THE CAMPAIGNS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17860, 5 August 1918, Page 4

THE CAMPAIGNS.

Twb' day's reports, have brought another dramatic development south of tho Aisne, for the Germans, after suffering a severo local defeat between the Ourcq' and the Oise, found their hig; saijenfc still insecure and hastily retreated on a wide front. Tho Allies are' now virtually on the line of tho and tho reports leaVo" it in doubt whether the Germans intend to defend themselves oven there. On the Allied left SoisßOiis has been captured, and in the centre tho Allies have made an asVj&nco of nine or ten miles in two days.- The effect of Foch's counterajjchsive hetwcen the Marne and the Aisne has thus been to deprive the Germans of a tract of torritory more th#ri thirty miles wide and fifteen deep. Indeed the depth of the enemy's retreat from Chateau Thierry exceeds twenty miles. A front of sixty miles hasj been reduced to thirty. And this is only ono aspect, and by no means the most important, of the development, for tho enemy's retreat marks the hopeless failure of his offensive plans. His advance to the Marne and tp maintenance of tho big salient involved on enormous expenditure of men, and his retreat will have shaken tljq morale of his best divisions Twice iq this war he has reached the Marne and twice has suffered disaster; and iijo Allied victory in 1918 is even mors significant than that of 1911. In an order to his army on the anniversary of the outbreak of the war Sir Douglas Haig makes the confident declaration that the period of crisis has passed. Ho is speaking, obviously, of tho military position, and his words, we take ii;, mean that tho enemy has made his maximum effort and has failed, and that the Allies should not again have to pass through an ordeal comparablo with that of tho last four "months. "Wo should not have looked for so confident an assurance at this stage. There remain still two or three months of severe fighting in tho west, and although the defeat of the Crown Prince does promise a respite of a month it seemed probable that the Germans would father their forces for one other great affort to achieve a decision. Sir tyntglas Haig, however, tells us in effect that whatever effort the enemy may make this year he will not again be able to assemble the conditions that rendered possible* tho great March <l|if*. The British Army has had time to organise the defence of its ,"v»*r positions and to refit its battered

divisions, and to-day it is probably as strong as it was in March. As for tlie French, they have met every attack the enemy could make and have defeated it, and their brilliant strategy and magnificent dash have turned a great enciny offensive into a great enemy defeat. Meanwhile the Americans have been pouring into France at a rate,that is altogether without precedent in the history of war. The speed with which they were transported early in the year was remarkable, but of late they have reached Europe to the number of 300,000 a month. The divisions that crossed the Atlantic last year have been giving a magnificent account of themselves in the battles, and with these splendid troops the Allies are building up a reserve that places the issue of th 0 war beyond doubt. ...