Luger Artillery vintage picture (1915)

[Douglas Jr.]

New addition to te collection.
This postcard is dated June 28th, 1915 and it was sent by a trooper from the 5th Battery of the Reserve F.A.R. 55 (Filed Artillerie Regiment 55). The guy at the right is clearly holding a LP08 with the toggle open.
Find field pictures like this one is much more rare that the ones made in studios.

the translation, very prosaic:

"In firing position Eastern Front 20. June 1915

Dear mother and [Reinhard ? ]

Enclosed a snapshot in the firing position in the forest. Please keep it.

Yesterday I received three parcels with cake (tasted good), butter and cheese, [???] and Maggi(*).
Many thanks. Midday today we had Rumford soup (**) and potatoes in their peel. It is good that we still have potatoes.
Greetings from the heart,
Karl.


(*) Maggi was and is a popular manufacturer of soup concentrates and condiments.
(**) A thick soup with, barely, peas and vegetables.

Another interesting note is that the soldier addressed the postcard to his mother as "Peter Göttel ww", which would meant "widow of Peter Göttel" (witwe = widow), from Wiesbaden.

I made a research at the Volksbund site, where the German war graves are registered. It seems that the postcard sender - which I assume was named Karl Göttel - didn't survive the war.
Although there are 10 individuals listed with the same name, eight of them died during WWII and were too young to have fought during WWI. From the others, one was KIA in 1914 - before the mailing date of this card. The final one, KIA in June 6th, 1918, is, unfortunately, a close match, as his rank was Kanonier and he is buried in France - according with some on line references FAR 55 was engaged on the Western Front at that time.
Sad ending, I guess.

[Norme]

Very interesting research and presentation Douglas. Thank you!
Best regards, Norm