The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1917. THE GREATEST BATTLE OF THE YEAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1917. THE GREATEST BATTLE OF THE YEAR.

It is said in one of the cables published to-day that a German officer consider* the recent battle was the greatest of the year, eclipsing even Messines. There can be no question this British offensive in Flanders was a brilliant feat of arms, prepared and carried out with mathematical precision, the troops being specially prepared to meet the new tactics of the enemy. The outstanding feature was the scientifically-arranged barrages which crossed and recrossed one another with such deadly effect that nothing could escape the murderous fire emanating from a greater depth of artillery. The attack, which was made on an eight* mile front, left nothing to chance, and penetrated from 1 to 3 miles into enemy positions. Since then a further slight advance has been made, but repelling continuous and determined counter-attacks of the enemy has kept the British well employed, while the Germans have suffered severe losses without a single gain. The masterly skill exhibited by the British not only resulted in a most pronounced success, but minimised the losses to a remarkably gratifying do. grec. The valuable assistance given by the Flying Corps emphasises the fact that aircraft will play a most important part in the concluding phases of the war, when America has provided those thousands of machines which she is now contracting. Sir Douglas Haig was well awa.j of the importance of the positions so successfully gained, the crucial Bection among the woods of the ridge east of Ypres being virtually the key to Flanders. That the Germans were equally alive thereto is evident from the fact of orders being given to hold the line at all cost, and from the desperate, but futile, counter-attacks made with such disastrous results. Again the British commander-in-chief was able to report that all the first objectives had been gained, and the advance is still proceeding. This smashing blow cannot fail to have its effect on German plans and morale. It will be seen that their new tactics of a thin first line and placing reliance on concrete pill bosss and ma-chine-gun emplacements, is as utter a failure as their massed formations. Once more the Anzacs have added glory to their exploits, while the British Territorials, and more especially the Highlanders, performed" prodigies of valor. Apparently the British are ready tc move still further forward, but their chief aim is to take a heavy toll of the enemy forces. The decisive victory obtained is all the more gratifying in view of the fact that almost exactly three years back it was on this old battleground that the British experienced some of their most bitter fortunes. The huge masses brought up by the enemy wero unavailing against the British preparation and execution, and the capture of the heights on this sector will open up possibilities of startling magnitude. The points which have now been captured held up the last British advance. The Germans must now feel Britain's superiority in all branches of the art of war. A battle in the open plain is looming ahead, and we may confidently rely on the result. No wonder the Central Powers are so busy over peace proposals

THE GERMAN STRENGTH. A. new French estimate of the total German strength in men is mentioned in a New York dispatch. The total number of men in Germany available for service at the beginning of the war is set down at fourteen millions, and of these ten millions and a half have had military service. Presumably the estimate takes count of the annual contingents of recruits reaching the military age. It is worth recalling that the German official figures, compiled before the war, set down the entire resources oE the country at nine million men, but to that figure had to be added the normal contingent reaching military age during

I the period of a war. But as a mooter !of fact Germany made a very conservative estimate of her strength. In 1910, for instance, France had 1823 men in active training per hundred thousand of tho population, ■whereas the corresponding figure of Germany was oniy 1118. Moreover, France, with a population of thirty-eight or thirty-nine millions, was calling 225,000 recruits to the colors every year, whereas Germany when her population was more than 06,000,000, called up no more than 270,000, a figure which she subsequently increased. Germany thus had a big reserve of untrained men on which to call if the need arose, as, of course, it did arise. The present estimate of her Btrength does not differ very materially, in point of fact, from the original estimates, because the assumption three years ago seems to have been that active military service would be demanded only of fit men, and in practice Germany has made use almost of the halt and the blind. The "Temps" some weeks ago published estimates compiled by a retired general, who was presumably working more or less on official figures. the purpose of this calculation was to discover what reserve Germany had left to repair the wastage of the campaigns unci to form a new offensive force, and the result was to lead to the conclusion that Germany could not afford to launch out on new offensive enterprises on a large scale. "On the first of June, 1917," he writes, "the number of Germans afl'ectqd by the application of military laws since the beginning of the war was estimated at 13,130,000. From this number we must suustraet. losses definitely placed at 3,630,000; reformations, 2,200,000; those living in foreign countries and the wounded under treatment, Deadly 1,1110,000. This makes a total of 6,940,000. The number of Germans actually in service on the first of last June, including the soldiers in the first line, those in the rear zone, and those in the interior, amounted approximately to 5,435,000 men. The men thus employed, together with those mentioned above, form a total of 12,375,000, which, subtracted from 13,130,000, leaves 755,000 men for free disposition." The collapse of Russian resistance, of course, affects all estimates of German strength, but it is of interest to follow the general's rather optimistic survey of the German figures. "The repartition of the 755,000 disposable' troops," he continues, "seems to be as follows: Two hundred and twenty thousand in the stations at the front, 355,000 in the stations in the interior and 180,000 for the divisions now in formation. To these resources we must add those of the class of 1916, of whom a small part living in the frontier provinces (Alsace-Lorraine and Poland) lias already been incorporated. The rest of this class—about 450,000 men—probably will be called out before the end of this year, but will not be employed in the army before November 1, 1017. From this number the Germans will not have enough to repair their losses during the five months which will elapse from June Till November. And so the number of new soldiers which they can eend to the front each month will not exceed 200,000, which is insufficient for the present stage of the war. In fact, the German' losses from June 1 till November 1, 1916, have not been lower than 300,000 men a month. The resources of which Germany can dispose in order to maintain the effectiveness of her fighting units will be insufficient if the Allies will display on all fronts an activity at least equal to that they have manifested in 1916 during the warm season and this year during the months of April and May."