Success & failure

British hotly engaged

Enemy regain trenches

The sting was in the tail of the Petrograd message published yesterday afternoon, but there were several other frank statements which reveal the swaying nature of the fighting on the eastern frontier, a characteristic of which there is further evidence in the official report to hand this morning.

In the earlier communiqué the Russians admitted that after three days hard fighting they yielded some ground on the right banks of the Lubaczówka and Wisznia, but against this there is the German acknowledgement that between the Dniester marshes and Zarewno the Russians have made some headway.

‘Between the Dniester and the Pruth, in the region of Czernowitz, we withdraw beyond our frontier,’ is, however, the concluding paragraph in the Russian report, and this Austro-German menace to Bessarabia, we may take it, is intended to influence opinion in the Balkans.

This morning’s communiqué puts a better light on the general position, for, despite the great efforts of the enemy, the Russians are doing wonderfully well, much better, indeed, than at the best stage many had imagined possible. The detailed message is set out in full elsewhere.

In the Austro-Italian theatre, the enemy on Monday delivered a vigorous attack in the Carnia district, but his attempts to break through the Italian lines failed, and he was pursued at the point of the bayonet.

In the message published yesterday were details of the elaborate defensive works prepared by the Austrians to meet the Italian advance across the Isonzo. Trenches of masonry or concrete, strengthened with metal plates, were described and it was also stated that the Austrians were breaking the rules of warfare by using explosive bullets and other devices.

Along the Tyrol-Trentino frontier it was further shown that the Italians are gradually proceeding with the occupation of dominating points.

This morning we learn that ‘there have been successful encounters with the enemy along the whole front’, and particular importance is attached to the activity in the Monte Nero zone (above Tolmino) of the Alpine troops to whom were entrusted the task of dislodging the enemy from the mountain side.

The operations begun at night by the scaling of the rocks, ‘ended in an impetuous attack which was crowned with complete success’.

Considering that our casualty lists are continuously appearing, some relief was afforded by the receipt of the news yesterday that our troops are again on the move.

They delivered an attack to the west of La Bassee on Tuesday and took a line of German trenches, and yesterday, according to Sir John French’s dispatch, made a successful assault on the enemy’s position to the north of Hooge.

The whole of the first line of German trenches on a front of 1,000 yards fell into the hands of the British who also took part of the second line and repulsed a counter attack with heavy loss.

Trenches east of Festubert on a mile of front were captured on the previous evening, but the enemy made a strong counter-attack which was successful.