We all lounge about, eating and sleeping, for we have just returned from the front. We all ended up with extra rations due to the number of men that we lost.

I go to visit Kemmerich one last time. He is now aware that his leg has been amputated and he is convinced that he is going to die. I try to console him and get him to think of a brighter future. Kemmerich bequeaths his boots to Müller and dies. I will have to write to his mother to whom I promised to keep safe.

The arrival of some new recruits reminds us of our training days. We remember our last night at the training camp when we had our revenge on Himmelstoss. We waited for him outside his favorite pub and ambushed him. We covered him with a sheet and took turns beating him. Tjaden is very happy because one of the recruits told him that Himmelstoss is coming to the front.

We go on wire duty at the front. Our unit is being sent out to repair the fences and construct new defenses. The English begin bombing us earlier than normal. The shelling forces us to take cover in the graveyard on the side of the road.

Himmelstoss has arrived at the front. He reports Tjaden for calling him a dirty hound. Tjaden receives 3 days open arrest because the lieutenant has to give him some form of punishment, but the sentence is really just a break from working. Kat and I go to capture one of the geese that we saw on the way to the front. I am attacked by a dog while stealing the goose. I kill the dog and get away with the goose. Kat and I take the goose to a shack and build a fire to roast it. We share a special bond as we sit and watch the goose cook. Once it is done, we take some to Tjaden in his cell which is more or less a chicken coop.

We sit in our dugout as the enemy bombards us with shells in preparation for an attack. The rats come and eat our bread while we sleep. We put a few scraps in the center of the floor and attack the rats when they come out to eat. The rats become wise to our plan so we go to sleep. When we wake up, the rest of the scraps are gone. The shelling is hard on the new recruits. One becomes claustrophobic and tries to run outside. We beat him up to calm him down. After that, he sits against the wall in a stupor. We try to play cards but it is too hard to concentrate among all of the explosions. Once the shelling stops, an attack ensues. We repel the attack and embark on a counter raid into the enemy’s trenches. We get back to our dugout with some cognac and corned beef.

When we return from the front, we are taken farther back than normal to reorganize. Himmelstoss respects us now and we respect him. He gives us easy jobs and good food. I am given 17 days of leave. When I get home, I learn that my mother has cancer. I also find out that most people are not at all aware of how bad the war is going. My father’s friends tell me that I am unable to see the whole picture and they try to tell me what should be done as if it were a very simple matter to push through the enemy lines.

Before I return to the front, I spend some time at the training camp. While at the camp, I have time to observe the Russian prisoners. They are reduced to scavenging in our garbage to eat. I bring them some of my potato cakes and sit by the fence to talk to them. One of them plays the violin after he learns that I play the piano.

I am back at the front. I volunteered for scouting duty and am now stuck out in no man’s land. While I was out looking for the enemy, a bombardment began and I lost my sense of direction. I must stay in this shell hole until the bombardment ends. A French soldier jumps into the hole with me. I stab him, but he takes hours to die. I bandage his wounds and take his pocketbook with the intent of sending money to his family. His name is Gerard Duval, a printer by trade. The bombardment ends and I am able to return to my trench. I know that I will not fulfill my promise to send money to the soldier’s family.

We are assigned to guard a supply depot in an abandoned village. We take shelter in a dugout and live comfortably for a few weeks. While we are cooking a meal, the smoke from our cooking fire is spotted by the enemy and they begin shelling us. I stay in the kitchen to finish the pancakes. I make it to the dugout without dropping a single one. Kropp and I are wounded while helping to evacuate a village. He has been shot in the knee and I have a broken leg and a wounded arm. Kropp develops a fever and I fake one in order to follow him. My wounds heal and I am able to walk around. Kropp’s leg is amputated but he heals well enough. He is not very talkative anymore though.

Kat is wounded by a shell while he and I are scavenging for food. He is bleeding profusely, so I carry him all the way to the medical station. When I get there, I learn that my efforts were in vain; his skull was pierced by a splinter as I carried him. Kat is dead.

I inhaled some poison gas and was given fourteen days of rest. I sit in a garden and contemplate what will happen when peace is declared. I have not ambitions for a life after the war. Paul Bäumer died in October of The only line in the German high command’s report for that day was “All Quiet on the Western front.”