A German Deserters War Experience: Fighting for the Kaiser in...

German Deserter's War Experience: Fighting For the Kaiser in the First World WarAuthor(s): Julius Koettgen\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Pen & Sword Military\nISBN-13: 9781783463176, 978-1783463176\nSynopsis\nIn 1913 Julius Koettgen, a pacifist and a socialist, was drafted into the ranks of sapper battalion No. 30. He dutifully fought in the ranks of the Kaiser's armies during 1914 and 1915 and saw action in France and Belgium where he describes the terrible events which were to become known as 'the rape of Belgium' and also details the extent of the fighting including being forced to form part of a firing squad, crossing the Meuse under heavy fire, using corpses as road building materials annihilating a cavalry charge hand to hand bayonet fighting, and the awful events of the disastrous German retreat from the Marne. With the onset of trench warfare Koettgen also experienced the horrors of trench warfare and the famous Christm.