FIVE MILE FRONT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 764, 22 July 1916, Page 9

FIVE MILE FRONT.

GENERAL FOCH'S NEW OFFENSIVE. Australian on,! A'./. Cable Association. LONDON, July 20. The British and French people arc delighted with the news of General Koch's capture of live miles of the Soinmc front. The British advances having brought their line approximately level with that of the French, General Koch recommenced his offensive at daybreak, with most gratifying success. The French have broken the German line, and captured live miles of trenches on both sides of the Somnie. They are threatening Combles, and are also relieving the pressure on the British in the angle between Longueval and Belville Wood, where our troops are making a grand tight, though outnumbered bv four to one.

Tlie positions which the British and French have seized on the Somme front are at least as difficult and twice as extensive as those which the Germans have seized in the Verdun sector. The British and French have accomplished in Hi days what the Germans accomplished in five months with a fivefold expenditure of lives. The Germans fi'lv realise the dangers of the British and French advance upon the confines of the plain of Combles, but are endeavouring to confine the fighting to the Sonune sectors, as there is an even greater danger in the likelihood of further breaches being made" in the German line, which can then he rolled up in sections.

The Allies' great advantage lies in the fact that the Germans are lied up in their positions by being forced to rely on their heavy guns, which are excellent for offensive operations, but difficult to utilise for defence where mobility is all-important. The newspapers give prominence to the excellent results of the Anzacs' raids, which are on a more extensive front than Sir Douglas llaig has previously reported.