PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 289, 26 August 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The_ rapid success of the attacks in which the British- arc closing in iiponßapaume is tho more impressive in view of the fact that tho German armies on this section of the front have had thus far a much less trying time tha"n thoEe which have been fighting and * retreating further south. An attack by the German northern armies-was anticipated even when tho enemy's drive on Paris had visibly broken down, and it was tho .general view that such an attack would hold formidable possibilities. Although the enemy has been compelled since tho Allied counter-offensive opened to draw to some extent upon his northern armies to stiffen his line elsewhere, it was upon the northern front that he nyght have been expected to show at his best in a defensive battle. The telling effect of the latest British onslaught is therefore notable, not merely in its immediate aspect and as a stop forward in a movement against CamBrai, but in its general bearing on tho campaign. As nows stands tho British front north of Bapaumenow sweeps' forward in a bold curve, to positions north-east of that town. To the south the western oncl of the Thiepval ridge, which was gradually mastered in the Battle of the Sommc, is' outflankcd on north and south. But if tho advance develops prosperously, the whole ridgo will soon be outflanked and made untenable.

A message just received boars witness to the conspicuous success of the British attack. Sib Douglas Haig reports not only that his troops are now astride the Thicpval ridge, but that the New Zealandcrs, fighting irresistibly in the centre of the- attacking front, have reached Avesncs-les-Bapaume, a village on the western out-skirts of the town and separated from it by a distance of about half a. mile. The New Zealand Division is playing a. great part in a battle which promises to tell heavily upon tho future course of the war. In the dispatch in which he sjives a prominent place to the achievements of the New Zealandcrs, Sir Douglas Haig makes a noteworthy departure from the formal language in which his communiques arc usually phrased. Ho observes that nothing stops his troops, and that all ranks are pressing forward. It, is evident that the splendid thrust of the British armies has by no means expended its force or readied its limits.

WiiiiiE the enemy is faced by new and formidable problems on the northern front, his affairs arc going from bad to worse further south. In particular, he has found no means of oheckin? General Margin's advance between the Oise and the Aisne. A further advance by the French in this region is reported to-day, and the flank of the, enemy's line along the Aisnc and Vesle is more than ever dangerously threatened. It is somewhat extraordinary that there is no definite indication meantime that the enemy is undertaking a retirement behind the Aisne. There is every reason, however, to suppose that the dangers of his situation are increased by delay, and that he gains nothing by postponing a retirement which in any case is likely to prove exceedingly costly. When he is compelled ultimately to give way much, of course, will depend upon the forces available to the Allies to harry his retreat, and it is eo much the more- important that, although their offensive is now developing on n. formidable scale, they are evidently _ holding back strong reserves. This appears most plainly in the fact that the American troops, who have_ given ample proof of their Itehting quality, and are now available in considerable numbers, have taken no big part in the most recent battles of the campaign.