THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1917. THE POSITION IN FLANDERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16670, 15 October 1917, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1917. THE POSITION IN FLANDERS.

The new attack in Flanders, the fifth since September 20, shows the determination of the British command to force the Germans from every dominating position east of Ypres. Passchendaele Ridge is the only height commanding the Ypres-

oulers railway now hold by the

Germans. British soldiers reached tho edge of Passchendaele village, which is well up the ridge, but the enemy still holds the slopes in strength. Tho final capture of the

heights may not be a rapid process, but it is evident that the -battle will be continued until they are won. An Italian is credited with having said, at a time when the Allied outlook was dark, that in all their wars the British had lost every battle except the last. In the past fifteen months the British have won a hundred battles, if we

measure by the standards of past wars. The Somme, and the Ancre, each described in current military' literature as a battle, were a long series of victories, every ono of which would have been accounted ;. great battle in former days. The same is true of the battle now in progress east of Ypres. But compared with a year ago victories are now being won with greater rapidity and at less cost. Tho British Army is profiting by its experience. It is giving the Germans no rest. Peri fection of organisation is required to make success follow success within

restricted limits of time, A and that perfection appears to have been attained in the British Army. Foover a year the British soldier has been full of confidence, knowing

ihat he is a better man than the

German. The difficulties of the advancing force have been enormous, but they have been steadily overcome until Sir Douglas Haig, controlling a highly organised war machine and an army filled with the spirit of victory, is now able to make better and speedier use of his opportunities than he was a year ago- There is evidence of this in the unbroken succession of attaeks in the past three weeks, and there is every reason to believe that the cumulative result will be no less than was achieved as a direct consequence of last year's fighting. An instructive comparison may be made between the results of the

present Allied offensive in Flanders and the position reached in Picardy by the middle of October last year. The Somme offensive drove a great wedge through the defensive system established by the Germans, creating a wide salient,/the base of which was about 20 miles in extent, tapering over a depth ofv nearly eight miles to a width of twelve miles. Deep're-entrants were thus fdrmed on each side of the Allied

salient, the northern being dangerously acute. An almost exactly similar situation now exists in Flanders.. vThe'battle'iront extends

from north of Bixschoote to the Eiver Lys,, fully .20 miles; the point of the wedge is seven miles in width, and the new' line : has been established six miles -eait of Ypres. Again the salient in the German line to the north, between Dixmude and Poelcapelle, is vpry narrow. The positions now occupied by the Allies are actually stronger than those held in Picardy last October. Almost the whole length of the line runs along or beyond the crests of the ridgeis, so that from Abraham Heights, the New Zealanders see the lofty tower of St. ' Michael's, in Boulers, and British troops overlook the German positions on the low lands below them. It is a situation which is steadily

bringing the Germans face to face with the alternative of fighting to a finish where they stand or admitting defeat by falling back while their communications are still good. Every ounce of German strength is being put into the defence, so that the enemy's hold upon the Belgian coast and upon, the industrial towns of Northern France may not be weakened, but each British attack brings the German High Command nearer to the fateful decision. The wedge in Picardy— further by the" attacks of October and November—forced the great withdrawal of the early spring. A retreat in Flanders would be even more perilous, for the land continually falls away to the east, and the pursuit would be more rapid and more effective than it was last year. Not only havo the Allies 'greater strength in men, greater force in guns and munitions, and greater equipment kinds, but they have closely studied the lessons of the advance to the Hindenburg tfjie, and no doubt plans have been made to ensure, if the German armies begin to move, that the enemy shall not again have the opportunity to establish himself in a new stronghold.