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Remembered Today:

Coucy Le Chateau May 1917


GROBBY

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Sorry it took so long! The writing on the second card is still giving me trouble but here's the first one.

 

An

Marichen Timmermann

Hamburg

Mundsburgerdamm 42

 

Schutzengraben 9.4.16

Meine liebe Marichen

Viele herzliche Grüsse von deinem

lieben Papa aus Frankreich.

Hier ist jetzt auch so schöns Wetter

. . . . das der böse Krieg bald

aufhören, das ich wieder zu Hause

kommen kann.

 

To: Marichen Timmermann, Hamburg, Mundsburgerdamm 42

 

Trench, 9.4.16

My dear little Mary

Many warm greetings from your dear father from France. Here the weather is also very nice. . . . .that the evil war will soon finish, so that I can come home again.

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@GROBBY I am going to have to admit defeat on the second card. The pencil is too blunt for me to guess more than a few letters, and my German is not good enough for me to guess the words from those few letters than I can make out. Sorry! :(But if you have anything else, I can give it a go.

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I was convinced that I had done the card! Did you send this by private message? I can't find any indication that I actually posted the transcription or sent it to you.

 

Edited to include corrections by GreyC from the post below.

 

Nie darf das Herz verzagen!

 

An. Fräulein Alma Kempe

b/ Frau Hulda Straube

in Reppnitz No. 14

b/ Meissen i./S.

 

Abs. Kan. Hugo Sch. . . . Feldart-Regt 32

6. Batt 40. 7.  . . .

 

Liebe Alma!

Mir erlaubt die Zeit dir wieder

einpaar Worte zu schreiben. Verzeihe

das du solange hast warten müssen.

Es ging mit besten willen nicht. Mir geht

es soweit noch gut was ich auch von dir

hoffe. Die herzlichsten Grüsse sendt

dir dein v. herzen. . . . Hugo

Auf Wiedersen

Grüss Hulda von mir

 

The poem on the front of the card says

The heart must never despair!

The days will return,

the sunny beautiful hours,

in which we found blessed happiness

in our love.

 

To: Miss Alma Kempe, c/o Mrs Hulda Straube, in Reppnitz #14 , near Meissen in Sachsen

From: Kanonier Hugo Sch. . . ., Feldart-Regt 32, 6. Batt. 40. 7. . . [The card is stamped: "Fieldpost address of the sender: Feldart. Regt. 32, 6. Battr., Feldpost 40 Inf. Div."]

 

Dear Alma!

Time allows me to send you a few words again. Forgive me that you had to wait so long. Despite my best intentions, it didn't work out [to write earlier]. I'm still doing well, and I hope that you are too. Your . . . . Hugo sends you warmest greetings. Goodbye. Say hello to Hulda from me.

 

 

The letter

 

Abs. Marie Beising, Mühlhausen b. Engen

 

An. Grenad. St. Beising

6. Ersatzkomp. 6. Korp[o]ralsch[aft] Kaiser Franz

Garde Grenadier Regt No. 2

in Berlin S.W. 61

 

In the section for Battalion, someone has written 6 in red.

 

Mühlhausen, 12. dez. 1915

Lieber Bruder!

Teile dir mit, dass wir deinen

Brief von 5. dies. M[onat] erhalten

haben auch Mutter hats recht

gefreut und spricht Ihren Dank

aus für deinen erhaltenen Brief.

Wie ist auch das Paket angekommen

mit der Likörflasche? Wenn du

Urlaub bekommst auf Weinachten

dann kommst nur es würde uns

alle recht freuen. Haben auch

dein Brief mit dem Schlüssel

erhalten.

Gruss von allen auch

Grosseltern

deine Schwester

Marie

 

From: Marie Beising, Mühlhausen near Engen

To: Grenad. St. Beising, 6. Ersatzkomp., 6th Section, Kaiser Franz Grenadiers Regt No. 2, in Berlin SW 61

 

Mühlhausen, 12 December 1915

Dear Brother!

Letting you know that we received your letter from the 5th of this month. Mother was very happy and thanks you for the letter that we received.

Has the package with the liqueur bottle arrived? If you get leave for Christmas then just come it would make us all so happy. We have also received your letter with the key.

Greetings from all of us, also the grandparents, from your sister Marie

 

Edited by knittinganddeath
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My apologys  ,you did translate the soldier and girlfriend but it was in PM and i missed it .Thank you for doing these ,im trying to find information on the people but not having much luck as german records are not easy to find but its fun anyway. Heres another 2 if you want to do them

393618167_img001(6).jpg.cd376c1ee16ed532589cf6da31094cd5.jpg

1674278305_img001(7).jpg.e16dc885f5b44e245a6e3448c6ee3181.jpg

img001.pdf

img002.pdf

 

 

 

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On 03/05/2021 at 23:54, knittinganddeath said:

An. Fräulein Alma Stumpe?

b/ Frau Hilda Straube

in Ruppnitz . . . .

b/ Meissen i./S.

 

Abs. K. . .n Hugo Sch. . . . Feldart-Regt 32

6. Batt 40. 7.  . .

 

Small corrections and additon to 1st card:

An Fräulein Alma Kempe

b[ei] Frau Hulda Straube

in Reppnitz  No 14

b[ei] Meissen i[n] Sa[chsen]

 

Abs. Kan[onier] Hugo Sch. . . . Feldart-Regt 32

6. Batt[erie] 40. I[nfanterie] D[ivison]  3. Armee [?]

 

So the card was written bei an artilleryman (Kanonier) in the midst of the battle of the Somme.

Hulda is an old Germanic name. And the place is called Reppnitz.

 

Small correction and additon to 2nd card:

The first name of the addressee is not "N" but "St".

"Corporalschaft" or "Korporalschaft" is a sub-section of a "Zug" (usually 4 Korporalschaften for each Zug) which is a sub-section of a Kompanie. It is usually 12-20 men strong (late 19th and early 20th century) and was (in the Prussian army) commanded by a Corporal, than the lowest Unteroffizier rank. Around 1850 the Corporal rank was changed to be called Unteroffizier. A Korporalschaft could also be commanded by a Sergeant or sometimes even by a Gefreiter. The Korporalschaft itself was subdived into two groups. Attached a photo of a Korporalschaft of the 3rd company 84th regiment with a Gefreiter as C/Korporalschaftsführer

GreyC

1203969760_x84_IRbunterRockHelmuberzugKorporalschaftStubendienstbiszumManoverATHPetersenvormHuselerSchleswigStadtweg34Kopie.jpg.dbc2fd8f12105756575dcaf0c3b79121.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the information its very usefull .The first card was sent on Tuesday the 8th August 1916  Temp 77 degrees Farenheit and was sent as far as I can find out from Northot Poziers Somme and the Division was badly hit by the british advance

30 minutes ago, GreyC said:

 

Small corrections and additon to 1st card:

An Fräulein Alma Kempe

b[ei] Frau Hulda Straube

in Reppnitz  No 14

b[ei] Meissen i[n] Sa[chsen]

 

Abs. Kan[onier] Hugo Sch. . . . Feldart-Regt 32

6. Batt[erie] 40. I[nfanterie] D[ivison]  3. Armee [?]

 

So the card was written bei an artilleryman (Kanonier) in the midst of the battle of the Somme.

Hulda is an old Germanic name. And the place is called Reppnitz.

 

Small correction and additon to 2nd card:

The first name of the addressee is not "N" but "St".

"Corporalschaft" or "Korporalschaft" is a sub-section of a "Zug" (usually 4 Korporalschaften for each Zug) which is a sub-section of a Kompanie. It is usually 12-20 men strong (late 19th and early 20th century) and was (in the Prussian army) commanded by a Corporal, than the lowest Unteroffizier rank. Around 1850 the Corporal rank was changed to be called Unteroffizier. A Korporalschaft could also be commanded by a Sergeant or sometimes even by a Gefreiter. The Korporalschaft itself was subdived into two groups. Attached a photo of a Korporalschaft of the 3rd company 84th regiment with a Gefreiter as C/Korporalschaftsführer

GreyC

1203969760_x84_IRbunterRockHelmuberzugKorporalschaftStubendienstbiszumManoverATHPetersenvormHuselerSchleswigStadtweg34Kopie.jpg.dbc2fd8f12105756575dcaf0c3b79121.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

taking heavy losses

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Thank you @GreyC! I was in time to be able to edit the post, so it all looks cleaner now :-) Alma Kempe's surname now makes a lot more sense. The name Stempe is found occasionally in Latvia and I thought that perhaps she could be a Baltic German but that seemed very unlikely.

 

St. Beising, the addressee of the letter, is probably Stefan. He wrote in the early autumn of 1914 to his brother Josef, who was with the army in Alsace I think, and said that he (Stefan) seemed likely to spend the war at home.

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The first letter from Maria Beising was on the 12th April 1915 to brother Joseph at the Wolfegg Castle Hospital  .He was a Musketier of Inf Regt 142

She was complaining he kept sending the shirt back

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2 hours ago, GROBBY said:

Can I do anything to help .Im not sure how to get anything clearer but if I can I will

If you can scan only the part with the name on the highest resolution possible, it might work.

 

I looked in the Verlustlisten searching for "Hugo" as a first name and "32" as his regiment. Then checked to see who had a surname beginning with Sch-, but there weren't any matches with anyone who was still alive at that point. On a closer viewing of the postcard, the letters -mp- are also part of his name --> Sch. . .mp. . .

 

 

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Die ruinen eines vollständig zerschossenen Dorfes in der Woevre-Ebene

 

Abs. . . . .

123 Inf. Rek.

Feld Art Reg.

II. Komp.

 

An.

Frl. Frieda Schwalbe?

Niederlungwitz

b/Glauchau i/ . . .

Forst str.

 

15.3.18

 

Liebe Friedel!

Dein lieber Brief habe ich heute

erhalten u[nd] sage mein besten Dank

Du schreibst mir? mit ob ich alles

erhalten habe, zwei Briefe sind nicht

an angekommen, jetzt käm? mir

keine Briefe schreiben gehe 10 Tage u[nd] dan[n]

kam sie auch nicht mal an aber ich

werde am Samstag ein schreiben und

wer[de]? den Brief zeichen, Brief I soweit

bin ich noch gesund was ich auch

von dir hoffe. Es grüsst dir dein . . .

Auf Wiedersehen

 

The ruins of a totally destroyed village on the Woevre plain

 

From: . . . . .(Sorry I can't read his name)

123 Inf. Rek.

Feld Art Reg.

II. Komp.

 

To

Miss Frieda Schwalbe?

Niederlungwitz

near Glauchau in

Forst street

 

Dear Friedel!

I received your dear letter today and thank you very much. You write to me [to ask] if I have received everything, 2 letters have not arrived, now. . . .no longer write letters. 10 days. . . and then they (it?) didn't even arrive but I will write one on Saturday and will? sign it 'Letter 1.' Thus far I am still healthy, and I hope that you are too. Greetings from your. . . . Goodbye.

 

The letter in general seems very disjointed and I have added punctuation in places where it seemed logical, but it still doesn't make much sense to me.

 

Rethel Trümmerfeld. Feldzug 1914/15 Frankreich

 

Abs. Kanonier M. Märtzschink

8. (F) Artillerie Munits. Kol.

12. Reser. . . . .

 

An

Herrn Max Lempe

Fleischbeschauer

Niedergorbitz b[ei] Dresden

 

Frankreich, den 20.6.15

Geehrter Herr Lempe!

Teile Ihnen hierdurch mit,

dass ich glücklich in Frank

reich gelandet bin. Habe

hier verschiedene Bekannte

getroffen, Racuhfuss

von Kompitz, den Barbier?

Mayer von Niederpesterw[itz]

der Dessauer Wirt? liegt

auch mit hier, ist aber bei

einer anderen Kollonne.

Mit Gruss auf Wiedersehen

M. Märtzschink

 

Field of debris at Rethel. 1914/15 campaign, France.

From: Kanonier M. Märtzschink

8. (F) Artillerie Munits. Kol.

12. Reser.    . . . .

 

To: Mr Max Lempe

Meat inspector

Niedergorbitz near Dresden

 

France, 20.6.15

Dear Mr Lempe! (1)

Letting you know that I have happily arrived in France. Have met different acquaintances here, Rauchfuss from Kompitz (2) the barber? Mayer from Niederpesterwitz, the landlord? from Dessau (3) is also here but with a different Kolonne. Greetings and goodbye, M. Märtzschink.

 

1) He uses the formal form of "Dear"

2) Kompitz could be a misspelling of Gompitz, which is close to Niederpesterwitz and Niedergorbitz -- K and G can sound similar if the person speaks with soft (non-plosive) consonants, but it seems strange that he would not know how to spell the name of a neighbouring village/town.

3) Dessau is 4 hours away by car from Niederpesterwitz and Niedergorbitz, so not sure if this is a misreading. Also not sure if I read the putative profession (Wirt/landlord) correctly.

 

 

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Thank you for these you have done extremely well with what you have to work with,The first one seemed disjointed but we cant tell what was happening when it was written and the state of the writer.Thank you for the extra information that you put in too it is all interesting. I shall post another 2 .Im trying not to put ones on that are illegible but there are a lot that are scrawled or the writers were not the best at writing  ( a lot like me ).

 

 

952386593_img001(5).jpg.202efc3a24856e4fae96320b2878e377.jpg

 

760162304_img001(4).jpg.55ab18d3cd866148acea0f0ce313614e.jpg

img001 (8).pdf

img002 (8).pdf

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19 hours ago, knittinganddeath said:

Abs. Kanonier M. Märtzschink

8. (F) Artillerie Munits. Kol.

12. Reser. . . . .

19 hours ago, knittinganddeath said:

Abs. . . . .

123 Inf. Rek.

Feld Art Reg.

II. Komp.

Its actually:

12. Reser. Armk = 12. Reserve-Armeekorps

and:

Abs. Robert List (?)

123. Inf. Div.

Feld-Rekruten Depot

2. Komp.

 

Some of it is really hard to read. Knittinganddeath does a great job!

GreyC

 

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Thank you GreyC for your input and as you say Knittinganddeath does a great job especialy with the handwriting sometimes ,Im trying to sort the best at the moment

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The first one is just "thank you for letters and parcel".

The 2nd reads:

Feldpost

Herrn Kaufmann

Martin Zacherias

Neuhausen i. Sa(chsen)

Bez(irk) Dresden

Abs.: Unteroffizier Bruno Reichelt, KSMW 404 (Königlich Sächsische Minenwerfer Kompanie 404= Royal Saxon Minethrower Company 404)

Im Felde, den 24.8.17

Mein lieber Freund Martin!

Die herzlichsten Grüße

aus dem Schrecken sendet

Dir wieder Dein tr(euer)

Freund Bruno

Nun wie geht es Dir und

Deiner lieben Mutter,

hoffentlich noch gut. Wir

möchten (?) doch so zufrieden

sein. Schreibe bitte recht

bald mal wieder.

My dear friend Martin!

I send you the most heartfelt greetings from amidst the horror again.

Yours faithfully friend Bruno

Now, how are you and your lovely mother?

I hope well. We do want to be content/happy

Please write soon again

Edited by GreyC
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Thank you for doing that .Was there more on the first one or was that it ? .Also on the first one im probably wrong but the 2 people on it look like a Fench soldier and a British soldier,Do you think this might be a captured card ?. Is anything important writen on the face of card 2 ? because Vaudoncourt is crossed out

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25 minutes ago, GROBBY said:

Is anything important writen on the face of card 2 ? because Vaudoncourt is crossed out

On the front it says "Many greetings to all acquaintances" (Viele Grüsse an alle bekannten)

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3 hours ago, GreyC said:

 

Some of it is really hard to read. Knittinganddeath does a great job!

Thank you so much for these kind words, GreyC. You gave me a big confidence boost there! :)

 

An interesting consequence of transcribing these messages is that I've gotten a lot better at deciphering bad handwriting in general. My MIL is notorious in the extended family for her unreadable script, but I don't have any problems with it now.

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It´s half-heartedly crossed out to fullfill censorship requirements, which are all in vain in this case because there is a sign on the photo with the village name on it.

GreyC

Edited by GreyC
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The letter from Stefan Beising to Josef Beising is already translated, midway through page 3 of the thread ;-)

 

The postcard

 

Abs.

Landsturm[m]ann

Mindermann

Landst. Inf. Ers. Battl. 24

A. Komp.

Flensburg

 

An Herrn

Albert Mindermann

in Etelsen

Kr[eis] Achim

Bez[irk] Bremen

 

Flensburg 16.9.15

Meine Lieben

Bin hier bis jetzt noch in Flensburg

wie lange ich hier bleibe weiss ich

nicht. Bin sehr gut aufgehoben hier

Viel[l]eicht kann ich morgen schon mehr

schreiben.

Seid alle herzlich gegrüsst

Dieter?

 

From: Landsturmmann Mindermann, Landst. Infa. Erst. Battl. 24, A Company, Flensburg

 

To: Albert Mindermann in Etelsen, Achim district, Bremen county

 

Flensburg 16.9.15

My dear ones

I'm still in Flensburg as of right now, I don't know how long I will stay here. I am in good hands here. Perhaps I can write more tomorrow. Warm greetings to you all, Dieter?

 

There is a Dietrich Mindermann from Achim in the Verlustlisten, not sure if Dieter could be a nickname?

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Thank you I missed that somehow  ,The Beising family had some worrys with sons going missing and hospitalized as I suppose familys on both sides did .I would think Dieter would be a shortened version of his name as you say.Another Beising for you and if its allowed a prewar one that got mixed in

213766151_img002(3).jpg.d8137e7b43e299511f685a28b1875605.jpg

710497927_img001(4).jpg.a9c6b425176898faa512cc276d8d796d.jpg

img002.pdf

img001.pdf

img002 (3).jpg

img001 (4).jpg

 

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