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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 174, 28 August 1914, Page 4

With the exception that the Allied left wing has fallen back in good order on the French frontier to counter the thrust of the extreme German right, the military situation in the area of the war zone has not altered materially. It is a case of retreat for merely strategic purposes, which in this case means the consolidation of the Allied left wing in the path of the enemy. It was a •moverendered necessary by the sweeping line taken by the flank attack from Brussels to Lille, which aimed at rolling up the Allied left and upsetting all the French plans of fighting a rearguard defensive battle and i-etiring slowly, against the Laon-Rheims concentration area. A later message advises that a strong force of British marines has been landed at Ostend, has occupied the town, and dominated the surrounding district. Its object is at the time of writing difficult to determine. It may be that the German siege guns are advancing on Antwerp. The fierce engagement reported from Malines (Mechlin on the map) suggests that a strong force of the enemy is working its way towards Antwerp with a view to enclosing it. The old city is very strongly fortfied, but if the German guns can manage to melt the fortifications, Antwerp would be of particular value to the invaders. The British marines, it is possible, may be intended for duty in this direction. Whatever their destination is, the mere fact that the marines are on Belgian soil will be disquieting news to the Germans, whose flank (of the right wing) is now exposed to attack from the north-east. It is somewhat significant that the strategic retirement of the left wing of the Allies coincides with the landing of this new British force at a port only a short distance, as troops march, from the Franco-Belgian frontier and from Brussels. In the absence of further information it is idle to speculate as to the plan underlying this new movement. Lord Kitchener j can be trusted to keep an understanding j ear to the ground. He would be constantly in touch with the French General Staff, and there can be no doubt but that, apart, from the fact that the advent of the marines represents a welcome addition to the numbers opposing the Germans, their entrauce is a tactical move of considerable value to the Allied forces.