Fritz: The World War I Memoir of a German Lieutenant by Fritz Nagel

[Paul Hederer]

Fritz: The World War I Memoir of a German Lieutenant by Fritz Nagel (ISBN 978-1885033154) 1995 latest edition. Review on 1981 edition (ISBN 0-9604770-0-4), 119 pages.

I've seen this book mentioned on the forum a few times, but I don't believe there has been a review, so I though I'd post one. This was one of my first books on the Great War.

Fritz is a unique personal memoir of the Great War from the German perspective. The author, Fritz Nagel, served both as an enlisted man and officer, on both the eastern and western fronts. He served in a traditional field artillery unit, an anti-aircraft battery, and lastly in a K-Flak (motorized anti-aircraft) battery. Beyond the personal narrative, his wide variety of experiences make the book very interesting to anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the "average" German soldier.

Nagel's common touch, writing style, and eye for the humorous (including the ability to laugh at himself) make him a sympathetic character. For example, he relates one incident where a local general berates his anti-aircraft unit as totally useless--no monocled Prussian here. On the human side the book also includes the relationship between Fritz and his future wife Dorothy, which would have made a good book in itself!

The book starts with his prewar training. As a one-year volunteer, Nagel's life was a bit different than your average recruit, for example he had is own batman. He provides his perspectives on the prewar German Army and the officer classes which are very interesting.

His descriptions of the 1914 advance in Belgium and France are vivid--about the fears of Francs-tireurs, the privations suffered by the fast advancing army, and the combat he saw.

Nagel paints a vivid picture of every day life on the eastern front, which will be particularly interesting for those wanting to learn more about the "forgotten war." The pictures included in the text of Nagel, troops quarters and his comrades, I found particularly evocative.

Nagel's time in a motorized anti-aircraft battery is particularly intriguing. This is an area I knew nothing about, and his descriptions of his gun's movements and attempts (mostly unsuccessful) to shoot down aircraft were interesting. His gun also participated in ground combat.

"Fritz" is an honest and straightforward account by an obviously sensitive man who is willing to share his personal feelings. For anyone wanting to read a good first-hand account of the war (in this case a German) it is strongly recommended.

My 1981 edition contains a large number of the author's own photographs, which add a lot to the narrative.

Paul

[David Filsell]

Just to add to Paul Hederer's rerview, the following might be of interest

Born in 1892, “Fritz” Nagel was 22 years old when he was recalled to the military in 1914. His military service had commenced two years earlier when he served as a one year volunteer with Field Artillery Regiment nr.11. After service on the Western Front, Nagel transferred to the anti-aircraft artillery. Married to an English wife during the war, and with a young son, he emigrated the United States in 1921, his entry visa obtain through the assistance of a brother who had spent the war in America.

The book was written was written in 1962, Nagel wrote a brisk account of his service on both the Eastern and Western Fronts in action and behind the lines. It was based on the notes which he had started to keep when sick, on his father’s urging, in late in 1914 and diaries which he maintained throughout the war. The manuscript was edited by Richard Baumgartner, who first met Nagel in the United States in 1980, and published as Fritz: The World War I Memoirs of a German Lieutenant, by Der Angriff Publications (Huntingdon, West Virginia) in 1981. The book does not appear to have been published either in Great Britain or in German. Published in paperback, Fritz: The World War I Memoirs of a German Lieutenant is extensively illustrated, largely with a range of apposite pictures from Nagel’s own collection. Copies are readily available from dealers in the United States through the Internet and the book also occasionally appears on British dealers’ lists. Nagel’s account of the foundation of soldiers’ councils, his unit’s final well disciplined and organised retreat and the formation and his role during the instability and attempted revolution in Bremen are treated but with an open eye for unlikely detail. Whilst, as its editor makes clear, Fritz is by no means a literary classic of Great War writing, Nagel’s account of his experiences between 1914 and 1921 is an all too brief, but discerning, record of a German gunner’s war.

[Ken S.]

I believe I have a copy. If I recall correctly it includes a photo of a note written to the author by a British pilot he downed.