There can no longer be any doubt why the Germans
have retreated en the Ancre. They have retreated because they were compelled to-go. Of course, they put some disadvantages in our way, such as terrible shell-ploughed ground to cross, but to say that the oppor- tunity of exposing us to disadvantages cf that sort was their reason for retreating is a ludicrous argument. It is characteristic cf minds which have become so.n:istrustful that they can find no explanation cf our own rare yielding of ground except that we are beaten, and no explanation of a German retreat except that the stupid British are being led into a snare by the very devilry of intellect. The account given by a special correspondent of the Times in Thursday's paper of the appearance of the ground abandoned by the Germans proves that they could not possibly hold on any longer. Our officers knew that our guns bad been doing much damage, but they had not conceived the extent of the ravages. Roads can no longer be recognized ; communication trenches to the German front lines have been obliterated ; the ground is covered with dead bodies of Germans drowned in bogs and craters where, pinned down by the shell-fire, they could not move forwards or backwards.
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