Second Edition In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 72, 1 March 1916, Page 6

Second Edition In the West

WAVE AFTER WAVE OF GERMANS. PITILESS FRENCH FIRE. GERMAN LOSSES OVER 130,000. [United ITtEiss Association.] (.Received 8.35 a.m.) London. February 'll). “Eye-witness” adds: The wave of Germans presses on, and the whole valley is converted into a volcano with its exit stopped by a barrier of slain. After a series of attacks of this mi- . tore, Ridge 335, in front of Douaumont, was carried, and the bloody tide of battle lapsed at the base of Douaiimont. The attack melted under the pitiless French fire, but ultimately the seventh wave carried the i Twenty- , fourth Brandenbnrgers up to the crest. When at the neat point of the'furnace. all notion ol the losses seems to have been engulfed in an orgy of but- 1 chery. When a famous French Corps, launched a success!id counter-attack, infantry of Zouaves* bounded forward* from Beaumont Fort and ran and eon-1 verged on the plateau held by the! Germans. Brigade alter brigade dash-1 ed up, but instead of making straight, for the ruined fort, they separated into two, columns and enveloped the position, cutting oft' and ultimately making prisoners of a few Brandenbnrgers. From the heights on the other side of Ornes the Kaiser watched wave ' after wave of German infantry breaking helplessly against an impassable wall. The losses were terrible, but as fast as they fell,- fresh reserves were brought up for the final attack against the extreme edge ol the French positions at Hardanmont, where there was fearful carnage, and the Germans withdrew, leaving thousands of dead heaped high on the hillside. The Kaiser witnessed his oroken and dispirited brigades retiring under a diabolical fire. The Germap losses to the 27th are estimated at 130,000. NORTH-EAST OF VERDUN. A THREE-DAY SPELL. GERMAN FURY SPENDING ITSELF FEARFUL LOSSES, 45,000 KILLED APPALLING SIGHT OF WOUNDED. 7 „ (Received 12.25 a.m.) London, February 20. On the ninth day of the batch, both official and non-off' ial reports indicate that the fury of the enemy is spending itself. The attack north-east of Verdun has been stationary for three days. Telegrams from Amsterdam state that forty-live thousand Germans have already been killed, and that endless trains with the wounded are arriving at Met/,, Coblenz, Treves, and Cologne. The early enthusiasm of the populace has been damped by tip' appalling sights. One regiment lias been re-formed from the remnant of ten crack regiments. At one time 80UU lay dead on a twomile front at Haiimont. NIGHT ATTACKS REPULSED, DIVERSION PENDING AT WOEVRE. A VILLAGE FIGHT. , ' (Received 12.25 p.m.) Par is, Feb rua ry 29. ( A communique states: Violent, night attacks in the region of Douanmont were everywhere repulsed after hand-to-hand encounters. The Germans appear to he attempting a diversion at Woevre. After intense bombardment, they seized the village of Manhanlles, •and our counter-attack recaptured the outskirts. _ , DOUAUMONT REPORTED RETAKEN. EXCITEMENT IN THE FRENCH LINES. GERMANS CLAIM SUCCESS. (Received 1.0 p.m.) London, February 29. Xon-official messages inist that '.here, was excitement when flie General commanding the reinforcing armies' who were massed in a trench at the | rear, announced that Douanmont had j been retaken, and u ei\- burst from every throat “Vive La France: ’ and all thundered “The Marseillaise.” j Marecel Untin explains that a force of Brandenbnrgers are shut in Fori Douanmont, being closely surrounded on three sides, and they refuse to surrender, booing that a fresh German, ■ attack will drive back the French and enable them to hold the lort or oscap l . A Berlin wireless message •states that the Kaiser telegraphed to the Diet, at Brnndpnbn.rg: “I n ncii rejoice in the new and great strength and loyalty to the death oi the sons of Brandenburg which was displayed in an irresistible storm of attack on • the enemy’s strongest fort. God bless Brandenburg and the entire I'a'tlrei land.” Berlin message's state that under cover of snow storms the Ge nian artillery are ceaselessly shelling the ridges from Douanmont to Cote tff From ard. The French artillorv occupied itself with front line lire, but aopear-

ecl powerless against the Germans artillery behind the front. A Berlin communique states ; Ti last night we counted 228 officers am. 10,575 men as un wounded . prisoners, seventy-eight cannons ',of which sever were' heavy and of the most modern type) and eighty-six machine-guns. Our troops, in Woevre passed Abanconrt Dieppe Blazoe,