PROGRESS OF THE WAR

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9788, 11 October 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Fully alive to- tho need for bustling tbo enemy before he can recover, and disposing of troops eager, fresh, and of the best, the British General has followed up the third phase of the Third Battle of Ypres with a great assault on an eight-mile front. While the half-hearted people are talking of the tremendous attack the Germans they fear so terribly are going to deliver, the British are once more pushing the enemy with their great “drive” ; and they are in possession of the greater part of their objectives. This time our brave Allies of France are moving within their portion of tho attack, driving straight towards the Houthoulst Wood, heading north-east. Their objective is tho two miles of the German hue between Wydendreft and Dracibank. The former,' of these places is dose to Dangamarck in tho west, and tho distance of the line between them to tho big wood lying north-east is about one mile. With the British and French in connection, it is evident that this is one of the greater blows of the British General’s plan.

The British have advanced step tor step with their Allies from Langemarck to the Broodseinde Ridge; they have passed Poeloapelie—completing ■the capture of that place—they have left Gravenstafel ridge and the heights of Ahraham behind them; and tnev are in front of Passchendaele, which is within a mile and a half of the northern end of the Passed end a el© Ridge, and probably the last German stronghold in that direction. They are also at Daisy Wood, the stronghold commanding tho eastern aspect of the same ridge. It is between four and five miles from tho start of the first phase of Yprea 11., and the Australians

have it isolated preparatory to swift and destructive capture. The New Zealanders are probably moving towards Passohondaolo and the positions in front of Abraham Heights and Gravenstafel. Later accounts modify this a little.

We can imagine their feelings. Letters from the front disclose, the tremendous keenness of the anxiety of the writers to bo ‘‘in it,” their fear lest perchance they might bo out of it. their perpetual effort to discover if they would be allowed to go “oyer tho top.” This is itho true spirit of tho soldier, which tho armchair critic cannot realise, whereas it is one of the chief assets in the hands of a commanding general bent on battle. This is'the Spirit of more than the Now Zealanders. It is the spirit of tho whole British Army. If anyone ventures to say that this is in great contrast to the spirit of the German army that is losing positions and throwing up its -hands "to the tune of “Kamorad” he will not he far wrong. For that is but part—a small part—of the great contrast of the time. That great contrast is presented on tho very ground that saw tho first part of it. This is the third battle of I pres. In the first battle, the enemy surging in superior masses to tho attack, with metal and munitions beyond any sort of compare to those of the thin lino bold too thinly, according to all accepted canons of war. The German weight, fresh, intact in all its original vastness, poised as a distinguished writer has said, and sill Europe looking on with bated breath. But the thin line held, for a month, of desperate fighting, mastering the final effort of its tremendous enemy by u sheer of his chosen troops of tho formidable Prussian Guard.

To-day see the contrast. The British Army is the great weight poised ready to strike and striking regularly, brilliantly, at short intervals, pounding the life out of the great German machine; and on tho other side the machine making no such fight as was offered against it in those awful days—opic days, they have been called—simply abandoning position after position, inflicting slight losses, comparatvoly speaking, surrendering, trusting to its guns and its gases for whatever hold Fortune enables them to retain. The conclusion is obvious. (1) Had our men' been three years ago what they are to-day in numbers, equipment and organisation, and the enemy what we were then the enemv would not have stood before them a day. (2) Being what they are our men will inevitably sweep the enemy right out of Flanders and Belgium, oven 'though his numbers and his equipment -are very much nearer to ours than ours were to his in the day of his first great defeat. In short, the. obvious conclusion is that the German defeats of 1014 and 1915 on this very ground must he followed by German defeat in 1917, complete and irrecoverable.

The accounts coming in of the battle are fairly full, giving us the bearings ot the fight as it goes. It begins to appear that the principal work has been assigned to the French, swinging them forward on the left to threaten the great Houthoulst Wood, which had been made a most formidable stronghold, bristling with great artillery. But it is not nearly as formidable as it was, the Allied artillery having knocked it about terribly. This is the explanation of those constant, interminable reports of artillery work, lively artillerying, and great artillery duels which have been coming in for many weeks past. It explains also the inaction of the French. General Anthoine’s array simply could not advance against the wood in its original condition of strength. Therefore it stood still while the British fought the thi-ee recent phases of the third battle of Ypres. The fourth stage found them well forward on the ridge towards Passchendaelo, dominating the enemy’s , positions. This fact of domination is suggested clearly by the statement of one of the correspondents that our guns, having good visibility, are making bull’s eyes. The British, having got so far, and having advanced also as far as Poelcapelle, on- the | Western plain, and the great wood of Houthoulst having been much reduced by the long gun-fire, the French opened the fourth phase of the battle with an advance against the wood, gaining 1200 yards in two springs, taking manv prisoners and some guns and many machine-guns. By noon they were within 100 yards of the great wood, an advance of two mlies.

The enemy, failing to check them, according to plan, as- he would say, moaning tho plan of reduction carried out by the French successive bombardments, is reported to be taking bis guns away. He will lose the wood presently, but at present the tree stumps give bis machine-guns too much cover for a successful storm, at all events without inordinate cost. But the thrust forward of the French on the left has begun well, and its swift advance is now only a matter of time and some vigorous shelling, which will bo forthcoming —is, in fact, probably going on now. “Tho fighting, ’ tne report says, “is in our favour.”

To help the French advance Haig moved his whole line forward, as he has reported, and as the correspondents have described. The British are beyond Poeloapelie, leaving a force to deal with a German position in a brewery. In front of Gravenstafel and Broodseinde they have advanced a mile, and must be well on the Passchendaele ridge now, as we have previously stated; according to Haig’s report. The Passchendaele position is within a mile of the north end of the ridge. On the right they have not advanced so far hut the Australians have captured the obstacle of Daisy Wood, which held them up a while and have moved on. Whether tho British have, like the French, obtained all their objectives it is not easy to say. But that they have taken most of them and these the crucial o m n°s 1 evident. The only doubt is about the positions in front of Fooleanelle The High Commissioner s report speaks of the work , there as “many farms were taken, but of the rest of the line he distinctly states that all the objectives were taken Ihe net gain is a French advance of two miles and a British gam of one mile on the Passchendaele ridge. plan was to swing the French line forward, and to advance ours at the same time. It looks Uke the begmnmg nf a move to sweep, the. country round bv the coast, driving m orbreakmg the enemy’s extreme right. When that movement develops the Passchendale ridge will be in our hands, and we-may look for a wide encircling movement clearing West Flanders and threatening Lille and the Tourcomg country beyond the enemy’s power of holding. In this connection it is important to note that a captured enemy order cancelling the defensive tactics that nave

proved so disastrous admits that there is no way of resisting the strength of tho British attacks.

The wav may not be open yet to complete victory, but it is open to a little speculation. From the Messines ridgo wo bare been long looking down on the bridges—a couple of dozen or so in number —over the Lys and the Comines Canal. From the Ypres ridge, of which but a small section remains in the enemy’s hands towards Gheluvelt, an attack on this plain of the Lys, on which the enemy occupies a triangle dangerous to himself, will bo most effective. From the Passchendaelo ridge, which we shall have entirely before many days (certainly), a thrust over the plant towards Roulers must be deadly to retreating troops. The swing round by the great wood and tho coast will provide the retreating troops. Haig, before many days, looking down from the ridges, will be able to say what Cromwell said l of Leslie’s army at Dunbar, “The Lord has delivered them into my hands,” and his armies will be ready to spring as were the Ironsides on that famous day, and as capable of doing even greater execution on tli.o vast modern scale.