03 | October | 2025 | Far Outliers

Daily Archives: 3 October 2025

by Joel | 3 October 2025 · 6:32 pm

Enduring a Cannonade, May 1915

From The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer, by Alexander Pfeifer and Philipp Cross (True Perspective Press, 2024), Kindle pp. 70-71:

Suddenly, at 6 o’clock sharp, a great cannonade starts to our right — the guns boom continuously — the individual explosions can no longer be distinguished. The main shooting is far away from us in the north, but the 16th is also being lit up badly. It looks wonderful how it tremors over there by the heap of bricks. There are round clouds of shrapnel hanging everywhere, and thick black and yellow-green clouds rise from the shells down on the ground. Rifles and machine guns fire at the same time — three aircraft buzz in the air. It was a hell of a racket. But things were about to get better because suddenly we too were under fire. One by one, the shells crash into our trench which is soon filled in in many places. Quantities of sharp shell fragments lie around everywhere. I have everyone but the most essential guards crawl into the shelters, and like so, we endure the bombardment for three hours. To set an example, I am now and then forced to walk along the entire trench with a calm step and an outwardly indifferent expression, whistling a song, so that people cannot say that the officers had slipped away. We remarkably didn’t have one wounded person although at least 100 shells fell into my company section alone. On the contrary, the neighbouring company is said to have three dead and several wounded.

It is now half past 3 and we are not being shot at anymore, but it is still continuing uninterrupted in the north. We are informed that the English attacked again at Neuve Chapelle with great superior numbers, but were repelled. We were probably only lit up like this so that we would believe that we too were being attacked and, in this way, to prevent us from moving our reserves north. I have got a real headache from the hours of banging and roaring. Hopefully, this shooting doesn’t put a damper on our plans, as we actually have to be relieved this evening.

Trench Life, Easter 1915

From The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer, by Alexander Pfeifer and Philipp Cross (True Perspective Press, 2024), Kindle pp. 63-64:

The trenches are flawlessly constructed. Every rifleman has a small niche of his own with steps leading up to it. Everything is reinforced with sandbags, and everyone stands behind a defensive shield of steel. Most people have tent canvases stretched over them so that they stand dry. Small boxes for bullet cartridges are built into the niche walls, and there are also waterproof boxes with hand grenades scattered throughout the trench. There are even special depots for trenchwork tools, ammunition and so on. Nice and deep shelters are plentiful. As a platoon leader, I have one for me and my orderly. Inside are two sleeping spots on top of each other like in a ship’s cabin. I even have a mattress. Of course, there is a table, wicker chair, oven, wall shelf, coat hangers, and pictures. To heat, we use hard coal which we can conveniently get from the nearest mine. Opposite us lies the French Landwehr. Only single shots are fired during the day, whereas it gets somewhat livelier at night. We are also graced with a few shells from time to time, but they haven’t caused any damage so far.

The weather was nice all day and night on the first day of the holidays, but it has been raining heavily since the morning of the second day. It is now rather filthy in the trenches as a result. We should have been replaced at 9 o’clock in the evening, but it was 1 o’clock in the night when the first replacement arrived. I then led the way through the communication trench all alone and didn’t get lost despite the many diversions. The mud reached high above the ankles, but this was an outright stroll compared to the past. The trench at Richebourg would have been impassable after such tremendous rain. The carriage I had ordered over the phone was waiting for me in Auchy, and I arrived in Billy at half past 2 in the morning where I quickly made a ration (sausage with kraut) on the spirit stove. I was suddenly woken up during the deepest sleep at half past 5 in the morning — highest alert. I thus got out of bed, got dressed, packed my suitcase and loaded the wagon. Just when I was finished, it was said that everyone could lie back down because it was just a practice alarm for the entire division. I then slept the whole day in return.

There was a strong storm with rain last night. Things will look lovely in the trenches tonight. I had some duties today — rifle inspection and instructing the oberjägers. I am going back to the Front for a couple of days again this evening. Captain Beutin is now the commander of the entire combat sector, and I am the company commander during this time. This means that I no longer have to do guard duty, but there is a lot of written and telephone work.

We eat together in peace in the mess hall here, which is set up inside the manor. The price is surprisingly cheap for the good food and drink; only 30 to 40 Mark a month. Extra drinks are of course charged separately. Food and drink are also delivered forward from the mess to the trench. Our electricians have laid wires throughout the entire place so that we have electric lights everywhere. A cable has also just been laid towards the front so that we will have electricity in the shelters in the near future too. We have built shelters at the front that are four metres underground. I feel significantly more comfortable again since being back here. It is a completely different life here than in the boring hospital.