Norwich bulletin., 1915-01-08
FAVORABLE SITUATION
 FOR THE ALLIES,
Reported by Military Attaehe of Brit
 sh Army Headquarters.


 London, Jan. z. 6.50 p. n1.-'HThs new year has opened upon a more favor able situation for the allies than any they knew since the commencement of the campaign" says a report made by Q military observer attached to the British army headquarters at the front The report, made publiv today by the foreign bureau, is dated Janu- ary and supplements similar narra- ttves given out at intervals during the progress of the war.
 Steadily Increasing in Numbers.
 "So far aS the British are con cerned,' says the report "the small expeditionary force of four divisions which took the field in August has now been swelled into a great army. which is steadily increasing in numbers, has become inured to war and can look back on a record of hard fighting such as British troops seldom have Sus- tained in the past. The struggle of the last four months has entered upon it's fourth phase. $ slow but none the legs marked change which has taken place has resulted in the definite passing of the initia- tive into the hands of the allies. This is not shown so much by material re- suits obtained, although at some points of the allied front ground has been made, resulting in the capture of guns and strongly entrenched posi- tions; hut our advantage lies in the fact that it is now the allies who for the past few weeks have assumed and maintained the offensive role, while the nfny has been acting on the defensive. The fact that the enemy is acting on the defensive does not mean that he has given up attacking altogether, but his attacks have been in the nature of counter attacks, undertaken either in order to regain ground previously lost or to relieve pressure on some other part of the German line.
 fIt is only by balancing the total re- suits of these attacks by both sides that a clear idea can be obtained. Really marked progress has been achieved by the allies.
 German Defense an Active une.
 "rhe German defense is an active one. It is founded on the axiom Of war that the weaker that the force is and the more hardly it IS pressed, the more consistently should it at tack. But it remains true that such action Is none the less essentially de- fensive, even though here and there one of their counter attacks may suc- ceed in regaiuing possession of a trench or iE driving back a. small sec tion of our front.
 German Forces Stationary,
 If we retain the initiative it will mean that the German soldier grad ually will become increasingly con- scious that he is no longer marching on Calais or Paris that instead of pressing forward his role is merely to maintain what already has been won, and that even this limited object has not been attained. Hitherto he has continually been told that reinforce nlentS are about to arrive and that sn advance in force is imminent, while reports of startling victories on land and sea are disseminated broadcast But such fabrications can no longer carry conviction when the troops real ize that instead of attacking they morals of the enemy must inevitably be affected.
 "Fhe more thoroughly they are now deceived as to the true position, the greater will be the disillusionuient if they realize that ultimate victory is unattainable; while upon such an army as that Of the Germans, which has been taught to eXalt the cult of the offensive almost into a fetish the mere consciousness of being reduced to acting on the defensive must have most discoura9ing effect
 After referring to the ultimate con- sequence of repeated small success es, the British observer adds:
 Slow, Lahsrious Progress.
 Tt must not, however, be thought that this is other than very slow and laborious progress, or that the final re- suit is within immediate reach Yet every capture by the allies Of & trench represents lost ground for which the enemy expended much blood and treas ure and is a step forward in the pro- cess of attritioE which eventually will bring the war to an end"
 The British observer states that he IS able to confirm reports that there is considerable sickness ir the Ger man ranks. He says that for some time past there has been a good deal of typhoid and that some German units have been withdrawn tempor- arily on this account.