PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3023, 9 March 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A great deal of stress has been laid on the waning morale of the German forces, and this aspect of. the situation has been especially prominent in connection with tho enforced but so-called voluntary retirements of the enemy from his strongly-fortified positions on tho Soinmo front. The disheactining effects of such retirements can bo readily understood, but how important a factor they may prove coming on top of tho long poriod of reverses in this region may not bo so generally appreciated. A very good idea may_ Toe obtained, however, of the weakening spirit and dwindling fighting capacity of the German troops_ from disclosures made hy the military correspondent of the Times, forwarded to his paper in December last from British' Headquarters in France. It is not merely, he states, that in the course of the fighting wc have.wrung theso villages and these miles of territory from the enemy, though defended with all tho strength ho could put forth, and after two years of fortification j it is not even merely that we have taken these 80,000 prisoners (though as previously remarked no army ever yet surrendered the fighting strength of nine whole divisions except under circumstances of dofeat), but it is that week by week and day by day wo havo felt the enemy weakening' under us, and seen continually growing evidences that ho knew he was fighting not for victory, but for his life. Tho growing demoralisation is well evidenced by tho prisoners' . talk. Among the '10,000 who at that time had faiien into British hands on itho Somme it was many weeks since anyone talked of German victory. Suoh talk died somowhere about last August. Sinco then the most that any has dared to say is that Germany will never bo crushed, and for a long time past wc have taken men who havo never dared even to think Umt.

And thou thero aro tho prisoners' letters and documents captured on them, above all the. copies of Orders of the Day. In the letters from home there has been a steadily growing note of despondency; in the letters written by the men, and which they had not been able to send when captured, the pictures of life at the front aro painted in tints of deeper and deeper despair. Wc read and hear continually, this writer states; of men and officers malingering, and in. tho captured orders we find exhortations to the men almost in frenzied terms , to hold the ground; piteous assurances that "what tho English can do Germans can do",; threats to in-

dividual regiments that they must keep active nil.their fr'oilt or larger operations will bo Ordered in which tlicy will suffer inure heavily; shameful confessions of Id go to tho froufj.linc) not of incTiVV ouals, bul of whole companies; humiliating regulations directed against the increasing tendency to desertion. As late as July last, letters from home captured on prisonera wore written in good spirits; the Somme offensive had not then made itself seriously felt. Since that time there has been steadily welling tip in ever-increasing vdliime a cry for peace—the cry of. a people almost on the verge of despair. Many extracts from seized letters aro .quoted in support of tho views expressed, and they aro convincing enough for anyone.

Tnis, let it bo borne in mind, was nearly three months ago. Since that time tho demoralising influences on tho Western front havo been steadily mounting up; blow after blow has been struck; voluntary retirements which must shake the confidence of tho rank and file of the enemy even more porhaps than hard blows, have boon' ordered, and tho incessant pressure goes on. One very significant comment is diado by the 'Nines Writer on tho troops opposing the British on tho Sommc—the pick of the German army,' we have been told. "Not only is much of tho new material (and 75 per cent, is new material) bad, but tho old material which has been through tho Somrae fighting is shaken. In such experiences as the Gorman troops have been subjected to here the nervous system becomes worn out; some molecular change takes place in the very fabric of a man's being, and he is not as good as ho was when his courage was new. We have seen this proven a score of times on the Somrao. Divisions which fought well against us at the first essay, after_ being withdrawn and put in again, have nothing like their original stoutness. And this process has been going on with cumulative effect." bo much for tho dwindling morale of the cnomy. messages record that the retirement at points on the Somme front still continues, but otherwise there is little of moment in tho news to hand on this front.

Good news continues to come to hand from Mesopotamia, where tho British cavalry is' following up the Turkish retreat from Kut; and an Austrian reverse at tho hands of the Italians is also recorded, but generally speaking the news from the fighting fronts contains little of moment.

The most startling item in today's cablegrams is tho announcement from Melbourne that an ocean raider of somewhat formidable dimensions was operating between Colombo and Aden on February 27. This is coming near home, for a vessel operating in the neighbourhood of Ceylon cannot be ignored as a possible source of menace to vessels m these waters. Much, of course, depends on the raider's sources of supply, and it is probable that Australia and New Zealand will be out of reach on that account. The experiences early in tho war with the Emden in the same neighbourhood and further east, and also the exploits of the Mocwe, show tho difficulty of dealing with these ocean raiders once they got loose in tho open seas, and it will be very good news indeed when wo learn that this particular vessel has been brought to account. A few days ago the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth dropped a hint of unpleasant news having reached him, and no doubt the appearance of this raider was what ho referred to.