Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Part 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 And what is to follow... will follow... and really have a WOW effect..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 If anyone can do a 100% word for word accurate translation of the letter (I get just 80%)... we can get moving.... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arb Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) Herrn Louis Becker, Göttingen … erfülle ich die traurige Pficht, Ihnen von dem >>> Ihres Sohns Heinrich Mitteilung zu machen. In den schweren Kämpfen von 17.09.1918 bei Nancy (??) hat er infolge Artillerie Volltreffers sein Leben seinem Vaterlande opfern müssen. Leider was es trotz ??? nicht möglich seine Leiche zu bergen, da das Gefechtsfeld aus taktischen Gründen dem Feinde überlassen werden müsste. Die Kompanie betrauert auf ... den Verlust dieses tapferen Soldaten und guten Kameraden. >>>>>> Der Gott möge Ihnen in Ihren ... beistehen Feldwebel Mr. Louis Becker,. I fulfill my sad duty to inform you of the death of your son Heinrich. In the heavy fight near Nancy (not sure) on 17.09.1918, he sacrificed his life for his Fatherland. He was killed by an direct hit from artillery. Despite (every effort???) it was not possible to recover his body, as the battle field had to be left to the enemy for tactical reasons. The company mourns the loss of this brave soldier and good comrade. May God be with you in your ..... Sergeant Major Edited December 24, 2012 by arb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedytop Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Herrn Louis Becker, Göttingen Hierdurch erfülle ich die traurige Pflicht, Ihnen von dem Heldentod Ihres Sohnes Heinrich Mitteilung zu machen. In den schweren Kämpfen am 17.9.18 bei Sancy hat er infolge Artillerie-Volltreffers sein Leben seinem Vaterlande opfern müssen. Leider war es trotz wiederholter Bemühungen nicht möglich seine Leiche zu bergen, da das Gefechtsfeld aus taktischen Gründen dem Feinde überlassen werden mußte. Die Kompanie betrauert aufrichtig den Verlust dieses tapferen Soldaten und guten Kameraden und wird sein Andenken stets in Ehren halten. Der Herr möge Ihnen in Ihrem Schmerz beistehen. Schl...g Feldwebel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arb Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Speedytop, You have wonderfully sharp eyes to fill in those missing parts of the letter. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 Thatnks a million guys... I was mostly right, but that filled the gaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 OK... here is his first combat unit... he was an MG08/15 gunner with EK2.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 And here he was killed by a direct artillery hit..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 As you can see, his firm and his family put death notices in the paper.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 and I think I will leave the rest to the morning.... then we can run a competition to see who can choose the best title for this thread.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 P.S. notice the Firms death notice is a little more than a month after he was killed by a direct artillery hit!! OK.... can anyone guess where this is going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arb Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I'll take a stab at it and say that if tomorrow was Easter, I'd say he rose from the dead and came home to Mom and Dad. But, coming back (to life) at Christmas can't be all that disappointing either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dond Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Has he been found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 25, 2012 Author Share Posted December 25, 2012 The drivers licence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 25, 2012 Author Share Posted December 25, 2012 His POW release paper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dond Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 It seems that news of his death has been greatly exaggerated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 25, 2012 Author Share Posted December 25, 2012 It seems that news of his death has been greatly exaggerated. No Sht! You can see why this group could spawn 1000 funny thead titles!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Was his Militärpaß corrected on some other page after he returned from the dead? Must have given him quite a "strange" feeling to see his own death notice and his Militärpaß listing him as KIA. The feelings his family went through ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redeagleorder Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Would 'Back from the Dead' be too cliche? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I think in such an extraordinary case a little cliché would seem rather fitting!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtwinVince Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Sort of like our singer, Gordon Lightfoot, who's been reported dead in the media at least twice in recent years. He just played the halftime show at the Grey Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Was his Militärpaß corrected on some other page after he returned from the dead? Must have given him quite a "strange" feeling to see his own death notice and his Militärpaß listing him as KIA. The feelings his family went through ..... Hi, indeed, the bit of black paper in picture 9 covers an addition "returned from French captivity...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Do you have more documents of him and could you show mire pictures of his Militärpaß? Is there a document of when his family was notified that he is still alive?!?! Must´ve been THE happiest day in their life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolewts58 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Here's my suggestion for a rather long-winded title in perhaps somewhat fractured German. Es nimmt viel mehr als ein direkter Artillerie-Schlag, um mich unten zu halten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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