29 Sept 2008

Footnote to footnote 322: The lost diary notebook

What happened to Ernst Jünger's last diary notebook, which he lost the 25th August 1918?

Is it decaying in a field at Favreuil in France?






Or is it actually among some New Zealander's old grand dad's forgotten collection of war memorabilia from France?





"Wild-Eyes", "the souvenir King", Private Barney Hines, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), during the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917. The picture was published 1917, and according to a popular legend, the German emperor heard of "the souvenir King", and branded him a "barbarian ... typical of Australian Troops on the Western Front". The German emperor is said to have made good his words by putting price on his head, dead or alive.