The German official report issued on Monday, when the fall
of Combles and Thiepval was inevitable, was most curious. It said :—
" The results which the enemy obtained to the east of Eaucourt- rAbbaye and by the capturing of the villages situated in the Gueude- court-Bouchavesnes lino have to be recognized, but before all, however, we must think of our heroic troops, which here had to face the combined Anglo-French main forces and the massed employment of the materials prepared by the war industry of the whole world after many months of labour."
This report is a turning-point in the wan Notice that Combles and Thiepval are not even mentioned. Even as we write on Thurs- day the fall of Combles has not been acknowledged. But the German War Lords are nevertheless beginning the humble and humili- ating process of wiping the dust out of the eyes of their dupes. Rewrite the report in plain language—the language of men who are unafraid—and it means : " The Allies have absolute command of the sea, and therefore of the resources of all the world. We won no victory in the North Sea. - We deceived you."
