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Show French Spring Surprise By Capture I S of Nearly All of Douaumont Fort I .flfl v 1 1 FilOIJSCOllNTER-ATTACKSMADEDY I GERMANS AGAINST NIVELLE'S ARMY m 1 I Berlin Disputes Paris Report of Recapture of Fort Douaumont mi I Austro-Hungarians Continue to Gain Ground in South-H South-H I ern Tyrol British Premier Asks Second Vote of Credit in Fiscal Year Amounting to Three Hun- dred Thousand Pounds Sterling. 'SI I - The dramatic surprise sprung by the H French yesterday in penetrating Fort M v Douaumont has been followed up by f If General Nivelle's 'forces. The Ger- j mans have now been driven from all I 4 but a small angle in a corner of the JJf -j fort, Paris claims. 81 11 Furious counter-attacks have been imade by the Germans but their only success, according to Paris, was the recapture of a position north of the Thiaumont farm. On the other side ot the Meuse gas and flame attacks by the Germans near Hill 304. failed according to the French statement. The latest' official bulletins on the fighting along the Austro-Italian front lit indicate that the Austrlans are con-id con-id tinuing to gain ground in their drive Si iu the southern Tyrol. y The French claim to the possession I K of the greater part of Fort Douaumont M Is disputed by Berlin which declares a that tho fort is still firmly in German - hands. Premier Asquith in the British idl house of commons moved the second ; , vote of credit of the financial year, I asking 300,000,000 pounds. I ' , , Paris, May 23, 12:15 p. m. Fight- : ing continued with extreme violence J II on both banks of the Meuse along Ithe Verdun front during the whole nighL Two German counter attacks , on French positions on Hill 304 failed completely, the war office announced an-nounced this afternoon. .. The French made4hejajtas. tKf with in Fort Douaumont. The German H ' now hold only a small angle on the . northeastern corner of the fort. ': Intense Fighting Around 304. ' The battle around Hill 304 was 1 esneelallv severe. In attacking French positions on the west side of the hill the Germans used liquid gas, the official statement says and ipenetrated !. one of the French trenches, but were dislodged at once. On the east side of the hill the Germans attacked after intense artillery preparation but were not permitted to reach the French lines. It The principal fighting east of tho p Meuse was in the sector between Thiaumont and Douaumont. The Ger-I Ger-I mans attacked in mass formation and are said to have suffered enormous losses. They succeeded in re-occupy-lng one of the trenches north of Thiaumont Farm which had been cap-1 cap-1 hired by the French. Battle Extremely Violent. 1 The text of the statement says: I "In the region of Verdun the battle continued with extreme violence all ! last night on both banks of the ! Meuse. On tho left bank furious r counter attaoks against all our posl- tlons at Hill 304 resulted in complete failure. The enemy employed ma-; ma-; chines to throw flaming liquids. This permitted them to penetrate one of our trenches, but a brilliant counter movement compelled them immedi-1 immedi-1 ately to evacuate. "East of the hill, in spite of an Intense preparatory artillery fire, the attack was broken by our fire and they could not reach our lines. Germans Suffer Enormous Losses. "On the right bank of the river in the sector of Thiaumont and Dou-t Dou-t aumont the battle has been continued 1 with ferocity. The enemy during the night Increased the number of their attacks In massed formation and they suffered enormous losses. They were ,, successful, however, In occupying a trench which had been taken by us north of the Thiaumont farm. Everywhere Every-where else we held our positions. r "InHide of Fort Douamont we have I continued to force back tho enemy and, in splto of a spirited resistance, 1 the Germans today hold only the I northeast corner of tho fort. 1 "On tho heights of the Meuse a surprise attnek delivered by us in tho Chevalier wood, was in all respects successful." Austrlans Driving Italians. Berlin, May 23, by Wireless to Say- 0 ville. The Austrians are successfully I continuing their offensive against the Italians In the southern Tyrol, according accord-ing to the war office announcement today. They have advanced on both sides of the Sugana valley, driving the ' Italians before them. The war office report received here today from Vienna says: "Italian front- Our troops advanc-1 advanc-1 ed on both sides of the Sugana valley. val-ley. The enemy hastily fled from Borgo (about five miles north, western west-ern frontier) Quantities of booty were captured by us. The Graz corps crossed the border and harried the deft de-ft feated army. The Italian "fortlfica-v "fortlfica-v tlons of Monte Vclna aro already In our hands. "In the Brand valley an attack against the enemy's positions near ; Chiesa is in progress. "Tho number of cannon captured since May 10 has increased to 188. "Our naval aeroplanes dropped num-r num-r erous bombs on the railroad from 0M 8andona dl Piave to Porto Gruaro." Germans Claim Douaumont. Berlin. .May 23, by Wireless to Say-ville. Say-ville. Announcement was made by the wart office today that in the fighting fight-ing north of Verdun the French, have taken some first line positions of the Germans, but that Fort Douaumont remains firmly in German hands. The statement given out by army headquarters today says: "Western front Preparations by the British to make a counter-attack southwest of Givenchy-En-Gohelle were observed. Small advances by the British in Rockllncourt district Tere repulsed. "In the Meuse district (Verdun front) the fighting was especially heavy on account of the enemy's counter-attacks. West of the river the Germans captured a French blockhouse block-house south of Camard forest. Hostile Hos-tile attacks east of hill 304 and on the southern slope of Dead Man's hill resulted re-sulted in failure Violent Infantry Engagement. "East of the Meuse there were violent vio-lent infantry engagements on the front south of Thiaumont farm as far as the Caillettewood The French after a strong artillery preparation entered the foremost German position but were repulsed on the flanks of the sector by German counter attacks. South of the village and' south of the former fort of Douaumont the engagement engage-ment is not yet finished. Fort Douaumont Douau-mont remained firmly in German hands. ..'Northvest ofFt. Vjiuxwetire-Kip-i turea a sap which had" been occupied temporarily by the enemy. French Lines Destroyed. "The first and second lines of the French on Combres height were destroyed de-stroyed by our mines over a consider able distance. "On the heights of the Meuse south- . east of of Verdun near Vaux les Pala-meux Pala-meux and Seucey the enemy's attacks for the most part broke down before our curtain of fire. Small detachments detach-ments which entered our trenches were annihilated. "An enemy aeroplane was shot down southwest of Vailly. Casualty Lists In Arrears. British Headquarters in France, May 23, via London, 1:27 p. m. Confirmation Con-firmation of reports that the German casualty list is so far in arrears that their total as issued from time to time is In no wise representative, is de-declared de-declared now to have been supplied. It is now known that the names of Germans taken prisoner and left dead in the trenches at the battle of Loos in September last have only just been published as among the German missing. |