Julius was waiting for his father to return from the Ministry of War. The apartment on Friedrichstrasse was empty. The family’s sole remaining servant was having the evening off. The old man has good taste, I’ll give him that! Julius thought as he admired the modern Jugendstil furniture and art decorating the apartment. It was stylish, but not luxurious. His father was an admirer of Frederick the Great and liked to imitate the warrior king’s Spartan lifestyle. Hanging on the wall of his father’s study was an old photograph, which showed Georg as a young cadet. He was smiling happily next to Helga, Julius’s mother, who had passed away soon after his birth. Seeing the photograph always caused a melancholic feeling in Julius.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Soon the familiar, bulky shape of Oberstleutnant Georg Wilhelm Schreck appeared in the doorway. He seemed surprised to see Julius standing in his study.
“Julius? I thought you were at Johannisthal.”
“I needed to speak with you, father.” Georg said nothing as he walked over to his desk and lowered his briefcase next to it.
“I’m leaving to the front, father. To Hauptmann Boelcke’s Staffel in France. As soon as the Kommandant finds a replacement for me.”
Georg still stood facing away from Julius. After an awkward silence, he spoke. “I know, Julius. I know. And there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Why would you need to do something it? You are not in the Luftstreitkräfte!”
Finally, Georg turned around to face Julius. He seemed tired, as if time itself were finally catching up with him.
“Because I arranged your transfer to Johannisthal in the first place.”
Now it was Julius’s turn to remain silent. Ever since his last meeting with Dr. Hildebrandt, he had suspected his father’s involvement in his career. But to hear it from the old man himself was still something of a shock.
“Why, father? Do you think I’m not good enough to serve with the men at the front?”
Georg had a pained look on his face now. Clearly, the discussion was very uncomfortable for him.
“No, that is not what I think, at all.” He crossed his arms and began pacing back and forth in the study.
“Surely you understand that this has been a devastating year for our armies in the West. It’s true that we’ve repelled every enemy offensive – but at a terrible cost to ourselves. The casualties are staggering!” Georg stopped and looked at Julius again.
“And then Immelmann fell. I had thought… I had hoped, that in the Fliegertruppen, it would be relatively safe for you to serve. But things change so rapidly in this bloody war! So, I pulled some strings and got you a transfer to Berlin.”
Julius was now furious with his father. He wanted to shout and scream, but with an extreme effort, he managed to restrain himself.
“Did you ‘pull strings’ for Hermann too? Because he’s in the trenches right now, convinced that he’ll soon join the ranks of those staggering casualties!”
“It is what it is, my son. One day, you will have children of your own. And then you will understand”, Georg spoke with a calm voice. His face now had the typical stoic look Julius was so familiar with. It implied that arguing with the man was completely useless.
“From now on, you will stop interfering with my career! I will be the master of my own fate, not you!” Julius’s self-restraint finally failed, and he shouted angrily at his father. Frightened and angered by his outburst, Julius then spun around and stormed out of the study, leaving the elder Schreck standing alone by his desk.
***
Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse, 16 October 1916.
The platform of the Friedrichstrasse station was full of soldiers and their relatives, who had come to bid farewells to the men going back to the front. The ecstatically cheering and flower-carrying crowds of 1914 were only a distant memory now. The war had become ugly and serious, and glory had made way for simple survival. Leni and Julius were hugging each other among countless other Berliners doing the same thing.
“No tears, right?”
“No tears! There’s no need for them, because you’ll come home safe and sound!” Leni sounded very brave and determined to Julius. But her beautiful blue eyes betrayed her true feelings.
“Excellent! My brave little Leni”, Julius said and once more kissed Leni quickly on the lips. Then he let her go, picked up his old backpack, and boarded the train. Finding a seat in the crowded officer’s car, he peeked out of the window and waved at Leni. The train was slowly picking up speed. Julius could see Leni defiantly holding her chin up. Sunlight was reflecting from the tears flowing down her cheeks. Fighting back tears of his own, Julius stayed in the window and waved madly until Leni disappeared from his view, as the train followed the curving track on the other bank of the river Spree.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
