Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-04
VERDUN FIGHT IS
TOLDbY WOUNDED
Injured French Soldiers Returned
From Front Picture Terrible
Slaughter.

Paris, March IA comDatant VINO
was in one of the most advanced
trenches early in the battle of Verdun
and who has returned to Paris wound
ed, gives his experience as follows:
AT dawn we received orders to
leave the trenches and retire to
strong position in the Vaux woods in
front Of Douaumont Bending low, we
retired the four or five kilometres
through the snow without much loss.
Once in the new trenches, we could
not hear one another speak, so great
| was the noise of the cannonading, and
when we looked through the peri
scopes we could only see heavy clouds
of smoke shutting out the sky, with
jets of fire flashing through the snow.
| There were about dozen of us in the
| trench and we felt the suppressed
emotion so much that at last we all
burst out singing, and yet none of us
could hear a word spoken, even by
himself.
Then we saw the Germans coming
on. They were in such masses that
| they looked like a flock of sheep.
When our guns began to speak, white
empty spaces showed among the gray
of the advancing masses; but they
were soon filled up by fresh patches
Of gray. AS they neared our barbed
wire, our machine guns opened fire
and we had to cover our ears with
anything that came handy, the noise
was now so tremendous. felt no fear,
but l had no feelings or thoughts, only
sort of buzZing and vertigo. When
night came on and the flares lighted up
the field, the Germans seemed to be
quite close, but it was an optical illu-
sion They advanced very bravely.
waving their rifles or leaping az they
passed over the heaps of dead. | was
knocked over by shell and had my
arm broken, and as the trench was
completely destroyed, l crawled away
and fortunately met an armored auto
mobile which took me to Verdun."
The French are beginning to react
vigorously against the German "blud-
geon strokes" which are having less
and less effect and are being delivered
with diminished energy. 1t is expect
ed, however, that they will be renewed
again today, but at new points. The
fact that the battle is now shifting is
taken as a sign that the German gen.
, eral staff has begun to despair of max
ing a real impression on the French
/, defense.
Il fought since the beginning of the
, war" says a soldier who has returned
to Paris and who was present at the
fighting at Ornes. Il saw the sham
, bles at Suippes and SOuain. They
, were nothing to what | saw last week.
The enemy advanced and we retired
under orders, but we killed them by
the dozen. 1t was SO terrible that /,
who have watched my comrades fall
around me almost with Indifference,
, shudder as my memory recalls those
scenes.
"As their battallons advanced upon
! up they were in serried masses, by
!
75-millimetre guns and the projectiles
: from our heavy artillery fell among
{ them and you could see the great gaps,
{ as if mower had passed with a
: scythe Then explosive shells, which
: burst on contact, fell, and limbs shot
f into the air We were so close that
: pieces of their torn flesh fell among
u.s. Eventually we reached Moncourt
and took shelter for a time in a wood.
| Although 1t was 3 o'clock in the morn
ing, the bursting shells made it as
clear as day, giving the battle field
! the aspect of fairy scene
| From behind us the French arlil-
/ lery fired into the German masses, the
/ German shells flying over our heads
| toward the Douaumont section. Then
5 our machine guns, placed in batteries
: every five yards. began to play, and
Y we saw the dead in groups upright,
e where there was not room to fall.
s From Moncourt I followed the supply
road to Fleury, where took the light
1 railway toward Verdun. The heavy
D guns near Douaumont and Damlop
9 were firing as fast as they could be
Y loaded. When we passed between the
e two points the air pressure produced
] by the continuous discharges was so
= terrific that blood rushed from our
t working"