Storm of Steel Notes
68: "Nothing left in his voice but apathy", "It's men like that you need for fighting."
Junger meets his first soldier, who describes the conditions on the German front in extremely stark language. Junger notes the impassive, emotionless way the soldier describes these things, and notes that everything else has been "burned out". Categories: Equanimity, Zen-through-Shellshock
69: Fearless mood, "demoniacal lightness" while running for life
Upon entering the warzone, Junger describes a euphoric sensation associated with the "extreme nearness of death". Categories: Adrenaline
69: Relax into armchair
Junger enters into a house in a bombed-out neighborhood with child corpses strewn around, finds a sack of coffee beans, makes some coffee, and relaxes into an armchair upstairs, while being shelled. Categories: Calm under fire
70: Junger and fellow troops sit in armchairs in basement, holding their heads in their hands.
Upon further being shelled, Jeurgen and his fellow soldiers shelter in the basement, and they're not having a good time. At first, they are joking to each other, but over time, that dries up. As the shelling intensifies, they go a bit mad; "the ability to think logically and the feeling of gravity, both seemed to have been removed. We had the sensation of the ineluctable and the unconditionally necessary, as if we were facing an elemental force. An NCO in No. 3 Platoon went into a frenzy" Categories: Adrenaline
71: A crucified man is used as a landmark.
Exactly what it sounds like. Categories: Acceptance of horrible things without freaking out
71: Junger reacts with calmness to the realization he's hearing a corpse decompose, this surprises him.
Again, fairly self-explanatory; Junger realizes that a noise he's just heard is a decomposing corpse, and just kind of shrugs it off. Categories: Acceptance of horrible things without freaking out
73: Junger has feeling of invulnerability watching men stand firm through shell rain.
While being shelled, Junger and his men stand motionless, holding position. Junger sees this and feels that, even in the face of certain defeat, they could not be conquered. Categories: Defiance
73: "Joy to behold" accidental artillery discharge.
73: Junger has a healthy appetite with all the crap he's going through.
74: Dud shell lands at Junger's feet, lucky.
75: Junger splits black on supply convoys as they walk back from hell across the road. Resists urge to reach for pistol.
75: "In such situations, red wine is the best medicine"
75: Robinson Crusoe, leaving beautiful artifacts beycause they have no value in combat.
76: Shell comes down directly on house while eating in basement, nobody cares.
76: Sitting down in abandoned house to read Le Petit Journal. Interesting how you find these moments of peace to read in a quaint house surrounded by destruction. Bombs hit the house while Junger reads and he ignores them.
77: "toneless voices that remained with me"
79: Lance Corporal rips off bandages, spews blood, and dies. Trauma suicide over what was observed in the battle?
80: 4 weeks in the hospital then straight back into combat - fuck!
81: "In tows and regions where the spindle rules..." character of places possibly caused by profession of people who live there.
82: Junger nearly drowns in the swamp and then continues his patrol - amazing!
83: Wandering in gas-filled wilderness, running into and talking with people feels like 'conversing with demons'.
84: Fever dreaming man in hospital suddenly lucid in his final hours before death.
84: Upset at not getting to participate in battle at st-pierre-vaast.
84: After getting shot in the legs by a sniper Junger goes to the hospital and then directly back to combat.
85: Junger is given observation officer duty, watching the battlefield through a telescope. Literally gives different perspective to see combat from this birds view angle.
86: Four weeks of uninterrupted rest. Interesting how much Junger focuses on these, indicative.
89: Impressed with British 'bravery and manliness'.
90: 'Relief after a storm' after shelling stops, interesting mood
91: Destroying everything so that opponents occupy a wasteland.
92: Shell explodes near Junger and picks him up, picks himself up in confusion.
93: Batman refuses to put bed in warm room, takes cold kitchen instead.
93: Junger has 'no complaints' if he dies on account of furlough, probably sardonic, lasts a fortnight.
94: Junger sleeps through a shell leveling the house he's sleeping in the basement of.
95: Junger gets off bicycle and waits in field for shelling to stop at his destination. Feels 'embarrassed' and nosy.
95: Junger watches shelling from attic window because it's exciting. (In spite of this clearly being a bad idea.)
96: 'Tired and sullen' waiting for shelling to stop.
96: Most cautious and carefree men often survive scenarios that kill others.
99: Junger throws bluffing seargents out of designated quarters and goes to sleep, him and his men wake up 'fully refreshed'.
99: Some of the fondest memories are celebrations after surviving engagements.
99: Junger no longer notices shrapnel and shelling on siegfried line. Splendid landscape.
100: Weather is so fair that soldiers lie on the grass at night.
100: Man 'happily' sitting up and eating after shot in the butt.
101: Junger goes walking in the country hills while waiting for battle.
102: Ernst Junger and other soldiers go sunbathing confident artillery won't hit them.
102: Junger joins patrol 'for the hell of it'; so casual! (Boredom must get to you)
103: 'Fresh ideas' come from patrol excursions.
104: People freeze when they unexpectedly encounter the enemy.
105: Satisfaction in driving off a scout.
106: "Something primordial" about the scene of dragging back prisoners.
106: Close quarters outnumbered combat scenario what Junger had been dreaming of during trench monotony.
107: Junger keeps opposing officers steel helmet as a souvenir.
107: Junger pauses on 'eerie scene' of two bodies.
108: 'rapid succession of disagreeable feelings' when hearing rifle bolt on patrol.
109: Junger drinks burgundy to deal with going into a very dangerous ambush.
110: Soldier barracks in cambrai resemble 'student digs', people hold conversations out windows.
112: 'That lieutenant never seems to take cover' said of Junger.
113: Trouble sleeping the shelling is so heavy.
113: "we had come at the right time" Junger says of arriving when the infantry battle starts
114: 'we sat and gritted our teeth' during shelling
116: Men feel 'more or less restored' after plentiful lunch and tobacco in rat castle
117: 'a good breakfast will hold body and soul together'
117: Shelling 'so thrilling as to produce an amused indifference, actually very intense
119: Euphoria caused by Kius coming to bail Junger's unit out.
121: Junger and Kius cope with impending seemingly-certain death.
121: 'only a flesh wound' used unironically
121: Wet and cold more effective at breaking resistance than shelling.
122: 'over a hearty breakfast we once more felt courage flow back into our limbs'
122: Hope they don't have to fight in the rain, would rather be shelled.
128: Junger sips alcohol and keeps his diary in a forest house.
133: Junger ranks his trench raid as most eerie war adventure.
134: Junger laughs at civilians pleading with him not to use the upstairs light and attract shelling.
136: Junger says activity brings soldiers together and inactivity drives them apart.
137: Lieutenant Brent dying gets to Junger. He was supposed invulnerable because orders to attack made him laugh.
138: Heavy shells up close while crossing challenge the will to live
140: Scouting missions give me better idea of what sort of tasks would need an officer to do them even though they don't require great intellect
141: Few days rest at Tourcoing, luxury accomodations.
143: Moving through unknown position at night feels like cold, alien, cursed other world.
144: 'Butterflies in stomach' and coping by staying busy before planned attack. Coffee had 'magical effect'.
145: 'Waxing joy of the huntsman' as 150+ British captured.
146: Eerie feeling when man Junger is talking to shot dead in middle of conversation without him noticing
148: 'Instantaneous clarity' watching shells move toward position
148: 'wild glee' during fight
150: Junger "didn't bother" hospitals with his head wound on 5th double wounding.
150: 'deadly stasis of trench fighting'
151: "no limit to our contentment" when proper food arrives in gravel pit
153: Happy memories of sitting around the table drinking wine before the last big offensive
154: Direct shell hit in crater makes 'hellish vision'.
154: Junger sobs hysterically after volunteer picks up ammo boxes alone (because the direct shell hit scattered the company)
156: Junger tries and fails to cheer up troops, extreme melancholy as they move out; 'wild animal dragged from its lair'
157: Junger and troops enjoy watching unprecedented, spectacular bombardment
157: Junger loses it and someone else dies trying to help him
158: Junger distracts men with crude jokes during hyper-shelling
158: Individuality dissolves during decisive battle
158: Mood is casual and 'exalted', so overwhelmed things become unreal
159: Attackers stop for nothing, act as though invincible
159: 'ecstatically happy' murderous rage among attackers
160: Junger spares man who shows photograph of family
160: Going into particularly violent scrape, Junger claims to have lost his memory.
161: Junger laughs as Kius chases foe with clumps of earth instead hand grenades
161: Junger keeps firing his pistol even though he's out of ammo
162: Junger and anonymous officer so excited a few minutes conversation fells like they've known each other for years. Never see each other again.
163: Junger thinks of his cured cold after jumping into machine gun nest.
164: Fighters getting shot at up close universally kill their opponents rather than take prisoners.
165-166: 'incomprehensible order' for artillery to fire continuously at range limit snatches defeat from the jaws of victory
168: Junger shakes head at people running around during shelling and takes cover with bottle of jam.
171: Junger throws his rifle and storms enemy position with bare hands.
174: Junger helped along in war by servants, 'like the squires of yore'.
175: Junger muses on scale of Great Battle
176: Junger 'works on his tan' in crater, listens to night time shelling with unjustified feeling of safety.
176: Strange mood, purpose 'had been used up'
177: Junger has his men study how to fight tanks using dead ones as models
177: Junger eats in gazebo as shells fall around him
178: Junger walks through village full of war leftovers. Equipment, corpses, etc.
179: Junger blows tip off finger studying construction of British rifle grenade. (Boredom/Curiosity really is the enemy I guess?)
180: Minutes before battle have mood 'portending human sacrifice'
181: Volunteers of 1918, bravado but lethal, description of behavior
181: Junger 'reading comfortably over cup of coffee' in coal hole.
183: 'feeling quite chipper' as Junger walks behind trench assault.
185: Title drop
185: Junger annoyed by his civilian hosts running around while they're being bombed.
186: "I spent my free time reading, swimming, shooting, and riding".
189: Still butterflies before the last battle
190: Stopping to pick up an iron cross badge during fight, stupid
190: Getting gravely wounded causes feelings of euphoria, 'one of very few moments of pure happiness' in Junger's life.
194: Junger was hit 14 times during WWI
194: Junger and friends stupidly hurt themselves by refusing to rest
194: 'very amusing' fever dreams
