AOK4

Hello Dave,

Thanks! That's more than I had found in the Ranglisten. From which publication is this?

Kind regards,

Jan

The matter is solved. He is mentioned for the last time in the 1865 Rangliste as Major in II/IR 15.

Jan

Hello,

I know the article of the National German Biography (and all other online articles).

Jan

Hello,

I am looking for information on Oberstleutnant Heinrich Sixt von Armin, 1818-1872. He was the father of General der Infanterie Friedrich Bertram, commander of the German 4th Army 1917-1918 and grandfather of Generalleutnant Hans-Heinrich (1890-1952).

Would anyone have some Ranglisten from around 1860-1870 to check his position at that point?

Thanks,

Jan

There's a new German medal bar with a Finnish 1918 medal... http://www.ebay.de/itm/096-Deutschland-Ordensspange-Schnalle-1914-1939-/331992190035

Does anybody have more information about the unit or the officer during WWI?

Jan

Hello,

I am looking for information about an "Abteilung Eltze" during WWI.

Could it be connected to Oberst a.D. Eltze, who was an Abschnittskommandeur der Festung Metz at some point?

Thanks in advance,

Jan

There is even a divisional history of the 4. Ersatz-Division.

I have somewhere an original batallion war diary for some months in 1916 of IR 360 somewhere, if I'm not mistaken (my library is a bit of mess for the moment).

Jan

Infanterie-Geschütz-Batterie 6 worked together with Sturm-Bataillon 4.

Sturm-Bataillon 4 had a MW Kompanie with 8 leichte Minenwerfer, a MG Kompanie with 9 MG 08 (later 10 and increased to 12 by 1918) and 2 Sturm-Kompanien (at least early 1917) with 2 MG 08/15 each (by 1918 24 MG 08/15 belonged to Sturm-Bataillon 4).

Sturm-Bataillon 4 also had a MG Kompanie of a Landsturm-Infanterie-Bataillon at its disposal for MG training.

Jan

His stuff is for sale on zvab...

Fascinating stuff!

Is there any mention of the personnel of the army flying units operating in this theatre: FA 16, FA 37 and FA (A) 214?

Thanks for sharing - I will continue to watch this thread with interest

Matt.

I have a few German aerial pictures of Finland, but only one has the usual information. This one is taken from the 1. Seeflieger-Abteilung on 12 April 1918 (no names of either pilot or observer unfortunately).

Sorry but would the book have Oberleutnant zur See Karl Wersin ?

I can't even find the name in the Marine-Ehrenrangliste...

A little something to add to the Thread..... one of my first ever EK docs....

Can somebody give me a bib, I'm drooling all over my keyboard...

Great item this!!!!

Thanks Dave , the book all pics are coming from is from a book printed in Helsinki some years after the war , in eight volumes.

named " The Independence war in Finland 1918 "

Christer

Hello,

Could you give some more details about the book? I've got quite a few books about the Finnish War of 1918, but not this one apparently.

Jan

Hello,

It did see a bit of action on the Eastern Front, but was pulled back for training early 1917 after some disagreement about the use of the battalion in the frontline (the Finns weren't that eager to die for Germany but wanted to fight for their own independence). Some Jägers died in combat or were taken prisoner though.

Jan

I've always wanted one of those armbands! The museum here had one, but it was stolen in a break-in in 1980s. Sadly, it was probably thrown away, as the thieves took things at random, firearms, insignia, etc. Anyway, it never resurfaced.

Chip

You have 1.500 euros available? There's one on eBay Germany...

I agree that prices have gone up considerably. Another matter is that there is hardly anything coming up for sale any more. I used to buy a few off ebay US every now and then (prices there are usually cheaper than Germany), but the source there seems to be dry at least for a few months now...

Where does the Preußisches Jäger Bataillon Nr. 27 fit in here? According to Andreas's list, they were not a part of the Ostsee Division. They had been trained by and were part of the German army, even though the unit was formed primarily from Finnish nationals. Did it go to Finnland independently and did it still have German officers?

Chip

Hello,

The battalion was disbanded upon arrival in Finland. They did a last parade in Vaasa when they got there and then Mannerheim disbanded the unit and spread the men all around. There was quite a bit of upset about this decision, but in the end they accepted.

The reason behind Mannerheim's decision was probably twofold: 1. he didn't want a purely German-trained unit in his army (he wasn't pro-German himself) 2. (the main reason and his official reason) he wanted the experienced soldiers all over his new inexperienced army to upgrade the overall value.

A lot of Jäger were active in 1918 in training units or as junior officers.

The discussion with the Jägers continued as Mannerheim preferred Swedish or former Russian high-ranking officers to lead the new Finnish army (old-style, mainly from old military and/or noble families). In the end of course, the Jägers took over.

Jan

Hello,

This is my Jäger badge.

No number is visible on the back as it has a screwback mounted later (probably hiding the number which was usually put in the center).

Jan

Hi Andreas!

No, I don´t think so. Because your helmet has a reserve-cross (Reserve-Kreuz). Those helmets were worn by Reserve and Landwehr units. Are there any stamps inside?

That´s not completely correct. It depended on the personal status of the owner of the helmet. Plenty of reserve officers in active units and vice versa. Besides, these higher numbered units were a mixture of all kinds of soldiers.

I would say it may be connectedto each other.

Oberleutnant Redlich was in charge of 7/RIR 263 on 2/2/1915, when the regiment went to the front.

Yeah, but "Marne" is misspelled. Send it back

No it isn't. Manre is a place in the Champagne...

Perhaps he got otherwise ill while being a prisoner.

He may have pulled some strings to get the EK1 after the war (when one might easily get it if one knew the right person). Since he was some time in the Kriegsministerium and since he may have had some family connections, it may not have been that difficult to be awarded a EK1.

Jan

Hello,

According to Verlustliste 523 Utffz Otto von der Mülbe (6/Garde-Grenadier-Regiment 2) was lightly wounded on 7 September 1914 before he became a French POW in the hospital in Reims (according to the regimental history, quite a few wounded were captured there).

By the time the Verlustliste was published (June 1915), he was promoted Leutnant.

Prisoner Exchange over Switzerland (with France) was quite frequent. Usually only prisoners that were severely wounded (and were not expected to be able to serve again) were exchanged.

It was not unusual that officers were promoted and/or received qome kind of medals while being a prisoner of war. And a lot of the IC's were only awarded after the war had finished...

Perhaps the wound wasn't severe enough for a wound badge or the thing got forgotten...

Jan

Strangly enough, Größle isn't mentioned in the battalion history of JägBtl 14 either (even though supposedly all officers are listed there)...