France.- A couple who went for a walk in eastern France discovered a small capsule containing a message sent by a Prussian soldier more than a century ago using a messenger pigeon. The message of an Infantryman based in Ingersheim, written in German in a barely legible letter, detailed military maneuvers apparently during World War I and was addressed to a senior officer, said Dominique Jardy, curator of the Linge Museum in Orbey in east France.
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The date is marked As July 16, but the year is not perfectly clear, and appears to be written as 1916 or 1910. The first world war took place between 1914 and 1918.
The message reads: “The Potthof platoon is given fire when they reach the western edge of the gun yard, the Potthof platoon takes fire and retreats after a while.
The message probably carried by a messenger pigeon has resurfaced in Alsace. Afp
In Fechtwald, half a platoon was rendered unused. The Potthof platoon retreats with great losses.
At the time, Ingersheim, now in france’s Grand Est department, was part of Germany.A couple found the small capsule with its well-preserved content in September this year in a field in Ingersheim, said Jardy, who praised the “super weird” discovery. He was taken to the nearest museum, Orbey’s dedicated to one of the bloodiest battles of World War I.Jardy had asked for the help of a German friend to decipher the message, he said. The small piece of paper and capsule will become part of the museum’s permanent display.
