New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-18

success IN the gas aItack upon 'nc iN"N"
The country which they now hold is very
largely fiat, the great. marshy PLAIN OF
Flanders only touching on the high land
east of Ypres and the ground remaining
generally low all the way south to La
Bassee, which the Germans hold. This is
country of the Flemish type, deep
bitches. many canals. fiat fields and
swampy lands. which offer very little OPP
portunity to great military movements,
either in the spring or in the autumn
German Advantage at fpres
Such advantage of position as there Is
the Germans have by reason of holding the
hills overlooking Ypres, but beyond fpres
the British have strong lines resting on
high ground. and Ypres itself is little
more than dangerous and useless piece
of ground held because of the moral effect
it's position gives. The Ypres position is
the weakest position on the French front
There has been for two years a sharp con-
troversy as to whether it was worth while
to hold it. and there is general feeling
that it may be the target of new and
third German offensive this year.
The Second British army on its north
ern flank occupies low land fully compar-
able with that north and west of Ypres,
but from La Bassee southwark begins the
highland which stretches east from the
Channel and further east of La Bassee
and Arras and breaks down rather sharply
into the great Northern European plain
North of La Bassee the Germans hold the
Aubers ridge and the forts of Lille.
South of La Bassee they cling to the east
ernmost shores of the Artois highlands,
actually holding the very last ridge, the
famous Vimy Ridge, over which they were
pushed by the French in 1915 but retook
during the battle. South of Arras their
trench line comes we'll into the Artois and
Picardy highlands, and has behind it a
considerable extent of rolling country, with
hills much the same as those which were
fought for in the battle of the Somme,
hills that recall the New England country
in America.
The new ground which the British have
Just taken over south of the Somme is less
broken and has been more heavily fortified
by the Germans than any portion Of the
Western front, because it covers the west
ern side of the Noyon salient; that is, the
portion of their line nearest to Paris.
As it stands, the British now occupy
something like one hundred and twenty
five miles and the reorganized Belgian
army some twenty-five miles out of total
of four hundred and fifty miles of the
western front But the portion held by
the British has been the scene of almost
all of the severe fighting, aside from the
attack of the Germans at Verdun and the
French in Champagne, during the last
two years of trench warfare. 1t is, too,
the most difficult stretch, long sections Of
the French front, notably the Vosges dis
tricts. being totally unsuited for any oper-
atoms.
British Extension to the Elbow at Noyon?
The question of further extension Of
the British front remains open. My guess
would be that some time this year the Brit
ish may take over as far south as the
Disc This would make natural divid-
ing point and would greatly simplify the
question of transport, for the British
would thus occupy all the sectors between
the Channel and the great bend or elbow
in the line at Noyon. This would mean
hut a slight increase in British lines, ma
terially less than twenty miles. If the
Germans should attack the French, as
they did last year, it is probable that this
extension would take place promptly.
On the other hand, the demands upon
British numbers elsewhere are considera-
BILE; there is a strong British force at
Salonica, another in Egypt and third in
Mesopotamia. while the British navy re-
ouires many hundreds of thousands of
men. British man power for the front is
also limited. because Britain is supplying
her allies with many things from her
workshops and mines. II may be doubted,
therefore. if the British front will ever be
extended beyond the Disc, but between
Rove and Ypres on the present British
front the fighting is likely to be more
desperate and more sustained than any
fighting so far in the British field of oper-
ations. and there is a calm recognition in
Britain that British losses, which last year
amounted to about 100000 at the Somme
alone, will pass the million mark.
1t remains now to discuss the condition
Of the British army. | think there is a
general agreement that its morale and its
efficiency have reached the point where it
has become one Of the effective national
armies. All that saw Of it reminded me
Of the accounts that have read and heard
Of Grants army in 1864 when ne started
his great campaign from the Wilderness
to Petersburg.
7, ;s welI 10 remember that this British