The sun., 1917-08-22
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PARIS. Aug. 2i.-Repulsing . series
Of furious counter attacks. the French
army in the verdun sector to-day held
all their gains Of yesterday besides in
fiictins further heavy losses on the Ger
mans. They refused to give up an inch Of
the ground won and strengthened their
grip on Avocourt Wood. lie Mort
Homme. Talou Hill, Cumieres, Hill 3o4
and Hill 344.
The heaviest counter attacks were de-
livered In the neighborhood Of Avocourt
Wood. on the right bank of the Meuse.
and Mort Homme and TaIou Hill on the
left. Here fresh units Of shock troops
OF q reserve division were hurled against
the positions consolidated during the
night by the French. To-day as yes
terday tho German artillery was COM
pletely outclassed by the French.
American aviators played their part
In sweeping the air clear Of German OBJ
servers. Tho Lafayette Escadrille has
been part OF the Verdun air forces for
more than . week. In observation and
patrol work preliminary TO the beginning
Of the battle. Thenauit. Parsons. Luf-
berry and Lowell had . number Of fights
and did splendid work when the nght-
iH8 Uc8ous ku0 CU4uUt0tOly
smothering the Germans during the bat
tie and preventing them from taking OBJ
servations. This enabled the French to
gain their obJectives with q minimum
loss
Vivid Picture Of Battle.
Tho correspondent OF the Petit Jour-
nal sends tho following graphic account
on the battle on the left bank Of the
Meuse:
For fve days our artillery had been
hammering at the same range, all the
guns. small. medium and great. roaring
constantly. In the darkness Of early
morning stretcher bearers with ltters
on their shoulders como up. VIII they
put on their gas masks or hang them
around their necks7 These masks are
instruments Of torture. They keep q
man from breathing freely and give
him the feeling that he is smotherins
himself by degrees.
This battle will be fought in an at
mosphere of noxious. poisonous gases.
At first only q few spurts Of gas from
German shells reach our men: trans
port has been caught by q gas shell and
horses and mon lie dead on the road.
Higher up the slope We come upon
vision Of Internal madness. To the
left are Mort Homme. Hill 304. Talou
Hill and Hill 344. They have been
deluged for 12o hours by ous torrents
OF explosives. All these glorious bu,
bloody outposts Of the Meuse are before
us. Behind them the tall crests of great
flames rise. lighting the sky. These are
enemy munition dumps blown up by our
fire; at least four of them are blown up
eQch hour.
Mort Homme and Hill ao4 are the
keys to tho German position. There
was no prospect Of our carrying any
other points SO long as they remained
in German hands. Possession Of the left
bank Of tho Meuse protected them from
attack there. and the German fire from
tho right bank was also directed against
our advance.
lnferno of Cannon.
Tho roar of the guns was so regular
and constant that 1t became a kind OF
silence. above which every other noise
rose magnihed. Above tho cannons
inferno sounded the motor horn of an
American ambulance and the wall OF
q cat.
AS the day began to break tho flames
from tho cannon became less sharply
etched ON the sky. 1t was at I 80 O'Clock
when our infantry. like gargoyles In
their masks, hurried through the gas
which stole In hideous. creeping coils
across all the undulations OF the ground
Just as chauffeurs increase their speed
when they reach . piece of smooth Level
road, our gunners tripled their fire and
in the last quarter Of an hour It was
a delirium of flame. smoke and noise
AT 4:40 o'clock our infantry had
passed through the gas and became in.
| visible. Every man pushed On. his aim
Mort Homme to Hill S04 to Talou to Hill
844. Our artillery lifted its barrage and
our men followed. Through the chok-
Ing fumes an observation balloon peered
down curiously upon the men feelina
their way ovsr the misty terrain.
'Our attack had been prepared ir
two instalments and the men advanced
on schedule time. minute by minute. Al
$50 o'clock an aviator returning from
the front flow over US and dropped
pieces OF paper bearing sketch of Nor,
domms upon which three crosses were
marked in red ink Under the crosses
the aviator had written French, French
French At $3.50 o'clock a carrier
pigeon brought back a message that Hill
| s04, Talou and Hill 3A also were ours
The frst instalment OF our attack ha6
been successful"