FORT DOUAUMONT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 14

FORT DOUAUMONT.

EFFECT OF BIG GUNS. FRENCH AND GERMAN WEAPONS Writing of a visit made to Douaumont Fort alter the successive German and French bombardments, the correspondent of the "Morning Post" j staled that he found nowhere in the basement a trace of the damage of I the successive Franco-German bombardments, "ft is impossible," he .writes, "to estimate the number of shells Douaumont received. Ccrjtainly their weight far exceeded the designers imagination. Yet the basement is intact. The upper storey j was pierced only in two places, j though all the outlying works were semi-demolished or swept away. "The damage to the upper storey was caused by a German 17in shell and a French KJin shell. The latter | did more damage, and, even allowing that the French shell penetrated the Verdun side of the fort, which was the weakest by comparison, the results show that the 16in gun is a considerably more powerful weapon than the much-vaunted wreckers of Namur, Liege, and Maubeugc. "The commandant was a youngish man, showing signs of the heavy burden, but his energy was boundless. His one idea was to make the position impregnable, and so everything was brought up the shell-swept slopes to serve the single purpose. Strings of mules and tireless relays of sturdy troops toiled up towards the fort, bearing heavy packs of food, water, and munitions. The Germans are still only 400 yards distant. If they succeed in isolating the fort, they will lind it capable of resisting a long siege. The defences include many German machine guns, stores, and grenades abandoned when the enemy quitted the fort, fearing an explosion. When a big French shell ignited the grenade store the Germans bolted, feeling sure that the fort would be blown up, and intending to return when it was safe again, but the French entered first." Mr Whyte Williams, the "New York Times" correspondent, after a visit to Douaumont, said:—"l hope never to have such an experience again. I and another correspondent mad.' the journey. When we were 300 yards from the fort we were thoroughly unnerved, and begged the captain to return, hut it was too late. A third correspondent accompanied us part of the way, but was knocked down by the concussion of a shell, and was forced to return. We began our journey in full moonlight, with mud waist high, and stumbled through trenches until finally we reached the blasted slope of Douaumont. There was not a remnant of a trench in which to seek safety. There was no road; no path, not a

I single tree, not even a stump. There j : was nothing but a vast succession of i j crater holes, in which we were often j 1 over our depth in water. I "Once 1 fell near the body of a | German soldier. His head lay in a: j pool of water, and* one arm pointed upwards. Unnerved, I raised my'self again, and stumbled upon two dead Germans on the edge of a crater. From here we constantly passed! dozens of German bodies. We rest-] e<] for three hours in a dug-out, and then plodded on, when the bombardment lulled. Then every gun seemed to speak, and hell arose and engulfed us and ([ragged us down into its depths. The curtain of lire screamed indescribably, and dazed we drugged on across the intervening sea of mud fearing death every minute. We reached Douaumonl, which is a mere mud mound KHH'I high, with nothing left except what is underground. "Above ground," he continues, "we could not see anything except hundreds of machine guns emerging from mud loopholes, and bigger gnus commanding miles. The front consists of huge slone-vaulled cjiv- j ci us which wei e Hie ammunition looms in (he original slrucliire.' Underground trenches extend great ' distances in evci y direction. The young captain who was in command whispered hoarsely thai he had not slepl for eight days, yet Die courage and morale of ihese men is wonderful. We were shown a complete hospital and opcraliiiM room, with great stores of provisions, an enormous water supply, and thousands of shells and grenades. Douaiinionl's French garrison is living on German fare, and shooting with German bullets, while raptured machine guns are also commanding everyundcrgrnund corridor. The Germans left so suddenly that they were unable lo lake or even to destroy anything."