The defence of the “R” outworks by the 101st line regiment was intimately connected with the attacks on Fumin Wood and Vaux Fort. These outworks were at the foot of the slopes of Fumin Wood, about half-way between the village and fort of Vaux. Bombarded by heavy guns on June 1st and 2nd, it was unsuccessfully attacked by the enemy at 8 p.m. on the evening of the 2nd. Twice on the 3rd and once on the 4th the French, reinforced by a few units, although deprived of water and subjected to machine-gun fire on the flank, repulsed new German attacks. A company of the 298th which, on the night of the 5th, relieved that of the 101st (reduced to 39 men), held out three days more under increasingly difficult conditions, and was only overpowered on the night of the 8th after the capture of the fort of Vaux. These positions were recaptured during the French offensive of October 2nd. 1916. The works known as the “Petit Dépôt,” “Fulda Boyau,” and “Sablière,” bristling with machine-guns and scarcely touched by the French artillery preparation, offered a stubborn resistance, and were only captured by the 74th Division in the evening after a whole day of exceedingly hard fighting.
DEFENCE WORKS IN VAUX VILLAGE (January, 1916).
WHERE VAUX VILLAGE (entirely destroyed) STOOD BEFORE THE WAR.
(Photo, April 20th, 1917.)
Vaux-les-Damloup.—From March 8th the Germans sought to enter this village from the Woevre. The 1st battalion of their XIXth regiment of Reserves, believing it to be empty, was well-nigh exterminated. On the 10th, after a nine-hour night bombardment with torpedoes, units of the XVth and XVIIIth C.A. attacked the village. Although numbering more than six to one, it was only after four successive attacks that they gained a footing in the ruins of a block of houses behind the church. Soon after they advanced as far as the ruins of the church. Five times they sought to debouch, but were each time literally mowed down by the fire of the French machine-guns and mountain batteries. After two costly checks on March 16th and 18th the Germans again attacked on the evening of the 30th, but it was only three days later and at the cost of very heavy casualties that they were able to take and keep the village.
