1. Abteilung, Kgl. Sächs. 4. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 48

[bierast]

As per my post in the 'soldiers' section about my great-grandfather Gefreiter Arno Bierast, I am seeking any further information available on his unit (the aforementioned 1. Abteilung, Kgl. Sächs. 4. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 48) and its movements (and reorganisations / splits) during the war.

This is what I have so far on the regiment:

• Commander - Oberstleutnant Dammmüller
• At the outbreak of war, formed 23 Artillery Brigade together with Kgl. Sächs. 1. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.12. The brigade was commanded by Generalmajor Gustav Zincke - KIA 17.9.1914 Aix La Chapelle
• At the outbreak of war, assigned to 23rd Division (1st Saxon), XII Corps (1st Saxon), 3rd Army.
• XII Corps subsequently moved to 7th Army for First Aisne.
• A regimental history exists at IWM - Das 4 Kgl Sachs.F.A.Regt.no48 by Arnold Fischer, Dresden 1934 (accession no.8463-31 and ref. 02(43)6414). I aim to consult it as soon as I can arrange a free day to visit accompanied by a German friend who can read all relevant forms of German script.
• From the above, my father (who cannot read German) identified the following deployments, though unable to tell which referred to the regiment and which to its sub-units: Dinant (August 1914), Rethel (30th August 1914), Marne, Aisne, Champagne (for an extended period), possibly Somme (October 1916), Signy L'Abbaye (January 1917), Brzczany - Galicia - Poland (June 1917), Konjuchy - Poland (1917), La Fere (March 1918 - Kaiserschlacht), Aisne Canal (April 1918), Chemin des Dames, Soissons (July 1918), Rheims (July-August 1918), Bohain (October 1918).

I am also interested (and I know this is a very long shot indeed) in any Freikorps known to be recruiting from this unit and/or formed where it demobilised. I have reason to believe that great-grandad (who was centre-right in orientation, very hostile to Communists and Nazis alike and ultimately involved in documented anti-regime activity with Carl-Friedrich Goerdeler, Max Habermann and Jacob Kaiser during WW2) was involved in some kind of paramilitary formation after WW1...according to my grandmother, he was concealing an MP.18 in the flat in Leipzig where she grew up! He was definitely a local leader in the Deutsch-nationaler Handlungsgehilfen-verband (National Shopworkers' Union), a centre-right union that I presume to have been involved in the Spring 1919 strikes in Saxony against the Communist seizure of power.

Any experts on the Saxon army out there?

Kind Regards

Andi Lucas

[Hoplophile]

Welcome to the GWF!

The good news is that you have already made a great deal of progress in your research. The bad news is that you are well ahead of most of us.

In addition to the regimental history that you mentioned, there exists an Ehrenbuch des 4. Königlich Sâchischen Feldartillerie Regiments Nr. 48, which was privately published in Dresden in 1937. While this work may be no more than a list of those members of the regiment who died on active service, the Ehrenbücher that I have seen usually contain lots of anecdotes dealing with the organization in question.

After the war, the former officers of the regiment formed an association that may well have published a newsletter. (Some these veterans' newsletters are chock full of interesting details.) The trades union you mentioned may also have published a newsletter or even a newspaper. Finally, the paramilitary unit (which seems to have been local, rather than of the sort that fought in the Baltic) may also have published a newsletter. (Do you see the pattern here? Every second person in post-war Germany was publishing a newsletter of one sort or the other.)

The good news here is that historians in the DDR were fascinated with all of the phenomena that you mentioned - the Saxon Army, trades unions and paramilitary groups. Thus, a great deal of what seems to interest you can be found in various archives. The bad news, is that tracking this stuff down is not the sort of thing that you can do over the internet.

[bob lembke]

Andi;

A few comments.

As per my post in the 'soldiers' section about my great-grandfather Gefreiter Arno Bierast, I am seeking any further information available on his unit (the aforementioned 1. Abteilung, Kgl. Sächs. 4. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 48) and its movements (and reorganisations / splits) during the war.

You may know this. While in German Abteilung has the general meaning of "detachment", in the Imperial artillery it meant "battalion"; so your GGF was in the first battalion of his regiment, probably four batteries of 77 mm field-guns and 105 mm howitzers, probably three and one respectively at the beginning of the war.

I am also interested (and I know this is a very long shot indeed) in any Freikorps known to be recruiting from this unit and/or formed where it demobilised. I have reason to believe that great-grandad (who was centre-right in orientation, very hostile to Communists and Nazis alike and ultimately involved in documented anti-regime activity with Carl-Friedrich Goerdeler, Max Habermann and Jacob Kaiser during WW2) was involved in some kind of paramilitary formation after WW1...according to my grandmother, he was concealing an MP.18 in the flat in Leipzig where she grew up! He was definitely a local leader in the Deutsch-nationaler Handlungsgehilfen-verband (National Shopworkers' Union), a centre-right union that I presume to have been involved in the Spring 1919 strikes in Saxony against the Communist seizure of power.

One student of the topic estimated that there were at least 2500 Freikorps; many lasting only a few months (like my father's), morphing into other formations, and then possibly becoming a unit of the new Reichswehr. I have a Militaer=Pass that has, in one document, the bearer's record as a soldier in the Imperial Army, then in a Freikorps, and then in the Reichswehr. Quite remarkable. Some Freikorps were formed largely from men from a given unit, but I think that that was the exception. My father's, quite unusually, was based on men from several Prussian Guard units; the CO was an ultra-right Guards officer, a post-war extreme plotter, son of a Prussian general. In the 1930's he served in the Reichstag as an ultra-right Deputy, as an Ehrenaryan, or "honorary Aryan", as he seemingly was Jewish! Very odd things went on in that period!

Most Freikorps were based on geographical proximity, not on units. Few men from almost any given unit still wanted to be fighting.

Bob Lembke

[Jack Sheldon]

Andi

The regimental history is actually in two parts (Mobilisation - 24 Feb 17 and 24 Feb 17 - 31 Mar 19), but I am fairly sure that they were run together and published as one title in Dresden in 1934. I suspect that the Ehrenbuch referred to by Hoplophile to is more than just a casualty list, because the Fischer/Wagner history has a Roll of Honour appended. If you can find one, it would probably be useful. There is nothing about the Freikorps in the history, but that is no surprise, really.

If you do not manage to get access to the book, get back to me - as I say, I have a copy. If you are interested more broadly in the Saxon Army there is a three volume set: Sachsen in Grosser Zeit, readily available from German specialist book sellers and not particularly expensive (€70 - 120 for the set).

Jack

[bierast]

Welcome to the GWF!

The good news is that you have already made a great deal of progress in your research. The bad news is that you are well ahead of most of us.

Thankyou! I hope to make further progress on the weekend of the 14th/15th, as I will be visiting my family and getting a chance to examine the additional (damaged) photos mentioned in my thread in 'Soldiers', his CV (which I gather says he served in this unit for the duration, and understandably makes no mention of paramilitary activity) and hopefully his ribbon bar (the actual awards and citations having been in my great-grandmother's strongbox, which was stolen by her cleaning lady after her death ).

I'm hoping that at a minimum I can establish the locations and unit assignments of 1.Abteilung. I understand that the divisional artillery brigades were reorganised in 1915, such that the regiment will likely have parted company with 23. Division at that point.

In addition to the regimental history that you mentioned, there exists an Ehrenbuch des 4. Königlich Sâchischen Feldartillerie Regiments Nr. 48, which was privately published in Dresden in 1937. While this work may be no more than a list of those members of the regiment who died on active service, the Ehrenbücher that I have seen usually contain lots of anecdotes dealing with the organization in question.

Thankyou! I shall add this to my list...

After the war, the former officers of the regiment formed an association that may well have published a newsletter. (Some these veterans' newsletters are chock full of interesting details.) The trades union you mentioned may also have published a newsletter or even a newspaper. Finally, the paramilitary unit (which seems to have been local, rather than of the sort that fought in the Baltic) may also have published a newsletter. (Do you see the pattern here? Every second person in post-war Germany was publishing a newsletter of one sort or the other.)

The good news here is that historians in the DDR were fascinated with all of the phenomena that you mentioned - the Saxon Army, trades unions and paramilitary groups. Thus, a great deal of what seems to interest you can be found in various archives. The bad news, is that tracking this stuff down is not the sort of thing that you can do over the internet.

My parents will be in Leipzig and Dresden later this year, so provided I can do my best to direct them accordingly they will be able to look 'on the ground'.

Kind Regards

Andi Lucas

[bierast]

You may know this. While in German Abteilung has the general meaning of "detachment", in the Imperial artillery it meant "battalion"; so your GGF was in the first battalion of his regiment, probably four batteries of 77 mm field-guns and 105 mm howitzers, probably three and one respectively at the beginning of the war.

Yup, I understand that this was a sub-unit comprising one half of the regiment. One of the damaged photos seems to indicate he served one of the 77mm weapons. My primary concern with the provisional list of regimental movements (which my non German speaking father obtained by looking at the maps in the IWM copy of the regimental history) is to establish whether, when and to what extent the abteilungen were deployed separately in the field. The stamp on the postcard indicates that the feldpost address was for the abteilung rather than just the regiment.

One student of the topic estimated that there were at least 2500 Freikorps; many lasting only a few months (like my father's), morphing into other formations, and then possibly becoming a unit of the new Reichswehr. I have a Militaer=Pass that has, in one document, the bearer's record as a soldier in the Imperial Army, then in a Freikorps, and then in the Reichswehr. Quite remarkable. Some Freikorps were formed largely from men from a given unit, but I think that that was the exception. My father's, quite unusually, was based on men from several Prussian Guard units; the CO was an ultra-right Guards officer, a post-war extreme plotter, son of a Prussian general. In the 1930's he served in the Reichstag as an ultra-right Deputy, as an Ehrenaryan, or "honorary Aryan", as he seemingly was Jewish! Very odd things went on in that period!

Most Freikorps were based on geographical proximity, not on units. Few men from almost any given unit still wanted to be fighting.

I've read your posts about your father on several different fora with great interest. I had guessed (from the flamethrower and Berlin connections) that he must have been in the 'Minenwerfer Sturm Detachment Heuschkel', presumably attached to the GKSD?

Unfortunately I have even less idea how to research Freikorps service than German Army service (plus I have much less to go on). My best guess going by his active political conservatism and connections to Leipzig is that it would be something like a zeitfreiwilliger or other militia unit active under General Maercker for the duration of the 'Red Saxony' emergency in 1919, though I'm also wondering about Maercker's Landesjagerkorps proper and the two Freiwillligen Grenzjäger-Brigaden raised in Dresden.

I shall have to post further on his 1930's and WW2 activities over at Axis History Forum, as they definitely fall outside the scope of this board. suffice to say I have some interesting documentary and eyewitness evidence of his involvement with other conservative trade unionists in the civilian part of the anti-Hitler network around Goerdeler. It is his resolute principled opposition to both the 'red Bolshevists' and the 'white Bolshevists' that I find particularly appealing.

Kind Regards

Andi Lucas

[bierast]

The regimental history is actually in two parts (Mobilisation - 24 Feb 17 and 24 Feb 17 - 31 Mar 19), but I am fairly sure that they were run together and published as one title in Dresden in 1934. I suspect that the Ehrenbuch referred to by Hoplophile to is more than just a casualty list, because the Fischer/Wagner history has a Roll of Honour appended. If you can find one, it would probably be useful. There is nothing about the Freikorps in the history, but that is no surprise, really.

If you do not manage to get access to the book, get back to me - as I say, I have a copy. If you are interested more broadly in the Saxon Army there is a three volume set: Sachsen in Grosser Zeit, readily available from German specialist book sellers and not particularly expensive (€70 - 120 for the set).

Excellent - I shall see about obtaining a copy of Sachsen in Grosser Zeit and of course look out for the Ehrenbuch (as well as the history).

I had very much hoped someone here would have the regimental history and am delighted to hear that this is the case - unfortunately I do not know how soon I will be able to visit the IWM to consult their copy (as I will also need to arrange for the presence of my housemate who is a native German speaker and also well versed in all relevant forms of German script, but unfortunately also in full-time employment), or whether I will be able to take photocopies from it. The two-volume arrangement definitely makes sense from the presumed list of deployments I have...they had a relatively 'quiet' war from 1915 to 1917, then an extremely 'loud' one in 1918!

NB: I shall post the photos I have again on this thread for ease of reference, as they're buried many pages deep in my post on 'soldiers' at present.

Kind Regards

Andi Lucas

[bierast]

For reference, the material I posted in the older thread:

Gefreiter Arno Bierast

• Working in Kamerun (Cameroon) and then Helsingfors (Helsinki, Finland) pre-war with a German export company. Returned to Germany to volunteer for service.
• Served from early 1915 for the duration (according to a CV drawn up in the inter-war period) with the Königlich Sächsisches 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr.48. In 1915 definitely with 1. Abteilung of this regiment, holding rank of gefreiter (based on the attached postcard). This was a local unit, as the family were from the Dresden area.
• Served on a 77mm field gun. There exists an additional, damaged photo of the gun crew at their weapon which I am trying to obtain.
• A brother, Rudolf, served in the same unit and also survived the war. There exists an additional, damaged photo showing him on horseback. I am trying to obtain a scan of this at present.
• Appears to have served well forward at least at some points (with a forward artillery observer group?) and to have served in both France and Poland, based on my grandmother's memories.
• Definitely won the EKII and some form of Saxon decoration (the actual awards are lost, as my great-grandmother's 'valuables' box was stolen by her housekeeper after her death). I am trying to obtain a scan of the ribbon bar, which is in the hands of our family.
• Survived without any physical or mental injury of which my grandmother was aware. Apparently exhibited great sang froid under allied bombing in WW2, playing Skat with the other local veterans. He died in 1959, before I was born (though I did know my great-grandmother, who died at a very advanced age).

Members of Kgl. Sächs. 4. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.48 and Kgl. Sächs. 2. Grenadier-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, König von Preußen Nr.101. Great-grandad is the bespectacled gefreiter second from left in the middle row.

Back of the above postcard. Translated by fellow forum member as follows:

d. 7./6. 15

Lieber Onkel + Tante

Vom Erholungsheim

umstehend eine kl.

Erinnerung. Ich war

heute in (placename illegible) zum

int(erased?) Fatale Situ-

ation aber im Kriege

manchmal unvermeidlich.

Unser ganzer Geschütz war

hier. Laune + Gesundheit

gut. (?)Herzl. Gruß Euer (signature)

7 June 1915

Dear Uncle & Aunt,

Overleaf a little memento of the recuperation station (I think! Where soldiers are sent to recover?). Today I was in/at (placename illegible) for (erased?) A dire situation, but in war sometimes unavoidable. All our heavy artillery was here. Spirits & health good.

Fondest regards, your (signature)

The illegible placename looks like Zilwil/Jelwil/Zibvil/Zebwil, possibly a Germanized spelling of a French -ville name? German placenames in -wil/-wyl are usually in Switzerland!

The card is addressed to:

Familie

Max Leonhardi

Dresden A. (i.e. central Dresden)

Feldherrnstr. 18, (apartment no.) III

This street was completely obliterated by the RAF during WW2.

Great-grandad (on the right) with a heavy minenwerfer and what appear to be fellow members of his unit. I am aware that this is a pionier weapon and therefore does not belong to his unit.

Kind Regards

Andi Lucas

[Hoplophile]

Ludwig Maercker wrote a substantial history of his Freikorps, which was published as Vom Kaiserheer zur Reichswehr; ein Beitrag zur

Geschicht der deutschen Revolution, (Leipzig, R.F. Koehler, 1921).