Th Bavarian Lions in the First World War

“One French infantry officer who was calling out “pardon” beside me I whacked on the head, what became of him I have no idea.”

The mighty Battle of Lorraine, the struggle for Sarrebourg, the German withdrawal and subsequent successes, the ferocious fighting for control of Fort des Romains along with other battles are described in reports and letters from the officers and men who fought in the conflict during the initial advance of the German armies into France. These were the men of the Bavarian Regiments, the artillery, the engineers, the infantry, whose reputation as implacable opponents they defended fiercely – as comrades fell beside them – down to the last man. Pride mingled with intense sadness, as the young men who survived each command to “storm” were rapidly transformed into ruthless veterans. 

  It is unlikely that these young men – whose voices are heard again in this book  for the first time in over 100 years – would have survived to speak of their own frontline lives.