PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2551, 27 August 1915, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Admirably as it describes the great battle lately fought in the western zone of tho Gallipoli Peninsula, Mr. ■Ashjiead Bartlett's dispatch (published yesterday) leaves muoh in doubt as to the exact extent of ground gained by tho? Imperial and colonial troops, These .doubts are cleared up in an official "report now available. ■ It shows, in a word, that an extensive additional area has been occupied, and v the battle-front extended to about three times its original length, but that the attacking forces are still short of their objective—possession of tjhe heights and ridges which will enable them to effectively dominate the breadth of the Gallipoli Peninsula above the Narrows. Much has been accomplished, but much remains to be done,' ' • ■ * # ■ * * | In a campaign such as is being fought for the. mastery of tho Dardanelles it -is idle to look for an easy tide of success, and it need cause no surprise that the! story now unfolded is one of partial success "gained at great cost, and only to bo converted into complete victory at further heavy cost. . The Turk's , are dogged fighters, defending one of tho strongest natural fortresses in the world. British valour has already accomplished ■wonders towards breaking- down their resistance, and no : ground for discouragement or doubt as to.the outcomc is afforded in the frank statement- now made by' tho War Office as to the degree of pi'Or gress. made, and the problems that remain to be surmounted. It is tolerably clear that the- battle in progress on the twelve-mile battlefront, extending south from the Gulf of Saros, opposite Suvla Bay to the area north of Gaba Tepe, is the decisive battle of the campaign. The fortified heights which the Turks are as yet-tenaciously defending in the western zone (unless the' situation has altered, for the better since the official report was issued) are not indeed those immediately covering the Narrows, but they are in'> all likelihood the key to the whole position. To the Turks, loss of these positions will mean that they will be enclosed on north as w<jll as south, and so to all intents and purposes will be invested in the limited area of the peninsula which includes the Kilid Bahr plateau and the Aohi Baba ridge, against which the Allies' southern attack is directed. Loss of the dominating hills . and- ridge's which the British forces have not yet completely mastered in their advance from the western coast might not end the Turkish defence, - but it would certainly bring the end into' sight. Hemmed in on north and south, the Turks would be left with only, one inadequate avenue of supply—the ferry passage of the Narrows—arid, even this avenue.would probably not long remain available after the British troops had gained command of tho breadth of the peninsula north of the Narrows. » # # * As regards the western attack the official report shows that the onset of the colonial from Anzac was pressed to a brilliant success, which -was not fully- maintained, owing to the new army landed at Suvla Bay not being able to achieve an equal success. TTho. Australians and New Zealanders fought. ;£heir way to the summits of the Sari.Bair anil Ch'anuk Bahr ridges.. .'The former is a hill a thousand feet higli opposite the 'north-eastern corner of the position from which the colonials launched their attack, and the Ohanuk Bahr ridge extends to the south. These arc dominating positions commanding the breadth of the peninsula, but as a result: of the failure to completely drive home the attack from Suvla Bay, the colonials were unable to retain their- footing, on the lofty crests they had .gained, and had to retire to the slopes below. ■fc -A * * Failing to this, extent the attack yet resulted in tho establishment of a continuous batt|e-front twelve miles' long from Snvla Bay to •: Anzac. Another' general attack on August >21 again failed to master the summits of the enemy positions, though three-• quarters , of a mile ,of ground was captured,. and perhaps retained, by tire An?ac troop's on tho left. -This was presumably in the area north of Sari Bair, an area intp- whiqh tho colonial troops have extciul(id; ; thoir line in effecting a junction with' the army landed (it Suvla Bay, It is a possible reading of the pfJicial message, however, that'the withdrawal to the original front (that is to say, the continuous front of twelve miles) which followed the failure of this second assault, was general; and applied to the whole of the troops engaged. It . is mentioned that in the earlier battle, (ceding on August 10) some Iwsdwnj' WW Miiclij on tlm mw thorn line as well as in the weetern jone,,

but the statement is not amplified, and it may be taken for granted that fclic Turks retain an unbroken hold upon the Achi Baba ridge, which constitutes their southern defence. * * * * . At this point matters are left by the' reports in hand except that a French communique reports the capture of about nine hundred yards of enemy trenches by the British left wing in the northern zone—that is to say immediately south from the Gulf of Saros, opposite Suvla Bay. Considerable importance must be attached to this success in view of the emphasis laid in the official report upon the untoward influence which failure to make adequate progress in this region exerted upon the attack as a whole. With its limitations the position disclosed means a very great extension and development of the campaign. The scalc of the partially successful attacks so far made, and the extension of the fighting front, in themselves show that the army of invasion has been largely reinforced. Tho Allies are now assailing the Turks on an aggregate battle-front (in south and west) over fifteen miles long, The southern line is three miles and a half long, and in the light of late information it seems likely that the fr,ont from which the Australian's and Slew Zcalanders set out upon the great enterprise now afool was considerably shorter. It follows that the Allies have more than doubled their total striking indication of the strength and resources they are bringing to bear upon t-lia conquest of tbo Narrows, which means the mastery of the Dardanelles. * • » * Reports do .not disclose the numerical strength of .the invading' army and indeed the strength of the force originally landed has never been "officially announced. But it was a new army that landed at Suvla Bay, and at least a British division and somelndian units reinforced the Australians and New Zcalanders at Anzac prior to the initial assault early in August/ Additional reinforcements were landed before the second general assault, and it is likely that further large reinforcements are on their wo.*. Not long ago, for instance, it was announced that 15,000 Canadians were ordered to Gallipoli, and if they had been present and taken part in the battles so i far fought it is practically certain/that they would have been singled out for separate notiee, just as the New Zealandors and the Australians _ have' been. Success, and the earliest possible success, in th? Dardanelles campaign, is so obviously vital in its bearing upon the war as a whole that there need be iitiJo doubt that the Allies will pro vile the strongth in men and artili ;ry which is the essential of success. The official report published to-day lays emphasis upon the great power of a defensive under modern conditions once the advantage of a surpriseis lost in close fighting, and in so doing epitomises the conditions now. reached in the conflict at % Dardanelles. The problem facing the Allied troops is one of great difficulty so long as the Turks are able to draw upon adequate supplies of munitions. . It is none tho less true that the gallant invading al - my has made a, great forward stride during the' days of desperate battle, of which some clear idea can now. be gained. • • *,# * » A strange story comes from a 'Times, covrespondenfr in the Balkans which:owes most of -whatever'signi? ficance it holds to the fact that it is trausniittcd by the High Commissioner. The predictipn of an Aus-tro-Gcrmau offensive against the Balkans designed to sweep through Servia and Bulgaria—the latter country to share the fate of Belgium if she resists—is not easily entertained in face of what is known of existing circumstances in the Balkans and in tile main theatres of war. It is unlikely' that Germany could find the force necessary for such an enterprise—more especially as its flotation would be likely to give the last impulse needed to bring about a firm offensive and defensive alliance comprehending the whole of the Balkan States.'' . . * * ' : # ft - Accepting their own reports as fincurate the Austro-Germans are steadily closing in on the fortress of Brest Litovsk, in Central Poland, both from-the north and the south, but the Russians report a' continued successful resistance west of the fortress.' Elsewhere in the Eastern theatre no very material change is reported, - though some detail progress is claimed by the enemy at various points, and a Russian* reference to the. repulse of enemy attacks in the region of -Vilna indir cates that the enemy is making, some headway towards that-place along the railway-from Kovno. The burden of the news is that the enemy is still vigorously : pressing the attack' upon various sections of the Russian line in a fashion that is likely to compel a further general retirement.