The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1915. THE DARDANELLES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CIII, Issue 15742, 28 August 1915, Page 8

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1915. THE DARDANELLES.

Tlie casualty lists which are coming to iNew Zealand now, tlie heaviest- we have vet had, must bring deep sorrow to many ■homes, 'lney will not bring tlie deepest sorrow, because every father, every mother who has lost a sou' will remember how he died, doing the bravest-, noblest work which, it was given him to do. To lose one who has g-iven his life, doing his .duty, and with such cheerful, almost joyous, heart-lifting devotion as our men have shown at the Dardanelles, is grievous loss, but to every stricken parent, probably, one thought would be more grievous : "If he had feared to go?" Better the hero's death than duty shunned. The Spartan spirit is not given to all in the same degree, but all to whom the war has brought bereavement will have something of' the feeling expressed in a letter received recently by the High Commissioner for New Zealand, in reply to one of condolence which he had sent to a New Zealand fat>her on the death of a son. "Certainly," his correspondent wrote, ' c I regret losing my boy, who seemed •to have a prospect of a very useful life before him, but I do not mourn deeply for a man who die 9 doing his duty manfully while there are others in millions ready to carry on the work to the only thinkable end." "We shall have more losses, unhappily, but while ilhat is the spirit of New Zealand and of the Empire there is no fear that we shall be thralls, living in terror of German masters, at the end.

" rurtker serious, costly losses are required before decisive victory is obtained," states the official report on t-Jie offensives at the Dardanelles which began on August 6th. and 21st. The results of' those offensives were not all that had been hoped for, but the successes gained contain tlie promise of larger victory. 'An area two and a half miles deep has been won at Suvla Bay, where tlie whole breadth of the peninsula is a dozen miles, and a considerable gain was made at 'Anzac, further south, where it, is halt' as broad, the troops at these two places joining up their forces along a front of a dozen miles. If one morning had not come too soon, if the northern force had moved as quickly as the southern, there would have been greater progress- Greater progress was in fact! made, but had to be abandoned in the circumstances which made the movement less than a" complete success. Officially stated facts seem far from warranting- the conclusion of " Thfe Times '' that "the position on the Gallipoli Peninsula • has undergone no material change for tlie better," and the attitude which "The Times" has seen fit to take towards various aspects of the war, and which may be influenced by Lord Tsorthcliffe's impatience for conscription, or his dislike of Lord Kitchener and other members of the Government, is not adding to its refutation in these days. Mr Asquith has found fault with it for preaching "panic and hysteria," and the "Spectator," once a friend, has denounced its constant complaints as the "winnings of Mrs G'umhiiclge." "The Times's " expressions of distrust and dolefulness have produced the worst influence, _ it is said, in France and Russia, and ifl is easy to imagine, what effect its latest mournful utterance might have upon the Balkan nations whose neutrality is liovering in the balHappily there are growing_ signs_ that they have made their choice, or will soon be forced to make if. in our-favour. When Germany begins to bully Roumania and *■ Bulgaria they know what they have, to fear if the German power should be exalted in their neighbourhood. No one has ever accused them of lacking spirit, : and threats froni

Germany are most likely to send them inio the Allies' camp move quickly than they would otherwise arrive there. "The Germans know," said the London. "Daily ISTews" a few weeks ago, " that ihe fall of Constantinople will' be the most dramatic" event of the war. It will have an importance far greater than the capture of WarsaAv " —Warsa v had not then been captured—for it will link up the Allies, release supplies, nnd produce a profound impression upon events in the Balkans. The anxiety of the enemy on this point is shown by their alarm at the attitude ol Rouniania in interfering with the transport of supplies to Turkey. If that attitude is persisted in land it still is! the days of Constantinople, numbered in any case, will be few." The field where our men are fighting l is the decisive field of the whole war. The losses they must have will be the price of a most farreaching victory.