1914 ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN 'STATEMENT' OF DEATH FOR A GERMAN CAPTAIN AND EARLY CASUALTY AND GREAT LOSS TO THE IMPERIAL PRUSSIAN RESERVE INFANTRY BATTALION

On offer is a very interesting two page folio sized manuscript relic of World War I being an obituary "Statement" for the German Battalion of Reserve Infantry #4 dated December 14, 1914. Partial translation: "Yesterday afternoon felled by the enemy…. In fearless, loyal fulfillment of his duty, the leader of the 3rd Company, Captain Dieterichs. What he was to us… and the irreplaceable loss that the battalion has suffered, we all know. The following obituary will appear in the military weekly paper and in the Hamburg (?) Evening Paper: On the 11th of December 1914 fell in battle in fearless fulfillment of his duty for Kaiser and for Reich the King's Captain and company leader of the Reserve Jäger-Battalion (Infantry) Otto Dieterichs, Knight of the Iron Cross. He was a glowing example of bravery and soldier-like virtue a genuine German man and officer, a dear comrade. Pain-filled we remember him, and our remembrance will last far beyond death and grave. His men loved him and were loyal to him, and pulled his body from the enemy fire….Interment will take place on the 14th…..Battalion Orders of the 13th December 1914 I speak to the officers and infantrymen of the 3rd Company, who their mortally wounded captain brought back from the front…..This deed is a beautiful testament to the camaraderie that our fallen Captain Dieterichs built with his infantrymen, and that went both ways…." It appears to be signed by Rintzel, and the seal/stamp at the bottom says: Königliches Preussisches Reserve Jäger Bataillon (Imperial Prussian Reserve Infantry Battalion). Has some chips and splits in the folds but overall G. German Language