A German soldier by the side of a water-filled crater, June 15, 1916. The handwritten note says it is 'The crater of St. Elleu', possibly St. Eloi, near Ypres.
'The crater of St. Elleu on Jun 15 1916' (Translation courtesy Thomas Faust, eBay's Urfaust.)
"On August 4, at 8 in the evening, the 15th Company went up to the front line. It was almost with pleasure that we returned to the outposts; this delivered us from work in the mines, and from the company of the cadaver-eating rats."
Excerpt from the notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas, August 4, 1916. After suffering heavy losses at Verdun in May, Barthas's reserve regiment was made the 296th, an active regiment, serving in Champagne. In the previous days, Barthas's unit had supported miners, bringing supplies for the mines — including timber to support the tunnels — and hauling away dirt and stones, oftentimes underground and immediately behind the miners. After being especially plagued by rats, the men discovered their nests were in a nearby cemetery for German soldiers. They scavenged among the French at night.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 241, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
1916-08-04, 1916, August, rats, mine, mining, mines
