THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE IN THE BALTIC

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 19, 17 October 1917, Page 5

THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE IN THE BALTIC

ENEMY'S OPERATIONS STUBBORNLY DEFENDED NAVAL ACTIONS IN THE ISLANDS A Russian official report stales: "The encmv oocupSwr^'TOsbm-c^on'' l-h# T 1 l 0 l' Dosel land > <?" Saturday, their aerial and naval forces ittornn+prF f IV* operations. Squadrons ui enemy cruisers and torpedo-boats (wT P tl? 0 n tranco into fl»°.JTbo Channel. Our long-rangeguns on Oeacl Ibland cover further movements m(o the Gulf of Riga. TV cnemv's tnr dfrcttim,ntKnT f D ! 1 ( ° a?o Islan f ls . Passed back our patrol boats in the Sable I titate™ Bnd C ° mpelle<l GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT. , „ ..... , , , , London, October A uerman official report stales : "Wo have made rapid progress in Oesel Island, in tlO Gulf of Riga, and have cut off tho Sworbo Peninsula (tho southern tongue of tho island) from tho north. Our ships silenced the land batteries We are now advancing towards tho east coast, and tho Russians are retreating in order to escape over the raolo which connects Ocsel Island with .Moon (or Moolim) Island."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reuter. THE GULP AND ISLANDS REGARDED AS LOST

(Rec. October 17. 1.20 a.m.) London, October 15. Well-informed circles in I'etrograd regard Ocsel and Dago Islands and tne Grulf of Riga as lost. Nevertheless, tho value of Riga to llio enemy will be small until Teresten fairway in tho gulf has been cleared, which will bo impracticable so long as tho forts in tho western peninsula of Ocsel hold out. The Russians destroyed tho fairway two years ago by sinking tho interned German craft, laden with stono and cement. The preparations for tho German landing, which was undertaken by two divisions, were jnade with the minutest care, and included a clever picco of trickery. Tito, enemy's light craft succeeded in altering the position of the buoys marking tho minefields between the islands mid the mainland, causing a number of Russian scouts to rnn ashore, thereby a warning of tho enemy landing cjiutd not bo given.—Renter. PROJECTED CAMPAIGN IN FINLAND Stockholm, October 15. The Germans are. expected to attempt to seize the Aland Islands (at Hie mouth of tho Gulf of Bothnia), and to effect a landing in J'inland lwfore the harbours aro blocked with ice, with the view of attacking Helsingfors.—Reutfer. \ NAVAL MORALE IMPROVING

SINISTER STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION. (I>ec. October 16, 11.43 p.m.) Petrograd, October lii. There are sign# of au improvement in tho morals of the Russian Navy. 'Die Bolshevik influence is losing ground, and tho won may fight well in the Baltic. Tho Navy is recovering quicker thau the Army. At the outbreak of the present revolution tho Bolsheviks storied a mutiny on the smaller warships at Helaingfors, invoking vengeance for tlie punishments awarded in 1905. As tho fleet was frozen in tlie ice the agitators"had a free field. Admirals Viren, Neplnin, and Nebolsin, and other officers were slaughtered like cattle, burned at tho stake, and dropped, still alive, through holes in tho ice. Brutal indignities were offered towards the widows and orphans who were searching for tho remains of thoir loved ones. I'lie handiwork of these Petrograd agitators was abetted by German spies. The subsequent recovery permitted the repulse of the German fleet in the Irben Channel.—"Tlie Times."