Ernst Junger. Ernst Jger, the son of a wealthy chemist, was born in Heidelburg, Germany, on 29th March, 1895. At the age of seventeen he ran away from home to join the Foreign Legion. His father brought him back but he returned to military service when he joined the German Army on the outbreak of the First World War. Jger fought on the Western Front and was wounded at Les Epares in 1915. He recovered and in November he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. After the Battle of the Somme Jger was awarded the Iron Cross and is transferred to Divisional Intelligence as a reconnaissance officer. In 1917 Jger fought at Cambrai and later that year is wounded while leading an attack on French trenches. After recovering from his injuries he took part in the Spring Offensive. After leading another attack, for which he won the Pour le Merite, he was seriously wounded, he spent the rest of the war in a military hospital. In 1920 Jger published his first book, The Storm of Steel. Its glorification of war made it a popular with Germany's young people who dreamed of gaining revenge after the country's disastrous defeat in 1918.