HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING AT DOUAUMONT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 56, 6 March 1916, Page 5

HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING AT DOUAUMONT.

DEADLY STRUGGLE FOR POSSESSION OF VILLAGE; FRESH PRUSSIAN BRIGADES BROUGHT TIP TO ATTACK. PARIS, March 5. A French communique states: —"There was an intense enemy, bombardment of Hautremont wood, north of Verdun. An infantry attack failed. The Germans regained a footing in- Douaumont village, from which we ejected them on Friday evening. Desperate fighting continues for the possession of the Tillage with alternate ebb and flow." A German communique states: —"The French attacked the village of Douaumont. and the lines adjoining. They were partially repulsed in closerange fighting, and sustained heavy loss. We captured 1,000 unwounded prisoners. Our booty since the 22nd consists of 115 guns and 160 machineguns." The fort of Douaumont is perched 90ft above the village. When the Germans were driven back on Wednesday the enemy's artillery resumed a shattering fire, ploughing the ground in all directions and reducing the rocks to powder with thousands of monster shells. The Crown Prince ordered the last attack with fresh Prussian brigades, who almost shared their comrades' fate, but gained a footing on the extreme edge of the plateau. The latest information is that the Germans hold one side of the main, street of Douaumont and the French the other side. Fighting is proceeding vith great vehemence. First the French and then the Germans gain a few yards in the deadly struggle for the possession of the-village. A French communique states: —"There is hot fighting near Douaumont.We hold the upper part of the knoll, on the northern slope of which the village is situated. A sharp counter-attack enabled us to regain the ground in the. immediate vicinity of the village. The bombardment has been maintained at an extremely violent pitch west and cast of the Mouse, also in the Woevre country. We concentrated artillery fire on an enemy assembled near Beaumont and dispersed a column on the march." General Petain, the French commander at Verdun, is a picturesque figure. He has risen from being a colonel to general since the war broke out. General Petain did useful work in the retreat from Charlefoi and handled his men brilliantly during *he Artois offensive in May and the Champagne offensive in September. •