FOUR GERMAN FAILURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16848, 13 May 1918, Page 6

FOUR GERMAN FAILURES

BATTLE OF FLANDERS RIDGE.

ENEMY HEAVILY DEFEATED.

KEMMSL STREWN WITH DEAD.

to , LONDON, April 30. Reutehs correspondent at British headquarters writes that it is useless to attempt to minimise the tactical importance of the German capture of Mont Kemmel, but it brought the enemy plans to divide the British and French armies no further towards realisation. Our brilliant victory at Villers Bretonneux defeated the attempt to capture Amiens, hence the past week was not so bad for us on the balance. The side which is willing ruthlessly to sacrifice i men is bound to achieve local successes, I but the argument that the sacrifice is I worth while cannot be Sustained i When Nogi reduced Port Arthur, miii-! tary critics said that it was accomplished in terms of life which no western general would have dared to face. The German nigh Command obviously ridicules this view. It has strew the slopes of Kemmel with grey .corpses as thick as leaves in Vallambrosa, and points triumphant to the comparative handful of survivors who reached the top. We adhere to the belief that attrition by such tactics must Hasten the issue in our favour. • There is an encouraging air of calm confidence in responsible quarters. It is reported that Ludendorf has urgently asked for the entire Austrian -army. This is the most convincing commentary on the German wastage. To-day's fighting was the heaviest that ! has occurred in Flanders since the present offensive. The enemy developed two great thrusts, the first being a continuation of his effort against Kemmel and the ground to the westward, while the second was a new attack between La Clytte, which is less than a mile north-east of Scherpenberg Hill, and the spot where his line crosses the Ypree-Comines canal. Later his second attack extended southward, and linked up with the battle proceeding around Drancourt, thus forming a continuous struggle on a front of ten miles. Great Scale of Attacks. The enemy employed win-at-any-price tactics, and continued* pushing forward fresh formations from reserves wherever the front threatened to get thin through casualties. The Germans can certainly show a considerable gain of territory, but th«:; have paid the full price for every yard The German wireless accounts of the fighting show the tremendous, scale of the attacks. Two army corps commanders, Generals Sieger and von Bernhardt, directed the Prussian and Bavarian divisions, which poured in to supplement the picked battalions of Alpini and Jagecs which won the crest of Mont Kemmel. The Daily Express says that Hindenburg and Ludendorf! will not stop, because they dare not. The desperate nature of the fighting is shown by the analysis of the time-table, which, according to Mr. Hamilton Fyfe, commenced at 5.30 a.m. with a terrific attack on the British front. The French line was assaulted half an hour later. Both assaults were repulsed after fierce fighting. The Germans reformed at nine o'clock for third movement, a genera attack on both fronts, lasting till mid-day, and most intense at Locre and Scherpenberg and between Kemmel and La Orytte. Successive waves repeatedly sought to gain these points, particularly the vital Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge. British airmen at one time reported that the German field grey was visible on the slopes of both. But the enemy was driven off after several hours of most savage righting.

• Crisis Passes in Afternoon. _,%?® o'clock the crisis was "past, in© French line -was intact before Scher penberg, and " the British, holding the flanks, were driving back all attempts tc turn Lowe. The struggle swayed alternately- till nearly ten o'clock, when the *renoh finally regained the village. Shortly before this the French had-sud-denly attacked and cleared Hyde Park Corner, and chased the enemy with machine-guns for 1500 yards from vSAerpenberg. Meanwhile the British fought their way forward in the direction of Kemmel vil lage, these victorious advances restorine tions proving the allies' morning, posiNot till midnight did the Germans finally cease their attacks. Throughout the day there was tremendous activity bv t«i^ e^ an 4 mbuJa nce Corps, which revealed the seriousness of the losses. „„i j eat . 'i 0 * 01 ? around the ominously named Mont Rouge has densely strongthened allied hold on Flanders, proving that Haig was correct when he de- £. S t ! n K Sun^aj l to give no mo ™ ground, or take by counter-attack whatever might be lost. All the. armies are heartened by the superb British and French fighting, proving again the sticking power, endur tro C o e ps. and aldierlinesS V the' ales' Enthusiasm in Pails. «2? B'neral8 ' neral *? & in the caitals has disC 21. Pa is enthusiastic. M. StI 1 ****]«**<» i" the * ° de PariT- — ihe J landers offensive is in the last throes. It received the coup de grace in Monday's 16-hours' furious fighting when m the fretful massacre of Prusfian and Bavarian infantry, the best regiments of Saff" "? Ebe^ ' 6 corps CTded Knit. « message states that the " exhausted Germans will now doubtless leave Ypres alone and interX their southern attacks." «»*nsny The papers, which hitherto were ret; battlf ?*" ° f P o^ l6 fl «ctuatirns in £ battle, now comment on the operations in th6y h ™^ The Times says:-"Of all the violent arja weeks we know of none which is a more aUi6S than "*^2 The past- fortnight, apart from the « ture of Kemme has been one of ™™ i? failure, including four senate d«W Pitched battles, Namely KLsef clnaT the Belgian front, Villes-Bretonneux and now the Bailleul-Ypres front Th* » minating effect of thl has bet i JmLset to increase the confidence of the KtH;l and French troops, whom describe as now feeling that they have £ot the measure of the new enemy division! Other strokes will doubtless come before the German reserves are exhanTfi u I confidence is felt that wbereve? the" mans try they will find the allies readv" 100,000 Germans has been broken in a sheer trial of strength on ground none ♦„* favourable by a thinner allied line thSe IbiSST ** Y *" "* ™* * A leader in the Times says :—" It would fcjiTEl to draw ,J deductions from local battles, but there is a erowine conviction that the Germans will be Enable to repeat then- first swift advances. There are signs that Hindenburg alreadv has put his best goods m the shop window, it is impossible not to be struck bv th* 2TIt tlV i 7 idenCe / hat , the "losses and the disclosure of military gains have not lessened the German peoples intense dissatisfaction and weariness reSw from Germany's internal conditions." g The Daily Mail says :-" Besides its strategic value, Ypres has a moral import ance as the scene of repeated and furious battles in which the British always drove back the enemy. Its fate rests with Foch. If holding it is too costly and perilous, I evacuation will be ordered. If it % vital' he will seek to recover the positions from which the enemy threatens it. The hour, possibly is not far distant when Foch will turn to account the enemy's enormous sacrifices at Ypres." Mr. Lovat Fraser says tliat the predominant naval view apparently is that the capture of the Channel ports would not affect our sea strategy. This only applies to the portion of the problem in*! wiving the transport of troops in safety ; from Dover and the Port of London