The Dardanelles

Interesting development

Land operations

Successes east and west

Major Moraht the military correspondent of the Berliner Tageblatt while admitting that the bombardment of the Dardanelles cannot be without influence of the further conduct of the great conflict, also asks where England and France can obtain a land force sufficient to enable them to utilise the naval success.

The answer to the question will be supplied all in good time but no premature disclosures are likely to be made in the British press.

Suffice to say that the allies plans are complete in every detail and that for the present the public may be left to draw their own conclusions.

The riddle is not hard to read and it will be fatally easy to the enemy before this month is out.

In the meantime the bombardment is proceeding and as the latest official report shows, it is meeting with complete success.

For the present it would be well to pay attention mainly, if not entirely, in authoritative statements as to the progress of the operations, for unofficial reports, however interesting, may largely partake of the character of intelligent anticipations.

If for the moment we can put aside the seriousness of all warlike operations some amusement may be extracted from the German reports.

This morning in describing their defeat at Presenyez the German Headquarters Staff claim that the insignificant success cannot compare with the previous German storming of the same area.

The facts of course are that the Germans have been badly beaten at every point, in North Poland and in South Galicia they are making a hurried retreat, East Prussia is once more threatened and in Bukovina the Russians are regaining the ground they had previously lost.

Von Hindenburg’s strategy on ground of his own choosing, has done little more than raise his railway receipts.

The Austrians have suffered severely during the fighting of the past few days and they have now met with another serious reverse on the Lomnitz River.

The Russian troops occupied the village of Kraans and in the course of the fighting they captured 6000 prisoners including 64 officers and also took four guns.

The enemy’s attempt to relieve the area has met with nothing but disaster.

Events in the Champagne area will overshadow the other fighting in the west and for some distance all the first line of the German trenches have been captured and at several points progress has even continued beyond. In spiteful revenge the enemy yesterday recommended the shelling of Rheims again – using incendiary bombs.