THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26,1918. MILITARY "SIDE-SHOWS."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17430, 26 September 1918, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26,1918. MILITARY "SIDE-SHOWS."

The period of waiting for a forward movement on the part of the Allied army in Maoedonia has been long and has tested the patience of most people. Now that an offensive has been begun, it is encouraging and stimulating to believe that the preparations which the Allies have been making and the plans which they "have been maturing are in a fair way to be handsomely rewarded. Their successes are "described as attaining the character of a great victory. The details supplied in the cablegrams leave no doubt concerning the favourable issu6 of the operations which were launched a few days ago. Appropriately enough the most rapid thrust against the enemy has been that delivered by the Serbians, with the French in cooperation. The advance by this army lias been' remarkably rapid, the liberation of nearly one-third of the Serbian territory which the Bulgarians had overrun having been accomplished with dramatic swiftness, while the capture of prisoners and of guns has been impressive in its magnitude. The AngloGreek forces, for their part, have made excellent progress along their line of advance, and a report, which has come through an American channel, credits "them with having effected a junction with the Franco-Serbs. The combined operations of the two sections of the Allied forces have been so successful that the Bulgarian armies are said to have been split in two, and are in full retreat on a front w'hich extends oyer a hundred miles. In these circumstances, especially as there is distinct evidence of the confusion and demoralisation- ot the Bulgarian forces, which are being harassed severely by the Allies' air and cavalry services, just as the Turks have been in Palestine, we may confidently anticipate further important developments. The reverse which has been suffered by the Bulgarians can only be stayed, it may be surmised, by the prompt arrival of heavy reinforcements; but the Germans, to whom the Bulgarians will naturally look for help, are not at the present time in such a position as will admit of their detaching large forces for service in Macedonia. When to the record of Allied success in this field of operations is added the fact that General Allenby's victory in Palestine is described in effect as being without a parallel in history in respect of its completeness, it may reasonably be claimed that the enterprise of the Allies in two of their military " side-shows" has been strikingly justified this month.