FIGHTING AT VERDUN.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1917, Page 3

FIGHTING AT VERDUN.

GERMANS DISPIRITED. : London, December 13. A significant feature of the Verdun jj fighting was the apparent absence of i German reserves. Accounts agree that the dispirited Germans were beaten before the' Start >f the fighting; they fought only with their artillery, and with that wildly. Then trenches were carried most _ easily. .Snow fell heavily . on the battlefield on Saturday, and the ground \va* like a bog, making it impossible to dig jrenches, and the French troops' heroism in retaining the ground won 'was more :onspieuous than in the capture of it, as the evacuation of the wounded and tho transport of supplies was most difficult. ■British papers acclaim tho victory as evidence that at a moment of international crisis France's soldiers have proved her best ■ambassadors, restoring the war to its true perspective. The papers also point out that the Germans' indecisive success in Ronmania has in no way relieved the threat of the East and West, and conclude that the Allies may contemplate the future with quiet minds.