THE WESTERN ERONT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14046, 17 July 1916, Page 5

THE WESTERN ERONT.

THE STRATEGIC POSITION. BRILLIANT SUCCESS OF THE , BRITISH. j . i li — «'■" : "t ; .| % ' KERPTOG THE ENEMY OX THE MOVE. SPLENDID SUPPLIES OF, v MUNITIONS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) ' ' ; P"A]RiS, July 16. Tho British, offensive against the German second lin© is regarded as a. magnificent effort to gloril'v the National Fete Day. The battle is still raging, . but "the successes attached alreafly. will -make the Mth July ofta.of the most brilli/tilt days of the war. ''. . „-"••.•• JOwing ',to the vapidity qf/their advance. tiie. British quickly' penetrated' a front of iWavfy • four miles., carrying a> network of •^oriiiida-bie 'defences wKicli ...bad taken' mprijCus ,to construct, 'they also cleared th'e : 'GJeirnian battledfrbnt — the most stroiTwly-defended point. The. present attacks are on the pivot of Trones* Wood and its locaW. The menw threw m strong reiriforceihentßj but Sir Douglas Haig .out-generaiL led him, and the new German troops failed to 'arrest the advance. . Tlie cver-iri'creasLiig bulge m the German. . fronit between Hardecourfr and Thiepval makes 'the \yhole line highly vulneittble. 1 : „| . The. capture of Longueyal brings the] British; .advanc* m lin^ with the French, j at Hirdecpurt, and it is 'increasingly j probable that the enemy will be forced to retire to new" positions. . " The" weather is cool' and favorable. The British operations were against B'azentin^le-Grand, a mile east of LongIteval and midway between Lqngueval and . Contal Maisoh and Bazentin-le-Petit. a mile north-west of Bazentin-le- j Grand. ' .' : Comparatively few German officers have ( been : taken since July 1, and it is interred that the officers are organising plans of resistance and instruct the men what to do and then to retire^to the rear position.?. The importance of Pozieres is due to its position on the main road from Albert to Bapaume, which is Sir Douglas Haig's objective. ' .[/'■ Fighting at Oyillors is concentrated round the village, of which practically nothing remains except dust. The British' guns hav-a swept the village flat. The Germans are still holding out m the great underground cellars made by tdie inhabitants. * . . , Tlie progress a.i> Ovillers and the capture of the Baßeoitines, of which Le Petit is the larger village, bring the British on the flanks of the Germans at Ptfzieres, threatening the German near..: ." ' . ' ' Tho capture of Longueval entailed air assault on, Hill 500, which is a hundred feet^m height. ,'_ .'; : .". ].' ' :- ( .} ■ Tlie. next difficulty after. .L^onjjueval 'isj' the village olf Guillejnont, "\vnicft is PQ^j;-* erfully organised an^v arinbured,-;' an.i "is situated on. another KX)ft\|)il ! i.' .» • The capture of Guipembht' l^jlr : be' appreciably easier since! IB'Orte^ ;Woodf, whiclr. covers tlie viljlage, has been cleared. >, '' ;■''< . .V.'-i^' '';,' ''•... . :'.. $ir Douglas Haig still is "iidt.; master of .ithet. intportaiht plateau,' 'of 'Thiepvial, which is a strong sector of tbe German front linec The British, a^pproacjj to Gbmbles, however, permits the French to .resume the attack, which they delayed pehdrn<? the British advance. The. French m the Hardecourt position threaten Combles from the south, while tlie British are attacking from the north-' j w&st. '.;••' . .'.:'■/;. '•■'. -'v-' f- i-i An outstanding feature d; the new | offensive is tlie extensive transference of British guns, which was carried out with Ihje; utmost. "rapidity, m .pfider to enable, J the Gerroaai.' positions , m .the rear to be' capturetl before the Germans had time to f u/ ly fortify them. ' . Sir Douglas Haig's objective is to keep the Germans on the move, knowing that successive positions will afford him increasinqrTy less protection as the advance j ''^■U'rya^ longer- 'feasible^ for •&&'&*-•■ mans to carry on a. rearguard struggle with detachments of machine-gunners^ while tlie 'Jii'Witi'y'is passed at coii%n'ir ent stations for counter-strokes. Subterr.ap,eaxi macbine-rgun eniipLacements will soon be rare! Trenches can be dug quickly, but, underground shelters take weeks and. "months tq link up into ja! systematic dofencb. • The sp-'Midid supplies of ammunition available ha.ye put lieart* into ■; r^he.,l{i3tish infantry, and there is, no chance of a repetition of tho Loos or Xeuve Chapelle migchanoe. „ . ... v ■'„ ... Tli© War Office announces that since/ July 1, owinsji to tne>sUcoes9-o£ tlie bombardment, tho proportion of slight wounds as compared with serious opeg is very high, proving that the enemy's 1 ■artillery has been successfully dealt with. Tlie trqops at. last are convinced that they ha\Vth<* ina.stefi'y"o?- ihe Gejjmaivs/ and' -they advance to cacli assault with greater dash and courage. ' .