Storm of Steel

Following a brief period of training and rest in the rear, Jünger is sent back to an area near the village of Cambrai. He visits the Plancot family, who Jünger stayed with a year earlier. The village is in a dire state, with closed down shops and abandoned streets. Of the Plancots, Jünger writes: “I felt sorry for these old people with their worried expressions,” adding that the Plancots had “entertained [him] kindly” (276).

Soon enough comes the order to fight. Jünger speaks to his men, who all know the end is near: “Everyone knew we could no longer win. But we would stand firm” (277). Near the village of Favreuil, artillery fire begins, and, as his unit attempts to take the village, Jünger is hit. He goes down with a bullet through his chest.

When he wakes, his men are trying to save him, calling for medics and stretcher-bearers. But the British have surrounded them, and his men are continually falling under rifle fire: “A ring of British and Germans surrounded us and called on us to drop our weapons. It was pandemonium, as on a sinking ship. I called upon the men near me to fight.