Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-21
DIFFICULTY OF OPERATIONS
 IN BELGIUM AND FRANCE
Written by oaiciaI obresver Attach
 ed to British Headquarters.


 great difficulties under which miii- tary operations in France and Bel gium are being conducted are res cribed in a narrative of recent de- velopments written by an official ob- server attached to the British head quarters and made public today by theI official information bureau. The off cial information bureau. The recital brings the story of war. as covered in thse eyewitness reports up to De- cenlber IT.
 "The opposition now being encount- cred resembles to some exent that met with by us in the beginning of October. when we first reached the Franco Belgian frontier and before the Germans brought up their full force and assumed the ofrensive" says the report. Tt has one great diff ference, however, and that is that the enemy is in much greater force and his positions are much stronger and better organized than they were two months ago.
 Continuous Defensive Zone.
 ''At that time an advance on the eastern end of the line implied a movement across very difficult coun-- try, as it does sti1l; and for us it meant an attack on skilfully, but hast ily fortified strong points or villages. held 70 a large extent by cavalry and Jaegers. With the large proportion of machine guns that we have in front of us today, it is no longer a success sion of isolated points. There are still such points and some are- the same, but they are stronger and form part of practically continuous de- fensive zone, consisting in some places of several lines of cunningIy located and carefully constructed works
 This zone really amounts to a maze of trenches and obstacles. Ev- cry known form of obstacle is used. Entanglements-to select the most common form-vary from loose coils of wire to networks of from IS inch to dearly six feet in height and of dif- refent widths.
 Advance Necessarily Slow.
 These measures of defence are only such as are to be expected from troops which are well trained and have ample resources and time; and are of course, ways in which the ycan be overcome. But where these methods are applied, the rate of advance is necessarily slow. When it is reported in laconic terms that ground has been gained at certain point, Geographically the gain may amount to only few yards. Practically on the other hand the progress implied by even such a small step forward may be important for a trench, a cluster of trenches. the edge of a wood. a building, a village. or knoll may have been reached, possession of which will fa- clliate further operations.
 Prolonged Bombardments Helpful.
 Siege approaches. such as saps. help the attacIIer to advance under cover and so to minimize the losses, but they do not and cannot obviate the liability to surprise reception of the nature indicated, when once the enelny's works are gained The only certain method of preventing this is by a prolonged bombardment with high explosive shells until trenches 1 mines and machine guns are reduced to scrap heaps. or to mine under them ! and blow them into the air.
 The report of the actual fighting is a repitiion of what has appeared in ! the daily French official statements ! telling of the capture of German l trenches, of sapping and mining oper- alton and heavy artillery dlels. Con- | corning the latter. the obArver says that the British artillery on December 17th obtained several hits on what l appeared to be the German headuarr- 1 CTS. The narrative continues Enormous Losses of Germans. | From q prisoner captured on De i cember 14th it has been ascertained | that both the 2Srd regiment and the | Jaegers suffered enormous losses or | November I. The same man described | the fifth of November as a terrible daI ' 1S-f i4iE, IAAe-L AlC AAetu never DeIOEA seer ! such mud as that in which the Ger | mans were operating, and that the | troops were suffering very much from | the presence of water in the trench | es- The smelling that he went through | on the fourteenth of this month ht l states, exceeded anything which h,
 had experienced previously.
 Landwehr Sick of the War.
 We have reason to believe. iron | the evidence obtained from prisoner. | that many of the Landfehr are heart. | fly sick of the war and resent tht | harsh treatment of their officers | They have been persuaded that the 1 British ill-treat their prisoners anC ' but for this some would be willing tC | surrender
 The Germans appear to be discard. | Ing their helmets, the pickehaIIbeD with which they have for fifty wears been associated in the eyes of tho | world. Many variations in their uni. forms are now to be seen. Some ot | the troops are wearing their peac, | clothing, which is of brighter colo ! than they grayish dress. There i. | evidence that certain of the units fac. | ing them are much under strength French and British Pushing Forward Concerning the offensive rnoyemen | of the allies, the observer says: l Tn conjunction with the French | who are pressing forward a move. l ment has been started which has re.
 suited in small gain of ground" The narrative then records gains
 made by British and Indian troops near Ypres and south of the I,ys
 which already have been reported. CLEARY ACQUITTED oE