17 - Don, 14 February 1915

Don, 14 February 1915

[Sunday]

Dear family,

Today I received mother’s letter of the 9^th. Many thanks!  From it I satisfyingly learned 3 parcels are on their way to me, hopefully they will arrive soon. Chocolate, cake etc are very welcome. I can get good quality butter here, it is expensive at 1,10 Mk for ½ Livre [= pound] but that is okay.

Cigarettes too I can get here easily. So you don’t have to send me any, also because they are very cheap. 20 cigarettes for 30 Pfg, and they are very good.

Which can not be said of the chocolate, which is very expensive and inferior. Ersatz cocoa and very sweet. So for the time being I stick to cream candies, which are exterminated in large quantities here.[*1]

Now you know more or less what I can use here. But I won’t starve if you don’t send me anything. We are taken care of perfectly.

One loaf of bread every two days, coffee every morning, for lunch warm food (Peasoup; rice with pork) , and at night coffee, hot cocoa or tea, and sausages. In wet weather also rum or something similar. I have never felt hungry here. My loaf of bread is gone after two days though.

In the canteen there is beer even, but they’ve run out now due to high demand.  

So you see life is very bearable here. But then in other aspects it is not ideal. But I’m still feeling well, even if I haven’t washed myself for a few days, and my beard is getting fuller and fuller.

Duty is more interesting, and also more satisfying, than in Kevelaer. They lóve the art of marching here. Last Thursday we had the first big march, about 20-30 kms, in full marching kit, with exercises in between. It wasn’t too difficult. Even my feet are still in perfect order.

Last Friday we were innoculated against typhus.

Saturday we then had another march, this time without backpack, to the frontline “just to have a look” around”. We walked though many ruined villages.

It seems these two marches were intended to make the enemy think we are shifting troups. We marched rather conspicuously on roads which the enemy aeroplanes could easily spot.

The villagers here seem to be in contact with the enemy, even though it is strictly forbidden and carries heavy penalties. 
At La Bassée e.g. the English bombed the station just when fresh troops disembarked. They could only have known that through the telephone. They didn’t cause any damage thankfully.

Today the noise of the guns booming is again extremely loud.  

If it only were possible to capture 26000 English instead of Russians. But those English boys are way too cunning.[*2]

The people here don’t like the English. I have talked about them to several people here in the shops.

Also if we march through villages the people always shout at us “Anglais!” and then make a cut-throat movement with their finger. They seem to like it very much when they see we understood them and think the same.

If you see all those destroyed houses, all those wrecked locomotives and bridges, and if you see that last year’s crops are rotting in the fields, you can’t be thankful enough our brave army took the war to the enemy, even if it’s only slow progress.

I can’t think of our beautiful Bergischer Land looking like this, and you watching French soldiers marching through Barmen….

I am quite surprised the people here are very friendly, and even wave at us when march by them. They clearly see we are not the barbarians they thought we were.

There are more people from Barmen here. Yesterday we met a Feldgendarme who was a police officer in Barmen. I only knew him by face, but others knew him personally. But then I haven’t been in contact with the police back home much yet.

It seems though that everytime we are outside somebody recognises somebody else, and shouts “Oy Karl, bist du auch hier?”  The reunion is always very nice to watch. I haven’t experienced it yet unfortunately.

But if we hear of other Bärmer [people from Barmen] somewhere, we always send our greetings, and we’ve received back many greetings too. You won’t believe how many Bärmer are on active duty.

This morning we were at Sainghin church. That was beautiful. It really does us the world of good hearing a lengthy sermon again. 
It was a Catholic church of course, and the organ was out of order, so our bataillon’s orchestra had to play.

Did you find Don on the map? The closest big village is Annoeullin. Maybe you can find that.

Else is so good in drawing. Let her make me a small map, so that I know where exactly I am. I find it difficult to orientate myself here.  I believe Don is shown on the map of France, which hangs in the livingroom.

Don is actually not on the Canal de La Bassée, as I wrote you earlier, but on the Canal de la Deule. Maybe you can find that on the map.

The rumour goes we might go to Lille shortly. Would be nice if we could get away from this village.

How is the company doing? With the coldstore out of order it’s not looking good.

Did father receive the reference from Mr Welcke? If not please let him send it as soon as possible. Let me know if I have to do anything.

I read about the English blockade in the Barmer Zeitung. If that works then it’s all over quickly.

Doch Schluß. I don’t have much to write about in the next letter yet.

With many greetings  Fritz

[*1] Creamcandies = Rahmbonbons  (Think "Werther's Original") 

[*2]  On 13^th February 1915 the Austro-Hungarian army anounced they have upto now captured 29000 Russian prisoners of war in total.