In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 8, 12 April 1916, Page 5

In the West.

INTENSE 3 0 Fvk SARD M ENT. Ui.iruirPuKs- \asboiATiOK. Paris, April 11. A communique states: There is a growingly intense bombardment wcst- , ward of the Meuse. The Germans, at noon, launched an attack, debouciiing from the Hauconrc-Bethincourt region against bur positions southward of Forges brook. Notwithstanding the ; violence of the assaults, costing the enemy very great losses, our whole line is intact. Our curtain of fire stopped attempted attacks at the Mort Hom-me-Cumieres front. The enemy, in the evening, repeatedly attacked ovu positions at Caillette wood, but were everywhere repulsed. An airman brought down a Fokker in our lines in the Verdun district on Saturday, and special guns on Sunday brought down another German in our lines at Woevre. A third Fokker landed undamaged in the Champagne district, and the pilot was captured.

GENERAL HAIG’S REPORT. London, April 11. General Sir Douglas Haig reports ; We captured the mine crater that was remaining in German hands at St. Eloi, and ourselves in the German trenches running south-west from the .crater ? v ; OFFICIAL FRENCH REPORT. "A BLOODY DEFEAT.” The High Commissioner reports:London, April 11 (6.30 p.m.) The French official report says: On tlie left bank of the Meuse, the Ger-* mans yesterday, late in the eveningj launched at Dead Man Hill an attack, accompanied by liquid fire, which debquched from Crow’s Wood. It was repulsed by our curtain of fire and infantry fire, except to the east ) where the enemy gained a footing in some small portion of the trenches. On the right bank the Germans attacked [ipi of the night jin order to drive us out of the trendies taken during, thAdast few days smith of the village of -Douaumont. These attempts were likewise accompanied [by sprays of* iliquiij, Thjp' Germans sustained a bloody defeat. We brought down a German aeroplane this morning, which fell in our lines. Two of the enemy aviators were killed in the fall. COLONEL REPINCTON’S VIEWS. GERMANS’ LOST OPPORTUNITY.

PRESENT DIFFICULTIES. i , (Received 9Ha-.m.) % | v * ; Lond|n, April 11.; Colonel Repington, the military axpert on The Times says: The Germans have not had the wit to make the most of their successes to secure faV(|rable peace. Their military .pride w|is the obstacle, and now they are neither unable to deliver a successful general offensive in the west nor to recommence operations in Russia i without unduly weakening themselves on tlie British and Italian fronts. ■ The German situation needs 'a desperate remedy t which may either be sought by an attack in Flanders or the attempted invasion of Britain.

GERMANS' MASSED FORMATION. SUPERIORITY OF THE FRENCH. SEVERAL ATTACKS DEFEATED. (Received 9 a.m.) Paris, April 11.

The moment the Germans on, Sunday leapt from the trenches and were rushing against the Avocourt-Bethin-court. sector, the French artillery opened a furious fire against their dense formation. The enemy came through the woods over the, plateau along the ravines, droping in hundreds, but the immediately reformed, and returning to the charge were thrice repulsed. Thrice they returned hut the only results was a futile carnage. Even more violent was a simultaneous struggle around the village of Bethincourt. The Crown Prince, it is evident, is restive to carry Northorame at any cost. His thirty thousand were hero divided into two sections, the stronger attacking frontally and the remainder trying to force a passage between Cumieres and the Meuse. Both attacks developed into desperate hand-to-hand contest, both sides fighting ilke madmen. The Frenchmen again proved their superiority. When the conflict subsided, the Germans yielded and while a battalion was attempting a flank movement by Cumieres, l it was practically wiped out. General Petain’s strategical withdrawal from Bethincourt heightened the enemy’s hopes. Finding a vulnerable point, the enemy was so confident that J, e made, several attacks in close formation in broad daylight, which gave the the French artillery a splendid opportunity to break the advance before it became dangerous. The French artillery in new positions covered the ground whenever the enemy were advancing and the three attacks, each one on a grand scale, failed.

. VERDUN OFFENSIVE NOT YET FINISHED. London, April 10. The Paris press agrees that the A erdun offensive is not yet finished. General Cheffils, writing in Le Gaulois, says there is every indication that the Germans will continue the offensive until they are demoralised, which will mean the commencement of a French offensive elsewhere. | M. Marcel Hntin thinks that the I poor results on the west and east of The Meuse will cause th» Gormans to make big efforts to reach Verdun through St. Mihiel. GERMANS MUTINY. London, April 10. The Central News’ correspondent afc Amsterdam reports that the remnant of a German battalion that was recently at Douaumont was ordered to return to the firing line. Many refused to go again into “that hell,” and forty of the mutineers were shot as an example. LACK OF ABLE-BODIED FRENCHMEN. London, April 10. Senator Humbert writes in the Paris Journal that what has strained France’s resources is the lack of ablebodied men. We need more to fill up the gaps. As for our allies, to-day they sav that France has worked foY them all; let them all work for and with her, ■