PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 277, 12 August 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

One fact which stands out clearly from the late history of the Western campaign is that the Allied armies have been very greatly strengthened by tho institution of the unified command. There is no doubt that tlic perils, which confronted tho Allies in the earlier stages of the German offensive this year were heightened and intensified by their being caught in the transition from separate national commands to the organisation which is now firmly established. Even in those difficult days, however, it speedily became apparent that unity was a priceless asset." When the Germans concentrated upon an effort to overwhelm the British armies by sheer weight'of numbers and gunpower., the French reinforced their allies on such a scale and with such celerity as would have been impossible under any other system than that oi a unified command. The advantages' of the new system-new to the Allies, though not to the enemy—are still more strikingly apparent now that the Allied armies a-sro fighting as an undivided force which is developing with brilliant promise. The very fact that tho Allied return blow is now telling so heavily upon tho enemy indicates that it would have been a dangerous, if not fetal, policy to attempt to counter the enemy offensive before the appointed ' hour had struck. Had the responsibility of determining that hour been divided between several commanders, each of thorn solely responsible to his own Government, it is almost certain that no such clear-cut plan of campaign as the Allies aro now developing could have been cither formed or executed. ■JJiltcrcnces of opinion would have been all Imfc inevitable, and the result, in spite of the tried and enduring valour of the Allied armies might well have been disastrous. As Me, Lloyd Geokge observed on one occasion: "The fact that we fought as three or four independent armies instead of fighting as one involved a great waste of strength and fighting efficiency.'' The Allies have emerged from a searching ordeal in which they could not afford to waste an ounce of strength. It must be attributed in no small degree to tho institution of the unified command and to the wisdom with which the choice of the supreme commander wan made that they have emerged in condition to fall with staggering effect upon an enemy weakened, though not exhausted, by unsuccessful efforts.

The spirit in which Sir Douglas lIAIG accepted the adoption of the unified command has been made sufficiently evident in the fine co-oper-ation of the- Allied armies. It mav nevertheless he of interest to recall a statement on tho subject made by Lord Deiiby at a time when some people were still inclined to regard the new departure as a doubtful experiment, and others had by no means been silenced in outright onposition. "I nm proud to think " Lokd Derby said, "that Sir Douglas Haig has been for many years a personal friend of mine, and I am all the prouder because I know of the absolute loyalty with which ho. has Placed his services at tho disposal of ■ General Poch. It is a loyalty not born of orders given to mm. It is a loyalty born of absolute confidence in the Commander-in-Ohief. And Igo further than tliat. It is not the loyalty of one sing o man, it is symbolical of tho loyalty that is. felt by all his officers and by the country whose Army ho commands.. And I venture to predict that in that Allied command, accepted as it has been by all the I .iT 7,1° aro now fi S htin S. wo shall find tho surest road to victory and that road will not be lon* in being traversed." " * * * British aircraft aro playing a great part in the battle which" already has done so much to change the aspect, of the Western campaign Incir losses have not been light but it is evident that these losses are a measure not of the success' with which they were opposed, but of the daring with which they engaged in every possible form of attack upon the enemy and of tho devotion with which they assisted the advance of their comrades on land. In one of his reports to-day Sib Dougms ilAio mentions that fifty-one British aeroplanes are missing, as against iorty-eight enemy machines destroyed and seventeen driven down out of control. A considerable proportion of these were no doubt also destroyed, and it is likely that the enemy's losses in aircraft were the greater, despite the-fact that tho Untish squadrons took infinitely greater risks and engaged in activities which their adversaries did not attempt to emulate. Most of the lost intish machines were, shot down Fiom the ground, that is to say over and behind the enemy lines 'where they aro spreading death and destruction broadcast. Some new dovelopnients in the use of aircraft arc mentioned. In the Present battle they have been employed to drop smoke hombs, and so create a protective screen .for the tanks, and r.xso to carry ammunition to the advanced troops.

A late message from Sin Douglas Hai« brings confirmation of Uie news Hmt Mcmfcdidicr has been captured, and that a big addition has uwin made to previous captures of prisoners and guns, but at time •>t writing there is no official 'news of the capture of Chaulncs, That vital centre in the enemy's immediate communications has, however been very closely approached '