Lt. Loibl - Siberian POW

[Luftmensch]

Here is the Loibl group--minus the Litewka which is well-packed away against voracious moths, but it's your basic officer's type with Bavarian dicing and Flieger boards.

I only have three small photos of Loibl:

His service record, from a 1935 document:

Here is his Leutnant's patent:

[Luftmensch]

Loibl is awarded his EK II on October 28, 1914, with the Feldartillerie Reg't. No. 5:

His Bavarian Service Order 4, Cl. came a year later, after he passed the prelim. Artillery Observer course while on the rolls of the Feldartillerie Reg't. No. 9, and had just begun specialised Observer training with Flieger-Ersatz-Abteling No. 1:

This certificate attests to his fully fledged status as flying Observer, dated June 7, 1916, from the Bavarian Militar-Luft-und-Kraftfahr-Wesens, by which time he had already been months at the Front with Feldflieger Abt. 4.

Edited December 3, 2005 by Luftmensch

[Luftmensch]

One week later he is awarded his Oberserver's badge, on June 15, 1916:

[Luftmensch]

Some close-ups:

Poellath etc. is stamped on the pin.

[Luftmensch]

Six weeks later he was shot down. Reinhard dug up this fantastic report by Loibl of his capture:

Report by Lt.d.R. Loibl on his capture:

On 31 August 1916 I made a long-distance flight with Unteroffizier Busse as my pilot from bayer. Feldfliegerabteilung 4 b from Kowel to Kowno. The aircraft took a shot above Kowno and we had to make an emergency landing, as the cooling water was draining out of the tank and the motor was overheating.

We landed next to a single farm with the intention to repair the damage. Threatening the owner with a pistol, we gathered what we needed.

After we had been working for about an hour, we suddenly started receiving strong and effective fire in the right flank from a wood at a distance of about 300 m. We received several more rounds in the machine. Since fire from such a short distance would have quickly dispatched us, I had little time to react and quickly decided to take the machine gun and placed the wood under strong and continuous fire.

Russian soldiers in the wood had already formed up and approached us under cover and had occupied the edge of the wood. My strong machine gun fire silenced the Russian fire, which meant that nothing more was undertaken against us during the further 1 ? hours that we needed for the repair. When the motor was finally repaired, we taxied off and had to pass the dairy as the terrain left us no other choice. This is where the accident happened when a cow from a grazing herd took fright and ran onto the runway and just clipped the propeller and undercarriage, as we weren?t any higher. We crashed right next to the farm, and the soldiers and farmhands gathered there leapt on us and took us prisoner. This was at about 12 o?clock midday.

We were transported to Kowno in the evening.

I declare that this statement is made to the best of my knowledge and conscience.

Hans Loibl

Ltn.d.Res. a.D.

Personally I would have given Loibl a Plm for his coolness under fire but, then, I'm not the Kaiser and am probably a little biased. Reinhard, what was your source on this?

Loibl has a few photos of Russian troops in the field:

Included was a souvenir officer's board, probably from his counterpart in a Russian Artillery regiment.

Edited December 4, 2005 by Luftmensch

[Stogieman]

Now that's about as interesting a group as they get. Could I get an extreme close-up of the badge please? Front & Back of course! Nice group! Very nice!

[joe campbell]

wonderful konvolut!

i never DID have much use for some cows....

joe

[Luftmensch]

Some of his mail home, from before he was shot down--mostly undecipherable to me, unfortunately!

Here was his operational map of Western Russia marked up in grease pencil, with the towns Gai and Imbrody heavily underlined:

[Luftmensch]

For the next four years this was his new home:

[Luftmensch]

I don't know if these are camp officers, but they look important. I've copied the backs in case any one can decipher the captions...

[Bob Hunter]

What a wonderful grouping! Thanks for sharing it!

[Luftmensch]

Anyone ID the badges on these VIPs?

[Luftmensch]

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Edited December 4, 2005 by Luftmensch

[Luftmensch]

But camp life was not just watching the Russians bury cows...

I think this fellow is taking down warm congratulations from the Czar, or Kerensky, or Lenin?

[Luftmensch]

There are a bunch of reports on Offiziersgefangenenlager Omsk published after the war, recording conditions in the camp and camp life from March to November 1917, all signed FRAU NEUMANN as if she were there, which I think is some sort of nom de guerre, but I don't get the reason for the sex change.

There is also a programme for some camp theatrical production with scenes entitled:

"Tartaren - Vorratszeltlager am kleinen Bazar."

"Ankunft neuer Gaeste vor der Kanzlei. April 1916"

"Feier in der Tuerkenbaracke zu Ehren Thronbesteigung Mehmed V"

"Alte Herren-Faustball"

A Lt. Nikolai was cast in a few parts, along with some Leutnants, Hauptmanns, U-Arzts, and Doktors. No drag acts, and no Lt. Loibl who looks way to serious to let his hair down.

There is no evidence of mail home during this time, just a blank postcard:

I did the shadow effect to simulate prison bars. You guys deserve the best in visual effects.

Edited December 3, 2005 by Luftmensch

[Luftmensch]

And after he returned in 1920, his buddies gave him eine kleine tchotchke, to commemorate their stay in Russia:

[Luftmensch]

Between the wars he got caught up in some paperwork. Here for his Black Wound Badge, "an 12.5.15 bei Carency an rechten Unterarm verwundet."

His EK 1:

and

[Luftmensch]

He picked up his EK1

Which he must have worn through WW2 so it's showing the worse for wear

[Luftmensch]

Which only leaves a relatively peaceful WW2 digging a few walls...

and a happy retirement...we hope!

[Luftmensch]

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Edited December 3, 2005 by Luftmensch

[Guest Rick Research]

Fantastic group! I know of no other Siberian POW camp group like this (what a difference a number after "World War..." made!) and the only one "better" (hundreds upon hundreds of photographs and vast documentation of theater performances, "camp council" meeting records, home transport papeers and so on) came from a Tsingtau POW German marine officer in Japan...

"last seen" in Australia (where he ended up in 1939 and his daughter was still living 15 or so years ago).

Literally UNIQUE.

"No. 4" says "Russ. Offiziersquartier

In der Mitte der Feldprediger (...) No. 3.

Rechts und (...) die Parutschik (sic!) (= Oberleutnant)"

"No. 6" says "Links in Mitte die Oberleutnant,

rechts die (....) (wohl 'Einj?hriger' oder soeben)"

Unfortunately he has not NAMED the camp officers, with whom relations were obviously frendly--

again, contrast some 20 years later and

The little badges are school graduation badges.

[Gerd Becker]

Mir fehlen die Worte

I have also never seen such a COMPLETE group .

[Luftmensch]

Many thanks for the translations, Rick. I am hopeless with script. I have another German/Russian group with a twist which I shall post someday. Perhaps you can shed some light on what that pilot was doing there (he wasn't behind barbed wire!)

Rgds

John