The Village of the Dead
Diary of a Stosstrupp Leader (Part 47)
This post continues the translation of the diary of a German soldier who fought in the First World War. Readers can find links to other posts in this series in the following guide
28 April 1918 (Sunday)
As it was Sunday, we attended a church service, rested, and got ready for the week to come.
29 April 1918
At five thirty in the morning I went, as a quartermaster, to Méricourt, which was already occupied by German troops. Our battalions bivouacked. The regimental headquarters occupied a little room near the church.
We were scheduled to take over the sector occupied by the 11th Infantry Regiment.
At noon, we received an order to send out an advanced party composed of three officers from each company.
At three we set out for Morcourt, where First Lieutenant Müller, from the regimental headquarters, and I reported to the commanding officer of the 5th Infantry Brigade.
(Note: At this time, the 5th Infantry Brigade provided an organizational home to all three of the infantry regiments of the 108th Infantry Division: the 97th Infantry Regiment, the 137th Infantry Regiment, and the 265th Reserve Infantry Regiment.)
The trucks carrying the advanced party were supposed to set off at seven thirty (in the evening). They did not arrive, however, until nine at night. Soon thereafter, we crammed into them and our journey began.
While driving on the great Roman road, we ran into enemy artillery fire. The trucks increased the distances that separated them from each other and drove on.
The last stage of the journey took us to Lamotte, where we saw sights that made us shudder. The remains of men and horses lay everywhere. The village looked like a pile of carcasses. We reported to the regimental headquarters, which had set up shop in a pitch-dark cellar, which had been buried under a pile of rubble.
Enemy shells fell continually into the ruins of the houses and made sinister sounds in the village of the dead.
30 April 1918
Glynder and Lieutenant Schröder and I moved into the cellar of a shot-up, once beautiful, house. In the evening, we got food and the news that, come tomorrow evening, I/97 would relieve the battalion serving as the ‘troops in readiness command’ (Bereitschaftstruppenkommando=BTK). We slept well in our little basement.
1 May 1918
At dawn, we went into the forward trenches and assigned companies to particular sectors. From time to time, salvoes of English artillery fire fell near us.
The position suffered from a chaotic appearance. Huge amounts of enemy matériel lay about. We saw no signs of shortages!
We used English rifles with fixed bayonets as supports for telephone wire.
I sent a detailed report to the battalion commander.
At nine or so in the evening the battalion headquarters arrived. I went with them to the command post of the ‘troops in readiness command’ (Bereitschaftstruppenkommando=BTK). The path was lined with dead soldiers, both English and German. The command post was very damp.
to be continued …
Sources
The text comes from Alwin Lyding Meine Kriegstagbuch (My War Diary), an unpublished manuscript that I found at the Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive) (Folder N 382/1).
I can scarcely imagine how vile the smell must have been, especially as it is now April. As he does not mention it, the author must have been somewhat inured to it.