The diary of a German soldier

Preface

A very few pages of these war memoirs will convince the reader that their author held an important position in the German army. Although Sergeant C only bore the chevrons of a non-commissioned officer, he was, nevertheless, virtually an officer in everything but name. His duties, as sometimes also happens in the French army, were akin to those of an officer. He played an important part on the so-called staff of his battalion. In turn, he was secretary, interpreter, and liaison officer. He frequently performed missions of trust and often carried confidential dispatches. Besides, he enjoyed all the prestige which the German army attaches to the rank of "Einjahrig-Freiwillige." ^ He dined with his superior officers and, when not on duty, mingled with them on an equal footing.

1 A young man of the upper classes, who, at his own expense, serves in the army for one year. There is no corresponding term in English. — Translator.

4 Preface

The special and relatively independent position which this rather well-informed and observant young man occupied, from August 1st, 1914, to October, 1916, enabled him to see much and to give us a vivid picture, always interesting, though presented with extreme simplicity, of the events of which he was an

eye-witness. As a matter of fact, C is no

writer and kept a diary much more for his personal satisfaction than because of any literary aspirations. It is precisely because of this complete lack of pretension and because of the author's undeniable freedom of thought that it seemed to us that these memoirs would find favour in the eyes of the French public. We shall see some of those barbaric scenes and acts of vandalism which have dishonoured the German army, presented in broad dayhght.

C , with great accuracy, gives the places,

the date, and almost always the name, the rank and the unit of the German officers who so often delighted in overwhelming innocent civilians with all possible abuses, committed with barbaric brutality and lewd passion. In this

Preface 8

respect, the testimony of C constitutes a

valuable document to support the indictment which the Allies have been drawing up against Germany for the past three years: those atrocious crimes, as for instance the secret massacre of twenty French civilians, both male and female, with bayonets, ordered at Braucourt on August 29th, 1914, by Colonel Puder, have been verified in every detail and with all necessary care.

This little book possesses still another interest of a purely historic nature; for these simple daily jottings in reality constitute the complete history, for the first two years of the war, of a German battalion which was closely connected with its regiment, its brigade, its division and often even its army corps. Even though the author is far from being an artist, or perhaps just because of that, this book faithfully portrays the aspect and the local colour of the different phases of the war on various fronts: Luxemburg, Artois, Picardy, Champagne, Galicia and the Vosges. For instance we learn under what conditions a Ger-

6 Preface

man division went back and forth between the French and Russian fronts and how long it took them to do it in those distant days when they still did.

In 1916, the author, thoroughly disgusted with Prussian militarism, decided to escape to Denmark, and it is from that countr\^ that this work has reached us. After fighting bravely for nineteen months both in France and Ga-

licia, Feldwebel C was seriously woimded

at the beginning of the attack on Verdun (February 23rd, 1916) and spent four months in a hospital at Frankfort. He had scarcely recovered when he was returned to the front. However, the surgeons again sent him back to Germany, where the authorities finally recognized him to be unfit for active seirice. He was transferred to the auxihary service and was sent to join a non-combatant battahon which was working on the fortifications of the Danish border in Schleswig. Thus Feldwebel C left the German army after having discharged his full duty and at a moment when he was not under fire. His desertion has nothing

Preface 7

dishonourable about it and this is important as regards the extent of confidence which we should place in his opinions and criticisms.

We believe that this rather sternly written but complete book forms a unique document: the war experiences of a German witness, a brave soldier, but still very liberal minded and above all perfectly straightforward and sincere.

Louis-Paul Alaux.

Paris, January 15, 1918.

Table Of Contents

CHAFTEB

I. Mobilization. News of mobilization — enthusiasm at Hanau — ^patriotic speeches and songs, 15

II. The Departure. From the barracks to the depot — on the train, 23

Contents

CHAPTER

XVI.

XVII.

II The Departure

In the barracks soldiers, instead of resting, were playing cards or writing home. They paid no attention to the officers and non-commissioned officers, who came in and advised them to sleep. At midnight the reveille sounded and coffee was served.

Moreover a fine racket had been going on everywhere in the city all evening long. The cafes and restaurants were filled with civilians and soldiers who had not reported at evening roll-call.

A crowd of people surrounded the barracks. There were many relatives of soldiers among them. An order had been issued preventing civilians from entering the barracks. In order to avoid affecting scenes and the farewells of sobbing mothers and wives, Major Schmidt decided to advance the hour of departure, so that the battalion left for the station at ten minutes past one.

The band of the 3rd Engineers marched first. The people running alongside sang and yelled so that you might think you were surrounded by a crowd of lunatics. All windows were opened wide and filled with men and women in their night clothes, who shouted their good wishes and threw us dainties and cigarettes.

When we arrived at the station we were immediately ordered into the train so that we would be promptly and completely cut off from the crowd and farewell scenes would be necessarily brief. Only some officers' wives had obtained permission to stay on the platform. Lieutenant Eger's wife fainted after kissing her husband. While some ladies carried her into the waiting room, Eger, without showing any ©motion whatsoever, calmly sought his compartment.

I found myself in a compartment with Lieutenants Merbach and Popp. All of a sudden the latter began to cry. Finally the train

The Departure 25

started and passed out into the black night.

At Frankfort refreshments were waiting for us on the platform. The ladies of the Red Cross served the soldiers, who were almost all downcast. The ladies tried to revive their spirits and said to them: ^'Courage, friends; show that you are men, happy and proud to be permitted to shed your blood for the Emperor and the German fatherland."

Probably these ladies had nothing to do, and, being bored at home, they came to the station to pass the time. Otherwise they would not have talked such nonsense. It is certainly an honour to die for your country if it is attacked. But had we been attacked?

We had been ordered to remove our shoulder straps so that no one could tell to what unit we belonged. In the stations, when civilians asked us where we came from, we answered: "From hell," or "From the moon."

Various inscriptions were painted on the coaches, such as: "Paris Express," "Down with France!" or again "Further declarations of war received here."

In the morning, Popp, Merbach, Loffelhardt and I left our compartment for a car filled with baggage from which we could calmly survey the landscape.

Towards six in the evening we finally arrived at Zerf where we passed the night. We were coldly received by the inhabitants. These people had once been French and they remembered it. Captain Ziekenrath, Merbach, Loff elhardt and I were quartered in the home oi a citizen who told us that all his beds were occupied by his wife and daughters. We had to be content with some straw which Merbach's orderly brought us. He had stolen it somewhere or other. We were so tired that we slept soundly on that straw, so soundly, in fact, that next morning we were late for roll-call.

On August 7th, 1914, we left Zerf. Our train passed through Irsh, Saarburg, Littdorf, Frissel, Nittel and Wellen, where we crossed the Moselle and the Luxemburg frontier. All the soldiers, tired out, were now sad and discouraged.

Ill

LUXEMBURG

It was about half-past eleven when we arrived at Alingen. Almost immediately Major Schmidt assembled the staff of the battalion in order to give us his instructions as to the treatment to be accorded to the inhabitants of the country. These people were really thoroughly familiar with the German language, but they pretended not to understand a word of it and insisted on talking French. The men composing the staff of the 2nd Battalion of the 88th Infantry were Major Schmidt; Lieutenant Wunderlich, aide-de-camp; Dr. Schafer, the head of the medical staff; Dr. Wolkewiz; Lieutenant Merbach; Sergeant-Major Hauser; Loffelhardt; and myself.

As interpreter, I was ordered to inform the inhabitants that it would be greatly to their advantage to welcome the soldiers and to do their utmost to avoid quarrels.

Merbach, Loffelhardt and I were quartered on a woman whose brother had left Paris on August 4th, 1914. He told us that every one in Paris blamed the Crown Prince for starting the war. Merbach answered that he was only one of the many guilty ones. This woman gave us an excellent dinner. In the afternoon, the doctor inspected the men's feet because several of them had been complaining of soreness.

At five o'clock, the whole battalion was assembled on the road leading from Alingen to Mensdorf. Colonel Puder, commanding the 88th, greeted and addressed us. Then, led by a band, we left for the city of Luxemburg, arriving there at noon on the eighth. The natives who watched us pass show^ed without exception only hostility. Merbach, Loffelhardt and I went on ahead to order the people to place pails of water in front of their houses so that the soldiers, whose throats were parched by the heat, might have a chance to drink.

Luxemhurg 29

The battalion halted at Esch, five kilometres from the capital of Luxemburg. The men were put up in barns and the officers were billeted on the inhabitants.

Merbach and I were assigned to a priest who received us very badly, telling us that he could only give us one single bed. Merbach gravely replied that two yoimg men could not possibly sleep in one bed, especially in the home of a Catholic priest. "What is your religion?" asked the priest. *'I am a Cathohc," Merbach answered, although he was really a Protestant.

Merbach and I were ordered to go to Luxemburg immediately to buy cigarettes and various things for the battalion. In the tobacco shop two ladies were behind the counter as we entered. Merbach told them in German that we wanted some cigarettes and that we would pay for them. The ladies pretended not to imderstand, and one of them said in French :

"Gentlemen, if you were French, I would give you everything you wish for nothing. But we cannot bear the sight of 'sauerkrauts.' "

"Madam," I answered in French, "be caref ul of what you say and whom you address in this manner. Some day your words may come back to you in an unpleasant fashion." Thereupon she became thoroughly frightened and embarrassed, for she had not thought that we could understand French.

I reassured her, saying that I would not give her away. Then she decided to speak German, greatly to the satisfaction of Sergeant- Ma j or Vetter who could now make the purchases on which he hoped to gain a fine profit. This swindler really resold these goods to the men for much more than he paid for them. His thefts assumed guch large proportions that Major Schmidt was forced to remove him. Later on he was killed in the first engagement of the battalion.

Immediately upon his return to the cantonment, Major Schmidt invited us to have coffee, and then our time was our own.

Our priest received us a little more cordially this time. We dined with him. The dinner was so good that I did not pay the slightest attention to Merbach's puns.

Luccemburg - 31

On the following day, Merbach, Loffelhardt and I were ordered to make a careful inspection of the wagons of the battalion. While we were thus occupied, the other officers spent their time in the cafes, drinking and playing cards.

At seven o'clock we received the following order: "The 2nd Battahon of the 88th Infantry will advance from Luxemburg to Arlon, and will find out whether or not the city is still occupied by the enemy. Half a section of the 6th Uhlans will supplement the 2nd Battalion. Patrols commanded by officers and non-commissioned officers will reconnoitre."

By chance, we three, Merbach, Loffelhardt and myself, were again chosen by the commander to be sent to reconnoitre. Our hearts beat a little faster, but we could not object, since, as they say, orders are sacred. Soon we arrived in the city. Those inhabitants whom I questioned told us that the Belgian soldiers had just left Arlon, scarcely two hours ago. The city seemed quiet, so we returned to the battalion where Major Schmidt ordered us to report to Baron Von Schenk, infantry general and commander of the army corps. He was then at Luxemburg. The general had a copy of our report made by his chief aide-de-camp, Major Martens,

Towards ten o'clock, the battahon, led by a band, entered Arlon. All precautions were taken to guard against an attack. Arlon was occupied by our battalion, a company of machine gunners, who set up their loaded pieces right in the heart of the city, the 6th Uhlans and a battery of the 68rd Artillery. The 5th Company took possession of the barracks of the city; the three other companies were billeted in various places. Brigadier-General Von der Esch and the chief of staff of the 42nd Brigade lived at the Hotel Continental. All the officers and non-commissioned officers had to live with the men in the cantomnents.

But Major Schmidt gave Merbach, Loffelhardt and myself permission to live in the city at the house of the deputy-major. We stayed there up to the very moment of our departure.