61 - Prellbock, 11 July 1915

Prellbock, 11 July 1915

[Sunday]

Dear family,

Since I last wrote you I have received mother’s letters of the 3^rd and 7^th of this month, plus parcels nr 2, 3, 4, and 5. Many thanks for everything. A parcel each from Aunt Vollmer, Aunt Bonert and A Weyerbuschs also arrived. Please thank them for me.

Mother is right when she writes my ketters arrive intermittently lately. But I really can’t always write consistently, no matter how much I’d like to. When I tell myself “This afternoon I’m going to write a letter” I can be sure some workjob pops up which prevents me from writing. Or I give the letter to someone to post for me (Here in the Prellbock, from which we are not allowed to leave, we don’t have a letterbox of course) and then that person forgets to post the letter.

It has also happened once or twice that I just overslept. But when you’ve alternately stood guard for 2 hours and worked for 2 hours from 8 at night untill 7 in the morning, it’s no wonder that sometimes happens. When we’re at rest it’s not much better. I say to myself “This afternoon I’m going to write a letter”, and then of course we have to fall in for innoculations, delousing, or weapons inspection, and it again comes to nothing.

So don’t think any foolish things when a letter from me doesn’t arrive in time. Whenever possible I write you on Wednesdays and Sundays, surely that is enough. Or would you rather I write more frequently, even if it is just a postcard?

I also received the money father sent me on the 3^rd. Many thanks for that. My assets will have reached the, in trench-terms substantial, amount of 45 DM by the time we go back in rest.

I’ll see if I can perhaps take a day-trip to Carvin with that, to treat myself to a proper afternoonmeal.

The Halsbinde mother sent me a long time ago, receipt of which I have already confirmed, is unfortunately already worn. Please sned me a new one, but then one in the form of a necherchief. It doesn’t have to be a silk one.

It’s a real shame you can’t send me the Ticka, I was so looking forward to it. Please see if you can find something similar with frieds or family. I can then make nice photographs, it’s easy to send films through the Feldpost. In Douvrin there’s a dark room I can use to develop the films. I want to make a photo of Karl Steigleder’s grave. His parents can find it without a photograph though. He is buried in the general cemetery of the 16’ers in Douvrin. Every grave of course marked with a nice cross. There is time for all that in a stationery war. I have already written to the Steigleders. [*1]

I’m looking forward to the, as they say, “lice-free” silk shirts from Mrs Benzenberg. I don’t much from them though. I can’t send my washing to a laundry, but a French woman in Douvrin washes it for me, for a piece of bread and a few Pfennig. And it’s always perfectly clean. When I come out of the trenches I send her my dirty laundry, and the next time I pick it up again, fresh and clean. It has the advantage that I don’t always have to schlepp my dirty laundry around all the time.

I can have it washed by the Kompanie here, but then you don’t always get back your own clothes.  

I’m very sorry Edith took ill. It’s nice Hanne took on all that Kinderbrassel  [noisy kids]. It gives her an opportunity to show what she learned at home. Hopefully Else won’t catch anything from Edith.

The cheese you sent me tastes very good, I request renewed sending. It is nice to eat something different than Marmelade etc.

As I wrote you before, it gives me great pleasure to read everything in the garden is flowering so beautifully, and perhaps even more that the wounded soldiers are so happy with the flowers.

Is it warm at home too? Here we can’t complain about the heat, on the contrary. Without a coat it’s chilly at night. But you don’t have to send me menthol-pastilles anymore. Not a trace of a cold, not even when you’ve been knee-deep in water and didn’t have time to put on dry socks.

I almost forgot again: please send me a new pocket-knife. One just like my old one. With a cork-screw. I can use that here.

Many warm greetings

Your Fritz

in the margin: I'll write the next letter on Wednesday, from the Uhrgraben

[*1] Contemporary photo of the cemetery of the 16’ers at Douvrin, now the municipal cemetery.

The German cemetery was relocated to the German cemetery at Lens-Sallaumines after the war.

The cemetery in relation to the billets in Douvrin

Making of grave crosses

The original letter

60 - Douvrin, 7 July 1915

France (D),  7 July 1915

[Wednesday]

Dear family,

Yesterday I received mother’s letter of the 4^th with the photographs, which made me very happy. Why would I then get home-sick? First of all it’s of no use when you’ve been away for so long.

Furthermore I just don’t have the time for that. I’m extremely happy you all look so well, especially father and Else. Being engaged does her good, she’s put on weight. Mother could have put on a happier face, despite the war, and Helen could have looked better. On both photographs Hanne looks like she just felt a louse walking across her tummy. Was it that? Or is that the fashion these days? And then Stropp [Fritz’s dog] has become way too fat. People tell me August is the one to blame for that. So I have to kindly but firmly request him to not fatten him that much. Start by feeding him one less time per day (I mean Stropp of course) [*1]

Then parcels nr 198/99, 200 and nr 1 arrived yesterday. Many thanks for everything.

I’m very sorry Hans [Heynsche] took ill. Hope it doesn’t get any worse.

I’ve received the money both times, as I have already written to you.

Yesterday I also received a letter from the Steigleders. I’ll reply to them immediately.

I don’t have much to write or to tell actually. I visited Karl’s grave yesterday [Karl Steigleder]

They’re at work at the cemetary at the moment, laying new paths etc. , so I want to wait with photographing the grave untill next time I’ll come into rest. They should have finished by then.

And the photograph will look a lot better. I’ve already talked to one of our Sergeants about photographing.  Maybe I can have my Ticka by that time to make that photograph.

The 16’er that mother met in Doppersberg [a street in Barmen/Wuppertal, south of the river] will have a hard time finding me here. 11^th Company is, as far as I know, always in the trenches when we are at rest.

Well, what else to write you? It’s usually the same old thing here, which means I have little to write about. The main thing is in any case that you know I’m doing well.

We have repaired the trenches, after the English destroyed them. It was a lot of work, but now they’re even more secure than before. It won’t be so easy now to damage them.

By the way the English have been very quiet lately. It seems they wihtdrew their heavy artillery and the main part of their troops here, to deploy them somewhere else.

You can notice the English are now weak here, and frightened as a result, ass they now shoot like mad-men during the night. Just now they fired off 28 flares in 40 minutes.

We fire off a lot less, and then only if we spot something.

So, mother will ask a lot of questions in her next letter in order to give me stuff to write about.

With many warm greetings   Your Fritz

[*1] Sadly the whereabouts of the photographs of his family he talks about are unknown to me.

The original letter: 

59 - Auchy, 5 July 1915

D , 5 July 1915

[Monday

Dear family,

Since I last wrote you I received a letter from Mother (I shamefully admit I have already burnt it, so I can’t answer it precisely any more) and parcels nrs 191/6 and one with lemonade.

I’ll answer the letter from memory as best as I can. Hopefully I don’t forget anything important.

So: I’ll write to Aunt Bonert tomorrow or the day after, when we’re back in rest again. Same for the postcards to Weyerbuschs. I’ve written to Paul Bonert already a few days ago.

The sacharine, which father sent me, is very good. There is no difference in taste at all. Above all it’s very practical and it dissolves easily even in cold water. Then you sent me a fine ham [a “Blasenschinken”] in one the last parcels. I request renewed expedition, also of Puffertkuchen.

When you have enough please send me some home-made strawberry- or raspberry-juice. The artificial stuff tasts good, but it can’t beat home-made, especially when you mix that with Rhenser Wasser [= carbonated mineral water] .

Then my friend Mertens from Solingen (Fa. O Mertens, Stahlwaren. Paul [Bonert] may known them) got sent fresh cherries, and they arrived in perfect condition. Please try that one time, you’ve got to carefully pack them. Please also send me some preserved fruit. From the Weyerbuschs’ I received delicious Helvetia apple sauce.

You can’t always get fruit in the canteen in the trenches, due to high demand. You can’t stop eating fruit in this warm weather.  Then I’d like to get a tin of Pumpernickel  [Westfalian rye-bread].

The “Dalli”cigarettes are very good. Stick to that brand please. [*1]

I so want to start photographing again in this nice weather!

I have to shamefully admit my letters are just wish-lists, but then I have so few topics to write about.

Then another question from Mother’s letter. We have church services here too of course. As a rule once every time we’re in rest. Last time we even had Holy Communion. Church services are always outside in the garden, because the English destroyed the church . They suspected our artillery was using it as an observation post. [*2]

I don’t know whether Father Hüpfeld is due here, because I don’t know him. In any case our pastor is a big, older gentleman with a grey pointed beard. He has already lost a son in the war.

The last few days in the reserve-trenches were very nice. We didn’t have much work to do and we always had our nightrest. During the day we were in Auchy a lot, and we gorged ourselves on gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherries. The cherries here are the best I’ve ever eaten.

But unfortunately the fun didn’t last long. The English seem to have found out about it, through their aeroplanes no doubt, and now always shell that garden.

Then one more time: we are positioned directly on the Canal de La Bassée, and have nothing to do whatsoever with the fighting north of Arras.

But enough for today. More soon.

With many warm greetrings   your Fritz

[*1]  Dalli cigarettes :

[*2]  the destroyed church at Douvrin

The church at Douvrin in the present time

The original letter: