Our uniforms were entirely yellow from the "Eskrasit" smoke. The sandbags had been atomized, the tone rubble had been crunched to gravel, and the heavy thick, steel plates together with the corrugated steel arches, which we had carried up with great pains and panting lungs during the night, lay all around us shredded into little pieces as if an angry child had torn up a piece of silk paper. While I still stared about entirely silly and not really knowing what my conscious had to be given to understand, I heard shouted from below "AVANIT!" It went through me like a shock. I peered down below and saw them creeping forward, as quick as lightning, in large numbers from their trenches. I had earlier been near to insanity, but the moment that I saw and heard that the authors of everything which had brought me this far were in my vicinity, my hate and anger broke loose with such animal ferocity that I was with one stroke so cold and calculated and thus so prudent, that I am astonished by it yet to this day. I realized here for the first time the power of anger. All senses become quiet when its voice roars, and even the hottest instinct for life is hardly an audible whisper next to it. I jerked up and shouted: "Shoot--tangent sight 300--the storming enemy before us!"

This regular command tore everyone out of their absentmindedness. Good Heavens, we are once more indeed soldiers! And 9^th Jäger at that! Our shots "pietsched" out towards the Welschen

-- "Take deeper aim." I shouted. "Aim at the Devils."

Even though they already fell more thickly, I never aimed so cold-bloodedly at a piece of wild game as now upon the "Katze1macher,' ⁽²⁰⁾ and never have I so surely held off an enemy. How cowardly the pigs were! Each sought to cover himself behind the other; thus they came hence in crowds and clumps instead of in decent "Sturm" columns. They shouted to one another "Avanti! Corraggio!" as they shoved themselves mutually forward. To us this was Justice, for we hit them so much the better. Unfortunately they soon turned back. They threw away rifles and anything else that was loose, and ran back to their cover like thrashed dogs with their tails retracted. Their wounded cried: "Madre, o mia madre" And the healthy ones, which had come away with their hides unhurt, cursed and swore most pitifully from their trenches. Now it went easier with me for I had peppered off a few magazines without too many missing. But not for long. In a flash--crack came the shells again. This time it was the Revolver-Kanone which again barked at our flank from over there in Gradiska. However, they always shot some meters too far and 't cause much damage. It only rained some rocks and earth on us here. This was as yet being endured, when all at once a piece of turf flew before me onto my ready to fire rifle. I was intending to hurl it away when I noticed three purple spots on it. They were violets! Actually genuinely blooming violets! How peculiar but mankind is. But, at this moment I was not a human being, but rather only a living creature whose nerves were of course too strong to collapse, but were unable to grasp the frightfulness of the moment. I thought to myself that the use of foolish talk about courage, tenacity, bravery, and contempt of death, in such a situation as we now found ourselves, is nothing but an annoying imbecility. Absurd! As if humans were gentlemanly beings in such situations. Here it is drill and military obedience which have become instinct, and anger which brings forth the best and top strength that support, maintain, and motivate a man. That the individual talents of a person also played a role hereby is self-evident. But now the way the three violets fell down before me reminded me suddenly for my young hopeful life, and there came to mind once again the splendor of the earth. I am not superstitious, but to me it was at that time as if providence had thrown them down before me, and thereby promised that nothing would happen to me. I became entirely more cheerful and laughed about the shells crackling in here. I saw again all at once the blue sky and the golden sun and started--I'm not lying--to hum a favorite melody. I stuck the three violets into my cap rosette and imagined therewith to possess a sort of camouflaged cap against the thousand fold threat of death.

Of all things, my human requirements also arose into my senses upon this occasion. Namely, as nature certainly demands, I had developed a tremendously colossal appetite. I grabbed the breadbag of one of my fallen Kameraden and found it agreeably filled with three tins of excellent meat, a piece of cheese, and a half loaf of bread. With this, I was again satisfied, but most unfortunately not for long. The southern November sun is already dully hot for us cool northerners, but I had also already proceeded to go into this position thirsty; my ration of black coffee having already been consumed. In addition, there had now come the enormous thirst-producing tinned foods and the sharp cheese that I had eaten.

Imagine now for yourselves the scorching thirst that I had to endure. It was maddening!' The need for water which we experienced in this Isonzo Hell was a great deal more irritating than on the endless marches in Galacia during the mid-summer heat; also certainly no trifle. My heart is still saddened today, when I think about how my brave, worthy, and mortally wounded Kameraden cried incessantly "Water! Water!" with their hoarse and inhumanly ringing sounds. And how they --because there was none to be had drank from the murk in the shell holes, which was intermixed with blood and dissolving corpses, until they died. Recently I hay often had a hankering to march into the field against the Welschen Brigands again; for my heart sinks to my pants when but one of the previously described pictures is drawn to mind. I am not ashamed of this, for one can only condemn me if he believes himself to be more stouthearted. My conscience is clear with the oath that there doesn't exist any such giant of moral strength who wouldn't go down for a second time with terror and who wouldn't resist with all his body and soul if any possibility might be given to him. If one day one must go, then there surely is nothing other than to submit to it.