OFFICIAL WAR REVIEW

Evening Star, Issue 16822, 26 August 1918, Page 4

OFFICIAL WAR REVIEW

BY MINISTRY OF INFORMA-

TIOH«

A Q©OD WEEK.

AIRMEN'S FIWE WORK.

WELLINGTON, August 26. Tho foJJowi-ig as the week's official summary from vSe Ministry of Information, dafioi London, Zte<& Some p©7pfe male invidious comparisons as ta» the oxbent of the German offensive which began on March 21 compared with the Anglo-French attack on the Somjne front, wM began on August 8, but this dhows a serious misunderstanding of the position. Why tho Germans were able to advance mare than 30 miles in one week w because they had overwhelming numbers amounting to o to 1, with very large reserves available to continue tho advance after tho initial assault had broken our lines. Our attack of August 8 was on a much smaller scale, and tho allied superiority on the actual front was not nearly equal to that of tho Germans on March 21, while tho available allied, ■reserves wero not superior to those which the enemy could resist with. Despite these disadvantages, the Allies on Augiist 8 advanced nearly half the distance gained by the (Sermons on March 21, on. a frontage much less than half that cover-ad by the German attack, and accomplished _ it, despite strong German reserves and with the loss of fewer casualties during the whole operation than tho number of German prisoners taken., whereas the German casualties 011 March 21 were exceedingly heavy. Wo now have little to learn, therefore, in tactical method from the enemy, and they wero again completely surprised, both by'the attack of the Tenth French Army between the Oise and: the Aisne, and by that of the Third British Army, south of Arras—which speaks volumes for our present tactical methods and tho efficiency of our staff work.

It is still too early to foretell what effect the advance between the Aisrie and the Oise will make on the situation, but is evidently seriously threatens the enemy positions north of the Ai&ne, and, if continued, will outflank the entire enemy line on the Vesle, besides threatening the line west of the Oiso. The total number of prisoners taken in the three days August 18-20 was more than 10,000. North of the Snmrae the enemy continue gradually retiring from the Serre salient. Our troops have now advanced to practically the Albert-Arras railway. This position threatens the right flank of the enemy line on the An ere and the important Thiepval Ridge, which is of great* strength. This recently-shown desire of the enemy to withdraw from salients and straighten their front may forebode a more extended withdrawal than that of last year to the Hindenbuvg line. There- is no evidence, though, of this, but heavy German losses ana the present serious shortage of men make such a retirement not improbable. Nothing is happening in Italy, but it- is worthy of note that the Austrian lessee on tho British front from June 15 to August 15 are estimated at 20,200, whereas the British casualties were onily 2,544. Air fighting was less intense this week. There was a temporary concentration of targe German air forces in the Amiens sector, operating at a considerable height, but notwithstanding this there was no slackening of tho activities of the British airmen, and a heavy toll of' German machines was taken at a relatively slight cost. Successful bombing operations were carried out in Flanders, Belgium, and over Germany. There was also a continuous series of raids on Zeebrugge, Bruges, Ostend, Middelkerke, Westerld, and the Belgian coastal area. Over 32 tons of bombs were dropped, and many direct hits were obtained, resulting in flro3, which were confirmed by photographs. At the Va-rsenca aerodrome sue machines were fired and one hangar wag demolished. During the air righting here ( —— ?) enemy machines were destroyed and 11 driven down, while only four British machines were reported as missing. The Independent Air Force successfully carried out bombing raids into Germany, attacking railway stations and sidings at Thiouville, Offenburg, Sarlebourg, and Mannheim, and several enemy aerodromes and blast fumaees at factories and munition works. During the heavy fighting four enemy machines were destroyed and two were driven down. Threo British machines failed to return.

On the British sector on the western land front British airmen destroyed during the week 100 enemy machines,_ and 33 were driven down, while 44 British machines we>re reported a« missing. An immense amount of photographic reconnaissance and counter-battery work was carried out. No sensational achievements were reported, from the Italian, Balkan, and Palestine fronts,, but British airmen were busy throughout the week dropping a considerable weight of bomb?, destroying five enemy machines and driving dawn eight. Mr Hoover (American Food (.■out-roller), before going back to America-, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the conferences with the allied Food Controllers. Ho saidi: "The great tran-sror-tatkm problem within the next year is to move sufficient American, troops to Jturope to give an overpowering strength against any forces the Germans may be able to bung to bear. In order to accomplish this, economy in consumption of food is imperative in all the allied countries. On the other hand, the dancer of privation is now passed. In the United States we need to exercise a continued rigid economy in consumption, fo that we may meet the increased demands from Europe, and ena-blo us to carry over from the more abundant harvest this year -a stock of foodstuffs to form a positive insurance against any possible climatic eventualities next harvest. '

Most excellent weather encourages tho hope of the fuluhwsnt of the. allied decision to maintain the distribution of cereals mira-iioned. An enforced reliance u P° ri home supplies of meat will compel a further reduction in tho meat ration, while the incroajied cost will neeas.'iiiate an increase in the price of the same. The problem of providing additional feeding stuffs continues to be urgent, but luckily supplies of North American baron will prevent any real privation. The recent military reverses hoye produced great disappointment in frerman political circles. Some newspapers point out how they coincide with the appointment of Von Hintzo to the office of Foreign Minister. The Reichstag waa not consulted upon tiiis appointment, but the more liberal part- of the German Press say that it is merely a case of "the Devil being sick and wanting to turn a monk." (Continued in Stop Press.)