SteveMarsdin Posted 28 November , 2009 Posted 28 November , 2009 I have a postcard sent from Jamoigne (Belgium) by (I presume) a German soldier in WW1. The writing is diificult to interpret and I wondered if anyone could translate for me. I have had the postcard for sometime and have been curious to find out what was written ? Can anyone help me ?
Peridot Posted 29 November , 2009 Posted 29 November , 2009 I have a postcard sent from Jamoigne (Belgium) by (I presume) a German soldier in WW1. The writing is diificult to interpret and I wondered if anyone could translate for me. I have had the postcard for sometime and have been curious to find out what was written ? Can anyone help me ? Not sure if the writing may be easier to decipher on the original Steve but will have a go if it could be transcribed. It does not look like Gothic script which is the old version of writing German. Peridot
SteveMarsdin Posted 29 November , 2009 Author Posted 29 November , 2009 Thanks Peridot, Actually the writing's harder to decipher on the original ! Not being a German speaker it's difficult for me to formulate words from a few identifiable letters with no idea of context.
jackybower Posted 29 November , 2009 Posted 29 November , 2009 Hi I've sent a copy of the postcard to my brother in Germany. He's married to a German woman. He said: "Just looks like scrawl. Wouldn't even have known it was german !! Why couldn't these people write properly ??!!" Then he sent another reply which said: "Silke says it's written in a special type of script http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCtterlinschrift . It starts off lieber otto and she picked out a couple of other words. It's addressed to Otto Mayer. The writing isn't dark enough" So my German sister-in-law wasn't able to read it. it might be more difficult than you first thought to get a translation I'm afraid. Jacky
SteveMarsdin Posted 29 November , 2009 Author Posted 29 November , 2009 Good evening Jacky, Thanks for going to all that trouble ! I'll keep trying. I have several Feldpost postcards/copy postcards sent from Jamoigne (my wife's home village) and I'm just trying to find out a bit more about the individual Germans who sent them.
ph0ebus Posted 29 November , 2009 Posted 29 November , 2009 Good evening Jacky, Thanks for going to all that trouble ! I'll keep trying. I have several Feldpost postcards/copy postcards sent from Jamoigne (my wife's home village) and I'm just trying to find out a bit more about the individual Germans who sent them. Have faith, Steve...there are a few Pals who read the old script, and hopefully one or two of them will come along and give it a go. They were immensely helpful with my own old cards and perhaps they can hep you too. I am having trouble making out the details on the Briefstempel stamp... I see "...Dep. 243 (W..." and "2 Kompanie" at the bottom. Can you make out the rest? It may be very important. I also see he made a note in the Absender Block on the top right with "243 LD". Perhaps a Landstrum or Landwehr Division? There are others who would know better than I. -Daniel
SiegeGunner Posted 29 November , 2009 Posted 29 November , 2009 Abs. Füs. H. Mayer, 6. Komp. Feldrekr. Depot 243. L.D. Herrn Otto Mayer Oberndorf a. N. Tal-Strasse 6 III
Jack Sheldon Posted 30 November , 2009 Posted 30 November , 2009 I rather doubt that this postcard was despatched from Belgium. The 243rd Division whose full title, as it came down to us, was actually 243rd Infantry Division (8th Wuerttemberg Ersatz Division) - which explains the smudgy word on the post mark - could well have been referred to at the time as a Landwehr Division - hence the 'L' identified by Mick - because two of its regiments, IRs 478 and 479, were effectively Landwehr formed in 1914 as Brigade Ersatz Battalions. Having changed its name in spring 1917, it was mainly deployed down around Verdun and Reims until it began preparations for the 1918 Spring Offensive at the end of Jan 1918. I have copies of two of the histories of this division: IR 478 and IR 479, so can be pretty sure of the facts for once. At the time the card was sent, the division was in the final stages of preparation for the offensive and was concentrated around Stenay. I have not seen a reference to the location of the Field Recruit Coy but I cannot imagine that it was far away from Stenay and it is entirely possible that the recruits undergoing advanced training were incorporated into the final divisional exercises. On the basis of the above, it might well be interesting trying to read the card because it might throw some light on what Hans was up to during the lead up to the move north to Le Cateau then the Somme. If possible we could do with seeing the written section in higher resolution, even if it means splitting the text and sending it as two halves. Jack This was the divisional ORBAT complete. Jack
SteveMarsdin Posted 30 November , 2009 Author Posted 30 November , 2009 Thanks Daniel, Mick and Jack, I'll try and inprove the copy/split the copy when I'm back home this evening. Jack, Jamoigne is under 30 minutes from Stenay (in today's terms) and the area around the Semois valley was sometimes used as a "rest" area for troops involved in the Verdun battles (and for other logistical purposes) so it might still tie-in with the Verdun/Stenay regimental location, rather than the regimental move northwards. I'm more intrigued now !?!
Jack Sheldon Posted 30 November , 2009 Posted 30 November , 2009 Steve I would not die in the ditch over this, because I am not sure, but it must be nearly 60km from one to the other, which still seems a bit of a wide separation - especially in view of what was happening at the time. Jack
SteveMarsdin Posted 30 November , 2009 Author Posted 30 November , 2009 Good afternoon Jack, Hopefully a better scan will throw more light on things ! I concede it's easier to imagine places being closer "in time" given today's transport links, than they actually would have been in the war. Having said that, one of my wife's relatives had a "sweetheart" stationed at Stenay between the wars, who used to cycle to Jamoigne to see her !!!
SiegeGunner Posted 30 November , 2009 Posted 30 November , 2009 Hopefully a better scan will throw more light on things ! There's no need for another scan, Steve. A bit of tweaking in Photoshop brings out the writing okay - the main problem is that big postmark obscuring the location, part of the date and the ends of the first couple of lines. I'm afraid I don't have time to look at it today.
SteveMarsdin Posted 30 November , 2009 Author Posted 30 November , 2009 Thanks Mick, for all your efforts. It would be great if you had time to look at it further, another day.
SteveMarsdin Posted 1 December , 2009 Author Posted 1 December , 2009 Good evening Jack, Sorry for the delay in coming back with a better scan; unfortunately I have been unsuccessful, I can't improve on the original. I can only hope that Mick can see something if he gets chance to look again. May I take this opportunity to thank again all those who have kindly tried to assist me.
melwar Posted 1 December , 2009 Posted 1 December , 2009 I think it's just scrawl, even with Photoshop!
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