PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2503, 2 July 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Highly satisfactory news comes from the Dardanelles it. the shape of a dispatch from Sir- lan Hamilton describing a battle fought on Monday last, in which an important victory was gained over the Turks. The locality of the action was the extreme left (west) of the southern line across the Gallipoli Peninsula. Following upon a, violent bombardment, in which the French land artillery and British naval craft in the Gulf of Saros took part, British regiments (inclu'ding Gurkhas) gallantly stormed the Turkish, positions, gaining at their point of greatest advance a thousand yards of ground. One of the positions captured is a strong redoubt called the' Boomerang, situated in a ravine running parallel with the coast. The battle and its result are calculated to disturb the confident belief lately expressed by the German General Staff that the operations on the Gallipoli Peninsula were bound to assume the form of a stalemate. A single successful action does not set aside the broad.facts of the situation. The Turks are established in strong defensive lines in hilly country, and seem to be well supplied with artillery and other essentials to a stubborn resistance. But this successful movement on the extreme left of the British line opens up very interesting possibilities. » « » k

It will be remembered that rather more than a month ago the centre of the Allied line over a distance of about three miles was advanced on an average about five hundred yards. The assault on that occasion was general along the whole front, but little permanent progress was made on the flanks. Move recently the French have advanced on the right of the line to positions from which their batteries command the head of the ravine of the River Jverevcs. The Kercvcs is not shown on tho map published to-day, but it rises midway between Krithia and the stream shown on the east (rising at Halar), arid ftlaSiiM, riNii aqytfi (^b ißftiduwlltfi' T)w A6V6VQ6 wineajj.

'parcntly still opposes a formidable obstacle to progress, as dees the village of Krithia, where tho Turks are strongly established on a south-west-•crly spur of Achi Baba, their principal stronghold on the present line. The summit of Achi Baba, about 730 feet high, lies a mile and a half almost duo east of lvrithia. The fact that tho Allies aro faced by serious obstacles on their centre and right makes the latest advance on the left all the more important. Before the assault began the British line apparently extended west across the Qallipoli Peninsula to tha Gulf of Suras, passing about half a mile south of Krithia. In the advance a section of tho line a mile long was thrown forward, pivoting, as the dispatch says, on a point a mile from the- sea and south-west of Krithia. The left flank of the line now faces east, its northern extremity opposite Krithia,

An important step has thus been made towards -.'mtflanking the Turks established at Krithia, and Krithia is an outwork of the main stronghold at Achi Baba. Unless, the country on the west ahead of the line now reached offers as serious obstacles to progress as exist further east, prospects of dislodging the Turks all along the line should -be very greatly brightened. . It has beea stated several times that Krithia is not to be carried by direct assault, but the other day a correspondent describing the part played by the Worcestershire Battalion in the general assault a month ago, declared 'that Achi Baba, a-still more formidable stronghold, could only be captured at the point of the bayonet. Statements of this kind and the absence of precise information as to the nature of the country and the state of the Turkish defences make it impossible to arrive at definite conclusions, but it is plain enough that it would be an extremely costly business to dis-' lodge the enemy fro n his main strongholds by a frontal attack. If it is possible to advance up the peninsula west of these positions, the same end will be much more easily gained. A development of the latest attack, in conjunction with a French advance on the right of the lino, would expose the enemy at Krithia and on Achi Baba to the danger of being viot only outflanked but surrounded.

There- is official sanction for the statement that the campaign against, the Turks in Gallipoli must be developed by slow and deliberate methods of siege warfare, but events make jit neccssary to accept this estimate of the position with some reservations. The great attack a month ago, -the recent French advance towards the head of_ Kereves ravine, and the latest movement on the west, are notable and fairly frequent departures from methods of siege warfare which suggest that the capture' 'of Achi Baba, the present Allied objective, may not.be so distant as at one time seemed possible. The capture of Achi' Baba would not necessarily clear the way to the Narrows, for between this'hill stronghold and Kilid Bahr (which commands the Narrows on the European side) there are more than five miles of hilly country to be traversed. But it is possible _ that the Turkish resources may be insufficient to enable them to offer as stubborn a resistance in this tract of country as they are offering on their present line.

"The vigorous demonstration by the Australians," to which General Hamilton refers, was presumably made by the Australian ancl New Zealand Army Corps on their front from Sari Bair to Gaba Tepe, opposite Maidos. The object would be to divide the Turkish strength in the same fashion as on the occasion of the general assault on the southern line at the end of. May. Apparently only British and Indian troops were engaged in the actual attack west of Krithia. No mention has been made for some time past of the Australian and New Zealand- troops, which at an earlier stage in the operations reinforced, the • Allied troops on the souther i line. It is possible thai; with the arrival of additional Imperial troops at the Dardanelles the colonials have been returned to their own main body further north. *** ' * There is a Turkish report upon the fighting in Gallipoli which can only be regarded as a string of falsehoods. It is suggested that the Turks contemplate the use of poisonous gas—not a pleasant' prospect, but experience in Europe has shown that though gas was a terribly effective weapon when its victims were taken by surprise, its effects can be very largely counteracted by the use of respirators, With these the troops the Dardanelles are no doubt by this time supplied. It is not the first time that the possibility of the. Turks using asphyxiating gas has been mentioned. *#* ■ * There is still a- comparative dearth of news from the two miin theatres of war, which for the moment veils a mighty stir and preparation of great events. As it stands the news may unreservedly be called good. According to the best obtainable evidence, Germany is now drawing upon her last reserves of fit men. Sne has lost already the superiority, of numbers which she enjoyed during the winter, and in a reasonable view cannot ho]De to be in as good condition to strike a decisive blow at any future time as she is now. On the contrary, she must lock tp a steady decline in _ while her enemies are still mounting in strengthbuilding up their armies and turning out ever-increasing quantities of munitions. With matters in this state the measure of German success recorded to-day is a temporary footing. in some French trenches, in the Argonne and some_ fuither_ slight gains of ground in Galicia and Southern llussia. Some impatience —even a measure of uneasiness—may be felt at the slow deliberation with which the Allies are increasing the pressure of their attack on the Westorn front, but it must be recognised that even if the present pressure became normal and did not increase Germany would none the less be faced by defeat/

For the time being .tho offensive in Northern France has slowed down, though some further headway has been made, but the situation is wholly redeemed by the consideration that the Allies can afford to take all necessary time for their preparations, while Germany is either ■ already pouring out strength in the battlelines which she can never hope to replace or is rapidly approaching the time when she will be in'that condition. Meantime the' German failure to launch ayy purposeful stroke (there is nothing yet to show that the Ga-lician offensive can be so reH'lrrlrcl) U Win Diout. jpotsitirG fact t»£ lb was. ■ •

Messages from Petrograd indicate that so far from being disheartened by the reverses sustained during the past two months in Galicia, the Russian nation has only been stirred to fresh exertions. The immediate military situation is not gloomy, for the Germans are as far as ever from making any effective stride towards Warsaw, but so far from being satisfied with a sound defence, the Russians aro setting themselves to organise their enormous resources in orderly fashion, and upon a comprehensive scale. This is news quite as important and as heartening as news of present victories. The only danger to be really feared by the three great Entente Powers is a slackening or weakening by any one of their number, and unless the messages describing the state of feeling in Russia are hopelessly at fault, such a contingency is as unthinkable where Russia is concerned as in tho case of Britain or France.