Hinter der Westfront

Summary

1. Intertitle: Life and activities in the villages behind the front.

2. Intertitle: Food distribution to the population. Image: Women and children rush back and forth in front of a shop; conversations on the street; pan across the house facades, children look at the camera; women stand in line in front of a shop.

3. Intertitle: Mustering horses. Image: Military figures stand on a street in a city with horses on the pavement; on the street horses are led forward and appraised.

4. Intertitle: Field greys on their way to the next railway station in the home country. Image: Two soldiers walk separately along a street, in front of the house entrances women stand and children play; a larger group of soldiers on another street, church in the background, men sweep the streets.

5. Intertitle: Armoured corps soldiers at road improvement. Image: At the right edge of the street soldiers are working at improving the paving; transport wagons pass by, cyclists; officer as supervisor, horsedrawn carts are unloaded.

6. Intertitle: Our field greys work industriously in the village smithy. Image: Horse and soldier at the blacksmith, horse is shoed.

7. Intertitle: A military train, which travels to the emplacements furthest forward. Image: Military train with three wagons travels towards the camera, soldiers as passengers.

8. Intertitle: Lorry with heavy cannon on the way to the front. Image: The picture shows two lorries with cannon trailers driving along the street.

9. Intertitle: In the villages directly behind the emplacements an alarm is sounded when an enemy gas attack becomes known. Image: A building with an attached signboard: ring bell for gas alarm energetically for 10 min.! Misuse will be severely punished!; a soldier rings the bell and laughs at the camera (obviously staged scene).

10. Intertitle: The municipality in Roubaix. Image: Long shot of the municipality, a tram travels across the scene, population on the street.

11. Intertitle: The main square in Roubaix. Image: The main square with the Saint-Martin church; pan over the square, business quarter, incl. the 'Café de la Paix' building.

12. Intertitle: A long-missed luxury: soldiers on leave from the front in front of the „Grand-Cafe“ in Roubaix. Image: In the area of the street cafe soldiers on leave from the front sit at the tables and all look at the camera.

13. Intertitle: The civilian population's horses are requisitioned. Image: Following appraisal of their horses, men and women are given receipts.

14. Intertitle: Artillery columns pass by Cambrai on their way to the front. Image: Horsedrawn column travels through a business street in Cambrai.

15. Intertitle: Our field greys as „girl Fridays“ while shopping at the Cambrai market. Image: An NCO and a soldier stand in front of a vegetable stall, the greengrocer fills the ready sack with vegetables.

16. Intertitle: French and English prisoners from the Battle of the Somme wait in the Cambrai citadel before being transported to Germany. Image: Large group of POWs assembled in a large square, all looking at camera; smaller group of POWs sitting and standing waiting in and around a trolley, pan across the crowd, all look at the camera.

17. Intertitle: Tea distribution. Image: POWs stand with bowls and pails in a line at a field kitchen, inner courtyard of the citadel.

18. Intertitle: Convalescents at leisure in the garden of the „College“ military hospital, Cambrai. Image: Patients in the facility's garden, lying on the grass, swinging, practicing gymnastics on the high bar (right side of image) near the swing, climbing.

19. Intertitle: Wounded German soldiers in comradeship with French and English wounded. Image: Nurses, German, French and English patients play skittles together; crowd watches two playing partners.

20. Intertitle: In the Cambrai city park. Image: Promenaders in the foreground, soldiers go down stone steps.

21. Intertitle: Field greys as garden artists. Image: Soldiers have planted a flower bed in the shape of a butterfly; resting on a bench below a sculpture.

Source: Bundesarchiv