Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, MARCH 13th, 1917. THE FALL OF BAGHDAD.

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 March 1917, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, MARCH 13th, 1917. THE FALL OF BAGHDAD.

This lull of Baghdad following so close on that of K'ut-el-Amara, lias caused a considerable rise in British prestige in Mesopotamia Tlio most severe reverse that the 3Mtis.li received in the war was the fall of Kut-ei-Amara and the consequent capitulation of General Townshend and his army. The Germans made the most of the even!, and there is no gainsaying the - fact that the success put fresh heart into the Turks and Bulgarians, and gave King Constantino and the pro-Germans every encouragement to proceed ; with their plots against the Entente Powers. The British, however, proceeded with the Mesopo- :. tiimia'ii campaign, and Hie lamentjable blunders that are such a j characteristic of our earlier. of- ' I forts in any field were rectified- | The commissariat and the hospital . ; arrangements were brought up to dale, and the Work of pushing the > Turks back along the Tigris was • steadily gone on with- Tor some ; time the news of the operations that were being carried on were i very meagre, but the little that < came to baud was A'ery satisfac- ' tory- The Turks are good ; fighters, especially on the defeu- J sive, and some very stubborn battles were Cough I- The British > slowly but surely forced their way > onwards- Their new commander, -

Lleutemint-Geueral Mantle, Ims proved a brilliant leader, and he fooled the Turks very badly on mure than one occasion- The enemy hud (heir hands full, for they were being attacked simultaneously from all quarters; The Russians, by occupying the line from Trebizond to Erzinghnn t , pushed their way towards the main strategical positions in the north of Asia Minor. The Turks made a gallant effort to check this, and-after a strong offensive they pushed the Russian left wing sixty miles behind HamadanThis attack, however, was successfully countered quite recently by the Russians, and they in turn forced back the Turkish farces eighty miles and captured Ham;.uian. They are still advancing vapidly, and , have practically cleared Persia of the Turks. The British advance in the Sinai Peninsula from Ml Arish has brought pressure on the Turks from still another source, while our naval forces in the Modiferrauean and the Russian forces in Ihe Black Sea have been busily employed in bombarding the Turkish sea coast and interfering very considerably with means of communication. "We must remember that in the whole of Turkey in Asia railway communication is verv scarce, and moss of

the transport is per medium of the small' coastal craft. _ Though very little has been said about the" sinking of these vessels, we know that British gunboats and destroyers have levied a heavy toll on the Turks' mercantile marine, and many Turkish towns are in a state of absolute destitution- Turkey recently gave notice to the Central Powers that she is fully occupied in defending her own possessions and that she has no troops to spare for operations in Koumania ;«nd elsewhere. It is apparent thai the Turks are badly' demoralised, and their troubles are now about to begin in real earnest. The British Army now at Baghdad will soon be joined by the Rusians from Persia- This formidable force will then be able to push into Palestine, where the British

forces from El Arsih are also proceeding. The Turks may even vet have to defend Constantinople from an enemy that will attack on two sides —General Sarrail will advance from Macedonia and the other forces will come via Asia Minor- The British reverse at lvut-el-Amara has already been retrieved, but British prestige will not rise to its former high level until the Dardanelles failure has also been wiped out by the capture of Constantinople. The Roumanian Army is now in first-class fighting trim, and its officers have been thoroughly reorganised. It is'now a fighting unit capable of taking its place with the Serbians and' the Entente Forces in Macedonia- The campaign in the Near East is now assuming a most business-like aspect, and once tile Creeks are brought to a proper, understanding General Sarrail will be able to push forward with--I)U{ :UIV fear of being treacherously attacked in.the rear- When the spring offensive in the "West and in the East comes the Germans will have no men to spare for the Balkans, and the Turks and Bulgarians will have to look after their own interests. lhc Germans in the Eastern Theatre will, in all probability, soon have to meet a large Chinese armv under Japanese officers ami cquioned with .Japanese guns. The Run's'are already aware what is in store tor them, and that accounts for their frantic desire to bring about peace before they meef (he hill strength of the great lmsu of a world in arms against her-