THE SITUATION REVIEWED.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14571, 5 April 1918, Page 3

THE SITUATION REVIEWED.

S OUR POSITION IMPROVED. (Australian and N.Z.- Cable Association) '; LONDON, April 3. A high military authority /writes:— There is no material % change. We have somewhat improved our position, whilst the whole front from Arras to the Oise has reached a. position of stability after the recent -series of gigantic battles. - We still have the 1918 reason m f ronjt of us, and it is futile toVsuppose operaj tions have ended, because; .the enem^j for a time, is' being checked.- ■:..}• ,' The two main masses of .'the enemy,, divided by the Somme, are greatly con-gested-necessitating the enemy having to reduce the situation to some sort of order. This congestion is particularly severe m the northern area, where the splendid work of the Thir,d Army en- ; abled our more deliberate withdrawal, inflicting great punishment on the j.enemy. ■ . ■ ':> As an instance of how*, we retarded ith& enemy advance, we blew up two enorftjous mines, and as we fell back -mined th,e road. Between the craters is now One enormous crater, into which our artillery is firing day and night, the Germtens bringing up > divisions with iron rations and replacing the exhausted divisions. The : enemy has now reached a point where the process is inapplicable, and he must ■\ devise a means of bringing up supplies ; of food and munitions "a greater distance. - ■;: Although we have checked the enemy I. definitely, we must remember that he has employed so far only about half his .army oa the Western front, and the 'enemy is probably sending up fresh ,s'idivisions and sending down the tired »Dne«, .. >„ He may claim that he broke through tlie British prepared positions, and may : think he can now repeat the perform,ance against our improved ones, but a .readjustment of the battlefield is only st mattec of time. ; It is certain that the Cferman losses ■are very considerably heavier than ours m our 'withdrawals. Many .aerodromes have been destroyed, but we have improvised new ones further back. It might still be said that we are a long way from having comwnand of the air. He adds: Thorp are indications that an .Austrian attack against Italy is being j.n'epared. .