13 Juin 1918
Jeudi 13 Juin 1918
Nuit du 12 au 13
Relève du Btn FAVALELLI par le Btn COMBEAU (sous-secteur
COTE 240). (JMO 2e DI p 17/364)
Devant le front de la
division italienne (...) relè-
ve du 67e Res. (33e DR) (ren-
seignement de prisonnier)
Grande activité de l’Artillerie (ennemie)
Concentration de feux sur la
29e Bie du III/203e RAC. (JMO 2e DI p 332/364)
37 avions, le plus souvent (sic)
ont survolé nos lignes (observation,
chasse)
Génie :
Amorçage d’une tranchée en
avant de la Par. (sic ; ?? erreur pour : Chap.(elle) ?) de St-LIÉ
(JMO 2e DI p 333/364)
Le Génie commence le creusement
d’une tranchée en avant de la Chapelle de Sr Lié […]
4 tués ; 7 blessés, 1 tirailleur disparu (JMO ID/ 2 p 48/107).
8 heures. Le médecin Principal se rend
dans les lignes. Il visite le PR de
Ville-Dommange, celui d’Ecueil, le
PSR du 24e et celui du 43e RIC […]
blessés 6 E 1 I ; tué 1(JMO DDSS/2 p 20/79)
Continuation des travaux d’assainissement du Champ
de bataille : Le Sergent NICART, les Caporaux (LOIRE) et
DEBUCHERE partis hier soir à 21h sont rentrés à 2 heures
ramenant 20 cadavres dont 18 allemands. Ce soir
à 21 heures des équipes travaillant au cimetière à
creuser des fosses ont été prises sous une réfale d’obus
ennemis. Un obus a tué le brancardier malgache mle 450
RAKOTOMAVO et blessé gravement (région lombaire)
le brancardier DELACROIX, aussitôt évacué.
Mr le Médecin Divisionnaire est venu visiter le cantonnement
dans la journée.
évacués de passage à Villedommange : 13
Ecueil : 4 ; Chamery : 0. Inhumations de la
journée, cimetière de Villedommange : 26 { 9 français
{ 17 allemands
inhumés le 13/6 :
155 - REMY Gustave Jean Caporal 24e RIC 3e Cie
venu du 4e Colonial
° 24 Juin 1894, les Archettes, Vosges
† Ormes 12 Juin 1918
succession : 12 photos, 1 porte feuille cuir
1 lampe électrique, 1 montre
présumée argent avec chaîne,
correspondance, 15f.
transcription à Vagney, Vosges, 20 Février 1919
156 - AUBRY Henri Louis 3e Génie Cie 3/5
° 18 Février 1879, Etretat, Seine Inférieure
† 13 Juin 1918
sur le champ de bataille de Reims Ouest, Marne
succession : 1 plaque identité, 1 porte monnaie
cuir, portefeuille cuir, 1 montre
présumée argent avec chaîne, 1 couteau
6 photos, 1 briquet essence, correspondance
0f 55c
Décès fixé par jugement,
/ tribunal du Havre, 16 Septembre 1921
transcription à Fécamp, 03 Octobre 1921
Inhumé à VD le 13 Juin 1918, tombe
Exhumé le Lundi 13 Février 1922 ; destination :
157 - PUJOS Anselme Joseph 2e CC 1er RACol PAD/2
° 17 Janvier 1878, Lagarde Hachan, Gers
† Ecueil 12 Juin 1918 au cours du bombardement
succession : 1 plaque identité, 1 livret individuel
1 montre présumée argent
1 couteau, 1 brtquet essence,
1 lettre
transcription à Lagarde Hachan, 12 Novembre 1918
→ Bligny : NN La Croix Ferlin, tombe 520
158 - ROSSIGNOL Théophile Marie 1er C S 1er RACol PAD/2
° 11 Février 1888, Quédillac, Ille-et-Vilaine
† Ecueil 12 Juin 1918 au cours du bombardement du poste
succession : (une blague à tabac cuir) 1 montre détériorée
présumée argent avec chaîne
(1 portemonnaie) cuir, correspondance
(…) 1 couteau, 1 briquet détérioré
1 plaque identité, 1 livret individuel
58f 05
transcription à Quédillac, 18 Décembre 1918
Bligny : NN La Croix Ferlin, tombe 114
159 - PRUNAC Emile Maximilien 2e CC 1er RACol PAD/2
° 02 Juin 1881, Villeveyrac, Hérault
† Ecueil 12 Juin 1918 au cours du bombardement du poste
succession : 1 lettre, 1 blague à tabac cuir
1 portefeuille cuir, 1 portemonnaie
cuir 12f.
transcription à Clermont Ferrand, 26 Décembre 1919
Bligny : NN La Croix Ferlin, tombe 276
160 - BAUDRY Alfred Remi 2e CS 1er RACol PAD/2
° 21 Août 1881, Lude, Sarthe
† Ecueil 12 Juin 1918
succession : 8 photos, correspondance, 2 portefeuilles
cuir, 1 briquet (…), 1 livret individuel
1 plaque identité 63f 60
transcription à Lude, 27 Septembre 1919
Inhumé le tombe
Exhumé le Lundi 13 Février 1922 ; destination :
161 - GANOCHAUD Charles Alexandre Adjudant 1er RACol PAD/2
° 16 Décembre 1880, Rochefort, Charente inférieure
† Ecueil 12 Juin 1918
succession : 1 briquet essence, 1 stylo Watermann
1 portefeuille cuir, correspondance
1 couteau, 1 livret individuel
7 photos
transcription à Marseille, 19 Février 1919
Inhumé le tombe
Exhumé le Lundi 13 Février 1922 ; destination :
162 - MAMADOU Diara 32e BTS
recrut. Kaolach ; pas de fiche MDH ??
succession : 1 couteau, 1 portemonnaie cuir
1 plaque identité, 1 pipe, 1 livret individuel
1 briquet amadou
163 - ZESCHANK Walter Landsturmmann 67e Inf
° 12 Avril 1888
† 04 Juin 1918
succession : 10 photos, 1 plaque
identité
164 - PETZOLD Georg Unteroffizier 67e Inf
° 21 Janvier 1890
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 3-503
165 - KOWSKY August Vizefeldwebel/ Sous Officer 67e Inf
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1- 498
166 - OSSOWSKY Josef Musketier 67e Inf
° 03 Janvier 1898
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 3- 505
167 - TRAUTMANN Hermann Musketier 67e Inf
° 04 Janvier 1897
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 3- 481
168 - KURZ Anton Landsturmmann 67e Inf
° Bühler 29 Septembre 1881
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
1 chapelet
Bligny : tombe 1- 481
Br. Balthasar (Anton) Kurz, born 28.09.1881 at Bühler near Ellwangen (Southern Germany), took his vows on September 3rd 1911 at Beuron Archabbey and was killed in action, 36 years old, as Landsturmmann on June 9th (not the 13th as was thought for a long time) 1918 in the Champagne/France near Reims. His actual date of death and his final resting place were found out definitely only very recently.
Br. Balthasar was sent from Beuron to Gerleve on August 7th 1912 to help the small group of brothers. The monastery annals recount:
Our respected Br. Balthasar was forcibly pulled out of his tireless work in our farm by the conscription order. On Sept 21st 1915 he had to go to Emmerich on the Rhine together with 500 other recruits from the Coesfeld area. The ‘great tumult’ in the mass quarters did not please him at all in his silent, shy and somewhat timid nature. But he went along with it. His motto helped him: "God’s will is my consolation in all difficult situations." But he also experienced: "One only gets to know from the military life what man is capable of enduring.
On March 4th 1916 his training was finished and he had to go to the front. Br. Balthasar was detailed to the Infanterie-Regiment 67, which was severely battered during the fight for Verdun. Br. Balthasar wrote:
It is almost a miracle that I am still alive. If it goes on like that, that you do not sleep for eight or ten days, most of us won’t need a bullet anymore.
At the end of November 1916 Br. Balthasar had to leave his troop for six weeks in order to be trained for the machine-gun. Handling this weapon pleased him. From January 1917 on he had to rejoin the battle. All year long Br. Balthasar hardly ever left the most heavy fighting for a few days of leave. Landsturmmann Anton Kurz (Inf. Rgt. 67, 5th company) was wounded on July 6th 1917 near Laon by a grenade-splinter in his left hand and had to go to the military hospital Etappenlazarett "Kloster" Longuyon, a former monastery. In 1918 he took part in the great German offensive. On May 30th 1918 he wrote his very last letter:
I have got to tell you that I visibly experienced God’s protection. When we went over the top, stormed a trench and looked for cover three English soldiers began shooting at us and several of us were wounded. One wanted to put his bayonet into me, but I gripped his rifle out of his hand. If he had not been married things would have looked very bleak for him indeed.
A fortnight later his sergeant sent some vague news. Br. Balthasar had remained behind, wounded, during the retreat of his regiment in the area around Reims. Perhaps he had been taken prisoner by the French. At Gerleve Abbey they all waited for a sign of life of Br. Balthasar. The community was very worried because his regiment had black troops opposite who often gave prisoners short shrift. After a long time waiting for over a year, finally the ministry of war sent a communication on June 19th 1919 that Landsturmmann Anton Kurz had been killed on June 13th 1918 near Reims and was buried in a military cemetery. According to the Volksbund, though , Landsturmmann Anton Kurz belonged to the Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 67 (6th company) and was killed on June 9th 1918. First he was buried at Ville-Dommange and during the 1920s re-buried by the French war grave service in the military cemetery at Bligny, Département Marne, 14 km southwest of Reims. Kurz = Short – short as his name was his life in the monastery. He spent little more than four years at Beuron Archabbey, three years at Gerleve Abbey and three years as a monk in field-grey at the Western Front. Decades after his death a short chronicle of his life was published at Gerleve Abbey with the final sentence:
As his own private life also his death and his grave shall remain unknown to us.
Not quite though! Landsturmmann Anton Kurz was listed in edition Ausgabe 2036 of August 5th 1918, page 25464, (Prussian List of Losses 1207) as "missing", and in edition 2179 of October 10th 1918, page 27291 (Prussian List of Losses 1280) as "missing till now, + death in captivity" (uncertified by German military services, communication from a foreign country A.N. = Auslandsnachricht, militärdienstlich nicht bestätigt). His grave, with the date of death as June 9th 1918, is to be found in the German military cemetery at Bligny, France (not far from Reims), block 1 grave 481. 4,732 German soldiers found their final resting place at Bligny. German losses were very high as a consequence of the German major attack (Großangriff) in May 1918. Many died in the field hospitals, in captivity. Many corpses were later found when clearing up the battlefields.
The Abbey Chronicle of 1918 remarks:
So hard the unfortunate outcome of the war has hit us – there is one positive side to it that our brothers whom we were missing a long time could come back from the battlefields. Sadly not all of them. The brothers Otto Hunzelmann, Wigbert Hättig, Gottfried Kuhlmann und Gerold Lüttmer had to give their lives and there is very little hope for the life of Br. Balthasar Kurz who was reported missing on June 10th at the Western Front.
The War to end all wars? Sadly this was not to be. The First World War only prepared the way for the absolute catastrophe of World War II.
Sei es auch ein Aufbruch ins Ewige - "Even if it were a departure into eternity“ (from the last letter of Father Benedikt Oosterkamp)
During World War II with 60 million victims the number of casualties doubled among the brothers of Gerleve who had to join the Wehrmacht. Only four graves have been found so far.
http://www.hellfirecorner.co.uk/danielbrothers.htm
169 - TYKARSKY Wladislaus Musketier 67e Inf
° 20 Avril 1899
† 13 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1-518
170 - Soldat allemand inconnu 364e Inf.
171 - Soldat allemand inconnu
172 - KOSCH Willi Musketier 67e Inf
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1-545
173 - PENTHER Johannes Musketier 67e Inf
° 17 Avril 1899
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1-531
174 - NAAF Karl Musketier 67e Inf
° 05 Janvier 1899
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1-536
175 - STEFFANKE Johannes Musketier 67e Inf
° 21 Juillet 1897
† 09 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny : tombe 1-557
176 - HEINZE Richard Gefreiter 67e Inf
° 25 Février 1890
† 13 Juin 1918
succession : 1 plaque identité
4f 30 (argent français)
Bligny : tombe 1- 559
177 - MARTIN Willi Kanonier 67e Inf
° 18 Juillet 1889
† 15 Juillet 1918 (sic sur relevé Bligny)
succession : 1 plaque identité
Bligny, tombe : Kameradengrab
cf : MARTIN Wilhem Landsturmmann
† 09 Juin 1918
Bligny : tombe 1-511
178 - Sous Officier allemand inconnu 67e Inf
179 - Soldat allemand inconnu 67e Inf
180 - LINEAU Désiré Fernand 43e RIC cf † 12 Juin
Vrigny
† BARDOU Gilbert Aimable
21e RIC
43e RIC 21e Cie
° 1er Février 1897 (1917 sic ! sur fiche MDH), Villamblain, Loiret
Cl 1917, matricule 449, Orléans
succession : 1 livret individuel, 8 photos, 1 briquet
amadou, correspondance, 1 couteau
1 portemonnaie cuir, 1 plaque
identité 12f, 60
Inhumé VD le 15 Juin 1918
transcription à Villamblain, 31 Décembre 1918
→ Bligny (51) NN La Croix-Ferlin, tombe 517
Villamblain : MAM
Amb 15/22 Louvois
† LACOMBE Marcellin
5e RIC
43e RIC
09 Juin: blessé devant Vrigny
Décoré:
BANY Jean Baptiste
1ére Classe, 18e Cie
Médaille militaire: