GERMAN ATTACKS AT VERDUN—RESULT OF SIX MONTHS' FIGHTING

During the night of December 28, 1916, German troops in considerable force delivered a spirited attack on a three-kilometer front between Hill 304 and Dead Man Hill, northwest of Verdun. The German advance was made after an intense artillery preparation. According to the official French reports the French infantry and machine-gun fire broke the attack, but a trench south of Dead Man Hill was occupied by a few German troops. In the account of the attack given out from Berlin it was stated that German troops penetrated the third and second lines of the French positions, from which 222 prisoners, of whom four were officers, together with seven machine guns, were brought back. All attempts made by the French troops to regain the captured trenches were defeated, the German report stated.

Between the Aisne and the Oise French artillery carried out a destructive fire on the German positions in the region of QuenneviÈres. French patrols penetrated the shattered German trenches which had been hastily evacuated. All the afternoon of December 28, 1916, German guns on the left bank of the Meuse bombarded French positions between the Meuse and Avocourt. At several points on the French front in this sector the Germans made vigorous attacks with grenades, but in every instance they were repulsed with considerable losses.

During the night of December 28, 1916, a party of British troops made a successful raid against German trenches to the east of Le Sars with good results. The closing days of the year were not marked by any important military operations on either side. Though no great attacks were attempted, the old business of trench warfare being resumed, the opposing forces continued to harass and destroy each other at every opportunity. The grim object of British, French, and German was to kill wherever shell or machine-gun bullet could reach an enemy. This period of "peace" was really one of ceaseless activity, and the British distinguished themselves in keeping the Germans constantly on the alert. To prevent the building of defenses, or smash them when built, to concentrate gunfire on communication trenches so as to render them impassable, to destroy reliefs coming in or going out, to carry death to the foe in ditches and dugouts—in short, to injure him in any way that human ingenuity and military science could devise—such were the tactics employed by belligerents during the days and nights when in official language there was "nothing to report."

Official announcement was made on New Year's Day by the British Prime Minister's Department that General Sir Douglas Haig, commander in chief of the British armies in France, had been promoted to the rank of field marshal. His chief aids on the French front, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson and Major General Sir Hubert Gough, commanding the Fourth and Fifth Armies respectively, were also gazetted for promotion.

In reviewing the work of the Allies for the past six months Field Marshal Haig made no secret of the fact that he had been forced by circumstances to assume the offensive in July somewhat earlier than he intended. Had he waited until his munitionment was complete and his raw drafts had acquired more experience, the Battle of the Somme might not have resulted so favorably to the Allies. The Germans were near the outskirts of Verdun and striking hard, and the moral and political consequences of the fall of Verdun would have been so serious that it was impossible to delay the offensive. Field Marshal Haig stated in his summing up that the Battle of the Somme was begun to save Verdun, to prevent the transfer of further German reenforcements from the west to the Russian or Italian fronts, and to wear down the strength of the enemy forces, and that all these purposes were fulfilled.

The brief period of so-called "peace" which had prevailed along the Somme during the closing days of 1916 was broken on New Year's Day, when a strong German patrol attacked the British trenches north of Vermelles. The British troops defending the position having foreknowledge of the attack, were quite prepared for a vigorous resistance and the Germans were driven off with sanguinary losses, leaving a number of dead and wounded on the field. In the evening of this date, under cover of a heavy bombardment, a German patrol consisting of about forty men made an attempt to reach the British lines to the north of Ypres. A few of the German troops succeeded in gaining the British trenches, but were ejected after a brief struggle. At other points on the front between the Somme and the Ancre the British troops started the new year in spirited fashion by carrying out effective counterbattery work and heavy bombardment of German positions in the neighborhood of Neuve Chapelle and ArmentiÈres.

During the afternoon of January 6, 1917, British troops under cover of a heavy bombardment successfully raided German positions southeast of Arras, where advancing over a wide front they entered the enemy's defenses and penetrated to the third line. Here they succeeded in bombing and destroying a number of dugouts and wrought considerable damage to the German defensive works. In minor engagements of this character the British reported to have taken 240 prisoners since Christmas.

French artillery on the Somme front was especially active during the first days of the new year. On the night of January 4, 1917, French aerial squadrons scattered projectiles on the German aviation field at Grisolles and on the railway station and barracks at Guiscard.

A number of explosions and four incendiary fires resulted from these attacks by French airmen.

Surprise attacks were attempted by German troops on the French advance posts east of Butte du Mesnil in the region of Maisons de Champagne. During the day of January 5, 1917, French artillery fire dispersed the attackers, who fled from the field, leaving a number of prisoners in French hands. The British troops along the Somme continued their raids on German positions every night and frequently during the day. In the afternoon of January 7, 1917, they attacked a German trench south of ArmentiÈres, and after bombing the German defenses retired in good order with nineteen prisoners. On the same date a German contingent after a preliminary bombardment attempted to penetrate British trenches southwest of Wytschaete. The attackers evidently expected that their heavy gunfire had demoralized the defenders and looked for an easy victory, but they were speedily repulsed with considerable losses. Another attempt made under cover of a heavy bombardment to seize British advance posts to the north of Ypres also met with disaster.[Back to Contents]