In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 42, 24 May 1916, Page 5

In the West.

GERMANS PENETRATE BRITISH FRONT TRENCHES, UNITKD TjUvo;* ASSOCIATION London, May 23. General Sir Douglas Haig reports: —After a heavy bombardment all y—terday, which grew more intense in tiie afternoon, the enemy attacked our position at the north end of the Vhny ridge, and succeeded in penetrating the front line of trenches along 1500 yards to a depth varying up to .400 voids. To-day we subjected the German positions to a heavy bombardment, and sprang mines near Roolintonrt, the Hohenzollern redoubt, and the quarries. The artillery on both sides was active opposite Lons. East of Ypres we obtained direct hits on an enemy battery. East of Blairville one of our aeroplanes was forced to land in the enemy’s lines. GERMANS CLAIM SUCCESS. Amsterdam, May 23 A German communique states: i South-west of Givenchy we captured j several lines of British positions of a length of 2188 kilometres. During the i night counter-attacks were repulsed Eight officers, 220 men, four machineguns and three trench mortars were captured. The enemy suffered sanguinary losses. We stormed the French positions on | the eastern spiirs of Hill 304 and held j thorn against repeated ,attacks. The enemy suffered great losses, also nine , officers and 518 men were taken pri-

manors. The booty captured on the southern slopes at Mort Homme has been increased to thirteen guns and twentyone machine-guns. The French in their third attack gained a footing in the quarry at Vauxhridge. Our air squadrons repeatedly attacked Dunkirk harbor. An enemy biplane foil in the sea and four aeroplanes were placed hors de combat. OFFICIAL NEWS. ■ London, May;23. The High Cohimissionei* reports as follows: In the Argonne our batteries bombarded .energetically Natillois, Montjfancon and Choppy Wood on the left of the Meuse. Wp continued to progress on Monday south of Hill 288. We drove the enemy out of the small work lie has held since Wednesday last in the region west of Mort Homme. We chased the .enemy in several new eleihents of trenches on the right bank. After powerful artillery fire, the infantry carried by assault German positions on a front of two kilometres east of Fort Douaumont. On all the fronts attacked our troops carried the German trenches and penetrated Fort Douaumont, of which the enemy still hold the north part. On the heights of the Mouse at Bouchot Wood, by a siirpiTse attack we cleared, enemy trendies for a length of 300 metres. ALLIES HOLD THEIR OWN. • ENEMY ATTACKS IN MASS FORMATION. 1

HEAVY LOSSES RESULT. The High Commissioner reports:— London, May 23 (4.10 p.m.) The Verdun battle continued with extreme violence throughout the night on both hanks of the Meuse. On the right bank, there were furious counter-attacks on our positions at Hill 304 but they completely failed. West of the Meuse, notably west of Hill 304, the enemy made large employment of flame apparatus, permitting him to penetrate one of our trenches, hut a brilliant return by our troops compelled him to evacuate the position occupied. On the east, uespite intense preparation by artillery, the enemy attack was broken by our fire before reaching our lines. On the right bank, in the sector Thiaumont and Douaumont, the fighting was sanguinary and continual. The enemy, who multiply their massed attacks, in the course of the night suffered enormous losses, but succeeded in reoccupying the trench (Conquered by us north of Thiaumont Farm, notwithstanding that wo [maintained our position in the in[terior fort at Douaumont. Despite lively resistance, we continued to drive out the enemy who now hold only a corner of the north-east fort. On the heights of the Mousey a coup-de-main by us at Cheivalier’s Wood was completely successful. EXHAUSTIVE FIGHTING. NO RESPITE FROM THE GERMANS. Paris, May 23. Since Friday twelve score of Gorman heavy guns have been battering the French positions west and north of Moi t Homme and Cumiores. The ! former centre saw the heaviest fighting. The enemy streamed up a ravine in compact masses from Bcthin- I court and was swept away again and 1 again by the French heavy artillery. , The struggle went on for eight hours, ' the battle alternately favoring one side j and then the other. When night fell on Saturday, after | the exhausting fighting in the pitiless sun, the weary defenders of Mort Homme hoped for a rest, hut the Ger- ; mans gave them no respite. Fresh divisions were hurried from Bethiucourt and rushed into the melee. An i

hour later grey-clad waves of Germans swept up Die shell-tortured slopes of Hill 195 from the west and north, reaching tL i .ruse-strewn crest. The Germans, ela.ted hy this vict'ry, pressed into tne !■': e.ieii e-end line, I,at they were caught in the iron jaws of a counter-attack and roue survived to celebrate the victory. Toe enemy mot w.tlr similar nonsuccess in a desperate attack on H U 30-1, Cumieres, on Sunday, where in tlr> Germans failed to w-.i much ground. It must have cost uieni over fire, thousand men here, while they pa’d an awful price for the three hundred yard? advance nearer Verdun. The Daily Chronicle’s Paris eyewitness says that Saturday’s fighting at Verdun was conducted at some i points by eight successive waves, from 1 60 to 120 yards apart. By the time | the Bavarian Brig ule reached the I French trenches through the curtain i of tiro they had lost do per cent, of ■ their effectives, and the survivors had j to face a rain of grenades and then a 1 terrible line of French bayonets. The-’ Brigade ultimately lost three-quarters j of its strength. ( THE BATTUE OF VERDUN.

FIERCE FRENCH FIGHTING. UNSURPASSABLE VALOR. (Received 8.55 a.m.) Paris, May 23. The Petit Parisian states: The preliminary French bombardment on the right hank of the Meuse lasted for several hours, and wrecked a corps which had been training for months They went to the assault at midday with frenzied ardour. The Germans concentrated their heavy fire, but the courageous French did not waver for an instant, and using the bayonet, they swarmed over the first line. French reinforcement-, were sent up, and passed the destroyed entanglements with a dash equal to the first onslaught to the tune of “The Marseillaise.” The principal assault was on Fort Douaumont, where the attacuers arrived !xt u. 30, penetrating the southwestern rampart, killing all resistors, rind welcoming ,the relieving troops with cries of “victory.” The latter firmly established themselves and ft waited the desperate counter-attacks, which arc sure to follow.

WOUNDED BRITISH PRISONERS FROM GERMANY. 'SPECIAL TREATMENT IN SWITZERLAND. (Received 8.55 a.rn.) Borne, May £3. Most complete arrangements have been made for the reception of the first British prisoners from Germany. Those requiring exceptional treatment will be accommodated in twos or threes in a room and receive the Swiss soldier’s, diet of coffee, bread, cheese, buttpr, jam, soup, meat, and vegetables. The allowance of bread with each meal exceeds the daily allowance in Germany. Local British committees arc supplying the men with underclothing, handkerchiefs, slippers, and toilet requisites. A special committee of British ladies undertakes the washing and mending. The Swiss Red Cross doctors are selecting the men in the Gorman camps. A number of French and Belgian prisoners have already arrived.