CURRENT TOPICS.
Still the Russians progress. To-day it is reported that they have taken
Kolomea, which is 45 miles north-west of Czernowitz. This fore© must be poshing on through Galicia to cut off the retreat of the enemy from Lemberg away in the north-west, and no doubt their objective is tho capture ol the passes through the Carpathians and the cutting of the railways that connect Galicia and Hungary. Tho cable says that the Russians captured another 6000 prisoners at Kolomea, so that the grand total to. their credit since the beginning of this offensive must run into many thousands. To the south-west of Czernowitz, {ho Russians have secured control of Kirilibaha Pass, through the capture of Kuty. Altogether their position in this quarter of the lino is very satisfactory. To the immediate north, there is nothing fresh to report. Beyond the Pripet Marshes, also, little movement of the opposing forces is announced. Beyond that, north of Yilna, however, there is a suggestion that General Hindenberg has started an offensive move, for sudden violent attacks on the Jacobstadt-Dvinsk lino between Riga and Yilna have been encountered by the Russians. This is rather an important part of tho line, and the Russians are quite seized of the fact. From Dvinsk, should the enemy break through,there is a railway to Potrograd. Without doubt, the Russians have erected strong lines of - fortifications to fall back upon, if need be, but for a little while a certain amount of anxiety will be felt as to how tho.dcfeuce will stand up against Hindenberg’s assaults.
In the Western theatre, the boom of guns is reported to be incessant on the part of the .British and I‘rench, hut the Germans arc not idle, and many attacks by their infantry hare been made at various parts of the lino. Away up in Flanders, at Nieuport, they arc making thrusts, in one of which they penetrated a trench ot the Allies, but they were not allowed to stay long. Further down the line, patrols of the enemy were dispersed before making any appreciable headway towards the trenches. Similar reports come from the west of the Meuse, at Avocourt Wood, where m-i tensely violent attacks, accompanied by liquid fire, were broken. East of Hill 304 a small fortified work was captured, but hero, also the enemy wore not allowed to rest. So deadly ' was the bombardment, we are told, that the garrison were literally buried. On the whole, however, the Allies are having the best of the engagefor nothing of a. substantial nature* is being accomplished by the enemy yet. Their efforts are not to be despised, and constant attention has to be paid to every movement on their side.
That the Germans had the advantage of the Frencli in big gun fire at thc,beginning of the Verdun offensive is well-known, though it is understood that this advantage exists no longer. But, according to the French Munitions Minister (M. Thomas), the French have now also the biggest guns in use on the western front. It is true there are only a few of them, but they are monsters, with a calibre <f 400 millimetres, or nearly 16 inches. That is, they are an inch bigger in calibre than the famous Dunkirk gun (it was really a naval 15-incher, though there was talk at first of its being a much huger weapon), with which the Germans -were accustomed to land occasional enormous shells on Dunkirk from twenty miles away. M. Thomas says that the Germans do not use guns of greater calibre than 210 millimetres (say, Bin.) in artillery preparation against the trenches or in open field fighting. “The 305 millimetre (11-Jin), about Which so much has been written, is much too cumbersome for operations other than against forts like Douaumont and Vaux. We have no evidence I of any German quick-firing heavy gun _if they have one its effects have not been noticed—but it is a tact that the> largely discarded their fieldfin. although we are using our 75’s to afL ever-increasing extent. I consider the 75 still the finest artillery arm of this war from the standpoint of scientific precision and perfection. In comparing the French and German ord- ' nance one must not forget that our shells contain a far higher proportion of explosive. For instance, our 1 5 shell y, hag as much as their 150, and our 155 I is equal to their 310.” M. Thomas has iL. • • i
also declared that though in the early days of the offensive the French were obiiged to draw on their reserve stocks of ammunition, they have since been able not only to keep their guns supplied, but even fo add to their reserve, which now is mounting daily.
In the Balkans, French aeroplanes have been setting fire to the Bulgars' crops, the principal damage being done in Western Thrace 1 , hi Mesopotamia, the Turks claim to have pushed back their foes, but confirmation of this will have to be awaited. The Italians aic still progressing, but the Austrians are now putting up a sterner fight, having reached fortifications of great strength which they had previously occupied. The report that all trains have been commandeered in Germany and that they are going eastward may mean reinforcements for several points where the enemy is having a bad spin, but it would be only guesswork to mention any of those as their destination.
Replying to a correspondent who asks for particulars of the defences of Heligoland, whether an aerial attack on the island would he possible, and whether tho protecting minefields are too far out to ! permit of a naval bombardment, an Australian ivriter says : It is obvious that some parts of this question cannot be answered; for instance, it is doubtful whether oven the British Admiralty knows the dimensions of the minefields. But on some points information is available. Heligoland is the key to the whole German system of North Sea defence. It commands tho entrances to Wil* holmshaven, to the rivers Y eser and Elbe, and to the Kiel Canal. It is also within easy reach of Cuxhaven, Bremorhaven, and Hamburg (it is connected with Cuxhaven and Wilhelmshaven by cable), and between the main island and its detached portion, Duneihsel, or Sandy Island, there is a harbor in which a whole fleet may ride and coal in safety. There is also a submarine and torpedo boat harbor. Tlie island, though little more than a mile in length, is said to contain some, of the strongest and best-equipped forts in the world. Germany is supposed to have spent £10,000,000 on it. The coast is protected by granite groining, concrete, and even armorplate. There are up-to-date storehouses, workshops, airship hangars, searchlights, a dockyard, and enormous munition and provision stores sunk deep within the rock.
In 1914 there was erected a double revolving airship shed, which could, it was said, bo lowered by hydraulic machinery into a trench, in which it was invisible from the sea. When raised, this shed could turn in any direction on a pivot, so that an airship would always be able to enter and leave it with the wind. The 12-incli guns, which represent the island’s main defence, are mounted in stronglyarmoured turrets, built into the rock, and the battery positions arc linked by subterranean passages. There are also galleries of large quick-firers. Tho island contains an upper town, on the plateau of the island proper, and a lower town on the “unterland,” which lies at one end, beneath the cliff. Those two towns arc connected by atunnel and railway, along which big guns can be moved, as well as by a well-guarded flight of stairs; and there is provision for putting the whole population of between 2000 and 3000 underground in case of attack. Military critics are understood to believe that Heligoland could not bo captured, though more than one “impossible” thing has been done in this war. Its distance—2(so miles—from the nearest point on tho French or the British coast,, would probably bo too far for aerial bomb-droppers, who would have to travel over 500 miles, a longer distance than any have travelled yet. Seaplanes, travelling from a mothership, might make a shorter journey of it; but there is no doubt that the place will be protected by whole batteries of tho latest anti-aircraft guns.
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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 75, 1 July 1916, Page 5
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1,389CURRENT TOPICS. Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 75, 1 July 1916, Page 5
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