28 - Oignies, 24 March 1915

Oignies,  24 March 1915

[Wednesday]

Dear Family,

I only now have time to write to you, because we have moved from Don to here, and the postal service only started working again yesterday. My address will stay the same, but of course with Oignies instead of Don.

We’ve had a tough week since I last wrote you. The last nights of last week we built barbed wire defences at Illies, as I probably already wrote you. It was very interesting and we’ve learned a lot.

I can now build such a defence quite easily. The defences we build there are ofcourse not as stable and neat as the ones you’ve seen in Borkum, but nevertheless the English will have problems getting through them.

The last few nights work progressed quicker than in the beginning. We worked platoon-wise, and the first platoon to finish got to go home first. Our platoon was always the first to finish, and our Leutnant enjoyed that very much of course.

But I’m glad this job is over. It’s not nice when your sleep rhythm get disturbed. It was especially no fun anymore saturdaynight. Coming home at 3 in the morning, and then getting up again on Sundaymorning at 6, pack up, and then in full marchinggear a 3 hour march to where we are now.

I was really happy when we finally arrived.

Billets here are better than in Don. On the whole Oignies is a better village. It’s near Carvin and Courrières, where they had that mining accident a few years ago, and where we then sent oxygen.[*1]

You can see on the enclosed postcard what it looks like here. Don looked the same, only poorer[*2]

We are billeted in a theatre, spacious and light. [*3] Especially the washingfacilities are much better, so now we can wash regularly again. You won’t believe how much we value that now.

Close by is a large garden and park, and it’s lovely Spring-weather.

Duty is getting a little sombre and boring. We don’t learn anything new anymore. So our training will be over shortly I think. Which is good on the one hand, but on the other hand not so good.

Whether we will be attached to Regiment 56 or Regiment 16 has not been decided yet. Both are stationed around here actually. The 56’ers near La Bassée and the 16’ers near Illies, both opposite the English.

We’ll just have to wait for the outcome, and let’s not grow any grey hairs over it.

At the moment I’m on guardduty at a bridge over the canal, from 1 o’clock this afternoon untill tomorrowafternoon 1 o’clock. There are six of us, and we’re relieved every 2 hours. During the day there’s always one person on duty, at night it’s two. We have to check the passes of the civilians to see whether they are allowed to cross the bridge, that’s all.

Parcel-wise I have received nrs 45 – 49 if I recall correctly. With all the goings on here I don’t quite know it anymore. Furthermore I received a parcel from Aunt Jülchers, the Bonerts, Aunt Lise, A Weyerbuschs, Emmi Heun, and Clara Guthmann and the Nettelbecks. Will you please thank them all for me. I don’t have time or inclination to write to them all. I’m usually very tired in the evening.

For the rest I’m doing fine. The cold has gone completely. I hope father is doing well too.

It serves no purpose to worry so much. It won’t change anything and he only hurts himself. Now that the coldstores are rented out completely, and there being enough feed for the horses, everything is in good health isn’t it?

The slight set-back is nothing compared to the factories that have been destroyed by the war. I’ve seen here, just behind the front, how the villages suffer from the war. There is hardly anything left of Illies, Herlies etc (I’m sure you will be able to find those places on the map). Nobody lives there anymore.

If you realise that then you should be very pleased with your current life. It could have gone the other way, although that is not really possible or likely. Those villages really look horrific.

In Illies a perfume factory has been completely destroyed. The big bottles scattered on the streets, and the whole village smelled of it. But that smell is way better than that of the dead and half-buried Englishmen in the village square, where we dug trenches for the second time.

I didn’t really want to write you that, but one gets a bit indifferent towards these things.

At the moment we’re having a great time and a coffee at a lady’s house, who already speaks very good German.

But enough for today.

With many greetings also to all acquaintances  I am  your Fritz

[*1] The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst mining accident, 10 March 1906. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courrières_mine_disaster 

[*2] The postcard Fritz sent with this letter has been lost over the years unfortunately.

Here’s a typical postcard of Oignies from that time:

[*3]  Perhaps the white Art Nouveau building on the left is the "Varieté saal" Fritz writes about as being his billets? 

The legend on the façade reads "Cinema Parlant Alcazar" ("Talking cinema Alcazar"), so this is a post-war picture.

Cityhall is on the right.

and the situation in August 2012 (thanks to Google Streetview)