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April Fool / April Fish — April 1, 1915. French soldiers catching German fish in the Aisne River. After the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, German forces retreated to the high ground north of the Aisne river. They held it until 1917.
A French officer charging into battle in a watercolor by Fernand Rigouts. The original watercolor on deckle-edged watercolor paper is signed F. R. 1917, and addressed to Mademoiselle Henriette Dangon.
Postcard for travel to Brno for the Slet, a Sokol gymnastics festival on June 27, 28, and 29, 1914. By E. Kouby.
French commander Joffre opens an Easter egg to reveal Alsace. The sender sent kisses to Jeanne Charbonnel on April 10, 1915. April 4 was Easter.
French folding postcard map of Verdun and the Meuse River, number 9 from the series Les Cartes du Front. Montfaucon is in the upper left and St. Mihiel at the bottom.
"Towards the end of our stay [in early April, 1915], the weather improved, and we happily went for walks in the attractive, rather watery countryside. The landscape, in which yellow marsh marigolds seemed to have sprouted overnight, was set off by the sight of numbers of half-naked soldiers along the poplar-lined river banks, all with their shirts over their knees, busily hunting for lice. Fairly unscathed myself by that scourge, I helped my comrade Priepke, an exporter from Hamburg, wrap his woollen waistcoat — as populous as once the garment of the adventurous Simplicissimus — round a heavy boulder, and for mass-extermination, dunk it in the river. Where, since we left Hérinnes very suddenly, it will have mouldered away quietly ever since." ((1), more)
"By April 1915 the villagers of Nanteuil-de-Bourzac, and, indeed, the women of France in general, had plenty that might make them susceptible to depression. Victory was nowhere in sight, and casualties were already in excess of half a million men killed or wounded. It was evident that the short and victorious war to which their sons and husbands had so resolutely set off was not within reach. . . . 'There are so many dying now that it makes you tremble,' Marie [Pireaud] confessed, and she begged her husband, 'Oh do all that you can to avoid all danger because your death would be mine.'" ((2), more)
"After that Švejk began to talk of the famous orders which had been read out to them before they got into the train. One was the army order, signed by Franz Joseph, and another came from Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, the Supreme Commander of the Eastern Army and Group. Both concerned the events on the Dukla Pass on 3 April 1915, when two battalions of the 28th regiment including their officers went over to the Russians to the strains of their regimental band." ((3), more)
"In Memorium [Easter 1915]The flowers left thick at nightfall in the woodThis Eastertide call into mind the men,Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, shouldHave gathered them and will do never again." ((4), more)
"The ill-fated attack against the St. Mihiel salient began on March 30 [1915] with 73rd Division attacking along the Moselle River. On April 3, XII Corp attacked on its left, then on April 5, VIII and XXXI corps attacked on the left of XII Corps, resulting in pressure along the entire southern face of the salient. Support came from 376 artillery pieces, 107 of which were heavy. The French hoped these sequenced attacks would draw the Germans to the south, making them vulnerable to attacks further north . . .The French intended to assault one hill in the heights, Les Éparges . . . The attack on the western face of the salient began on April 5, but heavy rain and poor visibility delayed the operation. As visibility improved, scheduled artillery fire began destroying enemy positions and cutting wire at 1100 hours, and the infantry assault began at 1415." ((5), more)
(1) In late March and early April, 1915, German author and soldier Ernst Jünger was with the 111 Infantry Division in Belgium.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, page 20, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(2) The letters of a young French couple from the Dordogne, Paul and Marie Pereaud, are in the French military archives in Vincennes. Paul fought at Verdun, the Somme, in the Nivelle Offensive, and in northern Italy. Marie tended the family's farm with her parents and in-laws. The couple corresponded through the five years the war kept them apart.
Your Death Would Be Mine; Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War by Martha Hanna, page 72, copyright © 2006 by Martha Hanna, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2006
(3) The Good Soldier Švejk (or Schweik) is the hero of Jaroslav Hašek's novel of the same name. Both Švejk and Hašek are Czech, as are the two battalions that deserted to the Russians in the battles of the Carpathian Mountain passes. Švejk and his Czech regiment were on a train in Galicia heading off to fight the Russians. The Army Order of April 17, 1915 from Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph that Švejk extemporizes upon read, 'With a heart overflowing with grief it is my command that the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment no. 28 be struck off the roll of my army for cowardice and treason. The regimental standard is to be withdrawn from the dishonoured regiment and handed over to the War Museum. This day marks the end of the existence of a regiment which was morally poisoned by the atmosphere at home and went into the field to commit treason.'
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, page 450, copyright © Cecil Parrott, 1973 (translation), publisher: Penguin
(4) "In Memorium [Easter 1915]' by Edward Thomas. An English writer, Thomas began writing poetry in 1914, after being encouraged to do so by the American poet Robert Frost. He enlisted in the Artists' Rifles in July 1915, and was promoted to Lance-Corporal by November. Thomas's June 1916 application for a commission in the Royal Artillery was accepted in September. By the end of the year he was a 2nd Lieutenant and volunteered to serve overseas. In February 1917, he was serving in the Arras sector, where the British were preparing a major offensive. On April 9, 1917, in the first hour of the Battle of Arras, Edward Thomas was killed by a shell.
The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas by Edward Thomas, page 58, copyright © R. George Thomas 1978, 1981, publisher: Oxford University Press, publication date: 1981
(5) The French troops attacking at Les Éparges found the preparatory artillery bombardment had created only one break in the German wire defenses. Elsewhere soldiers had to cut their way through the wire, suffering heavy losses.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, pp. 144, 145, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
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