THE BRITISH VICTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16657, 29 September 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BRITISH VICTORY.

SITUATION REVIEWED.

BT LIECT.-COL. A. A . GRACE> A RES _

The advance of the British cast and northeast of Y P res on September '1. though it may not be considered of decisive or even of semidecisive importance, at least accomplished all that was intended and expected. The Germans were driven off dominating positions which ai° now in British hands and they have lost the advantage which thj ridgt gave them in matters of observation cud artillery command. On the Sommo, on tho Anew, on the vimy Ridge, at Messina, at Zonnebeko, and on a dozen other occasions, the Germans' experience has been one of monotonous reverse. In no single instance have they been able to resist the terrible assaults of the British When tho intention has been to drive those assaults home, ever since the day when, a little more than a year ago, Sir Douglas Haig decided to test the mettle of those new armies which the genius of Lord Kitchener and the patriotism of the Empire had created. Right nobly have they stood the test. Civilians, recruits, trained men, veterans, all in the space of three short years, the troops of those armies are to-day vastly superior to anything which the Kaiser commands or Hindenburg can send against them ! Whatever the German Army of 1914 was, however excellent its personnel and wonderful its staff, to-day it is in every way inferior to the tremendous war-machine which Britain has created ! Prussians, Saxons, Bavarians, Wurtembergers, Badeners, Hessians, Hanoverians, the infantry and artillery of the Prussian Guards, all havo been worsted by the men of the English shires and cities,. by the Scotch, the Welsh, the Irish, the Canadians, tho Australians, and New Zealknders, who have learnt the art of war in order to teach the braggart Teuton that there are other super-men than he, that his cruelties and brutalities shall be paid for with Teuton blood and Teuton lives, that he shall not with impunity invade and devastate countries innocent of offence, and that the people of those countries whom he has so horribly oppressed shall be set free ! This latest triumph of British arms is but another proof of the increasing strength of the Great Alliance and of the waning power of Teutonism. Scientific Warfare. At a time, when the European summer has ended and winter is approaching, we may appropriately consider the results of the last six months' of war. In the west the British have maintained the aggressive with uniform persistence and success. Though their victories on the Somme, on the Ancre, at Vimy, at Bullecourt and elsewhere sufficiently proved their predominance, it remained for them to develop under General Plumer a method of attack which must be astonishing to all belligerents, but especially to the Germans, in that it renders the attackers comparatively immune while it proves positively irresistible and frightfully costly to their enemies. It iB a method which is likely to become the model of attacking armies, but it is a method which can only be used successfully by armies possessing a great preponderance of artillery, of infantry, of aircraft units, besides perfect organisation, excellently prepared lines of communication, and strong armies of reserve. It is a method which has been evolved from the conditions prevailing on the western front, and it is the achievement of men who, watching carefully the tactics employed by the French in attack, have improved and perfected such tactics. It is a triumph of British dogge<iness, determination, and thoroughness, but it must not be forgotten that its success depends primarily upon an overwhelming artillery and an unlimited supply of ammunition, supplied by the innumerable factories of Great Britain and the millions of munition workers, of both sexes, who toil incessantly that the Empire's gallant armies may thus successfully wage war. That seems to be the great result of the last six months, so far as we British people are concerned. We are waging war scientifically, successfully, and in a manner which must prove deeply depressing 4o the Germans, who can do nothing to thwart it, and cannot adopt it themselves because of lack of means. France and Italy. The French have wonderfully sustained their military character, both on the line of the Aisne and in the vicinity of Verdun, where they have again and again proved their superiority to the enemy. During the summer they have sustained no serious reverse, and their military methods have been brilliantly conceived and gallantly executed with a view to inflicting the maximum loss at a minimum cost. France has, naturally and wisely, conserved her strength, in order that she may defend her frontier while her allies develop their strength. To-day she reaps the fruit of her policy. Britain is a military power of the first magnitude. America is fast creating an army which is likely to prove a deciding factor against the Teutons. The campaign in the west has assumed an aspect of hopefulness which it never wore before, and France knows vhat though she has not yet purged her soil of the ferocious and savage Huns, at least they can encroach no further, and are doomed ultimately to be driven from her territory. t For the Italians there is no word of praise too great, Theirs has been the hardest task allotted to the Allies of the West. They have asserted their superiority' in the Julian Alps and on the Carso; they have attacked the Austrian* with unexampled bravery in positions of tho greatest strength, and have established over them a superiority which has been proved bv a dozen victories. Not only have they thus dealt deadly blows ! which have caused the Austrian armies to stagger and reel, but they have saved Russia from the stroke which the AustroGerman armies of Galicia had planned east of Czernowitz. In the same manner they have helped the gallant Roumanian army They have fastened themselves on the'western flank of Austria and are fast bleeding her to death. Imbued with a spirit of the highest patriotism, and led by the incomparable Cadorna, the descendants of the ancient Romans are marked for victory, certain and decisive., 1 which shall once and for all draw from the Austrian eagle those cruel talons which for so many centuries fastened themselves on Italy. German Weakness. And what of the Teutons? Twice during the summer thev have had a golden opportunity of dealing Russia a deadly blow once in eastern Galicia and once on the Riga front. On both occasions thev proved too weak to take full advantage of their chance. Everywhere in the west they have met with significant defeat Their armies are deteriorating in numbers and quality, in a manner which cannot be disguised Only their wonderful organisation and discipline, both military and economic, enable them to continue the struggle with a bold front. On the sea their U-boat campaign has proved unsuccessful, though as bloodthirsty and cruel as they can make it _ They appear to have still a chance of doing something effective in the Baltic provinces of Russia. It is a chance which is pregnant with tremendous possibilities, but the mud of autumn will be with them directly, the winter will soon approach, the long months of frost and snow and ice must soon be faced. In the west they can 1 look for nothing reassuring. In the east ' thev will trust in the continuance of i Russia's- demoralisation Therein is their • BO iitarv hope, a hope based on unknow- ' able factors. No one can forsee the future ! of Russia. Her future and her fate an on the knees of the gods. I [Written September &.}