VERDUN.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1916, Page 5

VERDUN.

A TREMENDOUS CONFLICT. ALL ALONG THE ROUTE. A VERITABLE MASSACRE. Paris, May 25. A semiofficial statement says:—The fighting at Verdun continues with the fiercest violence. The fighting on Wednesday assumed a desperation not readied since the stivggle began. The German command determined at all cost to obtain a result and was more than ever prodigal in sacrificing men. The Bavarians at Douaumont made repeated untiring and desperate assaults The French infantry made a veritable massacre, .showing marvellous bite in their resistance, against which the most furious assaults were successively nroken. Eve-a-mlly the Germans, at ihe end of the day, penetrated the fort. The present conflict surpasses all its predecessors. it is really a general battle, which v v;as begun on the French initiative with the attack on Fort Douaumont, and may be decisive. The slopes; east and north of the fort are covered with German corpses. A communique states:—On Wednesday night wt progressed with hand •jrenades in the thickets immediately eastward of Cumieres. The enemy gained a footing in a trench nortiward of Haudromont quarries. There was a continuous violent 'bombardment from both sides in the Douaumont .region without infantry action. A SERIES OF ATTACKS. REPULSED WITH HEAVY LOSSES. VIOLENT ARTILLERY FIRE. ' Received May 26, 7 p.m. Paris, May 25. A communique states that the Germans' series of attacks at five o'clock, between Haudromont wood and Thiaumont farm were all repulsed with heavy losses, except at one point, where the enemy carried a trench element. The artillery destroyed a German depot at Handicourt. Violent artillery attacks on Hill 804 and Deuauniont continue. HOW DOUAUMONT FELL. A TERRIBLE CARNAGE, FRENCH WAITING TO RECAPTURE THE FORT; Received May 26, 11 p.m. , London, May 26. The Paily Mail's Paris correspondent says that the French weakness at Douaumont fort lies in the tangle of ravines from Lavauehe Hill, which.terminate the base on the north-western salient of the fort. When the Frci.ch recaptured the fort, the Crown Prince brought up 120,000 troops from Valenciennes and Cambria, but the attack was still a failure. At dawn on Wednesday the Crown Prince ordered another operation, and hastened forward finally 50,000 Bavarians, who attacked on a front of three thousand yards. The storming parties were so dense that they choked the wines. ■ The French had *he exact range, and every guns within a space of 10,000 yards was trained on the narrow corridors, the French meanwhile sheltering behind the luined walls of the craters. The German artillery made if almost impossible to get supplies of ammunition, which were running low, so the French retreated to previously prepared trenches on the southern rlopes of the fort, where they are await'ng a favorable moment to sally forth and recapture the fort. A TERRIBLE EFFECT. THE HUGE VERDUN LOSSES. In a letter sent by a neutral correspondent to the London Times is the following interesting passage:— "Verdun is the greatest advertisement the Allies have ever had in neutral countries. In Germany it had a terrible effect. "A Dutch friend of mine went the other day to Cologne to see some relations of his wife. He was not allowed to enter the city, but 'had 'to stay at the station. His relations were sent for and they were allowed a short interview in the presence of an officer. "Why? The city was in an uproar. The people saw the enormous masses of wounded arriving from Verdun, and clamored for the end of the war. "Troops had to be summoned, and rifle fire was heard at the station, as well as wild shouting from the Domplatz (Cathedral Square), which is not far from the station. This is all my friend knows about it. He was bundled back into a train and had to leave. ' "I do not wish to exaggerate the importance of such scenes, but the feeling they disclose is certainly not without significance." GERMAN SUCCESSES CLAIMED. Amsterdam, May 25. A Gesman communique claims that they captured 850 prisoners ,and fourteen guns in Caillette wood, 1 and also captured a quarry southward of Haudromont farm.