German soldiers in a Russian village. The message is dated, and the card field postmarked May 3, 1918. The men's packs and rifles are laid out in the right background; horses can be seen in the left background.
The message is dated, and the card field postmarked May 3, 1918.
"On 17 March [ 1918], after sundown, we left the quarters we had come to love, and marched to Brunemont. The roads were choked with columns of marching men, innumerable guns and an endless supply column. Even so, it was all orderly, following a carefully worked-out plan by the general staff. Woe to the outfit that failed to keep to its allotted time and route; it would find itself elbowed into the gutter and having to wait for hours till another slot fell vacant. On one occasion we did get in a little jam, in the course of which Captain van Brixen's horse impaled itself on a metalled axle and had to be put down."
German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger on preparations days before for what he elsewhere refers to as German commander Erich Ludendorff's, and Germany's, 'mighty do-or-die offensive'. It would be Operation Michael, launched on March 21, 1918. Brunémont, France, is about 30 km east of Arras, and half that distance north of Cambrai.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 222–223, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
1918-03-17, 1918, March, horse, German soldier, German soldiers 1918-05-03
