2 FEBRUARY 1918, Page 2

While the Western Front in Flanders and France has been

quiet during the week, our Italian Allies have gained an important success in the mountains between the Asiago Plateau and the Brenta Valley. At dawn on Monday, after a bombardment in which the British and French gunners took part, the Italians attacked on a front of four miles, broke into the enemy's lines, and beat off his counter-attacks. By Tuesday night they had taken the Col del Rosso and Monte di Val Bella, which command the Frenzela Valley leading from the plateau down to the Brenta. The loss of these heights on Christmas Eve had seriously weakened the Italian line ; their recovery strengthens it. Two Austrian divisions were destroyed ; a hundred officers and two thousand five hunded men were captured, with six guns. This victory attests anew the com- plete recovery of the Italian Army after its grave reverse on the Isonzo, and will have an excellent moral effect.