ONE-DAY BATTLES.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 January 1918, Page 4

ONE-DAY BATTLES.

WHY LOSSES OF OFFICERS ARE HEAVY. FLANDERS CAMPAIGN. (London Correspondent of Melbourne “ A & e -”

London, Oct 26

The most remarkable change in the operations on the Western front, this year, in comparison with last) year, is the change from battles on a big scale, over a large front, continued day after day almost without cessation, to the battles on a small scale lasting only one day. The two great examples of protracted battles are those of Verdun, which the Germans began in the middle of February, 1916, and the battle of the Somme, which the British and French armies

began on July Ist, 1916, Each of these two great battles lasted for months, the only cessation of operations being caused by the exhaustion |of the men and the necessary' delay iu moving forward the big guns over the ground that had been won. But this year there has been a change of tactics on the part of the French and British commands. The j old idea of breaking through tho enemy’s lines and putting him to j flight has been abandoned. It has j been realised that the cost in human j lives in protracted bottles is too great in proportion to the ground gained, j The object of tho Allies in the West is to reduce the numerical strength of : the Germans to breaking point, to ' employ tactics which will cause heavier losses among the Germans acting on the defensive than among j the attackers. The only way this can be done is to bring a large mass ;of guns into play, and to drench the 1 German positions with shells nntil ! most of the defenders are killed and j the others, with nerve shaken and j shattered by the terrible bombardment, are ready to surrender to our advance infantry almost without fighting.

It has been found that the best way of carrying out these tactics is the one-day battles wit-li limited objectives. Since September last all the battles fought on the Western front have been finished in a day. A few day’s later the attack may be resumed a little io the north or south of the ground' gained in the previous attack; but each new attack lasts only one day r . Few of these one-day battles have been fought over a wider front than ten miles, and most of them have had a narrower front. In few of them has the most advanced objective been more than two miles from the starting point; in most of them it lias been less, Not every one has resulted in the capture of the whole of the objectives aimed at, but the majority have, and not one has failed to yield sonic gain of ground. These results are magnificent when the fact is taken info consideration that in every one of these one-day battles ihe Germans have had the advantage of occupying high ground. In every one of these attacks some valuable strategical position has been taken from the enemy. To such a pitcli sf perfection has tho British army' carried these oneday battles that it is believed it will bo possible to continue them throughout the winter, despite the handicap imposed by the Flanders mud. These battles have been so successful that it, is possible to say r with certainty that tho British can undertake to kill or capture the bulk of the Germans holding that section of the front which is to be attacked. The uncertainty lies in holding the ground after ir, has been cap cured. The Germans, in order to meet the change in the tactics of the offensive, have altered their plans of defence. Realising that they cannot hold defensive positions against the lam of shells which the big British guns ponr on to them, and that the effort to hold these positions while they are being bombarded results in heavy losses, the Germans have adopted the plan of holding their front lines very' lightly, and concentrating their strength on counterattacks delivered, if possible, before the British have time to consolidate the ground that the infantry seizes after the bombardment stops. Some interesting results have followed from these changes in defensive tactics. One result is that the number of prisoners and guns captured is relatively smaller than in the attacks made las* year. This is becanse the defensive lines are now lightly manned, and the German guns have been moved farther back from the front. Last year the number of prisoners and guns captured gave a good indication of the extent

of the victory, this year greater victories have yielded fewer prisoners and fewer guns. Another result which is even less satisfactory to the British, in view of the great cliificulty in keeping up the supply of trained officers, is that the

proportion of officers of high rank, such as colonels and brigadiergenerals, included among the casualties ie ranch higher than last y T ear. In the one-day battles of the Flauders campaign, wheie Australian soldiers have played such a conspicuous part, the losses of officers above the rank of major has beeu proportionately greater than at any period of the war. The explanation of this lies in the fact that the Germans, instead of stubbornly defending their front lines, depend on counter attacks to re-cap-I ture their front lines after the enemy had occupied the ground, and before he has had time to consolidate it into

a strong defensive position by turning the defences to the east instead of the west. In Flanders the Germans have abandoned the old system of continuous trenches, because the position of the trenches Avas easily discernible by aerial observation, and therefore easily bombarded. The Germans’ front line in Flanders are a loose, ill-defined area, made up of fortified

shell craters and “pillboxes.” The “ pill-boxes ” are “ camoufioged,” i.e., hidden under ruins of houses or farm buildings so as to make them invisible to observers in the air, or covered with canvas painted so as to make it look like the rest of the ground in the vicinity. The fortified shell craters, when viewed from an aeroplane, look like the rest ot the ground in the vicinity. The fortified shell craters when viewed from an aeroplane, look like thousands of other shell craters that are not fortified. They have “camoullaged ” emplacements, and in the sides of the craters are dug-outs , for the men who man the machine- , guns. Many of the fortified shell craters are connected with one another

by means of underground passages through their sides. This loose system of defence extends to a depth which the Germans estimate will exhaust an attack. That is to say the assaulting ranks by the time they reach the end of the fortified shellcraters will be thinned by casualties, AA r eary of the labour of advance, devoid of momentum, and disintegrated in the way that invariably happens to all troops in battle. It is behind this area that the German troops are held in strength for the counterattacks on the exhausted advancing British infantry. The German guns have been drawn back to defend this area, not to defend the front lines. When the tired, disintegrated attackers reach this area the Germans begin their barrage, and send forward their troops to counter-attack. The battle begins with renewed vigour Avlien the Italians are at every disadvantage—tired, disintegrated, their ranks thinned by casualties, and without cover from the German barrage. Here arises the necessity for responsible officers being in the front line of the advance to direct the changing tide of battle. The British guns have to come forward in order to do their share in breaking np the counter-attacks. And despite the great disadvantages under which the British labour, they very seldom failed to break up the German counter attacks and to hold the ground, that has been won.

It is these changes in tactics which have resulted in an increase in the losses of officers and in comparatively heaA'y casualties among the gunners. Neither on the part of the officers nor the gunners is there any hesitation in assuming the risks that the new tactics have imposed on them. They know that the Germans are beaten, that the defeat of each successive plan of defence is bringing the end of the Avar nearer Avith accelerated speed.

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