PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 19, 17 October 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The rapid success of the Allied drive in Flanders affords new and striking evidence of the straits to which the enemy is reduced. The facte which stand out are iSat the Germans failed hopelessly •either to maintain a sound defence Or to carry out an economical retreat. Whether ho had hoped to hold his lines for a time or had already determined to retreat, weakness and disorganisation'on the enemy's part are unmistakably indicated in- the speed with which the Allies advanced* over a tract of v/aterlogged country and in the heavy captures made. As reports stand at least 114,000 prisoners have been captured by the British, French, and Belgian forces engaged, and the enemy has also suffered heavy losses of artillery. * » # » It is an even worse feature of tho battle from the 'enemy's point of view-.that at the stage now peached he is perilously exposed to further attack. At the moment of writing unofficial reports that the British twoops occupied Menin and are within two miles of Courtrai await confirmation, but the enemy's essential/ communications between Lille and the Flanders coast are in any case under such closo bombardment as to be practically impassable. The evacuation. of the Flanders coast is .now inevitable, ,and that it has not yot been carried out is not to'the enemy's advantage-: This apart the Lille salient is so. dangerously threatened on its northern flank that the enemy's ability, •to hold and defend it much longer is more than ever doubtful. It is of the highest importance that tho Allies' have advanced over an area of waterlogged country to firmer ground, where, as a correspondent states to-day, there is fairly good going. Tho swampy country in rear is still, of course, a hindrance to transport and supply, but tho enemy's prospects of keeping up the effective bombardment of roads and cross roads, which would enable him to make tho most of these conditions, are evidently not improving. Even now there may be a few weeks of fairly, good weather before winter sets in, and if the Allies arc favoured in this respect the northern attack may be carried in the near future a long way beyond its present stage. * * » *

The attempts made by the Ger- '■ mans to explain away the deliberate devastation.of which they Have been guilty are of a nature to inspire contempt and stiffen a determination to oxact the fullest possible reparation. Tho assertion that the damage is in fact due to Allied bombardment is, of course, absurd. The results of the wanton destruction carried out by the Huns are nowhere more apparent than in the more important cities and towns which the Allies have been careful to spare. No doubt Laon would havo shared the fate of Cambrai and St. Quentin in this respect but for the accentuated pace of the German retreat under pressure of the Allied flanking attacks. A late development of German deviltry appears in tho official communication from Berlin which appears to-day on the subject of the treatment of the civilian population of the occupied areas in tho Lille region and elsewhere. As it stands the message looks very much like a threat to use these civilians as : a shield against Allied attacks, so repeating on a wholesalo scale the atrocities of this nature which wore witnessed in the i earlier stages of the war. If this is what Germany intends the Allies will be bound to exhaust all legitimate _ possibilities in the way of immediate and prospective reprisals. * # * * An important event on the British front reported to-day by Sir Douglas Haig is the crossing of the Haute Deulc Canal on a fairly oxtensive front in an area- about midway between Lille and Douai. Water-barriers now take a very important part in _ the German defensive scheme, chiefly because of the obstacle they present to'the progress of tanks, but the enemy has nowhere been very successful in holding them against attack. In tho present case the crossing of the canal opens prospects of a forward drive into tho area between Lille and Douai. The approach made to Haubordin means that the British arc closing in on Lille from tho south-west. Events on the Franco-American front arc developing on the lines that_ have become normal. At many points along tho front from tho Oise to the Mcuso important ground has been gained in the latest fighting, -.and the enemy's remaining foothold on the north bank of_ the Aisno north-east of Reims is being rapidly reduced.