"Following on the great care and thoroughness in preparations made under the orders of General Sir Herbert Plumer, the complete success gained may be ascribed chiefly to the destruction caused by our mines, to the violence and accuracy of our bombardment, to the very fine work of the Royal Flying Corps, and to the incomparable dash and courage of the infantry. The whole force acted in perfect combination. Excellent work was done by the tanks, and every means of offense at our disposal was made use of, so that every arm of the service had a share in the victory." A good description of the Australian soldier, as he follows up his victory, was given in a story of an American war correspondent, who wrote concerning Flanders: NEW LAND OF WARFARE. "After these many months of trench warfare there is keen delight for the Australian soldier in this new land of warfare which the German retirement has opened up. The fighting is in open country now, over gently rolling downs of what looks like grass land. It is really most of it wheat or turnip land which has not been cultivated for a year or two. The country is as open as the Australian central plains. "It is quite a new sort of battlefield for the Australians. They march down to it through valleys almost exactly like the valleys in the peaceful parts of France. There are whole acres in which one cannot see a single shell hole. Back across the green country or down the open roads come men in twos or threes occasionally, sauntering as one might find them on a country road. They are the wounded helping one another back to the dressing station. The walking wounded have to help each other back in these modern battles. It is no longer looked upon as meritorious for an unwounded combatant to leave the field and help a wounded comrade to the rear. "Nearest the front the country becomes more feverish. Angry bursts of tawny color are seen in a haphazard sort of way dotting the horizon and the countryside. Here and there are Australians standing behind mounds of earth with their rifles pointed over the top, bayonets always fixed. Frequently, when there is no other shelter there are hastily scooped trenches. A quarter of a mile away another party is lining a roadside, flat on their stomachs in the ditch, bayonets peeping over the top. Shells are whizzing by at the rate of two or three a minute, high explosives bursting on contact behind their backs about as far away as the other side of a cottage parlor. PRISONER AND ESCORT.