Greetings from the field! A shell takes a dwarf for a ride in a German postcard from 1917.
Grüsse aus dem Felde!Greetings from the field!Reverse: Dated and postmarked February 19, 1917. 1917-02-19, Feldpost
"During the night of February 14–15 [1917], at one in the morning, we were tumbled out of our beds by a sudden, violent bombardment which the Germans unleashed on our lines.Shaken, we got up to see what was happening. Shells were falling all around, even on the edge of our shelter, normally a peaceful corner. It was clear that this bombardment, completely unexpected, was the prelude to a German infantry attack. . . . The spectacle was impressive, and you had to think back to the tragic days of Lorette, Verdun, and the Somme to conceive of a bombardment like this one."
Excerpt from the notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas then stationed in Massiges, between Rheims and Verdun, at the 'Main de Massiges' 'formed by six hills extending from a little plateau.' Barthas had fought at Loretto Heights in the Second and Third Battles of Artois, at Verdun, and on the Somme. The bombardment continued through the night on three regiments, Barthas's in the center, but at dawn the focus shifted to the 208th Regiment on his left. At 3:00 p.m. the Germans blew mines beneath the 208th and overran their lines, taking 1,050 prisoners, most of whom surrendered in what was referred to as L'Affaire de Maisons-Champagne.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 296, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
1917-02-15, 1917, February, Lorette, Verdun, Somme
