First Person History

This is a post script to our WWI series Mud and Shells. Copse 125 was written by Ernst Junger in 1930, 12 years after the war. In this piece he revisits a two month period living and fighting in a shell blasted patch of forest known only on English maps as the Rossignol Wood. This piece goes beyond Junger’s earlier writing in Storm of Steel to address the higher ideals of life on the front from courage to nationalism to the total rewriting of military tactics that happened in the smoky shell blasted plains of western Europe from 1914 through 1918.

Also available on Itunes @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/first-person-history/id1390671654?mt=2

In this episode, Junger conducts a series of brutal trench raids against determined British opposition. Junger will, in the course of three months of trench raiding take hundreds of prisoners and be wounded three times. Louis Barthas will face the fallout of his units revolt, and bitter cold in the snowy trenches of the Argonne forest. Though the war is winding down, the combat is not.

Sources:

Poilu by Louis Barthas

Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger

Close range combat with British Indian troops, an offensive and a fighting retreat in Flanders and French units revolting, April through August of 1917 are a crazy time on the front for Ernst Junger and Louis Barthas. Rejoin us in this episode for the most intense combat Junger has faced yet in the muck of Flanders. Barthas, the socialist writes a manifesto for his regiment’s revolt and survives hard bombardments on the slopes of Mont Cornillet. This is Mud and Shells, 1917, part two.

Also available on Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/first-person-history/id1390671654?mt=2

Sources:

Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger

Poilu, Louis Barthas

In 1917 Part 1, rejoin Barthas and Junger on the western front. Half way through their 4 years on the front, both men are evolving into highly effective soldiers each in their own way. Junger, now a company commander is about to pioneer storm troop tactics as the Germans seek to break the stale mate and overcome the Allies massive resource advantages. Barthas on the other hand, ever the pacifist and humanist will lead his gun crew back to Champagne and still, never fire a shot. Welcome back to First Person History, Mud and Shells, 1917 part 1.

On Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/first-person-history/id1390671654?mt=2

Sources:

Ernst Junger, Storm of Steel

Louis Barthas, Poilu

Rejoin Ernst Junger and Louis Barthas for Mud and Shells, 1916 part 2 to see what the latter half of the year holds in store. Junger will survive a desperate last stand at a village under assault at the Somme. He’ll go on to scout enemy forests, and man an observation post with a commanding view of the battlefield. Louis Barthas is to be sorely tested in his pacifism and decency on the slopes of the shell blasted Cote 304 and in the muddy moonscapes of the Somme. Lest the first world war fade into memory and its veterans be forgotten, join us in reliving the first hand experiences of those who survived.

Sources:

Ernst Junger, Storm of Steel

Louis Barthas, Poilu

After a year of hard fighting, the war is just getting started for Ernst Junger and Louis Barthas. Follow these brave soldiers into 1916 as Junger fights in the trenches of Monchy and Barthas survives the hell of Cote 304 in Verdun. 

Source Material:

Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger

Poilu by Louis Barthas