August 14, 2025 • 9 mins
17 - Friendly Relations with the Enemy. A German Deserter's War Experience by Anonymous.
The author of this 1917 narrative, who escaped from Germany and military service after 14 months of fighting in France, did not wish to have his name made public, fearing reprisals against his relatives. The vivid description of the life of a common German soldier during “The Great War” aroused much interest when it was published in the United States in serial form. Here was a warrior against his will, a hater of militarism for whom there was no romance in war, but only butchery and brutality, grime and vermin, inhuman toil and degradation. His story also contains the first German description of the retreat of the Teutonic armies after the battle of the Marne.
The author of this 1917 narrative, who escaped from Germany and military service after 14 months of fighting in France, did not wish to have his name made public, fearing reprisals against his relatives. The vivid description of the life of a common German soldier during “The Great War” aroused much interest when it was published in the United States in serial form. Here was a warrior against his will, a hater of militarism for whom there was no romance in war, but only butchery and brutality, grime and vermin, inhuman toil and degradation. His story also contains the first German description of the retreat of the Teutonic armies after the battle of the Marne.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seventeen of a German Deserter's War Experience by anonymous.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter seventeen,
Friendly relations with the Enemy. There was no lack of
food at mont Medee. The canteens were provided with everything.
Prices were high, however. Montmidee is a third class French
(00:22):
fortress and is situated in Erinbreistein on a height which
is very steep on one side. The town is situated
at the foot of the hill. The fortress was taken
by the Germans without a struggle. The garrison, who had
prepared for defense before the fortress, had their retreat cut off.
A railroad tunnel passes through the hill under the fortress,
(00:45):
but that had been blown up by the French. The
Germans laid the rails round the hill through the town
so as to establish railroad communications with their front. It
looked almost comical to watch the transport trains come rolling
on through the main street and across the market place.
Everywhere along the mews, the destroyed bridges had been replaced
(01:06):
by wooden ones. Mont Medee was the chief base of
the Fifth Army, that of the Crown Prince, and contained
immense stores of war materiel. Besides that, it harbored the
field post office, the headquarters for army provisions, a railroad management,
and a great number of hospitals. The largest of them
used to be called the Theater Hospital, on account of
(01:28):
its being installed in the municipal theater and the adjoining houses,
and always contained from five hundred to six hundred wounded.
Things were very lively at Montmedee. One chiefly observed convalescent
soldiers walking through the streets, and a remarkable number of officers,
all of whom had been attached to the various departments.
(01:49):
They loitered about in their faultless uniforms or rode along
whip in hand. Moreover, they had not yet the slightest
idea of what war was like, and when we met them,
they ex efected us to salute them in the prescribed manner.
Many of them accosted us and asked us rudely why
we did not salute. After a few hours, we got
sick of life. Twenty miles behind the Verdun front at Montmidie,
(02:13):
we were about twenty miles behind Verdon and some sixty
miles away from our former position. When towards one o'clock PM,
we began to move on. We guessed that we were
to be dragged to the country round Verdun. After a
march of nine miles, we reached the village of Fometz.
There we were lodged in various barns. Nearly all of
(02:35):
the inhabitants had stayed on. They seemed to be on
quite friendly terms with the soldiers. Time had brought them
closer to each other, and we two got an entirely
different idea of our hereditary enemy on closer acquaintance. When
walking through the place, we were offered all kinds of
things by the inhabitants. Were treated to coffee, meat and
(02:56):
milk exactly as is done by German patriots maneuvers, and
we were even treated better than at home. To reward
them for these marks of attention, we murdered the sons
of those people who desired nothing better than living in peace.
Early next morning we moved on, and when we arrived
at don Villeres in the evening, we heard that we
(03:18):
were some three miles behind the firing line. That very
night we marched to the small village of Warview that
was our destination, and there We took up our quarters
in a house that had been abandoned by its inhabitants.
We were attached to the ninth Reserved Vision, and the
following day already we had to take up our positions.
(03:38):
Fifteen of us were attached to a company of infantry.
No rifle firing was to be heard along the line.
Only the artillery of the two sides maintained a weak fire.
We were not accustomed to such quietness in the trenches,
but the men who had been here for a long
time told us that sometimes not a shot was fired
for days, then that there was not the slightest activity
(04:00):
on either side. It seemed to us that we were
going to have a nice quiet time. The trench in
that section crossed the main road leading from don Villere
to Verdun, a distance of some fifteen miles. The enemy's
position was about eight hundred yards in front of us.
German and French troops were always patrolling the road from
(04:20):
six o'clock at night till the morning. At night time,
those troops were always standing together. Germans and frenchmen met,
and the German soldiers had a liking for that duty.
Neither side thought for a moment to shoot at the
other one. Everybody had just to be at his post.
In time, both sides had cast away suspicions. Every night,
(04:40):
the hereditary enemies shook hands with each other, and on
the following morning, the relieved sentries related to us with
pleasure how liberally the frenchmen had shared everything with them.
They always exchanged newspapers with them, and so it came
about that we got French papers every day, the contents
of which were translated to us by a sol who
(05:00):
spoke the French language. By day we were able to
leave the trench and we would be relieved across the
open field without running any danger. The French had no
ideas of shooting at us, neither did we think of
shooting at the French. When we were relieved, we saluted
our enemies by waving our helmets, and immediately the others
replied by waving their caps. When we wanted water, we
(05:23):
had to go to a farm situated between the lines.
The French, too, fetched their water from there. It would
have been easy for each side to prevent the other
from using that well, but we used to go up
to it quite unconcerned. Watched by the French. The latter
used to wait till we trotted off again with our
cooking pots filled, and then they would come up and
provide themselves with water. That night, it often happened that
(05:46):
we and the Frenchmen arrived at the well at the
same time. In such a case, one of the parties
would wait politely until the other had done. Thus it
happened that three of us were at the well without
any arms when a score of frenchmen arrived with cooking pots.
Though the Frenchmen were seven times as numerous as ourselves,
the thought never struck them that they might fall upon us.
(06:08):
The twenty men just waited quietly till we had done.
We then saluted them and went off. One night, a
French sergeant came to our trench. He spoke German very well,
said he was a deserter, and begged us to regard
him as our prisoner. But the infantrymen became angry and
told him to get back to the French as quickly
as possible. Meanwhile, a second Frenchman came up and asked
(06:30):
excitedly whether a man of theirs had not deserted to
us a short while ago. Then our section leader, a
young lieutenant arrived upon the scene, and the Frenchman who
had come last begged him to send the deserter back.
For so he remarked, if our officers get to know
that one of our men has voluntarily given himself up,
we shall have to say good bye to the good
(06:51):
time we are having, and the shooting will begin again.
We too, appreciated that the argument that such incidents would
only make our position work the lieutenant vanished. He did
not want to have a finger in that pie. Very
likely he also desired that things remain as they were.
We quickly surrendered the deserter. Each one of the two
(07:11):
frenchmen was presented with a cigarette, and then they scurried
away full steam ahead. We felt quite happy under those
circumstances and did not wish for anything better. On our
daily return journeys, we observed that an immense force of
artillery was being gathered and were placed in position further back.
New guns arrived every day, but were not fired. The
(07:34):
same lively activity could be observed in regard to the
transportation of ammunition and material. At that time, we did
not yet suspect that these were the first preparations for
a strong offensive. After staying in that part of the country.
Some four weeks we were again ordered to some other
part of the front. As usual, we had no idea
(07:54):
of our new destination. Various rumors were in circulation. Some
thought it would be Flanders, others thought it would be Russia,
but none guessed right. We marched off and reached Dunn
Sairmeuse in the afternoon. We had scarcely got to the
town when the German Crown Prince, accompanied by some officers
and a great number of hounds, rode past us. Good day, sappers.
(08:17):
He called to us, looking at us closely, He spoke
to our captain, and an officer of his staff took
us to an establishment of the Red Cross, where we
received good food and wine. The headquarters of the horn
zolension was here at Dune Sairmeuse. The ladies of the
Red Cross treated us very well. We asked them whether
(08:37):
all the troops passing through the place were cared for
as well as that. Oh, yes, a young lady replied,
Only few passed through here, but the Crown Prince has
a special liking for sappers. We lodged there for the night,
and the soldiers told us that Dune Sairmeuse was the
headquarters of the Fifth Army. That life was often very
jolly there, and every day there was an open air concert.
(09:00):
We heard that the officers often received ladies from Germany,
but of course the ladies only came to distribute gifts
among the soldiers. Richly provided with food, we continued our
march the next morning and kept along the side of
the Meuse. In the evening we were lodged at Stenney.
End of Chapter seventeen.
Chapter seventeen of a German Deserter's War Experience by anonymous.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter seventeen,
Friendly relations with the Enemy. There was no lack of
food at mont Medee. The canteens were provided with everything.
Prices were high, however. Montmidee is a third class French
(00:22):
fortress and is situated in Erinbreistein on a height which
is very steep on one side. The town is situated
at the foot of the hill. The fortress was taken
by the Germans without a struggle. The garrison, who had
prepared for defense before the fortress, had their retreat cut off.
A railroad tunnel passes through the hill under the fortress,
(00:45):
but that had been blown up by the French. The
Germans laid the rails round the hill through the town
so as to establish railroad communications with their front. It
looked almost comical to watch the transport trains come rolling
on through the main street and across the market place.
Everywhere along the mews, the destroyed bridges had been replaced
(01:06):
by wooden ones. Mont Medee was the chief base of
the Fifth Army, that of the Crown Prince, and contained
immense stores of war materiel. Besides that, it harbored the
field post office, the headquarters for army provisions, a railroad management,
and a great number of hospitals. The largest of them
used to be called the Theater Hospital, on account of
(01:28):
its being installed in the municipal theater and the adjoining houses,
and always contained from five hundred to six hundred wounded.
Things were very lively at Montmedee. One chiefly observed convalescent
soldiers walking through the streets, and a remarkable number of officers,
all of whom had been attached to the various departments.
(01:49):
They loitered about in their faultless uniforms or rode along
whip in hand. Moreover, they had not yet the slightest
idea of what war was like, and when we met them,
they ex efected us to salute them in the prescribed manner.
Many of them accosted us and asked us rudely why
we did not salute. After a few hours, we got
sick of life. Twenty miles behind the Verdun front at Montmidie,
(02:13):
we were about twenty miles behind Verdon and some sixty
miles away from our former position. When towards one o'clock PM,
we began to move on. We guessed that we were
to be dragged to the country round Verdun. After a
march of nine miles, we reached the village of Fometz.
There we were lodged in various barns. Nearly all of
(02:35):
the inhabitants had stayed on. They seemed to be on
quite friendly terms with the soldiers. Time had brought them
closer to each other, and we two got an entirely
different idea of our hereditary enemy on closer acquaintance. When
walking through the place, we were offered all kinds of
things by the inhabitants. Were treated to coffee, meat and
(02:56):
milk exactly as is done by German patriots maneuvers, and
we were even treated better than at home. To reward
them for these marks of attention, we murdered the sons
of those people who desired nothing better than living in peace.
Early next morning we moved on, and when we arrived
at don Villeres in the evening, we heard that we
(03:18):
were some three miles behind the firing line. That very
night we marched to the small village of Warview that
was our destination, and there We took up our quarters
in a house that had been abandoned by its inhabitants.
We were attached to the ninth Reserved Vision, and the
following day already we had to take up our positions.
(03:38):
Fifteen of us were attached to a company of infantry.
No rifle firing was to be heard along the line.
Only the artillery of the two sides maintained a weak fire.
We were not accustomed to such quietness in the trenches,
but the men who had been here for a long
time told us that sometimes not a shot was fired
for days, then that there was not the slightest activity
(04:00):
on either side. It seemed to us that we were
going to have a nice quiet time. The trench in
that section crossed the main road leading from don Villere
to Verdun, a distance of some fifteen miles. The enemy's
position was about eight hundred yards in front of us.
German and French troops were always patrolling the road from
(04:20):
six o'clock at night till the morning. At night time,
those troops were always standing together. Germans and frenchmen met,
and the German soldiers had a liking for that duty.
Neither side thought for a moment to shoot at the
other one. Everybody had just to be at his post.
In time, both sides had cast away suspicions. Every night,
(04:40):
the hereditary enemies shook hands with each other, and on
the following morning, the relieved sentries related to us with
pleasure how liberally the frenchmen had shared everything with them.
They always exchanged newspapers with them, and so it came
about that we got French papers every day, the contents
of which were translated to us by a sol who
(05:00):
spoke the French language. By day we were able to
leave the trench and we would be relieved across the
open field without running any danger. The French had no
ideas of shooting at us, neither did we think of
shooting at the French. When we were relieved, we saluted
our enemies by waving our helmets, and immediately the others
replied by waving their caps. When we wanted water, we
(05:23):
had to go to a farm situated between the lines.
The French, too, fetched their water from there. It would
have been easy for each side to prevent the other
from using that well, but we used to go up
to it quite unconcerned. Watched by the French. The latter
used to wait till we trotted off again with our
cooking pots filled, and then they would come up and
provide themselves with water. That night, it often happened that
(05:46):
we and the Frenchmen arrived at the well at the
same time. In such a case, one of the parties
would wait politely until the other had done. Thus it
happened that three of us were at the well without
any arms when a score of frenchmen arrived with cooking pots.
Though the Frenchmen were seven times as numerous as ourselves,
the thought never struck them that they might fall upon us.
(06:08):
The twenty men just waited quietly till we had done.
We then saluted them and went off. One night, a
French sergeant came to our trench. He spoke German very well,
said he was a deserter, and begged us to regard
him as our prisoner. But the infantrymen became angry and
told him to get back to the French as quickly
as possible. Meanwhile, a second Frenchman came up and asked
(06:30):
excitedly whether a man of theirs had not deserted to
us a short while ago. Then our section leader, a
young lieutenant arrived upon the scene, and the Frenchman who
had come last begged him to send the deserter back.
For so he remarked, if our officers get to know
that one of our men has voluntarily given himself up,
we shall have to say good bye to the good
(06:51):
time we are having, and the shooting will begin again.
We too, appreciated that the argument that such incidents would
only make our position work the lieutenant vanished. He did
not want to have a finger in that pie. Very
likely he also desired that things remain as they were.
We quickly surrendered the deserter. Each one of the two
(07:11):
frenchmen was presented with a cigarette, and then they scurried
away full steam ahead. We felt quite happy under those
circumstances and did not wish for anything better. On our
daily return journeys, we observed that an immense force of
artillery was being gathered and were placed in position further back.
New guns arrived every day, but were not fired. The
(07:34):
same lively activity could be observed in regard to the
transportation of ammunition and material. At that time, we did
not yet suspect that these were the first preparations for
a strong offensive. After staying in that part of the country.
Some four weeks we were again ordered to some other
part of the front. As usual, we had no idea
(07:54):
of our new destination. Various rumors were in circulation. Some
thought it would be Flanders, others thought it would be Russia,
but none guessed right. We marched off and reached Dunn
Sairmeuse in the afternoon. We had scarcely got to the
town when the German Crown Prince, accompanied by some officers
and a great number of hounds, rode past us. Good day, sappers.
(08:17):
He called to us, looking at us closely, He spoke
to our captain, and an officer of his staff took
us to an establishment of the Red Cross, where we
received good food and wine. The headquarters of the horn
zolension was here at Dune Sairmeuse. The ladies of the
Red Cross treated us very well. We asked them whether
(08:37):
all the troops passing through the place were cared for
as well as that. Oh, yes, a young lady replied,
Only few passed through here, but the Crown Prince has
a special liking for sappers. We lodged there for the night,
and the soldiers told us that Dune Sairmeuse was the
headquarters of the Fifth Army. That life was often very
jolly there, and every day there was an open air concert.
(09:00):
We heard that the officers often received ladies from Germany,
but of course the ladies only came to distribute gifts
among the soldiers. Richly provided with food, we continued our
march the next morning and kept along the side of
the Meuse. In the evening we were lodged at Stenney.
End of Chapter seventeen.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.