51 - Douvrin, 6 June 1915

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 :

10^th July 1915 : Battalion gave concert in the theatre

3^rd August 1915 :  Horse show in Bethune Sports Ground.

The original letter:

50 - Douvrin, 5 June 1915

Written 5 June 1915

[Saturday, in Douvrin]

Dear family!

The day before yesterday I received mother’s letter of 30th May, and a parcel with chocolate etc. , and yesterday 3 parcels containing eggs, smoked meat, condensed milk and cakes. Furthermore 1 parcel from Paul Weyerbuschs (Please thank him) Many thanks for everything.

First of all mother’s letter.  You can safely send the shoes. Parcels don’t take that long. H. Mais received his after 8 days. To buy them here is impossible. You’d have to drive to Lille or Douai for that.  But even if it takes 6 weeks it will be worth sending them. I can always use them later, even when the war has ended by then. I have received the braces a long time ago already. And the money you send me is always welcome ofcourse.

By the way: during this war season I don’t need much fatty stuff. We can get enough of that here. Butter has always arrived in good order. Also the eggs lately. Of course it can be kept longer when in tins, but it doesn’t really matter when it’s gone a bit off. Unfortunately I can’t send the tins back. You need permission from the company commander every time you send something back, and the Feldwebel has to seal the package.

I’ve also noticed that the tins are véry small. It would be great if you could send me larger ones. And I’d like you to send me those indivually packed sweet that the Weuerbuschs’ always send me. Would be great, when you’re on guard-duty at night, to have something to suck on. It keeps you more awake and alert.

Then I urgently need a new Halsbinde [*1] , preferably a silk one, colour doesn’t matter, Feldgrau if possible. It looks like this:

About 4-5 cm wide, ties on both ends, and a slit to pull them through. Those Binden are better than the knitted ones, and also not as warm in summer.  I don’t need anything else at the moment.

Yesterday we came out of the trenches, and are now enjoying our 4 days rest.

The last day [in the trenches] turned out to be an interesting one . The English attacked the 56’ers next to us, but they got it good again.

We could see everything perfectly. First there was their artillery and they came out of their trenches in a relaxed fashion. They didn’t get far though. Our machineguns did their work efficiently, and soon they had had enough and retreated. We left them alone, otherwise the outcome would have been even worse for them. They say the 56’ers captured 200 priosners of war, and 2 machineguns. I don’t know whether that’s true or not. Did you read anything about that in the papers? [*2]

The Prellbock is our most forward position on the railwaytrack La Bassée-Béthune, and is called after the trainbuffer [= “Prellbock” in German] which is incorporated into our position. The name has no further meaning.  It’s really beautiful up there.

Only the dugouts could perhaps be a little smarter, but they’re okay in this dry weather.

Doch der Stoff geht mir aus. Please write with questions about what you’d like to know. That I’m still healthy and cheerful is something that I really don’t have to write you every single time.

So with many warm greetings to all of you and all acquaintances I am  your Fritz

[*1]  The Halsbinde was meant to protect the wool collar of the tunic from wear; not as is commonly thought, to prevent the collar from chafing the soldier's neck. The comfort of the soldier was not considered to be particularly important; more so was the need to preserve the uniform. Indeed, in many cases, the tunic lasted longer than the soldiers, as evidenced by the wartime re-issue of tunics of those soldiers who had died in hospitals.

Source and pictures :  http://www.ir63.org/index.php?page=48

[*2]  Heeresbericht of 4^th June 1915:

Östlich Givenchy gelang es gestern abend englischen Truppen, in unsere Stellung einzudringen, ein Gegenangriff warf den Feind unter schweren Verlusten wieder hinaus. Drei englische Maschinengewehre blieben in unserer Hand. Die Stellung ist lückenlos in unserem Besitz.

To the east of Givenchy the English troops managed to infiltrate our positions. A counter-attack drove them back again, with the enemy suffering many casualties. Three English machineguns were captured. Our positions remain firmly in our possession.

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

The original letter:

49 - Prellbock, 3 June 1915

Prellbock, 3 June 1915

Dear family,

Only now I have time to write you. That is not my fault though, but the English’s:

The day before yesterday they shelled us again with a few mines, and this time they were lucky to finally hit the target. One landed exactly on the dugout of the machinegun, our sandbags flew every where and the whole trench was full of junk. Nobody was injured. So we spent the last two nights and yesterday the whole day cleaning up and repairing the trench.

And when you’re busy the whole night and the whole day you can imagine you’d rather use the few free minutes you have –you really can’t talk of hours- to take forty and a half winks instead of writing. It just wasn’t possible.

Of course I always try as much as possible to write on Wednesdays and Sundays. But even with the best will it’s not always possible.

Since I wrote you last I received mother’s letter of the 29^th together with the Einjärigeschein, furthermore several parcels containing preserves, Brennsdorf [Coffee?], chocolate, butter, cigarettes etc. Most of them didn’t have a number on them. Many thanks for eveything. Please send me plenty of that hartspiritus [solid fuel for the fieldstove], it doesn’t last as long as what it says on the tin.

I hope the stuff isn’t too expensive.

We’re at the front again, but go into rest at Douvrin for 4 days tomorrow.  It’s always relatively peaceful here. We have nothing to do with the fighting around Arras. When the Mais’ or the Heede’s ask you about the attack on the Lorretto Spur [*1], in which we would have participated, please tell them that is not true. I know from a letter from Frau Steigleder that one of us mentioned in a letter home that we participated. But that is not true. So again: it remained peaceful here. Please don’t let other people tell you lies. If something happens I’ll write that to you.

People have to be glad they won’t have to attack themselves. Here it won’t come to attacks though. The positions are expanded in a massive way, we now have 6-8 lines of trenches behind each other in most places. The English are welcome here, we are prepared. But they too don’t think of attacking, because night after night we can observe how they’re reinforcing their barbed wire defences.

This morning our 8^th Kompanie blew up a large part of their trenches. Some debris rained down close to us, even though we’re 800-1000 meters away from the blast. But then they filled the tunnel with 24 Zentner [ 1 Zentner = 50 kgs] of dynamite. All this blasting is really not good, but we have to defend ourselves with any means possible, and if we don’t blow thém up they will blow ùs up.

The place where I am now, the Prellbock, is safe from undermining because there’s a marsh between the frontlines.

Hans Heynsche wrote to our Leutnant about the officer’s course. He wants to accomplish that I get admitted after all to the course in Douvrin. Ah well, it doesn’t matter much to me. I now know, more or less, why they didn’t take me on. Most other Aspiranten, like H. Pass etc., were universitystudents.

And they are given preference. I on the other hand am a businessman. And they don’t quite know what it is I do, whether in civilian life I’m behind the counter selling herrings, what exactly is it a businessman does. I really think that is the only reason. It really shouldn’t be like that. It’s a pity Hans didn’t write sooner. It might be too late now.

With many warm greetings   your Fritz

Yesterday I received a parcel from the Nettelbecks, please thank them for me! And one from the Heede’s 

[*1] Second Battle of Artois  

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

The original letter: