RETURN TO OPEN WARFARE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17279, 21 September 1916, Page 5

RETURN TO OPEN WARFARE.

HOPES OF THE ALLIES, (From H. WARNER ALLEN, representative of British Press with French Army.) WITH THE FRENCH ARMY ON THE SOiVfME, July 81. It is highly important that the meaning of the pauses in 'tho Allied offensive on tho Somme should be thoroughly understood. These lulls in the fighting aro in no way due to exhaustion. They represent definite steps in a carefully thought-out plan. In tho Champagne offensive last September an attempt was made to break through the Uerman line with a single rush. On the Somme it is proposed to hammer away through the enemy’s defences slowly and methodically. After the Marne the Germans, contrary to all their military theories and intentions, were compelled to adopt the defensive warfare of the trendies, and since that time they have shown no real desire to return to open warfare. Tho German people were told that the object of tho Verdun offensive was the capture of an important fortress in the French line, and tho suggestion that a success would lead to a “guerre do mouvement ” was scarcely mentioned. To-day, in open warfare, the Allies would have every advantage on their sido. Man for man their soldiers are convinced that they are more than a match for the Germans, and the “seventy-five” is a weapon without rival, onco the enemy’s troops are in* the open. The enemy’s numerical superiority has disappeared, and his sole advantage lies in his heavy artillery—heavy guns difficult to move, which would become of secondary importance in, a battle in the open. The present offensive has brought open warfare nearer than it has ever been since trench warfare began, and' there is every hop© that, if it is pursued methodically and without undue haste, the superiority of the British and French soldier and the strength of the Allied field' artillery will be able to inako themselves felt in the open. Sunday’s offensive is typical of the new method. Its object was a gain of ground, in itself inconsiderable, and the occupation of the number . of points Which would servo as starting places for further progress. This attack was made exclusively on the north of the Somme. On July 20 the battlo front was slightly extended towards the south by the capture of Soyeconrt and other fortified positions in the direction of Vermandoviller. On July 24 an engagement took place which, though in itself of comparatively small importance, is admirably characteristic of the method which can alone insure success. THE ESTREES HOUSES. Any offensive in tho direction of Berny-en-Santerre and Barleux was seriously hampered by an outlying block of houses on the eastern border of Estrees. On July 4 the whole o! the village of Estrees, with the exception of theso houses, was captured, but at this point the enemy were very strongly fortified and held out with tho utmost obstinacy. The resistance of isolated houses converted into underground fortresses, and well provided with machine-guns is one d the feature of the Somme fighting. Sometimes, as I have said in a previous despatch, it is the church anu cemetery that are the most difficult to storm, as at Curlu and Dompierre.' Sometimes it is a chateau, as at Thiepval; sometimes a barn and farm buildings, as at Monacu and Herbecourt. The Herbecourt centre of resistance in a largo barn, and known to the French as “ the Fortin du Kronprinz,” was the last portion of the village to hold out against tho bayonets of the charging French. Tho block of houses at Estrees actually held out for twenty days. Aerial torpedoes were aimed upon it, and it came in for a good share of heavy shells, but its defences ancf shelters were dug in very deep, . and the enemy resisted with the obstinacy of despair. It was held by about a hundred and fifty men, whoso corjmuuications with the rear were seriously impeded by the French barrage fire. On the 24th it was decided to clear out this hornet’s nest, which, Tj-ith its machine-guns, was being a perpetual nuisance/. The French lines had been pushed closo up to the group of houses, of which everything above ground had been utterly demolished though their cellars still remained intact. To give a free hand to the gunners the French troops were withdrawn to a distance of about five hundred yards, and then a large number of the heaviest guns were concentrated on this point. The target was a small one, and the visible effect of the shells was proportionately increased. The bombardment lasted for six hours, and during its progress the airmen circling above the miniature volcano kept the gunners continually informed of the accuracy of their firo. \n aviator told me that bricks and mortar piles and planks were lnuToa up into the air and kept flying about the placo as though they had wings—“like birds,” he said. After six hours the infantry went forward. The Germans, after their stubborn resistance, had no fight left in them, and in ten minuses the wholo

block of houses were in French hands. In itself the operation was a small one. Many others like it have been carrie out and will have to bo carried out, but each of them marks a step in advance, and in tho aggregate they represent tho gradual wearing away of tho greatest fortress the world lias ever seen.