NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16749, 2 January 1915, Page 9

NOTES ON THE WAR.

ON LAND AND SEA.

The capture and recapture of St «<#edrgea, on the Yser, .are typical of the fate of many of the towns in Flanders that "are in .the present fighting area. Virtually every position of importance—and villages are all impoitant in. thig sort of fighting—has been in the hands of the Germans and the Allies alternately. At present the Allies are holding the upper hand, but it is by’no means certain that they will not be again compelled to relinquish their grip of some of the villages before the present phase of the war ends. Descriptions from the firing lino show that jn many villages not a house remains undamaged 1 , and in some there is scarcely a wall standing. Probably of all the Flemish towns Messines, to the south of Ypres, has witnessed the fiercest and most continuous fighting.

Tlie German attack appears to have been particularly hot during the last few days in the neighbourhood of Rheims. It is reported now that the enemy blew up the French trenches north of Sillory, from which it would appear that no progress has been made to the immediate east of Rheims since the French reoccupied the city. Sillery is south-east of Rheims, on the railway to Chalons, and the present report is a plain indication that the villages of Seine and Berru are held* by the Germane. This was a fair inference from what was known of the general position in the region, but it had not been definitely stated. It shows the bombardment of Rheims itself to have come rather from the east than from the north, where the Allies’ line turns sharply np to the Aisne. In all probability the Germans, have installed their big gens behind seme of the old forts lying east and north-east of the city. It is closely settled, but otherwise not very difficult fighting country, and the fact, that the Germans are able to hold their ground while the Allies have been getting the better of them gradually on both flank* of the position shows how stubbornly the battle has been fought.

Ite wary vigorous offensive opened by the French on the Souain-Mesnil front is being continued; successfully. The fighting is here in fairly flat country, Vising gradually towards a fringe of low hills along the valley of the Upper Aisne. Beyond the Aisne is its tributary, the Aire, and beyond that «gain la the Meuse; All these streams tun northwards in this area, and tlie .opposing fronts cross them from west ito east. Meenil lies close to the left ’bank of the Aisne, with Perthes a mile ior taro to the west and Souain still further west. A' straight line from Rheims to Verdun passes slightly to the north at thorn.

The position in Southern Alsace is 'still very interesting. The French have not been left undisturbed in the poneodon of tho villages between Thann and Altkirch, for it is reported that the Germans' bombarded Aspach without effect. To the north-east of i Thann the French axe hotly contesting with the enemy the possession of the village of Steinbach, half of which they have captured. The division of tho place between the two armies could be piare easily understood in the ease of Aspach or Burnhaupt, because each of then consists of two villages, a mile or lo apart, .the division being due, of course, to the grouping of houses close to the water supply. But in the case ®f Steinbach this explanation does not apply. The village is just at the foot of the hills, and in all probability the French are on one side of a spur while the Germans still hold the other. Hie fighting, in any can, must be at very close quarters.

The estimates of the Austro-Gefman losses in the last few weeks of the fighting in Poland and Galicia may be accepted with reserve, bub they must have been enormous. The Germans certainly sacrificed huge bodies of troops in the fighting between Lodz and Lowic®, when their centre was caught in a trap and had to- cut its way out. In order to cover the retreat, moreover, the two flanks had to hold positions of the utmost difficulty, and it may oven have happened that the; total losses were greater than would have been the case if the centre had been left to its fate. The moral effect, however, would have been very different. Since then the Germans have been making tremendous efforts to break through the Russian front, and the battle has been almost con•tinuous. Little is known of the position jn southern Poland, but in Galicia the Austrians have suffered at least two severe defeats lately, and thenlosses in prisoners alone during December cannot have been far short of a hundred thousand.. At any rate the Russians claimed to have captured fifty thousand in little more than a fortnight, and since then the Austrians have been hammered heavily at all points. . '

Hie case of the Earl of Lonsdale is attracting particular attention, no doubt, because the victim is a peer. The Earl placed his country houses at the disposal of the. King early in the war, and many members of the Bel-gian-royal household are now, resident at Barleythorpe Hall. It is easy to believe, in these circumstances, ; that the Germans would take a particular delight in humiliating him. The reports suggest that he ‘resented the treatment he received in the German prison camp and was “tried” and sentenced'to ten years’ imprisonment—a most vindictive punishment. This sentence was subsequently revised and the death penalty substituted. Lord Lonsdale, who is fifty-seven years of age, was, before the war, Colonel of the Westmoreland and Cumberland Yeomanry, and served in the South African War.' , <#o is one of- the best-known and most popular .men in'the peerage. He has been actively connected with racing, yachting, boxing and other sports. He is a great territorial magnate, owning 1/5,000 acres, and holding the positions of Hereditary Admiral of the Coasts of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and Lord Warden of the West Marches. He has’dono a great deal to stimulate recruiting in Westmoreland and Cumberland. It is interesting to note that lie was a. personal friend of the Kaiser, who lias been; his guest in England, and lie is entitled to wear the Order of the Crown t P-uss-