THE NEW BRITISH ATTACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16936, 23 August 1918, Page 4

THE NEW BRITISH ATTACK.

The British advance in the Ancre Valley is reminiscent of the series of , actions ' early' last year, in which Sir Douglas Haig finally secured the fruits of the Somme victory, and forced the enemy "to retire to the Hindenburg line. The villages which have been captured .in the latest attack were fought for and won more gradually in January and February % of last year, and on February 24 it was discovered' that the Germans were in retreat .-'■ It is true that there are some important differences between the position now and then. Early in 1917 the enemy front ; between l the Scarpe and the Ancre formed an acute salient owing to the British having driven a wedge into the Somme battlefield, with its point between Bapaume ■•"'; and Peronne. That wedge is now lacking, but, nevertheless, .the advance in the Ancre Valley is an important forward movement, which, with recent gains at other points, "may impose on the Germans a retirement as far-reaching as that of the spring of 1917. . The allied progress east of Amiens is' threatening to outflank the whole of the' old Somme battlefield, and if the substantial gains made in the Ancre Valley are enlarged ; they will develop into an outflanking movement in the north. The positions captured are of considerable natural strength. From the high ground north -.and east of Beaumont Hamel, British artillery will, command ' the Beaucourt , Valley ancl the western slopes: of the spur beyond. The advance has j already captured the north-western extremities of two ridges which formed successive lines in the German defences last year. A The Somme battle raged principally round the Morval-Thiep-val; ridge, covering Bapaume, which was conquered by the end of 1916. Behind this the;enemy constructed two defensive lines, one from SaiUiael

past L© Transloy to Achiet-le-Petit and Bucquoy; the oUiet^fronJ Rocquigny to '. Bapaume. ; and . Ablainzeville.': The extremities ,of both these lines^have been cut off by the British advance, an operation which previously resulted in the abandonment of the whole front.. The British are itill confronted by the formidable Bapaume ridge, and it is safe to say they will leave it alone and reconquer the Somme battlefield by other means. The German positions arc nowhere secure from Ypres to Rheims, and the advances now being made may shortly have a transforming effect upon the whole front. The French gains between the Aisne and the Oise are now assuming a more definite character. Our allies have reached the watershed between the two rivers, and an easy descent towards Noyon will threaten the Germans who are still resisting to the west of that point. The enemy is still fighting well in places, but the morale of his troops appears to s be uneven. The revolutionary propaganda has I become so pronounced that General Ludendorff has had to issue an order against it, the "discontent of the working classes is increasing, and the people are so incensed against those responsible for recent disasters that it is reported that even dynastic pride has b:nt before the storm, and the .Crown Prince has been politely, dismissed. ~'- v. ,'; ■. k.»? i ; ". '*•