Gefreiter Fritz Bissinger, Kgl. Bayr. Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 4

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

I researching a scrapbook of Great War pictures and documents for my cousin, I came across a photograph of a soldier by the name of Fritz Bissinger; below his photo was the notation that he died very early on in the war, namely 6 September 1914. In an effort to research him so as to flesh him out a bit for my cousin, I ran him through Geni and wouldn't you know, he was a relative! A distant one, but a relative all the same.

Since he was with the Bavarians, his service records are on Ancestry, and since his war was short, it's only one page. Most of it I can read and understand, which in and of itself is nothing short of miraculous, but some notations elude me:

I am referring to the penciled in notations from what look like 1932 and 1933 at the bottom of the screenshot. I cannot make heads or tails of them. Can anyone tell me what they say?

Interestingly, he was in not only the same regiment, but the same Batterie as Gottfried Regensteiner, who appears in another thread of mine. Given how distantly they were related I wonder if they even knew that? I would assume so, since his picture was in Gottfried's brother's scrapbook, but given they also hailed from the same small town, who knows.

I'll be posting more details on Fritz later on in this thread (I have already found a great deal out about him!), but wanted to get the ball rolling with this question, at the very least.

Thanks,

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

I think I am seeing:

Todesbestal au Firs. Mehn Rindormister F. 12.8.33 (which, of course, is gibberish), and Krista Kriegs Kronik Augsburg 9/3/32 (is this some sort of publication?)

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Per Volksbund, Fritz is burnied in Reillon:

Fritz Bissinger ruht auf der Kriegsgräberstätte in Reillon.

Endgrablage: Block 3 Grab 46

Nähere Informationen zu diesem Friedhof erhalten Sie hier.

Name und die persönlichen Daten des Obengenannten sind auch im Gedenkbuch der Kriegsgräberstätte verzeichnet. Sie können gern einen Auszug bei uns bestellen.

Bitte beachten Sie, dass auf einigen Friedhöfen nicht die aktuelle Version ausliegt, somit kann der Name Ihres Angehörigen darin evtl. noch nicht verzeichnet sein.

Nachname: Bissinger

Vorname: Fritz

Dienstgrad: Gefreiter

Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 06.09.1914

Does anyone know anyone (or anywhere) that might have a photograph of his gravestone?

-Daniel

[AOK4]

I think I am seeing:

Todesbestal au Firs. Mehn Rindormister F. 12.8.33 (which, of course, is gibberish), and Krista Kriegs Kronik Augsburg 9/3/32 (is this some sort of publication?)

-Daniel

Todesbestät. (Todesbestätigung - confirmation of death) an Hirs. Mohn Rindermarkt 12.8.33 (name and adress, I would say of the man who asked for the death certificate).

Krista Kriegs Chronik Augsburg 9.3.32 (Krista is short for Kriegsstammrollenauszug, which was asked for probably for the war chronic of Augsburg in 1932, probably one of the authors of the book asked for the details)

[ph0ebus]

Todesbestät. (Todesbestätigung - confirmation of death) an Hirs. Mohn Rindermarkt 12.8.33 (name and adress, I would say of the man who asked for the death certificate).

Krista Kriegs Chronik Augsburg 9.3.32 (Krista is short for Kriegsstammrollenauszug, which was asked for probably for the war chronic of Augsburg in 1932, probably one of the authors of the book asked for the details)

Ah, so I was not that far off, then! Thanks for that. A quick google search for "Kriegschronik Augsburg" turns up a reference in a footnote in a book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=vADe4z5uXw8C&pg=PT18&dq=%22kriegschronik+augsburg%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1BrYUrGHGc6zsATnh4GIDQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22kriegschronik%20augsburg%22&f=false

I'll keep digging and see what else I can find.

Thanks,

-Dan

[ph0ebus]

Here's the second of two VL entries for Fritz. I wonder why it took them two years to classify him as deceased?

http://des.genealogy.net/search/show/3523266

His initial VL entry was in 1914, shortly after he was wounded. That one is only available via Ancestry; I'll post the extract this evening when I have the file at hand.

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

May I take a moment to introduce you to Fritz:

Interestingly, look what just happened to come up for sale!

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

It looks like Fritz not only had a short war, but had a terrible wound that ultimately took his life. From his record on Ancestry:

"am 05.09.1914 bei Menarmont durch Schrappnell am Bauch schwer verwundet und gestorben".

So, it would appear he was wounded on the 5th and survived the wound until the following day.

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Fritz is commemorated on a war memorial in Augsburg:

From:

http://www.hdbg.de/gedenktafeln/content/towns/Augsburg.shtml

It is the same cemetery in which his mother and father are buried.

[ph0ebus]

So, from his record, he was involved in the Battle at Nancy/Épinal from August 22nd until the day he was wounded. I am pretty unfamiliar with researching Bavarian units, so I am so far unsuccessful thus far in figuring out who his unit may have been squaring off against when he was wounded. I am having some trouble finding 4 Bav. FAR in 251 Divisions...is it just me?

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Folks:

So, after a little digging into a few online resources and cross-referencing them with "Histories", I think that 4. Bayer. Feldartillerie-Regiment "König" was a part of the 2nd Bavarian Division. Lo and behold, they appear in the table on page 64:

Sadly, the narrative part of the book that applies to this division says all but nothing about the time frame when Fritz was wounded, so while I have another clue, the search for specifics goes on...

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

The aforementioned extract:

[ph0ebus]

Folks:

So, digging deeper, in looking at tthe last entry in Fritz' record, I see he was killed during 'Schlact vor Nancy-Epinal'. In trying to learn more about this event, I think this corresponds to what the English-speaking world calls the Battle of Grand Couronné. The relevant wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Couronn%C3%A9

I am thinking since the German artillery bombardment started on September 4th, and he was mortally wounded by shrapnel the next day, he was perhaps the victim of counter battery fire by the 2nd French Army? What do you think?

-Daniel