[Bayonetcollector]

It was sent by Paul Krüger of the 1st minenwerfer batallion to Elly Krüger. It was dated the 6th of may 1916, but stamped in Markendorf, Jüterbog on the 6th of june 1916...

"Waffenmeisterei des 1. u. 2. Minenwerfer Ers. Batt", "Armoury of the 1st and 2nd Mortar replacement batallion".

 

[Bayonetcollector]

And more, from early days. Never translated.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

And more

 

[Bayonetcollector]

Memory cards...

This is infantryman Johann Kropfmüller, house owner from Wildenranna. He died aged 29 near Souain on the 19th of march 1915. He was in K. B. (royal bavarian? Or what?) Landwehr infantry regiment, 6th company. He is buried in a mass grave in Souain. Of the 11 722 in that grave, only 1 515 were identified, he is one of those.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

Here is Georg Gruber. He was a Machine Gunner (schütze) of the 3rd machine gun Company of the 20th bavarian infantry regiment. He went missing in action on the 4th of april 1918 during the battle of Moreuil. I've not been able to locate his grave, but there is one who would have been 21, like him, in 1918. He went missing on the same date, 4th of april only it is listed in 1945... could be an error in the data there, or a completely different fellow, of course. How often would someone with the same name and the same birth year be missing on the same date, only 27 years apart? Like winning the Lotto? Could happen I guess...

 

[Bayonetcollector]

This is Sebastian Hangendobler, economists son of Bad Aibling. He was a soldier in the mountain machine gun company (? abteilung) 209.

"who, on the 8th of april 1918, while performing his duty of bringing the supplies (food) to the position, by a grenade shot, at the age of 29 years and 6 months, found the hero's death."

 

[Bayonetcollector]

GustafB's comments:

Very interesting photo, these would be French prisoners sone time after 1915 due to the M1915 Bluses worn by the German gaurds. The different cap is a French Bonet du Police, or what we refer to as an overseas, or side cap. It apperas that these French soldiers were captured early in the war, that is to say, before the French swithced over to the Horizon Blue uniforms. I am not sure, but I suspect that the badges/discs on the French POW's caps are their prisoner ID tags. I have on that my great uncle brought home from the camp at Holtzminden, and the dimensions are the same. It is interesting in that Holzminden was the camop where the original "Great Escape" took place, the experiance from this escape was used to make the training manual that taught the boys in WWI who took part in the better know "Great Escap" What is really interesting is that both escapes are so close in the way that they came out, right down to the numbe that escaped, and the number that returned home. The biggest differance was that in WWI, none of the escapees were executed.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

ChipMs comments:

The Saxons (you can identify them from their distinctly Saxon tunic cuffs) are members of the 108th Schützen Regiment. Their caps had a black band, piped on top and bottom in green with green crown piping. Their uniforms were in Graugrün wool, rather than Feldgrau, like the rest of the regular infantry. Though dressed similarly to the Jägers, they were considered a regular line infantry regiment.

The second card was mailed by Ersatz Reservist Winkel.

The third picture is of the NCOs and enlisted men of the III Battalion Staff of the Baden I(J)nfantry Regiment Nr.184. The Bavarians did not have numbered regiments in this series.

The fourth card is from the Fernsprech Abteilung Nr.87. They are wearing the uniforms of the Telegraphentruppen with Litzen on their collars and cuffs.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

Dated the 17th of February 1915.
The text reads:
"Der rest der Compagnie 10/234. seit 10/10.14 am 27/1.15. Viele Grüsse. Hermann."
This translates to:
"What is left of the company 10/234. since the 10th of october 1914 on the 27th of january 1915 Greetings. Hermann."

The 51st Reserve was formed between August and October, 1914 and "went into action northeast of Ypres in the middle of October. It fought on the line Cortemarck-Moorslede on the 22nd, reached Langemarck on the 24th, finally took up its position near Poelcapplelle." It remained near Ypres through 1915 and then the 234th went to the Somme... Despite being in a relatively static position, they were very busy.

Information from "Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War (1914 - 1918)” first published in 1920 by the U.S. War Office as Document No. 905, Office of the Adjutant General.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

This one is of a German soldier, but how German is he? It is adressed to Christian Eriksen in Schleswig Holstein. That area was subject of bitter disputes between Denmark and Germany, during WWI(and now) the area was German. As stated, it shows a German soldier. He sent it from Feld-Rekr,-Depot 238, field recruit depot 238, but it is written in danish. In other words this soldier was of the Danish population of Schleswig Holstein. He actually looks Danish!This will be Peter Eriksen. It is dated 18th of August 1917.

He died on 16th of september 1917, less than a month after he mailed the card from the recruit depot. Seems he hardly had time to unpack at the front before he died. He is buried in a known grave in Neuville-St.Vaast, if I'm not mistaken that is not far from Arras.

 

[Bayonetcollector]

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