Ernst Jünger - A short letter to his brother, Friedrich "Fritz" Georg,
In the field, 18th of June 1917
So you'll be back in the field soon. Hopefully, you now have an clear
grasp of [military] service.
We don't have a fixed trench system here, but widely scattered outposts
concealed in ravines, behind bluffs and in wooded groves. These
positions are a thorn in the English’s side, and rarely a day has passed
in recent times when he has not tried to infiltrate. On one such
occasion I had a long night fight with twenty-four men against two
detachments of Indians led by English officers and against an English
reserve platoon. At the critical moment their leader, an English
lieutenant, armed with club and revolver, approached to within a few
paces. A shot through the eye just in time and sleep sent him to the
eternal hunting grounds. As prisoners we brought three wounded Indians
into our trench.
The English lieutenant we found only the next evening in the high grass.
Only two live cartridges were still in his cold [this is mispelled in
the original, he sure means “colt” - i.e. revolver], along with four
empty shells. I took his steel helmet, a bullet had torn the a shred
from the edge. We also found a flat metal flask filled with Scotch
whisky. Standing next to him in the dark, we poured out a libation for
the dead man - who had filled it for us.
At the end of the day I will have my new trophies shipped home. I now
possess: a splendid English carbine, suitable for future hunting
purposes, plus a cartridge box, the shot-through steel helmet of the
English lieutenant, his blood-spattered club and his cigarette case,
which Kius gave me.
Here the overgrown fields are now magnificently colorful.
Your Ernst
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