German troops resting in Poland. After withdrawing from southern Poland, Hindenburg came from the area southwest of Thorn to strike the Russians who were advancing towards the Silesian border in a flank attack. The Battle of Lodz and Lowicz finally brought the Russian steamroller to a halt at the end of November. A card from Der Weltkrieg 1914-1918, a 1930s German history of the war illustrated (or not) with pasted-in cigarette cards.
Image text: Rastende Truppen in Polen. Nach dem Rückzug aus Südpolen stieß Hindenburg aus der Gegend südwestl. Thorn den gegen die schlesische Grenze vordringenden Russen in die Flanke. Die Schlacht bei Lodz und Lowicz brachte Ende November die russische Dampfwalze endgültig zum Stehen. - Unter die schweren Kämpfe bei Lodz zählt auch der berühmte Durchbruch Litzmanns bei Brzeziny.Troops resting in Poland. After the withdrawal from southern Poland, Hindenburg came from the area southwest of Thorn to strike the Russians advancing towards the Silesian border in the flank. The Battle of Lodz and Lowicz finally brought the Russian steamroller to a halt at the end of November. - Among the heavy fighting in Lodz, Litzmann's famous breakthrough in Brzeziny ranks highly.
Charles Nungesser, third of France's greatest aces with 43 victories, flying a Nieuport in pursuit of a German plane.
Image text: A la poursuite de l’ennemi…Aviation FrançaiseGuerre 1914-1915-1916 . . .Sous-Lieutenant Charles Eugène Marie NungesserNé le 15 Mars 1892 à Paris, titulaire du Brevet de l’Aéro-club de France No. 1.803, à la date du 17 Mars 1915, sur appareil H. Farman, a abattu au Premier Octobre 1916, 15 avions et 3 saucisses.In pursuit of the enemy ...French AviationWar 1914-1915-1916. . .Sub-Lieutenant Charles Eugene Marie NungesserBorn March 15, 1892 in Paris, he holds Certificate No. 1803 of the Aero Club of France. In an H. Farman machine, he has brought down from March 17, 1915, to October 1, 1916, 15 aircraft and three sausage balloons.Reverse:1916-04-12
German pilot Kleim with his observer, ground crew, and LVG bi-plane. Kleim is marked with an 'x' above his head, standing, outer coat open, hands on his hips. The plane may be an early model C.II introduced in late 1915. It has wire wheels of the earlier B.I, and what may be an early exhaust pipe. The more typical C.II positions the exhaust at the midpoint of the engine.
Image text: [Trans:] My AircraftKleim L.V.G.
Postcard of a German soldier guarding French POWs, most of them colonial troops, the colorful uniforms of a Zouave, Spahi, Senegalese, and metropolitan French soldier contrasting with the field gray German uniform. A 1915 postcard by Emil Huber.
Image text: Emil Huber 1915Reverse:Unsere FeldgrauenSerie II? preussischer Infanterie-SoldatPrussian Infantry SoldierLogo: K.E.B.
"The German corps, which were half-surrounded near Lodz, have succeeded in escaping at the cost of appalling hecatombs. The Russian plan failed at the last moment through the fault of General Rennenkampf who was lacking in vision and quickness of movement.The general staff has published a communiqué in the following terms :'The rumours in circulation as to the magnitude of our victory between the Vistula and the Wartha originate in private correspondence, and must be accepted with reserve . . . There is no doubt that the German plan of surrounding the Russian army on the left bank of the Vistula has completely failed. The Germans have had to retreat in unfavourable conditions and suffering huge losses. The battle is developing in our favour, but the enemy continues his stubborn resistance.'The public is grievously disappointed." ((1), more)
". . . using his last ammunition drum at a range of 30 feet, finally drove [a German Albatros two-seater] down in a dive.What Nungesser saw next took much of the luster out of his second victory. 'The observer, still alive, clung desperately to the mounting ring to which his machine gun was attached,' he reported. 'Suddenly the mounting ripped loose from the fuselage and was flung into space, taking with it the helpless crewman. He clawed frantically at the air, his body working convulsively like a man on a trapeze. I had a quick glimpse of his face before he tumbled away through the clouds. . . it was a mask of horror.'" ((2), more)
"On November 27 seven Zeppelins raided England, dropping more than two hundred bombs. Two of the raiders were shot down: in one of them, hit by the incendiary bullets fired by a British pilot, all twenty crewmen were killed. On the following day a single German seaplane flew over London, dropping six bombs on Kensington. 'I heard the explosions from the Foreign Office and thought they were practising with rifles at Wellington Barracks,' one senior diplomat, Lord Harding, later recalled. No one was killed, but six civilians were wounded. The raid marked the first aircraft as opposed to Zeppelin attack in the capital." ((3), more)
"'Why are you so skinny?''Commandant, when you don't miss a hitch in the trenches for thirty-six months, you can hardly get fat.'The commandant's voice softened. He turned to our Lieutenant Lorius and said, 'All your men look good. But you have this corporal who's worn out. Take care of him.'. . . This was the first kind-hearted word that a superior officer had said to me since I'd been at the front. That's why I've made note of it." ((4), more)
(1) Entry from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia, for Saturday, November 28, 1914. Initial reports that reached Petrograd on November 26 spoke of a great Russian victory in the Battle of Lodz and the capture of 150,000 prisoners. The Germans managed to find a gap that was covered only thinly by von Rennenkampf's forces, and escaped the encirclement.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, page 201, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(2) From a description of Charles Nungesser's second victory, that of November 28, 1915. Nungesser was France's third greatest ace of World War I with 43 victories. René Fonck had 75, and Georges Guynemer 53. Both Nungesser and Fonck survived the war; Guynemer did not.
The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft by Jon Gutman, page 40, copyright © 2009 Jon Gutman, publisher: Westholme Publishing, publication date: 2009
(3) Eight Zeppelins set out to bomb industrial targets in the British Midlands on November 27, 1916, a stormy night in which the airships were visible in the glare from the cities and the aurora borealis. One of the eight turned back before crossing the North Sea. LZ 34 was picked up by searchlights and shot down by British pilot Ian Pyott shortly before midnight. A second Zeppelin, LZ 21, was shot down by airplanes 10 miles east of Lowestoft and fell into the sea with no survivors early on the 28th. The loss of the two Zeppelins followed those of loss of two others in September and one in October and marked the beginning of the end of the Zeppelin raids on England. The bombing by the L.V.G. presaged the air raids of 1917 and 1918.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 302, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(4) Excerpt from the notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas of the 296th Regiment. Barthas was writing in late November, 1917, immediately after his regiment had been dissolved and its men assigned to other units. The regiment had been implicated in the army mutinies of the spring and early summer: On May 30, Barthas was asked to take the lead role in forming soviet that would assume command of his company. He declined, but did write a manifesto on behalf of the company protesting the delay in leaves after the Second Battle of the Aisne. On the 31st, the battalions of his regiment were separated, and his demonstrated against a return to the front line trenches. The regiment was sent to the Argonne, then a quiet sector on the Western Front. When Georges Clemenceau came to power in November 20, he quickly went after any who opposed waging the war to victory. Clemenceau and the Regiment had crossed swords in 1907 during a wine-growers protest. Clemenceau then was in power, and the 296th had mutinied. The commandant's kind words for Barthas are more a direct result of Henri Pétain's command that officers care for their men.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 342, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
