LESSONS OF THE SOMME.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

LESSONS OF THE SOMME.

PRUSSIAN MILITARY LEGEND ALREADY DESTROYED. By LOVAT FRASER. The full significance of the latest phase of the battle of the Somme has even now not been fully grasped in this country. The wonderful attacks which gave us Couroelette and Flers and Martinpuich and much ground besides and destroyed large numbers of the enemy really mean that we have the mastery o! the Germans. We can never again lese it save through folly. The Germans know the meaning of the mighty onslaught of September 13 and 16 a great deal better than our own people. They know that their military pride has been humbled, and they can no longer keep the truth out ot their Press.

It has been pointed out that this year the western Allies have thoroughly beaten the German Army both ways. The Germans initiated before Verdun •the jnpst tremendous (Offensive ever seen in war until the British took a hand at the game in July. The Verdun offensive ended in disastrous failure, thanks to the fortitude and constancy of the French troops. During the last three months the finest of the Kaiser's divisions have been lighting on the defensive on the Sonime, and they have been beaten more soundly than ever.

Whether attacking or defending, tho German Array lias been thrashed and tawed. Wo may nut yet have destroyed Prussian militarism, but in conjunction with our valiant Allies we have already destroyed the- legend of Prusian military superiority. Our men are better and we are smashing the Prussian war machine.

We are doing it, be it remembered, with young, fresh armies, with endless batteries of now guns of every calibre, with inexhaustible supplies of ammunition from our new munitiop factories. We arc old in war, but to-day we have the youngest and newest Army in the world, an 1 I think the most powerful, it fights with a spirit of gay exaltation which is proving irresistible. U will decide this war. It is deciding it a i ready.

Perhaps it is a pity that we heard 'mi much about the "tanks" in the last battle, remarkable though their exploits we'v. All arms engaged fought magnificently, but now that fuller reports have Uvn received it is clear that i "honours of the two days rested with our indomitable infantry. Now as ever, at long last the infantry arm remains the queen of the battlefield, an 1 -o it will alwavs bo.

Sir l)( uiglas liatg's bulletins are in, variably modest, and though we would hot have them otherwise, their statements sonu-timos do not attract the atT< ntion they deserve. When he sa' I that the )i</Ming of September I and li : . "is ]>(■'' l'ie most effective blow which ha: ■! been dealtli at the enemy by ""'' - Ii troops" he made the most remarkable though entirely justifiable declaration yet vouchsafed to us hy any livtish general since the war began. It meant that we have the whip hand of f' - Germans, and that tho military imputation of Prussia, which

has been flaunted througout Europe lor fifty years, is eclipsed.

t is always difficult to write of the achievements of our own troops without seeming to cast into shadow the incomparable exploits of our brothers in arms, the French. No attack on the Sonune has excelled in gallantry or in results the recent French advance to Boudiavcsues. The two Armies are working in absolute unison and their ri spcctivc staffs co-operate with the utmost cordiality. Tli-5 attacks of the one Army are the complement of the attacks of the other.

The Germans, with their usual cunning, are again trying to sow discord by belittling the successes of the British Army and praising the work of the French. They hope to create in France an impression that Great Britain is not doing her full share in the war. The trick has been often tried, and has never once succeeded. The recent glowing tributes of French Ministers and the French Press are a sufficient reply . Sir Douglas Tlaig can say. in the words of the German Chancellor, " Look at the war map." Where is now the labyrinth of trenches, line after line, which confronted the British troops when they first advanced to the attae'e in .1 ulv ? Battered out of recognition and captured. The Germans cannot prevail in~open lighting, and they cannot hold the trenches which they spent nearly two vears in constructing. The experience on the French front both north and south it the Sonune is exactly the same.

Each Army, of course, has its own methods, and these sometimes differ. Yesterday, for instance, an interesting article upon the new metohds of the French Annv by Captain Philippe Millet, a French officer, appeared in a Sunday newspaper. Captain Millet described the present French tactics in attack, which are designed to prevent 'ryiy needless sacrifice of life. The I rincipal feature of the plan adopted is to maintain the closest possible connection between the covering artillery and the 'advancing troops. The precautions taken seem to be eminently successful.

Our own methods, though different in some respects, aim at the same object, and with equally good results. There can he no absolute uniformity of practice between the two Armies, any more than there can he unvarying continuity of method. In this war methods change or are modified as frequently as feminine fashions. Captain Mirie't is perhaps a little inclined silently to imply a somewhat unfavourable comparison with ourselves, but if that is the case his information must be imperfect. He acknowledges that the French method, with its use of trench mortars, its elaborate development of aeropane photography, and its meticulous care to cover an infantry advance by progressive curtain fire directed by •aeroplanes, was only fully introduced after the battle of. the Somme began. It has proved efficacious in reducing losses during an advance, but our own experience has been very much the same. We, too, have learned lessons, and as a result of our ratio of loss is steadily diminishing, and* our later attacks have been comparatively far less expensive than they were when the Somnie offensive opened.

Wy not draw false conclusions from our triumphs, and from the splendid simultaneous advances of the French. We are hammering the Germans. we have established an unquestioned advantage over them, but we have no,t yet beaten them to their knees. The war is now revealing the usual upward autumnal curve of activity, yet it is unlikely this year that winter will cause any marked relaxation of the opera.tons. even in the Balkans. The Russo-Turkisli War of 1K77-78 was .absolutely and conclusively decided by a winter campaign. The mid-winter march of the Russian across the Balkans broke the military strength of Turkey, and almost instantly ended the war. In: the meantime two months of reasonably favourable weather remain, and mcuh may happen during that period. This time last year Bulgaria had not entered the war, and the crushing cf Serbia had not l>egun. During these two months we shall probably learn the answers to tho two greatest current problems which engage public attention. The first is whether the Allied offensive in the west will either break through the German lines or compel the enemy to fall hack to a shorter line. The second is the problem of what Hindenburg means to attempt in the east.

It is these considerations which invest the battle of the Somme with such paramount importance, for at present It dominates most of the possibilities of the war. Should further successful attacks be made on the Somme, we may possibly witness great changes in the west.