The British advance

More heavy fighting

Counter attacks developing

Germans concentrating for attack on Warsaw

Unless the second of Sir John French’s bi-weekly bulletins is much more detailed and informing, a great British victory has been dismissed in two or three unsatisfying passages.

Indeed without the French report even the locality could not have been guessed at.

The main fact however we possess, and we may deduce from this that Wednesdays success at Neuve Chapelle was the most substantial gained by the British army, probably by any of the armies since trench warfare began.

The press bureau tells us that the advance carried out by two corps amounts to three quarters of a mile over a front 4000 yards and adds that all intervening enemy positions were captured.

The French communique defines roughly the new front now occupied. After taking Neuve Chapelle our men were able to advance apparently on a widening front and now the new position is actually behind, though very little behind the German front at La Bassee.

The German message finally admits that in certain places the position was penetrated.

In any case the general situation is clear enough. A dent has been made in the German line which may have the effect ultimately of imperilling the German position at La Basee.

Incidentally we have taken over 200 prisoners.

From every point of view the news is good. The extent of territory gained, remembering the foot by foot kind of advance to which we have become accustomed, is quite large, the front of the attack was considerable and we had four army corps (more than 150,000 men) engaged.

This is evidently a departure from siege warfare and our troops are being given the opportunities for which they must have been longing.

They have indeed at a first effort proved beyond dispute that trench warfare has not impeded their mobility and skill in attack which are perhaps the chief elements of British infantry.

Further success in the same direction may have important results particularly if we proceed by means of our airmen in the work of disorganising the enemy’s communications, for not the least important part of the news we are now considering, was the railway junctions that were destroyed.

Upon one point it is desirable to lay some empathy. The British military authorities have not been accustomed to mention success until the success was fairly well secured and as such we may hope for even more substantial successes to follow.

German magpie

Tricks of a pirate

The German auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich has arrived badly in need of repair. She will probably be interned. She brings with her a long list of victims on the high seas including an American ship.

The sinking of the latter is forming the subject of inquiry by the United States Government and is the cause of great indignation among the American people.

The American vessel was the William P Frye a full rigged four sat sailing ship of 3374 tons. She was on her way from Seattle to Queenstown with cargo of wheat when she was topped by the pirate liner and sunk by means of a bomb. President Wilson has ordered a strict inquiry into what has been described as a flagrant violation of the right of neutrals.