HOW VAUX WAS RE-WON.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 4 January 1917, Page 2

HOW VAUX WAS RE-WON.

SPLENDID TRENCH ARTILLERY WORK. The Expert French Commentator writes: The return of our troops to Fort Vaux i s the conclusion of the victory [of October 24 before Verdun, the capital episode of which was the capture of Fort Douaumont, and so our command can say, not without pride, that there remains to-day in the hands of the enemy not one of the permanent defences of the immortal fortress. The front which we now occupy on the right bank of the Mouse is restored exactly to the position of February 24, the third day of th e sudden and formidable German onrush on Verdun. After the Marne, after the Yser, the third German offensive in France has failed lamentably. On the day following the capture of Fort Douaumont the position of the Germans at Fort Vaux became perilous, since our lines bordered both along the western and southern fronts, but the French Staff, sparing of the blood of its soldiers, would not attempt a direct assault upon the position, preferring to have the work done by the artillery. Certainly the recapture of Fort Vaux gave us no glorious cavalry charges pursuing the routed enemy, no brilliant riding clown of the fugitives. Our return to Fort Vaux is a symbol of modern warfare, in which the science of the engineer has placed in the hands of man the most terrible means of destruction. The fort was indeed submitted latterly to an incessant bombardment, in which numerous batteries took part, including some guns of 15J inches. ' At the same time the

INFANTRY APPROACHED NEARER

and nearer the lines of the objective from which it was eventually only 400 yards distant. Under the violence of die infernal German hammering the Germans understood that all resistance was in vain. Crushed under an avalanche of shell, pulverised by the explosions of their own ammunition, the majority of th e inhabitants of the fort were placed hors de combat. The German command had to abandon the extremely murderous fight. Hour ,by hour the garrison found itself reduced by the methodical and implacable bombardment. On the night of November 1 the last survivors left of the fort, and in the communique of Thursday the German Staff admitted a voluntary evacuation. It was the same evening that the French troops., about three companies strong, who had wisely awaited nightfall to enter the place, occupied it without resistance, without suffering any loss. During Friday our troops, following up their advantages, advanced northward to the immediate approaches of the village of Vaux, and, an interesting detail, the Germans attempted ; no counterattack. Already our enemies are trying to diminish the importance of our new victory gained by the superiority of our material, pretending | that the fort had become strategically ' valueless. But it must be remembered that the capture of Fort Vaux was celebrated even more noisily than that of Fort Douaumont in Germany, where the fate of Verdun was regarded as already definitely settled, on the day after June 7, when a handful of heroes, commanded by the valiant Colonel Raynal, had to cease their defence of the redoubt which is illumined with so much glory. It is incontestable, however, that in rcocenpying Fort Vaux we recover an excellent view of the Woevre, and a con- ! venient instrument for surveillance of the troops. And it is a very great success for our arms, as it was a serious cause of uneasiness to see the enemy enter. It is not only an affirmation that the Crown Prince 's enterprise against Verdun has failed, but it is proof tuat the successes of tue Somme do not exclude the possibility of our making fresh attacks. In a word, the new exploits of the army at Verdun attest the indomitable vitality of our race. WHAT VERDUN HAS COST GERMANY. The "Petit Parisien,' ; referring to the attack on Verdun,, says: Such is the pitiable denoument of one of the most formidable enterprises in history, which was entered into with a preparedness hitherto unknown. It entailed eight months of epic fighting, and cost the enemy over half a million men, Vaux alone" accounting for 100,000. M. Marcel Hutin declares that the capture of Vaux signalises the climax of a new and magnificent operation which has U be placed to the credit of France. Three times the Germans have Ttished upon us. The first time <vas in August, 1914, at the Marne; the second in October, 1914, on the Yser; and the third in February, 1910, at Verdun. They suffered characteristic defeats in each instance. The haTd blow at the beginning of the war, with the advance of the enemy under the fire of his big guns, caused us to lose partially ten departments, but each time, since France pulled herself together, her enemies have suffered heavy defeats. There is not an army in the world whose chief has suffered such reverses as those of the Crown Prince, where that chief would have been kept, at his post of command.