Foot Artillery...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nothing worse to track down than these

Fussartillerie-Batterie 396, Kanonier Robert Witt was awarded the Iron Cross on the 17 October 1916, the batterie was part of the XV. Reservekorps.

It was awarded for fighting from 1914-15 on the Western and eastern front where he was wounded and in the Vogesen in 1916. More info there is not.

In the book on the Feldartillery I have found Nada, anyone have any ideas

[Guest Rick Research]

Not FELD, FU?:

That battery is NOT in the "Waffengedenkbuch der K?nigl. Bayer. Schweren Artillerie," which covers ALL Bavarian Foot Artillery units right down to these independent batteries, so you're stuck with something ?Prussian.

Non-Bavarian, anyway.

Lotsa luck! These are worse than cavalry micro-detachments to track down.

[Chip]

Chris,

In the "Foot Artillery Index to The German Forces in the Field. Revised, December, 1916" the 396.Battery is listed as being in the Vosges Sector: the Plaine-the Thur. No date of identification or caliber of gun is given for this unit. In the February 1918 edition of the same publication, it is listed in the Alsace sector. Not much, but perhaps some verification.

Chip

[David Gregory]

Chris,

In the "Foot Artillery Index to The German Forces in the Field. Revised, December, 1916" the 396.Battery is listed as being in the Vosges Sector: the Plaine-the Thur. No date of identification or caliber of gun is given for this unit. In the February 1918 edition of the same publication, it is listed in the Alsace sector. Not much, but perhaps some verification.

Chip

Chip,

Is that source a contemporary intelligence analysis or a post-war OOB?

Many thanks in advance,

David

[Chip]

David,

Contemporary intelligence, which was not declassified until 1947! This particular copy is ink stamped on the cover "Intelligence Section A, General Staff, A.E.F.", though the work is British. By 1918 this single volume had grown to two volumes, one covering sectors and the other units.

Regarding foot artillery units, I also have a compilation of information that was put together by Major Hans-Rudolf von Stein for eventual publication in "Zeitschrift f?r Heereskunde". He and Major Kling were doing a series on the German army in the world war. They got through the infantry and about half of the information, when the publication lost interest (according to von Stein) and never printed the rest. I made a copy of the manuscript back in the 1980s. After his death, some years ago, I have no idea what happened to the original manuscript (or his world class collection for that matter). The only units that are not covered are the Train troops, which the Major thought no one would ever be able to accurately chronical.

Chip

Edited February 14, 2006 by Chip