Fuss Artillerie Regiment nr 25

[christerd]

Hi all,

I just bought a doc for the Brunswick Front Line Clasp to a man at Fuss Artillerie Regiment 25 Batt 1

Does anyone know anything about this regiment ?

I suppose Friedrich Weber must have been a Brunswich native to get this award ? Or has the FuAR 25 some connection to Brunswick ?

Edited January 8, 2014 by christerd

[Chris Boonzaier]

I saw that one, nice catch!

With Fussartillerie the regiment is just a starting point... you need to find where the battalion was... I will be home on the weekend and can give it a try.

[christerd]

Aha , Thanks Chris

So the Fussartillerie batllions where spread out on different places ?

I have to read something about these strange Fuss Rgts Why the name for instance ? Did´nt they have horses ?

Looking forward to any info at all

Christer

[Chris Boonzaier]

IG can answer that one better than I.... so I wil wait for his answer...

[Dave Danner]

For the Bewährungsabzeichen, one had to be a native of Braunschweig. Didn't matter which unit. There are a handful of exceptions, where the Duke personally intervened, such as Lt.d.R. Werner v. Bülow, who was not a native of the duchy and was in the 3.GUR. Bülow was, however, the Kapellmeister of the Herzoglich Hoftheater in Braunschweig.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Dave Danner

[IrishGunner]

Ahh, the tangled and confusing web of Fußartillerie

Let's deal with the horses and foot first. In the beginning, both artillery and horses were quite expensive. Money was spent on guns, not horses; that's why artillery is called the King of Battle; only rich kings could afford the expensive guns. And in the beginning, usually only officers rode horses. Many times in the cavalry, the officer had to provide his own horse; thus the cavalry having a large share of aristocracy. Artillery officers on the other hand were usually middle class origins; so, even they had problems getting horses. (Yea, I know, generalizations.) Artillery also was heavy and usually relegated to garrisons or for use in sieges (in the UK the heavy artillery was called "Garrison" artillery; in the US "Coast Artillery" - owing to its heavy guns and application); the idea of light horse-drawn artillery is really a mid to late 19th century innovation (although there were horse drawn artillery cases in the 17th and 18th century - these were rare exceptions in armies). So, the animals (including oxen) that were available to drag these heavy siege weapons about, were used just for that...to drag the heavy weapons...that is if they left the garrisons (or forts) in the first place. The gunners had to walk...by foot. And often had to help drag the guns. Therefore, Fußartillerie or Artillerie à pieds for the French.

Feldartillerie on the other hand was light and horse drawn to be brought into battle quickly on the front line to support the infantry. Different size guns and different application. The guns were usually light enough that the gunners could ride on the gun and still be pulled by a team of horses. That's where you find the horses - again, predominantly in the mid to late 19th Century.

Of course, even the heavy artillery - Fußartillerie - was horse drawn during the war and gunners rode the accompanying caissons, but the name dates from long before this change occured during the war. Later tractors come in to play for the heavy artillery (Fuss could also be called "heavy" or "schwere" artillery). While, Feld continued to be horse-drawn even into WW2.

Edited January 9, 2014 by IrishGunner

[IrishGunner]

Now for finding Fußartillerie ... it's damn near impossible - most times - without some specific information.

Fußartillerie Regiments provided general support fires for Corps and Army-level commands, as well as manned coastal and fortress Artillery. The study of the Fußartillerie can be quite frustrating; there were many re-organizations, units changed headquarters more frequently than their socks, and references are very inconsistent. A Corps initially had one or two associated regiments of Fußartillerie ; however, once the war began, the Fußartillerie no longer fought as regiments. Battalions were allocated individually and regimental staffs assumed duties as Corps Artillery commands. As the war progressed, heavy artillery units often remained in one sector and frequently changed its higher headquarters affiliation. Usually there were 8 or 9 batteries allocated to a quiet division sector, with twice that many in a division sector considered more active. Heavy batteries within a sector would come under control of the divisional Artillery commander; the heavy batteries would usually remain in place as divisions rotated throughout the front.

So, Chris is correct regarding knowing his battalion; your doc says 1. Batterie - so, that was I. Bataillon - at least for starters. Based on the above, the battalion could have been an operational headquarters for several batteries from different regiments. You really need to know where his battery was to get a fix on him. And day to day, the battery could be under a different HQ; so, references - other than a regimental history - are not conclusive.

In 1914, there were 20 active Fußartillerie regiments; so, 25. was a war-raised unit. In 1914, there were about 400 batteries of heavy artillery. With war-raised units, there were 2,250 Fußartillerie batteries by January 1918. In addition to regiments, a number of independent Fußartillerie batteries (numbered 101-150 and 200-800) and battalions (numbered from 21 upwards) were formed during the war. So, you can see how difficult it is to pin-point a Fußartillerie battery.

It's only a guess right now (I have to pull out some books), but I figure 25. Fußartillerie was formed 1915-16. I have no idea - yet - of exactly when or where or under which HQ. I will have to again pull out the books. According to my decidedly "non-authoritative" sources, after the re-organization of early May, 1918, I believe the 25. Fußartillerie was divided as follows:

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/I.Bataillon - 49.RD

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/II.Bataillon - 111.ID

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/III.Bataillon - 84.ID

That should put your guy somewhere around the 49. RD in June 1918 - maybe - based on the date of your doc, but I have nothing more specific on the 25. Fußartillerie. I don't even own an item to this regiment yet. At least it's a step for you from the starting line.

Edited January 9, 2014 by IrishGunner

[IrishGunner]

According to a British General Staff publication in February 1918, "Foot Artillery; Index to the German Forces in the Field",

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/I.Bataillon - with three batteries, including 1. Battarie, was in the Argonne Sector as of 2 Nov 1917. The battery reportedly had 4 15cm howitzers.

My guess would be that the howitzers were 15cm schweres Feldhaubitze M13

That's about as much as I can give you... I'd try to find more about the 49. RD as the next step. Maybe the Prussian or Chip have some references that I do not have...they know quite a bit on the topic.

Edited January 9, 2014 by IrishGunner

[Glenn J]

According to my decidedly "non-authoritative" sources, after the re-organization of early May, 1918, I believe the 25. Fußartillerie was divided as follows:

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/I.Bataillon - 49.RD

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/II.Bataillon - 111.ID

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/III.Bataillon - 84.ID

That certainly corresponds with the situation given for October 1918 in a manuscript by Major a.D. Hans-Rudolf v. Stein. The battle credits for 49. Reserve-Division in this period were as follows:

14 Dec 1917 - 3 Apr 1918: Positional battles in Flanders and Artois

3 to 9 Apr 1918: Positional battles in Flanders

10 to 29 Apr 1918: Battle of Kemmel

30 Apr to 28 August 1918: Positional Warfare in Flanders

Regards

Glenn

[The Prussian]

According to a British General Staff publication in February 1918, "Foot Artillery; Index to the German Forces in the Field",

Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25/I.Bataillon - with three batteries, including 1. Battarie, was in the Argonne Sector as of 2 Nov 1917. The battery reportedly had 4 15cm howitzers.

My guess would be that the howitzers were 15cm schweres Feldhaubitze M13

That's about as much as I can give you... I'd try to find more about the 49. RD as the next step. Maybe the Prussian or Chip have some references that I do not have...they know quite a bit on the topic.

Hello IG!

In 1918 the I./25 consisted of the the companies 1, 2 and 4

They were equipped with:

1. and 2. company: schwere Feldhaubitze 13

4.company: 10cm canon M04

Here are the guns:

[christerd]

Wow , Thanks a lot , impressing . Artillery is a unknown area to me in WW1 ( which is strange realizing the fact that the most casualties was probable just from shells)

thank you again , I will start to look for some good books in the subject

christer

[christerd]

And when you start researching it never ends

Now I found a document to Res Fussart Rgt 25 ! I This time from Baden , seems that a lot of different States has interest in this Rgt

Obergefreiter Viktor Rauenbühler was awarded the " Silberne Verdienstmedallie " from Baden May 17 1918, he was in 10th Batt.

Christer

[The Prussian]

Hi Christer!

It´s 10.Batterie/Fußart.Rgt., not the reserve-Regiment!

Only the soldier was a resrevist

[Dave Danner]

The Rauenbühler family was from Baden. Viktor is not there, but every other Rauenbühler in the casualty lists was from just south of Karlsruhe.

[christerd]

Aha , so now I have two docs for the same Rgt

Probably a beginnig for a new collection , Fuss Art Rgt 25 here I come !!

Christer