Bernhard H.Holst

Thanks to Ulsterman for the nice short description of the Battle of Langensalza. which sad event is still remembered by some folks who grew up in the former Kingdom of Hanover as did this writer. The much maligned Kaiser Wilhelm II did try very hard to mend fences with the Hanoverian population and instituted many honors to the Hanoverian regiments to honor their past achievements in battles and campaigns going back to the siege of Gibraltar (1780's) by the institution of the Gibraltar cuff-band) Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: His profession given is that of "Prokurist". For those unfamiliar with this it indicates that a Prokurist is authorized to conduct business for a company including signing on behalf of a company which would be binding. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello : I stumbled across very interesting entries in Ludlow Beamish' "History of the King's German Legion" as follows: In the section of officers placed on half pay is listed Lt. John Charles Christoph Huenicken ( like nearly all names his were apparently anglicised (s) from Johann Carl ..) who rose from the ranks and assigned to the Garrison Company. having on 13th Jan.1812 at Ciudad Rodrigo lost both legs amputated he received the full pay of his rank on retirement which began in Aug.1814. Lt. Huenicken was commissioned with rank of 21st Feb. 1809. Lt. Huenicken (also given as Hueneeken) apparently served in the First Line Battalion. He had participated in the 1805 expedition to his home state of Hanover, The Mediterranean campaign of 1806-1807, expedition to the Baltic 1807-1808 and finally the Peninsula Campaign from 1808 until his severe wounding in 1812. He died on 4.Jun.1824 in Goslar, Kingdom of Hanover. No medals are listed for this gallant officer. Amazing that he survived the surgery. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: Ludlow Beamish' "History of the King's German Legion" which contains a listing of all officers and personnel with officers rank does not list a Henry Mueller who could be the one referred to above. ( two are listed of whom one was killed during a French sortie at Bayonne 14.Apr.1814.while serving in the 2nd Line Battailon ) BTW: a considerable number of officers seems to have come from NCO ranks. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Paul: I read it as "Lauer" but have some misgivings. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello readers: In addition to the very moving posts and pictures it may be of note that the younger brother of Hermann Koopmann, Knightscross recipient Erwin Koopmann, DoB 1.Jan.1900, died on the Eastern Front on 13.Nov.1943. He was also awarded the German Cross i.Gold and listed on the Honor Roll of the Army shortly before his death. Maj.Erwin Koopmann was in command of Grenadier Regt. 76 and was promoted to Oberstleutnant posthumously. Thank you for the posts and pictures. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello readers: Another name which struck a bell is Heinrichs. I believe him to be the later Chief of Stff of the Finnish Army during the 1941-1944 war against the Soviet Union and highly decorated by both his country and Germany. Perhaps someone ca confirm this. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris: Thank you for showing what must be a rare document. Noteworthy is the location at which the document was completed (Port Said). The paperwork must have been attended to during the return trip from the Far East. Bernhard H. Holst

hello Rick: Here is my SWAG: Graf Haydek or Hayduk ( the latter name rings a very faint bell in my mind!) Bernhard H. Holst

Hello all: "Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache". It may be of passing interest that I began grade-school in Germany learning to write on a slate and doing so in Suetterlin. After two years we graduated to pen and paper AND modern script. We also were subject to corporal punishment (in retrospect I dare say it has not affected my mental well-being but it did encouraged the others a few , valuable times. My grades in the subject "Deutsch" were always shall I say acceptable and I can still carry on a conversation during which I seem to be understood and write without the need of a dictionary. The punctuation is also still present but there are some hard and fast rules. My high school English learned the hard way while taught by a very disciplinary minded female teacher also stuck so that upon entering the US Army I passed all tests then applied to recruits incl. the one allowing me to apply for Officers Candidate School.. the difficulties of teaching the metric system incl. meters or the 24 hours military time was just beyond the grasp of many .Now it is sad to see what our tax money buys in education. As mentioned above reliance on spell-checker is great ( grate and great and brake and break come readily to mind. I have heard too many times:" I can't spell , ha, ha haa" or " I have not touched a book since college". But I must disagree with those who consider English a difficult language. they cannot know French, Russian , Chinese or for that matter German. Just my two-cents worth. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Bob: I have been on the search of L. Boell's "Die Operationen in Ostafrika Weltkrieg 1914-1918, published in Hamburg 1951. Ludwig.Boell was an officer (Lt, Oblt..and Hptm.as of 1917) under P.v.Lettow-Vorbeck and served in German East-Africa since 1913. , twice severely wounded he became a British POW in Sep.1918. He had several different assignments incl.that of Company Commander. Post war as of 1926 he was a civil service employee at the Reichsarchiv-Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung , last as Oberregierungsrat. He must have had access to whatever sources were then available. I believe that book published after WW II to contain information not available to most of the writers about the war in that far-away area. . My source here is the obscure "Das Offizierskorps der Schutztruppe fuer Deutsch-Ostafrika im Weltkrieg 1914-1918" 2003, ISSN 1430-6352 Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Vetinari: As you most likely know and I am adding this explanation for the benefit of those viewers perhaps unfamiliar : Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg is greeting officers of the old imperial army. The insignia on the visor hat of the one officer indicates this photo as having been taken during the time of the Weimar Republic when Feldmarschall v.Hindenburg was the president. As to the identity of other officers: that is beyond me Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Naxos: I read it as "RUB" (Reserve Unteroffizier Bewerber) but do agree with the rest. Bernhard H. Holst

I would read the inscription as ; "Herrn Stabsarzt Dr. Opper Zur freundlichen Erinnerung Juli 1915 I believe the abbreviations to be somewhat in use as a matter of expediency or to make use of limited space. For those among us not proficient in German " In kind remembrance " Bernhard H. Holst

- The third and last re-supply effort by Germany for its Protective Force in then German East-Africa was planned and implemented by the German Admiralty. This time an airship was to be used for the 3,600 -mile trip. The Zeppelin L-57 was to be so utilized but crashed due to lightning strike in Oct.1917 . It was replaced by L-59 which appeared to have been purpose-built for a re-supply mission.in the Fall of 1917. The ship was powered by five engines with a total of 1,200 horsepower and a useful lift of 114,000 pounds . Its range was estimated as 10,000 miles. Its cargo was 15 tons of medical supplies , machine-guns, ammunition, bush-knives, field glasses, and other useful items. Because a return of the airship was not anticipated all material used in its construction was designed for other uses after arrival: the balloon envelope could be used for tenting, its lining for bandages, its gasbags as sleeping bags; huts and a radio tower could be built from its Duralumin frame; the catwalks being of leather could be used for boots. Dr.Eckener, its designer flew the airship together with Captain Lehmann ( who died in the crash of the "Hindenburg") to Bulgaria. There the Zeppelin was turned over to Lt.Cmdr. Ludwig Bockholt. Lt.Cmdr. Bockholt had distinguished himself earlier while in command of L-23 by capturing a Norwegian schooner "Royal" which was carrying mining timber to England. He had lowered a prize crew from the airship which crewd the vessel to Germany. L-59 departed Bulgaria on 21.Sep.1917 with a crew of twenty-one. Traversing friendly Turkey, flying over the Mediterranean then the length of British controlled Egypt into the airspace of the Sudan. The most challinging period was while traveling over the desert where the glaring sun caused severe headaches and also hallucinations The airship also reacted violently with rolls and loss of height. While in the larger vicinity of Khartoum a faint radio messge reached the airship.to turn back. The commander reached the decision to do that. It seems that rumors of such an expedition were circulating among teh British forces but no British chase plane was observed during both parts of the journey which lasted a total of 95 hours and traveled a distance of 4,220 miles. It landed safely on 25,Nov.1917 in Bulgaria. The airship still carried eleven tons of fuel or enough for another sixty-four hours of flight (3,700 miles). Lt.Cmdr. Bockholt died in what seemed an accident while on a mission to bomb Malta in Apr.1918. The L-59 was surrendered to the British after the war and her subsequent fate is unknown. Source: again "The Grat War in Africa" by Byron Farwell, the author of a number of books on warfare with which many of the readers are acquainted. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Bob: the above quoted book""Blockadebrecher Marie" contains remarks about v.Kaltenborn-Stachau's service at the Dardamelles. The book while written in a somewhat romantic style appears to me based on reliable sources. It contains photos from the various voyages and internment of the Captain Soerensen and some companions during the voyage to East Africa and the attempts made to return to Germany after completing their mission. Unfortunately no picture of v.Kaltenborn-Stachau. Bernhard H. Holst

-Second Re-supply operation in 1916. Under the command of Lt.z.S.d.R. Konrad Soerensen the Sperrbrecher 15 was outfitted to re-supply the German Protective Forces in then German Eastafrica fighting under some severe shortages of all kinds of material. A list of the most urgently needed items was conveyed to Germany via the still neutral colony of Portugal Mozambique of Portugal. Captain Soerensen had been assigned to a section in the German Admiralty concerned with marine matters in overseas since Dec.1915. Another formerly British ship was oufitted and disguised first as a Swedish ship which diguise could be altered to that of a Danish vessel. The crew of 28 were all from northern Slesvig and bi-lingual. The cargo of 1,500 tons was packed in loads of 60-65 pounds which was the possible load weight for the African porters who would have to move the cargo inland once offloaded. There were four field-howitzers , two mountain guns, ammunition incl. for the disembarked 105 mm "Koenigsberg" guns, Medical and other supplies. Materiel, clothing, food stuffs and as has been already mentioned Iron Crosses. A lone passenger, Hptm. R.R.v.Kaltenborn-Stachau assigned to the Schutztruppe would be along on this voyage. After a two months trip the ship reached the bay of Sudi ,on the very southern coast of German Eastafrica on 16.Mar.1916 and was unloaded by 27.Mar. 1916. British warships arrived too late to prevent the unloading but inflicted damages on the ship. Emergency repairs were made and a month later the ship now called "Marie" left for Dutch East Indies with a reduced crew and dispatches from the Governor Schnee for the homeland. It safely reached its destination. The further adventures of the captain ended with internment in the USA and a return to Germany several months after the armistice. On his return he was told that he had been awarded both Iron Crosses. K. Soerensen served as a reserve officer during WW II with lasr rank of K.Kptn.d.R.z.V. in the Baltic and in Norway and was discharged from service in late 1944. Sources: "The Great War in Africa" by Byron Farwell; "Blockadebrecher "Marie" by Peter Eckart, 1937 and "Das Offizierskorps der Schutztruppe fuer Deutsch-Ostafrika"

In addition to above mentions of Hptm. Roland Rudolf v. Kaltenborn-Stachau I found two remarks in books where he is mentioned as having served in the Dardanelles. It is my belief that his specialty as Fussartillerist ( heavy artillery) would have qualified him for deployment in the defenses of the Dardanelles Straights..Bernhard H. Holst

In another thread the subject of re-supply of the German Protective Forces (Schutztruppe) in then German East-Africa was touched upon.. The following is a brief description of the three efforts. There were two by sea, the first one in 1915 and the second one in 1916, both were successful. The third in 1917 by air via a Zeppelin airship did not succeed most likely by British Secret Service launching a phony radio message which caused the airship to return. - First re-supply operation by the supply ship "Rubens", a former British ship caught by the outbreak of the war in a German port. Commanded by Oblt.z.S.d.R. Karl Christiansen and sailing as a Danish flagged ship, the "Kronborg" with a Danish speaking crew it set off on 18.Feb. 1915. Her cargo consisted of 1,000 105 mm shells for the cruiser "Koenigsberg", several thousand rounds of 47 mm for the light guns in the Schutztruppe, 1,800 modern rifles to replace some of the obsolete M 1871 rifles burning black powder with 3 million rounds of ammunition , two 60 mm guns, six machine guns, tons of explosives, medical and food supplies, machine tools and other valuable goods. In addition 1,600 tons of quality coal for the "Koenigsberg" and 1,200 tons for its own use. On 14.Apr.1915 the ship reached a bay north of Tanga after barely avoiding British blocking forces who had been supplied with German messages the code of which had been broken.. Captain Christiansen decided to beach the ship, had the seacocks opened and the crew take to the boats. he was wounded in a leg. A British boarding party was turned back by machine gun fire from the shore. The precious cargo was landed in a concerted effort. Some of the small arms ammunition was water damaged and had to be salvaged by hand cleaning the individual rounds and also replacing many caps. the literature available to me does not clearly indicate the further path of the crew nor its captain. He is reported a British POW as of Dec.1915 following an attempt to return to Germany. In Oct.1917 transferred to and interned in Switzerland and returned to Germany in June 1918. Decorated with both classes of the Iron Cross and the Oldenburg F.A.Cross 1.Class. Reactivated with the outbreak of WW II he served for a time on the staff of his brother, Gen.d.Fl. Friedrich Christiansen, PlM in the Netherlands and later as F.Kpt. and Inspector General of Maritime Shipping until the end of the war. He received the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross. I will report on the other operations in future posts. Main sources for this post: "The Great War in Africa" by Byron Farwell, "Das Offizierkorps der Schutztruppe fuer Deutsch-Ostafrika im Weltkrieg 1914 - 1918" and Gordon Williamson very valuable " The War Merit Cross" Bernhard H. Holst

As already indicated above and also by Rick Research Hptm. Roland Rudolf v. Kaltenborn-Stachau arrived in then German East-Afrika on bord of one of the two resupply ships dispatched from Germany on 16.March 1916, in his case the "Marie". He commanded 1.Battery and became a British POW when he fell ill on 17.Nov.1917 at Njambinding and was held later in Egypt. After WW I he became a military instructor in Afghanistan and still later a farmer in Tanganyika Territory (former German East-Africa). He died 14.Nov.1934 in Neu-Ruppin. BTW: Then oblt. v.Kaltenborn-Stachau was assigned to the Schutztruppe fuer Kamerun (Cameroon) just before the outbreak of the war but of course could not join his new post. The stories of the two re-supply ships reaching the coast of then German East-Africa have not received their dues in my of course biased but humble opinion. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: As Chris already touched on above and I am certain has been dicussed alsewhere , the question of who was actually the officer leading trrops of the I.R. 24 who captured Fort Douaumont has been around for a very long time. The Reichsarchiv publications "Die Schlachten des Weltkrieges"in their one of several volumes describing the Battle of Verdun is quite diplomatic in treating the subject. As is known Hptm. Haupt also received the PLM. The battallion commander Maj. v. Kluefer (sp).. (name is tentaive, am on a trip and go by memory) wrote his after-action report which apparently was filed away. He was decorated with the PLM later in the war and KIA. Lt. Rackow (name ?? as above) tried for many years to receive the recognition he deserved. He received a signed picture of Kronprinz Wilhelm after the war ?!? A certain Pionier Uffz. (Kuntze ??) made up fancyful stories about his part in the capture which were full of contradictions and discrepencies. Bernhard H. Holst

One should here, I believe make mention of the courageous defenders namely the 56. and BCP (Chasseurs a Pied) of about 1300 men under the command of Lt.Col. Emile Driant. They really put up a stout defense against superior forces. One survivor later active in the resistance (Caporal Hutin) was deported and executed in 1944. Source: William Martin, Verdun 1916. Osprey. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Heiko: Entries in the afore mentioned officers list shows the following awards for Maj. Georg Kraut : R.A.O. 4.Kl.; Dienstausz.Kreuz; Bay.Mil.Verd.Orden 4.Kl., R.K.2.Kl, d. Grosshzgl.Hessisch.Verd.Ordens Philipps des Grossmuetugen; R.K.2.Kl. des Saechs.-Ernest.Hausordens and des Kgl.Saechs.Albrechts-Ordens. R.K.des Bulg.St.Alexander-Ordens, Russ. St.Stanislaus ordens 3.Kl. Eis.Kreuz 2.Kl.2.Sep.1916. the above listing may not be complete because some awards were not bestowed until after his return to Germany in 1919. On a personal note I would like to point out that Gen. Wahle, Maj.G.Kraut, Hptm. (later Gen.Maj.z.V.) Th. Tafel and of course Gen.v.Lettow-Vorbeck were well known to youth (incl.this writer) through the various writings popular prior to 1945. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Heiko: the ref. book on officers serving in the Schutztruppe fuer Deutsch-Ostafrika 1914-1918 shows this picture as being of Maj. georg Kraut. He was with Gen.v.Lettow-Vorbeck until the end. Time constraint now prevent me from listing his awards and I do not know how to post images etc. Of note is the white border of his hat indicating Schutztruppe fuer deutsch-Ostafrika. Bernhard H. Holst