A real photographic postcard of a young German soldier holding a cigar, perhaps posing for this photograph outside the family home before setting off to war.
On the front of this postcard is a handwritten message made by a New Zealand soldier who came across this helpless soul on the battlefield;
"This is the Hun I got most of these P.C.s (post cards) from. He had a bad wound in the back & he gave me his P.C. for dressing him."
The names and fate of both soldiers is not known.
What a lovely post. Just the fact the caring human side and reciprocity of both soldiers comes through in so few words.
ReplyDeleteJust lovely. Wonder what happened to both.
You have John Barney Hines in the labels [tags] ...Did this end up in his collection?? Just been reading about him also...fascinating. Great snap of him on Wikipedia
Cheers
Sandy
Sadly it wasn't always the case for compassion and humanity to shine through. In stark contrast to this, my late Grandfather (of the Canterbury Infantry Regiment) recalled a haunting memory of their company ordered to march by, without giving assistance, to a young German soldier by the side of the road struggling to clutch and hold in his intestines from a gaping wound. War - so horrific, so tragic, such a waste of life.
ReplyDeleteYes John Barney Hines was a fascinating man, and the image of him with his 'loot' is a well used and famous image. The postcard pictured here, is not from his collection.
ReplyDelete