WEEKLY SUMMARY

Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1918, Page 5

WEEKLY SUMMARY

OF WAR OPERATIONS. DELAY OF THE BIG OFFENSIVE. THE RUSSIAN SITUATION. , FINE AERIAL WORK. „ Wellington, Last Night. The following telegraphic review of the general war situation for the week ended July 13 has been received by the Governor-General from the Secretary of State for the Colonies: Independence Day celebrations were marked by the greatest enthusiasm. The presence of the King at a baseball match is universally felt to mean much more than a mere royal appearance at & public function, but rather is it emblematic of the complete reunion of both branches of the English-speaking race, in their determination to achieve the triumph of civilisation in common with their, allies. RUSSIA'S RESENTMENT. ~ In Russia public feeling against the national humiliation by the Brest Litovsk peace found vent in the the German so-called Ambassador, Mrbach, at the hands of the Social Revolutionaries. The Czecho-Slovaks have, 'taken control of Vladivostock, owing to the «fttempts of the Bolshevik authorities to exterminate them, and also to send arms and munitions to the West to enable the German and Austrian prisoners to fight the remainder of the Czechoslovak, forces in Siberia. The general feeling in Russia is well evidenced by the fact of the tranquility which reigns already at Vladivostock under the new regime of a combined Siberian Government and the Czecho-Slovak troops, whereas the rest of Russia is still in the tlrroes of anarchy and bankruptcy. The Bolsheviks are leaning more and more to the purchase of one more hour of their precarious life by any discoverable means, even handing over the rest of Russia to German domination. THE NEW FOOD CONTROLLER. Mr\ J. R. Clynes has succeeded Lord Rhondda as Food Controller. For some time past Mr. Clynes has been Lord Rhondda's right hand man, as Secretary to the Ministry of Food ini Parliament. His ability and tact are greatly appreciated in Parliament, and the appointment has been received with enthusiasm in all quarters. The cereal imports, excepting rice, are considerably lower than at the same time of last year, but the consumption of bread remains much the same. The demand for frozen meat in the Allied* armies is very heavy. Increased supplies of dried, frozen and fresh are particularly welcome. Supplies of cheese have considerably increased, but the demand still much exceeds the supply. Owing to the necessity to rebuild stock, the coal requirements of the Allies have largely increased, and 75,000 skilled miners, have been called into the army, so it is inevitable that domestic supplies of coal will be restricted by a quarter at least. DELAY OF GERMAN OFFENSIVE. The past week has been chiefly remarkable for the continued delay of the German offensive. Although this is now regarded as certain, the only doubt remaining is as to when and where it will be launched. Of course, the Germans can afford a certain delay, yet it would pay them best to start their offensive at the earliest possible moment, since presumably they hope for success, which will need propitious compaigning weather to exploit it. Indeed the offensive would probably have been started before now but for certain factors, such as the failure of the Austrian offensive against Italy, and it is now a known fact that German troops are heavily suffering from influenza. INTERNAL DISAGREEMENTS. We may guess, too, that the internal disagreements between Ludendorff and Kuhlmann have contributed to the delay. Kuhlmann seems-to have been so sceptical of the chances of military success that he wished to open peace negotiations while the German Army was still in a position to offer an offensive menace. Ludendorff probably thinks that the peace terms, including annexations and indemnities, could not be got from the Allies until the Allied armies are decisively crushed, since without such terms Germany will be ruined. Ludendorff must have argued that the necessary military triumph is obtainable, provided every possible resource is placed at his disposal. Kuhlmann's resignation indicates the triumph of Ludendorff. He may yet need time to organise the resources hitherto withheld. He will certainly then launch the most desperate offensive possible. THE ALLIES' PREPARATIONS. Meanwhile the British, French and American troops are working at high speed in preparing and strengthening themselves against the probable enemy lines of attack, and seizing important points which help the defence and handicap the offensive. The most'notable of these ffccal achievements was that of the Australian corps, under General Monash, covering the approaches to Amilns oh American Independence Day, by American detachments and sec&ns of tie Tank: Corps. The Australians>;succeeded, by surprise,, ing-*JHamel village, and drovMdut the Germans from Vaire Woodipbetween Hamel and Villers Bretonneuf,,:, Sinmltanisfe attacks on the rigjtjfebank of thssS6mme enabled^he-leftVi||; van& the British yardjpast of Villus Corbie. The' attack waißplanned out ctionjshree German di||sions being easily defeaj£d, and losing 1500 prisoners. The Australians and Americans advanced with splendid elan, the way being-opened by a strong bombardment from concentrated batteries. ,Sir Douglas Haig specially mentioned the contribution of the tanks to, the victory. During the next night the' Australians made a yet further advance, and, so far, the Germans have made no attempt to regain the lost ground. The position which secures us the most important tactical position is Villers. Bretonneux. ! While Australian and American troops were here combining with admirable effect, the Americans north-west of.Chateau Thierry also carried out successful local operations unassisted. The French followed up last week's success on the Cutry plateau in a brilliant attack on Wednesday morning, with another in the evening, which penetrated. the German position between Moulin sous Touvent and Autreches. The preliminary k»Hp &£

—■ ' > 1.. / • Germans were taken by surprise, and made a poor light, leaving over 1000 • prisoners with the French. Throughout, the enemy defence was noticeably, weak and dispirited, which probably means that the best enemy storm troops are undergoing preliminary training .for , the big offensive. ON THE ITALIAN FRONT. '" , On the Italian front the most success-' ful operations were carried out, 'both »n the northern front and on the lower. Piavc. After four days' steady lighting, the 33rd Italian Corps cleared the whole delta between the old and new branches of the river, where the Austrian had been established since November last. The Austriana made a strong resistance, which only increased their losses, and the Italian line was now shortened and strengthened and the Austrians repelled twenty miles behind Venice, which is prakticallj safe-from, artillery fire. ,i Up in the mountains,, local.(passetfigave the Italians several points cEeppui, " which will be of the greatest use, sup- 1 posing the Austrians renew the offensive. It seems likely they will dt>, jao,. i judging from ■She appointment if pie German General von Below to the com- s mand o£ the Austrian amy on the i Italian frontier, s<Sfca the seal sf Austria's slavery. .Wet cannot prophesy =* hi 8 intentions, tot think fee plans probably a heavy offensive. This is hardly possible either now/cr at any time with- t out involving considerable German aid. » The victorious Italian Army is now in the highest feather, and General Bias-is using all his opportunities for building up the defensive ipositioxi/ AfIBMEN® AGGRESSIWWORK. ' British airmen continue their steady aggressive worK on all fronts, aivesificrt by successful local air fights, aa&iby-long-distance raids, both in Gennanyandßthe East. On the Western front, despite rain, wist, and clouds, the. 'British, airmen have kept tßie closest leye on! enemy movements, keeping him lively by bombing the dumps and hutments and attacking the infantry and txasport with ma-chine-guns and helping the Army to-de-stroy his batteries, besides taking .thousands of photographb of his positions. i The aerial fighting thus entailed resulted in heavy enemy losses. Efty-fcwo enemy machines were brought down and thirtyseven winged helpless, a total of eightynine enemy machines, while only seven-: teen British machines-are reportedVtai&j----i >ng. ! AERTAIi CAVALRY. When the Australian infantry- tobk Hamel on July 4, the BritisiLainnenAiSlr liantly co-operated. Every attack Wai preceded by an air assault. British-avid" •tors flew close oyer the roofs of ruined' cottages and dropped several hundred bombs, and fired nearly fifty tJimigmift •rounds of machine-gune ammunition ■ ifti the Boche defences. The Independent RoyaL'Air Force continued bombing raids into-Germany, aiming at important iunteMoira and munition centres west of the Rhine. British formations attacked Metz AH on, SaatWieken, Coblens, and Sftrthouse. Tihere*were also single raids carried out fen Bolchen, Mannheim, ThionviJle, Falkcnberg, KSiserslautern, and liuxemburg. **" AH our machines returned safely, despite the desperate air resistance at Meta and Saarbruoken, which resulted ini one enemy machine being l fired down and'twS helplessly .winged. The Navy and Air Forte' again-co* operated in attacks on the German naval works on the Belgian coast with/excellent results. Bombs were seen to (burst on vital points in the harbor entrance, a powder factory, warehouse, and quay at Ostend, round the lock-gates"at Zeebrugge, and on shipping at Bruges. - A British formation once attacked sixteen hostile machines, three of these Being winged and three brtvrght d'dwri iu flames, with no (British daiwlge. The British machines took thousands of photographs in Italy, and brought down six enemy aircraft. Similar success was achieved Bn the Balkan and Palestine fronts, and half a ton of bombs was dropped effectively on Constantinople on July 7. In . this connection there were many expressions of indignation by the German military authorities at civilian participation in acts of warfare such as helping thfc Allied airmen in Belgium. It is now amusing to find an official proclamation quoted from the Counauer Nachrichten, a WeatpMian paper, on the 19th June, requiring German civilians to capture all enemy airmen forced to land on German territory or prevent them from re-starting or destroying tlieir aeroplanes. This proclamation considers such a service a danger, and offers a -bribe accordingly of fifty marks par head to civilians bringing* in enemy airmen prisoners. This makes a ftne contrast with the attitude expected by the German High Command from other civilians in respect to German foundered , aircraft. It