"To Bogheim"

 

 

from "The Long Ordeal"  by Roland Fischer - 275 Inf. German Div.  - Hürtgen Forest.

 

 

 

    The surviving soldiers of our Regiment 985, among them were men from the Communication Platoon and men from other scattered units, rallied one more time behind Kleinhau at the water-bunker. - It was a cold and foggy November-morning. The mood was bad; we were cold and didn't have anything to eat. - we received some food earlier in the pillbox, but that was not nearly enough for hungry soldiers.

 

    I lost my coat somewhere during the last American attack; - I put my hands in my pockets and walked a few steps around - I was trembling all over and I was coughing badly. -- The other guys weren't off any better. They probably didn't figure out yet in which direction we were supposed to march.

 

    We heard some rumors that our Regiment would be relieved. - But only few men were left in our Regiment. A soldier said; -"I heard that the American soldiers are relieved from the front after a few weeks and taken to the rear where they can rest". - "And they have enough food". "You can bet that they will leave us here at the front until we die miserably; - only very few of us will come out of here alive." "The Americans have enough men, - we don't"; said another one. "You are probably right about that; but in the rear they are trampling themselves to death, and up here at the front, one after the other will die a wretched death.

 

    Then the order to march came in. - Slowly we moved forward. - The gasmasks were rattling.

We were lucky; - the fog stayed. - We could hear the planes in the sky above. Left and right we could hear the explosions of the artillery that came in. We must have had a lot of luck that we were able to march through the forest in the direction of Bogheim quite undamaged.

 

    An unknown soldier was walking next to me; - he was a few years older than me. He was smoking, silently. Than he told me; - "I'm only a couple of days over here, with a weak Alarm Company. - The enemy planes got us in front of Kleinhau. - I was only slightly wounded". -- Around his left arm he was wearing a bandage. -- "And what about you"?

 

    "Also quite rough" I said, using my cane while I kept walking. "I've been in the Hürtgen Forest for several weeks now. - escaped death many times and was almost taken prisoner several times". We kept walking together for a while, silently. -- Than my companion said; - "Both you and me, we wake up in the morning with death. - The bad thing is that after a while you get used to all those dangers." "Yeah, but still full of fear", I answered. -- "I can't even imagine a normal life anymore".

 

    Then suddenly we heard the howling, followed by some heavy explosions not far from us. -- We had thrown ourselves into the mud and fearfully looked in the direction where the screaming and the smoke came from. One of us ran to the spot to see what happened; - after a short while the soldier came back, the horror still in his eyes. -- An assault-group that was meant to go forward was hit by this artillery barrage. -- Several men were hit. -- Every help is coming too late for them now. From the direction of the Ruhr, probably Obermaubach, a long, deep rumbling could be heard.

 

    No one spoke, and silently we kept marching. - The November-wind was hitting in our face. - The roads were muddy and slippery. Only one was singing an old hunters-song; - "Und sterbe ich noch heute, so bin ich morgen tot; dann begraben mich die Leute ums Morgenrot". -- ("And if I die today, I will be dead tomorrow, and the people will bury me when the sun comes up in the morning"). Sadly it sounded through the forest.

 

  

 

Editors note:

     Thinking that readers might want to know how this story ended, I asked translator Ron van Rijt if he could find out. From Ron: "He survived and was able to walk out alive." I guess that was as good as it gets at that location. And he's still going strong on October 13, 2003. Thanks Ron, we love a happy ending.