The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12): Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes — John Shaqi
The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12): Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12): Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes
World War, 1914-1918
On the Belgian front the French batteries demolished one of the
German heavy guns near Lombaertzyde on February 22, 1915. On the
same day the French artillery dispersed German troops and convoys
between the Lys and the Aisne. The French made progress on the
Souain-Beausejour front, taking a line of trenches and two woods,
and repulsed two particularly violent counterattacks. Many prisoners
were taken by the French in this action. In the Argonne the French
artillery and infantry had the better of the almost continuous
fighting. This was especially true near Fontaine-aux-Charmes and
Marie Therese, as well as at the Bois Bolante.
The bombardment of Rheims continued on February 22, lasting for
a first period of six hours, and a second period of five hours.
One thousand five hundred shells were fired into all quarters of
the town. The cathedral was made a special target and suffered
severely. The interior of the vaulted roof, which had resisted
up to this time, fell. Twenty houses were set on fire and twenty
of the civilian population were killed.
The French captured more trenches in the region of Beause-jour
and held their gains of previous fighting, on February 23, 1915.
Their batteries blew up a German ammunition store to the northwest
of Verdun at Drillancourt, in the region of the Bois de Forges, on
the same day, February 23, 1915, and stopped an attempted German
attack in Alsace from the village of Stossweiler.
There was an action of some importance in the Wood of Malancourt,
on February 26, 1915, when the Germans sprayed the French advanced
trenches with burning liquid. The French troops evacuated them,
the soldiers being severely burned before they could escape. A
counterattack was immediately made. This checked the German advance.
On the same day, in the region of Verdun and on the heights of the
Meuse, the French heavy artillery enveloped with its fire the German
artillery, wrecked some guns, exploded about twenty wagons or depots,
annihilated a detachment, and destroyed an entire encampment.
In Champagne the French on the night of February 26, 1915, captured five
hundred meters of German trenches to the north of Mesnil-les-Hurles.
On February 28, 1915, Rheims was again bombarded and still again on
March 2, 1915. About fifty shells fell on the town. In the Argonne,
on March 2, 1915, in the Bagatelle-Marie Therese sector, there
was mine and infantry fighting in an advanced trench which the
French reoccupied after they had been forced to abandon it. At the
same time in the region of Vauquois, the French made some progress
and held the ground captured in spite of the counterattacks of the
Germans. The French also took some prisoners. In the Vosges, at
La Chapelotte, they captured trenches and gained three hundred
meters of ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account