Gas and Horse Training, August 1915

From The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer, by Alexander Pfeifer and Philipp Cross (True Perspective Press, 2024), Kindle p. 89:

We were on exercise with an infantry platoon from 7 o’clock to half past 10 yesterday morning. Two sections have been formed, and I am in the one belonging to Baron von Wangenheim, a captain of the guards who seems to be very nice. In the afternoon, we shot at discs by the large mine rubble heap at Carvin. The pioneers have their training ground next door, where the people are trained in constructing trenches, shelters, and obstacles; and in destroying and overcoming the latter. We were shown a very interesting attack using smoke and gas bombs. The first produces a white, opaque fog so that the enemy is unable to see a target. The gas bombs, on the other hand, spread an invisible gas that affects the respiratory system and especially the eyes. The effect was extremely unpleasant despite only a weak filling being used. At the spot where such a bomb had exploded 5 minutes ago, we all had to cough violently even with the very strong wind, and our eyes were watering so much that we could hardly see anything.

Then came the main fun — the riding lesson. Only very few can ride properly. A lot have only ridden on some horse in their spare time, and many, including me, have never sat on top of one. The more advanced are having lessons with an Uhlan riding master, and the rest of us with a patrolman. We walked and trotted around in circles for an hour, and this also went very well and without falling off since we received the most patient Uhlan horses. Only the sitting region hurts terribly today. We had the same usual exercises again this morning, then an hour of lessons this afternoon, and now it’s back to riding. We are all supposed to exercise an entire company on horseback tomorrow. How I am supposed to do this after just two riding lessons is a complete mystery to me. In any case, it will be great entertainment for the public. Our captain has already offered to write us holiday tickets to Ostend for next Sunday. I will be going there with Baumbach, of course. We also want to visit Bruges and Ghent if possible.