December 15 1916 - French Capture 7,500 in Big Verdun Drive; Smash Six-Mile Front

NewYorkTImes ^ | December Fifteenth Nineteen Sixteen

[swarthyguy]

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This event took place on December 15, 1916, and was reported in the The New York Times the following day. Read the full text of The Times article or other headlines from the day.   French Capture 7,500 in Big Verdun Drive; Smash Six-Mile Front Push Forward Two Miles Troops Overrun Trenches and Fortifications After Heavy Shelling Reoccupy Two Villages Capture Vacherauville and Louvemont, with Many Guns and Much Booty. "OUR SUCCESS COMPLETE" Paris War Office Says Victory Causes Great Enthusiasm Among Troops. OTHER HEADLINES Czar and Duma Reject 'A Premature Peace'; Foreign Minister Says Decision Is Inflexible and That All Russia's Allies Agree With Her: Duma's Vote Unanimous: Teuton Offer Denounced as Soley Designed to Deceive Allies: Failed to Divide Foes: War Must Be Prosecuted: Pokrovsky Promises the Full Weight of Russia's Powers to Achieve Victory Britian's View Clearing: Will Listen to Specific Proffers from Foes But Expects Little: Sees No Change of Heart: But Will Carefully Avoid Rejection That Will Put War Responsibility on Allies: Firm Talk by Henderson: Reparation and Guarantees for a Permanent Peace Essentials, Says War Council Member Kaiser Made Offer as Complete Victor: "Warlike Gesture" Indicates to Troops What He Will Do if Allies Fight On Duma's Rejection of the Teuton Peace Proposals Declares Them Proof of Foes' Weakness and Hypocrisy President to Offer No Mediation in Forwarding Peace Notes Today: Announcement Made After Long Cabinet Session That Teutonic Proposals Will Be Sent to the Entente Powers Without Comment Thousands Meet to Demand Action for Belgium Now: First of Country-Wide Protest Gatherings Asks Government to Act at Once: Support Administration: Threaten Bernstorff with Recall and Germany Will Yield, Asserts Back: Our Duty Plain, Says Root: Carnegie Hall Throng Cheers Col. Roosevelt's Letter Denouncing Germany's Acts Pope to Address Belligerents German Troops at Pepper Hill Flee in Disorder, Paris Hears Stocks Again Fall, But Rally at Close: Another Two-Million-Share Day in Wall Street Sees Values Slaughtered Further: Speculative Issues Drop: Brokers in Frenzy at Outset, and Though Firmness Follows, Lose Average 5 Points aris, Dec. 15.--By another giant stroke in the region of Verdun, north of Douaumont, today, the French broke through the German lines on a front of six and a quarter miles, extending from the Meuse River to the plain of the Woevre, penetrating to a depth of nearly two miles. A great number of prisoners were taken, 7,500 having been counted so far. This number includes 200 officers. The French troops captured the villages of Vacherauville and Louvemont, the fortified farm of Cambrettes, and the fortified field works of Hardaumont and Bezonvaux. "Our success is complete," says the French War Office in its report tonight. "The troops have given vent to great enthusiasm." The attack started at 10 o'clock this morning after several days of continuous artillery preparation. Its results compare favorably with the French recapture of Douaumont, General Mangin's sensational exploit on Oct. 24. He then attacked on a four-mile front, less than half the width of today's attack. Moreover, today the French troops captured more than twice the number of prisoners taken on Oct. 24. The text of the night statement says: After several days of artillery preparation we attacked the enemy to the north of Douaumont, between the Meuse and the Woevre, on a front of more than ten kilometers. The attack started at 10 o'clock. The enemy's front broke down everywhere to a depth of about three kilometers. Besides numerous trenches we captured the villages of Vacherauville and Louvemont, the farms of Chambrettes, and the fortified works of Hardoumont and Bezonvaux. We have taken a great many prisoners, whose exact number has not yet been determined. Seven thousand five hundred of them, including 200 officers, already have been passed through our commandant's posts. We have taken or destroyed numerous pieces of heavy and field artillery and also a considerable quantity of material. Notwithstanding unfavorable weather conditions, our aviators took a brilliant part in the fighting. Our success is complete. The troops have given vent to great enthusiasm. Our losses are slight. The official report this afternoon says nothing of importance transpired during the night. British Make Trench Raids. London, Dec. 15.--The British official communication issued shortly before midnight says: Last night (Thursday) an attack was attempted by the enemy upon our positions in the neighborhood of Les Boeufs, but it was crushed by our artillery before he could reach our trenches. The enemy's trenches were successfully entered by us south of Armentieres, and also east of Vierstraat. Early in the night a powerful enemy raiding party endeavored to break into our line south of St. Eloi. Only a few of the raiders succeeded in reaching our trenches, and these were immediately ejected. The enemy's losses were severe. Our artillery bombarded Achiet-le-Petit and an enemy railway siding south of that village during the night. During the day (Friday) our positions on the observatory ridge and at Mont Horrel were heavily shelled. Our artillery effectively replied. Elsewhere on our front intermittent artillery activity continued. Germans Admit French Gain. Berlin, Dec. 15, (by Wireless to Sayville.)--French attacks delivered today on the east bank of the Meuse in the Verdun region resulted in a gain of ground for them toward Louvemont and Hardaumont, the War Office announced in tonight's supplementary statement. The engagement has not yet been concluded. On the Verdun front yesterday the French made three attempts to recapture trenches taken recently by the Germans on Hill 304. The text of the night report follows: On the Somme there has been little fighting activity. On the east bank of the Meuse since this morning strong attacks by the French have been in progress, in which the enemy obtained advantages in the direction of Louvemont and Hardaumont. The fighting has not yet been terminated. The report issued this afternoon said: Army group of the German Crown Prince--On the west bank of the Meuse the French tried three times in vain to regain by attacks the trenches on Hill 304, southeast of Malancourt, captured by us a short time ago. East of the river, after strong artillery preparation extending far into the terrain behind the lines they repeatedly launched attacks. The advance of the storming waves failed on Pepper Ridge under our defensive fire. The attack on the south slope before Fort Hardaumont was unable to be developed under our destructive fire. Back to the top of this page. Back to today's page. Go to another day. Front Page Image Provided by UMI

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[swarthyguy]

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[swarthyguy]

Please check out Truman article from Dec 16, too.

[Drango]

The French? Wow...I though their biggest victory was the sinking of the unarmed, civilian, Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior"

[PsyOp]

Have the French won a major engagement against anyone since then?

[swarthyguy]

I'm thinking, i'm thinking....

Well they scuttled their own fleet in NorthAfrica, i think.

They left Algeria and dropped Nam in the lap of the US.
They took over the Suez with the British and Israelis in 56 but were force to leave by Eisenhower.

They bombed the Rainbow Warrior, the notorious dreadnought of the GreenPeace fleet.

Actually, they put down the rebellion in Mecca inside the Grand Mosque in 1979.

They lost 85 soldiers to Hizballah in Lebanon. And some operations in Africa.

Depends on 'major', i suppose.

[The Iguana]

Patton let them take Paris in '44, but I'm not sure if that counts.

[PsyOp]

Actually, they didn't take Paris. They were allowed to be the first to drive in. Our troops got there first and entered first, but were told to withdraw and wait for the French 2d Armored and the grand and glorious French general and soon to be President (whose name annoyingly escapes me at the moment), to arrive the next day so he could claim credit for the liberation of Paris. Most of the Germans had already left except for some snipers and stragglers (frightened, no doubt, by the arrival of of U.S. troops).

A friend of the family who commanded a battalion of combat engineers was actually in Paris analyzing German defenses 2 days before any French soldiers arrived (probably, they had trouble finding the "forward" gear in their tanks). He and his troops were mightly pissed when ordered to draw back and wait for the frogs to show up and take credit for its liberation.

[PsyOp]

They bombed the Rainbow Warrior, the notorious dreadnought of the GreenPeace fleet.

Can't argue with that decision. The only sane foreign policy move in decades.

Actually, they put down the rebellion in Mecca inside the Grand Mosque in 1979.

They lost 85 soldiers to Hizballah in Lebanon. And some operations in Africa.

I suspect the latter two were handled by the Foreign Legion, in which case you can't really credit French manhood with those successes....