WWI German Navy Sailors and Marines at a Dune Dugout, "Zum Frontschwein" Sign, Flanders Coast, RPPC
This is an original First World War German real-photo postcard. It shows naval personnel relaxing at a sandbagged dugout in the sand dunes. The setting is loose sand, beach grass and scrub, which fits the dune belt of the Flanders coast, where the German Marinekorps held the line from 1914 to 1918. At the centre is the timber-framed entrance of a dugout, heavily reinforced with sandbags. Above the doorway hangs a hand-painted sign in a decorative scrolled frame reading "Zum Frontschwein" ("At the Front Hog"). The sign copies the traditional signboards of German inns and taverns, such as "Zum Schwarzen Adler" ("At the Black Eagle") or "Zum Goldenen Löwen" ("At the Golden Lion"). It turns the dugout into a mock country inn. "Frontschwein" ("front pig" or "front hog") was soldiers' slang for a hardened front-line veteran, so the name is a double joke: an "inn" for front-line veterans. It is a nice example of trench humour.
Two men in field-grey tunics and peaked caps with a light cap band pose on the sandbags. One leans over the top of the dugout, and the other sits smiling at the right with braid or markings visible on his cuffs. A third man in a peaked cap and glasses sits in a wicker chair in front of the entrance with binoculars in his lap. At the upper left, three sailors in dark jumpers and sailor caps sit on a bench outside a wooden hut with a canvas-covered roof. One holds a broom and an enamel jug, one has a magazine and a wash basin, and one holds binoculars. Other details include enamel jugs, stacked bottles at the lower left, and steps cut into the sand.
The back is a divided postcard back with a printed stamp-box outline and dashed address lines. It has no writing or postmark and was never mailed. No publisher or photographer is printed on it.
Item Details
Format: Original real-photo postcard (RPPC)
Subject: WWI German navy personnel (sailors, plus men in field grey, possibly Marine-Infanterie) at a sandbagged dune dugout
Key Detail 1: Hand-painted sign "Zum Frontschwein" ("At the Front Hog") over the dugout entrance, styled like a traditional German inn sign
Key Detail 2: Sailors in jumpers and caps outside a wooden hut with a canvas roof, with broom, enamel jugs and binoculars
Key Detail 3: Men in field-grey tunics and peaked caps on the sandbags; a bespectacled man in a wicker chair with binoculars
Publisher: None printed
Reverse: Divided back, blank and unmailed; stamp-box outline and address lines
Dimensions: Approx. 3.5 x 5.5 in (9 x 14 cm)
Date: Circa 1915–1918 (WWI)
Condition: Crease or crack at the upper right corner of the image; corner creases (lower right and upper left, visible on the back); light surface soiling. Please see scans.
About the Marinekorps Flandern
After the German advance into Belgium in 1914, the Imperial Navy formed a Marine-Division under Admiral Ludwig von Schröder to hold the Belgian coast. It soon expanded into the Marinekorps Flandern. The corps defended the coastline around Ostend, Zeebrugge and the Yser front near Nieuwpoort. It included Marine-Infanterie regiments, naval infantry raised from sailors, and naval crews who manned the heavy coastal batteries dug into the dunes. Life in the dunes meant sandbagged dugouts, wooden huts and constant digging against shifting sand. Men decorated their shelters with humorous signs and names, as seen here.
Sold as pictured. Please examine all images carefully and feel free to ask any questions before purchasing.