Kgl. Sächs. 1. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.12

[bierast]

Introduction - more to follow soon...

All of the photos in this section come from a batch which appear to depict elements of the same Feldartillerie Regiment in the first three months or so of 1917. Most of them had writing on the back, and one identifies the infantrymen also in the picture as belonging to Schützen Regiment 108. As this regiment belonged to 23. Inf. Div., and the division had been triangularised in December 1916 (losing FAR 48 to the new 241. Inf. Div.), FAR 12 was a likely suspect for the mystery unit.

Recourse to the Ranglisten identified a Leutnant Mietzsch (matching 'Oberleutnant Mietzsch' on the pictures) with FAR 12 in 1914, and not with any other German artillery unit. Sachsen in Grosser Zeit put the division in the right area at the right time for all of the place names as they withdrew from their sector on the extreme South of the Somme battlefield, near Chaulnes.

A consultation of FAR 12's published regimental history in the collections at the Imperial War Museum in London positively identified all of those named on the pictures as officers of 4. and 6. batteries - both of which would have almost certainly been armed with light field howitzers (10.5 cm lFH) as opposed to field guns (7.7cm FK). All of these gentlemen seem to have survived the war - certainly none are in the regimental death list.

Oberleutnant Mietzsch - already listed in the lowly position of a junior 'kolonnen-offizier' with II. Abteilung's ammunition column on 2/8/1914, he was commander of 4. Battery by the time these photos were taken, a position he still occupied in July 1918. He won the Ritterkreuz (the officers' grade) of the Saxon St.-Heinrichs-Orden and evidently the Iron Cross in at least 2nd class.

Offizierstellvetreter Knieling - a senior NCO acting as an officer, Knieling is listed as a Leutnant der Reserve with 6. Battery in a list for 12/2/1917, a position he too still held in July 1918. He too won the Ritterkreuz of the St.-Heinrichs-Orden and again sports an Iron Cross ribbon here.

Leutnant der Reserve Erich Schmidt - may be the Schmidt in the 1914 list of regimental reserve officers, though FAR 12 had two Leutnants der Reserve Schmidt...hence the use of his first name. As of 18/1/17 he was filling in for the permanently detached Hauptmann der Reserve von Lippe as commander of 6. Battery. By July 1918 he had been replaced by Hauptmann der Reserve Wagner and was no longer assigned to the battery at all.

Fähnrich Löwenherz - listed as Leutnant Löwenherz on 12/2/1917, assigned to 4. Battery under Mietzsch.

Leutnant der Reserve Weidenmüller - again, listed with 4. Battery under Mietzsch on 12/2/1917.

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The pictures

Oberleutnant Mietzsch (no date or place name):

Offizierstellvetreter Knieling (no date or place name):

The weird black blob on his arm, when magnified, appears to be just a bit of damage to the original photo rather than anything more interesting.

Leutnant der Reserve Weidenmüller, Leutnant der Reserve Erich Schmidt and Offizierstellvetreter Knieling (no date or place name):

Presumably the names are intended to read in sequence from left to right?

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The pictures (2)

Oberleutnant Mietzsch, Offizierstellvetreter Knieling and Fähnrich Löwenherz (Rouy Le Petit, December 1916?):

Nothing on this one at all:

Can anyone better at matching faces than me ID these men with those in the other pictures? I suspect the man on the left is Olt. Mietzsch.

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The pictures (3)

My favourite from this set: breakfast on the retreat to the 'Siegfried Line', March 1917:

And is that Olt. Mietzsch on the left again?

My father pointed out that this appears to be an example of something quite rare in WW1 photos - a casual, unposed shot of soldiers about their daily business.

The back:

A nice close-up of the personal equipment worn by the man on the right - I spy a holstered Mauser C96 automatic on his hip...

Any comments?

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The pictures (4)

A blurry shot apparently taken in 'Ruy' - which is presumably German for Rouy?

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The pictures (5)

AKO (arty obs post I think) with the 'Nachhut' (rearguard) of SR 108 at 'Kreuzwald', Avricourt 1917:

Gun position on the retreat, Avricourt 1917:

It is faintly possible to make out the shoulderstraps in this zoom - FAR 12 were the senior Saxon FAR, with the King as their 'Chef' (titular colonel-in-chief), and bore the crown, royal cipher and small artillery bomb motif instead of the usual numbers. Unfortunately, no conclusive match, though the personnel and place data have already matched the regiment beyond a doubt:

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The pictures (6)

Gun position in Avricourt 1917:

Gun position 'H-Stellung' (possibly the 'H' is on the other shot as well, under the glue / paper blob) on the retreat, Avricourt 1917:

These positions certainly look expedient, purely offering camouflage rather than solid cover.

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And that's the lot!

I have some further pictures of artillery received in a new batch only yesterday from the same source which may also be FAR 12, though they will need checking against the regimental history to judge conclusively....

ARL

[egbert]

Thanx for the great pictures!

[bierast]

A little more on the regiment:

Kgl. Sächs. 1. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.12 was formed 1/4/1867 by amalgamation of all the Kingdom's pre-existing field batteries, and formed the main element within the then 12. Artillerie-Brigade supporting XII Korps (which, in the war of 1870, contained the whole Saxon Army - such as it was at the time). Because it inherited the traditions of the entire Saxon artillery arm at formation, the regiment claimed a foundation date of 26/6/1620, making it technically the 'oldest' regiment in the German forces. The regimental history takes much pride in this, with an initial chapter entitled '1620-1914' and a copy of the text of the relevant Ducal proclamation from 1620 in the appendices!

As the first Royal Saxon FAR, FAR 12 was also the organisational parent - directly or indirectly - of all of the subsequent Saxon FARs. It was also unique within the Saxon artillery in having a 'Reitende Abteilung' - a battalion of horse artillery which was detached in wartime to support the (Saxon) 8. Kav. Div:

From 1899 onwards, FAR 12 was brigaded with the new (25/03/1899) Kgl. Sächs. 4. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.48 as 23. Feldartillerie-Brigade. The regiments were quartered in adjacent barracks in the military district of Dresden (the 'Albertstadt') North of the Elbe (NB: pretty much everything North of the Elbe, including the barracks district, was considered part of Dresden 'new town' or 'Neustadt' - thus postcards stamped by the civilian postal service from soldiers posted there usually say 'Neustadt' on them). As the actual military targets in Dresden were almost entirely unscathed in the WW2 terror bombing that burned down the city centre with the loss of thousands of civilian lives, the twin Artillerie-Kasernen are still standing today (though disused since German re-unification I believe).

23. Feldartillerie-Brigade constituted the divisional artillery of Kgl. Sächs. 1. Infanterie-Division Nr.23. At the end of 1916, FAR 48 was transferred to the new 241. Inf. Div. and 23. Inf. Div. was triangularised. FAR 12 gained a third Abteilung and the old Brigade staff became ArKo (divisional artillery staff) 23.

ARL

[JMcCulloch]

Brilliant post!!

Have you contacted Rick Lundstrom or Glenn Jewison at all? They can flesh out the officer's later careers/lives.

[bierast]

Brilliant post!!

Have you contacted Rick Lundstrom or Glenn Jewison at all? They can flesh out the officer's later careers/lives.

No, I don't know these gentlemen I'm afraid!

I have a whole bunch of officers I'm trying to track - incuding, of course, those of FAR 48.

I am still trying to find the time to get my website on its feet...in the mean time, I have an ever-increasing volume of information (largely in paper form) that I am struggling to pull together into something coherent.

ARL

[JMcCulloch]

Both Gentlemen are avid Ww1 German officer researchers. Glenn is slowly but surely building a database of every officer in the German AND Austro-Hungarian army from @ 1860-1920.

Rick has every obscure reference source extant.

Both gentlemen can be found at the GMIC.co.uk website (Gentlemen's Military Interest forum).

I can find out a bit more for you about a few of the men, but I only have @ 10% the resources these two men have.

They do the research for the love of it.

Put this post in the "personal research " area. They'll LOVE it.

http://www.gmic.co.uk./

[bierast]

Both Gentlemen are avid Ww1 German officer researchers. Glenn is slowly but surely building a database of every officer in the German AND Austro-Hungarian army from @ 1860-1920.

Rick has every obscure reference source extant.

Both gentlemen can be found at the GMIC.co.uk website (Gentlemen's Military Interest forum).

I can find out a bit more for you about a few of the men, but I only have @ 10% the resources these two men have.

They do the research for the love of it.

Ah splendid - I've been meaning to start posting on GMIC as I have some German pre-war material that doesn't really suit the GWF.

I also learned recently that I have an ancestor (a Vizefeldwebel) who served in Kgl. Sächs. 2. Husaren-Regiment Nr.19 (Grimma) and its precursor (Reiter Regiment 2) in the 19th century, which again is a line of enquiry that falls well outside the scope of this board.

ARL

[JMcCulloch]

Have his details at the ready. I am amazed at what they can discover.

I myself do a bit but tend to focus on the Baden artillery regts..

I do have the Bavarian heavy artillery books (Ehrentafel) though.

Chris Boonzairs' "Trenches" web site is a fantastic resource, especially for the Verdun battles.

[bierast]

Well... my friend Jürgen in Dresden has been checking his references, and has successfully matched another seven pictures to FAR 12!

Going by the glue and paper remnants on the back, these pictures and the other batch most likely came from the same photo album.

This batch are marked 'August 1917', and were taken in a wooded training and/or rest area behind the lines in Champagne called the Wittelsbach-Lager (after the Bavarian royal family). This followed hard fighting for 23. Division on the Champagne front in the spring, facing the French offensive.

Going by the particular officers identified in these pictures, this whole set may depict the regiment's III. Abteilung (3rd Btn - containing the 7th, 8th and 9th batteries), created (if I recall correctly - no access to the FAR 12 regimental history here) when the division was triangularised in the winter of 1916-1917.

The pictures (7)

Officers of III Abt. / FAR 12 at rest:

Though it is not possible to do more than infer which name matches which face, these are the men depicted:

Lt. d. R. Ullrich - Battery officer with 7. Battery.

Lt. d. R. Wolf - Battery officer with 8. Battery (listed as such as of 12.2.17 - not in the equivalent list for March 1918)

Oblt. Fürth - Commander of 9. Battery (listed with the regiment 12.2.17 as an Offizier-Stellvertreter - not listed 1918)

Lt. d. R. Querner - Battery officer with 8. Battery

Lt. Jun©k - Battery officer with 9. Battery (an Olt. Junck was commander of 8. Battery at the same time)

Stabsarzt Dr. Rietschel - Battalion medical officer, III. Abteilung.

Lt. Kurtz - Battery officer with 8. Battery (listed with the regiment 12.2.17 as an Offizier-Stellvertreter - not listed March 1918)

Oblt. d. R. Basemann - Commander of 7. Battery.

Lt. d. R. Meinecke - Battery officer with 7. Battery (listed with the regiment 12.2.17 as an Offizier-Stellvertreter - wounded 15/10/1917)

Again, none of these men are listed as dead despite the fact that so many of them were no longer with the battery the following year. Transfers to other Saxon artillery units are the most likely explanation for these absences.

According to the regimental history, III / 12 were withdrawn to the Protzenlager (the place where the limbers - protzen - were stationed) for a rest and training period between 18th and 31st May. The picture is thus presumed to come from that period.

More soon...

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The pictures (8)

Officers of III. Abteilung at the Wittelsbach-Lager August 1917

Again, there is no immediate indication as to which name matches which face.

Lt. Vent - Ordonnanz-Offizier on the battalion staff of III. Abteilung.

Lt. Hackh (a very rare name with this spelling) - as of 12/2/1918 adjutant on the battalion staff of III. Abteilung; as of 3/1918 Olt. and regimental adjutant.

Lt. d. Res. Groß - A battery officer with 9. Battery.

Another very similar shot, but without a detailed caption:

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The pictures (9)

Lt. Hackh and Lt. d. Res. Groß with a pet?

A closer look - perhaps a kitten or puppy?

And notice also the papers tucked into the other officer's cuff turnback, and the typical style of wire fence seen in many German photos.

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The pictures (10)

An unnamed officer

It is tempting to think that the reason the owner of the pictures did not write the name on this one was that this was a photo of himself. Not knowing their provenance, of course, this isn't really very helpful.

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The pictures (11)

These are the last of the verified Wittelsbach-Lager pictures, and show more of the wooden buildings on the site.

Can anyone read the caption on this (beyond the date / place name)?

And a rather dark and moody shot, taken at a distance from a clearing:

Any comments and further information most welcome! Does anyone on the board have a copy of the history of FAR 12 to hand?

Providentiae Memor

Andi Lucas

[apwright]

Can anyone read the caption on this (beyond the date / place name)?

die traurigen Überreste unseres ?schönen Kasinos im Wittelsbachlager/Champa[gne]

The sad remains of our ?lovely messroom in Wittelsbach Camp, Champagne.

Adrian

Terrific thread, by the way! Fascinating stuff. More please!

[bierast]

die traurigen Überreste unseres ?schönen Kasinos im Wittelsbachlager/Champa[gne]

The sad remains of our ?lovely messroom in Wittelsbach Camp, Champagne.

One would presume then that the Kasino was in the process of being dismantled in the photo?

Terrific thread, by the way! Fascinating stuff. More please!

Thankyou - I will try to get the remaining pictures which may or may not show FAR 12 up here soon, then you can all help me work out whether they are part of the set or not!

NB: I have at least one more photo coming from the same seller which is from Avricourt and may also conceivably relate to the regiment.

ARL