Paul H1

I know this is a long time past, but there were actually 23 independent Minenwerfer battalions in the Imperial German Army, vice 13. Paul

Oh, my heart went pitter-patter for a moment. I've been trying to get a copy of Nr. 119 from 1934 for almost a year. Oh well, guess I need to keep trying. Paul

I apologize, I wanted to post something earlier to follow up on Chris' series of posts. If I may go back to 29 February 1916 (1916 was leap year). Faced with ever increasing losses on the east bank, both from the fighting there, and the flanking fire from the French artillery on the west bank, Falkenhayn releases reserves to broaden the attack to the west bank. These forces had been available in OHL reserve before the attack began, but were held out of 5th Army's control. From the standpoint of the initial objective of the attack (Falkenhayn's objective)--namely the seizure of the Meuse heights on the east bank--the attack up to this point had failed to reach its goal. The attack had reached a virtual standstill at this point, and the Germans, facing ever increasing French strength, had lost the initial factor of surprise, though they maintained a considerable superiority in artillery strength at this point. The weakness of the German position on the Western Front in early 1916 comes clearly into focus at this stage. Faced with increasing French strength at Verdun, and the requests of the commanders there for fresh troops and material, Falkenhayn was faced with the reality of fighting an offensive battle against a much superior enemy. He also wanted to husband his reserves to either meet an Allied relief offensive, or launch his own second offensive later, as the situation developed. Faced with the reality of Verdun, he was forced to commit more troops. In hoping to spark a prestige battle with the French (in the hopes of inflicting attrition on a point the French would be unwilling to surrender) Falkenhayn sowed the seed of German defeat at Verdun. The battle became a matter of prestige for both sides, and the Germans were forced to throw more and more troops into the battle and the original concept of the battle was lost. Falkenhayn's refusal to provide adequate infantry forces to maintain the attack meant that the stalled battle was essentially lost by February 29. From this point on the battle became a slugging match with growing losses on both sides. As the balance of forces shifted slowly in favor of the French the hoped for loss ration of 2 Germans to 5 Frenchman was never approached. Paul

Chris, Have you tried "The Handbook of the Russian Army, 1914,"? That would be a good english-language referenc to start with... Paul

Hello Chris, Don't know what to tell ya. As far as anything I've read the nearest a 30,5cm Austrian gun came to Verdun was what I posted a few months ago. There definitely weren't any there during the battle in 1916. Paul

37mm?

Chris, Perhaps better said they approached their goals in a different fashion. The orders were to seize the first line only, or if meeting resisitance in the first line return to the jumping off points. The commander of VII. RK realized he had about 1500 meters of open ground to cover, and I don't think he relished crossing it on the second morning, so he decided to take all his men across and not lose the element of surprise. The other two corps commanders followed the orders more to the letter. The goals were set out, and guidance given, but as was often times found in the German Army the corps commander had a lot of freedom to accomplish his task. More of a "I want you to take this, but you figure out how," attitude. Paul

On 21 February 1916 the German 5th Army started its offensive at Verdun. The attack had originally been scheduled to start on 12 February, but had been delayed due to bad weather. The initial bombardment lasted nine hours, concentrating on the French front lines, Verdun, various forts in the fortress system, and the communications routes leading to Verdun and the French IInd Army. The German infantry left their trenches late in the day, 1700, and the nature of the actions varied with each of the German assault Corps. On the right flank, the VII. R.K launched a general attack, in waves, and captured large portions of the French first and second lines. Its neighbor to the left, the XVIII. A.K., launched only officer's patrols, and less than 100 men left the trenches on the entire corps front. Meeting resistance in the French second line they had returned to their own trenchs by the morning of 22 February. On the left flank, III. A.K. also launched probes, and meeting resistance stopped. The objective for the first day's attack had been the seizure of the first French trench, and observation of the artillery effects on the French second line. When VII. R.K. reported its initial successes, 5th Army had ordered the other two Corps to "Take everything you can." The order, coming so late in the day, could not be followed. Paul

Chris, I guess it would depend on the construction. I know there are complete bunker complexes still at Verdun. I had a friend who did his doctorate research there in the forests (hard work, but someone has to do it) and he did some exploration of these complexes. Paul

Joe, I think as a trooper I'd be pretty happy there. I see duckboards and what look like the entrancres to big bunkers--dry feet and cover--always good Paul

Chris, Thanks for starting this up. As you know, the plug on the old Verdun forum Jens mentioned above was pulled without any warning at all--leaving the members without any chance to form another group. I should mention that Jen's himself was not involved in the poor handling of this closure. Hopefully we can have some good discussions here. Paul

Chris is absoultely right. It's an interesting term, and one that can cause confusion even today. A Beamter is as Chris described, but can have the somewhat negative connotation of someone who sits on his arse and get's paid to make your life difficult. I asked this in Austria as well, and was told the same thing. When I told a good German friend I was a "Beamter" (I'm a government employee) he laughed and said, "Jetzt muss' ich zweimal "Sie" sagen!" That gave me a good laugh. edit: Wanted to add, that I think the perfect example of a Beamter is the old position of "Bezirkshauptmann" in Austria. Paul

Glenn, Maybe it was a marketing decision. The Fussartillerie volumes will have to be massive, and I would imagine would take a great deal of time to put together. I've been working at the archives in Freiburg and Stuttgart on this, and it is a wonderfully complex topic! Paul

Too bad they aren't doing the Fussartillerie first--that's an arm that could use a good reference book for formations. Paul

Thanks Rick, Living in this area I'm always interested in these State awards. It's amazing what the archives of Hessen hold on the state forces before 1866. Makes me a bit jealous being a Great War guy!! Paul