THE CAPTURE OF ALEPPO.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1918, Page 4

THE CAPTURE OF ALEPPO.

With t'ne capture of Aleppo the brilldantcampaign in Palestine-Syria may be said' to have practically closed. There has been no such historic episodes for many centuries as those which General Allenby has carried out in the Holy Land with* such singular success, and to find a parallel we have to go hack to the middle ages, when Saladin was at the zenith of his power. To have driven tlie Turks out of Palestine counts as one of the great achievements of the war, while to have broken their power is not only a blessing to civilisation, but an example of what should happen to the Germans. Although Turkey has not yet actually surrendered, there can be Httle doubt that she must do so almost at once, and there may be truth in the report that she is already taking steps in that directioa Meanwhile it is said that the last remnants of the Turkish forces, which are being pursued, are concentrating on the defence of Constantinople—a forlorn hope. The railway junction a few miles north of Aleppo is tjie most vital point in the Turkish communications with Mesopotamia, as from the junction the Bagdad railway runs east to Mesopotamia and south to Syria, and as the British have already captured Homs, where a branch line from Tripoli joins the Syrian railway, the remnants of the Turkish army in Mesopotamia will be isolated, and this should put an end to the Turkish fighting in that region, as supplies will be cut off. According to latest reports, the Turkish opposition in Mesopotamia is now a negligible quantity, so that it may be fairly assumed that the Turks, as a fighting force, are no longer to be reckoned with, but whether they surrender or not there will inevitably be a clearing-out movement, so as to sweep the Turks from the whole of the regions wherein they have been opposing the British forces, and then should come the obliteration of the Ottoman Empire from the map. The capture of Aleppo, and its resulting consequences, cannot fail to have a marked effect on the war situation, and it should cause the Germans to seriously consider the effect of the release of the British and Indian forces from htis war theatre, and their entry into other spheres of the struggle. General Allenby stands out as the occupant of a proud place in British military history, and has earned the whole-hearted gratitude of the civilised world, those under him being entitled to a full share of the honor and glory attached to the chief in command. They have advanced some 300 miles northward since September 19, and their record is a military triumph of which they may well be proud. There has been some stiff fighting at times, but gradually they crushed the enemy's opposition, and have emerged from the eontost with such complete success that Turkey can no longer postpone her doom.