CHAPTER 8 takes us into the trenches at Wytschaete during the period October 1915 to March 1916, in the witty and erudite company of Leutnant der Reserve Alfred Pache, a recently appointed company commander in Kgl. Sächs. 16. Infanterie Regiment Nr.182. This area is well-known for the preserved Bayernwald trench system, depicted in this chapter in multiple original photographs from October 1915 (note that the modern reconstruction is based on the replacement trenches dug immediately behind the originals, after the latter were ruined by flooding).

The chapter also includes and depicts the communication trench known as the Schweinlesteg or Schweinlesteig, which was recently rediscovered by the Hill 80 archaeological team.

We also chose to cover this sector from the other side, directly comparing Pache's experiences with those of the (at this time, still relatively inexperienced) Canadian units in the trenches opposite.

Please see my previous article A Teacher in the Trenches - IR 182 at Wytschaete, January 1916 for one of Pache's most touching letters, further previously unseen photos and a potted biography, including his spectacular and bloody career with the regiment and his tragic demise in WW2.

Above: This previously unseen photo depicts a company of IR 182 behind the front during the regiment's first tour of the Wytschaete sector in summer 1915.

Above: Sample pages from For King and Kaiser (chapter 8).