16th November – 10th December 1918

Finally, we received the marching orders for the 16th of November; we should join the third-last division, which before the arrival of the enemies, will march through. The divisions were then divided into so-called marching groups, for greater clarity, and also all formations not belonging to a Division Association. Each march-group consisted of several regiments or columns under single management. Major Foerst should take over such a march-group. He therefore went with Probst to Waterloo, where he was to take up his command. About three o’clock the next afternoon I should hitch up with the rest of the command. The march-group consisted of the headquarters, a vehicle fleet column, two companies of armor soldiers, a road construction company and some smaller departments, all together 25 officers, 800 teams/men and 200 horses. The march-target for the first day was Ottenburg; from the second day I was appointed as the billeting officer for the march-group, while Kauffmann played the catering officer.

As the marching orders arrived, we realized that our horses were not sufficient to move the baggage and the rescued files. I let therefore some horses confiscate, which caused pretty excited disputes with the owners. The stables were always guarded. When I went on the 16th of November through the stables, I found our strongest horse lying dead there. The suspicion, that the house owner, a very rude patron, had poisoned the horse, was, at the present mood of the Belgians, not to be dismissed out of hand. He was arrested by me; at the same time I fetched with great difficulty a veterinarian. He did discover that the horse had a liver disease and died of a stroke.

At three o’ clock I was standing with eleven wagons and 100 teams from the headquarters at the intersection of Overijsche and waited for the Major to pass with his marsh-group, to join and follow him. Another division marched still through the town. Today there were continually march-congestions, so it turned 5 o’clock before we saw Probst on his horse and the Major in his carriage. We hooked up with the column. Although it was only eight or nine km to Ottenburg we only arrive there at Midnight.

The march-target for the next day was Enines. Today, progress was swift. We had good roads ahead of us and arrived without incident in the town. Today we admired the organization, and how this retreat was conducted.

Although on the same march-street, before us marched not less than fourteen divisions and behind us another two, everything worked excellent. This was also observed during the following days. Actual frictions had been only a few. However, the billeting question was difficult. The closer we approached the German border, the more cramped was the space available to us because of the far to the south projecting tip of Holland, through which most of the troops could not pass.

Also today the quarters were poorly prepared by the division. We stood for a long time on the Road, until I sorted the billeting out. Starting from tomorrow, I should go ahead as billeting officer. We found shelter in a very nice farmhouse. The landlady, although Belgian set a festive table and donated a big roast. Since I had no carriage, I went with my billeting officers, on the following day on foot ahead to Crao Avernas. The road was good again and the march went quickly. The village was soon allocated; some formations of our group were housed in the next village. The staff, so we headquarters officers, called ourselves, found accommodation in a very good and well equipped villa. As the next morning Jullmann and Baldinger had tracked down an impeccable dog-cart, looking for billeting started to be fun.

We drove ahead quickly with our lightweight cart, we could easily overtake troops and avoid congested roads. Anyway, I was now always on time when the artillery and infantry officers (they always drove or rode ahead) were informed of the Division’s plan of distribution, so they could not pull a fast one on us, what very often happened under-mates. Today’s target was Jeneffe. Here we had a day of rest.

The quarter of the next day was Romsée, beyond Lüttich. I set out very early with my two officers, to have some time to spend in Lüttich. The day was magnificent, the road good, though the air was already quite wintry. The big city soon became apparent, by the numerous villas, the many factories and workers’ villages; soon she was before us at the bottom of the Maas-valley. On the side of the road we saw in the distance, two of the shot down forts. We turned off from the prescribed march-road, which led around the city centre, with our dog-cart. The city centre offered a surprising sight: the houses were covered with Belgian flags, the streets formed a  real forest of yellow-red flags. Everywhere there was very heavy traffic. We made several purchases, especially for groceries; among other things we also heard, that the government with his leader had fled at the outbreak of the revolution. I thought this a pathetic sign of the heroism of many of these gentlemen. When we left Lüttich behind, we came to another march-road, which was heavily occupied by troops. On side roads, we arrived at the Maas. At the bridge there was quite a long traffic jam, and it took some time to get across. Again on a side street, we drove quickly up the heights and reached Romsée. After two hours billeting officers arrived who were sent ahead, of the individual formations, to allocate the quarters. The troops arrived two hours later. We were told that the next day we must probably camp. We now came directly up to the German border. The determined target area was Langenberg, where I could find on the map only one homestead.

Although we were in the Ardennes and in the night it froze already, a part of the horses had to stay in the open. I wanted to avoid that the teams sleep outside with regards to the mood of the people. On very beautiful forest trails and on this clear winter day I came to the area which was allocated to us. I actually found only a larger farm and in addition a smaller property. In the vicinity were still some more farms and a deserted railway station. It was impossible to leave the assigned area for billeting because in front and behind of us and to the right and left there were other troops. But after long negotiations, I achieved that the Division in front of us moved closer together, so that I had seven homesteads at my disposal.

One formation, of our march- group, moved into one of the homesteads. So about 100 – 120 men were housed like sardines, the officers were in the midst of them. It was terribly cramped, but still better than to camp by freezing temperature without tents.

The next day we crossed the German border at Herbesthal. Despite the gloomy event, we were all in a joyful mood and happily welcomed the first black-white-red flags. The high fence of barbed wire was still there and severely separated German and Belgian territory. I drove with my dog-cart ahead again to Breinig, what was determined as a billet place for today. At the intersection in Vicht, a scenic little village surrounded by beautiful forests, there was an unpleasant march disorder. An entire division had strayed from their street and crossed now our road. Since we had to wait about three hours I went with Jullmann ahead on foot. In Breinig we found in a nearby settlement close to the village very good accommodation. We were here about 12 km away from Aachen, where Marie lived. I would have liked to driven over. But since the troops arrived only at about seven o’clock in the evening and I had to set off the next morning at six o’clock, it was not possible to quickly visit Marie.

The next day we reached Rölsdorf, a suburb of Düren, here the officers and men were offered really good quarters. The staff stayed at the Catholic clergy, where we also ate very well. We were finally granted a day’s rest. I used the day to visit Lord Mayor Klotz of the town. From his office, I also spoke on the phone to Marie, the last time before her death.

Exceedingly comfortable were the next quarters in Kerpen. It was the last quarter that we command officers shared together. The landlord, he had a flourishing drug- and Viktualienshop, treated us to a brilliant dinner and plenty of wine. We sat long together and thought of the beautiful hours in Douai, in St. Amand and in other places. Only the future was dim before us. The next morning we were scattered to the four winds; the Bavarians moved to the south, the North-Germans turned to the left; the ones from the occupied territories were discharged to their homeland. There were many handshakes and wishes to meet again in better times. Major Foerst went to Munich, Rader to Frankfurt on the Main, Probst to Worms and Kauffmann to Mannheim. I moved on with 13 men to the East. Three people absconded and with the rest and two wagons, we reached initially Cologne. Without delay and with mixed feelings, we crossed the Rhine to Bergisch Gladbach and Altenberg, where we moved into billet. I was attached to the Saxon Reinforcing Company 141for my rations.

But as this troop marched very badly and was not very disciplined and by the clumsiness of its leader met with difficulties everywhere, I soon went “freelance”, i.e. I set off with my people usually two hours before the division and arrived mostly unchallenged at the new marsh-objective. In good days’ marches, we passed the magnificent landscape of the Ruhr district; we were almost always well received and accommodated with decent landlords. So we spent the nights in Altenberg,

D a h l h a u s e n   (45 km), which was located at Radevormwalde, southeast of Remscheid, then in   A l t e n v ö r d e,   E p p e n h a u s e n at Hagen,

L a n g s c h e d e   and close to   U n n a.   The soldiers of the Saxon Reinforcing Company usually turned up later and then I found out about the other orders.

In Unna we hoped to be evacuated by train, but I was told that our evacuation would be from Hamm. As next, march-object I was told a place close to H a m m.   So we moved there the next day -it was the 6th of December-.We found after some back and forth accommodations. Also, the reinforcement company soon arrived here. I was staying with my people on a small farm, where the food was good. But our Hosts had no electric light or gas and little petroleum, so we mostly spent the long evenings by candlelight, so far we were not sitting in the black and unfriendly pub in Hamm. I went in the morning of the following day, with the First Lieutenant of the reinforcement company, to the eligible department of general commando, to inquire about further transportations. Unfortunately, I was told that transportation by rail at the moment was unthinkable, because the railway were overloaded with shipments. There are still troops here which have been waiting for 14 days to be transported by rail. These were not good prospects. In the next few days we heard that a lot of troops, which had carriages and horses, should walk to reach their garrison. Among them were many-Saxon formations. I was set at liberty to be joining such a formation. After I went every day, often several times a day to audition at the General Commando, I succeeded at last, to get rail tickets to Leipzig for my 10 people and myself. By chance I heard that the previously existing regulation, which allowed small contingents to travel by train, should be repealed. In order to avoid all difficulties I decided not to wait and take the morning train as I should have, but to take the night express train which would leave Hamm at about 2 a.m. Our horses and wagons we handed over to the field artillery battalion according to order, and traveled happily on the night of the 10^th of December with the express train to Leipzig.

The trip went without obstacles in the crowded D- train. Only in Magdeburg we missed the connection and therefore had to wait several hours. Here a sad brother of the soldier’s council attempted – red band, rifle muzzle down, hands in his pockets-,to take our weapons, but without success. On the afternoon of the 10th of December we arrived in Leipzig. The “Entry” to Leipzig was certainly different than I had imagined in 1914.

The disbanding of the Economic Company, to which I belonged, went slowly. After the leader captain von Götz was dismissed, I took over the lead up to the ultimate disbanding. On the 21st January 1919 I was dismissed from military service without any song and dance.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

7th – 16th November 1918

In Overijsche

On the way we had initially great difficulty to get ahead. The retreat to the Antwerpen-Maas- line was already in full swing. We had to constantly overtake columns and artillery, and we found the roads so congested that we had to wait for quarter of an hour at times. Especially heavy was the traffic on the major national road Tournai-Brussels; here the columns drove side by side and great skill of the drivers was necessary, to get through. Once it was possible I turned off the main road. The closer we came to Brussels, the hillier became the area. The villages were one after the other; between them were magnificent hardwood forests. Their well-groomed trails suggest that in peace time they must have been the goal of many mountaineers or hikers. We came very close to Waterloo, the battlefield of 1915; unfortunately I had no time to look around. Around noon I arrived in Overijsche and I soon found Jullmann, who was sent ahead again. The billet question was here not so easily solved as before. The Belgians tried to make trouble; the collapse was too obvious. The truce could be decided at any moment and that one of the conditions would be the evacuation of Belgium was certain. Individual Belgians already tried to push us about. It was probably also that these Belgian towns around Brussels had had no billeting since 1916. It required very often energetic threats to gain respect. First, we found accommodation for the Major, who arrived pretty exhausted after me. Fortunately, he recovered in the next few days completely. The other officers I expected after two days; a part of the convoy had already arrived; the boxes were initially stored in a dance hall. Of course, we started immediately to draw up a detailed list of billeting. Because the next day many quarter seekers would arrive in the village, so we had plenty to do. About the affiliation of Overijsche, unfortunately, an ambiguity was created, as the adjacent corps thought they could claim the place as well. It was not going to happen to resolve these differences. Because of this, the place received daily twice the number of troops, which should actually be placed here. The situation was such that after the arrival of the various headquarters offices were not at all opened; we knew that we would not stay long here. Only my billet office went into action. As I learned later, it was far and wide the only one that still housed the troops using a controlled system.

I had found quarters with a wealthy mill owner by the name of De Coster. His wife was Flamish, a very capable and industrious housewife, with her I was able to talk   German.

In the next few days one event followed the next. Since we had received no mail, I sent, I think it was the 9th of November, a man to Brussels about 10 Km away. He brought back the Cologne newspaper, and in this I read with amazement and horror about the events in Kiel, Hanover and other cities, the establishment of soldier’s councils and its consequences. I immediately ran to Probst and we went, it was supper time, to the casino, to tell the news to the others.

The mood was very depressed, for that the revolutionary movement would remain restricted to the homeland could not be hoped for. We expected already, to have a soldier council tomorrow.

The next day, it was 10th November was pretty quiet. Actually, today I should have gone to Brussels, but I postponed it because of the uncertain situation. In the morning there was a general staff officer of the Army Headquarters 6 at the commandant’s office and if I am not mistaken in connection with billeting affairs. From him we learned, that a soldier’s council was already formed by the A.O.K.6th and that the council is supervising everything. However, were the gentlemen “council officials „so reasonable not to intervene, in the strategic and tactical orders. Among the teams on site agitation was stirring; there were everywhere groups that eagerly debated with each other. The withdrawal of the troops went on; continuous a variety of  different armed troops marched through the town. For billeting I had to use the church as well, which caused immediate a lively protest of the mayor and the civilians. In fact, the billeting there was not pleasant for any one. The troops froze in the large rooms equipped with stone tiles and for the Christians, the church was not indispensable. The influenza prevailed in the town and it killed many people, so that repeatedly funeral processions waited outside the church. That evening I sat with my landlord, who was very nice and friendly and gave me some bottles of wine. Suddenly the son of my landlord arrived, a 19 year old student and a typical Belgian, by bike from Brussels, where he studied. He brought the news of the military revolt the tearing off, the epaulets from officers, the looting of the magazines, etc. He had been in the midst of the turmoil and now he told everything, excited by what he had seen, with all the rumors and exaggerations. Without being rude, you could see his joy of the collapse of the German army. I went quietly to my room – what could one reply? When in the morning – it was the 11^th of November – I had breakfast, the son of my Hosts came already back from Brussels and brought a Belgian newspaper, where under the hand broad heading:” La déliorance” the terrible conditions of the ceasefire were published.

I was the first one, from our command officers to learn about the conditions, and shared them with the others. We even told the major, who got up again today, about the terrible conditions. We were extremely depressed. Most importantly for us, of course, was the determination of the two-week evacuation period; would we get across the border in time? On the basis of the map, we calculated that this would be possible in any case. There was too much discipline, for us to get into trouble. We were only concerned because of the teams, and especially the 500 men from the convalescent department.

This was also the day of the shameful and senseless retreat of all the troops. With red flags, without officers, without order suddenly all the formations flooded back which were never located in the actual combat zone, at the head car- and vehicle fleet columns from the government area.

All had a sudden fear, not to come across the border in time. In wild resolution they filled the streets, each wanting to get home on its own.

It was useless to try to bring order in the clogged streets; who was the most ruthless, penetrated, and the most ruthless were the ones who had the most comfortable position far behind the front. Two days lasted this wild red tide, and then came order in the chaos. In the late afternoon of the 11th came a deputation of the men of the command to us, when we were with Major Foerst. They told us that a soldier’s council had been formed and they would take charge of command. In an hour, a meeting should take place in a hall of an occupied school, if we wanted to get there. We agreed, because here could nothing more be done with violence or harsh commands. The hall was crowded, when we officers arrive united. We were silently received, we i.e. Major, Probst, Rader, Kauffmann and me. The corporal Wraschinsky, one of my men was the spokesman of the Soldiers’ Council. He said in a sweeping speech that now other times had arrived, and that the Soldier’s Council would now give the orders. The Council would provide order and would do nothing without contacting the General Soldiers council at the General Commando. Whether we wanted to work together as comrades with the teams? We agreed with mixed feelings. An officer should be elected into the Soldier’s Council and I was proposed. We officers had already considering this possibility and decided, that the concerned should reject with regard to his position as an officer. I did this and they were accepted this. But then it would have been better if I had accepted, as was so desired by the Supreme Command later. But in the excitement of those hours, one had not the full pictures of things. However, the rejection has not hurt us.

The first thing the Soldier’s Council still decided at that meeting, was that the pigs that we had brought from Douai and which were designated for the convalescent department should be slaughtered immediately. Also, the poultry and rabbits, which belonged to our officers’ mess, will be also made available to the Soldiers. This provision was unnecessary, because during the meeting, someone broke into our stable and everything was stolen. At the departure of the headquarters there should be only one luggage cart available for the officers (we were all glad that we had already sent away most of our luggage from Chièvres); for the still somewhat weak Major, who still enjoyed great popularity, they graciously allowed him to travel in a coach. They wanted also to order the departure of the entire command, but we officers managed to prevent this. Rather, it was decided that the soldiers with Probst and me should the next day go to the General Command. Later after the meeting we met at the casino. We discussed the situation and were quite disturbed about the collapse of the German army. Kauffmann and I were convinced, that this social-democratic revolution could mean the collapse of socialism. I still do not know today, whether we will be right.

On the morning the12th of November, Probst and I and the Soldier’s Council, (one corporal and two NCO) drove to the general command to inquire about the march-off. The General commando was in Ter Hulpen, a few km away from us.

If the Soldier’s council had hoped that we would be welcomed with open arms, they found themselves bitterly disappointed. The gentlemen of the council were made to wait for a long time outside the door. Finally, they were not received by the local councils, but by the general staff officer Captain von der Tann.

The intensive work at the General Commando had shown immediately, that the soldiers’ councils were not able to do the work, which was necessary for the return of the army. Therefore they let the officers do everything and the council would only sign the orders as well. For our Soldier’s council this was rather disillusioning, even more when they were told, to take off the red armbands. The departure was not expected for several days. Our three Councilors came back again quite depressed. The next few days showed that they could not even regulate the few jobs that we had to do at headquarter. And when at all negotiations with an upper body an officer had to be present, because he knew the work of the operation and also the relevant officers,  the Council gradually led only a formal existence.

The disorder, which was apparent everywhere in the next few days, was very large. The wild columns that passed through the town with their red flags and their lack of discipline were the main cause of the mess. Our store where we had all the files of the command packed in large crates, was twice broken in by artillery. The first time we managed to chase the looters at gunpoint away, but the second time we were powerless. All the valuable things we brought with us were destroyed or looted meaningless. All boxes were broken open and their contents, even if there were files records, were spilled, and trampled on and ruined.  Reorganization was impossible, and as it turned out that we would not have enough wagons available for transport, all documents and files with the exception of the most important were burnt. Most of the documents weren’t worth crying over, but much was also lost, what would have been valuable for future reporting and investigations and complaints.

Waiting for the marching orders was for all, including the teams, a source of constant anxiety. When Hindenburg took over the command of the retreat of the army, we tried to calm down the teams by pointing this out to them. Our actual command people remained also calm. The people of the Convalescent and pass on Division could not be stopped. Of these, 500 men, about 350 disappeared gradually mostly at night. We were happy, to hand over the rest to a through marching division. From our actual teams, there were few who deserted from the army: among them was the NCO in charge of the horses, he took with him three of our best horses and a two-seater carriage and especially our three casino orderlies, who for years had worked for us and who had never suffered the slightest need. As a thank you, they stole all our supplies, such as sausage, ham, etc. We did not even find bread or coffee, as we on the day after they absconded, sat down for breakfast.

After the flood of the wild columns had subsided and the first regular divisions, on their retreat, passed the village, order was restored. These combat troops proved an exemplary attitude; here was still a lot of discipline, march-order was observed, it was a relief, as these regiments marched by.

Without interruption, day and night, an infinite platoon rolled through the town. Artillery, infantry, mortars, medical companies, columns with horses and cars followed each other in a never-ending sequence. As the last man of one division passed, so you could see already the first man of the next division. This went on for days without a break, only March stagnation ensured some rest in the moving image. The Belgians found no end of amazement about this retreat. Despite all the difficulties, I managed to keep up an orderly billeting, until our own departure. Every night the little town housed over a 1,000 men.

16th October – 7th November 1918

In Chièvres

On the way to Chièvres I overtook many refugee columns, because in the rear area, all the villages were evacuated. They were the same sad pictures that we saw during the evacuation of Douai. For the most part, the people stayed composed even with gaiety. I spoke with many people, they have already been once evacuated and now for the second time. The landscape offered a lot of variety with their forest, their palaces and canals.

Chièvres was a very small town and for the large organization, which we brought with us from Douai, far too insignificant. However, we were assigned again quite a large district for the administration. But we went here with considerable reluctance because we dreaded that the old commandant’s offices might be dissolved. There were also rumors to expect a further withdrawal up to the Maas.

Furthermore, that the war was finally lost, this had become clear to us since the failure at the Marne. We hoped, however, that the front could be held at the Maas, until we have reached reasonable and tolerable armistice terms. Upon my arrival in Chièvres I found out, that we have a pretty big problem with the accommodation of the headquarters. Jullmann, who had gone ahead again with Sergeant Baldinger, had not reached his goal, but eventually even this problem was solved. The officers’ quarters were in a few town houses at the market, where we with some brave Belgian some of the wealthiest people of the town, found accommodation. The business rooms were in the city hall and neighbouring buildings. More difficult was the pass on/forwarding office to accommodate, also a prison was not in the required size available. Not a day passed without catching a quitter, who then immediately had to be put behind bars. A prison-house, that I began to build immediately, was never finished.

When the other gentlemen arrived in Chièvres – they came with the last wagon convoy-, everything was well prepared. The organization of the district we had soon under control after our experience with Douai and St. Amand. However we could not help feeling, that this was only temporary. But the work went on smoothly. Occasionally, I drove to the nearby towns, in order to sort our billeting issues. Or I went to Beloeli, where the General Commando was staying in a magnificent castle. This castle was one of the most magnificent in all of Belgium; it was a tiny Versailles with a wonderful park, owned by a relative of the Crown Prince Rupprecht. Again, we went hunting and the self-shot partridges and hares tasted twice as good. Of course most of the game was brought down by Major Foerst.

We should not stay long in Chièvres. As early as the end of October, preparations for a possible withdrawal had to be made. First, we sent all unnecessary stuff away by rail. This included above all the hotel facilities of the “Deutschen Hauses” in Douai, for which we had no use here. Namely, there was an injunction that the discharged patients from hospital, would have to be newly dressed again. Consequently, I always had to hold stock for a 1000 men. Their transportation claimed always a lot of wagons. However, there was no prospect in this dump to requisition a hundred or more two-horse wagons. So we sent all these things by train to Cologne, where they should remain available for our further use. The transport was accompanied by our excellent economist Mueller and our purser; who we never set eyes on again.

In the first days of November we received the communication (initially strictly confidential) that the army would go back to on the line Antwerpen-Maas. For us, the objective was the small town Overkjsche, south of Brussels and east of Waterloo. I again took over the leadership of the march-off. This time only two convoys went with the files and the necessary equipment of the military command. Everything else was left behind. The columns had covered the route in three days. The major, who had a slight attack of pleurisy contracted went by car. I also drove to Overijsche, in an ambulance, which I had got hold of with some difficulty.

16th September – 15th October 1918

In St. Armand

For our relocation to St. Armand, the port captain provided us with a steam launch, and two small boats. On the boats came our personal baggage, the last documents, the lads and a few clerks, while we officers made ourselves comfortable on the steam launch for the next seven hours. Major Foerst drove several hours later in a car; Captain Schmidt stayed, in Waziers as local commander, he came later to Pernwels, while First Lieutenant Hofmann was Commander in a small town near St. Armand. Even some of our clerks, we had to give up. About 10 o’clock we took off. It was a gorgeous day, no clouds and no aircrafts in the sky. In comfortable chairs we sat on our launch and looked around. Basically, this retreat was very painful, for as six months ago the offensive began so successful, we dreamed about having a commandant office in Arras or even in to Boulogne. But now that we were able to get away from the disintegrating and shattered Douai, we were all in a very happy mood. We enjoyed the beautiful area and drank a good bottle of red wine at lunch to celebrate the day. Once we were startled by the howl of shells and heavy explosions; on our way we overtook some of the last barges, which were traveling with grouped goods from Douai, to Blaton or Jemappes in Belgium. Their escort – on each barge were two teams – waved friendly at us. In Marchiennes, the food barges were just unloaded, when we passed the town. In the afternoon we reached St.Armand. Here were a vast number of boats and barges waiting to be unloaded.

The place itself, I knew already, because as our relocation was established, I once drove here by car to get my bearings. As confiscation in Belgium were only to a much more limited extent possible, I was entrusted  with the orphaned district billeting office, as a result of the resignation of  First Lieutenant Hofmann. A few days ago I had sent ahead the irreplaceable sergeant Jullmann with the able officer Baldinger. The billet problem was soon solved.

The town made a comfortable and pleasant impression. It offered the typical image of the French town, very narrow and angular with bumpy road surface and a few large business streets. The best was the market place with its old historic Town Hall and the old, architecturally interesting tower of a powerful church. Very beautiful were the residential streets. There were very beautiful and highly decorated elegant private estates, some located in beautiful parks. We had at first frictions with the previous base commandant’s office, which was still there waiting for departure. We were lucky, that we (Probst and I) had to change from our elegant, but small casino to the splendid mansion of the mayor.

There was plenty to do. Under our administration was not only the town of St. Armand but also about a dozen other villages. I kept my recovery department and again managed the employment department. Likewise, I again took over the coal supply and what was linked to it. The storage facilities with large stockpiles of coal, wood, etc. were supervised by me. What was new for me, as I said, was the billeting department. There was initially an enormous amount of work. The organization of the old commandant’s office was very poor; I suppose the reason for that was also, that so far little billeting had come to St. Amand. I started to register the town at once with my men, that is, we visited house by house to find out, how many officers, teams, wagons and horses could be accommodated.

The same was done by billeting officers in the surrounding villages. I set up a reporting system and after eight days we had a perfect card index. From my headquarters, I could at any time billet troops, and always knew where, how much and what troops were in our district. My job was facilitated by my good relations to car-owning comrades, whose cars were always available to me. Yet another very important and very interesting office was assigned to me: “pass on office” of the I. b. A.-K., Captain Schmidt was the head of it in Douai. Here were scattered teams, soldier on leave returning and collected from incoming shipments, and then sent to their divisions. To this end, I got the top-secret maps of the troop’s distribution; which I had to keep of course in good custody. Because of this I had an overview about troop movements, which only very few officers had the chance to. This “pass on or information office,” as it was called, caused a lot of traffic. The close relationships of the old headquarters building were insufficient, so that by putting down partitioning and extensions space had to be created. Mass accommodations and large catering rooms had to be provided as well. It was not easy in this small town, in addition to the regular billeting, to create enough space for about 2,000 men, who were only passing through. Gradually, things turned out all right; the commandant’s workshops were re-established. It was the carpenter and sawmills the locksmith and plumbing, the blacksmith, etc. When we came to St. Amand, we expected that we would stay here for a long time. Unfortunately we had to realize, when after about 14 days, everything went smoothly, that we would not stay here very much longer.

Nevertheless, we all felt very comfortable in St. Amand. After the excitement of the last months in Dounai, this town seemed calm like a summer resort. The fact that many villages belonged to our district; one was not tied to the office as much as in the past. The car and wagon rides through beautiful scenery made a change. The individual locations were often extremely picturesque. Everywhere, scattered around were the large, palatial estates of the upper ten thousand, located in the middle of old, well-kept parks, of which France and Belgium have so much.

It was very cozy in our casino in the evening, where we played after dinner Skat and billiards, never without drinking the best French red wine. Thus I have to think of a splendid Frenchman in Douai, Mr. Palmier. He owned an excellent wine cellar, which was only available to officers. Until about 1917, you could get true gourmet food by him. This man has been supported in every way from the headquarters.And when Douai was evacuated, he left us the remainder of his basement stocks of about 500 bottles of the best and finest wine. We accepted the dedication with pleasure and had only one concern, that in case of a new evacuation we might not be able to take the wine with us. Even as it almost was certain that St. Amand would also be evacuated, work continued as usual. Billeting and information center occupied me fully. Also the coal distribution required more work with the onset of cooler months. However, we found time occasionally to go on the hunt for hares and partridges. Major Foerst as an old avid hunter always brought down the most game. In the first days of October we had to make preparations for the evacuation. I was again in charge of the material removal. This time unfortunately there were no barges available.

Firstly there was no barge space because of the retreat Lille-Douai-Cambrai, but then for us, i.e. the Headquarters, a small village at Ath, Chièvres, was specified, which had no channel connection. So I organized the whole march-off with wagon and truck transport. This time the population was not deported, but remained in the town. Only the surrounding villages should also be evacuated of civilians and should be gathered in St. Amand. They wanted to avoid espionage and thereby spare the civilians from the fighting. On the other hand, one hoped to achieve thereby, that St. Amand would not be shot at. After the experience of Douai soon everything was well arranged. We were just waiting for the keyword “Hirsch” after its issue by the General Commando withdrawal could begin. I went several times by car to Chièvres, to prepare everything there, whereby again the irreplaceable Jullmann admirably supported me. On the12th of October the first wagon transports left – all together 25 vehicles -. Peruwels was chosen as a stopover for the 45 km long march. Every day followed an equally large column, loaded with our workshops, the files, and the necessary office furniture and the valuable things of my recovery stock. The last 10 wagons should go with the headquarters. On the 16th the evacuation order arrived. I drove by car ahead to Chièvres, the other gentlemen followed in a two days’ march.

6th March – 16 September 1918 The evacuation of Douai’s

During the holiday occurred with the failure of the advance across the Marne, the about-turn in the campaign. The next operations we followed attentive, but without concern. Only when the fights were unfavourable in Cambrai, did we seriously get familiar with withdrawal thoughts. We held at the command’s offices an officer’s meeting. Major Foerst decided to travel to the General Command to get information. There, they wanted to know nothing, refusing to take any preventive measures, and left it to us to make any preparations in secret. We deliberated and decided again, to prepare a detailed evacuation plan.

The smooth course, of the later evacuation, we only had these preparations to thank for. In the main, only Lieutenant Rader and I were involved in the matter of the evacuation. Rader handled the deportation of the civilian population, drafted all necessary proclamations, etc., and prepared the departure routes, the transport commandos and a thousand other things, which were connected with it. It was my job to take away all moving things, “Material” clearance is the specialist term. I calculated the number of wagons that were necessary to transport the Army inventory, of civil property, etc. I had boxes made for quick packing of the record files, of stocks and the like. Each man was given his job – but only on secret documents -. A timetable was drawn up and that for three events: for a sudden evacuation within 24 hours, for a deadline of three to four days and for at least 8 days. The crux of the whole document was, in the event of a possible evacuation, that all orders will be given by Lieutenant Rader or me; of course the position of the commander must be respected. Major Froest has facilitated our work; we were allowed to work out all the orders and he covered them only by his signature. From the moment of evacuation, all teams should deport the civilian population under Rader’s orders. All other teams and especially all forms of transport, such as trucks, cars, barges, etc. under my command. Furthermore, vice sergeant Kauffmann had the job to evacuate all the Civil authority and the subordinate enterprises like theatre, cinema, etc. He worked hand in hand with me.

At this stage I would like to mention that an old evacuation plan from 1917 still existed. This plan worked on a timetable of four to six weeks and is built entirely on a rail transport. I changed the plan: first, shorter deadlines and only waterways. The later circumstances verified that I was right, although there were initially concerns about the barge transportation. If we had relied on the railroad, the whole plan would have failed because of wagon shortages and bombardment of the station.

I had counted on about 400-500 men and 30-40 carts. In fact, I had later, about 1200 Men at my disposal and also 25 Command vehicles, one entire fleet column and three car columns. Exceptionally helpful was the commander of the Port Authority in Douai, cavalry captain von Dalwigk.

This plan we submitted, in the second half of August, to the General Commando and had the satisfaction, when the plan was returned, at the end of the month, with the endorsement “Completely authorized“.

The proclamations were printed in our own printing works, as well as the requests for the civilian population – everyone should receive a personal request with the exact time – and location where he was to arrive. This happened, of course, under strict supervision, so that nothing would be known.

As the situation on the front came to a head, we hurried up, to be prepared in any case. The General Command left us completely in the lurch, and gave us no indication. Only in the last few days of August, was Major Foerst confidentially told, to expect an evacuation soon.

Living in Douai was since the end of July quite uncomfortable. The air raids became more frequent;  I remember once there were no less than eight times bombs dropped, usually 20-25 pieces.

At the beginning of August – I just took a short nap – I woke up suddenly because of a heavy explosion, I initially could not determine what was wrong. When I came to the commandant’ offices, I heard that the British had placed a shot heaviest calibre on the railway tracks. Not until the next day followed another shot. We decided to move headquarters into the centre of the city, because headquarters was only 200 m away from the tracks. With our casino we had moved already and had found on the bank of the Scarpe cosy rooms.

The offices were moved to the town hall a nice solid construction with massive vaults and deep cellars. My storeroom I moved into the empty part of the large department store which was not far from the City Hall. We had not quite finished with the moving, when regular firing at the town started. It was not very lively, and usually took only place in the evening- and night hours, and was extremely nerve-wracking. In the trenches you had nothing else to do, as to bob down and wait for the next shot; but here you should do precise office work, then had to suddenly jump up and flee into the shelter, or you were on the telephone, when suddenly the iron cases of the English hissed passed . We often sat in the casino eating or playing cards or billiards, as the evening blessing began; then we escaped to the basement, which we had comfortably furnished, and continued there. During this time, Major Foerst’s son was often our guest, who had been ordered as an orderly officer to the General Commando. This stay in the cellar was the death of some bottle of Burgundy and brandy. In my lodgings as well – I had also moved near the casino – I slept together with Surgeon Gratz in the basement.

It was on the 2nd of September 1918, we just sat at lunch when the telephone rang, and Major Foerst was asked to come at once to the General Command. We knew right away what it was, and awaited tensely the return of the major. He was not too long, and brought, as we expected, the evacuation command. The next morning the evacuation was to begin, simultaneously the material evacuation. We went immediately to the headquarters and began the necessary work. Now our preparations proved successful, it all went like clockwork.

Two hours later, all the proclamations were pasted everywhere, to inform the population of the evacuation order. They took it calmly, which surprise us.

The population had grown weary by the eternal air attacks and by the shelling. The sick we had fortunately fetched a few days earlier from the hospitals, and sent off on barges, because of the aircraft threat. The evacuation was conducted by Senior Staff Surgeon Weiss, who a short time later would be replaced by Staff Surgeon Gratz. We were all happy when this was done, since Weiss was a goofy and incompetent man. Each resident received an eviction order which was in his name, and was delivered by the French police. It was organized like this: every hour, beginning on the 3^rd of September at 5 o’clock a.m. a transport of 1000 civilians should leave. These shipments were accompanied by some teams and cavalry; they should reach Sr. Armand in a two days’ march, where the onward transfer was taken over by the 17th base-inspection. Three collective companies (14, 31, and 36) were available to me. On the 4^th of September my old company S.K.16 joined me also.

For the residents, the evacuation was extremely bitter. The people could only take what they could carry. They arrived on the 3rd and 4th of September, at the rallying point, with bag and baggage and with the most unlikely carts and carriages, to go then on the long march. There were often heart-rending images of misery, when they had to part with everything and old and young, rich and poor went off with their bundles. Some wailed and cried. But with many, the strange French temperament broke through: they laughed, made jokes and did not let anything get them down.

Rader was from dawn to nightfall, on both days, on horseback at the rallying point by the channel and led from there the deportation.

Meanwhile, the various collective companies reported, commandos of the convalescent department, wagons and cars. Major Foerst referred them all to me, I had obtained General Permission to make all arrangements and to issue orders in his name; I reported to him usually only at lunch- and at dinner time. The town was divided into districts same number as the collective companies. These companies had first to recover all what they could find in the open shops. Basically, only things could be taken which had the value as war materials: that is fabrics, leather, savings metals, paper, etc. That despite the most severe instruction plunder occurred, could not be avoided. Everything was driven in cars to the channel and then loaded into barges.

When we had received the eviction notice on the 2nd of September, we discussed the possibility that the enemy might notice our intention and would bombard Douai possible more violently. To avoid being cut off by any bombardment, we decided to move all into the city hall. The City hall had powerful vaults in the basement. There, deep under the earth and safe from aircraft and shells, we put up our camp beds and slept all together in one room. Also, most of our clerks were sleeping in the vault. However, it was damp and musty, but after all, safe. I also occupied one room diagonally across, where I left my bags, etc. Whether the enemy knew of the departure of the civilian population, or his aircraft found it out, I do not know.

In any event, the morning of the 3rd of September there was a slow bombardment, with heaviest calibre, which still demanded many victims among the population.

The shooting after dark was very heavy; aero planes came also several times with the sinking sun. We were glad now, that we did not have to leave the town hall. The next day the shooting was worse, several fires started and we were not able to put them out.

Unfortunately, part of the troops in Douai, used the general excitement and the withdrawal of the population to plunder. Certainly this was unjustifiable, but the general brutalization that the long war caused in the army explained it all. If we wanted to ensure a smooth evacuation, the teams which were not related to the recovery must leave the town. At my request, the General Commando was asked to issue a command to that effect. This was done immediately and willingly; from the third evacuation day the looting stopped. A militia company was provided for police purposes, all the entrances to the town were guarded. This was possible, because Douai was limited in the west, north and southwest by the channel and in the east by the railway, which could only be crossed on bridges. Wagons and teams were only allowed to enter the city upon presentation of a permit certificate, and had to report to me. If they came back from the town with objects past the guard, they had to show a paper with my signature. Otherwise they were punished unconditionally. This way, we got the looting quickly under control.

From the fourth day, furniture was also shipped into an army furniture warehouse, so they could be used for ill-equipped quarters. This happened, so that these things are not left to pointless destruction. Other articles, such as crockery, pianos, etc. were recovered by commandos, and I had more than enough to do.

Enormous was the work for me which involved the evacuation. The evacuation troops had to be put on work detail, barges, cars and wagons, requested, distributed and monitored. Guidelines had to be established; constant frictions were eliminated, to resolve misunderstandings, and make new dispositions. I worked from 6 a.m. to midnight and I had barely time to eat. For the field work I got a car and then drove quickly to the loading dock where three, four barges were loaded at the same time; I orientated myself at the same in town on the progress of the work or visited the companies. Besides the four collective companies, two militia formations were gradually made available; also up to 500 men were called up from die divisions in Douai. Under constant agitation, the work went fairly smoothly. One barge after the other left Douai. For the headquarters and their operations there were four barges floating to St. Armand, which was our intended destination. As particularly valuable asset was the so-called Comité stock, send back home. This consisted of the stocks of American food comité for the civilian population and was actually civil property. Originally the mayor’s office should have taken care of the evacuation of these stocks. Practically was this all but impossible.

After some negotiations between us, the relevant authorities, and the army group in Brussels, we receive the order to transport the valuable stocks back home. It was hundreds of quintals of bacon, flour, lard, coffee, cocoa, canned meat, etc.

The negotiations for the command’s office were led by Sergeant Kauffmann. As the rescue operation was approved, I provided the necessary teams, cars and barges. After five or six days, the large customs shed were cleared. The groceries were loaded onto seven barges and 250 trucks.

The difficulty with the clearance work was, we never knew how much time we still had. So we had to work, from hour to hour and from day to day, always expecting that the work had to be aborted suddenly. The army operations were first send back and depending on the importance, the other things. The bombardment become calmer from the fourth day; the bombardment took mostly place in the evening hours but not always. Otherwise, it would not have been possible, to carry out the evacuation. All the activities required a lot of planning talent, and forced me to adapt constantly to changing situations. In short, the whole day was spent trying to eliminate interferences. My office was extremely busy; hundreds of officers and men wanted permits for casino crockery, cooking pots and the like. As the officers usually did not want to be attended by my clerks, I had to have a kind word for everyone, and in between there where telephone calls and meetings, so you knew what you had done in the evening. After we had cleared out for about eight or nine days, a detailed report was send to the General Commando. When we can leave Douai, depended on when the evacuation was completed. Well of course it was impossible to wait until the last piece of furniture and the last barge had been loaded. I was of the opinion that, for such work, we from commandant’s office were no longer necessary.

The other gentlemen of the commandant’s office natural agreed with me, as they had nothing more to do since the evacuation of the civil population, with the exception of the Sergeant Kauffmann. We were pleased, therefore, as we for the 16th of September; the marching orders were given to St. Armand.

6th March – 16 September 1918

In Douai

Barracks

For my new job I was briefed by my predecessor, Warrant officer Beyer. At first I found the new job very difficult.  I was used to spend all day outside. Early in the morning I usually went on horseback, in the afternoon in the car or on foot and now I had to ride from morning till night the office chair. But I soon got used to it. Since the new post offered enough new and interesting work, I settled in quickly. At the beginning of the war the recoveries were quite wildly carried out: each unit, each higher or lower commander thought he was entitled to make recoveries. With the war taking longer than expected, changes had to be made in our own interest. Douai belonged to the operating area and we were under the general command of the 1st Bavarian Reserve Corps. Douai was the largest town in the area of operations. Therefore, of course, very many troops were quartered here, especially during the big battles.

Then there were in this town, which had 36,000 inhabitants in peace time, almost as many troops here. The needs increased with the troops. There was no object, which the companies did not want to get from me: Tables and chairs for offices, paper, casino equipment, paint, buckets and laundry: in short, everything, all that is needed by a large army. The applications had to be submitted in writing to me. I assessed the need and then submitted them to the Major who then according to my suggestions approved or rejected them. Later I decided independently and reported only important requirements to the commander.

The applications were always booked very carefully, etc. The most capable of my writers was the gunner Harder. The recovery was carried out only by people from headquarters, the so-called recovery command. They were under my control and about 8 to 10 men strong. Leader was Corporal Ziegler, a Bavarian article clerk, a quiet and very good man. Particularly adept was Corporal Vötmann and Corporal Zahn. It was not feasible to send off an operator for every small request of the companies. So the commandant’s office was allowed to keep a stock of the most desired items. The storeroom was in the courtyard building, in the drawing rooms of a former art school, and gave the impression of a perfect department store. You could get almost anything there.

The second job I had was the coal supply of the town. The municipality had to supply the coal for the troops and received in return certificates. There was often quite a shortage of coal. The civilian population had to suffer, of course, first and foremost. At times, the quantity that I was allowed to give the civilians was only 10 kg per month. We then helped out with wood and I gave the town a bit out of my stocks. In the town there were three coal merchant charged with the distribution of the coal. They received the instructions from my office; we had to watch very careful that nothing went to the civilians. The coal trains came twice a week and each had about 15 wagons; part of the wagons contained the so-called civil coal, their discharge, the [1]Mairie took over; the other wagons were on the large warehouse near the station for the Headquarters unloaded. Later I achieved that I was also given a big stock (thousands of quintals) wood fuel, wood wool and scattering material. In Douai, the troops did not have any reason to complain about the supply of such things.

My third task was being head of the employment office. Here I was vastly assisted by Sergeant Heermann, a small manufacturer from the region of Hagen; he did all the legwork for me which the job required. In the employment office a file was created with a lot of effort of all the male inhabitants. When the workers were becoming increasingly rare, we finally had to use all men, as far as they were not working with the mayor’s office, or Physicians, merchants, lawyers, etc. or if they were ill. Later, female workers were registered here as well. I think we were hated even more because of the forced labour action, even though it was a bitter necessity.

At the unemployment office a close control about each individual was kept, the commandos were gathered etc. At that time there were still about 3,000 able-bodied adult male populations in Douai.

My field of work was very large and I had the most extensive department of the garrison headquarters.The administration of the town was divided in seven departments, and the officers with their clerks were housed in the former art school. Department 1 was the adjutant Lieutenant d. R. Probst with the record office. His occupation was a merchant. He was gruff and harsh, especially towards the teams. But I was on very good terms with him, he was good company. If a few quiet minutes permitted, we used to visit each other in our offices.

The accommodation office was department 3; the head was lieutenant, later First lieutenant Hofmann. His men, he kept well in check. His right hand was gamekeeper Jullmann. He was a great help to me later, as I took over the office accommodation. This Jullmann had a really fabulous memory. He could remember the enormous amounts of daily changing formation and their quarters, and also all the information about every house in Douai if he had been there only once. So much so, that he remembered the colour of the chairs in the houses. The 4th Department, the civil administration was headed by Sergeant Kauffmann, a lawyer from Mannheim. Here were all the problems discussed with the French mayor: such as money issues, theater, cinema and hotels etc. Kauffmann was a stout Jewish gentleman who could tell good jokes and he was very skillful in negotiations with the French. The 5th Department, the medical administration was headed by the senior physician Jenner. He fulfilled the requirements which this job demanded, and was also a nice companion in the casino. After his transfer, senior physician Gratz took over, a very nice and kind gentleman, who we all extremely high-valued. Unfortunately, he was later replaced by the Staff Surgeon Weiss, who with his mindless chatter, his curiosity and inability got on our nerves. Fortunately Probst and I managed to get rid of him. The 6th Department was the passport office headed by Lieutenant Rader. He was terribly conscientious, but also somewhat impractical. We enjoyed making fun of him in the casino. The 7th Department, called the convalescent department, was only indirectly related to the commandant’s office. Into this division came all the people who were discharged as cured from the Hospitals of the corps districts. They, however, should still get some time to recover behind the front lines. These people, on average there were 1000 – 1500 men were used for labour services. Captain Schmidt was the leader. He was a real stubborn Westphalia mule, was always talking and drank terrible, and he was the most unpleasant person, in the whole commandant’ office. Connected to the convalescent department was the so-called forward position. Here were the men who were passed on, who had strayed from their company. The through traffic ranged between 500-3000 men per day. The 8th Department was the police commando, about 12 men strong headed by a sergeant. The 8th and last department was the cash management with the paymaster. Besides these departments, belonged a vast number of companies, to the commandant’s office. There were: locksmith, tailor, cobbler, blacksmith, watchmaker, hotels and restaurants for officers, barber shops, prisons, etc. On the whole, around 350 teams were employed here.

Commander of all these divisions was Major Foerst, who was in civilian life judge in Munich. He was a very quiet and amiable commander. He gave us, heads of divisions, free hand to do our jobs. Sometimes we would have liked more action and drastic measures from him.

The office hours started at 9 o’clock.Usually I went through the side buildings, the warehouse and gave orders for the current day. Then I started working in my office, until 1 o’clock. Then there were many demands from officers with the most impossible requests, and almost all of them I had to handle personally. At the same time there were civilians who wanted to raise objection against everything or asked for coal. Anyway, they were the reason that I gradually learned to speak quite good French.

In times of peak periods there were often 40-50 people waiting to speak to me. Sharp at 1.05 o’clock, we ate in the mess hall. Then lunch break up to 4 o’clock, unless because of a lot of work I had to go to the office at 8 o’clock and in the afternoon at 3 o’clock. At 7:15 p.m. was usually the end of the daily workload and the rest of the day belonged to the casino.

Endless was the number of officers and the teams, who I got to know through my work. If they were from front-line troops they were grateful for every facility that I could give them. When I later, especially during the retreat, had to enlist the help of all possible troops and divisions, it was willingly granted. Hauptmann Müller was always very nice, Commander of the field Division 9, and his adjutant, Lieutenant Boxkanul. But the lieutenant Henschel and Bornkesse of the Stabia 17 and many other comrades were always ready to help me.

In the casino we lived quite well, and after the brief and lonely time in Leforest and Pont de la Deule I really enjoyed this very much. The casino was originally in a house in the Rue St. Jean behind the commandant’s offices. We had a nice dining room and two adjoining rooms, but had to move out, as the A.O.K. 17 came to Douai in March, and moved to the Place Carnot to Mr. Thiry. Mr.Thiry was the owner of the coal mines, very rich and very amiable. Here we had again three very beautiful rooms with a splendid kitchen and a fine wine cellar for our not so small wine reserves. Several chickens and rabbits found a shelter next door. We have eaten always very well. Because of the long time that the commandant’s offices were in Douai, there were all sorts of ways to improve the diet. We even had a garden; the 30 chickens had already been mentioned; friendly relations were established with the supply offices and the like of it, which brought both parties many mutual favours. Finally we had a large pig breeding, Captain Schmidt was in charge of them. Here, pigs were raised for the troops. According to regulations the men and officers of the commandant’s receive part of the pigs. That cows and horses were present was self-evident. After dinner we went for a walk or I went horse riding with Probst for one or two hours during the long summer evenings. We played cards or chess or politicized, not without providing the sufficient alcohol in the form of very good wines or equally admirable spirits. When later in August the bombardment of Douai began, we moved the casino into the Rue de St. Pierre 5, where we found in the house of a wealthy brewer, the cosiest casino. In front of our windows flowed sluggish and slowly the Scarpe.

Often we had guests, when acquaintances or relatives passed through Douai. Many times the son of Major Först was with us. My old school friend Spitzner visited once. A welcoming guest was the collection officer of the 6^th army, Major Eisenberger, a colleague of Först from Munich. He always came to the pigs slaughter from Lille, always armed with a pitcher of real [2]Korn. Captain Dorn of the General Commando reported to us the daily news from the front; he was very well informed because of his connection with the Army Group Kronprinz  Rupprecht. In the course of time, many dozens of officers have enjoyed our hospitality.

Gradually I got to know and appreciate the city more thoroughly. The streets were small and black, and there were few important buildings. Beautiful was actually only the powerful town hall which was part Gothic, half Romanesque. Then there were the university and the theatre and a few old city gates: the Porte Valenciennes in the busiest area and further outside the Porte d’Arras. Free and airy, it was only on the few avenues and the Scarpe, which flowed through the town and was crossed by a dozen bridges. But behind the simple walls in Douai often a fabulous wealth was hidden. There was a wonderful amount of old furniture, tapestries, porcelains, etc., and many houses were more like a museum than a private home. In peace time Douai had about 36,000 inhabitants: of these were now about 15,000 in the Town. In general, you could get on well with them and they behaved very sensible. That they did not find our presence very sympathetic and some arrangement uncomfortable was understandable. Especially the forced labour and the door closing at 10 o’clock were hated, but the operations area demanded stricter action than the base. There were also many French people who we were quite well-meaning. Always gracious and accommodating was the mayor. I talked mostly to Mr. Deloille, a wealthy lawyer. He was the type of an elegant and subtle Frenchman. The French civil administration was on the whole still in full activity, although they were somewhat restricted, because of the German occupation. Traveling outside the town was prohibited without permission. The food rations of the French were not too bad; once they got the rationed groceries from us, which however, were very scarce, exception to the rule was the bread. But usually abundant food rations were available to them from the American and Spanish aid committees. The Americans supplied them with plenty of fat in particular, bacon, cocoa, beans, biscuits, etc.

I started to settle down in my new job. From the beginning I had a lot to do. Around March the 15th began the large troop movements, which initiated the major offensive. On the nights of the 17th to the 19th March, 15 divisions marched through Douai. The preparatory work for the big strike had been excellent.

As before the start of the major offensive the A.O.K. 17 came to Douai, a change was made at headquarters. The reason was, because the A.O.K. brought along “his” local commander, Lieutenant Colonel von Hellingrath, brother of the Bavarian Minister of War. He took over the leadership of the commandant’s offices, while Major Foerst remained in the mean time to be available to the general commandos.

Von Hellingrath was Lieutenant Colonel in the Gendarmerie in Civilian life; he had the unpleasant way to assess everything from the standpoint of the police. Above all, he brought about 40 police officers who made themselves very unpopular. The lieutenant colonel introduced a system of unpleasant bullying of civilians, and imposed penalties, that in its draconian Severity had caused very serious concerns. When he after the collapse of the war, was put on the extradition list of the French, we all thought that he deserved it. Otherwise, however, he was an affable and purposeful man, with whom one could work very well. His personal aide was  Lieutenant Ranitzsch, a Saxon. Incidentally, we the “old” Commanding Officers carried on with our lives and did not connect with our new Masters in the casino, except for occasional evenings.

The requirements, which during the next time were expected from the commandant’s office, were extremely high. The strong billeting, especially the presence of many senior officers –except for higher officers of the A.O.K. – put very high demands on all departments of the Commandant’s offices. The procurement requests for equipment and accommodation increased immeasurably, of the troops and especially of the officers, and so did the need for wood, coal and civilian workers. We could not complain at any time about unemployment. Quite outrageous claims were made by the commander of the 17th Army, von Below. These claims have always been requested by Major von Hatten, who was a friend of Below’s, and had to reassure himself so it seemed. Below probably never learned of the claims of his senile Major friend. Just one example of everything that was demanded of us:

On Boulevard Delbecque was a house, which was untouched for years and completely run down. It was determined that this House must be prepared, because of its location, as offices for the Operations Department. I learned these only days before the A.O.K. moved to Douai. In these few days the house was being repaired, by a vast number of workers. Partition walls were pulled up. It was papered and painted, etc. and a complete facility for about 20 rooms was obtained.

We followed the preparations for the offensive and the course of the fighting, in the commandant’s offices with tense attention. In the casino maps have been put up, which covered an entire room wall. We recorded every night the recent successes. As in July the operations came to a halt and later withdrawals were necessary, the interest in the maps faded.

In April, we were very sorry about the failure of the attack on Arras. But we were still happy; because of this the A.O.K. decided to pull back to Denain, and Major Foerst took over the commandant’s offices again. For the great nuisance, which the A.O.K. had brought with them, we got rid of, at least partially: the enemy aircraft.

With the start of the campaign these unpleasant surprises used to pop up daily. The English flew mostly at lunch time between 12 und 1 o’clock over the city, because than you could not see them against the sun, and they dropped their bombs from very high altitudes. In the dense occupation of the city there were almost always dead and wounded. The attacks took also place at other times of the day and in the middle of the night.

The air defence was generally good; not only helped the squadron Richthofen to chase away the enemy, but also the anti-aircraft guns with their barrage fire helped. Mostly the hail of shrapnel and shells of the Defence Fire was worse than the bombs that fell on the town. Certainly you could not prevent enemy aircraft above the city, especially when they appeared at very high altitudes (5000-6000 meters) above the town.

I will never forget the great disaster, which occurred on Ascension Day. We were in our Casino – it was about 8 o’clock in the evening – we just wanted to go to the court music in the park, when we suddenly heard the roar of airplane bombs. The direction could not be identified in the room. When we realized that the attack was over, senior physician Jenner and I went ahead to the park a few minutes afield. On the way an excited crowd with distraught faces came towards us. We saw bloody slightly wounded stagger along, foreseeing nothing good we ran into the park to to the music pavilion. The sight that we found here was terrible: An airplane bomb struck near the pavilion, where the music was playing. In the hundreds of people crowded close together – Civilian and military – the bomb had been raging terribly. All over were horribly mangled human bodies. The seriously wounded were swimming in their own blood and moaned terribly. Two bombs, which had come down not far from this place, called for more victims among the people who went for a walk. As quickly as possible, help was fetched. Later, we counted 24 dead and at least 40 wounded.

Since this accident the plane alert was reinforced. A large siren was stationed on the City Hall. Now, when planes came at night, I went always in the cellar, which we all had previously spurned. With the senior physician Gratz, who lived with me in the same house, I made myself one of the basement a bit more liveable. Later in August, when the attacks did not stop during the nights, we slept in the basement all the time.

From April to June, the duties went on of course under very great demands. Specially, the seizure of all saving metals made a lot of work, which Hellingrath had initiated. This was done like at home, and extended to all home appliances. The paper work was endless. The house searches were numberless and the claims of those affected were obvious. We also went a lot to the theatre which was rather nice. Sporadic, I once met my old school friend Spitner there.

In July I took 14 days leave. On the 6th of July Marie’s wedding took place.

[1] Town mayor

[2] clear schnaps

7th February – 4th March 1918

In Pont de la Deule

The village consisted only of the homes of the workers. All worked in the coal mine or in the small ports. Only separated by the train line are Astures and Pont, which housed the workers of a once very large zinc smelter. Now the 20-25 ovens were cold except for one or two, which are working for the army administration. Close to the village was a small forest and in those forests, there was the so called new colony. There were slightly and dissolute built single-family homes for the officials of the pit and the smelter. Here I made with chicken and rabbit barn my new home. At the collection point, there was plenty to do. We had here boat, small barge and full-rail operation. Collected material came in large quantities and my teams and the French aid workers had a lot to do. New sheds had to be built and there were all kinds of work to be done. On the whole the work was very boring for me. Also horse riding in this weather was not enjoyable. In addition, the food was getting pretty bad and the conditions in the Company had deteriorated as well. I was wishing myself away from the company. On the10th of February a peace treaty was concluded with the Ukraine; we believed then, that all troops would be withdrawn from the East and brought to the West. On the 20th in the afternoon I went again to Lille to visit Schiel and ate in the casino. Towards the end of the month we had frost and bad weather again.

On the 3rd of March I receive – quite unexpectedly – the news of my transfer to the economy company at the local commanding office in Douai. I drove to Douai to inquire. At the commandant’s office of the division II, recovery and coal supply, became vacant and I should take over this division as an independent unit. In the afternoon I rode to Wazieres to give Captain Tritscheller notice of my departure. On the 5th in the afternoon I moved to Douai. In the Rue Jean de Gouy 18, I found nice quarters. In the evening I ate for the first time in the casino at the headquarters together with about 10 Gentlemen.

15th November 1917 – 6th February 1918

Leforest

Leforest is a small place with perhaps 3,000 inhabitants, and was nicer than the miner village Guesnain. The hosts where I found quarters were nice people.

The neighbourhood was more charming. Forest, scrub and meadows alternated with each other, and valleys and hills provided for changes in the landscape.

Every day I rode or drove to my commandos or Company which had moved to Waziers (Frais Marais). On the collecting points, we took over a lot of material, which the Bavarians, due to a wagon blockade, could not load. In Dourges and Courrieres, the items were loaded onto barges. A very well-working commando of French civilian workers was available to me. I met on one of my rides Captain Kehring from Guesnain, with whom I spent a jolly evening. The winter started in mid-December with frost and cold. On the 17th I once went to Lille, to make various purchases. I visited there Lieutenant Roth of the 1st Bavarian S.K. and in the evening Lieutenant Schiel, formerly (1914) of the 9. /107, and now he is at the Passport Office of the Government of Lille. With Schiel and several other gentlemen from headquarters, I went in the evening to the magnificent theatre of Lille. It was a Wagner evening. The theatre reminded me, with its wide foyer and the tasteful décor of the theatre in Freiburg. The rest of the evening I spent in the casino. At the Royal Hotel, where I spent the night, I had a nice experience. In the hotel, in those days, boots were very often stolen. Therefore, I kept my boots in the room. Early in the morning the maid knocked to pick up my boots. When I called “Entrez” she was trying in vain to open the closed door. It took a moment and suddenly the closet door opened. Mademoiselle came to my speechless astonishment through the wardrobe into the room. I then found out that all the rooms – really French – had such doors.

On the 16th of December I submitted my leave application. The usual half year since my last leave had passed. On the 23rd I went with Schild and many food parcels to Leipzig. In an unheated train I arrived in Leipzig on the 24th at 1:30 o’clock. Since either Electric trams or carts were available, I stayed at the Hotel Astoria. At home, I met Uncle Otto as well. On 29/12/1917 Marie got engaged.

I visited the [1]Gewandhaus, and the theatre. On the 8th of January 1918 I returned to the front. On the 10^th of January, early in the morning at half past 3 I arrived in Leforest with delay. In the next days there was little change in my duties. I rode and drove still a lot: these are my brief details of my notebook: 12.1.1918 visit of the young Scheuch (he got killed 4 weeks later). The weather was persistently bad. 10.1. Schild was transferred to the recruit depot. 1st February 1918: disbandment of the collection points Leferest, Dourges, Courrieres was ordered. It was spring weather. I was sent to Douai and then Pont de la Deule, a workers’ colony which was about an hour walk from Douai. There was a lot of talk about a decisive encounter. The 17th Army had to be set up.  On the 6th of February orders to move to Pont de la Deule arrived.

[1] Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany.

31st May – 14th November 1917

From the 31^st May – 14^th November 1917

I stayed in Guesnain. My personal relationship with the First lieutenant Forberg was getting with time increasingly unpleasant. He was militarily absolute useless, he did nothing at all, understood nothing about the running of a squadron and he was not prepared to learn anything. However, he grumbled the whole day, was permanently in a bad mood, until it suddenly occurred to him, to give orders which were completely wrong and impossible to follow. As, I in fact handled all the duties of the company, there were, of course, permanently frictions. On the 3rd of June, just before I wanted to go on leave, we had an enormous quarrel, and I said things to my squadron leader which of course was not the common practice in the forces.

Just as unpleasant was Sergeant Lieutenant Friess. He was a neurasthenic of the worst kind, and as a real Saxon was constantly plotting. Friess was always running me down behind my back,  to the First Lieutenant .As on the day before my vacation Corporal Tennler reported to me of an utterance of Friess’s of incredible tactlessness, I was completely browned off. I told Friess on the spot, if he was not gone from the company by the time I returned from my vacation, I would make a report of actions against him. After I returned, Friess had fortunately gone home.

On the 7^th of June 1917 Schild and I went on vacation for 14 days. I surprised my family with enough food parcels and spent pleasant days in Leipzig. On the 24th of June, I was back in Montigny. With the carriage, I went from Montigny to Guesnain.

After my return 30 of the kv[1] people were replaced. Hörig, the cook, Schild and Kalbitz were also replaced. The days passed in the same rhythm. I thoroughly got to know the area of Douai by horse and carriage.

Despite a lot of rain it was very hot this year. I set up a canteen for the Company. Necessary items for sale were no longer easy to obtain. On the 11th of July I was assigned to a gas course in Berlin. On the13th of July, I drove straight from Douai to Leipzig and then on the 15th to Berlin. The lessons took place in the morning. We had the afternoon and evening free. Lieutenant Keil and I made in our spare time enjoyable gourmet tours. The big practical gas exercise was unfortunately cancelled. On the 21^st I went via Leipzig back to Douai. The carriage was not at the station, so I rode on the big Lotte to Guesnain. Lotte was a former riding horse of the warrant officer Körner. Lately there occurred not many remarkable facts. I will just register them here as I have in my notebook. 26^th of July 1917 I visited Schild in Courrieres.

27^th of July I have been shopping in Tournai for the canteen. Battalion visited. Lieutenant Casinone has been transferred back to the homeland. Captain Schmidt leads the battalion, a quiet, old gentleman. The collection companies will become army troops. 29th of July I went with Captain Nehring and First Lieutenant Forberger to Inspector Becker in Marchiennes: we had good coffee and good supper and lots of beer. Because of the First lieutenant, we had to return already at half past 12 o’clock. Who is going on the 8^th of August on leave for four weeks at long last; I hope never to see him again. 15^th August quarter changed and rabbit breeding increased. 18^th August: The Company was directly subordinate to the [2]A.O.K. and is now called collective company. In mid-August daily strong thunderstorm with rain, then fine weather. There was vibrant front activity. 8 Panje horses exchange for big ones. 8^th September 1917: The lieutenant comes back from vacation! 11^th September I have been in Lille. 19^th September 1917: again in Lille, where a meeting with the Major Eisenberger, takes place. On my return I learn that the ammunition depot in Guesnain is exploded. Because there were a lot of gas ammunition, things are not pleasant. The First lieutenant fled to Lille, and the captain holds a party. Körner is in the meantime promoted to Sergeant Lieutenant.  24^th of September I went with Major Eisenbergen to Aniche (10 km), because of an army collection point. 1. October 1917 relocation of the squadron orderly room to Guesnain. I took a major general on a tour of Aniche. With the [3]Captain, I have again a violent dispute, which came up for discussion at Head quarters. On the 4th of November, finally  Captain [4]Forberg was sent home. Captain Tritscheller takes over the Company in the coming days. He is a very nice and fine man, although he pinched my riding horse. Staff Sergeant Matusch and 23 men replacement arrive. 7. November instruction of the A.O.K. 6: the collection points in group Arras (Escort, St. Quentin, Lecluse, Arleux und Ferin) must be abandon and the collection points of the 1st Bavarian S.K. in the Souchez group was taken over. 9^th November: I had to check out, with Lieutenant Steiger, the ammunition storage in Mouchecourt, S.O. Group Arras, the commandos which would be handed over. 10^th November: I went to Leforest and from there with Lieutenant Roth from the Bavarians, to the collection points Hénin, Lietard and Courrieres.

On the 14th I got the three commandos Carvin, Courrieres and Dourges ready to march. 15^th I marched off with the rest of my platoon to Leforest.

[1] For combat capable people

[2] Army Headquarters or Army High command

[3] Or First Lieutenant?

[4] Or Forberger?

12th – 30th May 1917

In Lewarde

Our collection points had gradually been organised. In Cantin, Ferin, Courrieres and Brebieres sat one corporal and about half a dozen people. They received the booty, which the troops had collected, sorted it and sent it to the main booty point in Douai.  The finders were given certificates and received the loot money from their troops. At the main collection office in Douai everything was sorted again and then packed into wagons and some parts were sent home and some parts to the occupied territories, depending on what was in the respective wagons. During the first period, as long as the big fights on the front carried on, we sent daily on an average 6 wagons and later about 4. The sorting and loading claimed a lot of people and soon we were given French civilian workers for reinforcement. The traffic was also very heavy because of all the carts and cars which were bringing booty as well.

In general, the weather was magnificent; since the 21st of May it was very hot. Almost every day I went horseback riding on my brave Liese and visited mostly the commandos. The country side was not bad. To the North of us mostly flat, to the south the Land was slightly hilly. There was also bush land and forests and because of the good roads it was a pleasure to go horseback riding. In the afternoon, I went generally by coach to Douai. For the first lieutenant I organized another coach in Douai and gave him a couple of horses form our 75 horses. Together, we drove only in extreme emergency. On the 19th the new leader of the base auxiliary Battalion 6, with his aide, came suddenly to inspect the company and to discuss relocation of the Company. I drove in the wildest gallop to Douai, after the collection point at the station gave me this message.

The Base Battalion thought that we were still in Douai. I was just in time, so that the critical and ever nagging First Lieutenant Casinone did not notice anything (he was later deported home due to neurasthenia).

We had wonderful weather at Pentecost. On one day of the holidays I went – this time together with the first lieutenant – to Mouchecourt to Lieutenant Cramer, collection officer with the group Quéant, with whom we spent a jolly beer evening.

After on the 29^th of May, the lieutenant colonel had been with us again, we had to move on the 31^st to Guesnain a village 2 km before Lewarde. The village was quite small; there were really only two roads but there was a large colony, in which the workers of the adjacent coal mine lived. These colonies looked the same in the whole of northern France; I was living in 1915 in Waziers in such a colony. Next to the entrance of each house were on the right and on the left one room, one with a cooking stove. Opposite to this a narrow staircase led to the two attic rooms. Outside the house a little most carefully maintained Garden with the obligatory rabbit barns. These houses were built in long rows wall to wall and back to back.