Martin Feledziak Posted 19 November , 2014 Share Posted 19 November , 2014 I remember you telling us that there was an old trench / tunnel in their defensive trench. Fritz was always worried that it could be used and when he feared an attack always fired a shot into it.. I wonder if it is the dotted red line that leads westwards from the E he was on about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 19 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 19 November , 2014 You sure got a good memory ! Almost forgotten about that disused trench. Yes, he did mention a disused trench, that was formerly British apparently, and when on watch duty he'd position his rifle so that it would align perfectly with that disused trench, and then fire a shot down it every few minutes or so. Whether or not that gells with "there is a marsh in front of us" : I don't know yet. Have to see the lay of the land in person I think, but sure looks like a good contender (or if not it's the one just south of it, still within the stretch of front-line assigned to his Prellbock company) And "prellbock" actually means : "trainbuffer" He writes home about the Prellbock Stellung being named after the trainbuffer that was incorporated into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 19 November , 2014 Share Posted 19 November , 2014 Jan, That all fits correctly, The train track ends at the "E" exactly where you would expect to find Buffers and runs alongside the Dock and joins the canal. That area is going to be low on the water table and I would expect marshland all around. ( or at least it would have been 100 years ago ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 bonjour je suis francais et j habite douvrin je conjointe photo de juin de la tombe de fritz je suis a la recherche de photos de De sur le village de douvrin pendentif cette periode 1914/1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Une vue de la tombe de fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 La Tombe de Eduard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Bonsoir Hainaut. Merci pour les photos et maintenant nous avons une puzzle Martin. I hope you are watching Jan, This cross has the 24.09.1915 and it is Douvrin. So now where is Fritz? I am guessing Hainaut has done a Google and landed on this thread. I am also guessing that they did move Fritz but he is also remembered here where he was first buried along with Wilhelm Altenbach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 So here is another guy from the 16ers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Josef Wojtezak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Otto Bitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 le cimetière allemand is sur le territoir de la ville de LENS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Wilhelm is with fritz sur la meme croix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 23 November , 2014 Share Posted 23 November , 2014 OK - I understand these are the pictures of the graves at Lens-Sallaumines Merci — Thanks very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 23 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Bonjour Hainaut! Ça c’est magnifique! Merci mille-fois ! Je parle (et ecrit malheureusement…) Français comme une vache Espagnol, je m’excuse, mai j’essai: Merci mille-fois pur cette photo de la tombe de Fritz ! C’est une surprise totalement inattendu, c’est comme le Noël et mon anniversaire arrive ensemble!. Une visite à Lens-Sallaumines, Don, Douvrin, et Auchy-les-Mines est prévue pour le printemps. Dans Douvrin le Fritz a ete cantonnée dans, il pense, une `Usine de sucre` , au milieu de village. Aujourd´hui je pense c’est un parq ? Et j’espere que le cemetìere de 1914-18 est au même endroit aujourd’hui? De nouveau: merci mille-fois! JW = Jan Willem = Jean Guillaume Martin: And indeed the cross (at Lens-Sallaumines) also states 24 sept 1915, whereas we now know it should be 25 sept 1915. But then once 24 sept 1915 was written on a piece of paper more than 100 years ago , and entered the bureaucracy , it was taken as gospel. It takes one véry determined person, and a life-time, and one’s sanity I suppose (ever read Asterix & Obelix and the Romans? ) to have that changed (That is íf you ever succeed in having it changed!) JW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 23 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Map of Douvrin from 1917, and picture of the church Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Soldats et officier au chateau de la sucrerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Soldats Dans le jardin du chateau le chateau de la sucrerie La Sucrerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 douvrin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Douvrin en 1918 La Sucrerie 1915 La Sucrerie 1915 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hainaut Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 http://lelensoisnormandtome3.unblog.fr/ cimetiere allemand a lens en 1915/18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 24 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Hainaut, merci pour les photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 24 November , 2014 Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Got some good stuff, Many "Higher Animals" ready for Dinner at the Chateaux - poor Douvrin it just gets flattened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 24 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Douvrin was flattened early in the war. Fritz writes on 3rd April 1915 about Douvrin : "The village is completely destroyed. All that remains are perhaps the lower parts of the walls. There are still a few people living here, and we share our quarters with a white cat whom we feed the remains of our dinner" And the picture in post nr 170 : soldiers in the garden of the chateau Lots of Iron Cross 2nd class wearers it seems (of which Fritz writes: "The Iron Cross 2nd class is really nothing special. If you see who gets awarded an EK2...... And a possible indentification of one of the guys, Gefreiter Posthum. It sure looks like him, the only one with a full beard, which would place the picture in early 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpf1958 Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the most fascinating story with wonderful photographs. Wilhelm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 27 November , 2014 Share Posted 27 November , 2014 Jan - That is an inspired Guess for the guy with the beard. Well Spotted. It very well could be him. Who knows Fritz could be behind the camera as he got himself the reputation of Compagnie photographer. I could not work out how the names on the chalk board " Komando Photo" related to the positions on the photo as we know where Fritz was and the names were not a clear match of the positions they were standing in. I am currently reading about the exploits of IR 169 in late 1914 early 1915, they were in the very section of trenches that IR16 took up in March 1915. Quite bizarre how many people were killed fighting over the same bits of land.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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