The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1918.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1918.

THE CAMBRAI VICTORY. The Allies have signalised the German peace offensive development by a victory which ranks as one of the foremost in the war. Admitting that the capture and occupation of Cambrai was a foregone conclusion, that does not in the least detract from the importance of the achievement. The generous and fitting terms in which the British Premier couched his congratulations to Sir Douglas Haig, his officers and men, on the brilliant success they secured, are fully merited, and it is pleasing to note that the co-operation of the Americans has also been recognised. Another large gap lias been made in the German man-power by the. capture of many thousands of prisoners and some hundreds of guns, while the toll of dead and wounded must have been very heavy. Germany can now realise to some extent how determined the Allies are to pursue the conflict to the bitter end, j and that their ever-increasing armies will relentlessly continue their .advance as rapidly and effectively as lies in their power. I Apparently the Germnas are being driven back to Le Cateau, a railway junction fourteen miles bej hind the front, thus compelling I them to evacuate large areas in j which Anglo-American forces are operating. The thorough smashing through of the Hindenburg defences has been accomplished far more easily than was thought possible. There is little doubt that the Germans considered they, were justified in regarding those defences as impregnable. Their disillusionment in this respect must now be as complete as in the case of the boasted invincibility of their armies. Not only have the British broken through, but they are rapidly moving forward, gaining nine miles in one day, while the air squadrons are playing havoc among the retreating forces of the enemy. It is not only in the Camhrai-St. Quentin area that the enemy trouble is acute, for the Franco-American forces are making good headway on the sector between the Aisne and the Meuse, while the French are successfully operating in the region north and north-ast of Rheims, the water barrier constituted by the Rivers Suippe and Arne having been negotiated at several points, and there is little doubt that before long the enemy will be driven from the heights of the Aisme. The glamour which for so long lay upon the Hindenburg defences has melted into thin air, and the moral effect of smashing them cannot fail to have a far-reaching effect on the enemy, and this effect is greatly heightened by the ceaseless pressure which the Allies are exerting on every sector of the West front- It can easily be understood that the continuous strain on the German forces must be sapping their vitality, particularly as they are being frequently rushed from one point to another, thus intensifying the burden they have to bear, and weakening their power of resistance. This is borne out by the war correspondents' reports as to the weakening of the enemy fighting, though in places the conflicts are as fierce as ever. In two days the German retreat from Cambrai exceeded fifteen miles, and as a quarter of a million men were retreating the effect of the Allied blow may be fairly well estimated. The fact that the whole of Cambrai is in the possession of the Allies, and that they have now reached Le Cateau, is sufficient indication of the success of the offensive, and, as Mi'. Lloyd George points out, the men who have achieved these great results are those who last spring withstood the terrific onslaughts of the enemy. It is truly the greatest chapter in our military history, emphasised by the ever-memorable fact that when the war commenced Britain was totally unprepared, and has had to build up her strength while facing terrible odds. The spirits of our soldiers have been raised to a very high point. They have got "Fritz on the run," and that heightens their enthusiasm, and hastens their stride after the enemy. The talcing of Cambrai is a memorable incident in the war, and appreciably brings the Allies nearer to their goal. We may expect very shortly a great combined movement that should roll up the enemy and allow the Allies to enter upon the winter campaign under the most favorable circumstances. At any moment an important phase "may develop that will have a marked bearing on the last chapter of the greatest conflict in the history of the world.