Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.
Schulter an SchulterUntrennbar vereintin Freud und in Leid!'Shoulder to shoulderInseparably united in joy and in sorrow!
"Dawn on the 27th [September 1915] was breaking as I rejoined C Company and, incidentally, the rest of the battalion and once again we were near our original front line from which we made our advance. . . . When dawn broke we found that the ground on which we halted was strewn with dead and wounded — some of the wounded I recognised, having seen them there when we went over the day before.I was very glad to get into some form of shelter as the men were looking very much the worse for wear. We called the roll and the result was shattering to say the least of it as I had little more than half my platoon left, and so far as I could see, other platoons were no better. Rifles were cleaned and examined, but it was a ghastly parade and I am afraid I could not see well enough to know whether a rifle was clean or not."
From an account by Captain Wyllie, Royal Scots Fusiliers writing in 1952 of the Battle of Loos.
The Battle of Loos by Philip Warner, pp. 168, 169, copyright © Philip Warner 1976, publisher: Wordsworth Editions Limited, publication date: 2000 (originally 1976)
Loos, Battle of Loos, 1915, September, 1915-09-27
