Pedzisa mutsara unotevera: Akaberekwa musi wa20 August 1893, Rackow akaiswa muCadet Corps achiri muduku. 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 somutevedzeri, achirwa pa
Charleroi, St. Quentin, uye kutora chikamu muHondo Yokutanga yeMarne, Hondo Yokutanga yeAisne, uye Hondo Yokutanga 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.