THE VERDUN FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 March 1917, Page 3

THE VERDUN FRONT.

BATTLE RAGED LIKE WHIRLPOOL. MEN FOUGHT HAND TO HAND. London, Jan. 27. The most important engagement on the Verdun front Bince General Nivelle's second surprise attack last November took place on Thursday night, when the troops of the Crown Prince Assailed the French line west of the Meuse. on a front of several miles and succeeded m capturing the mile of trenches on Hill 304, sweeping in 500 prisoners and ten machine guns. Though Berlin claim's the repulse of the furious French counter blows that followed last night's Paris communication states that most of the trenches into which the enemy had penetrated were recaptured on Friday morning. The German losses are stated to have been enormous. All reports from the front agree on the intensity of the attacks and on the destructive character of the artillery bombardment which paved the way for the advance of the German infantry. SPREAD FAN-LTCE. From a point near Haudecourt the "assaulting columns spread out fan-like over the whole front between Avocourt and Dead Man's Hill. Hill 304, the scene' of some of the bloodiest fighting on the Verdun front, was a whirlpool of maddened soldiers, clashing hand-to-hand for the possession of the debris-strewn stretches of earth that had been powerful trench works a few hours before On either side of them raged other battles. There the. diverging German columns had been met with a hail of ma-chine-gun fire by the French troops \rb«had leaped from their positions to to'Vip with grenade and bayonet the t>'- m i p ,\ ranks that had penetrated tK aZa\« ft,* 1,1 1 1 ied Dai;k suddenly over SLand^-^^ 0 "-"

WERE THRUST BACK. , Vrom three of the points under attack the troops of the Crown Prince were thrust back from the field of defeat. Only at one point were they able to storm and hold a part of the enemy's defences. The veteran Westphalian regiments of von Dem Borne held on at Hill 304 and succeeded in consolidating the positions captured by them. The counter blows of the French during the night were of no avail. At dawn this morning they could not be denied however. For a few minutes the violence of the combat of the nignt befo>e was exceeded. Then, with the straggle at its crest, the German ranks crumpled up, and the French returned to possession of most of the lost ground. The German grip on the remaining portions of the line is precarious and flank a»« saults are weakening it every hour. The losses of both sides Were very large, how great it is impossible to estimate from the incomplete reports now at hand. Paris statfs that the ground in front of Avocourt Wood, where the struggle was almost as violent as at Hill 304, was covered with enemy dead when the battle clouds lifted. For the small extent of ground won, the German losses were enormous. It is doubtful if the Crown Prince can afford another such so-called victory in a long time.