The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1918. THE ALLIED ACHIEVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 289, 26 August 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1918. THE ALLIED ACHIEVEMENT

Few would have ventured to predict six weeks ago that at the present date the German armies in tho Western theatre would ho reeling back in defeat under pressure of an

irresistible Allied offensive, Yet this is by no means an extravagant description of the situation which is outlined in its later developments in to-day's ca'nkgraras. Six weeks aRO the onc.iny had crossed tho Marne, and the immediate question raised was whether he could be prevented from entering Paris, or at all events from bombarding that city at comparatively close range. An authority of standing wrote not long ago thati numerical equilibrium as between the Allies and the Central Powers inieht bo expected before the end of the year, "while next spring, unless something unforeseen happens, the Allies should bo in sufficient'force to undertake offensive

operations on a large scale." A great deal was said and written to a similar effect, but it is now abundantly clear that the common estimate fell far short of doing justico to the Allies' powers of recovery and recuperation and the tremendous striking force they were organising and developing even in the days when their prospects looked darkest. It is hardly necessary at this stage to enlarge upon the .transformation which has been wrought in the whole aspect of tho Western campaign in the_ brief space of six weeks. But it is well within the facts to say •that the questions now uppermost are how long it is possible for tho Germans to defer an extended retreat and whether they arc capable of executing a retirement to winter positions without suffering disaster in ii'rto attempt. Speculation in regard ■to the remaining duration of the war is no more profitable, now than at any other time, but it is bare justice to the Allied armies and their leaders to say that in recent weeks they have triumphantly demonstrated that ultimate victory, in ,so far as it depends pn their efforts, is not in doubt. Since tho Allies opened their counter-offensive with the attack towards Soissons, on July IS, tho enemy has suffered a rapid succession of practically unrelieved defeats. The Allied armies, working in splendid co-ordination under tho unified command, havegiven him no respite, and their blows are telling with ever mora damaging effect as time goes on. As matters stand, tho enemy's defeat is measured not only by the total failure of the offensive upon which ho concentrated all available- resources, but by the increasing insecurity of his existing situation regarded from the standpoint of defence.

The British offensive stroke which takes chief prominence in the news to-day has .already in a notable degree aggravated the problems of defence with which the enemy is grappling. Detail facts supplied seem to fully l>2ar out the- expressive though oddly-worded statement made, by one correspondent that "the Hun is desperately engaged in losing the. last battle of the Somnio series." British attacks on the northern front, which were pictured i n their opening stages towards the enS of last week, have broadened out and expanded, until the enemy ia now desperately striving to hold his ground on a front of thirty miles .extending almost from the 'latitude of Arras to that of St. Quentin. The arresting feature at the moment is that the watershed ridge south of Bapaurao, up which tho British armies fought their way by slow stages in 1910, is being rapidly outflanked on north and south. 'When the Battle of the Somme opened in 1916 Bapaumc was a distant objective destined .to bo reached only after months of the heaviest and most desperate fighting the war had' then witnessed. Official reports today show that New Zealand troops haw reached positions within about half a mile of Bapaumc. The capture of Bapaume, which, np most people know, derives its strategic importance froni being the meeting-point of important highways, would give the enemy as good reasons now as at an earlier stipe of tho campaign for undertaking an extended retirement to the east. There seems to bo every likelihood that Bapaume will soon be once again in Allied hands, and that the' enemy in the near future will find himself as dangerously threatened on the approaches to Cambrai, a railway junction only less important than Lilio in his system of communications, _ as on other sectors where tho stability of his defensive line is manifestly imperilled. The position created by the offensive in which' the British armies are now engaged must, of course, be considered in relation to the state of affairs on other parts of the front. It is stated, for instance, that tho Germans are bringing up strong local reserves in the rogion of Bapaume, and the choice of this objective is perhaps significant. At nil fivonts, plain evidence has lately been afforded that the enemy lacks the general reserves necessary to safeguard vital sections of his front, and, failing hotter things, to estab'sli tho conditions of a safe retreat. This appears conspicuously in the remarkable advance mo.de by the French between the Oisc and tho Ailetl.e on the north and tho Aisnc on the south. In this region. GenEiUL Manciin has placed his army right across tho flank of tho German, armies holding the Aisnc-Vesio linc\ witlv the Aisne and the Chemin des Dames ridge in their rear. These German armies arc evidently in dire peril, and late developments have made their situation even more daugerous than it was shown to bo at the end of last week. Further west thoenemy's positions at and in the region of NSyon have obviously been made untenable. He is visibly under the necessity of undertaking an extended retreat both in the area south-west of St. Quentin ;;nd in tho region of the Aisne, but has poor prospects , of effecting a clean break or of repeating the orderly and comparatively unmolested retirement he made in the, early part of last year. The effect of the latest British onslaught is cumulative upon what has already -been accomplished by French, British, and American efforts further south, and the outlook is on that account so much tho brighter. It might bo un-

wise to attach undue significance meantime to the symptoms of enemy demoralisation mentioned in some reports. The Allies have not yet measured the enemy's resources for a defensive carrtijaigsi nor his powers of adjusting his organisation to the demands of sut-h a campaign. But there ;is already w:d; in :;-,e Allied offensive, which stands in striking contrast to "he io.cn>ida.bio. but abortive ouVri viuch '-he enemy made to smash his ?;i,y io victory this year. The ■iiie.'jiy attempted to develop an iroaifAiblc attack, and failed. The Allies »vs taking none of the risks in.vnlvtl in aiich a policy. They are iipprwchii;;; their goal by skil-fully-diMcfii'.l. blows which tell with that increasing; and cumulative effort which the enemy strove in vain to attain, and in this policy they .are fortified by the knowledge t!;at their effective strength will rapidly increaso as that of the enemy declines. It is mentioned today that there arc now 1,500,000 American troops in overseas service. Nearly the whole of this great force is in France, and all that America has yet done to reinforce tho Allies j is but an earnest of what she, ib cap- j able of doing further to make their I certain. Although it would bo foolish to base extravagant anticipations on the fact, a growincr appreciation in enemy countries of tho conditions which in their immediate aspect make so definitely for Allied victory must, of course, tend in greater or Jess degree to weaken their resisting power.