The Washington times., 1915-02-26
GERMAN ATTEMPTS.
TO INVEST vERDUN
CHECKED BY FRENCH
Invaders Driven From Trenches
Near Eparoes, and Jotfre's
Troops Capture the Town.
LOSSES PUT At 5000 MEN
Explosion of Mines Followed by
Brilliant Infantry Assault by
General Joffre's Men.

PARIS. Feb. 2s.-French troops lave
successfully checked all attempts Of
the Germans to invest Verdun. The
,Ksiser's troops were repulsed time and
again when they sought to drive a
wedge through the valley separating
the heights OF verdun in the slopes Of
tho Meuse.
Allies Make Gains Steadily.
Further gains for the allies all along
the battle front, particularly in the
lighting west Of La Bassee and In the
Apremont forest. were reported in off,
cial dispatches to the war office to-
day.
The British repulsed another series
Of German charges along the La Bas-
see-Bethune road. They counter-attack-
ed and threw the Germans back in con-
fusion, gaining 100 yards Of trenches.
In the Apremont region. French in
the Germans At the point Of the bay
onct the Frenhch forced the enemy to
evacuate several trenches. Fighting in
the Champagne region continues. with
around Perthes.
Exploding mines. followed by intense
artillery fire. drove the Germans from
their trenches near the village of
Eparses. and resulted in the French
capturing that town. Reported German
counter attacks and attempts to recover
the positions they had lost were all re-
pulsed.
This Information was contained in a
review Of recent operations issued by
the war office today. The statement
says:
German Plans Fail.
The inve estmept of Verdun has been
continuously one of the objectvcs Of
the German general staff, and toward
this end the most important means
have been employed. They have al
tempted, fruitlessly to drive a wedge
through the valley that separates the
heights Of Verdun from the slopes OF
the Meuse proper.
''The village of Eparges Is extended to
the eastward by a number of outlying
houses which are crossed by the first
line trenches Of the Germans. At the
head Of the valley. the enemy organized
a very strong position. consisting Of. a
great redoubt. FASHIONED at each ex-
ally ,safeguarded by two lines Of
trenches.
i, The village Of Eparges is now in cur
hands. st. Remy was seized by the
d
.ruary Q. An advance on our part In
this region menaced the position of the
Germans in the forest and the noun
tains and indirectly also their occupa-
tlon of st. Mihiel.
Smash Glacis of Works.
"On February II. in the morning. we
exploded number Of mines fronting
the German fortified position apd
smashed the glacis Of the outer works.
This afforded first protection to our
was reserved until our artillery could
open way for the further approach OF
our forces.
artillery fire against the German works
and obtained remarkable results. All
the accessory defenscs were destroyed.
The rapidity and precision of our fire.
at At, the S same .neu time, produced an impress
fcer Of the Eighth Bavarian regiment
who was made prisoner declared that
nc had been unable to prevent a panic
took to flight. Nearly all those who cid
not fly were killed, and when the
French appeared with the bayonet and
their artillery OF smaller caliber, the re-
msinder were made prisoners without
difficulty.
Bastion Taken BY Assault.
- In the general assault of our troops,
the first immediate objective was the
western bastion Of the German works.
Our men at first occupied the shelter
provided by the explosion of the mines
and then successfully the first and Sec
ond line of German trenches which
were part Of the defenses. The whole
western bastton was captured by us BY
direct assault. This assault was in the
nature OF surprise to the Germans,
ana when We saw the effect produced
upon the enemy we continued the as
sault Immediately and were also sue
cessful IN capturing a part Of the
whole redoubt. Our gain represented
some 500 yards of trenches, besides the
works IN our hands. and our losses were
very small.
ION the night Of February r7-lS the
enemy began a bombardment of the po-
sitions he had lost. On the 18th. in the
morning. he attempted. but without
success. to counter-attack. In the
afternoon the bombardmcnt was re-
newed. with redoubled intensity. The
enemy concentrated the fire Of several
pieces Of 2l0 and $50 nm. on the point
they had lost, but the damage done
was easily repaired.
Attack With Bayonet.
AT the end Of the day the order was
given to retakc the positions. Our bat
teries reopened fire upon the trenches
which the enemy had regained, then our
troops attacked with the bayonet. The
!ighting that followed was of the hand
to-hand description, and was attended
with the greatest violence. In single
trench one of our officers counted the
bodies of 200 Germans.
1.-THE day of the 10Th was marked by