THE CAMPAIGNS

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17881, 29 August 1918, Page 4

THE CAMPAIGNS

•Thb battle is raging now virtually along the whole front between Lens and Las-

fligny. In the centre, where the Ger-

mans have been strongly reinforced, * the advance has been steadied and the British have had to meet numerous counter-attacks, but the enemy has still failed to hold his ground at all points. He is clinging with the utmost tenacity to Bapaume, but between that town and the Somme he has had to give way, and on the Somme itself, both north and south, the Australians have pressed forward to some purpose. The opposition north of the river is certainly strong, but in spite of it Maricourt has been reached. On the south bank the resistance appears to have been small, nnd the advance might have been carried a good deal further but for the fact that the enemy is holding his positions in great strength in front of Ohaulnes. The course of the battle .may seem to suggest that especial importance was attached to Bapaume and Ohaulnes, because at these points the enemy has offered the most continuous resistance. But the truth seems to be that first Clmulnes and then Bapaume came under attack and that these were the points to which all the reinforcements immediately available were hurried. The enemy had to neglect his wings to an extent, and when the British and French extended the front of the offensive thoy were able to make rapid progress. It is on the wings that the advance is being pressed. The French are said to have carried Roye, the result of brilliant attacks on the enemy’s advanced and flanking positions, and it is probable that the Germans will now retreat on the Nesle-Noyon lino. On the northern wing the fighting has extended almost as tar as Leas. Arleux and Gavrelle have been captured. On the Scarpe Roeux is in .British hands. Between the Scarpe and the Senses strong German positions have been stormed, and the old enemy salient of the Sensce lias already been broken and the Hindenburg line crossed. Vis-en-Artois, Fontaine and Cherisy have fallen. The importance of the advance on this sector is omphasied in our Notes on the War and need not be further discussed here. The critical sector is probably that between Croisilles and Bapaume. Here the Germans have been reinforced and they are endeavouring to break the British attack, trusting, no doubt, to be able to attend later to the wings. If the defence fails soon the enemy’s whole front will be gravely imperilled, because the onward sweep of the British will render abortive any counterstroke that he may bo planning. The defence may hold sufficiently long to permit the reorganisation of the general line of defence, but not long enough to allow the development of a counteroffensive; or it may be held permanently, and the enemy may be able to strike back heavily before the Allies have fully consolidated their new positions. The issue would seem to turn, therefore, on the fighting of the next day or two and particularly on the course of the battle at Bapaume and

{ northwards.