THE SHRINE OF ST. FINE

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 224, 2 October 1916, Page 6

THE SHRINE OF ST. FINE

A STORY OF FRENCH

. liEIIOISM

t(From Mr H. Warner Allen, the representative of the British lJ|-oss with the French Army.) PAR*IS, Aug. 3.

Verdun has been thrown vnto thw 'background by the great events on tho Soiuine, but ii> would be suprotneJy unjust to forget that it is only the heroic resisfcanco of the Fi-eneh on the ,M«uso which has mado it possible iov the French «nd Britiali :ai*mie.s to take tho offensive elsc•where. the Britivsh and .French have bt>en hammering tho 'German lines iv Picardy, tho defenders oi; Verdun have beqn moro than holding thcii- otv m, and ones of their •deeds that dvsevyca immortal ■ memory is the battle for the shrino of SainteFine.

Last January, When I visited Vordun, thk; I'uinwdl shrine, which coven* three square yards of ground, was .otill untouched by sJiell fire. It lios a little tlistanet> to the south-west of the crossing formed by tho roads from FJkmry to 'Souvillo and from Vaaix xv Verdun by w.a.y of the Vaux-C'hapitro Wood. At th?< {>eginning of July the "Germans I.ad succeeded in advancing beyond the Vaux-Verdun road and liad.carried the shrine. This posi tion threatened to break thi'ough tho French lines, and through tho gap ;fche Germans tried to carry ckmviUe. A ?>arrage fiix*, however, separated "the storming party from all support, and it was; annihilated. Whoi?. tho French resumed the offensive, slowJy surely in tho direction of Fleiiry, it becunie indispensable to clase tbe Sainte-Fine gap. As to who SainteFine was, no one? h«,s ajay idea. Tbe Sainte may have been a Dclphino ur a Josephine, or p&rluips a poilu may iav^ found the key to tho riddle when he said, before the attack. on July 12, that ho was going on a pilgrimage to Sainio-Fine. Tbe battlefield was a chaos.' Between DouanJiiont and Souvillo the ground wa« riddled with oiiormous holes twenty "to forty leet in diameter and more. iand ro.ids, meidows, villages, and -trenches had disappeared. On the 13th, the day of the attack. .a month's rain had given the final, "touch to the misery and desolation or the scene. A preliminary French reconna-is^p.nco was made in tho direction of the shrine: It was reociwul with heavy riflo and maxinrfire. Two officers and sixteen men were killed; "but the reeom:.aissauee had done its work. "Word was sent to tho gunners and the Gorman line was; dehisced "With fire. Meanwhile Fre<wh infanlvvy felt tho-ir way along tho-posi-'"tion, seeking for the weak points, /aiid meeting tiic enemy . again and again at c'oso quartei*s, with tho grenade. Tho woods were swept by patrols. A despatch-bearer, unarmed, suddenly came across two Germans. . The Germans had thoir rifles, "but they surrendered. He took them to tho post of command, and there .it was noticed that tlicir rifles were loaded." "Why did you. bring them in^' he was asked.', "without making them unload . their rifles?" "I was afraid that it would remind -them that their rifles were loaded," was the reply. Soon after a German ■shell fell on that particular post, and. pari- of it collapsed, burying two men in. Us ru:ns. They were, probably •crushed 'out of recognition, but their set-to work to dig them out. After.-four hours' desperate toil one man was found 'still brea thing, lying on his comrade's corpse. A docior at once wanned his way down' through the splintered trunks and •crumbling earth and gave the dying 7iian some morphine to dull iris pain. At last the rain stopped and the sun •came out again, and with the heat en me the terrible torture of thirst. While it rained water could be collected in canvas sheets, but with the sun all moisture vanished, and the ■enemy's barrage fire made n\\ communication with the rear impossible. _ On the night of the 17th it was decided that a further reconnaissance on the Sainte-Fine should be> mad©. It was led by a lieutenant, who in civilian lifo, was an .employee of a great Paris bank, and it consisted of about sixty men. Tfce French cropt forward from to tioxje until they were within two vans'of --the Germans. Then they sprang to their, feet :\nd hui'lo-d blieir greniides at the enemy, who- surrendered or took to their heals. In ten mintttea the •position was theii'S.' The- French took'refuge in a little cellar which Was all that remained of the ancient •chapel. There they were completely ■cut off by barrage fire, -a.nd it was not unli! th>-night of the 18th that the lieutenant was able to announce that "he had succeeded in his mission and. ■that he was digging himself in;