GENERAL MAUDE'S ADVANCE.

Northern Advocate, 3 May 1917, Page 1

GENERAL MAUDE'S ADVANCE.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES,

It will be noted from cable messages coming to hand that General Maude is pushing on his campaign north of Bagdad with wonderful vigour and success. His advance has been rapid considering the difficulties of the country and the length of his lines of communication, and he is harassing the Turks over a wide extent of country. Last week the passage of the Shat-el-Adhaim was forced near its confluence with the Tigris, 55 miles north of Bagdad, on the eastern side of the main river. This cleared the way for a movement on the left bank of the river, and it was here that the enemy's position covering the Istabulat station was attacked. Istabulat stands twenty miles to the westward of the Adhaim'3 confluence with the Tigris, sixty-five miles in a bee-line north of Bagdad. The Turks are being pursued to the north of Istabulat, while the advance in this sector would render the task of sweeping the enemy from the Jebel Hamrin hills, between the Tigris and the German border, an easy affair. The British now hold more than half the railway running northwards from Bagdad along the left bank of the Tigris. The line runs as far as Tekrit, forty miles north of Bagdad, though'it may possibly have been pushed on a little further. The short length Ihey now hold will be of little use to the Turks, but the whole section will prove of material advantage to the British in their advance. To the north of Tekrit, so far as is known, there is a gap of 250 miles in the railway line. The Bagdad railway has been carried from the coast through Southern Asia Minor to Nishibin, 270 miles inland, b"ut even with part of the 250-mile gap filled in, by possible recent construction, it is certain that there is a break of great length. If General Maude is able to link up the line from his base at Basra with the section at Bagdad he will hold a great advantage over the enemy. There is still a difficult task ■lher.d of him, for Mosul, the main Turkish base on The Tigris, is 160 miles away, midway between our position and that of the Russians in Armenia. Thov-ph the British arc in touch with (V., Pi- r-ians who advanced from Per<nr. if i- not likely that they will gain any material assistance from them, but the number of men and guns in General Maude's army may be sufficient to enable him to effect a junction with Armenia, thus cutting off the Turks from a large section of their Asian possessions. A resumption of the offensive by the Russians in Armenian would present a very difficult problem to the Turks, and possibly it is the threat of this that has induced the German High Command to send Mackensen to take charge of the defensive operations.