A WALL OF STEEL.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1916, Page 7

A WALL OF STEEL.

FRENCH RESISTANCE AT DOUAUMONT. A FOURTEEN DAYS' ORDEAL. [From Mr. 11. Warner Allen, tie representative of the British press with the Fiench Army.] West of Douaumont, March 20. It is impossible *o describe whether it was in the first battle of Verdun, which lasted from February 21 to February 26, or in the second, which lasted from the latter date till March 10, that the French troops displayed the most glorious heroism and indomitable powers of resistance. In the first battle a certain army corps, which included soldiers of all classes, from the 1915 contingent of men of the Territorial Reserve, resisted for five days and five nights the attacks of an enemy with a numerical superiority of four to one. The soldiers knew that it was their duty to gain time and play the part of covering troops, and so untiringly they struggled on, exacting a heavy price from the enemy for every yard of ground gained. On the 20th these men were worn out and fresh troops took their place. They held the line until March 10, and they are now for the first time returning to the rear, so that we are able to obtain their personal account of the terrible struggle. On the left of the village of Douaumont a certain infantry brigade has opposed to the German assaults a wall of steel that nothing could break. It is commanded by a yoimg colonel, who like General Foch and General Maud'huy, had in time of peace made a brilliant reputation as a professor at the Ecole de Guerre. .Brought up at full speed to the front, this brigade was hurled forward on the 28th to relieve the worn-out troops who were defending the all-im-portant position of Douaumont. Its commander at once decided that the only tactics possible were an immediate offensive. Any delay under the terrible bombardment could only be fatal, and the enemy promptly discovered that there were fresh troops before him.

AN OLD SERGEANT. For feurteen days these trtops remained under the enemy's fire. Four times they met the furious assaults of the Germans, and four times they not only repelled the enemy but followed up their success with counter-attacks. On the first day officers and men vied together in deeds of heroism. Wounded soldiers refused to go to hospital, or, if sent back against their will, insisted on rejoining their comrades as soon as their wounds were bandaged. The colonel, to his surprise, found an old sergeant whose white beard suggested that his place was away behind the lines. "What are you doing here?" he asked. 'Hon colonel/' was the reply, "my son has been killed. , I have come "to avenge him." After the attack on tho 26th, the enemy retired, and the six following days the brigade set to work to dig themselves in, under a terrible bombardment. The Germans attempted no further infantry attacks, although they had on the spot one pf the finest regiments of their amy. It was not till the fourth that they ventured to return to the charge. Once again a French counterattack threw back the enemy in disorder, and for four more days the French concentrated their efforts on strengthening their position. Then, on the 10th, the Germans, seeing that the French lines were fast becoming impregnable, determined to put an end to this stubborn resistance, and throughout the day hurled wave after wave of assault against them. The first attack was preceded by a tremendous bombardment, but it was met and broken by the French infantry. An hour after a second assault, two hours after a third assault, and the French line still held. Finally, the enemy attempted his heaviest blow—an assault in column of fours, which was to break through the thin French line like a battering ram. "Then," said one of the officers who took part in the battle, "everything we possessed opened upon them, particularly our 75's and machine guns, and half an hour after it was over. Thousands of German corpses covered tho ground, and we still lipid the position that had been entrusted to us. The next day we were relieved, and our regiments marched through a village in tho roar with the same magnificent dash and discipline as though they were just returning from repose." THE THANKS OF FRANCE. Among the bodies left in front of the French lines the numbers of six different regiments were identified. . The two re-, giments who had held so gloriously richly deserved the congratulations of France, which a few days later were brought to them at their cantonments by the' Generalissimo. TRUTH ABOUT MORT HOMME. Paris, March 22. Information which I have received from most trustworthy sources gives a' categorical contradiction to the statements concerning Mort Homme published in the German press. The enemy newspapers, after using ambiguous phrases concerning this hill, and confusing the hill marked on the Staff map as Hill 265 with Hill 205, which is the Mort Homme, now asserts that the Germans occupy both these hills. This assertion is entirely unfounded. The truth is that during an attack repulsed on' March 14 on tho front of over two miles and a-half, the enemy succeeded in effecting a footing in a portion of a first line trench on Hill 205. Since then the French troops have never ceased to hold (Inreceding slopes of Hill 2(i5. As for Hill 205, the Germans did not succeed in reaching it at any moment of the engagement. The Germans themselves havo proved the accuracy of the foregoing statement by endeavoring on the 15th to capture the Mort Homme, that is, Hill 295. Tho attack proved a complete failure, and the enemy claimed in his despatches that it was the French who had attacked. The confused manner in which the German press had discussed these engagemepts is well illustrated by the following quotation from the Frankfurter Zeitung of March 16:— The twin height, 2G5 and 295, commands the bend of the Meuse, between Regneville and Catnieres, since it rises some 300 ft above the Meuse and the stream of Forges. From the map in our possession we cannot be certain if the expression "Mort Homme" applies to both hills, but it is certainly probable.