Auchy, 13
april 1915
[Tuesday]
Dear family,
After a kong time I received a letter
from you today, mother’s letter of the 4th , with which I was very
happy.
My warmest congratulations to Else
and August on the occasion of their engagement. I am very happy for them, and
you too are bound to be very happy and drink a few good bottles to
celebrate. Then at the same time you can propose a toast to my health, and have
another drink to peace and that it may come soon. It really isn’t shameful, as
mother writes, to be happy about such a joyful occasion when there is a war on.
On the contrary, we here too are as
happy as we possibly can be when the fieldkitchen on occasion is stocked with a
lot of meat, which is not always the case, or when the portions of cheese of
sausage are much bigger than usual.
But as regards the engagement: I am
really véry happy for Else and for you all. You can now regard August as a “replacement”
for me, if that is possible.
I can imagine it somewhat, yes, but
father having to think about it for só long really wasn’t necessary.
Else is herself already very wise
for her age, and she knows full well whom she chooses. Furthermore she isn’t known
for her extravagance, so she will get by with the money should August’s
business not thrive so well, something that will certainly change once the war
is over.
But again, I am extremely happy and
already look forward to the wedding after the war.
I’ll drink a cup of coffee to the
health of both later on.
Now at least I know what
Sundayschool was good for.
As you have noticed already from the
date I am no longer in the trenches, that
is: not always at least, but here in Auchy. I have been transferred to the Pionierkommando [Sapper group] of our Kompanie. Why I deserved this honour I do not know. (My address
will remain the same as this is only for a short time) But when I like it here
I am gonna try to stay here.
For the time being it is much better
here than in the trenches. We live in a bomb-proof cellar of a house, the top
part of which is no more than a heap of bricks and two rooms left half
standing.
In any case it is much better than
the best dug-out in the trenches.
Our work starts at 10 at night,
until about 3 or 4 in the morning. We then build barbed wire defences, Polish
Riders etc on the frontline. Our Regimental commander has already expressed his
special thanks for our courage and bravery
during this work. I didn’t find it anything special. The English seemed to be at work too, and they
didn’t shoot at all.
We are then off duty the whole day,
so I have plenty of time to write.
I didn’t receive any parcels lately,
and thus I am quite bored. Yesterday I took a little trip to Douvrin, where
I stuffed myself in the canteen.
Please send me things I can cook
myself, like: ground coffee, cocoa with sugar, tea, good bouillon cubes (Not
those small 5pfg ones, but the bigger ones)
and cigarettes, with which you can always make good friends. Then I will
have everything I need.
With many warm greetings, especially
also to my new brother in law. Your Fritz.
War diary of 2nd South Staffordshires for 12 and 13 April 1915:
War diary of 1st KRR for 12 and 13 April 1915
The original letter :
No comments:
Post a Comment