Saw this on eBay.... apart from the nasty conditions, check out the chest of the NCO in the center..... how long did this poor guy last with that bar pinned over his heart.....
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Last edited by stogieman; 05-03-2005, 12:40 PM. -
Wsould have been no problem, as soon as it heated up he just hid it under his moustache..... -
Talk about trench foot . No matter how many books I read or photos I see I still cannot imagine how bad it must have been.Joel
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Conditions
Joel;
A short passage of one of my father's Feldpost from Verdun underlines the state of the battlefield. He was in Garde=Reserve=Pionier=Regiment (Flammenwerfer), and he mentioned in a Feldpost to his father in the East how great that they were trucked into to do their "Arbeit" ("work") in the morning, then out, back to barracks (at Stenay-sur-Meuse), and then to shower (he said that "you could keep as clean as in garrison") and that they then had a cinema, and that the selection of films were even good, cost 5 or 10 Pfennig. What was implied but not mentioned; you not only had mud in the trenches, but a certain proportion of human remains, some fresh, some stale, plus the aroma, a mix of poop and death. Most writers don't like to write about it. (I of course have no inhibitions) He sometimes touched on the topic in his anecdotes, like his Trupp drinking out of a shell-hole for a few days, only to see the aged foot of a French officer sticking out one evening as the level receded.
Bob LembkeComment
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Bob,
Thank you very much for your insightful reading. It truly shows what the men of that time had to live with on both sides of the line. It still amazes me that these very brave men could go on in such barbaric conditions. I guess the term "mincing machine" was very accurate. Thank you again.
JoelComment
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