"Forward, March!", the memoirs of Lieutenant Ernst Rosenhainer, is the only firsthand account of a German field infantry officer in World War I who served on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. This book provides an inside look into the radically diverse types of warfare many German troops experienced, from almost constant moves and battles on the Eastern Front to combat, amidst battered trenches on the static Western Front. Lieutenant Ernst Rosenhainer took part in the invasion of Belgium, the battles of the Masurian Lakes in East Prussia, the horror of Verdun, the seesaw battles in Poland, and the hotly contested province of East Galicia. His memoirs destroy the myth commonly held in the West of the inferiority of the World War I Russian soldier. In vivid detail, this educated young German also recorded from his perspective many encounters with the local population and life behind the front lines with his men and fellow officers, including their interaction with the Austro-Hungarian troops. Many maps and pictures detail and highlight movements, battles and “Life on the Front.” Forward, March! is vital reading for any historian and serious student of history as well as anyone interested in the reactions of a sensitive young man caught up in World War I and the battles that changed the world.

About: Ernst Rosenhainer and Ilse R. Hance

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