The sun., 1915-05-25
FOUND 5000 DEAD
ON LORETTE HILL
French Eyewitness Describes
Capture by French in
BayOnct Charge.
GREAT ALLIED VICTORY

PANS. MAY IA thrilling account
a, the ,apture OF crest In the Lorette
u,us north Of Arras is given in a state
uent by the French eyewitness" is
sued to-day
Three thousand q rman bodies lay
scattered about tte slopes when the
French 10y bayonet charge that will
90 down IN history captured the heights
Fragments Of bodies were found by the
victorious French troops when they
svept 20 the top OF the hill after months
a, Almost ceaseless attack.
Capture Of this crest, though ac-
ecmpl shed at u ereat loss to the French
arms, .cmoved n German menace against
ARA. The hill commanded the roads
leading to Ayas.
EVERY day We have been finding
arms. m.,ralleuscs and all sorts OF guns
hurled in the trenches on the heights"
,ays the eyewitness statement.
"The capture by French troops OF
the German works at Blanche Vote tthe
White Way the evening OF May 81
friday marked the victorious conclu-
sion Of our offensive on the 'Massif de
lore;te.'
Fight 20 Last Man."
"l.orettoberg Is a word which for the
las, six months has appeared often in
the correspondence OF the German
solders The Imperial General Stan
attached very great importance TO the
rossession Of these heights. To conquer
defend and retake them the German
soldiers received an order which was
90 expressed as to make II operative
until the last man was killed.
In spite OF the unusual difficult les
OF the grouad and the desperate re-
ss,ance Of the enemy we triumphed
The battle of Lorette was a great battle
ard ended In complete victory. In this
par, OF the front lighting has been going
On unirterruptedly since October. 1914"
Continuing, the eyewitness" recalls
the leading Incidents since last October
referring among other things to the
French withdrawal on March las
after heroic defence. Finally on
March Is the French began to get the
upper hand in their offensive movements
Thousands Of dead testified - ths
desperate nature OF the contest" tn.
eyewitness" says. Facing the French
was a formidable organization, lines o!
trenches reinforced by sacks Of earth
and cement, covered and further pro.
tected by a double and triple system oi
barbed wire entanglements and other
defences. the whole protected b. quick
hring guns. At various points heav,
artillery, carefully concealed. had been
placed.
To overcome these obstacles we care
fully prepared our attack. multiplying
our trenches and placing our heavy ar
;!iler, In the rear.
The division charged With the attack
on I.orette comprised three regiment,
o. Infantry and three battalions OF chas.
teurs.
Take Tr~nch After Trench.
AT 10 o'clock in the morning OF
May 3. along the entire attacking
front. detachments of the first line
Jumped from the trenches. Two hours
later three of the enemy's lines were
in our hands, but We found ourselves
face to face with a small German
force. and this checked our attack. Our
losses were serious, telegraphic commu-
Ication was cut, for We were vel
within tie German lines. our maps
could no longer guide rs. for the artil-
lery had made chaos OF the branch
trenches. our progress was by leaps
and bounds. from one shell hole 10
another Thus We held our ground
Some detachments pushed further for
ward. but the main attack stopped at the
fourth German line. Night set in with.
out any decisive result.
or May 10 decisive effort was
made al night. The Germans resisted
obs,inately behind their defences, but
al daybreak We had captured the small
'ort Complete success had not yet
Been gained. but the continuous fighting
from MAY 10 to May 20 had resulted in
our mastery OF the plateau OF Notre
Dame de Lorette
On May 81 We attacked the trenches
c blanche Vote from three sides
simultaneously Thirteen days OF in
tense. uninterrupted fighting resulted at
O'Clock in the morning OF May 22 in a
tpendid tactical victory. The enemy
attached the greatest importance to the
holding OF the Lorette Heights. On the
lateau alone more than 1000 German
oodles were counted. One thousand
prisoners were taken, as well as great
quantity OF material, including machine
guns, bomb throwers and rifles The
Vench losses were heavy.
During the fighting the Germans
were twice relieved by fresh troops
inns ~ ono of the most important tacti-
cav victories won by French arms In