Naxos

the passage from the book. Ein Regiment stirbt den Heldentod, Otto Lais; Karlsruhe, 1936 Hardy

Bob, I found another account: April 1918, fighting at the grave yard near the chapel of Saint Aignon. 52. Division headquaters called Major Berthold, commander of the I.Batl.169, to advise that no artillery support is available, but two Flammenwerfer units commanded by a Pionieroffizier were sent by the Division to assist him in the attemt to relieve the company trapped in the grave yard. The Flammenwerfertrupp got lost at night on the way to Berthold's battalion and did not arrive until the morning. The day was already dawning when the attack over 800 meters of open fields finally took place. The two Flammenwerfer crews including the Pionier lieutenant were taken out by enemy fire before they could deploy their flamethrowers. Source: Ein Regiment stirbt den Heldentod, Otto Lais; Karlsruhe, 1936 This account shows that Flammenwerfer units were available to infantry battalions of the the 52.Division within hours if needed. Ergo: Flammenwerfertrupps were a part of the Div.Pi. companies in the 52.Division and had not to be requested from Korps or Armee levels. Regards, Hardy

Here is the translation of the second card: To Remember Russo-Poland Year 1916 Tschenstochau (polish city of Częstochowa) November 23, 1916 Georg (writer's name) Imperial Gesgsober...scher (I cannot make sense of this word ) For his dear Grandmother

Humberto, I got to go, I will post the translation later Regards, Hardy

Zur Erinnerung in Russisch / Polen Jahr 1916 Tschenstochau, 23.11. 1916 Georg kaiserl. Gesgsober...scher (?) Seiner lieben Grossmutter

"Mein ? 1917 in Russland " translation: my ? 1917 in Russia Humberto I will try later to decypher the missing word Hardy

Sorces: Das 9. Badische Infanterie Regiment Nr.170 im Weltkriege, Ihlenfeld; Offenburg, 1926 Die Schlacht im Kreidekalk 1917, Otto Lais; Karlsruhe, 1942 The twenty French Prisoners taken by IR170 Raid on March 20, 1917 Regards, Hardy

Bob, in the 1923 edition of the Brockhaus Lexikon I found a reference to this book: Ch. Theune Flammenwerfer und Sturmtruppen Berlin; Landesverlag 1920. 251 Seiten not sure if you know this book Hardy

Bob, I now believe that the Div.Pi.Komp.104 had two Flammenwerfertrupps in March 1917. Sorcers: Das 9. Badische Infanterie Regiment Nr.170 im Weltkriege, Ihlenfeld; Offenburg, 1926 Die Schlacht im Kreidekalk 1917, Otto Lais; Karlsruhe, 1942 (I will scan and post the actual pages of the books later) Trench Raid: Unternehmen "Scheinwerfer" March 20 1917 Location: (Karspacher Loch) Upper Alsace between Rhein-Rhone-Kanal and Altkirch Command: Oberst Ihlefeld, Commander of IR170 The three Stosstruppf?hrer: Leutnant d.R. F?ssler, commander of the 3./Masch.Gew.170 Leutnant Engelhardt, commander of 12./170 Leutnant d.R. Caroli, II.Batl.170 (wounded in the raid) The Stosstruppunternehmen used both Flammenwerfertrupps of Div.Pi.Komp. 104 commanded by a Pionier-Feldwebel (name unknown) It is mentioned that this was not the first action of the Flammenwerfertrupps of Pi.Komp.104 The Flammenwerfertrupp operating on the left of the Raid was pushed away and eliminated by the French defenders. Twenty french prisoners were taken along with three light machine guns and other items. In 1917 Div.Pi.Komp.104 and Div.Pi.Komp.103 belonged to the 52.Artillerie-Brigade of the 52.Division Later the Div.Komp.103 and 104 belonged to the new Stab-Pionier-Bataillon 37 of the 52.Division. Regards, Hardy

Perhaps the Flak unit he belonged to was stationed at the DKW Werke in Zschopau, or he simply had a DKW motorcycle he was proud of. (In picture #64 Argast is wearing dark collar taps and shoulder board piping - like Flak or Pionier) Hardy

Hi Jan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_123 Hardy

The imperial German Navy wound badge was established on June 24. 1918 Hardy

Henschel Hs 123a Hardy

DKW Auto-Union pin? Hardy

Bob, I will have to check my literatur specific to Flammenwerfer Eins?tze and get back to you. So far my understanding is that when Flammenwerfertrupps were used by the 52.Division, they were under the command of Div.Pi.Komp.104. If the FW-Trupps originated from PK104 or were placed under the command of PK104 only for the duration of the mission, I can, at this time, not answer. Hardy

Bob, a related note I came across in one of Otto Lais' books on the Baden Regiment 169. It is mentioned in an Order from December 14, 1917: "This time the Raid will be executed with out flamethrowers (Flammwerfer) since we lost (Totalausfall) the entire Flammwerfertrupps (from Div. Pi. Komp. 104) in the last three missions (Stosstruppunternehmen)." original text: "Das Unternehmen wird diesmal ohne Flammenwerfer durchgef?hrt, da bei den letzten drei grossen Unternehmungen die Verluste der Flammenwerfertrupps hundertprozentig waren. Angeforderte und zugesagte Brandr?hren zur ausr?ucherung der feindlichen Unterst?nde wurden nicht zeitlich geliefert. Was sich empfindlich beim Ablauf des Unternehmens bemerkbar machte." Here is the link to the thread I started on a trench raid: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2116...mp;#entry201790 Regards, Hardy

Darrell, elitemiltaria: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2140...mp;#entry203849

quote: "...another bunch of goofs bidding beyond reason? " yes Darrell Regards, Hardy

The date is Jan 12 1913 the card is from Mr. Heinrich's nephew Richard in Braunschweig, he says that the Photo is of his Korporalschaft Hardy

Dante, her name is Mrs. Zeussel Regards, Hardy

according to Brockhaus, 1923; Germany had in the begining of 1918 twenty Kampfsturmwagen (tanks) and by the end of the war forty-five tanks of German design. Hardy

Paul, the award was handed out until September 1944, but only for soldiers that met the criteria of having paticipated in the Russian winter campaign before April 26. 1942. To be considered for this award, one had to have served on the Russian or Finnish/Russian front between Nov 1941 and the spring of 1942. http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/campaign_a...wintermedal.htm

Paul, Josef Mairinger is still alive: http://ol-sbg.at/ Hardy

Paul, you've been busy reading! Crash course in German? Hardy