| Show lOSSES TO DESCRIBED AS AS' l FABULOUS Officers rs Show Supreme Disregard Disregard Dis Dis- Dis r regard g rd of Life in T Terrific Terrific Ter Ter- erI er- er I fi Effort I BERLIN Feb leb 3 b. b 26 lt Jt It i is officially officially an announced that Fort DouaI Doua- Doua I mont 0 one of the fortifications fortifications of Verdun was taken by storm yesterday afternoon and is now firmly held by the Germans i The official announcement Is as fol lows lows' The armored Fort the then n northeastern corner orner pillar of the permanent permanent per per- manent main line fortifications of the stronghold of Verdun Vedun was stormed yesterday yesterday yesterday yes yes- afternoon by the Twenty Twenty fourth fourth regiment of Brandenburg infantry and is now firmly m in in German hands Capture Is Important Fort lies four miles northeast of Verdun It Is one of near near- nearly ly a score of forts circling Verdun and andis is situated just to the north of the railroad rail road running east eat from the the city of Metz J Is one one of a cluster of seven forts protecting Verdun from the east east Forts de do Sauville de Tavannes Tavan- Tavan nes ties and St St. Michel lie directly between the position conquered by the Germans and the city of ot Verdun It is in m this narrow space that the crown prince is hurling his lils masses Military observers here express the belief that the counter offensive will be launched from this line at a precise pre pre- else cise and decisive moment and that it will drive back across the ground already al ready covered with the dead bodies bodies' of their comrades the battalions which are being hurled forward in m the most bloody assault which this war has yet seen The work up up there is hot Indeed said an offic officer r who has Just arrived In Paris Pans from the Verdun battlefield They are at our lines a lit tie tle f faster ster but with no positive ad advantage advantage vantage for themselves Previous at tacks made by the Germans in that i section are nothing to what they arenow are arenow now delivering I cannot of course give details but I can can cansay say that we weare weare weare I are holding well wen against their for for I attacks The artillery ex exchanges exchanges ex- ex changes are az intense Our batteries I blY v than d' d ground in Jn masterly masterly- style and the losses to th the enemy are really reany fabulous lous bus Ours are slight a feeble percentage per of theirs The conquest of this fort was made by the right wing of the huge attacking attacking attacking attack attack- ing army which ha has scored the greatest greatest great great- est advance In the assault on the French positions is somewhat somewhat somewhat some some- what to the east of what has hitherto been the principal line of progress being being be be- ing situated four miles cast east of the Mause river The main force of the German attack as Indicated by the previous previous previous pre pre- official communications was being being be be- ing exerted southward along the Meuse French Are Arc Con Confident The capture of Is the most Important achievement since the Inauguration of the German drive at Verdun Verdun Verdun-an an onslaught which for fury and for weight of men and guns has few precedents in m th the war The French war office has expressed confidence that notwithstanding the admitted great strength of the German drive Verdun and its protecting fortresses would be able to hold out These positions positions po po- po form what has been regarded as one of the greatest strongholds of Europe It Is the strongest fortress of France and is of particular importance from the fact that it offers otters direct communication communication com corn with Paris Pans which Is miles mitos s to the west Verdun marks the northerly point of the great French defenses against direct attacks from German territory the most southerly being Belfort as between these two points lies the stretch of frontier on on which Germany touches France France has has' other fortified points further further further fur fur- ther north though of minor import importance ance as they were along the line of I contact with Belgium and Luxembourg I The most Important probably of these latter was Maubeuge which wa was taken taken ta ta- ta ken by the Germans with sacrifices to them estimated at the time in S Septem- Septem her ber 1914 a as between and 00 A dispatch from London of yesterdays yesterdays yesterday's yesterdays yesterday's yester yester- days day's date said that Major Gen Sir Francis Lloyd general officer commanding com corn manding the London district In ln la laspee a spee speech h at the opening of a military building declared that the battle before before before be be- fore Verdun was of momentous Importance Importance Im Im- Im to Great Britain as well weIl as to France Sit Situation Is Critical Do you realize he asked that a fight Is now going on for a passage to P Paris Paris' ris The result will hang in the balance until the is driven back as I have great confidence he lie will be But If our allies allies' line is pierced the way will be open to the French capital and if that capital is reached a new complexion would be put on the whole face of the war and on our our lives and being A German success on the French front would not merely mean the loss of Paris but would endanger London |
