New Britain herald., 1916-06-15
Signs of a British Offensive.


 addition to the great Russian offen- sive under way against the Austrians, another has been begun against the Germans on the northern part of that line while third is about to be l launched by the British in the west if this last is not already under way.
 For weeks there have been unmis- taka ble signs of a great British offen- sive impending which would become active when the Germans before the British line had been reduced to a minimum, and propitious offensiVes had been begun by the allies in other quarters.
 The British front formerly extend ed from the Belgian front which ends about ten miles north of Ypres, for thlrty-tWo miles down to about the same distance from Arras. Tn the last week in March the British replaced the French as far as the Rove rail- way, south of the Somme and thus occupied a front of about ninety miles or a quarter of the entire western front. The substitution of British for French troops in the southern sec- tor, the French going, it is believed, to the Verdun defenses, was made without any offensive on the part of the Germans.
 Prior to the beginning of the Ger man campaign against Verdun on Feb. 21 a British offensive had been weekly expected by visitors to the British concentration camps, parade grounds, and storehouses in the rear of the British front. Particularly was this so when a great movement of German troops was observed going east and south in the week of Feb. IS, through Central Belgium and Northern France. However, subse- uuently the gigantic proportions of the German offensive at Verdun were said to have diminished the chances of an offensive by the allies in the near future, as it was pointed out that the defense of Verdun must necessarily make great inroads on their accumulations of munitions and men,
 It had unofficially transpired, how ever that in the defense of Verdun the French had not gone beyond the use of their local reserves, save for the veterans who had been transferr- ed from the western sector: and that the reserve force of 1916 and 1917 conscripts of 100000 men and the veteran Territorial army of another million had not been touched. Be- sides the only aid the British gave to the defense of Verdun was the loan of an Australian battery of naval guns, which performed a special ser vice and then retired. It is also signi- ficant that the French have in the defense of Verdun made no use of their heavy mobile artillery.
 Thus conditions behind the British lines continued to excite the admira- tion of visitors. On March 30 British officer wrote to his family In London
 "Apropos of this recent taking over by our troops of these intervening miles of French-defended trenches. it may be permissible to touch upon what I know to be a very widely cir culated rumor at home: to the. effect that the British have been helping our gallant ally in his magnificent resistance at Verdun. General Joffres message of htanks to Sir Douglas Haig has been quoted in our press as evidence of this.
 ''It seems reasonable to infer that the thanks were for the release of the French troops in the line we have taken over, and that the glory of the defense of Verdun belongs wholly and solely to the army of France.
 Although the hour of the British army may be at hand, 1t is not yet, nor is there any reason to believe that the Germans will succeed by their attacks upon Verdun in their un- doubted purpose of trying to upset the arranged strategy of the great coming offensive.''
 Weak Points Revealed.
 Then on May 19, Sir Douglas Haig the British commander in chief in France, penned his report describing the last five months of fighting on his front. In this report of the most recent engagements which, from Ser lin and even London, were designated as fierce drives" on the part of the Germans are herein calmly set down as sharp local actiOns' near Hooge The Bluff, St. Eloi, Wulverghem, Hull Iuch the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Vermelles
 These sharp local actions,' how ever, reveal the points in the German line which would need readjustment in the face of a British offensive. The strategy of the line remains what 1t was when the British made their sa- ient at Ypres in October, 1914, and at Neuve Chapelle in March, 1915, and at Loos in September, 1915. For IS line with men and munitions over rail ways a British offensive in the latter would jeopardize the German lines Of