Boredom before Verdun

    Event ID: 100

    Categories: 

    Appointment & medals
    Deutsch
    Der rote Kampfflieger von Rittmeister Manfred Freiherrn von Richthofen, 1917, 351.000 - 400.000, Verlag Ullstein & Co, Berlin-Wien

    15 January 1915

    49.20920148045407, 5.736823108435212
    Verdun

    Source ID: 4

    Der rote Kampfflieger von Rittmeister Manfred Freiherrn von Richthofen, 1917, 351.000 - 400.000, Verlag Ullstein & Co, Berlin-Wien p.   

    ‘For such a restless spirit as I am, my work before Verdun could definitely be described as ‘boring’. At first I was in the trenches myself in a place where there was nothing going on; then I became an orderly officer and thought I would experience more. But then I cut my fingers badly. I was demoted from a fighter to a better stage pig. It wasn’t quite a stage yet, but the furthest I was allowed to venture was fifteen hundred metres behind the front line. There I sat underground for weeks in a bomb-proof, heated shelter. From time to time I was taken to the front. That was a huge physical effort. Because you walked uphill, downhill, up and down, through an infinite number of approach trenches and mud holes, until you finally arrived at the front where it was banging. Such a short visit to the fighting men always made me feel very stupid with my healthy bones. They started working underground back then. We didn’t even realise what it actually meant to build a tunnel [42] or to push forward a pillar. We knew the names from the fortification theory at war college, but that was pioneering work that another mortal wouldn’t have wanted to do. But up there on Combres Heights, everyone was busy digging. Everyone had a digging stick and a hoe and was making every effort to get as deep into the ground as possible. It was great fun to have the French only five paces in front of you in some places. You could hear the guy talking, you could see him smoking cigarettes, every now and then he threw a piece of paper over. You talked to them, but they still tried to annoy you in every possible way (hand grenades). Five hundred metres in front and five hundred metres behind the trenches, the dense forest of the Côte Lorraine was mown down by the endless number of rifle bullets and grenades that were constantly whizzing through the air. You wouldn’t believe that anyone could still be alive up ahead. The troops at the front didn’t even think it was as bad as the stage men. After such a walk, most of which took place in the very early hours of the morning, the more boring part of the day began for me again, namely playing telephone orderly. * [43]On my days off, I occupied myself with my favourite craft, hunting. The forest of La Chaussée offered me ample opportunity for this. I had spotted sows on my rides and was now busy tracking them down and stalking them at night. Beautiful full moon nights with snow came to my aid. With the help of my lad, I built raised hides at very specific crossings and climbed them at night. I spent many a night in the trees and was found as an icicle in the morning. But it was worth it. One sow was particularly interesting, she came swimming through the lake every night, broke into a potato field at a certain point and then swam back again. Of course, I was particularly keen to get to know this animal better. So, I set up on the shore of this lake. As arranged, the old aunt appeared at midnight to get her supper. I took a shot while she was still swimming in the lake, and the animal would almost have gone down the drain if I hadn’t been able to grab it at the last moment and hold it on a barrel. Another time I was riding with my chap in a very narrow lane when several wild boars crossed in front of me. I quickly got down, grabbed my chap’s carbine [44] and ran forward a few hundred paces. Sure enough, there came another chap, a mighty boar. I had never seen a boar before and was amazed at how huge this chap looked. Now it hangs here in my room as a trophy; it’s a nice memory.’

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