The sun., 1916-01-09
WESTERN DEADLOCK
NOT EASY TO CHANGE.
British Observers Doubt II
Either Side Can Alter
Positions Yet.
NEED GREAT OFFENSIVE

LONDON. Dec. 3o.--Untii the day when
the offensive 10 taken by the British and
French on wider front than has
hitherto been attempted since trench
warfare began there IL little likelihood
Of the German line in the west being
broken and rolled up. and the same ap-
phes 10 any German attempt to break
the allied line. is the considered opinion
Of British ofbcers who have had long ex-
pertence OF the trench fighting In Flan-
dere.
THESE British officers do rot think the
Germans can force a decision by break
Ing the allied line because they do not
believe the Germans can accumulate
enough men In the west, now that they
are preoecunied with the Russian and
Balkan fronts. 10 make the attack on a
sufficiently broad front to insure suo-
cess.
All tte Information hltering through
to England from neutral countries bor-
dering upon Germany during the past
week or 80 speaks Of German prepara-
tions TO concentrate q large force for
another bsow IN the west, but British
officers do net ssem To be perturbed by
H. They are more concerned with their
own preparations, and look forward
anxiousiy to the day when their high
command will give orders for another
big attack.
An interesting explanation OF tho dif-
6culties OF trench warfare and the pos
sibiiifies Of a coming offensive are given
bS an officer Just returned from British
general headquarters. In studying the
position In the west" he said. ''it must
be remembered that the conditions apply
equally to either side. and the difficul-
ties of the ALLIES are Just the same as the
difficulties OF the Germans.
I'VE have made several trench at
tacks on a considerable scale during the
pas, year. and they have all been dis
tinguished BY success up to a certain
point and lack OF success beyond II. Also
the more completely successful the hret
stage has been. the more puzzling has
appeared 10 the world the dead end In
Which that success concluded.
; "lt must b. this time be pretty gen.
orally understood how our attacks ar<
launched aga inst the enemys line. Aftel
the guns have hammered the selected
a. rea for SO many days their fire Is con-
centrated for a few hours on the imme
date front TO be attacked, and when the
defenders OF that front are believed u
be all dazed or destroyed the fre II
lifted to a more distant objective. ant
our infantry scramble over their para
pets and dash forward against the bat
tered front When they reach the Ger
man trenches they find. as a rule. bu
little opposition remaining. and that littlt
fairly easily overcome. The distance
they have travelled may vary from 9
few score to a few hundred yards. ant
( the casualties - far have not beef
heavy.
! 1T nigh; seem that having captureC
the enemy's position at so small a cost
they would do well 10 stay there anr
/ consolidate their gains But such 1
view, which has been expressed mor'
tnan once lately. shows a complete ig
rorance Of the trench system and seem.
to regard front trench as a more oi
! less isolated affair which II is a com
p1ratiyely easy matter 10 convert q
your own defensive uses. Such mis-
take may be corrected by the briefes
survey OF any sketch which illustrates
4 Characteristic section OF the German
defences From il the difficultles ths
confront the holding Of capture
trench with that woven network OF sup
porting and communicating avenues be
h!nd 1t will be at once apparent. Tn
sooner all THAI maze is put behind tn
asssi!lants the better. and so they NOV
forward clear OF 1t, dropping bombs il
any dug0uts they may come across. I'll
they find themselves clear OF the frs
line defences and confronted by the les
I known and probably unreduced strata
gems OF the second.
Now comes the query: 10 more ad
visable? Up 10 this point our attack
have succeeded, often beyond expecta
ton beyond this they have never gon
without heavy losses and rarely wit
any gain In ground May not this he
on a narrow front the limit TO wh!cl
such attacks can be pushed to advan
tage?
III the attack Is TO go further It mus
he made by fresh troops. and thos,
troops muct arrive in time to pus.
through the enemy's second line befor,
nightfall.
But there Is the difficulty. The troop,
engaged In the assault have all he@r
lying close at hand, concealed unde
ground, after perhaps months Of digging
, N proximity to the trench from wh.C.
the assault Is delivered. But the re
serves cannot be 80 hidden, and have II
consequence to be kept some miles in III,
rear, with possibly but a single road b!
which to move forward. When they a
rive the moment for carrying matter
further is past. Some digging in is don
and next morning the forward move
ment is resumed. BY that time the en-
emys reserves are in position. and
lire has to be faced which has beei
scarcely touched by an artillery prepa
always been not only a failure to ad
vance but the final abandonment o
some OF the ground gained.
Hence the query whether the NOR
profitable trench tactics In attack Nigh
not be to seize the most advantageou
ground between tho enemys hrst an.
second lines and concentrate every effor
on holding it. Both We and the FreHcl
have cracked the German lines. and tn
Germans have cracked ours, but tn
greater opportunity has never yet ma
terid,ized into the suggested success
Let It be remembered that one Is onl
speaking OF advances on "A small from,
the only type of which We have had ex
periolIce, and it is solely on that expert
cnce that these conclusions are based
II may be possible OH wider front L
break through by "A single movemcn
owing to the effective area Of d.morali
cation which can be produced"
LONDON TO SEE WAR FILMS.