ROLLING UP THE GERMAN LINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3254, 26 July 1916, Page 17

ROLLING UP THE GERMAN LINE.

LONDON, July 21. The British and French public ara delighted with the news of General Fooh's capture of five miles of the Somme front. The British advances having brought their line approximately level with the French, Gencraly Foch recommenced his offensive at daybreak, with most gratifying success. He has broken the German line and captured five miles of trenches on both banks of the Somme. He is now threatening Combles and Alos, and relieving the pressure on the British angle at LonguevalBelville Wood, where the British were making a grand fight, though outnumbered by four to one.

The positions which the Anglo-French have seized on the Somme are at least as difficult and twice ns extensive as tha Germans seized at Verdun. The AngloFrench accomplished in 16 days what tha Germans achieved in five months, with fivefold the expenditure in lives. The Germans fully realise the dangers of the Anglo-French advance upon the confines of the Plains of Gambles, but are' endeavouring to confine the fighting to the Somme sectors, as an even greater danger is the likelihood of further breaches in the German line, which is being rolled up in sections. The Allies' great advantage lies in the fact that the Germans arc tied up to their positions, and forced to rely upon heavy guns, which are excellent for offence but difficult to utilise for defence, where mobility is all-important. The newspapers give prominence to the excellent results from Australian raids, which are on a more extensive front than any General Haig has yet reported. ENEMY COUNTER-ATTACK. LONDON, July 21. General JTaig reports that the British advance north of the Bazentin-Longueval line pushed on to Foreaux Wood, whence it drove tha enemy. During the night the enemy counter-attacked after an intense bombardment of gas shells, and succeeded in effecting an entry north of the