I Served With Hitler in the Trenches by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2023-04-05T00:51:59+00:00

Army Report, 9 May 1915

A surprising mine detonation on 9 May allowed the enemy to overrun a portion of the position of the reserve infantry regiment no. 16 and to win about 500m of ground. But here, the strength of the prepared English breach (4th English artillery regiment and parts of a territorial division) died out. While the infantrymen were engaged in bitter fighting nearby with the penetrating English soldiers, the supporting enemy formations (nearly all 4th infantry brigade) were unable to get through the highly efficient field artillery and infantry and left their forward penetrating comrades to their fate. At 7 in the evening the front line was held by reserve infantry regiment 16, whose 10th company, under the command of Lieutenant Bachschneider, had freed itself after over 12 hours of being surrounded by the enemy. The fighting, behind the line, only ended on 10 May at 5 o’clock in the morning and it was not an exaggeration to estimate enemy losses between 3,000 and 4,000 men: 2 English officers and 147 men were taken prisoner and 7 machine guns captured.

Despite the heavy defeat at Fromelles, our enemy continued his attacks on our section of the front, with greater violence and a huge commitment of troops. Chiefly at La Bassée and Richebourg, terrible firing raged. At sunset, the fighting was at its most bitter. Often you would have thought that we were in the middle of a battlefield. For days now, only the muffled rolling of the drumfire was to be heard. Smoke and clouds of sulphur darkened the horizon. All these signs showed us that it would not be long before we were alerted, and so it was. After a week, on 17 May, a section of our regiment entrained for La Bassée. During the same day, the English attacked our position once again and the German parts of the front line trenches were snatched away. At midnight from 17 to 18 May, the threatened section was asked to support the neighbouring division for which we sent, during the night, all available reserves; six companies of 6th Bavarian reserve division. Their timely arrival and their bravery in the face of the initially superior English attack succeeded in stopping the threatened breakthrough until stronger forces were brought up.

While in Galizien, our united armies rushed from victory to victory; the army of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, which also belonged to our division, had a battle to win that was no less fierce and bloody. There were no assault troops here because of the rows of enemy, no pursuit of retreating divisions but our troops had the difficult task of putting a stop to our enemy attackers. At that time our enemy didn’t just want to divert the strength of our spent armies in Galizien, but also force a breakthrough to the German lines in the West. General Joffre considered that, at that time, the moment had arrived to break through the German front, which would liberate the occupied provinces and Belgium, and carry the war into the Rhineland.

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