Military Life and Training-1

Military life was harsh. Recruits were isolated from four to six weeks before they were allowed to mingle with civilians. Discipline was relentless. This was characterized by high conscript suicide. The yearly suicide rate was 220 to 240 recruits. That was 14 times higher than the civilian population. However, the barracks provided many recruits with more space, better lighting, and cleaner facilities than they had had in civilian life. If you remember the book” Life in a garrison town.” You will see an example.

The barracks were divided into squad rooms called Stuben. The number of recruits in a room varied from 10 to 20, but each man had a wall locker and a bunk bed. Latrine and sanitary facilities in the barracks were limited. Each battalion had its own barracks building in a Kaserne. In addition, there were multiple buildings for latrines and mess halls. Usually the mess hall included the tailor shop, barbershop, shoemaker, and armorer. A high brick or stone fence with the intent of keeping the public out surrounded the entire Kaserne. The battalion had cooks who had learned to cook in civilian life. Breakfast was normally coffee and bread. Lunch was generally stew prepared in large quantities. The evening meal consisted of tea, coffee, and bread. Soup was occasionally served. Fruits and desserts were not available. The soldier was expected to supplement the meager rations or get care packages from home.

One of the members of the barracks guard awakened the NCO of the day (Unteroffizier vom Dienst, abbreviated “UvD”) at approximately 4:45 in the morning. The soldiers were then awakened and had approximately one hour for personal and barracks hygiene and breakfast before they paraded for squad inspection. Ten minutes later, there was a company formation led by the First Sergeant (Feldwebel). The company’s lieutenants would arrive at 6 a.m., and the senior lieutenant received the report from the Feldwebel. After the lieutenants inspected their platoons, the company commander would receive the report and the company was marched to the drill field. Training was conducted until 11:15, after which the soldiers were marched back for lunch. In the afternoon, the soldiers returned for afternoon training that could include physical exercise. When the afternoon training was completed, soldiers would have their evening meal and free time. It was possible to go to the battalion canteen, where beer could be purchased for five Pfennige or a pipe full of tobacco for one Pfennig. I think Gus has already covered a pay scale.

Live-fire range training started in December, and the first regimental inspection was in February. After the inspection, the company started six weeks of intensive unit training followed by another regimental inspection. This training was followed by two weeks of battalion level training, its completion marked by an inspection by the regimental commander and perhaps a general officer. Summer training began in May and consisted of field exercises to prepare for another regimental inspection in August. Division exercises followed, and in September, the annual fall maneuvers took place at army corps level.