Hello Again.
How I managed to get the same article posted twice, I shall never know, for I only sent it once!
The following story, some may find a bit odd. In war there are so many odd and peculiar things that happen. Some defy explanation.

Germans Smell!
Ah! But so did we!

Germans do actually have a very different smell! Now for heaven’s sake, I don’t wish to upset anyone with what follows, But, it is true that we could smell the enemy, sometime before we could see him! When we took over his dug-outs, or rooms where he had been, this smell was always present. It was a sickly, scented, pungent smell, very distinctive, and one that I have never forgotten for it is associated with death, woundings, and the fear of being killed..

Lots of suggestion on the cause of this smell came from other ex-service men, but nothing conclusive, The late Captain Edwards R. E. of my old company, suggested it came from the oil he cooked his bread in, others have put it down to his Ertzats soap. I have heard so many other causes, such as a preservative on his uniform, but none that can be proved, even today, after all these years I can still recall that smell, I do not think that I will ever forget it.

Near the Chateau de la Londe, we found, quite by accident, a German soldiers “home from home” The entrance had been camouflaged so that it would not be found, and was quite obviously a place they had made to get away from the rigorous life of a soldier. It had been lovingly constructed as a square room dug into a steep bank of earth, in it, they had made a complete “home from home”, it had a table, with chairs and bits of furniture, with a stove, cups, saucers and plates, everything to make life a bit more comfortable.

This room dug out of the earth had a small door for an entrance, the roof was earth, with a bit of support, just a square room dug inside the bank! But, most of all, the German smell, in that room it was very strong, while we were there, we found in one corner of this room quite a large amount of 303 type, rifle ammunition, all with bright red wood bullets, since then, I have talked to other Veterans who have seen the same thing, nobody has yet come up with an answer to what they were used for?

The smell of Germans in the vicinity is not that surprising when one considers the smell of our battle dress, after it had soaked with rain and sea water, any service man who wore battle dress will be only too aware of the smell, if he has ever entered a Nisson hut after battle training. But I shall never forget the German smell. It will remain with me for the rest of my life. Comments?
Sapper.