HOW WE STORMED THE CHATEAN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 215, 18 February 1915, Page 7

HOW WE STORMED THE CHATEAN

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE FIGHTING. FRENCH OFFICER'S NARRATIVE' The taking of the mining town and chateau of Venuelles, between Bethune and Lens, by French troops after desperate house-to-house fighting was noted in the official communique on December 2 as a "rather sharp engagement." A commandant who was in charge of 1 some of the troops has described the events'of the'fight in detail to a correspondent of the Temps, who notes that there is nothing loft of this little mining town. Thousands of shells litter the streets, many of them unexploded. Little sticks of 'wood mark the presence of these, shells, which arc still liable to explode from concussion. "We have not suffered much, either 1 my troops or myself, during the war to the knife which we carried on against the Germans in this spot for forty-two days, but it has been a stiff »job." said the French commandant. "About October 13 or 14, when we left Philosopho. and reached the first houses of Vermelles, we lost a good'many, but as soon as we got behind the walls of the houses everything'' went well. I had some little, mountain guns which were of great use to me. When we knew that the Germans were in a house in front us only ten or twenty yards away, we bored a hole in the wall and pushed the muzzh' of the gun through. The n we fired and shook them up badly. A solitary field gun which had been entrusted to me was also of great use. We dragged it from house to house as "we fought our wav through the village. Whenever we met a wall thicker than usual. we brought our field gun into action with a couple of melinite shells and blew it down. "The Prussians had fixed a quiekfirer above the porch of the church. I told the gunner to turn his piece o n it, and the first shell blew the gun and its gunners to pieces. "The takine of the park and chateau was more difficult. The Germans were strongly entrenched i„ the park. Underground pasqiifes c""ientcd the chateau with neighboring houses unci • brewery. The brewery was made of reinforced concrete, and served them as a bombproof shelter. We worked up to a big house just in front of the park. From here two underground saps were made, more, than a. hundred yards in length, and the wall of the park was mined. At the snme time we. made breaches in the walls of our houses and prepared to rush to the attack. Our batteries were also instructed to watch for the retreat of the Germans and bombard them. Our guns- were so well served that we knew they could fire at troops fifty yards away from our own men without danger.

FIGHT IN THE CHATEAU. "At eleven o'clock of tlio morning of "December 1 Hie wall of til" nark ivif blown up with a groat explosion. The Germans were onite unprepared. A eomnnny of mv regiment and tbirty native Moroccan troons, with knives in thei>' teeth, dashed through the breaches and invaded the chateau. The Germans, taken by surprise, Wort to defend themselves, and some of them fought verv bravely. "Tn th» cellars we found the officers taking their coffee. They resisted, and ovcrv man was killed. Only one man surrendered. Onr losses were very slight, three dead and a few wounded "We then occupied the German trenches and five days later we turned tli-in out of the brewery, a hundred vards from the chateau. T honed to live in the house attached to the brewery, but mv brother officer in charge of the gun:', who lias himself lived in a straw mud hut, was quite determined that T should not instal myself in such a. comfortable lodging. Tie verv soon blew the house to pieces, and its German garrison wit l ' it. "hi the cellars of th-> brewery we mad" a ."rent haul of ammunition. "A sergeant in .111 v regiment owned eight houses in Vernjelles. three of wide', he built only a year ago. Every on---was demolished by the (ire of our gun--. After we took the place he went to examine them, and was not grcatlv dis. I orbed by the dosfreet ion of them. 'As long as m v people a--e no. ;;:;,! s ~ 11;: .-; r don't mind.' hj,. said. <\Ye can nVavs vr-rt-.' T.ut afton-urd* he vnrrlmil his uerd"'s huu--e and found in the cells the ealcined remains of the old man, his wife and their daughter."