ANOTHER-HEAVY BOMBARDMENT.

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 2888, 7 March 1916, Page 2

ANOTHER-HEAVY BOMBARDMENT.

FRENCH STILL HOLD DOUAU ! MONT OUTSKIRTS.

AND ARE SANGUINE OF THE RESULT. «_ KI.UITKIO TEhXUHM'H- -roi-TRIH'II. I'EK IMII4BB ASSOCIATION. Paris, March' 0. A communique says: A very violent, bombardment took place between ilardreiiiont und Douaumont, but the enemy did not renew attacks. We still hold the outskirts of Dmiuumont. The Germans attacked east of Vacber au Ville. but. were completely repulsed. Our aeroplanes bombed Coiiflaus station. "THE DEVIL OF METZ." NEW GERMAN COMMANDER. Paris. March (i. General yon flaseler bus arrived to assume command under tho Kaiser. The Gaulois describes yon llaselcr as a sinister puppet popularly called "the devil of Metz;." He is brutal jind <!ceoMt,rio and onJy (it for slaughter. He taught the Kaiser and Grown Prince swordsmanship.

WHAT THE ENEMY HAS GAINED. AND WHAT 111. HAS JAJST. London. March 5. The l.okal An/.eiger declares that since February 21. tho Germans have gained"l7o square miles in the Vermin offensive, which i.s four times what Ihe French gained in their September offensive, it adds that the Josses were relatively small. On the other hand it is pointed out that, 1700 Germaiis wore buried at Beaumont alone yesterday, while eight long trains reached Cologne carrying guns disabled at Verdun, and four German army corps have, been withdrawn from Pussia to replace the gaps made in the ranks at Verdun.

STRUGGLE EXTENDS

IIISAVY ENEMY BOMBARDMENT

London, March .">. A Paris communique states: The struggle which was. localised at the village of Douauinont has been extended. The enemy at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening, after a violent bombardment, vigorously attacked our lines from Hois d'Haudremont to Fort Douaumont, but was repulsed by a curtain of artillery and infantry fire. The bombardment was continued during the night with somo intensity along the whole front eastward of the Meuse and westward of Dead Man and Goose hills. DOUAUMONT CHANGES HANDS. ENI.MY BOSSES VERY HEAVY. NEW BATTALIONS COMIC UP AND ARE SWEPT BACK. London. March 5. The Daily Chronicle's Paris correspindent says Uiat-Dpuaumnnt village changed hands maiiv times. The Prandon burgers. Pomeranians, and Hanoverian reinforcement 1 - debouched from the norfh-wesl, and north-east, convergwig on Douaumont and'Vaux. The enemy losses wero so heavy that, new battalions had to bo brought up, but were swept back. As the weather is freezing cold tho wounded are bound to suffer unspeakable agonies. The enemy, in attacking Vaux, reached the barbed-wire entanglements, but were met with a terrific (ire from 757s and mitrailleuses. There aro 4000 corpses ly in" near the eiilanglcmenis. Many Prussians had to bo driven" by their ofheers with revolvers. Tbey climbed over the piles of corpses of their comrades, and were mowed down. MUCH TRIED DOUAUMONT. AGAIN TAKEN AND RE-TAKEN. London; March' G. After several failures, th-7 enemy attacking Douaumont on Thursday penetrated Ihe village street, bringing the, extremity of their line within the broken walls] The French recaptured the village on Friday. while the Germans on" Saturday again penetrated the northern end. A violent bombardment of the western battlefield wa.s meanwhile kept up by the Germans' guns on Montfaucon and Forgchill. THE GERMAN VERSION.

WHY THEY RETrRI.D FROM A TRENCH.

London, March 0.

A German communique states: The French on Saturday evening opened a heavy fire on several points, particularly 'between the Meuso and Moselle, where, the French artillery bombarded the Douauinont sector with special violence. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, we evacuated a trench north-east of Badonviller.

VERDUN NOT LIKELY TO FALL

GERMANS SUFFER CRUEL LOSSES.

WAR ENTHUSIASM HAS EVAPOR ATED.

Loiido.n March <>

The Times publishes an interesting desnateh from Lord Northeliffe (owner of the Daily Mail and the Times) dated "Before Verdun.- Saturday." Lord Northeliffe says the evidence of German deserters shows that the attack was intended for a month or two later, when the ground was dry. A premature spring hastened the plans. The Germans made many faults, the same as ours at Gallipoli. By closing the Swiss frontier, the French were fully warned. The French losses have been insignificant, whereas prisoners, estimate the losses of German companies at one-third their total effectives. All available indications suggest that the Germans in 13 days lost" at least 100.000 iv killed, wounded and prisoners. Lord Northeliffe says the French have reduced the motor transport to a science. The French are. utilising thousands of miles of poplar and liuielincd roads for mechanical transport af a. speed of Jo miles an hour. On one road Lord Northeliffe counted 20 motor convoys, each of a hundred waggons. A 'cor Ia in one of the discoveries ol the wnr is still in his fifties, while most of his staff are much younger. He resembled Lord Roberts, fbou'di of larger build. We. discussed the Australians. Canadians, and Ihe new British army. The inspection of --prisoners revealed remarkably poor physique. All declared that enthusiasm over the war has long since evaporated. Jt is unlikely that Verdun will be taken. So far. the French have suffered a comparatively small loss of ground, and have warded off attack:? by armies outnumbering them originally threefold. AN ASTOUNDING INCIDENT.

AVHEN' Till. OI'TICLRS TURNED Tl-ir._.R BACKS.

Lord Northeliffe tells of an astounding incident as a result of a sudden thaw at .Verdun. The French and German trenches wero so close that- the fighters \yere within hearing of each other. When flic thaw set in and the hard frozen parapets had melted and .subsided, two long lines of men stood Lure to face. There were two possibilities--cither wholesale murder or a temporary unofficial truce while a lresh parapet was erected. The situation was unique in Ireuch warfare. The French and German officers were imwillim. lo negotiate with each other. So I hey lui-ued their backs, in order that thoy migln. not witness the unwarhke scene while the men rebuilt Ihe parapets without- firing a single shot .