Ii the French

II. THE FRENCH On Sept. 13 M. Poincare handed to Verdun the cross of the Legion of Honour and Allied decorations. The ceremony took place in the casemates of the citadel. From that moment began a new phase, that of the liberation of Verdun. To a large extent the glory of this feat belongs to Gen. Mangin. Called from the battlefield of Verdun on June 22 he was placed in command of Group D, which then stretched from the Meuse to Fleury and was progressively enlarged right up to the cliffs of the Meuse. On Sept. 17 in a report to Nivelle he set forth reasons for aban doning operations in detail and for seeking to free Verdun by a plan on broad lines.

The first scheme, approved by Nivelle on Sept. 21, dealt only with an advance up to 30o metres north of the farm of Thiau mont. The scheme of the 24th went further and included the fort of Douaumont as far as possible. A third scheme, that of Oct. 9, covered the capture of the fort of Douaumont and perhaps that of the fort of Vaux. A formidable artillery preparation with 65o guns started on Oct. 21. The assault was delivered on Oct. 24 at II .40 A.M. by three divisions, the 38th on the left, 133rd in the centre, and 74th on the right. The first waves marched under a creeping barrage which progressed according to a set time-table, so that the infantry were as it seemed fastened to a wall of steel. By night touaumont was taken with 6,000 prisoners. The divi sion on the right had not reached the fort of Vaux which was evacuated by the Germans on Nov. 2, the day before the date fixed for attack by the 63rd Division.

In order to develop this success to the full Gen. Mangin was obliged to restore his ammunition reserves by continued economy. He intended to attack again on Dec. 5 over a front of io m. in order to retake at one blow the whole of the former second French line which had been lost on Feb, 24. Artillery preparation started on Nov. 29 with 75o guns. Bad weather intervened. The Ger mans had been warned and the value of a surprise was lost. In order to upset the plans of the French the Germans made a vio lent attack on Dec. 6 and captured Hill 304. Fine weather re

turned on the 9th and Nivelle recommenced the artillery preparation. On the 15th at Io A.M. the attack was made. The German barrage started two minutes too late. The attack had started, four divisions being in line. By night they had retaken the whole of Poivre Hill. The line ran in front of Hill 378, stopped 20 metres south of the farm at Chambrettes, then turned south across Bois d'Hardaumont and la Vauche up to the outwork at Bezonvaux. The French captured 115 guns and 9,00o prisoners. This, known as the battle of Louvemont, was completed on the 18th by the recapture of Chambrettes. The spring passed in organising the area conquered and preparing for the final battle.

The Final Battle.

In the summer of 1917 Petain formulated plans for a series of limited offensives for the purposes of raising the spirit of the army and decided on an operation on the northern front of Verdun on both banks having as objectives Mort Homme on the left and Samogneux and Beaumont on the right. The attack planned by Petain was delivered on Aug. 20 after six days' heavy artillery preparation. The XIII. and XVI. Army Corps attacked on the left bank, the XV. and XXII. on the right bank, 16 divisions in all being engaged. Mort Homme was captured on the loth, Hill 304 on the 24th. On the right bank Hill 344 was taken on the loth, Samogneux on the 21st. More than r o,000 prisoners were taken. Beaumont alone remained in German hands. This was the final battle of Verdun.

Dugard, La Victoire de Verdun, Feb. 1916—Nov. 1917, Paris 1918. Falkenhayn, General Headquarters, 1914-1916, London, 1919. Thom asson, Les Prelimin,aires de Verdun, Paris, 1921. Moser, Kurzer strate gischer Uberblick fiber den Weltkrieg, Berlin, 1921. Corda, La Guerre Mondiale, Paris, 1922. Palat, La Ku& sur Verdun, Aug. 1915—June 1916, Paris, 1925. Moser, Ernsthafte Plaudereien fiber den Weltkrieg, Stuttgart, 1925. Reichsarchiv, Die Tragodie von Verdun 1916, Olden burg, 1926. Moser, Das militdrisch and politisch Wichtigste vain Weltkriege, Stuttgart, 1926. Grasset, Verdun, Paris, 1927. See also WORLD WAR: Bibliography.