Conversation so far:
What was the writer Robert Walser doing in 1898?
In 1898, the influential critic Joseph Victor Widmann published a series of poems by writer Robert Walser in the Bernese newspaper Der Bund.
Was the series of poems published by Joseph Victor Widmann the writer Robert Walser's first published work?
In 1904, writer Robert Walser's first book, Fritz Kochers Aufsätze (Fritz Kocher's Essays), appeared in the Insel Verlag.
Did the writer Robert Walser have any non-writing jobs from 1898-1912?
In 1903, writer Robert Walser fulfilled his military service obligation and, beginning that summer, was the aide of an engineer and inventor in Wädenswil near Zürich.

Question: Did he see any combat?
Self-contained rewrite: Did the writer Robert Walser see any combat?