Fritz Limbach - letters from the front - 1915: 51

Written Sunday 6 June 1915

[from Douvrin]

Dear family,

I wrote you a letter just yesterday, but I hope to write one today as well. Doesn’t matter if there’s nothing much in it. I just got parcels 147 and 148, and mother’s letter of the second of this month. Many thanks for everything.

I haven’t yet received the parcels with marmelade and cigarettes. Hope they arrive soon. It’s always the things you want the most that make you wait the longest. But for the time being I can buy everything here. We go back to the trenches on Tuesdayevening.

And please don’t send me any bacon, we’re almost drowning in it here. Today I made good use of it: I fried as many as 5 eggs & bacon. Had a bottle of Rheinwein to accompany them, and I immensely enjoyed them. So you see: it’s better that you don’t send me any money anymore. I only use it to party.

Eggs are really cheap here, they only cost 10 centimes each. I don’t think you can buy them for less.

As regards the fighting north of Arras you can be reassured. Those aren’t attacks from our side, rather from the side of the English. [*1]. And here at La Bassée the English so often got drubbed, like last Thursday, that they’ll not attempt to attack again.

You cannot imagine what it is like to “capture a trench”. Before, when I read “we have captured a trench” I always thought “Well, that’s not much”. But now I think differently.

I got my Wickelgamaschen [= Puttees] back again. I spoke to my Platoon Commander about it, and asked him to pursue the case any further. So the young lad got off with a few days “Ausschluß” [= “Exclusion], that means that in his spare time he has to do all kind of not so nice jobs as there are carrying water etc. He is now known throughout the Company , and that’s the most important thing for me. By the way the young man shared a dug out with me for the last 4 days, even sleeping very close to me. But of course we managed the situation well.

He’s also from Barmen, and we were sworn in together, otherwise I had put the case before Herr Leutnant and then he most certainly would have been sent to prison for 3 days. Those 3 days in prison would then have taken during his 4 days rest, and that is no fun.

I received the qualification certificate some time ago already. And I sent two photographs. Actually only one to you. I sent a print of the second one to the Benzenbergs. Unfortunately I lost the other prints. But I can hardly be made out on those photographs.

I really look forward to your photographs, also those of the soldiers [working at his father’s coldstore].

I already wrote you about the laced shoes. For the time being I have procured an other pair, which will do untill the other pair arrives.

It will be difdicult to find Erwin Heuser here, as I don’t know where his Regiment is located. Same for Augusta’s son and our coachman Herling, whom I’d very much like to meet. Can you let me know which Kompanie he’s in please?

[Hugo] Paß and Paul Böddinghaus took part in the officer’s course. By the way I received a letter from Hans Heynsche yesterday. He’d also written to our Kompanieführer Leutnant Stennes [*2], who told me that it was unfortunately too late now. He had talked to our Instructions Officer Leutnant Souchay, but he couldn’t change anything anymore because it was all arranged already by the Regiment.

H. Robbers, the son of August’s bookkeeper, who is by the way not in my Kompanie, also takes part in the course. I can only get annoyed that others, like H. Paß etc., who I’m sure did nót accomplish more than I did, are allowed to take part, just because they are students.

I’ll try to persuade our Leutnant to let me take part in the next course. I get along with him very well, so we’ll just have to wait.

When there are e.g. planks to be shifted, and the Leutnant sees that I too have to schlepp them around, he usually calls me to him and assigns me a more pleasant job. So if it doesn’t work out it won’t be because of him.

Actually he’s even younger than I am. A few weeks ago, when we were still at Oignies, he celebrated his 19^th birthday with the whole Kompanie. I believe it is rare for someone of his age to already be a Company-commander. But then he’s véry capable, and wounded a few times already, I believe 4 times. [*3]

So 4 days of rest are very nice. You do almost nothing except eating and sleeping. E.g. last night I slept like never before. I went to bed at 22:30, and I woke up this morning at 09:30. Which was just as well as we had marching-exercises at 10:00.

I slept on the floor lying on my blankets with my coat over me. I’m not sleeping on matrasses anymore, they are full of lice. Yesterday we’ve all been deloused. All our stuff and the blankets were disinfected in an oven. At the same time I took a bath, and put on clean underwear.

But I don’t expect much result from this measure. At the most a few days, and then the old wreck is back again.

But back to the theme: so this morning we had 1 hour of marching-exercise, followed by “Frühschoppen” [ Pre-lunch drink] . I always like that, you feel all supple again.

Free for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon I ate very well (Rice with preserved fruit). Then an afternoon-nap until 15:30, followed by a coffee (made by ourselves!).

Then to the Reading-room where I lost myself in the “Lustige Blätter”, “Simplicissimus” etc.

I prefer to read those next to Paul Oskar Hocker’s “Liller Kriegszeitung” and the “General Anzeiger” [*4]

At 6 time had come for the 5 eggs, and after that a Promenade-concert (Today only works by Wagner) which is always very nice. [*5]

Then we got chocolatemilk from the kitchen, which was devoured with bread and butter and cheese and smoked meat and sausages.

All of the above ofcourse with the obligatory accompaniment of cigarettes.

Then I started to write, and now it’s 21:30 already so I can safely go to sleep now.

I’ve written you what a day looks like when we’re at rest. Next time I’ll write about what goes on in the trenches. It’s totally different.

It’s lovely here in this beautiful warm weather, I’m still sitting in the garden.

Well, this turned out to be a neat letter after all. You don’t have inspiration every day.

With many warm greetings to everyone

Your Fritz

Geef Stropp niet teveel te eten zodat hij niet dik wordt. Er lopen hier vele gewoon onbeschrijflijk dikke straathonden [ Köter] Als ik er zo een zie dan moet ik altijd met schrik denken aan Stropp, die er ook zo uit zou kunnen zien als ik weer terugkom.

[*1] Heerebericht 4 June 1915:

To the east of Givenchy the English troops managed to capture our trenches, the enemy was repulsed by a counter-attack and suffered heavy losses. Our position remains firmly in our hands.

http://www.stahlgewitter.com/15_06_04.htm

Heeresbericht 5 June 1915

The enemy attack at Neuville [St Vaast, north of Arras] was repulsed.

http://www.stahlgewitter.com/15_06_05.htm

[*2] Wikipedia entry for Walther Stennes (in German only I’m afraid)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Stennes

here’s Wikipedia about the Stennes revolt (this one is in English)

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

and a German language article in Der Spiegel :

http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/walter-stennes-sa-fuehrer-und-spion-fuer-stalin-a-947674.html

[*3] According to his Wikipedia page (for link see note *2 ) Walther Stennes was born on 12^th April 1895, so he would have celebrated his 20^th birthday in 1915, not his 19^th.

Also on 12^th April the Kompanie was at Auchy/Douvrin, and Fritz was in Oignies untill 1^st or 2^nd April. Fritz must have had his places and dates mixed up.

But whether 19 or 20 yrs old, Walther Stennes was indeed véry young to already be a Company Commander.

[*4] The Regiment's eading-room at Billy-Berclau (the village next to Douvrin)

“Lüstige Blätter” = a German comic magazine, published weekly

http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/lb

Here for the 1915 issues:

http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/lb30?sid=68c5c4819f34515b37ff46c2b9979436

“Simplicissimus” a German satirical magazine

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

Here for pdf’s of all issues:

http://www.simplicissimus.info/index.php?id=6

“Liller Kriegszeitung”: a war-time German newspaper issued in Lille.

http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/liller_kriegszeitung

“General Anzeiger”: a nation-wide German newspaper

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/General-Anzeiger_(Begriffsklärung)

[*5] It may sound strange : a promenade concert on the front-line, but just 2-3 kilometers away, "on the enemy side", they were involved in the same things.

See e.g these snippets from the war diary of 1^st King’s Royal Rifles :