The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1918. THE THRUST FOR THE COAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1918. THE THRUST FOR THE COAST.

It is quite evident that tlie German military High Command have arrived at the conclusion that so long as the British forces are undefeated the danger of a German defeat will grow greater and greater. Apparently, under these circumstances, the enemy has determined, no matter what the cost may he, to push through to the coast, cut off British supplies and reinforcements, and then wipe out the British armies as well as the French. Doubtless the prospect is most alluring, though it involves desperate chances, wlhile the loss of manpower must inevitably 'be colossal, but Germany is prepared to deluge the roads to the coast with the blood of her manhood, and if that were the only drawback it would count as nothing as against a decisive victory. The AngloFrench Staff, however, are equally alive to the vital importance of thwarting German designs in tihis quarter, and every yard of the routes will be contested with a force and determination that .should decimate Germany's strength long before any appreciable danger to the coast materialises. The present storm centre appears to be on the YpresKemmel sector, where fighting of a most sanguinary kind is proceeding. Probably no town on the West front is so well known throughout the world as Ypres, three battles having been fought there before the latest German attack, and,

by a curious coincidence, it was oil the anniversary of tho second of these battles, between April 22 and May 17,1915, that bitter struggles are now proceeding. It is also remarkable that the Allies and the enemy should both be actuated by the desire to execute a successful flanking movement. The Allies desired to cut the enemy's communications in Belgium, while the Germans were attempting then, aw now, to reach the Channel coast and practically put the British out of the war—ami end it. To understand the situation it is necessary to note that there arc three roads to the coast, two of them being regarded as principal roads, the third being a difficult alternative. The direct roads lead through Arras and La Bassee, while there is the great coast road running behind the dunes from Nieuport. The breaking of t'he Allied line in the northern sector would necessitate a retreat below Calais to the lino of hills southeast from Oape Grisnez, but a similar success at La Bassee or Arras might endanger all the allied forces north and east of Abbeville. The whole weight of the present German offensive is concentrated on a single front, with the object of breaking through the allied line and reaching the coast at Abbeville, and when that attack was held, the Germans tried the La Bassee route, the battle extending to the Ypres salient, and once more the enemy lias been held up. It is easy to understand why German efforts to reach tho coast are so persevering and violent, for it is Britain's might that they so desperately desire to crush, knowing that it must be either Britain or Germany that must go under, tat the circumstances under which he is striving to reach the coast now are infinitely less favorable than those of 1914-15. At the same time it has to be realised: that German manpower on the Western front is, for the time being, regarded as superior to the Anglo-French, but if the terrible toll that is being taken of the enemy continues much longer, the process of exhaustion will certainly tell in the Allies' favor. It is stated that Austrians and Bulgarians are assisting the Germans, and it is quite likely that a sufficient bribe or menace to these nations has brought them to Germany's side. Mere numbers tell, all other things being equal, but judging by the great odds that t'he Anglo-French have successfully faced, there are good grounds for confidence in their ability to win through. The bulwark of the British position is the range of hills which form a crescent east of Ypres from Passchendaele to Messines, continued almost due west to Cassel, 17 miles west of Ypres and some 30 miles south-west of Calais. On the west, the plain of the Scheldt is bounded by the hills of Artois, from Cape Grisnez to Arras. This ridge is a source of great strength to the Allies, and since the loss of the MessinesWytschaete ridge ita eastern bastion has been the ICemmel Hill, f ot* the possession of which such strenuous struggles have been taking place, and ita loss entailing on the Anglo-French the necessity of withdrawing across the valley to positions on Mt. Bouge and Scherpenberg, while the Germans forced their way to within two miles of Ypres, tat were again held up, only to make another desperate (bid for victory, resulting in a prodigal waste of life without gaining' a foot of ground. The description of this battle, which extended from north of Yoormezeele nearly to Meteren, is o significant testimony to the deadly powers of execution of the Allies, and the. havoc committed should surely make the enemy pause ere it is too late to avoid such a tremendous gap in his forcea as will give the Allies the opportunity for a counter offensive. While the Germans are wasting their strength, General Foch is husbanding (his resources for that- blow which he is determined on administering. The outlook at present appears to be decidedly more favorable for the Allies, and the happenings during the next few days- should have an important bearing on the future of the war.