In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 72, 1 March 1916, Page 5

In the West.

j GERMAN CAPTURES. GENERAL HAIG’S REPORT. i I NITKIJ . "IKHH AUSOCIAVION. 1 London, February ; 28. A Berlin communique claims a gain on a ti'om, of 101)0 yards at Naviriu Linn. and to have captured id()() prisoners, a mortar, and nine machineSims. (amoral Sir Dougins Haig reports: Wo repulsed a small attack south-east of Albert. The enemy during the night sprang a mine at La Bassee Canal, doing some damage to our trenches. GERMAN ATTACK SLACKENING. Paris, February 20. A German regiment was surrounded at Douaumont. j A communique says: North of Verdun the activity of the German artillery is still great, except west'of the Aten.se, where it is slackening. The Germans attempted partial attacks, but our fire and counter-attacks drove them back. We wore engaged in hand- | to-hand lighting west of Douaumont, with the enemy,., and he was driven out of a small redoubt where he had established himself. Two enemy attacks in the Fresnes and Woevre sector completely failed. There is great artillery activity in Lorraine, in the Reillon, Domevrc, and Badonviller sectors. i 37TV' V| *?j|F * WORK OF THE FRENCH. London, February 28. The French, with- heavy and light [artillery, ploughed bloody furrows through the enemy’s closed ranks, uu- ! til they were gradually thinned and finally exhausted. The German armies gave way and abandoned Champ Xeuvillo, Poivre Hill, and Douaumont. Then we resumed the advance and remained master of the held. The heroic Frenchmen have re-established themselves in a formidable position. IN THE MEUSE VALLEY. THE FRENCH RETIREMENT. ENEMY CANNOT BREAK "THROUGH. London. February 28. The Daily Chronicle’s Paris correrpondeht says that the arrest of hostilities on Thursday night proved the only interval in the fierce lighting. The French thought that the enemy were wearying, but the ‘Germans renewed the assault with great vigor. The Lno embraced thc ; .Meuse heights cast of Mount Fauqjttn, j'erges woods, and the towns of Malincourt and Bahineourt. The French at Forges being divided, the abandonment of Samogneux and Champ Xeuvillo, which it was impossible to hold owing to the gunfire from the heights,' gave the front a serious form of a double loop. The Mouse valley is nearly a mile wide and is somewhat flooded. It is covered by German guns from Forges and by the French guns from Cumiere and Coredafalon. The position was therefore seen to he .untenable in strength by either side. From a three mile range on the cliffs above Cumiere the French can rake the ground which they were forced to abandon across the river, while they themselves are under fire from the north and east. The French, after Saturday’s readjustment of the line, are in a higher position, with Douaumont immediately south. Saturday’s line lay strong and level from behind Champ Neuville, eastward over the Poivre crest to Dou aumont plateau. The line has been withdrawn rather less than four miles in six days. The fighting has been unexampled m seventy, but the prize whereat the Germans arc aiming, namely, the breaking of the line, still eludes them. THE GLORIOUS 26th. STORY OF THE ATTACK. VALOR OF THE FRENCH. Paris, February 29. La Liberty's correspondent says that the 26th was one of the most glorious of days for the soldiers ol France. During eighteen hours our soldiers were exposed to a deluge of shot and shell, of such intensity that an 1870 veteran officer said it was impossible for human beings to remain in such a hell. Vet our men remained and the enemy gave way. Our soldiers did not flinch in the iron rain. GERMANS SACRIFICED. The Germans leaders with incredible THERE IS ONLY ONE SANDER EXTRACT, and that is why the people insist on getting it, and why thev reiect the many inferior suhstitu bes' and the cheap and frequently harmful “pi.-c as goods.. The GENUINE SANDER EXTRACT is free iron, the objectionable qualities of the common eucalyptus oils and tlie so-ealled “extracts.” SANDERS EXIRACI iis the most powerful antiseptic and healing remedy that can be used with Lafotv;’ it prevents and cures all in Winns diseases. influenza. colds, fever, small-pox, diphtheria- flatu- ' lence, dyspepsia, diarrhoea dysentry. ; unu Lnlney troubles. s>ANDLH S EXTRACT, applied to ulcers, burns, snrains cuts, inflamed and itching ckiu gives immediate rslief and cures permanently. Th.ee drones in a teaspoonful .of end liver oil M a speahe for all ch.onic lung anections; meumatisa ad neuralgia are quickly diead hv it. Reliability, effectiveness iu 1 safety are the great attribute* o« BAVAER’B EXTRACT.

prodigality sacrificed thousands. There was one critical moment in the middle of the forenoon, following the taking of Douaumont. The Germans gained c looin our inner entrenchments, which the Ercnch were ordered to hold to ihe death. WAN ES OF GERMAN INFANTRY. ,\ furious attack was hurst upon them by enormous masses, in successive waves. Ihe German infantry dashed forward In closed ranks, stivtcaing oinihc-dy. It was a surprise attack,which might decide the fate ot \ erdun. Our batteries kept up a ceaseless lire and ravaged the enemy. Wo then launched a vigorous counter'd tack. With irresistible dash our soldiers threw themselves on the Germans. The struggle was dreadfully murderous, hut the French proved their superiority iu the open ground, and the foremost ranks of the enemy wore thrown into confusion and fell hack slightly. Wo followed up this advantage, and the Germans were overwhelmed to the westward, and abandoned the mined fort, and a cry of triumph hurst from the French ranks. THE TIDE WILL TURN. I Mr Marcel Hutin, in the Echo de Paris, says that the battle is being fought with various fluctuations. If a wall of troops, ready for any sacrifice, stems for two days more the most colossal weight ever driven against dejfensive positions, the tide will turn definitely, and the enemy’s attack will jhe broken. I The latest calculations are that 800.000 Germans are engaged in the offensive. AN INFERNO. An eye-witness', who was stationed at an observation post, describes the attack on Douaumont. Shells of every calibre were bursting with a tremendous hubbub, and thousands of projectiles were flying in all directions, whistling, howling, and moaning, uniting in one infernal uproar. Clouds of smoke, earth and snow were raised for miles by the bursting shells. The enemy’s shell expenditure exceeded anything imaginable. When the Germans’ fire slackened it revealed an indescribable scene. Nothing remains, and everything is levelled, the earth being flat. “In the valley beyond, a dark mass of German infantry move on the snowy ground, in packed formation. We telephone to the batteries and the ffi ing begins again. It is a hellish sight. A deluge of hellish shells is poured on the enemy, and the glasses reveal a madened crowd, covering tne eaith with blood and falling over one another, The ground is dotted with heaps of bodies, and the shells are carving awful gaps in the human ranks.” GERMAN STORY OF DOUAUMONT £L‘cL. London, February 28. German was correspondents at the front describe Douaumont as being entirely destroyed by the concentrated fire of 17in. guns, which blew the. steel and concrete cupolas to fragments. French prisoners were dazed, and state that the terrific fire quickly made the fort untenable. FRENCH VERY WIDE AWAKE Colonel Repington says that tne French were not caught napping. General Joffre has never had larger reserves or better placed security. The Kaiser and General Folkenhayn have adopted a desperate remedy, suiting their imperial interests. Opinion in France and England is calm, and it. is hoped that public and political clamor will not force General Joffre to a premature counter-offensive. It is probable that the main French reserves haVe not yet moved, being confident that the local resedves are sufficient. After the German attack is exhausted our time will come, and waiting will not lesson the weight of the blow. AN EXPERT’S VIEWS* .Mr J. L. Garvon, editor of the Observer, comments that the Germans knew that by the end of the autumn thev would reach the limit ot their e.nral and military endurance. Threefifths of their fighting males have gone, and they are faced with the necessity of staking everything m a despeiate effort. We must, for the next three months, be prepared tor everything that Germany may contrive to risk on land, on sea. and in the air It is the Gemufti war dynasty s last chance. The Verdun offensive us the beginning of the climax on land, and the Kaiser’s visit to the fleet is the strongest hint, that a climax is coming nll the sea. AH France waits spellbound and unafraid. THE OFFICIAL REPORT. The H igh Commissioner reports ; London February 29 (U. 35 a - m *] The French heavy artillery shelled the enemy transport routes in the reMon of Wood Cheppy. We exploded a mine at Hill 285 and now occupy the crater. North of Verdun artillery activity continues. The Germans a - tempted several attacks, which were disorganised and repulsed by our hie ami counter-attacks. West of loi Douaumont the French are engaged in hand-to-hand lighting. They expelled the enemy from the rodmid they had succeeded in occupying. Woevre attacks on the French completely failed.

TALES OF BLOODSHED. I I UNFORGETTABLE SCENES. : HUMAN FRAGMENTS HURLED IN THE AIR. I I (.Received 9.35 a.m.) Paris, February 25). A refugee who witnessed the kittle says he could not forgot the fightful spectacle. It was the most horrible he had over seen. The French seven-ty-lives heaped ttie enemy’s ranks in tangled masses, and human fragments were hurled everywhere. Searchlights illuminated the field like daylight. The Germans got into a sort of basin, which was splenddily placed for a wholesale massacre. Thousands lie there who will not see Germany again. I' ENEMY FORCES, 750,000. Other accounts state that upwards of 750,000 Germans are northward of (Verdun, the majority being on Botitie Neck Ridge in the Meuse heights. Eleven hundred Germans and guns are concentrated on this ledge. THE BRANDENBURCERS’ LOSSES. I The Brandenburgers’ losses in •storming Douaiimont exceed those when the Germans threw themselves against the Liege forts. SHOCKING DETAILS. SHUDDERING MEMORIES. A soldier who fought at Dimes said : (The order came on Thursday to prepare to retire as the position was liecoming untenable. The retirement .began on Sunday. Skirmishing, we reached Aaucourt, and then our artillery began to roar. It makes one shudder to look back at what happendjeel. The German battalions advanced in close order, 25 abreast, and our seventy-fives and heavier guns rained shrapnel and high explosives. It was as if a reaper went through them with the scythe. High explosives flung limbs high into the air. We were smeared ajt some points with human fragments, which almost fell on us. In front of two small sections, the enemy fell in hundreds. Our quickfirers were posted every five yards, and blood ran from the ears of some of us. THE FATE OF A DIVISION. Lc Journal publishes an episode which occurred at Canres wood, to which the Germans greatly aspired. ■The French engineers mined the entire wood, and when a German division swarmed up the French ran, feigning a retreat, and the Germans poured into the wood, yelling with savage triumph. When the French were clear, the mines were exploded. There was a terrible" boom, and then a great silence ensued in the wood. The division had been wiped out, but our men were hysterical with delight. I THE FIGHT FOR VERDUN. Tht High Commissioner reports ; London, February’29 (1.20 p.m.) North of Verdun ■acre intense bombardment has continued in the sector . ast of the Meuse. hi the course of the night, '.’iolcnt local attacks were renewed several times in the region of the village of Douaumont, and were brought almost to hand-to-hand combat, but were repulsed by the French. At the Woovre the Germans succeeded. after intense artillery preparation, in capturing the village of Manheulles. An immediate counter-at-tack brought the French to the western border of the village, which they hold under fire. In the Lorraine, the enemy penetrated certain small portions of an advanced trench, whence he uas chased almost immediately. Nothing noteworthy occurred on the rest of the front.