It was therefore with somewhat melancholic thoughts that, at around 9 o\u2019clock in the morning, we drove in a long line of wagons from Treskow towards Posen.
We did not know whether we would see it again, or whether we would at all see all the places in civilised Europe that we had come to know and appreciate, and it later turned out that many brave young men would end their lives in lonely graves marked with a white birch cross in Russia\u2019s endless swamps and steppes.
But we soon forgot the melancholy because of all the new and exciting things awaiting us, and when we entered Posen with our impressive line of vehicles, it was with singing and good spirits.
It was a group of unforgettable young courageous men who were not afraid to sacrifice the greatest thing they possessed\u2014life itself\u2014for the cause they believed in and held sacred. <\/p>\n
At the railway station each platoon (about 40 men) received a railway wagon.
It was a freight wagon, fitted with benches and a stove. The latter, however, we did not need at this time of year.
We had all our belongings loaded in and were supplied with good travel rations, and Oberhuber became our wagon leader.
We were now ready for departure, and it was very festive.
There were many German women present to say goodbye to their husbands and their Danish boyfriends.
I was not so fortunate as to have found such a one, so I was spared the painful farewell. <\/p>\n
Around 10 o\u2019clock in the morning, the train began to move in a north-eastern direction. It was off into the unknown. No one knew where we were headed, and the long train with its load of 1,000 young men now rolled through Poland\u2019s vast forests and plains, past large Polish estates that looked like impregnable castles in the lonely wilderness, and small, dilapidated old houses where poor Polish workers lived.
There was a good atmosphere in the train. We were all satisfied with the good food, and there was also a little schnapps, and there was discussion about where we were going and what we would experience.
Signs of excitement and anticipation were written on every young face. It was wonderful.
There was singing and music. Verner Villy Nielsen from my group played wonderfully on the harmonica\u2014deep, melancholic songs about home and those we loved back home, as well as soldiers\u2019 songs full of life and fighting spirit\u2014and Oberhuber led with the beautiful and heartfelt Tyrolean songs from his homeland.
And so it continued as long as we could see in the evening. <\/p>\n
Night came, and we were still rolling on towards our unknown destination.
Many had fallen asleep on the benches and on the floor, exhausted after the first day\u2019s many exertions.
Others still stood talking quietly together and looked out into the night, probably dreaming of loved ones back home in our distant homeland.
There was still subdued music and humming, but the thoughts were no longer in Poland\u2014they were far away with a lonely wife, or a mother and father back home in dear old Denmark, for whom these men had gone out to fight.
Later in the night there was silence, and only the endless rolling of the train over the tracks could be heard.
Everyone slept and rested to gather strength for a new, exciting, and eventful day.
My last thoughts were of my dear bright childhood home in T and my beloved parents and brothers, whom one truly learned to love out there in foreign lands, as well as many beautiful childhood memories\u2014and then I too was lost in the sweet sleep of dreams. <\/p>\n
Early the next morning, when we woke up, the train was still rattling on endlessly.
We were now in East Prussia.
It was interesting to see the difference between Poland, which we had just left, and the German East Prussia we were now passing through.
Everywhere there were prosperous and well-kept farms and houses, and the land was neatly cultivated.
It was pleasant to see European culture extending all the way out to this German pioneer post in the East. <\/p>\n
Around 10 o\u2019clock in the morning we arrived at a large airfield with a very impressive and well-built barracks.
We were now near the small town of Heiligenbeil, about fifty kilometres from the East Prussian capital, K\u00f6nigsberg.
Here we were unloaded from the train, which had been driven right into the middle of the barracks area, and we were assigned a building in which to live.
It turned out to be a very modern Luftwaffe barracks, with a cinema, canteen, and many other facilities, and it fulfilled all the requirements that the modern man expects in terms of style, hygiene, and comfort. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2273,"template":"","personer":[104],"class_list":["post-2724","litteratur_og_kilder","type-litteratur_og_kilder","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","personer-aage-mariegaard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/litteratur_og_kilder\/2724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/litteratur_og_kilder"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/litteratur_og_kilder"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"personer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fkdanmark.simsoft.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/personer?post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}