The German advance to Boulogne, startling as it may seem, was only to be expected in a situation which even now is perfectly chaotic, and there is no reason to believe otherwise than it has been made by slender motorized units which have in so many places succeeded for the time in piercing the Allies' lines. The next few days will show exactly how permanent that occupation is likely to be, though the revelation of the small number of Germans found in Arras after the counter-attack which proved successful suggests that there is a possibility that eventually the situation will be restored without too much loss. A great deal is being made by the Germans of the fact that when they occupy the Channel ports on the French coast they will be able to bombard British towns. It is quite true that they will be able to do so. But it is not the one-sided affair that it would seem to be on the face of the German statement.
In this connection it has to be remembered that the British coast towns are just as close to the French coast as the French coast is close to them, and what can be handed out on one side can also be on the other, while, until the Allied counter-attack has been launched and ended, it would be premature to assume that all is lost in connection with the northern wing of the Allied armies which in fact, as French military analysts have pointed out, are only lightly surrounded by the German forces which have penetrated along the Somme to the coast. In this connection it Would be as well to pay very considerable attention to the views of the French military commentators. They signally established a fine reputation for themselves during the last war for the accuracy with which they summed up various situations as they arose, and the very realistic manner in which they did their work then justifes the belief that they will be equally accurate and realistic in this war. It is their opinion that these advance forces of the Germans will be destroyed in precisely the same way as the audacious Uhlan cavalry who performed the same manœuvres during the early days of the last war. They nearly pushed their way to Paris before they were stopped.
It needs to be borne in mind that the Germans have succeeded in making a number of narrow enclaves into the Allied Lines, which could not immediately be avoided because the enemy, having the initiative of the offensive at the present time, could choose io the best advantage the scenes of rapid attacks, and it will not be until the Allies have reorganized their forces that the expected counter-attack can be commenced. It was reported that this would start yesterda That may or may not be a piece of intelligent anticipation, but there is every reason to believe that, when General Weygand decides to throw the major Allied forces into the field, the situation will be rapidly stabilized. It is obvious that unless and until a major reverse is inflicted upon the Allies the end of the present battle will not have been seen. The apparent policy of the Allied command is to lead the enemy on to waste his resources in the manner he is doing, and which is proceeding at a rate which completely prevents any future rehabilitation save at the expense of a long period of quiescence. In this connection it is possible that the Allies will have to face long weeks of suspension and anxiety similar to those which marked the opening stages of the war in 1914, and to endeavour to form any conclusions at the present regarding the outcome of this opening phase of the struggle would be just as idle now as it was shown to be in the months of August and September of 1914. In this connection it is important to remember that such famous strategists as General Weygand are not to be hurried in their decisions. The fact that he recently made a personal survey of the battle areas by aeroplane, at a risk which would in other circumstances seem amazing, is in itself conclusive proof of the intimate study he is giving to the matter. It is for him to decide when the counter-attack shall be launched, and it is only reasonable to suppose that he will not decide to do so until he is completely satisfied that he has made all the dispositions necessary for the offend sive and to redeem the position should by any. mischance it happen that the enemy may be able to hold it up.
On balance the last two days show some slight advantage to the Allies. The reoccupation of Arras and Cambrai in what after all have been merely local counter-offensives, clearly demonstrates that the Allied forces on the northern wing have in no way been deprived of their striking force, and until it has been attempted and failed, it would be rash to assume that the Allies will not be able to effect a junction with the northern forces, Thus in what up to now has proved to be the heaviest battle of the war, on the front from Arras, through Cambrai to Valen-cionnes, it is claimed that the French and British artillery have gained the superiority over the Germans in a terrific exchange of shelling. It remains to be seen whether that superiority can be maintained and built up. To that end the Allies are bending every effort, for all the lessons of the last war clearly show that until that has been done, and the Allies have gained supremacy over a substantially large front, no thought of throwing the infantry into a counter-attack can for one moment be entertained. That is why it is being continually emphasized that while adequate importance should be attached to each day's developments there should not be those wide fluctuations between optimism and despondency which have been noticed in some quarters. They cannot at the present time be justified. Persons who permit themselves to be influenced in this manner are playing precisely the enemy's game. It will be noticed that on every occasion they have sought to magnify every gain. Their original claim that one million of the Allied troops had been surrounded was designed to spread dismay behind the Allied lines. Those troops have been surrounded, but, as it now transpires, by light forces which will be dealt with when General Weygand decides. There is nothing in the situation which can considered irretrievably lost, serious though it undoubtedly is.. That Britain is at the moment the main German objective is undoubtedly true; that they are having it entirely their own way is emphatically not. On the reports to hand the advantage of the original initiative is gradually disappearing and the next few weeks may see it completely disappear.
British Women Enrol If Herr Hitler thought to rattle the British Empire by the rapidity and terribleness of his attack in France and by the occupation of part of the Channel coast by mobile units, he will by now have had time to realize his mistake. As Mr, Alfred Duff-Cooper put it, the initial reverses have acted like a tonic to the Empire, and greater resolution than ever before is now being displayed by the British people, The swift change in the character of the Government of the British Isles has evoked widespread admiration, even Italian newspapers whose attitude recently has been hypercritical of everything British, praising the new moves, The thousands of women who are now enrolling for war work of many different descriptions are another earnest of Britain's unshakable determination, In the last war, women proved their ability to do many of the jobs formerly done by their men-folk, whose services were employed at the front, While the error-of enlisting expert workmen is not being repeated in this war—each man being employed where his services are of the greatest value to the nation—there are nevertheless a number of jobs even in the most specialized industries which can be performed by women after only a little training, In munitions factories women who have had experience of working long hotirs on their feet are being preferred, while the plan seems to call for the transfer of workers from industries less essential to the prosecution of the war, or whose effect is at present only indirect, to those producing materials which are immediately needed, That lessons of organization have already been learnt is proved by the remarkably swift replacement of the aeroplanes lost since Hitler started his blitzkrieg. All machines damaged or shot down have already been replaced on active service, The Air Force, in spite of its losses, is now as strong as it was a fortnight ago, The speed with which the damage has been repaired argues wonderful efficiency, and doubtless the methods which have proved so successful in this sphere will be applied in others, Women, as is well known, have been already playing important roles in aircraft plants, and now have the opportunity to play equally important parts in Britain's reorganized war economy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.