dropped several hundred bomb?, and fired nearly fifty thousand rounds of mnchino'-guu ammunition on tho Bocho defences. "The Independent Royal Air Forco continues bombing raids into Germany. Aiming at important junctions nud munition centres west of the Rhine, tho British formations attacked Metz-Sablons, Saut'bruckcu, Coblenz, Karthous. ami Their. Single raids were carried cut on Belohon, Mannheim, Thioiiville, Falkenberg, Kaiserslaulern, and Luxemburg. All machines returned safely, despite clesperato air resistance at MetV. and Saai , - brucken, which resulted in ono enemy machine being fired down, and two helplessly winged. "Tho Navy and the air forco again cooperated in attacks on German naval works on tlio Belgian coast, with excellent, results. .Bombs were seen to burst on vital points in the harbour entrance, a powdor factory, warehouses, and the quay at Ostend, round tho lock gates at Zeebrugge, and on tho shipping at Bruges. A British formation onco attacked sixteen hostile machines, three of these Iwinj; winged and three, brought down in flames, with no British damage. '•Undamaged Uritish iiiachini'S took thousands nf photographs in Italy and brought down six enemy aircraft.. Similar success was achieved on (ho Balkan ami Palestine fronts, and half <i ton of bombs was dropped effectively on Constantinople on July 7. In this connection there are many expressions of indignation by the German military authorities at civilian participation in acts of warfare, such as helping tho Allied airmen in Belgium. It, is now amusing to find an official proclamation "uoted from the 'Coimauor Nach'risbn,' a Wostphnlian paper, of Juno 19, 1-eq.uir-

insr German civilians to capturo all enemy airmen forced In land on Gorman territory, 'preventing them from restarting, mid destroying their aeroplanes. This proclamation considers such service a danger and offers a. bribe accordingly of fifty marks per head to civilians bringing in enemy airmen prisoners. This makes a fine, contrast with Iho attitude expected by the German High Command from otheir civilians in respect to Ger*J man foundered aircraft. Independence Day Celebrations. "The following order has been issued, dated July 11:— ' ■ " "i'ho Independence Day celebrations wero murked Dy the greatest enthusiasm. Tlio presence of the King, at a baseball matcli is universally felt to mean much more than a mere Koyal appearance at a public function, but trather is cmblai malic of the corapleto reunion of both k branches of the English-speaking race s in their dclcrminntiim to'achieve the 11 triumph of civilisation, in common with ~ their Allies. These celebrations givo a ! " triumphant! denial to tlic f.ilso preteuco a _ of tho German Government held out to *' a deluded people, th.it America is unable j and indifferent in war.' '" . The Murder of von Mirbach. "In Russia public feeling against tho t national' humiliation by . Ino Brest s Uiuvsk peace found vent in thu assassi- '• iiiiliun of 'tho Gorman so-called Ambas- - ,-ailur vuii Mirbach ac the hands of the I sucial revohitiunaries. Tlio Czecho- :- Slovaks have taken control of Vludi- !> vustolc, owing to tlio attempts of 'tho v Hcltilievik niilhurities to uxterminato )■ them and also to. scud anus aiid muni--0 tions lo Dm West to enable the German •- n;id Auslfiun prisoners to, fight the reit mainder of the Czcelio-Slpynk troops in 1 Siberia. The general feeling in Kussia '- is well evidenced by the fact that trans quillily reigns already at Vladivostok - under tho new regime of combined s Siberian Government aud Czechoslovak o troops, whereas the rest of Russia is still S , in the throes of anarchy .'.ml bankruptcy. - Tho Bolsheviki are leaning . more- nnd t more to purchase- one more 'hour of pre--9 carious lifo by any discoverable mean?, c even to handing over Hie rest of llussia ft to German domination. It i≤ plain that o tho whole of Kussia is utterly weary of - chaos and bloodshed, and only desires s help to secure ■ once more peace and s order, if that help is offered frankly and » promptly in disinterested quarters in o full sympathy with tho democratic aims 0 of Russia. ii The Food Outlook. '" "Mr. dynes lias succeeded Lord Rhondda as" Food Controller. For sonio r time past Mr. Clynes has been. Lord ' Ehondda's right-hand man as Secretary to the Ministry of Food in Parliament. His ability and tact are greatly appre--1 ciated in Parliament, not only porson--1 ally, but in the discharge of difficult and t delicate duties. Mr. Clynes started life as a mill-hand, and has been a Labour member since 1908. His appointment » has been received with enthusiasm in all , quarters. Cereal imports, excepting n rice, are- considerably lower than at tho !- saino time last year, but the consumption of bread remains much the same. 1 The demand for frozen meat in the i \llied armies is very heavy. Increased 3 supplies of dried, frozen, and fresh are ! particularly welcome. Supplies ot 1 cheese havn considerably increased, but I the demand still much exceeds the supply owing to the necessity for rebuilding t stocks. The coal requirements of the , Allies have largely increased, and <o.OUO skilled miners have been called into the iriny, so that it is inevitable that ; domestic supplies of coal must be vc «• stricted by one quarter at least. Ihe fc Board of Trade has issued an order ac- . coidingly for household fuel and lightin", basing the estimate of coal needed on the number of rooms in the house. 3 ■■ ' — — f