PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 295, 2 September 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The recapture of Mont_ Kcmmcl is in some respects a less important event than its capture by the Germans in April last. So far as the progress, ot the present offensive is concerned, it cannot compare in importance, for instance, with the breaching of tho Hindenburg lino east of Arras or the threatening French advance between the Oise and the Aisnc. Yet the event bears impressive testimony to .the nature of the defeat to which the enemy is now striving _ desperately to set limits. Certainly no better proof has been given of _th"e ruinous collapse of his offensive plans. So long as ho retained any hope of resuming tho offensive, Mont Kemmel was an asset to be retained at the price of almost any sacrifice. This height is in a definite sense the key to the last great natural barrier covering the approaches to tho Channel ports. It rises towards the eastern end of the elevated ridge which runs east from the French town of Cassel and juts across the western frontier of Belgium, southwest of Ypres, and is the highest ground for many miles around. It has an elevation of 616 feot, nearly twice that of the Messines Ridge, which stands between three and four miles to; the east. Mont Kemmel also dominates the hills to the west and north-west to which the Allied lino was withdrawn in the closing days of April. As tho Germans observed in the official report in which they _ recorded its capture, it looks far into the Flanders plain. Its loss seriously laid open the Allied defences covering the Channel ports. Holding it, the enemy had a clear' view of the roads behind Ypres and ■those running north-west to Poperinghe, an important centre in the British communications. The fall of Mont Kemmel was followed by an immediate contraction of the British line around Ypres. With its recovery the dangerous breach which had been opened in the de-" fences covering the Channel ports has been, closed. The enemy, of course, is now-much less advantageously placed than he was to bombard tne British communications in Southern Flanders, and his own northern flank in what remains of the Lys salient is seriously 'exposed. Formerly a pronounced bulge, the salient is already reduced to a gentle curve. Tne Ger-mans-have evacuated the road centre' of Bailleul, four miles south-west of Mont Kemmel, and, independent of events on other parts of the front, will probably find it necessary to carry out a further retirement to the Messines Ridge, and the vicinity of Armentiercs.

The tide of battle now promises to sweep finally eastward of Mont Kcmnwl, but it will hold' for all time a conspicuous placo in the history of the war. On April 25, the clay on which _it wag -captured by the Germans, it was garrisoned by ono of the Frenoh divisions which at that time reinforced the British northern armies. It was recorded soon afterwards that Mont Kcmmel was surrounded by nine o'clock in the morning, but that fighting continued for some hours after tho hill was practically lost, the French garlison having sworn to hold the post to the last. A British correspondent gave the following description of the final phase of a battle which deserves to bo long remembered:— "Long after other enemy battalions had swarmed around the base of the hill and completely isolated tho brave garrison, the hand-to-hand lighting continued. When one of our •aeroplanes dived low in the storm of shell about three o'clock in tho afternoon the observer could still see tiny figures in ,blue lying in the craters using their rifles and ma-chine-guns. They were still fighting at the end of the clay. They fought until they died." Early on the following day a frontal counter-attack was made on the enemy positions on the northern slopes of the hill, but they were successfully defended.

At the moment there is nothing to show in what circumstances the Germans lost Mont Kcmrael. There is, of course, no reason to suppose that they emulated the heroic stand of the French soldiers who fought and died on the hill in April, but if it should prove that thoy simply abandoned Kemmel in the course of a voluntary retirement the event will still strikingly attest the extent to which their fortunes and prospects have declined in the last month or two.

The Allies have a great deal besides Mont Kemmel to show for their efforts in the fighting covered by to-day's reports'. Both British and French troops have made- noteworthy progress even in those areas where the enemy's resistance is most desperate. From Sik Dougms Haig's latest report it would appear that cast of Arras the British troops have broken into the formidable Drocourt-Queant line, which is the backbone of the German defence in this region now that the Hindcnbnrg line has been breached. No exact trace of the Drocourt-Queant "switch" is available, but it runs nearly straight from Drocourt to Queant, passing a little more than seven miles cast of Arras and about six miles west of Douai. From Qucant, the- switch defences turn south-cast (o Marcoing, near which town they link up with the Hind-sn-hurg line in its original location. In the latest fighting the British have captured St. Scrvih Farm, a strong position just north of the Arras-C'ambrai road and touching a direct line connecting Drocourt and Queant. They have gained also the villago of Eterpigny, nearly a mile east of that lino. Eterpigny stands a little over a mile north of the Arras-Cambrai road. Its capture should mean that it lcas't tho outer defences of the Drocourt-Queant switch have been invaded.

At all events tho British troops are steadily breaking their way into positions of great strength 'which >thc enemy is making all possible efforts to-retain. They arc now eight miles along the high road which runs from Arras to Cambrai. A few miles further south :t desperate struggle' is in progress at Bullceourt and other villages east of Croisilles. After ■ gaining Bullocourt and Hendecourt, a little further north, the British have appar-

ently been driven back to the outskirts of these villages. A Gorman report which may or may not bo adhering to facts implies that at its height the British advance in this region extended not only to Bullccourt, but to Ecincourt, more than a mile further east. A limited advance from the positions they now hold in the vicinity of Bullccourt would carry tho British right across the Drocourt-Qucant "switch." Queant lies a couplo of miles east-Kouth-cast of Bullccourt. Thc_ tunnel which has been mentioned in the news as having a place in the elabo-rately-organised German defences on this part of the front links up a series of ancient catacombs which have readily lent themselves to the purposes of modern field fortification.

Thb capture of Bapaurae has been followed up rapidly, and positions arc now held four miles beyond that place along the highway which connects it with Cambrai. Still further south the British have captured Mont St. Quentin, a mile north of Pennine. Fifteon hundred prisoners were taken just north-west of Mont St. Quentin, and the advance is in other respects important. Mont, St. Quentin is a dominating position overlooking Peronne. The Somme runs north to Peronne be-fore-turning west, and the northward reach is at presont utilised by the enemy as a defensive barrier. With this section of his line dangerously threatened in flank from Mont St. Quentin, he is_ under an evident necessity of seeking defensive positions further east. # * * *

The French have gained less territory in the operations reported today than on.some recent occasions, but the positions they have taken are strategically important. East of Noyon they have captured Mont St. Simeon, a height of 500 feet at the v'ostern end of a ridge overlooking the Oise Valley. They have at the same time extended their invasion of tho enemy flank on tho front north of the Aisne, and, having forced the passage of the Ailette, are enlarging, a bridgehead on the lower slopes of the Laon-La Fere massif. * * » *

One or two messages to-day mention the withdrawal of 'American troops _ from _ French and British corps' in which they have been brigaded, in order that they may join tho First American Army, now forming. In one message General March. _ American Chief of Staff, is credited with the statement that such a transfer is now in progress. What the immediate effect upon the Allied strength will bo it is, of course, impossible to say. But it is fairly certain that no such step has been taken without the full concurrence of the Allied Generalissimo, and that it would not have been taken at this time with any other idea than that of making-the strongest possible force of Americans available to co-operate in the offensive before winter imposes a check on