NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17284, 27 September 1916, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

Tho week-end advance which has become quite a habit with the FrancoBritish forces on tho Anere-Sommo sectors occurred on Sunday, the result being tho capture of three fortified villages and tho virtual isolation of Combles. In the alternating plan it was the turn of the French to push ahead, and when Monday brought no news of progress there was a temptation to teuppose that.tho great German attack en Thursday had interfered with tho schedule working of the Allies. But the fact that tho Germans were still holding on at Combles really decided tho direction of the new push, in which British and French co-operated, the British attacking on a six-mile front from Martinpuich to Combles, and the Fiench from Combles to Bouchavesnes. Whether the town in the centre was tho main objective may be doubted, for the character of the action suggests rather that the Allies planned to isolate it and not to storm it by direct assault.

Combles is the largest town between Peronne and Bapaume, and its strength as a fortified position is in proportion to its size. F>ven villages lend thomsclvcs to fortification, and when they aro reduced to ruins tho enemy holds out in cellars and dug-outs, amongst the heaps of debris and in specially constructed blockhouses which show little above ground and are almost indistinguishable from tho piles of debris. Clearly if Combles is to be stormed tho fighting will be long and fierce. The position that has now developed, however, premises the reduction of the position by less costly methods. By the capture of Morval and Lesbceufs the British have stopped the approach from the north, while to tho east the French have pushed to the borders of Fregicourt. so that tho road from Sallisel and Sailly is blocked.

These roads had ceased to be of any grcat service to tho Govmans, because they have been -audor direct shell fire for a week or more, but they havo perhaps been used at night, and of course the enemy, following his usual practice, would havo constructed deep communication trenches beside them. Tho position now is that the British aro to tho north of the town and the French to tho east, and Combles is- maintained solely by means of narrow trenches from the north-east. Probably the British nouth of Morval and the French at Fregicourt are within a mile of one another, and it is quite possible that in Sunday's fighting advanced parties from the north and east wero able to exchange greetings behind Combles. Possibly, even probably, the Germans will elect to defend Combles az they defended Fricotart and Ovillers,

both of which were regarded as boing essential to the safety of their whole front, and in that case they will have crowded the ruins with machine-guns.

When Combles falls there will bo no considerable cluster of buildings to bar the British advance right to the I'eronne-Bapaumo road at Sailly and lo Transloy, which is now approximately a mile and a half to the east of them. Tho French hold a stretch ot this road from Rancourt to a point south of Bouchavesncs, perhaps two miles long, and if the British from Lesbceufs can tight their way to le Transloy the Allies will be across tho road on a front of six miles. Sir Douglas Haig lately reported that the Germans had constructed and. strengthened a new main line of defence facing this road, ahd whilo they have been busy fighting tho reserves havo doubtless been kept hard at work perfecting the trenches and machine-gun positions, and adding the labyrinthine underground works which havo proved so useful to them in the earlier stages of tho struggle. ■

An important statement was made by General Joft're to tho American correspondents in France early in August, in the course of which ho spoke of the Verdun struggle as having turned the scales definitely in favour of the Allies. "France will issue from the conflict," he said, "with her traditional friendship with America greatly strengthened, because we are not only fighting for an ideal which is equally dear to Americans and to Frenchmen, bub we are alio fighting, in a manner worthy of our ancestors who fought with your ancestors, for the attainment of this ideal. Although our enemies are fighting to-day more bitterly than ever, yet, iuview of the unity of action of the Allies, the entire world sees and understands clearly the destiny which is shaping final victory for us. The characteristic of the present campaigns is the unity of action on all fronts which is bringing ever-increasing pres* sure to beat on the enemy on all sides. While it was the French sacrifices in the early part of the war which enabled the Allies to prepare this unity of action, at the saino time I am now proud to pay public homage to the manner iu which our Allies to-day are discharging their obligations.

"Russia, profiting by the time wo wero able to give her through being first propared," tho General continued, "has made increasing efforts towards drawing ever more and more upon her inexhaustible resources of meu and material until she is now able to pour on to the eastern front armed masses which havo attained the recent glorious achievements in Galicia. Our preparedness has, at tho same time, enabled England to organise her full power of mobilisation, tho actual fighting valour of her men haying now been fully demonstrated on tho Somme. Italy had a more difficult problem and a more limited sphere of action, but her splendid accomplishments aro now well known. Tho newly organised Serbian army has displayed during the past week the unbroken fighting valour with which it is ready to resume tho campaign. Although the enemy is still fighting desperately, yet the German plan of quickly transferring reserves to,various fronts is no longer possiblo owing to the steady action of the Allies on tho wholo German front.

" Victory for us is now certain," General Joffre declared. "It is not for mo to say how long the struggle will last before the final breakdown of tho enemy's strength comes, as come I am absolutely certain it will. The French resistance for five months at Verdun definitely turned the scales in our favour by shattering the German plans, and yet we must not imagine that there is a. distinct weakening of the force still opposing us. We now have over two-thirds of the whole German armies —namely, 122 divisions—facing us, while the remaining fifty divisions, in co-operation with the Austrians, are on the Russian front. But we are fully equal to the.task wo have undertaken. The army which wo have built up during tho past two years is bearing tho hardest fighting with its spirit and moralo • absolutely unbroken. It is greater in numbers, despite losses, and better equipped with all material than when the war broke out. Much blood lias been shed by the French, and still more will yet bo shed, but you will find not only the whole army, but also tho entire nation determined to carry on the war to. a- successful conclusion, since we are fighting not alone for our personal interests, but equally for tho liberty of the world. Wo will not abandon the fight until that liberty is assured."