THE CAMPAIGNS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16805, 15 March 1915, Page 6

THE CAMPAIGNS.

Til* submarine war against commerce must be-proving particularly expensive to the Germans if it ia true that eleven ! submarines have been reported missing . 'since the ‘'blockade” opened on February 18. This estimate is givon as a German one, but it is supported by tbo “ Berliner Tageblatt’s ” statement that up to March 7 more tliau seven ' German submarines had been lost. AVe i liave no means of arriving at an exact * computation, but apart from the claim 1 of the Overdale’s captain that he ran down a submarine on January 1, and other unsupported stories, we have the reports that two submarines were missing on February 22, that a French : j cruiser sank one on February 24/that, | the- Thordia rammed m oa-Jfßbruary,

28, that a French warship shelled one on -March 7, that one was caught in the trawl of a fishing boat in tho North Sea on February 23, and that British destroyers have sunk two. The two French hits and tho two British are authoritatively established, and there seems to be no reason to doubt tho claim of the Thordis- Seeing that the total German submarine flotilla includes not more than thirty-six or thirty-eight vessels, the loss of even five is a very serious reduction of tho offensive force. If eleven ve»ssels have been lost —and submarines on extended voyages may disappear without leaving any indication—the submarine war should cease shortly for lack of submarines. The loss on tho British side may appear large, but in truth it is astonishingly small. A fleet that went out to make war on unarmed merchantmen should be able to claim more than three victims a day, particularly in view of the fact that the trade of the British ports is being carried on very much as usual. Naval matters elsewhere call for little comment except in the Dardanelles, where the bombardment of tho forts and coastal batteries is being continuedIt is stated that tho French division under General d’Amad'e is now in operation, and it is poesiblo that the further progress of the fleet in the strait is waiting on 'the supporting troops. That steps must be taken to secure the coasts as the warships advance is shown by the report that it has been necessary to resunyj the shelling of positions in Morto Bay, just inside tho entrance to tho Dardanelles.

There has been little development of fresh interest in the land campaigns. Fuller accounts of the excellent work of tli© British troops at Neuve Chapelle are cabled, and it appears that the ground gained is being strongly held against German counter-attacks. The intention clearly is to push this advantage, but the Dutch reports of a fresh concentration of German troops between the sea and Arras are probably correct. The enemy cannot afford’ to leave this portion of the front unstrengthened, in view of tho massing of the new British forces and tho certainty that the Allies will shortly develop a powerful offensive movement between Nieuport and tho Oise. From Russia the only new point of special interest is tho report that the Germans have returned to tho attack in the Suwalki district. There is no news of the big struggle that was in progress in northern Poland, and indeed the Russian news today is concerned chiefly with the operations in Galicia. The Austro-German attacks all along tho southern front have failed, and the Russians have taken the offensive in the Carpathians and in eastern Galicia with excellent results.