A WALL OF STEEL

Otago Witness, Issue 3244, 17 May 1916, Page 59

A WALL OF STEEL

THE FRENCH RESISTANCE AT DOUAUMONT. A FOURTEEN DAYS' ORDEAL. (From Mr 11. W'AEXER Au.kx. the representative of tho British i'rocs with the French Army.) WEST OF DOUAUMONT, March 20. It is impossible to 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 tho first battle a certain army .corps, which included soldiers of all classes, from the 1915 contingent to men of the Territorial Reserve, resisted for five days and five nights tho attacks of an enemy with a numerical superiority of four to one. The soldiers knew that it was their dpty 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 tho 26th 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 brigado has opposed to tho German assaults a wall of steel that nothing could break. It is commanded bv a young colonel who, like General Foch and General Maud -huy, had in tune of peace mado a brilliant reputation as a professor at the Ecole do Guerre. Brought up at full epeed to the front, this brigade was hurled forward on the 26th to rolieve the worn-out troops who were defending the all-important 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 fata), and the enemy promptly discovered that there were fresh troops before him. AN OLD SERGEANT. For 14 days these troops 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 counterattacks. On the first day officers and men vied together in deeds of heroism. Wounded soldiers refused to go to the 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 tho lines. "What are you doing here?" ho asked. "Mon colonel,' was tho reply, "my son has been killed. I have come to avenge him." After the attack on the 26th the enemy retired, and the six following days the brigado set to work to dig themselves in, under a terrible bombardment. Tho Germans attempted no further infantry attacks, although they had on the spot one of the finest regiments of their army. It was not till the fourth that they ventured to return to the charge. Once again a French counter-attack threw back the enemy in disorder, and lor four more days the French concentrated their eiforts en strengthening their position. Then, on the tenth, the Germans, seeing that the French lines were fast becoming impregnable, determined to put an end to tlr's 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 tho French line still held. Finally, the enemy attempted his heaviest blow—an assault in columns of fours, which was to break through tho thin French lino like a battering ram. '-Then," said ono of tho officers wlio took part m the battle, "everything wo possessed opened upon ' thorn, "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 held the positions that had been entrusted to us. The next day wo were relieved, and our regimomV marched through a village in the rear witt( the same magnificent dash and discipline as though they were just returning- trot* repose." THE THANKS OF FRANCE. Among the bodies left in front of th< French lines the numbers of six different regiments were identified. Tho two regi ments who had held so gloriously richly deserved the congratulations of France, which, a few days later, were brought to them at their cantonments by tho 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 phrase* concerning this hill, and confusing the hill marked on tho staff map as* Hill 265 with Hill 295, "which is Mort Homme, now assert that the Germans occupy both these hills. This assertion is entirely unfounded. The truth is that, during an attack repulsed on March 14, on the 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 265. Since then the French troops have never ceased to hold tho receding slopes of Hill 265. As for Hill 295, tho Germans did not succeed in reaching it at any moment of tho engagement. The Germans themselves have proved the accuracy of the foregoing statement by endeavouring, on tho 15th. to capture the Mort Homme, that is, Hill 295. Tho attack proved & complete failure, and tho enemy claimed in his despatches that it was the French who had attacked. Tho confused manner in which tho Gorman press had discussed these engagements is well illustrated by the following quotation from the Frankfurter Zeitung of March 16:— The twin height. 265 and 295, commanda tho bond of tho Meuse,_ between Regnoville and Cumieres, since it rises from 300 ft abovo tho Mouse and the stream of Forges. From the map in our possession we cannot bo certain if the expression "Mort Homme" applies to both hills, but it is certainly probable."