Evening star., 1917-12-02
DRIVE OF ENGLISH UNDER BYNG
ON CAMBRIA HIGH WATER MARK IN
BATTLE OF WORLD IN TRENCHES

fully.
Advance Six Miles.
BY Wednesday the British had advanced
at least six miles At certain points: they
had crossed the Scheldt canal from Mar
on the north bank, a. well a. the outs1kirts
Of Rumilly and Crevecoeur. westward
they had taken Cantaing. four miles
from Cambria on . local road. and ws.s
Bapaume-Cambrai road, less than three
miles from Cambria But they weeU now
enduring counter attacks which In the
Of Fontaine. West Of Fontaine they ware
fighting in the Bourbon woods, which
cover Hill 104, spur which dominAtan
Cambria at distance OF four miles Pos
session Of this eminence would peoesct
their western flank. but until II was tAhsn
the danger in further direct thrust a8
Cambria was obvious. Meantime the Ger
might have been expected. not south frum
Cambria at the point of the British wedgA
but southwest along the whole western
side Of the salient the British had created
in their lines. By Friday they had ~
taken Moeuvres. regained ground IN Bour-
Ion woods and were also developing Q
second counter attack on the east aidO
Of the British wedge at Crevecoeur
itself Men and machines wero used up, the
weather had turned bad and the ofiiclal
announcements had told that the British
were consolidating their gainA Not until
Sunday did we hear again Of British ad-
vances. and this time the report an
nounced the fall of the Dominating
ground in the Bourbon woods, together
with hs,, Bourbon rn,s, village. an inportsnt
drive upon Cambrai was being re-
newed. Meantime the British news
papers began to print the assertions
of their correspondents THAI Cambraa
n
base. even though 1t were not imme-
diately captured.
All this was quite in keeping with
the past history of offensives in trench
/ warfare. After four days they inevita-
bly, slow down. The surprise is over,
the defender has had time to bring
up fresh troops. his assailart 10
wearied with his exertions and handi-
fourth day, IL he has not actually
pushed through. 1t is unlikely that he
VIII get through with the first drive.
Now comes the second phase. always
inforced. tries to stretch his gains.
the defender. bringing up new concen-
tratfons. counter attacks. and after Q
! little the balance is slowly restored
and we return to the old positional
! This was the story Of Arras of Yer
dun. Of the French attack at the Aisne
last spring. 1t is the second phase
lines are written. on Tuesday. Novem-
Der %. But 1t Is essential to recognise
that the chances of an immediate dis
location of the German line have
possibilities of this ofrensive il is
worth recalling that in this battle OF
! Cambrai. as 1t will almost certainly
be known, the British were fighting
near an old battlefield of theirs. Lea
than six miles due east Of Crevecosur
is Ligny. one of the villages In which
there was fierce nghting during the
great retreat. Sir Horace Smith Dor
rien's battle on August &c was at frst
known as the battle of Cambria But
Tommy called 1t 'Lecatoo"-to rhyme
| with Waterloo-and Tommy has had
his way. for all histories now name
the conflict the battle of Cateau. BE-
fore the war is over we may see the
British at Mons again-at all events,
they are well on the road
As close this article on Tuesday.
November 81. the situation about Cam.
brai is this: The British have taken
4, including the Bourbon woods, and hold
practically all of Bourbon village. This
high ground in the woods is. the key
| to all this section of the German linoa.
II the British hold cannot be broken the
Germans will have to retire over a CON.
siderable area of country between Cam.
brai and Arras. This does not mean
! that there will be any general retreat.
but only a local retirement of the sort
that followed the British success At
hand. IL the British are able to push
forward toward Cambria and take the
town there may be a very general with.
drawal over the whole front.
Lost Drive in West.
1t is now some seventeen months
since the British army took the of-
fensive at the Somme. When they did
this the Germans lost the offensive In
the west. and they have been steadily
on the defensive ever since. Verdun
saw their last great effort betwesn
Switzerland and the sea. Now. looking
backward over this period of seventeen
months. it is interesting to measure
what has happened to the German de-
fensive. In the battle of the Somme.
from July to the middle of November
last year, Germany lost $1,000 prisoners
and was also compelled to evacuate
1.200 square miles Of France. At the
Aisne and before Arras. in May and
June of this year. she lost $4,000 pris-
o1ers. Before verdun in three ATTACKS
one In October and. one in, December
of last year. and one in August Of this
year-she lost $4,000 prisoners ana
practically every bit Of ground that she
year. Before Ypres and in the Mes
sines attack. which preceded Ypres. she
lost $4,000 prisoners. In the recent
Cambria struggle her losses were 100
in prisoners.
In this period of seventeen months
Germany. on the defensive. has lost z00,-
coo prisoners in battle, in addition to
some $4,000 prisoners in the minor
phases of trench warfare before the
French and British lines. A quarter OF
a million German prisoners in, seven
teen months is the measure of the de-
clining morale of the Germans when 1t
have never at any one time captured
1000 French or British prisoners. Meas
ured by guns they have lost not less
than 1900 heavy and field pieces. while
neither the British nor the French have
lost a single gun. They have lost be-
tween 1900 and 1900 square miles Of
French territory. Slowly but surely
they have been pushed back, and the
recent blow at Cambria is a final ext-
dence of the fashion in which their de-
fensive is breaking down.
The coming Of winter will probably
preclude any further considerable oper-
ations on thewestern front. although tt
is conceivable that other blows. Ike
that at Cambria, will be struck. The in
terruption of winter makes IT possible
therefore, that the Germans may hold
their present. lines until spring, but
with the coming of spring it seems In
evitable that they must retire on wide
front between the ,Meuse and the
Scheldt rivers.
1t is equally apparent that the Brit
ish success at Ypres forecasts the time
early next spring when the Germans
will have to withdraw from the Belgian
coast. There is, therefore, no cause Tor