THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 100, 27 April 1917, Page 6

THE WAR

The battle oE Areas, which broke out with extraordinary severity on Monday, seemed to have been followed by a partial lull, but the fighting has by no means stopped. The lull is purely comparative; the struggle continues with great fierceness. The smashing of the enemy's' defences in this sector has apparently carried the battle beyond the entrenched area until it approximated warfare in the open; and in the absence of ready-made fortifications the Germans have had to make use of men in. unusual numbers. As, was to be expected, the infantry, whose business it was to hold the critical sectors and to regain the lost ground, suffered the most terrible losses from the British artillery., Some of the reports declare that whole units were exterminated. For the' first time on the Western front there is given a glimpse of an entrenched front really broken, or ratter of a discontinuous front one part of which is in process of being outflanked, and of the desperate struggle which is brought about to preserve its safety.- Hugo numbers of troops are being rushed to the scene by the enemy. Correspondents tell of the lavish waste of men at this threatened point; but it is to be doubted whether in any sense they are being wasted, since the existing gap may be the vulnerable chink in Germany's armour. The Germans have not designed and constructed the Hindenburg line merely as a temporary stayj it was clearly intended to be a firm and. enduring (Substitute for a long section of front which had evident weaknesses. This important fortification has been vitally attacked at its northern extremity, and the saino attack menaces also the integrity of the whole northern German front. The struggle for a few heaps of ruins which still appear as villages upon the map is thus of enormous importance to the enemy; the few miles of front on which the battle is now raging constitute* for the time being tho most critical point in tho whole of the battle areas. In his view, then, any expenditure of men may be justifiable.

The Admiralty's table of shipping losses during the past week shows the highest figures since the Admiralty instituted the system of tabulating the* statistics and giving no other-informa-tion. Figures for last week are here quoted in comparison with the average for the eight preceding weeks, and thei highest preceding number for each heading :—

Losses over 1600 tons ... 40 16 19 Losses under 1600 tons 35 7 13

Escapes

27 14 19

The total number of attacks shown by these figures is thus 82; the eight weeks' average was 38; and the highest previous total 48 (disregarding in all cases attacks on fishing, vessels). The U Boat campaign's result thus shows a very sudden and marked increase, which, to say the least of it, is disturbing. That tho submarines can in one week- make more than double the average number of attacks, and nearly double their previous best achievement, may be only a chance occurrence, but it may also be something much more serious. The food outlook in Britain is receiving more urgent attention than ever before. For the first time Britain is compelled to look with anxiety towards the next hsrvtit, in the samS Way as Germany is said to look ahead. Hitherto there has been no need for the Briton to tighten his belt as the year drew on towards the autumn; but the faster his ships are sunk the more need there will be for that uncomfortable process. The submarine tables for the next week or two will be important indicators to the real meaning of to-day's figures, and will be looked for with much interest.

There is now no means of knowing what is being done in the way of new ship construction to meet the losses. The> British yards may be $ble to meet a great part of the losses, but it is to the United States that we may look for a considerable relief in time to come. It would take several months before a fullyequipped American army could be landed in Europe; but an army of American workers could set aJbout building ships, almost at once. In all probability tliß United States is already sternly fighting the Germans in the dockyards. But the results of new Work in this direction cannot be felt for some time; and the enemy is certain to emphasise his efforts in the interval.

The details of the fight are vivid enough; but they necessarily fail to convey any proper impression of the terrific speed excitement of a battle between such vessels in the dead of night. Gunfire is so liable to be inaccurate in the darkness that the commanders of both the British vessels, in view of the odds against them, seem to have decided to use the ram as a weapon certain of success if it got home, notwithstanding the risk run by the attacking vessel. The Broke succeeded in cutting into one destroyer, and there followed the extraordinary incident (for these .days) of hostile crews fighting each other on a single deck. How many of the Germans were badly damaged! is not clear; but two were,sunk, and the\rest fled from the dangerous neighbourhood of the.two /British vessels. , .

Another destroyer raid of the "touch and run" style occurred off Dunkirk on Wednesday night, when v- German flotilla spent a few minutes in shelling the port. The destroyers were chased off by an Allied flotilla, of which one French tor-pedo-boat wae sunk.