THE CAMPAIGNS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16744, 28 December 1914, Page 6

THE CAMPAIGNS.

No hint of a Christmas truce appears in? the war news this morning. In France, at any rate, the activity ot the Allies has been even more pronounced than usual and the reports show that progress has been made eirtually all along the line. One would expect the offensive tactics of the Allies to be particularly pronounced at some one point, but it seems to be General Joffre's policy to " nibble" the enemy everywhere and it is impossible io single out any one region in which the Allies are developing an attack at all /comparable to the German assault «>n Xpres. Slight progress has been made pn the Yser, in Flanders. At La Bassee the British have repulsed German attacks and gained ground. Between Bethune and Lens a definite advance is recorded, and similar reports come from Albert and Lihons, in the Chaulre§ district. On the Aisne, north t>f Eheims, the Allies are now making pr>,gross, and further to the east, at Perthes and Mesnil, and in the Argoflne forest the recent gains ha?? /been thoroughly secured. There has h»en an advance, too, at Cirey, whicJi v li'close to the frontier, east of Lu.noWffle. Earlier in the war, of course, -4kb» French overran the Lorraine frou^

tier and advanced as far as Saarburp, but now they are battling hard -in their own side of the border. It is quite possible that at some point on tie front between Verdun and the sen const of Flanders the Allies are actually •leveloping a massed attack, but the official reports are not likely to indicate the particular importance to be attached to operations anywhere. The Russian campaign seems to be very similar to that in France now, with the difference that the initiativo has rested with the enemy. The Russians have been on the defensive in the recent fighting, but the latest reports show that if von Hindenlmrg has not abandoned his efforts to penetrate to "Warsaw he has at least suffered a sharp check. The fierce fighting has been at the confluence of the Rawka u>d tho Bzura, less than forty miles west of Warsaw. Apparently the Russians are holding the line of tho Bzura from the Vistula to this point. There is no information concerning the position ; ri south-western Poland, though it is clear that the Germans have advanced as far as tho Pilica. In Galicia there have been actions of minor importance south of Jaslo, from which fact it may be inferred that the Austrian advance has; 1 come to a standstill, and an Austrian official report admits that the Russians are attacking in force. Tho morning's news indicates quite a favourable turn in tho operations,- although it would perhaps be premature to regard t !, e repulse of the Germans on the Bzura as decisive.