In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 83, 14 March 1916, Page 6

In the West

CENERAI. HAIC'S REPORT. Uniwd P»bs» Association LontMn^Marc,h f l2. General Sir Douglas Haig reports: —The enemy sprung four mines near Hohenzollern Re,dqubt, and grenade fighting ensued.' There were few casualties and little damage was done to our trenches. There is a heavy artillery bombardment on both sides about Ypre'si* **f ■*"•'• " ' *"' i * GERMAN CLAIMS TO SUCCESS. A German communique says: We exploded mines, occupying the craters therefrom, north-eMijWjard ; | j jj| | - , ]S euville. The enemy' successfully attacked our sector westward of the Meusc, but did not reach our new positions on the heights east\vai;4,o;f] l There is only violent 'artillery work in the Woevre. The total of our prisoners has reached 20,700, and Ave have also captured 189 guns and 232 machine-guns. The French repeatedly attacked Ober-. sept, but did not regain their former positions and were bloodily repulsed. ALLIED OFFENSIVE PROBABLE. Paris, March 12. Reviewing the twenty-one days' fighting, at 'Verdun, the 'hopelessness of a German victory means that a new stage of the war is opening, the Allies taking over the'offensive when they reach their top strength. A communique says:—We carried out a destructive fire on the enemy's works at Maureourt, southward or the Somme, and in the Nouvron region. There have been no infantry actions northward of Verdun, but the bombardment is rather violent on both sides on the two banks of the Meuse. . Our heavy artillery shelled the enemy who were assembling in a ravine north of Poivre Hill and thj batteries west of Louvemont. We wrecked the trenches in Senonei regipn. Military experts emphasise that General Petain is not prepared to sacrifice thousands of men as uselessly as the Germans are doing. Every French retirement since the outset of the' attack was. not due to inability 'to hold .the position, but because it was not worth holding at'such cost.. Further retreats are foreshadowed, if necessary, for the same reason, inasmuch as General Jotfre knows bowmen count, and will count increasingly in the final phase of the war.