Weihnachten im Unterstand 1916 (Christmas in the dugout 1916)A well built shelter with stove and chimney, towels drying on a line, a table decorated with greens and three small Christmas trees, two wine bottles.Original Austrian pencil sketch by Karl, 1916. © John M. Shea
Weihnachten im Unterstand 1916 (Christmas in the dugout 1916)
"On 18 December [1916], the division was relieved, and I rejoined my regiment, now on rest in the village of Fresnoy-le-Grand. There, I took over the command of the 2nd Company from Lieutenant Boje, who had a spell of leave. In Fresnoy, the regiment had four weeks of uninterrupted rest, and everyone tried to make the most of it. Christmas and New Year were marked by company parties, at which the beer and grog flowed. Only five men were left of the 2nd Company with whom I had celebrated Christmas in the trenches at Monchy, a year ago."
German Ensign Ernst Jünger was wounded by shrapnel in September, 1916. During the month he was either in hospital or recuperating, his unit was wiped out in fighting at Guillemont in the Battle of the Somme. After his return in November, he was stationed by the woods of St-Pierre-Vaast, ten kilometers north of Péronne and the Somme River. The night of November 12, he was hit by a sniper's bullet that went through one calf and grazed the other, and spent another two weeks recuperating.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 118–119, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
1916-12-26, 1916, December, Christmas, New Year, New Year's, Christmas dugout
