PROGRESS OF THE WAR

New Zealand Times, Volume XLI, Issue 9417, 2 August 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The course of the fighting on the Somme is clearer to-day, showing pro press on both the sectors—the sector of last week’s operations, and that of yesterday’s report. On the former Sir Douglas Haig reports con tinner' bombardment, which has blown up an enemy ammunition depot at Coiir celles, two miles in front of the British feft; also an infantry advance to the north of Bazentin. between the Longneral and Pozieres roads to Bapa urne Also an advance from Longueval <m some woods between Ginchy and that place, Ginchy being a.mile north-east. These woods are by the Brandenburgers after their expulsion by the Scots and others from Longueval and Waterlot farm, and our men have, a correspondent declares, sworn to have them out of that.

The immediate objective of the British is Ginchy and Guillemont, where tha line turns south, and the villages between that place and Maurepas That of the French is Combles. north «>f Maurepas, and it is reported that any advance east of the line between these places and Clery, further south on the Somme, will seriously menace the German position at Peroune. Clery is menaced by the French capture ot Monaco quarry and Hem wood. These positions the Germans have tried hard bo retake, but vainly, the French holdmg them now with great vigour and determination. The enemy did .get into their trenches once, but was driven out by a prompt counter-attack. Mr Gibbs trives one of his picturesque accounts of the fighting on the British front. It helps us to realise both the methodical nature of the attack, which is battering through the German front, and the determination of the Allied troops to heat down the German defence. That there is no abatement of the spirit which they took into tho figai with them on the first day of the advance is one of the most satisfactory signs of the great struggle. The men are unwearied, fresh, and more determined than over to win. Evidently things are going well with them.

The attack now menaces both Bapaume and Combles, and promises to develop into. a peremptory threat to Peronne, which is expected to 'fall without assault on its very formidable works. In this connection the forward movement from Bazentin, reported by the commanding general, is, together with' the bombardment which has reached Courcelles, on the extreme left, with its fire, very significant. It shows that what seemed yesterday probable is actually taking place- The Allies are driving an Anglo-French wedge into the enemy’s line, with the point west of Combles, about two miles from chat place, and likely to be presently driven past the same. On its eastern side there is hard infantry fighting .right along from point to heel. On its

northern, there is partly artillery bomDardment and partly infantry work, growing slowly towards intensity, as of last week. The work is very methodical and steady, and the best troops of the German army are being turned out of their positions by the advance.

It is businesslike work, with a strong promise of enduring power. According to a Dutch message, the enemy has no more men to throw nro his fighting line. At all events, there is a break in the stream of reinforcements passing westwards from the German border through Belgium, bound for the Somme. It is, of course, unsafe to make a permanent stoppage out of a few days’ cessation. Moreover, 'hose Dutch messages are not* always reliable. The report of the ages of a large proportion of the prisoners is more substantial. It describes a large proportion as of the 1916 and 1917 classes, mere hoys, of course, whereas the French have none of these ages in their ranks. The difference tells its own tale. The Du’ch message adds that the Germans are rushing up guns to counterbalance the man superiority of the Allies. The report is that there are already 700 batteries on the Somme sector, and the cry is still they come. That seems more probable. But it is even more likely that the enemy will before long acknowledge that the superiority of artillery is also with the Allies, for it has been proved through, out this advance on the Somme that the enemy can do nothing to lessen the effects of th» British and French bombardments. These appear to havo_ it all their own way, and the condition of the defenders in the front trenches and some dug-outs tells its own story

Another good sign is the continued ascendancy of our flying men, whose depredations inside the enemy lines are increasing greatly. The enemy’s flyers engage them, and some of ours are reported missing, hut the damage done by ours prows. To-day we have a report of a train and ammunition depot blown up—in addition to the depot blown up by the artillery bombardment at Courcelles—and other damage. The French flyers, on their side, in front of the Verdun sector, seem to have a far larger field, which they are working systematically. It looks like preparing for eventualities possible after the breaking through of the German line. Anyhow, the aerial direction of Die enemy’s artillery must suffer from the superiority of our flyers.

The fightinn- around Verdun does not decrease. Hill SOT has again been attacked. and the artillery attacks on the eastern salient of the plateau are this time varied by some grenade work. No l-dpinents bv the enemy are reported : indeed the enemy has nothing to say about this sector at all. In fact, lie savs little about any sector, except that ho has repulsed everything on the Somme. Bv this time he must have grown accustomed to finding enrrokorat’en of his stories of repulse in oUr occupation of Ms positions.

Petrograd announces that the advance against Kovel is keeping hp. with accompaniment of guns and prisoners. that the Stokhod front is the seen© of hard fighting, that the pursuit in front of Brody of the Austrians has advanced very substantially towards Lemberg. The Austrian communiques bleat the usual claim of repulse. which has marked every - foof of the sixty miles cohered bv the Brusiloff campaign. The, last of these repulses they tell us. was on the railway line Kovel to Sarny., This is the line on which Linsingon tried to drive hack Brusiloff’s men. after the memorable consultation he had with Maokensen aijd von Hindenhurg, when the two famous marshals threw their great reputations into the scale. But as thev do not appear to have throvm in enough men the advance took a rearward turn as soon as Brusiloff thought it was time to resume striking. There was a hit of a debacle, and the Russians got a few miles to the good. Today their balloon observation reports that the roads towards Kovel are crowded with retreating troops, and that consequently there is reason to believe that the hard fighting and desperate resistance of the, enemy is after all only a rearguard action.

In Armenia, or on the southern border of that region, the .Russians report tho repulse of a Turkish attempt to attack in the direction of Mosul, which is too vague an address for profitable study. Their other report oi a further advance from Erzingan _is more understandable. It gives a faint hope that the Russian advance may in due course have effect in the empire of the Sultan. Circumstantial stories told in Rome by refugees from Syria, show that the Government which has destroyed a million Armenians is non' engaged in murdering the Christians in Syria. These Turks are like the cannibal we read of recently who did not reform when he was called a blackguard. The only thing that will reform them is the handling of them by a hostile army that has forgotten how to spell pity. The European has en. couraged and kept alive their, murderous practices for enough long years. Like the Germans, these people, as the French journalist said the other day, are formulating the terms of peace. But one would like to see the terns carried into effect.

Another Turkish advance against the Suez Canal is reported. A body of Turks, estimated by our air scouts at 12.000, has begun to move over the desert from El Arish towards Kantara, on the western sector of the Canal, marching by night, and —let no one laugh—hiding under palm leaves by dav from the prying eyes of hostile aviators. The little detail seems, to stamp the story as Athenian or Mitylenic. However, there are raiders and reamers behind the Canal, and we have riders and flyers looking out for them. They are bent on doing mis* chief to the Canal, not on taking possession, still less are they thinking of conquering Egypt. It is natural that they should be anxious about Egypt. The country was part of the price to bo paid to them ny the Germans for coming into the war. The Sultan had a grievance against us for commandeering his warships building in some of our yards at the outbreak of war. He was paid bis price, of course, but be fumed, and worked himself into the passionarto condition just fit for the counsels of the AIT Highest, and the machinations of Enver Bey, “that extraordinary creature,” as he has been called. He believed this worthy pair, the assassin of the Armenian race and the convicted murderer of Captain Fryatt, would put Egypt into his lap without any trouble, and he dreamed straight of the abundance and extravagance his forbears had associated with Egypt until the viceroy, Mehemet Ali, took the place from them, tooether with the enjoyment. The Turk even was persuaded to go out into the desert and help these friends to capture the country and the Canal. He was about 12,000 strong on that occasion, and be was provided with iron boats arranged for bridire-

making. A specimen which he left in the Canal after our people had put some shrapnel through it is now in the yard of the big Government Building here in Wellington, where anyone can see the thing and moralise over it.

That boat is really a monument to the credulity ot the Turk, who crossed the desert obsessed with the idea that he was going to bridge the Canal, smite the British power to the dust, and conquer Egypt. But he had so rude an awakening on that occasion that it is impossible to believe that when he falls into his usual state of sleep he will dream that dream again. Still one cannot help wondering what he is doing in tlpt gallery again. This time he finds he is not allowed to escape observation, so he hides under the leaves of the branching palm. He knows, too, for wandering parties of him have reached the part of the desert in which the road gets almost within view of the Canal site, that there are troops before him. _ He understands, therefore, that he is not going to burst out of tho desert to the surprise ot armed men sleeping on the other side of the Canal. This is what he did on the occasion of his trip with that neat bridge boat made in Germany. And no doubt he appreciated Lord Kitchener’s question to the General of the Army, when he wanted blandly to know whether the Canal was protecting the army or the army was protecting the Canal. But, as before remarked, the Turk knows that the’day of that state of affairs is gone, the Canal being protected by an army camped on the proper side and patrolling in force. It is difficult, therefore, to understand what the Turk is up to with those 12,000 men from El Arish and their palm leaves.

The speech of the Prime Minister in the Commons on the Fryatt murder and the slave raids, which have staggered humanity, hits the right point, of course. These things do show that the German High Command under the stress of military defeat has renewed the policy of terrorism. Had Mr Asquith used a stronger word than terrorism he would npt , have been wrong. Neither was ho Wrong in declaring that it is impossible to conjecture what these murderous terrorists will do next, especially in the course of the defeat which' is pressing nearer. We can only hope that the determination to punish these criminals when the time arrives, which the Prime Minister expressed, will continue without flagging till the right time does arrive, and that then the gallows will be big enough for all the culprits.