This relatively peaceful period doesn’t last: by the spring of 1916, the Battle of the Somme (a major offensive on the Western Front) is looming. He gets promoted to lieutenant during this time. It’s often monotonous, but it also comes to feel like home as the trauma of shellfire and the back-breaking work of trench maintenance are interspersed with cozy camaraderie. Here, living in the section called C Sector, Jünger gets his first extensive taste of life in the trenches. In September, he rejoins his regiment in Douchy, France. He is briefly evacuated to Germany for recovery, where he reflects that, contrary to his expectations, war is not just an adventure.Īfter his recovery, Jünger undergoes further training and becomes an ensign, specializing in moving small groups of soldiers across terrain. Nevertheless, he is horrified by the far worse suffering he witnesses in others. While capturing French trenches, Jünger is hit in the leg with shrapnel-his first war wound.

After training, in April 1915, Jünger’s battalion is moved back to the front lines near Hattonchâtel, France, and Jünger finally gets his first taste of battle. All the men feel disillusioned by the wearisome dirty-work and absence of thrills.Īfter being relieved of trench duty, Jünger is sent to a remote village for officer training, where he forms enduring friendships. Once he’s settled into sentry duty in the trenches, he discovers that the war is at a standstill. During his first morning on the front lines, however, a fatal explosion occurs nearby, and he realizes that death will haunt him throughout the war. Like his training mates, he is eager for danger, ready to prove himself in war. In December 1914, a few months after the start of World War I, a young German man named Ernst Jünger arrives in Bazancourt, Champagne, France to train as a soldier.

Jünger's storm of steel