Morgens früh Abmarsch der 4 Züge in die die Stellungen. Der Kompanietrupp bleibt noch in Hürtgen. Vormittags regnet es.Nach Mittag – Ernst Butt und ich haben es uns gerade im Zimmer gemütlich gemacht – kommt der Befehl zum Abmarsch des Kompanietrupps. Um 345 Uhr geht es los „nach vorne“! Über Jägershaus, Lammersdorf, belgische Grenze, Simmerath kommen wir nach Kesternich. Unterwegs überschreiten wir zweimal die Höckerlinie und kommen an großen Bunkern vorbei. Überall wird noch mächtig gearbeitet. Es ist lange nicht alles fertig. Um ½ 10 Uhr abends sind wir in Kesternich. Hauptmann Sietz empfängt uns und verteilt die Quartierzettel. Ich komme mit Butt zu einem Schneider Heck. Im gemeinsamen Zimmer hat jeder von uns ein eigenes Bett. Sonst ist in dem kleinen Hause alles sehr primitiv, vor allem die Waschgelegenheit im Stall und der Abort! In allen Stuben und in der Küche hängen Heiligenbilder und Kruzifixe, über unseren Betten allein 20 Stück.
Early morning departure of the 4 platoons into their positions. The company squad still remains in Hürtgen. It is raining all morning.Afternoon - Ernst Butt and me just made ourselfes comfortable in our room - when the order for departure of the company platoon arrives. We start at 345 hours for the front! Via Jägershaus, Lammersdorf, belgian border, Simmerath, we arrive at Kesternich. Along our way, we cross the line of dragon teeth twice and pass by large bunkers. Everywhere, a lot of building is going on. Not everything is completed yet. At half past 9 in the evening we are at Kesternich. Hauptmann [note: Captain] Sietz welcomes us and distributes the billets. I am assigned along with Ernst Butt to a certain tailor Heck. In a common room, each one of us has his own bed. Everything in the small house is very primitive, especially the washbasin in the stables and the outhouse! In all living rooms and in the kitchen, there are crucifixes and ikons of saints, above our beds alone, there are 20 of them.
FRA
IT
Early morning departure of the 4 platoons into their positions. The company squad still remains in Hürtgen. It is raining all morning.
AntwortenLöschenAfternoon - Ernst Butt and me just made ourselfes comfortable in our room - when the order for departure of the company platoon arrives. We start at 345 hours for the front! Via Jägershaus, Lammersdorf, belgian border, Simmerath, we arrive at Kesternich. Along our way, we cross the line of dragon teeth twice and pass by large bunkers. Everywhere, a lot of building is going on. Not everything is completed yet. At half past 9 in the evening we are at Kesternich. Hauptmann [note: Captain] Sietz welcomes us and distributes the billets. I am assigned along with Ernst Butt to a certain tailor Heck. In a common room, each one of us has his own bed. Everything in the small house is very primitive, especially the washbasin in the stables and the outhouse! In all living rooms and in the kitchen, there are crucifixes and ikons of saints, above our beds alone, there are 20 of them.
For anyone who has any knowledge of German, it is worth while taking at least a quick look at the contemporaneous newspaper coverage, and not being put off by the Gothic type (my first two German grammars and many of the books I read when young were printed like this, so I have an admitted advantage!).
LöschenEven in the headlines, the cynicism of the propaganda is simply breathtaking. Already by 4 September, the Freiburger Zeitung is reporting a leaflet drop by the British Royal Air Force over Holland as a breach of Dutch neutrality. Anyone who survived the German bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940 would doubtless be amused.
When one sees the intensity and brazenness of the propaganda, relayed in the general press, one wonders how anyone in Germany could hope to have any idea what was really going on.