Nyorai kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Akaberekwa musi wa20 August 1893, Rackow akaiswa muCadet Corps panguva yapakuvamba youpenyu hwake. Akabatana neImperial German Army ye158th Paderborn Infantry Regiment se "Fahnenjunker" (officer cadet) muna 1912. Pakazotanga Hondo Yenyika I muna 1914, akanga akwidziridzwa kuva lieutenant wechipiri. Rackow akatora rutivi mukurwisa kwokutanga kweGermany Belgium neFrance. Akashumira nokuremekedzwa somubatsiri, achirwa paCharleroi
, St. Quentin, uye kutora chikamu muHondo Yekutanga yeMarne, Hondo Yekutanga yeAisne, uye Hondo Yekutanga yeArtois. MunaSeptember 1915, akagadzwa kuva mutungamiri we158th Paderborn Infantry Regiment yechitatu kambani. Neboka iri, akapinda muHondo yechipiri yeChampagne panguva yaakakuvadzwa kaviri. Muchiitiko chokutanga, akarohwa nechinhu chinoputika mutsoka yake yokurudyi, asi akaramba achirwa, achingokuvadzwa zvikuru kuchamhembe kweLe Mesnil mazuva matatu gare gare. Akaiswa muchipatara, uye akadzokera kukambani yechitatu muna February 1916.