Diary of Annie's War

by Annie Droege

  I heard from Arthur and cannot send him anymore tobacco or cigars.

  Wednesday 28th April.

  The Germans are making a great way in Flanders but it is not announced that Ypres is in their hands.

  I had a visit from Miss Marhgraf today and she had an American friend with her, a Californian, and she has had a bad time here.

  Today we had two flying machines over the town. This was great excitement for one was supposed to be an enemy ship. The Germans all have the iron cross painted on them but this one was plain and did not drop the usual flag over the town. These things are common here and we often see a Zeppelin labelled ‘For London‘. It is very weird to hear them fly over a town at night. You are in your bed and you hear the great motors whizzing and wonder if it is an enemy and if a bomb can fall. It is not pleasant. At night they fly so low and you can hear them plainly. Then another night many autos will race through the town at great speed and you wonder if Paris has fallen or what on earth is the matter. It is a time of great excitement and I shall be thankful when it is all over. The wonder is that so many people can live through it for so many are ill.

  Thursday 29th April.

  Still great progress is reported by Ypres and it makes one hope that the end is not far off.

  I saw a lot of soldiers selling their bicycles today. I suppose it’s their last week here. There were so many and they were standing outside the shop - each with his bike.

  Hermenia tells me that all the potatoes are gone from Woltershausen and at a good price. Fancy - pigs are fifty-eight shillings a cut alive. That is a price.

  Saturday 1st May 1915.

  The people are very angry with America deciding to supply England with ammunition and say that she does not think of lives – just dollars.

  Flying machines go over here every day and are almost as common as the birds in the air.

  I went today to see a man just out of Ruhleben. He has got leave for two months because he is ill and he gave me a lot of interesting news. He says it will be all right in summer but in the winter it was so cold. Arthur eats in the canteen and can draw the amount of ten shillings a week from his money. It’s not so bad if you have cash to buy what you fancy though there is not too great a choice. It’s awful if you have no money at all. He had a model of the place and had written some poetry on it. He has also made some funny sketches and we did laugh over them. He thinks the war will not last two months longer as it is being felt in all places of business and is easily seen.

  Steinoff and Stoffregan came to see me and I do not know what to do about the garden for no labour can be got.

  Sunday 2nd May.

  No further news of the big battle in Flanders but we hear of the terrible Canadian losses. Even here they speak of their bravery. And that is something.

  I asked today how it was that the soldiers did not sing any more. I was told that many people who had lost relatives in the war had asked the military not to allow it in the streets. They could not bear to hear it after their losses of sons and husbands.

  Monday 3rd May.

  There is great rejoicing today. The Russians have been driven out of the Carpathians and the Germans and Austrians claim a great victory. Over a hundred thousand guns, sixty eight thousand men and four hundred officers, prisoners and the war material would fill a newspaper column with all kinds of food and goods and ammunition. The flags are flying and for the first time the Turkish and German and Austrian are flying together so I suppose that the Turks have helped a great deal.

  No news of the Dardanelles but a very strange article about the Kaiser’s brother, Prince Henri of Prussia, is in the papers. They say he is Admiral of the Fleet but he refuses to have anything to do with this war and people are asking questions.

  I wrote a long letter to Arthur today and had coffee with Herr Mummers and his cousin on the Steinberg. It was a perfect day and the view was lovely. It was the last walk Arthur, Belle and I took the evening before he went away.

  On our return we read extra telegrams saying a further increase of prisoners and another victory in Russia and it gives thirty thousand prisoners and a lot more ammunition and guns etc.

  Herr Mummer’s cousin told me that everything in the food lines was just double the price with the exception of coffee and sugar. Coffee is a little dearer but sugar is at the old price yet. Green vegetables are an awful price and a cabbage costs eighty-two pfennigs or ten pence halfpenny.

  Wednesday 5th May.

  Today we read that the victory report last night was false. Someone has forged the name of ‘WOLF’. This is the only telegram we can rely on (it is supposed to be better than Reuters) and it said that the flags must all be put away.

  A great many soldiers go away today. Half go to Russia and half go to France. Now there is a great deal of difference between the men and those before Christmas. These men are so sad. I heard one man remark: ‘This war is lasting too long’.

  It is telling on the businesses and you scarcely see anyone in the banks.

  Thursday 6th May.

  Had a postcard from Arthur today and he says he is trying to get an allowance to visit for two weeks. I hope that he gets it if only to put things in order here.

  For a few weeks now we have had soldiers guarding the flour mill here. We have a very large flour mill called ‘The Bishop’s Mill’ as it formerly belonged to the Prince Bishop of Hildesheim. Now it belongs to the town though still bearing the name of the Bishop. All during the war it has been as usual but since April it has been guarded by soldiers doing sentry duty.

  There is great uneasiness over Italy. Of course, England is at the bottom of it.

  We had great trouble yesterday. A cousin of Arthur and Belle was buried. He was only fifteen-years-old and we are afraid he has committed suicide. He was such a bright noble looking boy and so tall. We met him last Thursday by the river and this Thursday he is buried. We can get to know nothing of his death and suicides are not put in the paper here. We shall hear in time from the family.

  The schools have a holiday to celebrate the Russians being sent out of the Carpathians.

  Friday 7th May.

  There is an announcement of many English prisoners being taken in Flanders and great unrest over Italy. There is also an announcement that all Germans must clear out of Italy and that all Italians are being called up. They will not find Germany unprepared as they have expected Italy to be deceitful.

  Saturday 8th May.

  We hear today with great grief of the sinking of the Lusitania. It is a terrible thing. Here, of course, it is looked on as a great and skilful piece of work and never a pitiful word for the lives lost. The Germans say that the boat was armed and that they are quite within their rights. They talk of it as a great deed done.

  Sunday 9th May.

  There are special telegrams issued today about the way the news was received in America and of the disturbance there. It appears that the German Ambassador was very badly handled. Well, so were people here in the excitement of the war but no one remembers that now.

  They say that King George has sent a telegram of congratulations to the Dardanelles and they say that the English are easily pleased with a victory. It has only been the gaining of about two miles of land.

  George von Brounswigh, the young cousin who died, had suddenly gone out of his mind with a rush of blood to the head. He travelled from here to Magdeburg and bought a wreath. He put it on his father’s grave and then shot himself. He was alive and losing blood when found and he came to his senses. They sent for his mother but he was dead when she got there. I have such sorrow for her for he was a fine boy and only fifteen-years-old. He inherited a large estate two years ago from an uncle and now there is no one to take it of that name. It is a great pity.

  I have sent for Father Gatsemire to call on me to get some Masses said for mother and grandmother and I hope that he comes today. It was mother’s anniversary last week.

  I saw crowds of children on Saturday outside the soldier�
�s barracks trying to buy bread from them. The soldiers get so much per week and it is very good bread. With these bread tickets people with a family do not get enough. Children eat more than six ounces per day so they try to buy from the soldiers. It was so funny to see the soldiers plaguing them.

  Monday 10th May.

  There is a lot in the paper about the sinking of the Lusitania. Germany has warned America that if they let any more ships go to England after their refusal to stop supplying ammunition that they, the Germans, should sink all ships. America and England only laughed so now they see that the Germans are as good as their word. They maintain here that the Lusitania was fitted up as a battleship and had five big guns and a quantity of ammunition. They say that they were within their rights to sink her and seem surprised that there should be any fuss over it. Some of the more feeling people express sorrow that it has been done. Still it is owing to England that it has been done at all.

  It is a blessing that Italy at present is receiving a little hatred and England is a little forgotten. It’s dreadful to hear the sermons about the falseness of Italy and what should be done to the Italians here. I should hate any Englishman who so far forgot himself as to express the hatred you hear of here in Germany.

  All the papers ridicule the fact that anyone makes any progress only the Germans. Yet if the others are losing at all places why are they, the Italians, going to join the losing side?

  Of course there is no freedom of the press here. Everything seems to be controlled. Just fancy this – a youth here, seventeen-years-old and an only son of a lawyer wanted to go free willing into the army. His father told him that after he had done his examinations and finished his studies he could go, very likely this autumn, and then he would have lost no time with his studies. The authorities got to know about this at the school and one day last week the father received a letter. It told him that if he did not let his son go at once then he would not be allowed to sit the exam in the autumn.

  People tell of one another here. If you do or say anything that shows that anything else comes before the Fatherland then the police always get to know. I often wondered why people whispered when they mentioned some things. To an English person this is dreadful.

  Gosbert von Ludwich, seventeen-years-old and a very delicate looking boy, had offered himself, free willing, just before Easter. He went to the officers’ school at once because he intends to make the army his profession and after a few weeks training he goes this week to Warsaw as an officer. His training has been severe and I cannot think that he is quite ready yet. His mother did not expect it so soon and she is upset.

  Tuesday 11th May.

  There is great excitement over Italy. They think she will go into war. The Kaiser has written himself and there is yet a faint hope of peace.

  Belle tells me that she reads from a neutral report that England has landed troops at the Dardanelles and already has shooting graves dug. This has never been in our papers and I wonder if they will get the Dardanelles. It also states that America has sent a demand to know what of this disaster with the Lusitania. She refuses to hear anything only the words of the commander of the torpedo boat who sank her. They will have no one else report.

  There is an account of the estate of Baron Reuter being confiscated. This is the Reuter who sends the telegrams for England from all over the world. He is a German but has become naturalised.

  They told me at the bank one day that if a German died and left anyone in enemy land money or goods that these would be confiscated. As an Englander I should get nothing if Arthur died and it would all go to the crown. Arthur had better keep well.

  Wednesday 12th May.

  No war news of any note only great unrest over Italy and a certain insult if we go into a shop to buy anything Italian. The people’s nerves are all on edge. They are certain of winning if they can keep Italy out. Even then they will win but the war will last longer.

  Thursday 13th May.

  It is Ascension Thursday so a general Sunday and all people are fine. The shops are open for one hour only. It is lovely weather and every promise of a good year.

  It is the usual war news. The English sent back from the Dardanelles and the Germans making headway in France.

  Friday 14th May.

  News of a warship being sunk by the Turks and Germans at the Dardanelles, the Goliath, and they report five hundred men drowned.

  Great excitement is reported in England about a visit of a Zeppelin over Southend. They say that the English attacked the Germans and that the police want all the naturalised Germans to be put in prison (like Arthur) for their own good. The temper of the people is so very bitter. I hope the Englishman will have more sense than to get the name for himself that the German has. I hope that he will leave hatred to this country alone. For it is beneath an Englishman’s character.

  Our coachman (from the hotel) went to the military today, poor fellow. He is not at all strong and suffers from consumption but he had to go. He coughs dreadfully and spits up blood also. I suppose that is why he has been left to the last. There are not many left from twenty to forty-five-years-old.

  Saturday 15th May.

  Went to the bank today and told the banker that I thought of going to the Harz Mountains. He told me to stay where I was for the people in Germany were very angry at the way the Germans were being treated in England. He remarked that the accounts in the papers were dreadful. He said if I was in a place that I was not known that it might go very bad with me.

  I shall decide to stay here as this is much safer.

  Food is very dear, butter is one shilling and ten pence a pound and lard is one shilling and eight pence (they use it here on bread a great deal) and the cheapest meat is one shilling and six pence a pound. Green vegetables are at a discount. Old potatoes are at one and a half pence a pound and you can only have so many. Oil and benzene are a dreadful price and you are limited to a pint a week.

  There are long notices out warning the people to be careful, and especially in the kitchen. The winter is to be dreaded if the war continues. Dried foods like beans (haricot) and peas are an awful price. They are six pence and eight pence a pound. Rice is not to be got, and also sago. Cocoa and chocolate are very scarce and English people are not allowed to buy them. It is the same with tobacco and cigars.

  Sunday 16th May.

  They report a sharp note from America, but do not give us the contents.

  I saw Frau Ernst today, the sister-in-law of Steffen, and she tells me that they have not heard from her brother for four weeks and are uneasy. He was in Flanders and he had a sudden order for Russia but did not know what part. He then wrote them he was in Russia, but again he did not know what part. The soldiers were three-and-a- half days in the train and then had an eighty kilometre march over dreadful land. They were now at the front, but still knowing not where. Frau Ernst feels very uneasy for he used to write regularly.

  Monday 17th May.

  Serious news today for it seems likely that Italy will go to war and everyone is in mourning. You have to turn around to see anyone in colour.

  Sunday 23rd May.

  I feel a little better, not much, and am still on a diet of one quart of buttermilk per day with nothing else to eat. I have only lost four pounds in a week. It’s rotten to feel ill in a hotel.

  Today the place is full of soldiers and their friends as they have two days holiday. Here Sunday and Monday are the same two Sundays together and everyone goes to Mass and keep Monday as little Sunday. It’s sad to see the soldiers with their relatives. One young soldier has passed here with his mother on his arm and she is such a feeble old lady. There are crowds of soldiers with their wives and children. The father is ready for the field in his grey uniform (they only stay here a few days after they get their grey clothes) and often he is carrying one little thing and the mother another with one or two more holding on to their clothes. The parents are looking anything but bright. It is a sight on a Sunday night to go to the station and see the pe
ople leaving their soldier sons and husbands here. It is too sad for words.

  They are down in the mouth over Italy and say that they will soon make that dirty place clean and will never forgive her for her falseness.

  No war news of any importance and the papers are full of Italy and a few untruths. One of the untruths is that the English people have offered the Pope ten thousand pounds a year to go and live in England. That did make me laugh. We do not know what this is about. Perhaps the English Cabinet, in time, will let us know.

  Monday 24th May.

  Nothing to report except Italy. Already we read how her papers lie and no one gets the truth - only we in Germany. There is one report of the whole regiment (Italian) being against this war and have all run away to Switzerland. I said that I admired them and that I also would run away before I would be made to fight in a cause I thought wrong. I also said that every man in the field ought to be free willing.

  Tuesday 25th May.

  Been to Woltershausen today and things seem bad in the food line. Steinoff gave me a list of the increase in prices he is paying – it’s really dreadful.

  Maize for hens is now twenty-seven shillings per hundredweight - before it was seven shillings. Beans for cows & pigs are now thirty-six shillings per hundredweight - before they were eleven shillings per hundredweight. Rice for chickens is now seven pence per pound - before it was two pence per pound. And so on.