Storm of Steel

In February 1917, Jünger returns to his unit, which is in a devastated area of the Somme Valley. The British attack constantly: “[T]he British were full of curiosity and enterprise here, and not a week passed without some attempt by little exploratory groups to gain information about us, either by cunning or main force” (124).

There are rumors of an impending battle, so Jünger and his men are ordered to make a tactical withdrawal. Over the next couple of weeks, Jünger writes in his diary a few incidents of attacks, such as March 1 when, after “hefty exchanges of fire” (124) in which a British battery nearly levels a platoon with the help of an observation balloon, a German airplane shoots the balloon down. In another attack, 50 British soldiers with “blackened faces” (125) strike but are all shot down by Jünger’s men: “This incident, like all our other encounters with the Britishers, left us pleasantly impressed with their bravery and manliness” (125).

Following these encounters, Jünger’s regiment is designated to hold the front while the rest of the regiment withdraws. As they retreat, the Germans set about destroying everything behind them so the enemy forces will have no resources. They poison wells and booby-trap walls.